Pottsville

The Coopers - The Story So Far

"Hello Fred Cooper here, the family wants me to fill you in on what has happened since we moved to Fellowship Lane. My wife Louise and I used to be dairy farmers in the Waikato district. We were doing pretty well, we had built a new milking shed, the boys had just finished high school and were about to go to University. Terrance always had his nose in a book since he was a kid, and was very keen to study medicine down at Otago University. Joel was sports mad and made the 1st fifteen at high school. He had dreams of becoming a top sports and Terrence persuaded him that goign to uni with him and studying Physical Education would be a good move. Ethan was always more interested in romancing the girls than study and was talking about heading to the big city after high school. That is until Terrance persuaded him that he could find plenty of young ladies from right around the country at uni. "I would have been very proud to see all three of my sons gruaduate from university, it was something that I always wanted for my children. But that was until Malcolm Phoenix came to town... "Malcolm came to the local town to persuade folk to invest in what he said was a exciting new venture. I'm afraid I was dazzled by his fast patter and mortgaged the farm to invest. All I could see was my sons graduating from Uni without any debt, marrying and providing fine homes for the grandchildren that I longed to see. "Then the bubble burst, Malcolm disappeared with all the money. He was eventually tracked down and charged with fraud but by that time the money was all gone. I lost my farm, my home, my pension. Then Louise died of a broken heart. In the circumstances the boys would hear of going to uni and leaving me alone. They are such fine young men but I wish they been able to go. "Then we had a small stroke of luck. One of my aunts died and left me her house in Fellowship Lane and small sum of money. So I came to Pottsville along with my sons (who insisted on coming).

"The first day in the house we had visitors come to the house to welcome us. What a friendly neighbourhood! That's Joel talking to Moana Te Waiata from across the road, in the background is her mother Hine and in the bathroom is Romulas Bonacorrd. Turns out we know the Te Waiatas, well sort of. Moana used to work as a lab technician at the dairy factory where we used to send our milk. Well fancy that, imagine coming all this way and then finding someone from home the very first day we are here. I think I am going to like it here. (and Joel seems to like Moana - very much).

"I also visited some of the other families. Shocking what the Sylvaen children next door have being through. From what I can gather they seem to some sort of political refugees. Their parents aren't here but the older brother and sister seem to be very sensible with good heads on their shoulders, I am particulary impressed with the sister, Amethyst her name. Also across the road are the Dantes. I've met the mother Liza Dante. She's got a bit of a sharp tongue but she's been through an awful lot since her family got here. Apparently her house burnt down taking her husband with it. Then there are the Antoniuses next door... "Oops, certain family member are telling me that this story is meant to be about the Coopers not every other family in the neighbourhood. They'll get their chance to tell their story when their turn comes! "Oh, yes I shall certainly tell them about Terrance! We had enough money in the inheritance to furnish the house and then there was a little left over. Now Terrance has always been interested in astronomy and had his heart set on getting one of those expensive telescope and considering the sacrifices that he has made who I was I to deny him. Now it had just turned dark, I was inside having a chat with my new neighbours when Terrance decided he wanted to try out his new telescope. Tori Antonius from next door was telling me all her family's woes, yes I'll let her tell them to the good folk when the time comes, when suddenly we heard this strange noise come from outside and strange light come through the window. We all rushed outside...

"Terrance had been abducted by aliens! He was returned to us early in the morning. He didn't seem to be any the worst for wear so we went settling into our new lives in Fellowship Lane. Terrance got a job as a emergency medical technician and tells me that there the possibility that he might able to study part-time. Both Ethan and Joel joined the army. Joel says it's just temporary, that's he's looking for a opening in the sports career. Ethan has been spending a lot of his time on community lots. I thought he was going there just to meet the ladies of the neighbourhood but I was pleasantly surprised when Ethan told me that he had be moonlighting as a barista so he buy his own community lot.

"Then he spent a lot of time at the lot building his business (although I suspect he found a lot of time to do a lot of, um, socialising). "I found my own special lady to socialise with. None other than Hine Te Waiata from across the road. I guess at the beginning it was just good to hear a voice from home. I shared my feelings about how my sons missed out on University because of my reckless investment and how good they have been to me since then. She said she could really empathise about the University part and told what had been going on in her family, how she had lost her brother and son and daughter in law when she arrived in Pottville. She wanted her eldest daughter to go to uni but Moana just wanted to have a fun time. How her second daughter Pania was still at high school but was failing because of all the stress of all the deaths in the family. How she and Moana were left in care of her grandson Maui and granddaughter Aroha. And how she was hoping that being responsible for her niece and nephew would bring Moana to her senses. "Somewhere along the line we found ourselves falling in love...

Things seemed to fizzle out between Moana and Terrance and Terrance met Kasseri Fromage from down the road and romance blossemed

During the day he been suffering from a mysterious bout of food poisoning but we couldn't identify why he was having problems while everyone else was symptom free. After all we had all been eating the same food. We were soon to find out why...

Terrance was pregnant!

That did not stop him from romancing Kasseri! Meanwhile things were going very well between Hine and I.

"Terrance introduced Joel to Kasseri's sister Aura. Well there's a another pair smitten.

"Two standing lamps mysteriously appeared outside our house...

"Well not so mysterious, Hine and Kasseri were seen sneaking away...

"Hine laughed when I asked her about it. She says she and Kasseri went to the local cafe afterwards and had a good chat. She thinks Kasseri and Terrance would make a good couple since Kasseri was a family sim and Terrance was knowledge. Then she winked at me and said we would make a good couple for the same reason except she was knowledge and I was family. "Something else Hine said got me thinking. She told me how Kasseri was seriously thinking of adopting, of how there were so many sim kids in need of a good home. I ended up telling her how I always wanted a big family but how Louise couldn't have anymore kids so we stopped at three, and how much I would love to ring up the adoption serivce and give some of those kids a home myself. "Hine asked why didn't I and I had to admit it was the money aspect holding me back. The adoption service wanted families with a certain amount of money in the bank and we simply did not have that spare cash hanging around. Ethan overheard the conversation and left the room with a very thoughtful expression on his face. He came back a wee while later and shoved something into my hands. It was a big wad of simoleans! "When I asked him about it he told me that he had sold his business so we would have enough money in the house to satisfy the adoption agency. He then grinned and said it was a temporary loan but he had got a large enough goodwill payment for it that would enable him to add some improvement and also provide a bit of cash on hand for the family. "I went and called the adoption service, they said they would bring a child around in the morning and went to tell Hine the good news. She told me she was so happy for me and then grinned and said you know those kid need a mother as well as a father.

"Hint taken, I got down on my knees and proposed to her which was followed very quickly by very quick wedding ceremony. We wanted to make sure nothing would go wrong with the adoption the following morning. "Before that happened we were awoken from cries coming from the boys room next door. Terrance was going into labour!

He gave birth to twin boy Sky and Rangi. My first grandchildren, I feel so proud. Later that morning my new daughter Lainey was dropped off.

"Here's Hine having a good chat to her behind the house. "And this is what our house looked like then.

"Then there were a whole lot of changes. Amethyst from next door told me about a mysterious device that can change a sim's aspiration and persuaded Ethan to use it. Ethan seemed to be a lot more interested in family matters. Terrance and Joel ended up moving in with the Fromage sisters and I'll let them tell their story when their turn comes so I won't spoil it for you. (I'd just say that Sky and Rangi aren't my only grandchildren). Amethyst from next door went to college and persuaded my step daughter Pania to go with her and while she was at college she got involved with my son Ethan and married him when she graduated. Shortly after they got married my son Joel called me and invited me down to Ethan's community lot. "There was something he wanted to show me he said. Then he showed me the deed to the community lot hanging on the wall priced at 1 simoleon! when I gasped he said look we've discussed this between the three of us. We all want you to have the lot, you don't get much working for a wage as a elder and this will provide a security for you and Hine and Lainey and the other little brothers and sisters of ours that you are going to adopt. I mean you rang a successful dairy farm for how many years , We're pretty certain that you can run a successful store. "And so we did. Hine and I worked hard and built a store on that site.

"We hired a young man called Tempus Viator to work in the store. He brought with him a bench that could make robots. Now I wonder where that technology came from.

We adopted more children, a boy, Greg, another girl, Sharlene and then three boys Chase, Zack and Stuart. This is Greg being teased by one of our neighbours.

"Although he seems to have a sunny disposition and wasn't down for long.

This is Zack arriving at the house.

This is Sharlene becoming a teenager, the boy in front of her is Chase and the boy at the back is Stuat

Lainey became very interested in my employee Tempus.

And became romantically involved with him.

"When she and the others went to University she persuaded Tempus to go with her. I am so happy to see these three go to University. By the time they left to go to University I had acquired two more business and I transferred them to Sharlene and Lainey before they left. "Why didn't Greg get anything? Well Greg is my heir and he will inherit the original business and house when I pass on...

"This is me and Hine and the boys sitting down to eat breakfast on a very special day.

"He's arriving in the car!

"We rang up the adoption service last night and was greeted warmly by the social worker. "'Hi Mr Cooper,' she said, 'I know that you like to adopt children but would you consider adopting a toddler this time? We have a little boy who we think will do very well with you and your wife.' She told me of the tragic circumstance surrounding the child. It didn't take long for Hine and I to say yes.