Now that's a party!

The whole Mellon clan came over to the house for Hobart's birthday. And by "whole" I mean just those who are on the outskirts living off the land. Aden Mellon of course couldn't make it. (His excuse was something lame about Elizabeth needing rest after the wedding.)


Hobart is actually pretty handsome for having the natural in game genetics. Big noses don't bother me. (And I've actually seen larger on the Stratton males.)


I thought this was cute. Somehow I've never had a boy sit down to play with the doll house and not thrash it. He sat down and was doing the voices for the characters while next to him, Nectarine, his niece (or possibly nephew, I can't remember), chews on a dolly.

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OMG Cuteness!

Well, I was playing Bonnie Centowski's clothing shop (Ama's mom) and I had a surprise visitor!

Hobart came in alone looking at the quilt Melanie had been eying in this post.



It was set to a high price since it is a custom object, but Bonnie is quite observant. She also happened to notice Hobart hanging around Melanie (who happens to be Bonnie's niece) who had been looking at the same object.

Bonnie's too smart to ask him directly, but when she asked if it was for him, he only sniffed, "I'm too old for that stuff. It's a gift."

"Well, in that case..." and so she knocked it down to a cheaper price.

Hobart used all of his saved allowance to pay for it. He's a very responsible kid, and he'd been saving up for something good. I suppose this is worth it.



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Snarkysims noted in her latest entry that sometimes the AI seems to have some odd timing. Or maybe it's perfect timing.

Behind Hobart in line? That'd be Demi Love, Melanie's mother! I wonder what she would think if she knew that the boy in line in front of her was buying something for her young daughter? Yikes, I wonder what Water will think when his oldest baby girl brings home a gift from a boy!

And here I had been planning on sending Melanie's father to buy it for her! I was thinking it might be important later on, but SHEESH Hobart.

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Melanie's First date

It's tradition that I send kids out with their parents to buy new clothes when they age up. So when Melanie Love aged up, her father, Water Mellon, took her out and they ran into Hobart, the best friend of Mel's cousin, Ama.





Well Hobart must be tired of Ama's shifty ways and rather taken with sweet little Mel. Mel and her father went out for burgers after shopping and Hobart showed up at that lot too. They went skating under Water's watchful eye.



Then I was playing someone else the other day and Mel showed up at Bonnie's clothing shop thinking about buying a quilt oddly enough. And who shows up and stands right beside her?




I love when coincidences like this happen, but Hobart's just asking for trouble. Mel is totally her father's little girl.



That incident Kate mentioned off hand in BFF about Gabe & Rich and the SSX competition, that actually did happen. I just forgot to post the picture.

All I did was tell Rich and Gabe to have a gaming contest. (They both wanted to win one and, for the record, I'm pretty sure Gabe won this one.)



I think it's very clear what Gabe's excuse will be.

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Friday Evening

Jason and Ama sat in the police station waiting for their parents to pick them up. Jason was happy that he got to sit behind the desk, though he wasn't allowed to touch anything. Ama and Hobart sat on the other side of the desk. Ama had her arms crossed, and she had pulled her chair so that it would face away from Hobart.





Hobart said, "Ama, c'mon. You can't get mad at me. My dads asked after your parents called. You know I can't lie to my dads."

Ama refused to look at his pleading eyes. "Hmph!"

Jason sat quietly. When his mother saw him, he knew he would be in big trouble.

They hadn't thought that their mothers might contact each other! Ms. Smith, Jason's mom, had called Ama's mom at her work. It was all over after that. Ama's father was the local police chief.



"Oh, my baby!" The high pitched sound of Jason's mother's voice brought him back from his thoughts to the present. She kissed him all over his face so that he had to wipe his sleeve across his entire face to get off the feeling of her lips (and any lipstick).



Ama's mother and father were there right after Jason's mother. From what Jason could see over his mother's shoulder, Ama's mom was very unhappy. Jason heard her saying, "Young lady, you are SO grounded! From here on out, after school you are going with me to work. Not another word!"

Ama's father could be heard saying to Hobart and his dad, "Thanks, man. I don't know what we'd do if we didn't have responsible Hobart here."

Jason's mother was still fussing over him in a way that upset him. "Mom, I am NOT a baby."

"You are my baby. And you'll always be my baby. Now come along. Let's get you home. Do you want some hot cocoa? You must be cold."

Jason followed dejectedly after his mother. Ama's fierce gaze caught his eye, just for a second, before her mother started lecturing her again. For that second, Jason didn't feel like a little kid. He had been a brave adventurer ready to catch a murderer. He'd certainly been braver than Hobart, who had told on them to the grown ups. Jason liked the thought that he was braver than the older and taller Hobart. At least Hobart couldn't call him a baby now.

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In a few days:



Alberta has a friend who tells her a few things about Gabe.

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Amália seems to have a plan. Unfortunately.

Both of the boys turned towards her. "What?" They said it almost in unison.



Seeing Hobart's interest, Amália turned towards him. "Yeah! My dad sent me to my room early, but they didn't know I wasn't asleep. Dad said that it looked like her blood had been drained through her neck-- like a vampire did it. Isn't that weird?"



Hobart was trapped. He looked over Ama's head at poor Jason who was faced with the back of Ama's head. In a way, it was better this way. Jason could not expect what Ama would suggest.

"I think we should look for him!"



Hobart looked at her, surprised even after his mental preparations. "Who?"

"The guy who did it, duh! I bet he is a real vampire."

Hobart groaned. He was only a year older than Ama, but he felt himself to be the wiser of the two. "Oh no. No way. You're on your own."

"Pfft!" Ama stuck her tongue out and turned back to Jason. "What about you, Jason?"

Jason seemed to perk up when Ama turned her attention back to him with the offer of adventure. "Yeah! I wanna see him. Maybe we could catch him."

"Maybe. But it's gonna be dark. Are you scared of the dark like you are of bugs?"

"Shut up, Ama. I am not."

Hobart rolled his eyes. "And how are you going to get out of the house at night?"



Ama's response was full of her classic smugness. "Easy. I'll say I'm at his house and he'll say he's at my house."

Hobart's head was starting to hurt from the eye rolling.

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Amália has information

"Psst!"

Hobart tried his best to ignore Amália. Class would begin as soon as Amberle walked into the classroom and he didn't want to be caught talking about what ever Ama wanted to talk about. (Amberle was late again, which was usually due to her bad luck.) But besides that, Amália had the look on her face that usually meant she had an idea that was bound to get him in trouble. He had made the mistake of trusting her once, but he was a very quick learner.



"Hobart, c'mon!"


"No, Ama. I definitely don't want to know."




Jason, on the other side of Amália, became curious. "I wanna know!"



Ama rolled her eyes. "Ok fine. At least someone wants to know." She had never been fond of Jason. He was the youngest of the three students at the Maria Rodriguez elementary school. But just because Amália found him annoying that didn't mean she couldn't use him when she felt she needed to.



She turned towards Jason. "Promise you won't get sick?"

"I promise!" Jason was already anxious to hear it. A big mistake.

"You sure? You know how you get when I talk about the bugs."



Jason looked like Ama had insulted him. "Cause you usually do it when we're eating."

"Ok. But I warned you." A smug look crossed Ama's face. Hobart realized that he hadn't wanted to hear what Ama had to say, and now he was going to whether he wanted to listen or not. Ama always won.

"Someone was killed in the forest on the outside of town."

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