Dear reader, welcome back to the Bookacy Family Alphabet Adventures! Last time when we left off, not so long ago, the second child of generation C, Cho, had just grown into a toddler. This, in turn, is the eldest of the siblings, Cyrus. Skilling, as he often is.

"Well, at least this is fun."

That is actually why you're doing it. As soon as your fun goes back up, you're taking the cookbook again.

If it makes you feel any better, Cyrus, your sister gets to skill as well.

Well, in reality this was just a pointless cute picture. Moving on.

Marylena enjoys having a second child. Again someone who she can teach new skills to, and play with.

"Mommy!"

"Creator, did you hear that? She said 'Mommy'!"

I did. Very good, Marylena, very good. Keep it up.

Mommy is there to do the talking education, but Grandpa is there for snuggles. Right, Adrian?

"Right! And for the cheese."

That too. But you could still wait until the kid is on solid food.

While Baudolino is a family man at heart, sometimes he just needs a break from the potty training hulabaloo at home. And what would better relax him than convincing hesitant customers to buy furniture they don't really need?

Nicole eagerly helps with anything she can. Or well, I guess "help" is not the correct verb in coordination with this picture. She tries hard, though!

"Waaaaah! I'm bald! What have you done?!"

"I'm sorry, mr. Ramirez! Would you please let me fix that?"

"No! I insist to storm off the lot and make you wait until I come to this business again!"

Well, your choice. Be bald, then.

In general, relatives are always eager to help. Here we have Ramin and Bianca* Patch, thoroughly testing the pillow fighting features of our finest pillows. I believe they found the quality satisfactory.

*Bianca is the daughter of Abraham and Kendra.

Badges are also gained by all, day and night.

George mostly does restocking or is the cashier. Why? Because he is a little too nice for his own good. When left on his own among the customers, he tries to admire everything that moves. And not everyone takes that very well. So, to avoid dust clouds in the business, we keep George on a pretty tight leash.

Baudolino recently gained the business perk that allows him to rally forth, so I naturally had to see what it looks like. Apparently he takes up a megaphone and gives some sort of a sales speech. Some random customers will be affected by it...

... which makes them jump excitedly and wave their money. It is quite amusing to watch.

I guess it also makes them more eager to buy.

Mostly Baudolino does things the old fashioned way, though: by exploiting the high relationship points of relatives and hard selling things to them. The current vic... I mean, customer, is Bill, Baudolino's half brother.

It also seems that now the sea chantey is spreading among townies as well. Well, I'm yet to see the interaction rejected, so go on, come sing sea chantey in my store, and gain stars for the positive interactions! I'm still amused by this. And I'm still wondering whether it will start to annoy me in a few generations.

Ther you go, Baudolino, we're on level 9! Only a short way to go, and you'll have two top ranked businesses!

"9,000 aspiration points, sweet!"

Back at home, then.

Ah, I was wondering where that one set of groceries we ordered went. Seems it was hidden somewhere by the garage where I couldn't see it. We ordered a new set, and this one has been laying around for about a week. Well, it doesn't seem to be buzzing or anything, so well, let's just put it in the fridge. Don't you just love how you can still eat stuff that has been laying in a shopping basket in your garage for a week? On the other hand, if you let your cereal sit for like two hours, it will attract flies. Oh well.

Once again, Marylena is in the nursery when she finds out she is pregnant again.

"See, Cho? Mommy is going to have a baby!"

"Mommy baby?"

"Yes honey, a baby. Soon you'll have someone new to play with."

"Cho pway!"

It's also Cyrus' first day at school.

"Aww, I smiled all nicely and listened real hard, but I still only got a B-. What's up with that, C?"

Patience, kid. No one gets perfect in one day.

"Not even in sims?"

Not that I've ever seen that, kid. Besides, wouldn't that be kind of boring? Well, maybe more to me than to you.

Like mother, like son, huh, Baudolino?

"Don't worry, kitty, the rescuers are on their way!"

"Umm... It's easier if you think it's simoleans, Cyrus. If you have ten simoleans, and get five more from selling lemonade, then how many do you have?"

"Ten simoleans, five simoleans and no lemonade?"

"Yay! I got an A+!"

That's the way to go, Cyrus. I bet your Dad teaching you some elementary maths had something to do with it, huh?

"Yeah. And now I know you can either have the lemonade or the simoleans, but not both."

"Yoohoo!"

Yes, Marylena?

"I'm more pregnant than before!"

Ah, okay. Very nice. Only one day to go, then.

"Hi Daddy!"

"Hi there, little fellow."

"Guess what? I got an A+ at school today!"

"That's nice, Cyrus."

"And I know what ten simoleans plus five simoleans is!"

"Even better, son."

You just gained 6,000 aspiration points from selling a masterpiece, Nicole. Why so mad?

"You won't let us socialize."

Oh, that. I see.

Cyrus, come away from the chessboard. Grandpa needs to play on his own for a while.

"Okay."

Yes, I'm re-attempting the social bunny bonus. I forgot to do it when there were no kids in the house, so I'm doing it now. At least the kids can now keep company for each other in order to not be taken by the social worker.

Sorry to tear you away from your Grandfather like that. He had some grownup business to take care of.

"It's okay. I'll talk to Cho instead. She's kind of fun you know.

Hey Cho!"

"Cho!"

"When are you going to be big enough to go on vacation with me?"

Well, Cyrus... Cho is going to grow up quite soon but... But you'll soon have another sister or brother you know.

"And they wouldn't like it if they had to stay at home, right?"

Exactly.

"Okay, then. But when they're bigger, too, we can go?"

Yes. I promise.

So, bunny number one we have here. And it's blue. Good, good.

"Hurry, C! Being lonely sucks!"

I'm trying, Adrian. You need to help me here, you know. Nicole already did her part.

Bah. A second blue one.

Oh well, better luck next time I guess. You should at least interact in some way so that the effort wouldn't be completely wasted, you know. Fight or something, so I'd get a couple of funny pictures, even if I don't get the points.

"Nyah nyah, we don't work for you, remember?"

Oh yeah. That. Bummer.

Well, in that case, bunnies... Say goodbye!

"Nooooooo! Kissing! *puff*"

Ahem. I'm done now with the childishness attack. We may continue.

And continue we do. In the morning, it's time for the third and final generation C baby to be born.

"OWWWWW!"

"Oh dear! My wife is having a baby. Panic time!"

"I'm getting a baby sister or brother! I want to see them!"

"Hello there, little one. Mommy is so glad to meet you!"

"Oh dear, oh dear. They are alright!"

Of course they are, Nicole. I never thought you would panic like that.

"I was not panicking, Creator! I was convinced everything would go perfectly fine."

So, welcome to the family then, Charlie Bookacy! You too were named after a Harry Potter character, Charlie Weasley. I'm sorry about that, had I remembered that I already had a Potter name in this generation, I would have picked something else. Oh well.

Anyway, Charlie Weasley is one of the older brothers of Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend. Charlie has already graduated from Hogwarts, and he works as a dragon caretaker in Romania. He is seen visiting his family in some sections of the books, and his knowledge of dragons is sometimes helpful.

This continues the tradition of mixing the relationships of the book characters. The original Abraham and Aurora Zogoiby were a married couple, but in this series, they are siblings. Now, Bill is little Charlie's (half) uncle, whereas in the Potter books they were brothers.

The new baby of the family is highly approved of by everyone, including a random friend of Baudolino's.

Shortly afterward.

"Daddy make Jack come out!"

"Okay, sweetie. Daddy is turning the crank now."

*Boing!*

"Wheeeee!"

"Hooray!"

Just wondering: which is more excited?

And yes, why Marylena and Baudolino were both in the nursery... It's time for Cho to grow up just a little!

Okay, kid. You may proceed.

Oh wait. What's that noise?

Oh. That's just your parents singing the sea chantey. Nothing to worry about. I guess they should rather be concentrating on your birthday, but well, whatever.

"Mommy Daddy siwwy?"

Just a little bit, kid. It's nothing too serious. Most are in this house, so maybe it's contagious.

See, they do watch when it matters. Just consider it a birthday song, okay?

"Yay, I'm still cute!"

Yes you are.

"And I'm not a baby anymore!"

That's nice too.

"Our baby just grew up."

"Yes indeed, honey. Or well, one of them."

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Cyrus?"

"When does Charlie grow up?"

"Well, that will take some time yet. Why?"

"Gramma promised that when all of us are big enough..."

"Creator?"

Yes, my girl Cho?

"Can I be the heiress?"

Whoa, girl! You sure don't waste any time. How do you even know about this heir or heiress business?

"Well, Cyrus has been talking to me some. I know one of us kids will be heir or heiress and that is really cool. So can I?"

Well, Cho, you see. There is more to being the heiress than just the cool. It's a task with a big responsibility. And... Umm... Well, there's more to it, trust me. I'll tell you when you're older.

"Okay. But you didn't answer my question."

Ah, you noticed. Let's say I'll think about it.

"Grandpa, having cereal for breakfast was really nice. You didn't eat cereal, though. Don't you like cereal?"

"Well, I do, but I was craving for a special sandwich for breakfast. I would have made sadwiches for the rest of you, too, but your Grandmother insisted on making cereal."

"Why is that, Grandpa?"

"Well, she said something about growing children needing a healthy diet. But now run off to school, or you'll be late!"

You too, Cho! Have a nice first day at school! Play nice!

Here's proof that Nicole is truly enjoying being a grandmother. She got aspiration from both playing with and cuddling little Charlie. I'm proud of you, Nicole!

"Well thank you, Creator. Being a Gramma is quite an experience, really."

Well hello there, Chip! Nice to see you. Cho brought you from school?

"Yeah. Can you make that noise stop?"

Not really. But it'll go away in a moment, it's just Cho's Grandpa's carpool.

As some of you may have guessed, Chip's last name is Bruenig. He's Marsha and Bailey's son, and you will be seeing him again next chapter, which is a spare update.

"Daddy!"

"Hi sweetie! How was school?"

"It was kinda nice. Our teacher is cool. But guess what?"

"What?"

"I brought a boy home, and his name is Chip and he's all green!"

"Chip? Chip Bruenig?"

"Yeah, I think so Daddy. Do you know him?"

"Well, not really, but I know his parents - his Dad, Bailey, is my cousin. So that makes you two second cousins."

"Wow. That's cool."

"Isn't it? Nice that you brought him home, now the rest of us can get to know him, too."

"Yeah. Oh, and guess what else?"

"Well?"

"I asked Creator if I could be the heiress, and she said she'd think about it!"

"..."

I didn't promise anything, Cho! I swear I didn't, Baudolino!

Anyway, now that two of the three children are in school age, and the parents' want panels are filled with private school, I decided I won't wait with those until Charlie grows up. He can get his own round then.

Nicole was best-suited to go greet the headmaster.

"Nice to meet you sir. I am Nicole Bookacy, the current matriarch of the family."

"Nice to met you too, m'am."

"So, sir. Would you be interested in a tour of the Bookacy Family Legacy main?"

"Oh, a tour would be lovely! It has been a generation since I've last seen your marvelous expensive objects!"

"So you're Chip, right? My sister said you're our second cousin."

"Yeah. That's kind of funny, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. You know what?"

"What?"

"Our Gramma promised that when we're bigger, we get to travel with her and Grandpa and..."

"Not again, Cyrus!"

"But she did!"

"Look, Chip, I'm sorry. He can go on and on about what Gramma promised. He's like that."

"It's okay. I bet traveling would be nice."

"So, this is the upstairs lounge and game room, sir. This is where we spend some of our free time, studying and building the fun motive."

"Brilliant! Absolutely fabulous! And such a beautiful, expensive pool table you have!"

"Well, this is the master bedroom. This is where the current heir and spouse live. It is not a very exciting room in fact, it only has the bed and..."

"But it's such an expensive bed, m'am!"

"... the living room. There seem to be the children and our current heir watching some children's programmes together before dinner."

"Super, Fantastic! And a plasma television!"

"Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Is that man always like that?"

"Well, he was when I was young. I actually gave him the tour then. Don't worry, he's quite harmless even though the smile when he thinks of expensive objects can look pretty scary."

"... and this is the downstairs hall. Those stairs lead to the basement, and there is an exit to the back yard over there..."

"Stunning! Amazing, beautiful, expensive, objects you have, mrs. Bookacy!"

"I am glad to hear you like them, sir. Would you like to join us for dinner now?"

Marylena dear, would you please slow down a little bit? Let's not upset the headmaster with your table manners.

"*gobble gobble* You were saying?"

Nevermind.

Over dinner, Cyrus amazes all with his detailed knowledge about the latest fashion in shoes.

Or maybe he just confuses them by talking about pink, high heeled shoes. Who knows.

The headmaster doesn't seem to be bothered by the family's table manners. On the contrary, he seems to find them quite amusing.

"Congratulations, mrs. Bookacy. I am quite impressed with your expensive objects once again. Our school is happy to accept both of your young ones as its students."

"Nice doing business with you, sir. I believe we shall meet again once little Charlie becomes old enough to attend."

"Until then. And do deliver my greetings to that wonderful, expensive mechanical man you have, mrs. Bookacy."

Both the proud parents are quite happy over the admittance of their children into the private school.

Soon enough it's also little Charlie's birthday. Time to become a toddler!

And yes, Charlie, that's your parents singing the sea chantey for your birthday. It's a family tradition.

They did eventually stop singing and join the rest of the family to watch their son grow up. Come on George, blow the candles out!

"I am trying my best, miss Creator, but I do not actually have a mouth."

Well, blowing the candles out did eventually succeed, too. Hello there, Charlie! You seem to be a cute kid!

And again, for those in interested in such things, Charlie's statistics are 2/9/5/6/4. So yet another good mix of Baudolino and Marylena. Hooray!

Hi there, kid. I hope your boy ego is not terribly damaged by the pink pajamas. That's what you grew up in, sorry.

"Gaga goo!"

Not sure what the answer means, but well, at least he's got pretty blue eyes and he's smiling nicely, right?

More random cuteness around the house. As you may have noticed from the fact that suddenly the house has ceilings, I recently installed Apartment Life, and so far I'm having fun with it. At the time of the writing, I'm already planning adding more expansions.

As always, I allow myself to use any new properties for my advantages, but am still sticking to the old rules (the old old ones with the NPC points and all), so no new bonuses will apply. However, I'm considering I might incorporate the Master points from the new rules at some point, simply because they sound like fun to me. That is still under thought.

"So if you have five simoleans and you spend three on ice cream, how much do you have then?"

"Umm... Two simoleans, Daddy? And an ice cream."

"Very good, Cho! Thinking in simoleans helps, see?"

"I don't know about that. But the ice cream does."

"Good night, little Charlie, sleep tight. Cheesy dreams."

Adrian does like to spend time with the little ones.

And I don't see Nicole complaining, either. I think she most enjoys playing with them, but as a very goal driven sim she finds teaching new skills important, too.

The older kids get along well, while Baudolino seems to be discussing global matters with a colleague.

"You hit harder than I do, Cho. And you're a girl."

"That's because you have too many nice points. But I think Gramma hits the hardest of all."

In this house bonding often happens over a grilled cheese sandwich.

Very often, indeed. Sandwiches are still had more often than in a regular household. And of course Adrian has to show off with his superior sandwich making skills whenever he gets the chance. Whenever there are visitors is considered a very good chance.

We interrupt the regular program of our Legacy tales with this fun picture of a burglar in the dance sphere.

No, it's not a real burglar. It's just uncle Ira who decided to drop by in his working outfit.

"Good morning, honey."

"Morning."

"Do you want to get up yet?"

"Not really. Do you?"

"No, I don't think so. I think I heard the shower, so the kids are probably getting ready for school. But I think we can sleep in today, before Baudolino wants my help at the business."

"I like the idea. And then I can make you a nice grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast, too."

"I love you, Adrian."

So, business time it is indeed. The Furniture Heaven is on level nine now, and Baudolino must be eager to have his second top ranked business.

And yes, George can be allowed to sell if only I watch him closely.

"Thank you, mister, for responding positively to my sales offer. Now may I admire you?"

NO.

We seem to have gotten a reporter in the business as well. Good, good. Now sell like there's no tomorrow, Baudolino.

"With pleasure, m'am!"

"Amount of snapdragons: satisfactory. Level of guarding over-friendly, admiring servos: good. Testing of sold object (which): thorough (pillows). Amount of flattering the reporter and ignoring other customers: promising, but yet improvable."

Baudolino, don't just stand there! More selling!

"Hey, stop selling to the bald guy and start selling to me instead! There might be a good review in it for you. And why is the guy bald anyway?"

"Well, see my Mom kind of had this accident with the makeover chair... Ahem. Anyway, I'll be right with you. So mister Ramirez, would you be interested in buying?"

"I would, but I don't really have the money..."

"Oh, that's okay. Feel free to browse, though."

I'm sure that's not what your mother or sister would say. But well, I think that is a good answer.

Oh and poor Checo. He's bald and doesn't have any money. Things are not looking too good for him, are they? Note to self: go to the Ramirez household and empty Checo's inventory of about a kazillion pieces of art and furniture. Just so he can buy more.

"Alright, mr. Ramirez. I'm glad you came by again. Now let's see what I can do about your hair."

"Are you sure you're not just going to make it worse?"

"Absolutely, mr. Ramirez!"

"Oh wow. That guy is hot when his hair is being fixed back to it's normal state!"

"Oh come on Beth. We're only a few stars short now. Surely you want the beautiful white couch? And help your brother at the same time?"

"I'm not really..."

"Thanks, sis, I appreciate it!"

"You know this was more fun in college, when I did it to others."

So, George. How is the restocking going?

"Quite well, I believe, miss Creator. However, I am disappointed that you do not let me admire customers."

There's a reason for that, George.

Not everything goes smoothly always, not even in a level nine business. Fighting customer alert, fighting customer alert! Security, would you please see these two out?

"Coming, miss Creator. May I admire mr. Cox there? He has a very nice new hairstyle, I believe."

Whatever, as long as you admire them off the lot.

Marylena is there to help, too. And this time it's her turn to get hit by the cash register. Baudolino has more skill in that area, but unfortunately he's stuck in the sales.

Beth does give in and awards her brother a star. And buys a couple of pieces of furniture in the process.

"Darling! So fantastic to see you! *mwah mwah*"

"Umm... You too I guess. And your name was?"

The new greetings from AL are quite funny. This is how socialites say hello. But what is that I see above Baudolino's head?

Oh yes, it's the aspiration points for reaching level 10 in the business. Thanks, Ira, for the final star! And Beth too! That's what I call family spirit!

So Baudolino closes the business and heads home. His second top ranked business is in the bag.

Oh, and the reporter did give us the best of the best award. Which is nice, although it came kinda late in the game. It's starting to get a little bit ironical that pretty much all of our businesses are getting these rewards now – except for the family business, the only one where I'd get points for it. Sigh. Well, you can't always win.

All the same, hooray for the second top ranked business!

A little bit later back at home.

"Grandpa?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Would you please look at the photos with me, I mean those in the family album?"

"Again?"

"Please? It's so much fun. And I might be the heiress and all."

"Okay, honey. Go get the photo album, and Grandpa will finish the dishes so Gramma won't be angry when she comes back from the business."

"Okay. Thanks, Grandpa!"

"Okay, Grandpa, here's the album."

"Alright. Let's see... Well, as you know, there were indeed many weddings at the time when you were a little younger and..."

Okay Adrian, can you hold it there for a while?

"Okay, C. What is?"

Well, this is kind of the end of the chapter. The rest of that story is our spare update, remember?

"Oh yeah, that. Okay then."

So, this is where I leave you this time and...

"But Creator!”

Yes, Cho?

"Can I be the heiress?"

I'll think about that, as I said.

As I was saying, this is where I leave you this time, dear reader. I hope you have enjoyed chapter 21 of The Bookacy Family Alphabet Adventures. See you next time in our official spare update. Until then, thanks for reading and happy simming!