~ Friday ~
Whirlwind romance for April and Fredrick. They get engaged!
Josephine moves in with Joel Joy after a big fight with her dad, Berjes.
Katrina and Conor are expecting their 1st child!
Ahmad has passed on. Angelique mourns the loss of her husband.
Kody and Shanika celebrate birthdays!
Josephine and Cliff McCrary get engaged.

Khiara was heading off to work when she got the call to run a vaccination clinic.

She did a fantastic job!
Successfully vaccinated 14 out of 14 sims.
Addy’s Note: In case you’re interested, this is the Wonderland Amusement Park CC Free, a commercial 64×64 lot created by Tiki5872. Download HERE

~ Saturday ~
April and Fredrick marry. Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. SJ-Lessen!
Josephine and Cliff marry. Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. SB-McCrary!
Kylie begins dating Deon Broke.
Lorena gives birth to a baby boy, Damian. Congratulations, Chase & Lorena!
Erich is a big brother now.
Deidra gives birth to a baby girl, Rae. Congratulations, Deidra & Kirk!
Titus is a big brother now.
Angelique begins dating Jess Mize.
Dylan has passed on. Antoine mourns the loss of his father.

The twins decide that today is the perfect day for learning to drive.

Ben asks his Dad to teach him and Bell asks Khiara. Neither wanted to interrupt Grandma Summer from what has become her favorite pastime.

Ben rushes outside first and jumps behind the wheel of Grandma’s sporty car.
Bell is perfectly happy learning to drive in Khiara’s SUV.

Addy’s Note: At this point, I discovered that Van’s orange pickup truck was gone. This is the second or third vehicle to disappear while the family has lived in this house. I honestly don’t know if the issue is with the lot itself or if the game is becoming further glitched due to my having played in the same town for its entirety. We’ll soon be heading into the 8th generation & that’s a lot of time spent in one place. Might have to move house once more, but I’m trying to hold off if I can because I really like this one.

Both practice and pass the test with flying colors.

Bellamy celebrates by calling her friends and letting them know, but Ben celebrates in a different way.

He had found books that relatives brought back from France and been quietly studying the techniques described within the pages of L’amour de Nectar: An Introductory Reader on his own and now felt ready to put his book-learning to the test.

Van helped him set up the L’amour des Fruits Nectar Maker in a corner of the garage and Ben got to work making his very first batch.

He produced 3 bottles of City Apple, a blend using 5 apples and 5 Renoit grapes. Great quality ~ not bad for one’s very first attempt!

~ Sunday, 1st day of Winter ~
Sergio and Ian celebrate birthdays!
Helena gives birth to her 2nd son, Mark. Congratulations, Shon & Helena!
Luther is a big brother now.

Today is the Winter Dance!

Bell asks Khiara to go dress shopping with her. They invite Ben to join them, but he politely turns them down since he plans to wear the formal wear he already owns. “No point in buying something I don’t plan on wearing again,” he grumbles.

Bell rolls her eyes and states that boys are silly … at which point Khiara smiles and gently pulls her outside so they can go. No point in letting them squabble over something so trivial, especially when their opinions won’t change.

A few hours later …

“What do you think, Khiara? Do you like it?”

“I do! That shade of yellow looks lovely against your coloring. I have one small suggestion so close your eyes for a few minutes and stand still.”

“Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

“What do you think? Do you like it? Pulling your hair away from your face and up in back draws attention to your beautiful eyes as well as allows others to see the earrings you picked to go with your outfit.”

“I LOVE it!!!”

“Now, it’s my turn to surprise you. Close your eyes, Khiara!”
Bell applies a temporary tint to Khaira’s hair and is glad that it’s temporary because it doesn’t turn out as well as she had hoped. It’s not horrible, but it isn’t quite right either.

“I am so sorry, Khiara,” Bell says with tears in her eyes. “This doesn’t look anything like the picture on the box. I wonder what I did wrong?”
“Don’t worry about it. It was really sweet of you to want to do something special for me and I truly appreciate it.”

They return home with Bell’s purchases, walking in with arms linked and chatting up a storm. Van smiles at seeing his daughter so happy.

Bell gushes, “We found the perfect dress and Khiara is going to help me fix my hair!”

As they’re heading upstairs Bell calls out to her brother, “C’mon, Ben! Time for you to get ready too!”
“Must I?”
“Yes, you must! Now stop dawdling and go get dressed.”
**grumble mumble girls grumble mumble** can be heard downstairs where Van is and he smiles to himself, remembering his own formal dance. It seems so long ago and yet not at the same time.

It isn’t too long before the three of them are back downstairs and he realizes how grown up they are. It won’t be long before they graduate and perhaps start families of their own.

“You look good, son, and I hope you enjoy yourself tonight,” Van says with a smile before turning to his daughter. “You look lovely, sweetie, and if any boy gives you trouble let your brother know.”
Bell replies, “We’ll be fine, Daddy,” trying her best not to react as Ben is rolling his eyes and making faces at her behind Van’s back.

“You two are going to have a great night and it looks like you have everything you’ll need. Money, cell phones, each other if need be.”

“Well … there is one more thing, Daddy. Ben and I haven’t been to a dance before so can you and Khiara teach us how to dance?”
Ben groans, “Aww, Bell … do I have to?”
With a determined look in her eye, Bell grabs her brother’s arm and takes their place near enough to see how it’s done but far enough away so they aren’t going to bump into Van and Khiara.

“This is probably the easiest way to dance to most songs,” Van says as they demonstrate.

“What about the slower songs?”

“Shall we show them, Khiara?” Van asks with a twinkle in his eye.
Khiara merely smiles and nods.

The limousine pulls up to the curb and the twins head out.
Have fun, you two!

Van and Khiara get caught up in the moment, barely registering that they are alone in the room.

The twins arrive at the dance and notice that no one bothered dressing up.
“Bell, you look great and don’t let any of those girls tell you otherwise.”
“Ben, I don’t think it is me those girls wish to talk to.”

Even though the evening wasn’t quite what they expected, their pictures turned out nice.

Things are quiet when they arrive home so Ben says goodnight and heads off to bed. Bell sees the light shining under Khiara’s bedroom door and knocks to see if she has a few minutes so they can talk.

Khiara asks Bell how her evening went and heard all about how topsy-turvy it was.

“No one else dressed up! It was so awkward being the only one in a fancy dress. One of them stepped on my foot and I’m pretty sure it was done on purpose.

Ben asked a girl to dance and she turned him down, saying something snarky about a King should only dance with his Queen. I think they’re all jealous because Ben and I won the crown for Winter King and Winter Queen.

Well maybe not all of them. Some guy that Ben knows, Braden something-or-other, kept smiling at me but never asked for a dance. Was he making fun like all the others?”

Khiara smiles and lets her know that since she wasn’t there, she couldn’t say for sure who was making fun and who was showing support. “All I know is that when the time is right, you will meet someone special and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you two are meant to be.”

“And … speaking of someone special … your dad kissed me tonight. I like him very much and I hope our growing closer together won’t cause any ….”

**Bell jumps up and quickly hugs Khiara**

“That’s wonderful, Khiara! Ben and I like you, we like you a lot. You’re smart, fun and make dad laugh. He deserves someone special in his life and I am so happy that it’s you! Wait until I tell Ben …”

“Not so fast, there is one thing you need to do before anything else. Help me get this pink dye out of my hair.”

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