Uncomplicated 2.11: Birthday party from hell

     Dad's become a bigger celebrity than me with all the medical speeches he gives all over. The paparazzi never leave us alone. I really don't want to fence-in the entire yard, but I may have to. This woman's name is Juliet Hanks, and she's particularly tenacious when it comes to getting a scoop. I've had to more than once go out and yell at her for creepily peering into our kitchen. Plus... the outfits the game puts townies in... yeah.

     I continue to work on Levi's biography, even though the world is plagued by error code 12's.
     Mandi and I date frequently over the next month. I want as much time as I can get with her. Frequently, the temptation to beg her to move in with me becomes almost unbearable. Her neighbor's house gets broken into. The only thing stolen was his laptop, and Mandi tries to play it off as no big deal. But the very idea of something awful happening to Mandi scares me to death. What if it had been her house, and worse, what if she'd been at home when it happened?
     To make myself rest easier, I often ask her to stay the night... or simply refuse, with a wicked grin on my face, to drive her home. However, that brings about the delicious torture of having her in my bed yet continuing to keep things simple, as simple as I can stand.
     Tonight, I ask her to stay once again, and she agrees with a lusting look in her eyes. After walking into my bedroom, she shoves me back onto the bed and climbs on top of me.

     I give in, secure in the knowledge that she knows that this isn't all I want... Although, this is quite a lot to handle. Yes, I have my hands full as I happily indulge myself by doing what I'd wanted to do since the first second I saw Mandi in this dress.

     I stop holding back, and the little vixen continues to beg for more. Good thing too because my poor body's had all it can take. Even still, I take my time, enjoying every inch of this gorgeous woman in my arms.
     I love you, I think loudly when we finally start making love.
     "Nick?" she asks.
     "Hm?" I ask her, wondering what she's asking/wanting/needing. She doesn't answer me, too caught up in our next blissful moment.
     Later, she lays her head on my chest while we catch our breath.
     "I love you too," she breathes, and my heart feels too big for my chest as I roll us over, capturing that beautiful mouth that uttered those wonderful words.
     I can hardly breathe for wanting to shout to the world how happy I am in this moment. She loves me! She said it! Now, I don't want to just ask her to move in with me; I want her to marry me. Do I ask her now? She said she loves me after all.
     "I love you too," echoes in my head. "...too..." Wait. "Too"?!
     "Too?" I can't help but ask.
     "Mhm," she answers and nods her precious head.
     Understanding suddenly comes to me. "I wasn't just thinking loudly," I muse, almost to myself.
     She giggles and wraps her arms around my neck.
     I happily enjoy those fantastic lips and decide to wait and propose another time. I don't want to risk ruining this perfect moment with a refusal. Even a 'not right now' would tarnish the luster this memory will give me the rest of my life.

 

     A few nights later, Mandi and I get the house cleaned up for Bonnie's birthday party. She tells me more of how she used to work as a maid but had to stop that when her schooling turned more career-oriented. My mind pictures her in a maid's outfit, and I have to immediately think of something else. We don't have time before the party for a little woohoo.

     Levi shows up with deep-fried ice cream fritters and stabs Donovan Steele with them when he walks down the sidewalk. Donovan's uninjured though, magically.
     So hard to imagine Levi and Sunshine as grandparents! Damion and Danna had a boy named Lawrence.

     Donovan pulls ratatouille out of nowhere. At least... maybe I don't want to know where he got it.
     Yes, I invited Donovan, Bonnie's biological father, my arch-enemy. He hasn't tried to take my daughter from me again, so I hope this invitation is accepted as a peace offering. Plus, Bonnie's never officially met him. I think she's too young to be really told who he is, and he understands when I ask him to keep it to himself. He's probably just happy to be allowed to see her and would do whatever I asked to keep the privilege.

     Remember Shayna Rao (now Bellamore since she married Clark), my half-siblings' half-sibling? She comes to the party too, and she gets a makeover. Then, The Maker tries to save the game and gets an error code 12. Again. So, we have to start the party... again. Shayna doesn't get a makeover this time.

      This turns into the party from hell. It takes forever for me to get Bonnie down here. People stand around, bored. Some start dancing. Monika cries with the 'cheated on' thought, even though we get creepy notifications about her and her much-younger boyfriend (going the other way this time, huh, Monika?) doing just great.
     I have to make several tries to get Bonnie to not be picked up and sent to her crib by Mandi, Dad, and Donovan. I need to get her to the cake!!!

    I finally get Bonnie to the cake. (That's Shayna standing behind me sans makeover.)
    Levi pulls out his guitar while we wait. No one comes to start cheering at the cake like they usually do.

    We wait... and wait.... and wait......

     Finally, I give up and have Bonnie blow out the candles before they burn down to the icing.

    I put Bonnie down on the floor.
    Oh, now people show up to do the birthday cheering thing.

    Bonnie sits there and does nothing.

     Until she pulls Pat out and starts playing with him.

     The Maker deletes the old cake and buys a new one. By this time, people have started leaving the party, upset there was no birthday. I try again at the new cake.
      This time, the guests that remain accept that there's been a birthday, and they leave absolutely thrilled, calling it the best birthday party ever.
     Bonnie gets out Pat and starts playing with him again... still not aging up.
     I get a notification that the party was a complete failure. /sigh.
     The Maker does the testingcheatsenabled thing and tries to age her up that way. She gets the notification, but nothing else happens.
     Irritated, I decide to put Bonnie to bed before she starts screaming her head off because she's tired. However, every time I pick her up and go to move anywhere, the game resets us and puts Bonnie on the floor a few feet away.
     The Maker goes into MC and resets the whole lot.

    The reset takes away Bonnie's hair, but The Maker just wants her to age up. Finally, it works....

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm starting to wonder (since playing this) that it might be Bonnie's hair that's screwing with my computer. I got a good save after this, but I've been getting error code 12's and times when it saves for an infinite amount of time, never finishing the save... and then I have to go into task manager and 'x' the game out that way because nothing else will work even though it shows that the game is running hard. Trust me. I waited an hour one time. I REALLY don't want to have to do a rebuild again. I haven't been deleting my cache files. hm. (finds instructions, does it and the other stuff... 2.13GB) Hope that helps me.
Since first writing this, I tried again, using different catalysts. I'd been doing a little decorating each time I'd get the never-ending save. After I placed the sailboat birdbath (that comes with BB), savus infinitus. Until I know for sure, no birdbath! I can live without a birdbath!

Thoroughly irritated, I kept a running tally of how many times it took me to finally give up and reset the lot: three times going to a fresh cake and seven for the shift-click.

Federico Trebo (Sunshine's brother and Nina Caliente's son) marries someone named Karie.
Kenneth and Jeanette Bellamore preggers