Sandra Roth's Dad turned up at the dorm. I call this story "Dad Dancing"

Bubblegum and her husband Axel were scheduled to show up early at their friend Lark's house party, but things kind of fell apart when Bubblegum became threatened by a simple puddle of rain water. She might have been a cat-human hybrid, but the feline in her just wouldn't budge when it came to water. Eventually Axel got impatient and found his own solution to a very silly problem. Could you blame him?

It's a stormy day in Strangetown. Major Peter Ottomas has arrived home from work, to find that Dora has invited over David and his housemates to watch the twins grow up, that Tommy has brought Kriemhild Beaker home from school, that Sharla has brought home Jill Smith, and that lightning has just struck! Peter did not get promoted way ahead of his skillset in war-torn Simlakistan by losing his head in a crisis. "David! Get that child inside! I've got this!"

Meanwhile, inside..."Shoo-flee!"

"Congratulations! Another girl! Good job, dear!"
"Thanks, Peter. You're a good husband. But don't you have something else going on?"
"What could be more important than - oh, right!"

The fire has mysteriously spread and is now consuming sand and puddles. Could this be a disguised attack utilizing alien technology? Naw, that would be directed at General Buzz's house. Samantha leaves baby Anthea on the floor to run out and swoon over her husband's manly firefighting prowess. Nobody listens when Peter yells at them to go inside, possibly because he's coughing so hard they can't understand him. Fortunately Dora called the fire department before she came out to panic. The fire is out at last, and all the visitors go home because they stink of smoke. The twins will have to grow up without them.

Lawd, Penny, you just do the best stories! I can't even figure out a 4-pic short story..and I thought it would be easy!

It helps to take more pictures than you actually need; then when you're going back through them, you'll have enough to cherrypick and certain sequences will leap out at you.

Also, making story is pretty much all I do, all the time. I colonized all the synapses other people use for things like math, spatial relations, and sports trivia to devote to story. So every time I install a zipper it takes me three tries even though I've done it before and wrote myself notes on the pattern; but I can pop those stories out, by golly.

Anyway, Penny Weiss asked her babydaddy Rhett Hart out on a date and they went to Widespot's finest (only) eating establishment, the Dining Dash. Sandy Beech saw them and waited until her friend Penny left to approach Rhett.

"What the hell is the matter with you, getting engaged to her? You're no more fit to be married than, than -"

"Than you are? Going around like butter wouldn't melt in your mouth, not even letting me see my own kid! And telling Penny you'd told him The Truth before you told me? I want visitation rights, dammit! It's all out in the open now, we can do that!"

Rhett's angry, yes, but he's far more shocked and hurt. How did something so beautiful turn so ugly? And Penny's waiting out front...Meanwhile, Sandy is waking up to the fact that multiple Lands and the hostess witnessed this exchange, which means it's going to be all over the neighborhood by morning. Her meddling mother-in-law died just in time!

"You okay?"
"I'm fine. It's just, you know, Sandy stopped to say congratulations and we got a little emotional."
"Aw. Should I go talk to her?"
"Better not. You know how she is. Prickly about having feelings in front of people. Oh, we're gonna arrange visitation after the wedding. So Wallys and Laika can get to know each other."
"That's great!"
"I love you."
"I know! That's great, too! And I love you back, of course, that's why I suggested we get married!"

Felipe' thought that he had gotten over Moon since their breakup in college, but boy was he ever mistaken. Ever since he ran into her at his friend's dinner party, he hasn't been able to shake the thought of her. Sadly the feelings were only one-sided. Moon just couldn't forgive Felipe's constant cheating (the final straw was when she caught him smooching her ex-b.f.f.). Since then he had been out of sight and mind. Felipe' however wasn't one to back down without a fight. After a few failed attempts at getting her attention he sought out to prove his love 80's movie style.... By doing a song and dance number in front of Moon's window at 3 in the morning.

Moon noticed. She couldn't miss it. Tis a shame Moon wasn't the only person he woke up with his noise. Her dad wasn't very appreciative. HE and his trusty golf club wanted to have a nice long talk with Felipe'.

Mary Gavigan is cooking hamburgers for her son's party and daydreaming a bit when Nathan gets home from work. "I'm sorry, dear, did you say something?"
"Fire!"

Nathan shoves Mary out of the way and starts battling the blaze while Mary and his work friend, Guy Wrightley, panic and the party guests arrive at the front door to block the firefighter - en route, since fire alarms come standard with their doublewide.

The firefighter comes in round the back and joins Nathan. Mary is still a little dreamy. Isaiah has come in to panic, but miraculously all the party guests are still outside. Weird but good...wait, did I hear harps?

Buck Grunt and Sharla Ottomas have been blocking the way into the trailer as they fell in love! They're heroes! Gavin Newson waits patiently to be allowed in to the party, which is off to a blazing start.
(This was the same day as the Ottomas fire above, by the way. It was a dangerous day to be in Strangetown. Buzz suspects an alien plot.)

'You know Kaylynn, Mary-Sue is at work...'



Daniel decides to just go for it. After all, he and Kaylynn have been dancing around this for some time.



Or, so he thought.
'What do you think you are doing?!' she shrieks out, pushing him off of her. 'We are not having Woohoo, Daniel Pleasant.'
Irritated, Kaylynn leaves, but not before she sees Daniel's epic breakdown. Kaylynn was a way of coping with his mid-life crisis...he was certainly not expecting rejection.



And he doesn't take it well at all. He starts exhibiting strange behaviors...
However, when Mary-Sue comes home, he finds that treasuring her and showing his affection gets him out of the dangerous zone, though he isn't out of his funk quite yet. Maybe he can learn to appreciate his wife more, after all.

(By the way, I was not expecting this to happen. Their relationship was great, and the only thing I can think of is that this iteration of Kaylynn actually has a conscience and doesn't want to Woohoo with a married man. Which is a new angle for her that I have never had before. I found it all quite entertaining )

When Bloo missed his ride to work (and a coveted promotion) because the sitter was late, he hopped to do some studying. But with the baby crying for a diaper change, the "Nanny" kept following him around. He had tried tipping her to get her to work, but all she wanted to do was irritate him. When she was brass enough to actually POKE a snake, he had no choice but to fire her. Bloo didn't mind her unhappy face, he was - after all - more reptile than human.


But with his wife busy with her own career, he HAD to have a sitter. While he called the agency, Muffy Worthington breathed on his neck: "Knock it off! I'm happily married and you're the wife of my FRIEND Frances!"

When the agency sent the same useless woman, he only had one choice.. his ray gun took care of the nanny problem.



"I'm PRACTICALLY an exorcist, and a steely serpent. I have NO problem seeing spirits, or dealing with them!". Bloo didn't notice even air-head Muffy could see the ghost. "I wonder if I could get her to change the baby..that's no job for Boo the Blue Mamba!"

See, we knew you could do it, Gramma!

The Beech party ran late, but when the cop arrived, it was just Sandy and her friend Penny Weiss hanging out at the curb, deep in conversation. The Beeches are a prominent family, so the cop left it alone. Sandy's son Wallys has been asking why people mistake him for one of his coach's grandchildren when he's at Little League practice, and since Penny's daughter will need to be told The Truth at the same time, to avoid blindsiding her, Sandy wants to make sure they're on the same page.

Sandy and her husband Hamilton break the news to Wallys together, and demonstrate that the family he's grown up in is still solid; but he's devastated and shocked, nonetheless.

"So if Coach's son is my dad -"
"Oh, now, hold on there! He's your father, but I'm your dad and always will be! I was mad at your mom there for awhile, but I've never been mad at you. You're my boy, where ever you came from."
Wallys immediately perks up. "Good! Wanna play catch?"
"Sure."

Wallys's biological father, Rhett Hart, is ticked off that Sandy consulted Penny, and not him, before this; but he's also glad it's all out in the open now and he can invite his son to his wedding to Penny. Coach has always outshone Rhett for Wallys before, and he's had to take a back seat; but now they can get to know one another.

Maria - Darling..do you think I'm pregnant??
John - You know best dear...


Théo - Mom...are you O.K.? You are always sick..
Maria - Everything is fine love, I'll be alright. I'm just a little bit..pregnant


Théo - You ARE?

So, what exactly was MaryG daydreaming over the hamburgers about earlier?

MaryG loves the new doublewide she and Nathan moved into, but Isaiah's running around with his teen friends, Nathan's leaving for his job early and coming home to watch TV, sometimes going to bed without exchanging a word with her; and she misses her neighbors at the old trailer park. Like Gunnar Roque, a very sympathetic boy, living from hand-to-mouth as a musician. Nathan can't see past the tattoos and army surplus boots, but for Mary he opens his soft interior right up. "Thanks for feeding me, Mrs. G. I guess you've got to run off now before Mr. G gets home?"
"There's no hurry. I'd kind of hoped we could go dancing tonight, but he's working late."
"Again? Well, hell, I can take you dancing."
"I don't know that I should..." But she wants to, and he can tell that she wants to, and it only takes a little tug of her hand to get her into Strangebrewski's.

So they dance till they're tired and then they get to talking. It's a long time since Mary sat and talked with anybody who was actually listening. Her best friend's busy with her baby, and Nathan always falls asleep. "I know it's none of my business -"
"It really isn't, dear."
"I know, but it makes me mad. All the time you lived at the trailer park, I never even saw him kiss you. If I had a wife I'd be kissing her all the time, and I wouldn't care who saw us. A lady like you deserves to be kissed all the time!"

And one thing leads to another.

A grubby photobooth outside a seedy bar that everybody knows is run by the cartels - it ought to feel sleazy. But it doesn't. Mary hasn't had even one beer, but she's drunk on attention. Nathan hasn't made her feel this loved in a long time, and when Gunnar whispers that she's too good for Nathan, that he'd take her away from him, if he could, she believes him. Not that she'd ever leave Nathan and Isaiah, of course not -
Bad day to leave the rubber at home, thinks Gunnar; but he'd taken it for granted that she was too married, that she was just being all motherly like she always did at the trailer park. But she's probably on the Pill, or she'd have had more than the one kid by now. If she weren't she'd be putting on the brakes.
But the Pill is expensive and difficult to get in Strangetown, and Mary didn't see the point in going to the expense when she'd just as soon have a second child anyway.

Chloe awoke to a sharp pain in her stomach. She knew exactly what it was happening. Why now? Her twin sister Lola had been staying with her for the past few days but the minute she moves in with her husband suddenly this baby wants out? Chloe gripped at her largely swollen belly. Lola wouldn't be visiting until tomorrow morning. She tried to resist urges to push "I can hold it!" she reassured herself..


But then there he was, falling out of her plumbbob and straight into her arms. 10 tiny fingers and 10 tiny toes, little black hair and green eyes. He was perfect. Chloe was amazed. She had never felt attached to this baby growing inside of her, but now he was here, his little red nose twitching slightly, she loved him.


"Abacus" She whispered "My sweet little Abacus"
She thought about the father, she had never known during her pregnancy, but those green eyes and black hair... he was clearly Don Lotharios. She didn't know what to do with him, she couldn't tell Don, he might want nothing to do with them - or worse, want Abacus to live with him. Pleasantview was no place to raise a green skinned baby.
"I'd never leave you" She whispered into the small boys ear "My Daddys left me, but I'd never leave you"


And from that moment, Chloe felt complete. All those romances she had, and those guys she claimed she would one day call back, all unneeded. She had her son, her lovely son. She hated when her ex-roommates showed her their children and announced their bumps, but this was different, this was her baby, and he was so much better than theirs. The next morning Lola announced that she was pregnant, and Chloe felt a little sad about how Lola and her husband John Mole live so far away, but luckily there's a baby living next door that Abacus can play with.


[Edit: Originally Chloe had quads, but they were all female mini-Dons so I got worried they were all going to be identical so I quit without saving. I think the story would've been more interesting with quads, but- ah well. None of the quads had green skin, and I wanted the baby to look somewhat like Chloe]

The four husbands of Aylatani:


Phil: Cheated on her with Calista Despret.


Garrett: Walked out into the sun.


Kevin: Killed by the jealous ghost of Garrett. (That's his daughter on the toilet, not Aylatani.)


Legolas: Smashed by hail.

And this isn't even a Black Widow challenge.

Tonight was the night, she just knew it. As Murphy Cartier sat across from her live-in boyfriend, Armand DeBateau, in the upscale Londoste restaurant it was all she could do not to rush the dinner along.

Come on, come on, let's get to the good stuff, she thought to herself.

Armand, however, had other ideas. He ordered champagne-the best the house had to offer. Once it arrived he turned to his girlfriend and proposed a toast, "To my beautiful Murphy, light of my life. I hope this is an evening neither one of us will forget."

You got that right, she thought as she smiled sweetly at him.



They dined on Lobster Thermidor and Nectarine Tartlette-nothing but the best, Armand had said. It was all Murphy could do not to gobble the food down. One, to get to the end of the meal and, hopefully, what she was longing for. Two, because she hadn't eaten a thing all day just so she could fit into this dress. This girl was STARVING.

But she ate demurely and soon the dessert plates were taken away. Once they were Armand gave her a loving smile and reached into his jacket. To her great delight he pulled out a large jewelry box, setting it on the table.



"Murphy, my love, you have brought so much joy into my life. I love you more than words can say. Would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

Murphy let out a squeal of "Yes!" and practically dove for the box. She quickly opened it, her eyes widening as she spied the massive diamond that lay within the velvet. Like everything else Armand did in his life, he had spared no expense when picking out her engagement ring.



Jackpot! Murphy thought with a thrill as she tossed the box over her shoulder and put the ring on. She gazed at it lovingly, admiring how it caught the light just so. Whoever said diamonds were a girl's best friend wasn't lying.

Hello, Bestie, she thought as she practically pet her new accessory.

She quickly rose from the table, arms outstretched. Armand laughed as he got to his feet, grunting and chuckling when she crashed into him and enveloped him in a massive hug.

Over his shoulder the model began to smirk. She had done it. She had snagged the richest man in Belladonna Cove. There was nothing left to do now but plan an outlandish wedding that would make everyone in the city green with envy, figure out how to ship her future step-brat off to boarding school, fire that irritatingly sweet and far-too-pretty-for-her-own housekeeper and think about how she was going to spend Armand's millions.

Lola Curious-Smith, still in mourning for her father PT9, came to this party mostly to support her new housemate Stella Terrano. Gunnar crashed it (he's got a running feud with the host, though he's friend's with the host's girlfriend). Lola was wishing she'd stayed home when Gunnar dropped a reference to her favorite series of old teen novels. "Wait, you've read the Deenie Stallone books? My aunt said no guy in the history of the world ever read those!"
"Well, I had to be pretty desperate before I started. That foster family didn't have a TV and it rained every day that summer, and I was the youngest so the others didn't want me around. I read all the Hardly Boys they had first, and then I started that one with the dragster on the cover, and I fell in love with Deenie on the first page. I used to eat peppermint stick ice cream just for her."
"Me too!" And they're off and running. Lola knows Chloe's on the outs with Gunnar, but this clinches it for her - he is the nicest guy her sister's dated, and whatever he's done, Chloe's done just as much.

Gunnar invites the whole household over for a barbeque at his trailer park. Chloe grudgingly agrees to come but then snubs him. Lola covers for her sister by telling him a dirty joke - about aliens! - that she learned from her. She's never told a dirty joke before, but it goes over well.

For the first time since she doesn't remember when, Lola actually relaxes.

Seeing Gunnar get her uptight sister to unbend and have fun softens Chloe toward him, and before the day's over they're back in each other's good graces and making up for lost time. Lola's glad. No, really. Chloe's the fun, flamboyant sister who draws the guys like spilled honey, and Lola's the steady, hard-working one who cleans up the messes. Like Deenie...
That's how it's always been. It's fine.
Really.

"Just think, It's been a whole 4 years since we called this place home" Joshua stared up at the house "It's amazing isn't it?"
"What's amazing is you not wearing a letterman jacket" Martin scuffed
"At least I had some fun at college, you just sat at your computer all day"


Mama Ruben saw her boys arriving from the window. She quickly ran outside to greet them both.
"I hope you looked after each other" She smiled, She knew they hadn't. The twins were never close. Martin was especially hard to get on with, as he didn't share hers and Joshua's love of sports. She had tried to get him interested in a game of catch, or several, throughout his childhood but after Papa Ruben died while the boys were just children, he was very reclusive.
"We called each other once in a while..." Joshua lied
"You stole my girlfriend" Martin said through gritted teeth
"and you stole her back... See we both win"
The two followed Mama inside


First door on the right was Martin's bedroom. He walked in and was instantly taken back by nostalgia. His room was exactly how he left it. Dust covered the keys on his old computer that was 'too bulky' to bring to college with him, his butt-print still imprinted on his leather relining chair, and that 'galactic' lamp along with the spaceman poster above his bed - relics of his childhood.
"Wow, it's just how I remembered" He exclaimed, he turned to Mama in the doorway "You haven't changed it at all"
She shrugged "The day you moved out, I made your bed - but other than that this whole house hasn't changed at all"
"I would've thought you would have decorated, yknow, put in a gym" He and Mama shared a laugh
"But then where would you sleep, on the tredmill?" She winked, and left Martin to unpack his things in his dresser that still had gum stuck to it from childhood


Joshua lay in his bed. Even surrounded by all these trophies, he still felt like a loser. Maybe dropping out of University towards the end of his final semester was a bad idea. Truth be told, he freaked out at the last minute. He was at Ashley Pitt's son's first birthday - and he realized how everyone was getting older. Heather Huffington had just had a child, Jane Stacks adopted a 2 year old, Ashley (the total commitaphobe) was getting engaged and had a 1 year old! It was all rushing by too soon. But would graduating have made a difference? Martin graduated, and they both still left on the same day, back to the same house, the only difference was that he had a diploma to prove he actually did something in the past 4 years - even if that mainly was sitting at a computer all day. Josh had no idea about the real world. He didn't even know what to wear now that his Letterman jacket had been outgrown. Do real men wear bowling shirts?

Michelle Tse couldn't believe it when she saw her neighbor (and lover), Trey Casanova, kissing Willow Das.



Enraged, she let the cad have it with both barrels.

"You jerk! You. . .you cretin!" she shrieked, "You said you loved me! You said I was the only one! I can't believe I believed you!"



Then she did the stupid thing. She let her heart override her head and she followed the pair into Trey's apartment, picking a fight with Willow. Michelle had never been in a fight before in her life and it showed as the blonde made short work of her. What was worse, was that Trey was cheering Willow on the entire time.



As Michelle looked up from her spot on the floor she was humiliated to see Trey grinning down at her.

"Looks like you got what you wanted, baby." he said with that sugary smooth voice of his that she used to think was so sexy, "Now get out."

Michelle escaped back to her apartment, both her heart and pride in tatters.

She started to get ready for work the next day, still so brokenhearted over her lover's betrayal.

I'm such an idiot! Everyone told me he would only use me and dump me, but I didn't listen. God, I am such a fool! she thought to herself.

Suddenly something came over her. Her stomach lurched and she quickly raced to the toilet where she promptly threw up.



As she sat there, hunched over the bowl, a million thoughts began to race through her mind. Panic began to fill her as she realized she was several weeks late. Something that never happened to her before.

She knew in that instant that she was pregnant.

With Trey's child.

And that she would have to face this pregnancy utterly alone. . .

Helena was a kind, selfless woman who would often bend over backwards for family and friends alike. However getting taken advantage of wasn't something she would take lightly---even if the person doing it was her own loving mother. The woman had her good side, but boy was it a sight rarely seen. In fact throughout most of Helena's childhood and early adolescent years her mother had practically abandoned her and her baby sister Hope while she pursued different lovers. If it weren't for Ronan (Hope's biological father who actually lives with them), Helena would have single-handedly had to raise her sister. This man has a love so strong for their mother that he's turned a blind eye to her numerous affairs with other men. He is also the only man that Helena can proudly call her Dad.



Now years later her mother had the audacity to try and pass off responsibility of her new twin sons on to Helena (again kids she had with another one of her lovers). This was the final straw! By the following month she'd moved out and found her own little place. On an even MORE uplifting note, she made a new friend and adopted two stray dogs. Sure it wasn't your typical 'grow up, get a job, get married, and have babies' lifestyle, but then again that wasn't what she'd been looking for. This was her utopia.




Buuuut all good things must come to an end, and for Helena, it hadn't even even two month's later when she discovered her teenage sister Hope sitting on her front porch, afraid and bearing some less-than-favorable news.



Just when she finally got a taste of freedom, she was forced to sacrifice her happiness. At least this time she prays that Hope will be a better mom to her unborn child than their mother had been. On a plus side, Hope's boyfriend Malachai will be present.

I posted this in the Couples thread and by the end I thought, 'Hey, this would be great for the 4 Picture Story thread'. So here ya go. ;p

More with my Belladonna couple, Nikki Light and Chase Guthery.

Ever since they shared their first kiss in her apartment, Nikki had been unable to get Chase out of her mind. So a few days later she went to his apartment.



Eventually they found themselves lounging on Chase's bed, talking. As she looked over at him she felt a wave of love hit her. Hard. The next thing she knew, she was snuggling up to him.



One thing led to another and soon she found herself woohooing with him for the first time. Afterwards, as she held him close to her, she realized just how lucky she was. Not many guys would be cool with a witch (albeit a good witch) as a girlfriend. But nothing seemed to faze Chase in the least.



And so she went to sleep early that morning with a light and happy heart.

Here's my dear slightly-stupid, highly impulsive Paris Prince making a strange discovery at the Pleasant house, with approximation of my mental reactions at the time...


Paris, what are you doing? That's not for you...just...go swim or something.


I told you to stay away from that cake! Now you're sorry, I bet... Grr, do you know what you getting chomped now will do to the storyline?


Huh? I don't know how you made it... I'm not complaining! Get away from there. You're not meant to die that way, Captain Prince.


Stop that! Get away from that cake -- get away, I said! Why are you so dumb? Didn't you learn from last time you tried to get the cake?
(He lived, despite his aptitude for tempting fate...)

"Oh, dear! I'd better - put you - down -"

Minnie Newson's unplanned late-life pregnancy gave her twins on top of the three kids she already had. She's looking for a job in education, and can't find one. And her elderly father, Gene Skirt, died. And then her sister Georgette resurrected him. But the insurance company still thinks he's dead. Minnie's always been the steady one, but everyone has limits, and she thought the world of her father. Too much stress! She collapses in the middle of getting the twins their breakfast. (It's their birthday!)

She does not have time for this! Let's bring in the professionals.

He teaches her important stress management techniques. Lacy just wants let out of the high chair.

Growing up in house with a mother who teaches dance, and three older sisters with years of it under the belt can be daunting for youngest daughter, Madeline. Her sisters notice she's not so good but her mother notices it's because she's not having fun. So Sophia teaches Maddie that dancing is fun and Maddie goes back to practice with confidence!

I did some images for one of my writer friends at FF.net this story

Kate got run over and went to the hospital where she had her baby a little early. Her wife Caroline is very happy they are both ok.