Dear reader, welcome to the Bookacy Family Alphabet Adventures once again! This is chapter 22, and a spare update. That is, we're going to catch up with the extended family a bit, not just the immediate spares, but also the various cousins of the family. So, sit tight and enjoy the ride!

"Can I now look at the pictures with my granddaughter?"

You go ahead, Adrian.

"As I was saying, Cho, there were a lot of weddings when you were little. Your parents were of course the first to get married, but there were a lot of siblings and cousins, too. Actually, one older couple got married, too. But let's now look at the pictures. Remember to be careful with the album now, will you, Cho my girl?"

"I will, Grandpa."

"Oh that's Aunt Beth's wedding! She's my favorite!"

"Yes, that would be your Aunt Beth there. She was one of the first to get married. And look, there's a picture of her whole family there, too."

"Well, I'm sure you recognize Aunt Beth there on the left, and on the right that is her husband..."

"Sean."

"Yes, Sean. Beth and Sean met in college and have been together ever since. They have a son, Carl, who is a little younger than you."

"And Carl is my cousin, right, Grandpa?"

"Yes, you are first cousins. You've met a couple of times already."

"Yeah. I remember, Grandpa. He's fun."

"Beth and Sean had a big, fancy wedding. How could they not, two popularity sims with so many friends?"

"Oooh, Aunt Beth looks so beautiful in that dress!"

"Doesn't she? I was very proud of my little girl that day."

"Aunt Beth is not a little girl, Grandpa."

"I know, sweetie. But she is still Grandpa's little girl."

"Sean was a little eager with the cake feeding there. But I guess Beth wouldn't have it any other way."

"The party was a huge success. Here's a picture of some smustlers on the front porch."

"Look, that's Gramma there!"

"Oh yes. Gramma was there also, and you know, Cho, she loves to smustle."

"Beth was very happy that her long-time best friend Marsha was able to make it in the end. Here she has just arrived, she said she came straight from her work."

"Is she a police officer, Grandpa?"

"Yes, honey. She wants to be a Captain Hero some day, you know."

"The two of them had a great time together, as always. I think Marsha was the last to leave the party."

"She has a really pretty dress, too."

"It wasn't long afterwards when Beth found out she was pregnant with Carl. Here she's playing with her cousin, Bonnie."

"They look so much alike!"

"Yes indeed, they do. The whole family has been wondering about that. They could be twins, but in fact they are only first cousins."

"What is she to me, Grandpa?"

"Bonnie? She must be... your first cousin once removed. She's a first cousin to your Dad, Beth and Bill."

"Okay, Grandpa."

"Beth and Sean may not be family sims, but they sure were excited about meeting their son."

"Here's a picture of Carl as a baby. He was adored by the whole family."

"I don't remember him being a little baby, Grandpa."

"Well, that's because you were still very little yourself."

"This is from Carl's first birthday party. I remember the kitchen was pretty cramped, because everyone wanted to get a glimpse of the birthday boy."

"Here he is, a the little tyke. Ready to take on the world!"

"Birthdays are fun. Was there cake, Grandpa?"

"Oh, there definitely was cake. And I'm sure Carl would have wanted to have some himself, but he was too little for that yet."

"This one is your Aunt's favorite. She says that her men both loved peek-a-boo when Carl was little."

"And here's Carl all grown up, as you know him. This was taken on his birthday."

"Can I play with Carl soon again, Grandpa?"

"Maybe this weekend, sweetie. We have to ask your Aunt and Uncle."

"Not long after Beth, her best friend Marsha also got married. With Beth's cousin, Bailey."

"If Bailey's my Aunt's cousin, who is he to me?"

"Oh sweetie. You have very difficult questions for Grandpa! Let's see... Bailey is also your Dad's cousin, which I guess would make you two first cousins once removed."

"Just like Bonnie?"

"Yes, just like Bonnie. Bailey is, actually, Bonnie's half brother."

"Half, Grandpa?"

"Well yes. Bonnie's mother is Meadow, Arthur's wife, but Bailey was the result of an alien abduction, and he has two daddies, Arthur and Pollination Technician."

"But I thought he was Uncle Bill's daddy!"

"Who?"

"Mr. Technician!"

"Well, actually he is also Uncle Bill's other daddy. The other one is me, of course. That makes Bill and Bailey both half brothers and cousins."

"Wow."

"Indeed, Cho. Now, this is still from the wedding, the young couple are giving their vows"

"They look happy."

"They do."

"And well, also this wedding was a big occasion. There you can see your Daddy in the back row. Next to him there's Bianca, another cousin of your Dad's, and Bill, the same for goes for him. Beth was naturally also there for her best friend's wedding."

"Who's the lady in the red dress, Grandpa?"

"That's Joy. He came together with her fiance there, Aadam, who is my half brother."

"The one who's Daddy is not your Daddy, Grandpa?"

"Yes. My mother, Author, was also his mother, but we have different fathers."

"Okay. What is he then to me?"

"Oh dear. You should ask Gramma, she's a lot better at these things than I am. He is probably your... half great uncle?"

"Okay, Grandpa."

"Anyway, the lady there next to him is Kendra, who married my brother Abraham."

"Oh look, Grandpa, cake!"

"Yes, there was also cake in the wedding. From what I remember, it was very good. Not as good as a well-made grilled cheese sandwich, of course, but delicious all the same. Oh, and that over there, behind Bailey, is Abraham, my brother."

"So my great uncle?"

"I think so, sweetie."

"Bailey was very pleased that Aadam made it to the wedding. I remember him saying that Marsha had been worrying about it for days beforehand. Aadam said that also Marsha's adoptive father sent his best wishes, because unfortunately he couldn't make it."

"Aadam knows Marsha's dad?"

"It seems so. He and Marsha are pretty close, so I guess he's met her father, too. I've never met him myself."

"Marsha was a little bit disappointed about her father not making it, but all the other guests made up for it I guess."

"I think I would be pretty upset if Daddy didn't make it to my wedding, Grandpa."

"Marsha did seem disappointed, too. Aadam said something about the timing causing difficulties for her father, and she seemed to accept the explanation. Now that I think of it, it seemed to me that Aadam would have wanted to talk to Marsha more, but in the fuss it was difficult to talk to anyone for long. I wonder what it was that was on his mind, he..."

"Oh look, Grandpa, here's Marsha with a big belly!"

"Yes, sweetie, here she has a big belly. Marsha and Bailey soon started expecting their first child."

"The poor little thing was born in the bathroom, of all places. Marsha was in pretty strong pains."

"Actually, so strong that Bailey decided that it was best to follow the birth from afar, in the living room."

"But all went well, and so little Chip Bruenig was born. There was no mistaking who his parents were."

"Here's little Chip as a toddler. He sure loved playing the xylophone."

"And here he is newly grown up. I think his parents threw him a small party. Or well, party or not, there are always visitors in the house from what I hear."

"Hey, that's me!"

"Yes, that is you, Cho. Do you remember when this was taken?"

"It was when I went to Chip's home after school last week!"

"Yes, that's when. You'd already brought him here once, so you became friends pretty fast that time."

"And well, Marsha told me you were having a lot of fun even while she ordered Chip to go take his bath. She said her and Bailey's bed has been creaking just a little since then."

"Marsha and Bailey have two children altogether. I think you briefly met Chip's little sister while you were visiting them."

"Little Cissy Bruenig was, unlike her brother, born in the living room. This is Cissy as a newborn baby."

"She has such a cute, buttony little nose!"

"Doesn't she? That's something she got from Bailey."

"And here she is as a toddler. Such a sweet little girl she is!"

"And here's a picture of the kids together. Marsha told me she was pretty proud of herself when she got them to sit on the couch long enough to snap a picture."

"Then this one... It seems to be from a party again... I can't quite recognize..."

"That's Daddy."

"Yes, that's Baudolino, doing something he quite likes doing. Teaching his cousin Bonnie the Sea Chantey. And your Gramma and and Aunt also seem to be doing something they like."

"Gossiping, Grandpa?"

"Yes, yes, gossiping. But I still can't quite figure out, which party this was..."

"I know, Grandpa! It's..."

"Ah yes! Your Uncle Bill's wedding! Here's Bill and his groom..."

"Ira."

"Yes, sweetie. You seem to know these pictures pretty well, do you now?"

"I do. But I still like it when you tell me who's who and what happened."

"Again."

"Uh-huh."

"At this point, not all of the sibling had yet had their elder birthdays. This is Abraham and Kendra, dancing away, as they always do in parties. That and pillow fight. It's not a time or two they've missed the main occasion in a party because of that."

"And here are the ladies of the family, or well, some of them, smustling. They could barely stop for the duration of the ceremony. I'm not sure all of them even did."

"No, actually, it doesn't seem that they did. Here's a picture of the actual ceremony. Now that I think of it, it was a very beautiful one. Laura there absolutely adored the vows By the way, Cho, can you recognize who that is in the background?"

"That's you, Grandpa!"

"Yes, that was me. I don't show up in these pictures a lot it seems. Must have been hiding from the camera. And that seems to be Bianca, coming for the ceremony a little late."

"It must have been a fun party, Grandpa."

"It sure was."

"But I still think it's a pity that there was no pretty dress."

"I'm sure you do. But I think neither Bill nor Ira would have liked wearing one."

"No, they wouldn't."

"After the ceremony ended, it was time to have fun. The two grooms led the way by dancing under the arch."

"The party was a successful one, as you can imagine any party hosted by your uncle Bill is. Well, the house was perhaps a little small for such a large family gathering, especially in the bathroom department. But in the end it all turned out well."

"Not long after the wedding, Bill and Ira agreed that it was time to do something they'd been planning since college. As a male couple, having children of their own would be difficult if not impossible. So instead of going through all the medical trouble, they decided to adopt instead."

"This is your cousin, Claire, when she was just a little baby."

"She's so tiny, Grandpa!"

"Well at that time, you weren't so big yourself."

"Here are a couple of pictures of her as a toddler. Here Ira is talking to his daughter..."

"... and here Bill is teaching her to walk."

"As all kids, Claire grew up quite fast. This is her birthday picture."

"Was there no party or cake, Grandpa?"

"Not this time, sweetie. There's always life in the Riley household, so they wanted it to be a quiet family occasion for a change."

"Here's a picture of Claire as you've met her. She's playful, outgoing and friendly, so she fits right in with her two daddies. She also loves playing with the bathtub."

"With all his skills, it didn't take Bill long to top the Artist career. He was pretty pleased, but his real ambition is to have five top level businesses, and I think the last time we spoke, he said he was on level 7 with his second."

"Daddy wants to have 5 top level businesses, too."

"Yes, Cho, that's correct. He's somewhat further along, as he's already finished his second, but not so terribly much further."

"What about Uncle Ira? What does he want?"

"Oh, he is a Fortune sim like your Daddy, and he wants to earn 100 000 simoleans. He's working in the Criminal career and the want is pretty nicely on the way."

"Ah, the next pictures seem to be of Aurora and Andrew. Aurora is my younger sister, and Andrew is her spouse."

"So she's my great aunt?"

"Yes, just like my brother Abraham is your great uncle."

"Aurora and Andrew have been living next door for quite a long time now, and also both of them have reached permanent platinum. Aurora became a Professional Party guest, and Andrew became a Criminal Mastermind. In fact, Andrew even reached his second lifetime want, to become Professional party Guest, when you were very little. They are still working together on Aurora's second lifetime want, to have 50 dream dates."

"Well, Aurora and Andrew had been engaged ever since college, and never shown particular interest in getting married or having children. Not that they were opposed to either, but they liked just being together. That changed when Aurora found out she was pregnant, kind of late in life. They both were happy to become parents even though that may not have been the original plan."

"So, it was then that they decided to get married, too. After all, they'd been engaged for ages and together ever since teenage, so why not, as Aurora put it. The wedding was a little bit tough for her back as she was already visibly pregnant."

"But all in all everything went swimmingly."

"Andrew, as a fresh Professional Party Guest, DJed the event."

"Several members of the family were pretty excited about showing their skills in singing tunes from the Twikkii Island."

"Did Daddy teach you too, Grandpa?"

"He taught me too, yes."

"Ah, here's a picture of your Gramma, Cho. She seems to be visiting Aurora and Andrew and... eh... stealing their newspaper."

"But why would she do that, Grandpa? I thought she likes Great Aunt Aurora."

"Yes she does sweetie. And Andrew, too. I think I'm too nice to fully understand it, but it has to do with her lack of nice points."

"Here she seems to be... bored, I think, with Dagmar the mail carrier's lecture."

"Well, what can I say, Adrian dear? Quite frankly, I was bored. I mean, after all, I am the current Legacy matriarch, so who is a mail carrier to tell me I am not allowed to steal a newspaper from my neighbors if I so wish?"

"Yes, dear. Absolutely, dear."

"I think I'll take a shower before dinner, Adrian. Keep an eye on Cho, will you? Baudolino is upstairs with the boys."

"We'll be fine, I'm just showing the family pictures to Cho."

"Very well. Remember to wash your hands before dinner, then, Cho."

"I will, Gramma."

"Ahem, anyway. Where was I? Yes. Soon it was time for Aurora's labor."

"Andrew happened to be outside just then, I always remember how Aurora said he rushed inside at her command as if the house was on fire."

"Grandpa, wouldn't it make more sense to run out if the house was on fire?"

"Oh. Yes, Cho, I suppose it would. But that was a figure of speech, really. Maybe your Great Aunt could have picked a better one."

"Arthur also happened to be there, visiting the family, and rushed inside to congratulate the fresh mother and little Bobby. Aurora, of course, was beaming."

"This is little Bobby as a toddler. Aurora said he must have picked something up from his fun-loving parents, as already when in diapers, he loved to dance."

"This is from Bobby's birthday party, as you can guess. Grandpa was there, too, and I did my best to make a lot of noise for my little nephew."

"Here is Bobby right after he grew up. He's got his father's eyes, and I think also the dark hair comes from Andrew. He's also got a lot of Aurora in him."

"Soon after Bobby's birthday Aurora and Andrew decided that it was time to go for a family vacation on the Twikkii Island now that Bobby was old enough. They had a bunch pictures of Bobby building sandcastles when they came back."

"That looks like fun, Grandpa."

"I'm sure it is, sweetie. And you're brother is taking good care that you'll get to try it eventually, too."

"That doesn't look fun, though."

"I'm sure Bobby would agree about that. Crabs aren't dangerous, but you sure get a good scare out of it if you happen to accidentally disturb one while playing in the sand."

"Well, Aurora and Andrew sure picked the eleventh moment to go for vacation as they wanted to make it before their birthdays."

"Did they become elders already?"

"Yes, sweetie, they did. Aurora is Grandpa's sister, after all."

"But... Bobby is just a kid, Grandpa! Mom and Dad aren't elders yet, and won't be for a while, right?"

"No, that's right. It's just that Aurora and Andrew were quite a bit older than the rest of us siblings when they had a baby. On the other hand, Aurora is the second youngest of us, so they are also quite a bit younger than me and your Gramma."

"Anyway, Andrew made it into elderhood first, and Aurora seems to think that he hasn't lost any of his charm in the process."

"And someone left the bathroom door open!"

"Oh. Yes, so it seems. I suspect it must have been your Daddy. Well, not that this family minds. We're mostly pretty outgoing."

"Well, as I was about to say, Aurora had better still think her husband was attractive as an elder, as she transitioned quite soon after him. They had a common party, in fact."

"And here's a picture of them some time after the party. They may be elders now, but that doesn't stop them from having fun!"

"Let's see what we have next here... Ah, we seem to go back in time just a little bit."

"That's Great Uncle Abraham and Great Aunt Kendra!"

"Yes, this must have been taken shortly before their elder birthday I'm sure."

"Yes, yes, that must be it. Because this is their daughter Bianca, and her college sweetheart Ramin, celebrating Ramin's graduation. After finishing college, Ramin moved in with Bianca and her parents, as they were planning to get married soon."

"And this must be from Abraham and Kendra's birthday party. Many of us siblings were there, and we all like a good sidewalk smustle."

"Who's that on the right, Grandpa?"

"That's your Great Uncle Adson, Cho. He's actually only slightly younger than I am, but because he is living together with a zombie, he's staying young with the help of elixir. I hear he and his fincee Rebecca are spending a lot of aspiration points on it. Anyway, he's very close with Abraham and was of course invited."

"Oh, and speaking of Rebecca, that's her sneaking by your Uncle Bill and Ira, who once again only had eyes for each other."

"Here's Abraham at his cake. I think he was getting a bit impatient already. These parties are getting pretty big family affairs, and it takes a while before everyone has gotten themselves jammed into the kitchen."

"And here's Kendra, already getting ready to blow out the candles."

"There are so many candles, Grandpa!"

"Well, that's what you get when you grow old. Fortunately for us elders, birthday cakes can't catch fire."

"They transitioned almost simultaneously. This is Abraham."

"And there's Kendra. She looks a bit different now, as she bought new clothes afterward She's quite fond of green."

"Like Beth and Sean, Bianca and Ramin weren't yet engaged right after college, but they fixed that as soon as possible."

"You didn't show me any pictures of Aunt Beth's engagement, Grandpa."

"Well, there aren't any really. Your Aunt says that... ahem... that it was a very private occasion."

"This is from Bianca and Ramin's wedding. It was easy to tell those two were made for each other."

"It was a very beautiful ceremony. The bride and groom were drowning in each other's eyes. Kendra was sniffing very loudly."

"Was she crying? What was wrong, Grandpa?"

"Wrong, sweetie? No, no, nothing was wrong. She was just so happy. I saw those 8 000 aspiration points myself. And Abraham was quite platinum as well."

"Kendra may have worried a little bit about whether two popularity sims would be having any children, but soon after the wedding she got a reason to smile, when Bianca found out she was pregnant. If I remember correctly, they both actually rolled the want for a baby."

"The family still has a certain cowplant called Dolores. Abraham has assured us that when properly fed, she's fully harmless. Kendra says she's actually learned to like Dolores, and takes care of the regular feeding herself."

"Is that Dolores? She looks pretty scary."

"Well, with good reason, too. She's the very same cowplant that once..."

"... ate my Great Uncle Adson's girlfriend."

"Exactly. But Abraham is convinced that when well fed and in a friendly environment she's safe to keep."

"Abraham and Kendra are still head over heels for each other after all these years. In fact, now that Abraham has become a Mad Scientist and Kendra a Captain Hero, they have more time for each other than they used to. Abraham has always been an ambitious man, though. Pretty soon after establishing his career as a scientist, he also became a Chief of Staff in the local hospital and after that he maximized all his skills."

"Wow. He must be really smart!"

"He is, Cho sweetie. Though when I congratulated him, he shrugged and said that he was pretty close to both goals after becoming a Mad Scientist already, so he might just as well go for it."

"Soon enough it was time for Bianca to have the baby. It was a little girl, and they named her Carla. She looks a lot like her father, but she's got her mother's eyes."

"Here are a couple of pictures of Carla as she grows up. This is from her toddler birthday. Kendra got the honor of tossing her grandchild into toddlerhood."

"And here she is as a child. I hear Carla is a very lively little girl, always busy with something."

"How is she related to me, Grandpa?"

"Well, let's see. Your Dad and Bianca are first cousins, so that makes you..."

"... second cousins, Grandpa?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Ah, next up seem to be the Thayers."

"That's Great Uncle Arthur, right?"

"On the far right? Yes, that's Arthur, my brother. And on the far left we've got his wife Meadow. Between them there's their eldest, Bonnie. And her husband Thomas of course."

"And the kids are twins, right, Grandpa?"

"Yes, they've got two kids, Clarissa and Clyde, and they are twins. They're also a little younger than you."

"As in several other households, there was a double birthday ahead in the Thayer house also."

"Great Uncle Arthur and Great Aunt Meadow's?"

"Yes, indeed. It was time for those two to become elders, and they'd invited a lot of family and friends to celebrate it. It wasn't very exceptional for them, though, as the Thayer house is regularly full of sims. C always says that she's never seen a house where the inhabitants drag home as many sims as the Thayers do."

"Anyway, after the party it was time for business as usual. Arthur was quite excited about his twilight years, looking forward to his upcoming retirement and the prospects of relatives getting married and having grandchildren."

"Meadow had a little bit harder time adjusting to being old. I suppose that's the way it is with the ladies. All the same, Arthur reminded her about all the benefits that life can offer to an elderly family sim, and she agreed with him that there's still much to look forward to."

"One of the things Arthur and Meadow both looked forward to was their golden anniversary. It was their common lifetime want after Arthur had achieved his first by becoming Captain Hero. They celebrated the anniversary with some friends and relatives, and toasted with champagne, of course."

"This is then from Bonnie and Thomas' wedding, as you can guess. The young couple was quite excited about finally tying the knot, and Arthur and Meadow were of course very proud and happy for their daughter."

"I like the wedding pictures most of all, Grandpa."

"Because of all the pretty dresses?"

"Yes, and the flowers and confetti, too."

"There aren't terribly many pictures from the wedding party, everyone was too busy having fun, as usual when it's about the Thayers. Here's one. The bride and the groom were a sweet couple, but not the only one such."

"This one is from when the twins were born. Thomas was excited to be a father. Actually, so excited that he forgot to tell Arthur to put the camera away when he was getting off the bathtub."

"Little Clarissa was born in the bathroom."

"And this one's Clyde. He was born in the kitchen, where Meadow had happily accepted to hold her granddaughter."

"Is that Clarissa as a toddler, Grandpa?"

"Yes, that's her. Easy to recognize, right?"

"And that's Marsha who's holding her."

"Yes it is. She and Bailey visit frequently – Bailey is Arthur's son, after all. Especially Marsha comes along with the kids just great."

"This is little Clyde, being held by his Grandpa Arthur. Here Arthur is still wearing his Captain Hero uniform. Since then he has retired and is enjoying it very much."

"And this here is Clyde and Clarissa's uncle, Bill. He was visiting on their birthday, and insisted on giving Clyde a bath. For a romance sim, he's very interested in kids. He means well, but doesn't really have much experience in these matters. Arthur told me, pretty amused, that more than a bath, Clyde would have needed to use the potty. So the bath was, well, kind of wasted."

"Here's yet a common portrait of the twins. They've been close even in toddlerhood."

"They're so cute."

"I guess all toddlers are. Even more so if they're one's relatives, of course."

"Here they are, just grown up. As usual, there was a big crowd to cheer them on."

"Ah yes, here it is. Bill here is Bonnie's younger brother, and as I said he's Clyde and Clarissa's uncle. Here he's signing the lease contract for his apartment."

"He doesn't have a house of his own?"

"That's right, Cho. You see, Bill is a romance sim, but a shy one at that. Besides, he didn't have all that much money after college. So for a while he lived in a house of its own, but it wasn't much of a house really, and his life wasn't very comfortable. So in the end he decided that he was the perfect sim to try out living in a rented apartment That way, he'd get a pretty nice home without initially spending too much – and he also thought it would be easy to meet girls that way."

"And well, turns out he was right about that. This is Sandy Fairchild, Bill's girlfriend. She used to be his upstairs neighbor, and they met in the common areas. They've been seeing each other pretty regularly, and rumor has it they recently became roommates, too. Whenever Meadow hints at marriage and grandchildren, though, Bill somehow manages to change the subject."

"They don't want a wedding, Grandpa?"

"I think not particularly, sweetie. They're both romance sims. On the other hand, they're both pretty career oriented, and not terribly outgoing – Bill is outright shy – so who knows, they might end up staying together."

"Hooray, another wedding, Grandpa!"

"Yes, sweetie. That would be Barry and Laura's. Barry is again one of your Dad's cousins, he's the only son of Adson and Rebecca, and Laura used to be the Bookacy Greek House Greek House placeholder in college. They are both family sims, so getting married was one of their top priorities after college."

"This is the proud parents dancing the night away. Adson and Rebecca."

"And Rebecca is a zombie, right, Grandpa?"

"Yes, Cho. The only one in Alphabetia."

"Because the cowplant Dolores ate her."

"Yes, and the resurrection operation went slightly wrong. But nonetheless, Rebecca has been able to live a happy life together with Adson. That's something that's really great about her: she never complains. Not even when she became a zombie. She just takes life as it comes."

"Pretty soon after the wedding, Laura achieved another important milestone. She became Captain Hero, as well as the first sim in her generation to become permanent platinum."

"Being two family sims, Barry and Laura wasted no time getting pregnant. They were both ecstatic to find themselves future parents."

"This is little Corinna, their firstborn. She was born at night time, right next to the driveway, poor thing."

"She's cute. But why does she have black hair, Grandpa? Don't babies usually look like their parents?"

"Ah. I was wondering about the same, but Laura later told me she dyes her hair red. She's got natural black hair."

"Because of Barry's lifetime want, Barry and Laura wanted to have at least three children. Actually, they would have wanted more, but C gave them the look."

"The look?"

"The look that means 'NO'."

"Oh."

"So, three children it was going to be. And C gave them a hint that Laura should eat some delicious cheesecake when pregnant. And she did."

"What happened, Grandpa?"

"You remember what happened."

"The pregnancy resulted in twins. Calista and Chloe."

"Which is which?"

"I've no idea. Laura claims she could tell them apart, but Barry admits he couldn't. They aren't identical, but as babies they looked very similar. Even now I can mainly recognize them by their different hairstyles."

"There's a funny little story from the time the twins were babies, considering their grandmother Rebecca."

"Oh tell me, Grandpa, please!"

"You've heard it so many times already."

...

"Okay, okay sweetie, I was going to tell the story! Ahem. Rebecca was visiting the family, and as a proud grandparent, she wanted to hold the girls. She insisted on even feeding one of them, I forget which one."

"Well, as it often goes, babies who are already well fed, will fill their diapers when fed more. Rebecca, even though a mother herself, felt pretty confused and helpless in the situation."

"So, in no time at all, Laura found that she was receiving a baby who was well fed indeed, but also stinky. Barry, who was speaking on the phone in the living room, swears he heard his mother muttering under her breath 'Well, this time the deal's better. There's someone to push them to when they start to scream.'"

"Which girl is this, Grandpa?"

"This is Corinna, the eldest."

"Is she the one who splashed water on the toddler pictures?"

"The very same Corinna. She's always been a bit of a tomboy, and after she took the siblings' toddler pictures from the album to 'take a closer look', those were never seen again."

"And this one is of the twins. The one with the pigtails is... let me think... yes, that must be Calista. Yes. And the one with the curly ponytail is then Chloe. Yes, that's how it is."

"That's Great Uncle Aadam and his family, isn't it Grandpa?"

"Yes, it is. Aadam is my youngest brother, or half brother to be exact. He's somewhat younger than the rest of us, and I think he's also been drinking some elixir along the way. This one's a rare family portrait Aadam managed to slip me a short time ago. The family doesn't really get to spend as much time together as they'd like."

"Because Great Uncle Aadam doesn't live with them."

"Yes. He can only visit, and that must happen in secret from his father."

"Why? Doesn't his father like them?"

"It's complicated, Cho. His Dad is a complicated man with many problems. But I guess you could say that he doesn't like the rest of the family very much."

"I'll understand better when I'm older?"

"I suppose so. Anyway, that's of course Aadam on the couch, and next to him is his fiancee Joy. Sitting on the floor are their twin girls, Beatrice and Barbara. Beatrice is on the left, with short hair."

"Here are the girls playing together. They've sometimes had a little bit of a hard time without their father, but all in all Joy has done a great job bringing them up. She's even tried to get them to meet some of their relatives of the same age, but she of course has to be careful. Aadam's father doesn't even know that he has grandchildren, and Aadam and Joy think it's best to keep it that way."

"That's sad, Grandpa."

"It is. It's very sad. But it can't be helped. They have to think about what's best for the girls."

"Aadam visits as often as he can. Joy never complains, but it's easy to tell she misses him. Maybe in a better time he'll be able to live with his family. I know he'd want to, but right now he can't leave his father behind."

"Here's a picture of Adson and Rebecca. It was actually taken pretty recently. The two are still living happily together, literally ever after, I guess one could say."

"Are they married, Grandpa?"

"Engaged. They'd both wanted to get engaged since college, and finally did, but so far they've shown no intention to actually tie the knot. I suppose the engagement was enough of a commitment for those two. And well, if they ever want to get married... They've got all eternity to do it."

"This one is pretty recent, too. Adson finally made it to the top of the Paranormal career. He grinned when he told me that his boss finally understood that taking into account the case of Rebecca, he knows supernatural inside and out."

"Well, that seems to have been the last picture in the album, Cho."

"Yeah... That was it."

"Alright now, sweetie. Please put the album back into the shelf, and then you can go play with your brothers for a while before dinner."

"Okay, Grandpa. What's for dinner?"

"Well, if your Gramma doesn't object, we might have some delicious grilled cheese."

"I think Gramma will object."

"Yeah, I think so too."

"Thanks, Grandpa! I love it when we look at the pictures and you tell me stories about the family!"

"You're welcome, sweetie. Those are good stories, I like them too. Run to play now, okay?"

"Okay, Grandpa. I love you."

"Love you too, Cho."

Well, I suppose that is it then also for our chapter this time. Thanks for reading our spare update this time, and I hope you'll join us for the next regular chapter of The Bookacy Family Alphabet Adventures. Until then, happy simming!