Life on the Bayou - Part 4 - Bayou Bijou's First Wedding

Before we go to the wedding and learn of the divorce, we are in need of some background information on some of the more recent residents who have made an appearance in town.

Meeting the Residents

First we have Lorena Burroughs. She is a very successful style influencer on social media, which explains her avant garde fashion choices and large house.

She lives in Creole House (created by Lapaige46 & Cheeseweasel), and recently adopted a pet - a kitten, named Alex.

Lorena is irresistible, a schmoozer, lucky, has a good sense of humor, and is a couch potato.

We'll learn more about her life soon.

Next, we have hunky Keith Hart.

Keith is a dare-devil who loves the outdoors, a great kisser, lucky, and a natural cook. In fact, he has already achieved his lifetime wish of being a culinary librarian. In other words, he's quite the catch.

He lives in the house his grandmother left him in her will. Of all the grandchildren he was the one who visited her the most, and she could see that he really loved his visits and the town. He lives at Mamie's Legacy (created by whatsociallife).

For a lucky sim, poor Keith has been short on luck lately. First, he discovered that Mamie's house was haunted, and not by Mamie herself! He had to call in a professional to deal with it. Thanks, Billy!

A few days later, Keith got another unwelcome visitor.

His name is Jackson Means - a name that suits him. He stole Keith's laptop (I think), but Keith seemed more concerned about a missing planter box.

He called the police, but it was too late. The culprit got a way scot-free.

The cop asked him what valuables might have been taken, then announce he got a promotion. Keith wasn't all that impressed.

The Echols Family Drama

I spent most of my time with the Echols family working on making good on my threat to 1) invite the college girlfriend for a visit, and 2) get Logan to marry his pregnant hometown honey.

One of the first things to happen was Harmony's birthday. The girls were out fishing when it happened, and it took me by surprise.

Because the girls looked so much alike as kids, I decided they were twins and sent them home to age Bridget up with a birthday cake and see how they looked as teens.

Harmony, to the right of this shot, aged up into a terrible hairdo. Both girls got a makeovers after Bridget aged up. Logan was just too hungry to care about the festivities.

Here's Harmony after her makeover. Her traits are couch potato, light sleeper, eccentric, and lucky.

And here's Bridget (below). They definitely have different vibes, with Harmony being more fun-loving and easy-going and Bridget being more serious, and perhaps a little glum. She doesn't look it in this picture, but one of her traits is excitable. The others are adventurous, disciplined, and vehicle enthusiast.

I decided not to try the romantic date proposal, but went the more practical route and had Logan propose to Sarah at home.

Due to a brain-fart I had, I invited Leslie Briscoe for a visit, then arranged the wedding, then got distracted by a message sent to me by Story Progression and switched houses briefly. This cancelled both the visit and the wedding. Logan made the arrangements again, but this delayed Leslie's visit by a day, and I wanted Logan and Sarah to get married before Sarah had the baby. So Leslie will arrive the day after the wedding.

I don't see Logan as being mean and vindictive - he's just stupid and insensitive when it comes to relationships, so let's just pretend that he didn't invite Leslie, but Leslie decided to pay him a surprise visit because she hadn't heard from him in awhile, and when she did, he seemed kind of distant and distracted.

The night before the wedding, a mysterious relative showed up. His name is Heath Echols. I think he's a cousin or something. In the earlier episode, while Ishmael and Danita were skinny dipping in the hot tub at Bayou Beats, Danita brought him up, and I assumed the game made a mistake and meant Logan.

Louie apparently knew Heath, so I had him invite him over, so I could get to know him.

Heath is a young adult and a resort worker. I'm going to assume he is a cousin who always got Logan in trouble when they were younger. Because Danita said he was completely broke, I'm going to assume he lost his money gambling. (I gave him a few skills, including gambling.) Heath is excitable, ambitious, a bookworm, disciplined, and a perfectionist. I might swap out a trait or two to better fit how I picture him as a trouble-maker. He was the first to find the booze at the wedding reception and snuck out on the balcony to partake (autonomously.)

But I'm getting ahead of myself . . . .

You may be wondering how Logan's siblings feel about Sarah. It seems the girls get along rather well with her, but Louie, while he doesn't dislike her, has her as his least favorite person in his relationship panel.

"Get a room, guys!"

Both Logan and Louie are loners, so it must have been Sarah who wanted the big wedding. They invited everyone they knew. I got Sarah a wedding dress that I'm pretty sure works for pregnant sims, but she chose not to wear it for some reason. Oh well. Louie bailed on the wedding with the lame excuse that it was too crowded.

Logan tried pulling the same stunt. What was he thinking?! You're staying, buddy. This is YOUR wedding!

The university mascot, Caleb Dougherty, either wasn't invited or didn't honor the dress code, and boy did people notice!

Despite all the hullabaloo, the couple tied the knot.

Take it easy, Bridget! You're not losing a brother; you're gaining a sister.

It looks like Louie had the decency to stay for the ceremony at least. He doesn't seem that excited about it, though.

There was an awkward moment when poor Logan, who hates being the center of attention, waited for Sarah to make her way to the reception hall to cut the cake. I assumed she had to go to the bathroom, but when I went looking for her, she was out playing gnubb! Not cool!

I rounded her up and sent her to the reception.

Try a little more enthusiasm, Sarah! It's your wedding day.

Hayley Ransone just can't wait to get some cake.

At least Sarah and Logan sat together.

Hayley still has a beef with Caleb Dougherty. As does Logan. Tell me how you really feel, Logan!

"This guy shows up at my wedding in ripped jeans, a tee shirt, and that dumb hat and eats my cake! I don't even remember inviting him!" Logan rages.

Kenyatta joins the hater's club giving Caleb a firm thumbs-down.

Louie was conspicuously absent from the reception. He snuck out and went home. He tried calling his girlfriend Hayley to explain that his social anxiety got the better of him and ask her to bring him a slice of cake.

"Hayley, this must be a bad connection. I can't make out a word you're saying. All I hear is 'arghhh' and something that sounds like 'grrrrains?' I'm asking you to bring me some cake. Caaaake. Are you okay, babe?"

Hayley was not okay. This is the problem with having a wedding on a full moon.

Despite the zombie and the hullabaloo over Caleb Dougherty, things went pretty well.

"Wow Logan, for a while there at the reception, I was sure you were going to punch Caleb. But you pulled it together. I'm proud of you. I hope someday if I get married that my wedding goes as smoothly."

"But I'm going to make sure the moon isn't full."

The next day, poor Leslie Briscoe showed up on Logan's doorstep. (Boy, Story Progression did the poor woman dirty. She's not the most attractive of sims, and that low-poly hairdo doesn't help at all. Don't worry, I gave her a bit of a makeover later on, trying to preserve the vibe, but making her less cringe."

Leslie is neurotic, frugal, an angler, excitable, and a genius. However it took her awhile to assess the situation. (I mostly just sat back and watched to see how this would turn out. I eventually gave Logan a nudge to confess to cheating, but I don't remember doing anything else.)

I think Logan must have greeted her a little rudely. "I'm sorry to show up like this unannounced, but I was getting worried. You seemed so distant and distracted last time we talked, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Logan invited her in.

"You really should have told me you were coming instead of just dropping in like this!" Logan fumed.

"I wouldn't have come at all if I knew I would get such a cold reception!" she replied.

"Hi, I'm Sarah Echols," Sarah said by way of introduction. "So you're a good friend of Logan's?"

Leslie assumed this was one of the sisters Logan had mentioned. Or maybe a cousin coming to help out?

"Oh! You're pregnant, aren't you?!" That explains why Logan seemed so distracted, she thought. He's dealing with an unmarried relative who's in the family way.

Why didn't he just say so?

That must be his brother Louie. He seems like a good kid, helping keep the place clean and the flies away, she thought.

Logan scrounged up a sleeping bag and put it in the upper family room as there weren't enough beds to accommodate a guest. Leslie settled in while Logan worked up the nerve to clear the air. First he started with some small-talk.

Then he worked up the nerve to come clean with her.

"I'm sorry I haven't written to you lately. Or called, for that matter. It's just that things around here have been happening so fast and I didn't know how to tell you about my situation."

"I never planned on it happening, but you see, I've been unfaithful to you. I had been out partying and blowing off some steam, you see. Being the head of this family can be very stressful. Anyway, I was a bit inebriated, and I met Sarah. She seemed so nice and understanding, and one thing led to another . . .

and when I found out she was pregnant with my child, I knew I had to do the right thing. We got married yesterday. Please don't say anything to Sarah. She doesn't know about you."

"Oh! I can't even look at you right now!"

"You are a stone-hearted S.O.B!" she snarled.

"I'm so sorry. I wish I never had to leave school and come back here, but my family needed me. And I never should have gotten involved with someone else without breaking things off with you first. I'm the fool here. I really care for you and want you to be happy, but it can't be with me, I'm afraid."

"I'd like you to stay and get to know my family. Now that you have graduated, you might consider looking for work around here. It's a great town. I could help you find a place to live. Please think about it. I hope we can remain friends," he said.

"So, Sarah, Logan said I could stay here with you a few days while I looked for a job and a place to stay. I hope you're okay with that."

"Hey, Leslie! Logan said you will be staying with us a few days! I'm so excited! I'm going to bake you a cake! I know this recipe that's really yummy!" Harmony enthused.

Harmony was all over Leslie like a cheap suit, but Bridget was more aloof.

Sarah didn't say anything, but I don't thinks she's all that keen on Leslie staying here.

"There's this cool art museum in town. Maybe we can go together and check it out sometime. What do you think? It's called La Galerie D'Art Du Monde (created by Hidehi) and it's just down the street from here!"

Leslie sensed that Sarah was not completely on board with her staying at the house, so she decided to butter her up a little. "I think it's really cool that you will be having a baby soon," she said.

Then she broke the fourth wall as if to say, "See, I'll be nice to her."

Then suddenly the birth pangs began!

"Oh my gosh! What should we do!"

The pain was so intense, Sarah wondered if Leslie was shooting her the evil eye and putting a hex on her. I admit, it did look suspicious.

Between Sarah's contractions. Harmony kept trying to engage Leslie in conversation. Bridget could see Leslie was becoming frustrated with Harmony and wished Harmony would back off.

"Listen little girl, I'm not interested in being your best buddy!"

"I came here to check on Logan because I know he's been stressed out having to look after you!"

Bridget decided to step in and entertain the girls with some ghost stories and give poor Sarah some privacy while she birthed the child. Soon baby Phineas was born. Auntie Harmony stepped in to take care of him while Sarah got some rest.

Oddly enough, without any interference from me, Sarah and Leslie became friends. Who knew! Leslie likes Sarah a lot more than she likes Logan at the moment, but she doesn't dislike Logan.

I'm thinking of moving Leslie into the apartment above the garage at Creole House. It seems fitting for a single sim just out of college.

But wait! What's going on here?

It looks like Lorena might already have someone moving into the Creole House property with her.

Recap: Bart Ransone was the firefighter who married his mentor's widow, Shana, after his mentor Clayton Spencer died in a fire.

I went to check on that household and learned that Bart and Shana got a divorce (again, without my permission) This could explain why Bart was so flirty with Danita Beaumont in the last episode - or maybe that contributed to the divorce. Who knows? I might have to turn off Story Progression for a bit, so I can catch my breath!

I did some Nraas Master Controller magic and fixed people's names and relationships so Logan Echols is showing as a brother in the Echols family tree now instead of the father, and Shana and her kids have taken back Clayton Spencer's last name (except I missed Ira somehow, but I will fix it next time I'm in the game.) This leaves Bart as the only Ransone in town. I moved him in with Lorena, because living with your ex-wife and having your new girlfriend over just isn't a good look.

Don't be too sorry for Shana, though. She has a new love interest of her own.

She and that hunk Keith Hart have been seeing each other. As for her son Henry, he's been getting into a little bit of mischief and staying out after curfew.

And the younger boys, Curtis and Ira (not pictured), have aged up to teens.

The other day, Keith Hart set out to apply for a job at the bistro. He arranged for Shana to meet him at the art gallery afterward.

They decided to go over to the botanical gardens, (created by whatsociallife), and have a picnic.

Shana surprised him with a nice bouquet of roses.

In Other News . . .

Other people visiting the botanical gardens included Bridget Echols, who was having a water balloon fight with a guy named Ivan Robinson. At first I thought they were on a date too, but she's a teen and he's an adult, and I don't allow that kind of thing.

And I got my first glimpse of the Reinhart family, who live in the Eclectic Italiante (created by XDelta Mirage).

This is Graham Reinhart. He is handy, lucky, artistic, an angler, and a schmoozer. He's also a proud papa to little Latonya here, who is good and loves the outdoors. I think he brought her to the gardens to give his wife Khalilah a break. Khalilah is pregnant again.

We'll get to know them a little better in a future episode.

Finally, it looks like Shana Spencer's youngest boys are at each other's throats. One of them moved out. (I assume with Shana's permission as I certainly didn't give him MY permission. I will definitely need to turn Story Progression off for a bit.)