Round Four: Nakamura

Junko and Yuki were blossoming into very social young ladies. Yuki was a little more reserved but soon made friends with Ruth Knox. They had a similar temperament and were mostly concerned with intellectual matters. Junko was a little less impressed with Ruth but she liked her well enough.


Despite a false start Junko was now getting on well with Amanda Davies - they'd resolved to be BFFs. This seemed to mean that Junko hogged the phone to a teenager-esque level.


Hiro was having some good luck with the ladies. He brought a girl home from school and they ended up kissing, although neither of them were particularly keen on the idea of having a relationship right now. There was a little chemistry, but not enough.


Hanako could feel her days coming to an end. She'd had a fulfilling life, raising children and grandchildren and perfecting her art, and couldn't have wished for anything more.


She was still a little shocked and surprised when Death came for her, but slipped away with very little fuss.


The whole Nakamura family was devestated, especially little Junko. Even the fact her grandmother had left her some money in her will couldn't make her feel any better. Shiina was also upset but was dealing with it by trying to work out if her inheritance was enough to rent an apartment with.


Hiro coped by throwing himself into his fitness routines. He wanted to become a sports star so he needed to be in top physical condition, plus he loved the endorphin rush.


Shiina and her best friend Emma had graduated (barely, in Shiina's case) and were still thick as thieves. The plan to share an apartment was go, go, go!


Shiina soon found one looking through the ads in the papers. She couldn't wait to start her adult life - she loved her family, but she didn't love the way they cramped her style. She took the sewing machine with her as a last reminder of Hanako. She'd be a top designer before everyone else knew what hit them!

Note: I really don't know where Sachiko and Nobuo were hiding this round. I don't think there'll be any more little Nakamuras despite the fact those two woo-hoo whenever they get an opportunity, as the Try For Baby dialogue doesn't pop up for them. I guess Sachiko really has had enough of being pregnant!

Round Three: Nakamura

The older Nakamura kids were making their way in the world. Hiro had already made some friends at high school and he was always on the phone to one or other of them, talking about sport or planning trips down town.


Sachiko was slowly getting over her failure at work and school and went out on her first date. She didn't kiss him in the end but they had a good time and she made a new friend, which was almost as good. Teen boys couldn't buy her enough presents anyway!


The twins were growing like weeds and Sachiko and Nobuo were having difficulty keeping up with them. It seemed like they needed their attention every minute of the day and it was tiring.


Still, thanks to Hanako's dilligence in the area of childcare they managed to find the occasional moment to be affectionate with each other. Nobuo wanted another baby but Sachiko wasn't so sure - she hadn't signed up to be constantly pregnant or getting bottles for toddlers!


But Hanako was getting older and couldn't be there all the time. Nobuo's inability to cook reared its ugly head again; he was so tired he managed to set fire to spaghetti. Hiro despaired. How on earth was he supposed to invite his friends over if his dad kept setting fire to everything?!


Hanako had finished her novel and submitted it to several publishers. She spent the following weeks standing by the phone and jumping to it whenever it rang, much to the teenagers' annoyance. Finally, the call came. Her novel was a best seller!


She used some of her paycheck to buy a sewing machine, which they installed in Shiina's room. Shiina wasted no time when it came to getting started with it. It was frustrating only being able to sew potholders but she knew if she worked at it she could make clothes - if only she could show that sort of dedication to her school work.


After Shiina asked where the money for the sewing machine came from, Hanako finally gathered up the courage to tell her about her novel. "It's a book about my life," she said, handing it to her granddaughter. She sat down next to her as the young girl leafed through it, brow furrowed in concentration.

"So..." Hanako looked extremely nervous. "What do you think?"

"This is amazing! You're the coolest granny ever."

Hanako felt like she might explode with pride.


The twins were finally old enough to start school. Junko wanted to make friends, but it turned out bringing her mother's friend's daughter home was a bad move. Amanda wasn't interested in anything she had to say, preferring to be standoffish and grouchy.


Yuki wasn't so concerned with making friends; she wanted another sibling. Junko wasn't impressed. Wasn't the house busy enough already?!


Note: Nobuo won't stop spinning up the Have A Baby want and Yuki really does want another addition to the family. Hanako wants another grandchild, too. Quit it you guys! I think they're trying to out-breed the Knoxes.

Round Two: Nakamura

The Nakamura household was far from peaceful and Shiina couldn't see that the addition of twins would help any. She spent a lot of time on the phone to her friends, complaining about how unfair her life was. When could she move out?! She and Emma were already looking for bachelorette pads for when the time came to flee.


Despite the angst she projected at her friends, Shiina was still cheerful and positive around her family, especially her mother. Her motives were partly selfish - who knew what would happen if she annoyed the VERY pregnant Sachiko? She wasn't actively looking for a fight! Plus they did have a lot in common with their similar taste in movies.


Sachiko was proud of her increasingly enormous baby bump, and took every oppurtunity she could to show it off. Sabrina Davies encouraged her, talking to the twins in-utero and hamming it up. She was feeling kind of broody herself - she'd always rather wanted to be a mother of four, and here was the considerably-less-maternal Sachiko with everything she'd ever wanted! Sabrina was still happy for her, though.


Away from her friends and family, Sachiko was less positive. As proud as she was, carrying twins was tiring and sometimes she wished they'd just get the heck out already.


Thankfully she didn't have much longer to wait. She went into labour in the middle of the living room just as Nobuo was getting home from work and he rushed her to the maternity ward.


Sachiko finally gave birth to the twins, Yuki and Junko. They looked almost identical at first sight, sharing their father's skin tone and hair colour, but Junko's eyes were darker than Yuki's. Hiro was not at all impressed - he'd been hoping for brothers rather than a house FULL OF GIRLS. His worst nightmare!


Nobuo adored his little girls, and spent every moment when he wasn't at work helping take care of them. He especially loved tickling them and throwing them in the air, and they seemed to love it right back.


Despite being very active and sporty, Hiro was also very driven academically, so it wasn't long until he brought home his first A+ report card. He ran straight up to an impressed Sachiko with it, crowing and being generally pleased with himself.


Shiina wasn't doing quite as well at school. She'd been trying to balance socialising, working on her art, her schoolwork, a part-time job, and helping look after the twins, and it took its toll. Not only did she flunk every class, she lost the job that had been part of the reason she neglected her schoolwork in the first place! She spent several days sulking in her room, refusing calls and writing angsty poetry. Whatever, she didn't need stupid school anyway, she was an artist!


Money worries were top of all the adults' minds, and Hanako decided to branch out creatively in the hopes of making some more money. She started writing a book about her life before having Nobuo; he didn't know it, but she'd actually had a very interesting life indeed. Hopefully it would sell well enough to pay some bills.


The twins were soon toddlers, and adorable ones at that. The differences between them were becoming much more pronounced.


Yuki was quiet and shy; she didn't particularly like being played with, but she did love giving and receiving hugs from everyone around her.


Junko, on the other hand, was already more outgoing and liked to pull silly faces.


Junko also had a bad habit of grabbing at Sachiko's hair, so she got it cut even shorter. It suited her wonderfully.


The twins weren't the only ones who had birthdays. Hiro had become a teenager. He'd decided to slightly change his policy on girls; some of them were pretty cute. Really cute, even. But he still wasn't best pleased at living in a house full of sisters!

Note: this house was kind of hellish to play! Too many people! Plus I realised I'd given Sachiko the wrong hair in CAS, I always wanted her to have the hairdo she has now. Hiro rolled Popularity, if you're wondering!

Round One: Namakura

Nobuo Nakamura hadn't imagined that living with his mother again after so many years of freedom would be easy, and Hanako didn't disappoint. She was worried that he was spending too much on extending the house and redecorating, but he laughed it off. What was the use of money if you didn't spend it?


It didn't help matters that Hanako still didn't really approve of Sachiko. Nobuo was her little darling angel and she wasn't sure that a woman who wandered around in a tiny slip of a nightdress at all hours was right for him. Still, she made him happy, and that had to count for something.


Despite Hanako's reservations Nobuo and Sachiko still got on as well as the day they met when they were teenagers. They were an openly affectionate pair, always kissing and cuddling and playing silly games.


Sachiko wanted to make friends with all her neighbours, but it was difficult. Sabrina Davies was such a prude! The only thing they seemed to have in common was motherhood. Sachiko assumed her bad attitude was probably down to pregnancy hormones, though, and resolved to keep in touch and build up a friendship.


Her connection with Lisa Mackenzie was much more immediate - she most definitely wasn't prudish! Sachiko was glad; they could be all Sex-and-the-City and talk about men. Lisa was having some romantic troubles and Sachiko vowed to find someone to set her up with.


Hanako and her granddaughter Shiina were completely different in most ways - Hanako was traditional, Shiina was a free spirit - but they shared one passion: art. Hanako gave her plenty of tips and even promised to teach her how to sew. Shiina wasn't all that keen on work, but she supposed if she HAD to have a career then it wouldn't be too bad to be a world-famous designer and make darkly glamourous clothes. Just thinking about all the post-show parties made her head spin!


Sachiko really didn't get the appeal of all this creative stuff. "Stop talking about art all the time! It's driving me crazy!"

"Art is LIFE, mom!" exclaimed Shiina, and stomped off to her room in a spectacular goth tantrum.


Life carried on at a steady pace, although Nobuo's cooking skills left a lot to be desired. He left the stove for a moment to talk to his mother and his pan full of soup caught on fire!


When Shiina brought her friend Emma home from school she was immediately ambushed by Hiro. He was at the age where he reckoned all girls had cooties, and Emma was an easy target for some tormenting. Nobuo hoped his skills with the ladies would improve by the time he hit his teens. Emma didn't mind though, she just said he was "cute" and ruffled his hair.


The only girl Hiro would talk to was his sister but as far as he was concerned she wasn't a REAL girl and therefore didn't have cooties. They got on quite well for such different siblings. Shiina was arty while Hiro was more concerned with fitness and sports.


Soon after the renovations were all finished, Sachiko began feeling sick and had to make frequent dashes for the bathroom. The pregnancy test confirmed her suspicions.


When she told Nobuo he was much more pleased by the news than she was.

"Thats amazing!" He'd always wanted a big family, and he knew his mother would be pleased at the prospect of another grandchild.

"But how are we going to afford it? The house is barely big enough for all of us as it is, and we haven't got enough money to build even more extensions!"

Nobuo smiled. "We'll get by, we always will."


Meanwhile, Shiina wanted a boyfriend. Not a steady one, although she wasn't promiscuous and dreamed of someday finding a guy who would buy her presents and party with her until they were both old and grey. But for now she was young and free, and right now ANYONE would do. Well, almost anyone. She'd gotten chatting to various guys on the internet, but they were all a bit too old for her. Ew!


Her heart leapt when she found out there was a goth club in down town Virtue Falls. Their ID policy was apparently really lax and she got in without any trouble, but their clientele wasn't particularly alternative after all. She got wrecked on cocktails before hitting the dance-floor and "freaking out the Mundanes."


She didn't find any boys, but she did meet one person who looked like she fit in at the club and might be fun to hang around with, even if her whole creature-of-the-night vibe was kind of corny. The vampire thing? SO 1994.


Sachiko didn't let the news of her pregnancy get in the way of socialising. She was on the phone more often than her teenage daughter, chatting away to Lisa and Sabrina. She'd have to organise an outing to one of the cafés down town for the three of them soon, all girls together.


It didn't take long before Sachiko was showing, and she used her pregnancy to her advantage as much as possible. If anyone gave her trouble about eating the whole bag of cookies she could always tell them she was eating for two.


In fact, she was eating for three. Her first ultrasound revealed she was carrying twins. Nobuo promptly got a job as a security guard. Their savings were running out and if they wanted to furnish a nursery they'd have to bring in a bit more money. Pregnancy didn't put a damper on their amorousness, though - especially as it turned out that Sachiko really couldn't resist a man in uniform!