Chapter Two: A Stubborn Pair

Welcome to chapter two of the Tsarina Alphabetacy!

Last time, Sophia accepted her cousin's charge to take up the legacy herself, and brought her lifelong friend, Cristian Morokov, along with her.

She married Joe Carr, and together they brought Anastasiya Tsarina into the world.

Cristian was left extremely upset by this and has sworn some form of revenge.

And we kick things off with a double promotion!

Sophia becomes an Underwater Demolitionist while Joe becomes a Field Sales Representative.

I'm pretty sure Sophia has the better job out of the two.

But it looks like someone won't be setting off any undersea bombs for a bit.

Sophia: "The sooner I have three kids, the sooner I can stop worrying about missing work. Plus, Joe's Family side has been rolling him constant Wants for babies."

Joe: "Who's gonna be a big sister? Huh? Who is it? Who's the big sister? That's right! You're gonna be a big sister, Siya. The best big sister."

Siya: giggles

Sophia: "Come on, Joe. Get out of your work clothes. It's time for Siya's birthday."

Joe: "Oh alright. I guess it's time for my little girl to become a big girl."

Joe: blows horn "Wooo! Happy birthday, Siya!"

Sophia: laughing "Alright, let's get you aged up before your dad dies of excitement."

Joe: "Yeah! Go Siya!"

Here she is! Naturally, Anastasiya is absolutely adorable.

And I was right about Sophia's all 5 personality leading to some interesting personality extremes in her children.

Siya is a Gemini, 2/8/8/5/7.

Yep, my heiress is a slob. Slobiness is the trait that I dislike the most. Honestly, it's the only one that I truly dislike. I don't even mind lazy Sims that much. But slobby Sims drive me up the wall. Leaving things all over the place, constant need for a bath, inability to take showers without having to clean the whole bathroom after...arg!

Okay, Captain, breathe, just breathe. You can live with messes. The Tsarinas can hire people to keep the place clean. You can find someone a bit neater to mitigate slobiness in future generations. It will be okay.

Look past the neat points. Don't judge Siya just by how likely she is to eat out of the garbage and bathe at the sink.

Deep breath. Okay, okay. I'm good.

And she is awfully cute.

Yeah, alright, I love the little slob.

Joe: "Come on, sweetie, walk to daddy."

Siya: "Walk dada!"

Joe: "Yeah, walk. Just like a big girl. Come on. You're almost there."

Joe: "Great job, Siya! You walked all the way to daddy! What a strong girl you are!"

Siya: "Yay! Walk walk walk!"

Joe really is so great. I can't get enough of him.

He might only have 3 nice points, but you can't really tell until you find him building evil snowmen just so he can destroy them.

Well, I know from experience that working for heartless corporations can be pretty stressful, and everyone needs an outlet.

Sophia: "Gah! I don't think I'll ever get used to the bumps."

That makes me wonder, how exactly does it feel to get a bump?

Sophia: "It feels like having an almost fully gestated fetus suddenly appear inside you."

I never really thought of it that way...

Sophia: "Only one more pregnancy after this, and then I never have to deal with the bumps again."

As long as there aren't anymore Have a Baby Wants.

Sophia: "I don't care if there are. Three kids, and that is it. End of discussion."

Alright. I'm not gonna argue.

Sophia: "Good. I'd ignore you if you did."

She might be too young to headbang, but Siya loves dancing to the metal that her parents have constantly playing in the kitchen.

Siya: "Edder Sadman!"

Eh, close enough.

Sophia: "Oh my god this hurts even more than last time!"

Rose Dai: "Don't worry, you'll be okay."

Sophia: "YAARRGGG! Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?!"

Rose: "Oh, um, I heard you screaming from the sidewalk and ran in to check on you..."

Sophia: "AAAAHHHH!!!! Get out of my house you weirdo!"

Rose: "Okay. Bye!"

It's another girl! Like Siya, she has brown hair, but she has her father's light blue eyes.

Sophia: "Hello, Anzhelika. Mommy would love to give you a bottle and some cuddles right now, but that will have to wait a minute."

Ah hell.

It's twins. I am cursed by twins. Just about every family I ever play ends up with twins. Twins will follow me until the day I die.

Sophia: "Score! No more pregnancies!"

Anyway, the Tsarinas now have a son! Like his twin sister, he has brown hair and light blue eyes, but his skin is lighter. What's his name, Sophia?

Sophia: "The little prince here is Arkady."

Arkady is pronounced "arh-KAH-deey" and Anzhelika is pronounced "ahn-zhi-LEE-kah."

I will be calling them Ark and Zell, respectively.

Siya showed her interest in the birth of her siblings by promptly going to sleep.

I can't blame her. She's had a long day of playing with the rabbit head. And the constant winter will make her good friends with Ark and Zell soon enough.

Sophia: "Can you say 'bear' sweetie?"

Siya: "Bear! Bear berry bear!"

Sophia: "Good job! Such a smart little girl. You'll be a great heiress."

Siya: "I a bear! Rawr rawr!"

Sophia: "Come on, Cristian. Answer the phone. Just pick up the phone and talk to me for heaven's sake. Come on. Just pick up the phone, dammit!"

Cristian: "Not yet. Be strong. Do not answer the phone. It's not time yet. Don't answer the phone. Wait just a few more years. Just until she's a little older. Don't answer the phone."

Sophia: "He still won't answer. He can't still be mad at me. It's been years. He has to have moved on by now..."

Joe: "Oh no, Siya! You were flying and dropped right out of the sky! Good thing Daddy was here to catch you."

Siya: "Yay! Daddy save me!"

Joe: "Of course! Daddy will always save his little girl."

Siya: laughing "Hero daddy!"

Siya: "Stupid block! Block go in hole! Meanie block not fit!"

It's alright, Siya. You'll get it figured out.

Siya: "Hate stupid block!"

Siya: "I sorry, block. No hate you. Love you. Siya love block."

Siya's far too nice to stay mad at anyone...or anything, I guess the case may be.

Joe: "Happy birthday, Siya! Do you know what you want to wish for?"

Hey, hey, wait! It can't be birthday time yet! I barely got any toddler pic spam. It's too soon. Get rid of the cake. I hereby decree that Siya will remain a toddler.

Sophia: "Far too late for that, Cap. Siya's growing up. If I can handle it, so can you."

Crap. Fine.

Joe: "Make your wish, sweetie."

Siya: "I wish be strong! Strong girl!"

Joe: "I'm sure you'll be the strongest of them all."

Siya: "This outfit might suck, but these arms are perfect for weightlifting."

A) You have an outfit waiting for you in the dresser, so you can change whenever you're ready.

B) You're still too young for weightlifting. Jumping rope and the boombox will have to do until you're a teen.

Here she is all made over.

Yes, I did make her bedroom blindingly green. Why? Because I felt like it. That's why.

As you may have guessed from her birthday wish, Siya's one true hobby is Fitness.

I'll definitely have to make sure she gets a workout bench once she's old enough.

I didn't forget the twins. Babies are pretty boring, so I didn't really take any pictures of them during that stage.

But now it's birthday time!

Sophia: "Make a wish, Ark."

I'm wishing for neat points.

HA! I wished for neat points and I got them! Not a lot of them, but enough.

Here is Arkady Tsarina. I'm gonna fix his hair because it looks blond, but it's supposed to be brown.

Anway, Ark is a Scorpio, 6/5/8/3/3. He inherited an exact copy of Joe's personality.

While Ark is still covered in confetti, Joe takes care of Zell's birthday.

Joe: "Make a wish, Zell Belle."

Zell: "Gaw"

I'm not sure what she wished for, but I hope she gets it.

From the smile on her face, I'm going to assume she did.

Anzhelika is an Aries, 6/9/8/3/3. Almost the same personality as Ark and Joe, just more outgoing.

I really hope the twins' lack of nice points won't cause any issues with Siya's seven points.

I don't know how the twins can sleep with that Smart Milk glow. I'm just imagining trying to sleep in a tanning bed without those little goggles they give you.

And please don't judge me for making toddlers sleep in dog beds. I'm not a bad person, I swear.

Sophia: "Can you say 'mommy' sweetheart?"

Zell: "No."

Sophia: "Please?"

Zell: "NO!"

Despite Zell refusing to say a single word the entire time, Sophia was somehow successful in teaching her to talk.

The exact experience repeated with Ark. He stubbornly refused to speak the entire time, but still learned to talk.

These twins are a stubborn pair.

How on earth are you not freezing to death? It's 5AM, you're in Siberia, and you don't have any shoes.

Sophia: "Mind over matter. I am picturing myself in the middle of a vast desert with the midday sun glaring down on me. So long as I maintain this image, I shall be warm."

Really?

Sophia: "No. Now shut up and let me get to the carpool before I start losing toes."

I know I say this about all my toddlers (because it's always true), but Ark is just so cute.

He always does a little dancing right after he wakes up.

Siya: "Yay, I love blocks! They're so colorful and pretty. Don't you love blocks?"

Zell: "No, no love blocks. Blocks enemy."

Siya: "Oh...um, what about you, Ark? Don't you love blocks?"

Ark: "Blocks useful. Make castles."

Siya: "But do you love them?"

Ark: "No."

Siya: "Oh..."

Be happy, Siya. These two have less nice points combined than you do. This is likely the best response you can hope for.

Siya: "Hmm...okay. Yay for blocks being useful!"

Ark: "Yay for make castles!"

Zell: "If I eat block, get block power?"

Siya: "No, it doesn't work that way."

Zell: "So block is enemy. Destroy block."

Siya: "Not gonna judge. Different...point of view. Yeah, that's all it is."

I would worry that Siya might be too nice for her own good, but all the kids are best friends at this point, so I'm just gonna be optimistic until proven wrong.

Siya: "Yeah, snow day! No school for me! Hooray!"

What are you so excited for? Today is supposed to be your first day. You don't even know what school is like yet.

Siya: "I know that no school means that I get to spend the whole day exercising."

Well that is true. And I'd like you to get as many scholarships as possible, so I have no issue with you pouring time into body. Go for it.

Siya: "Yes!"

Despite hiring a butler and trying multiple times to dismiss the nanny, she keeps coming by. For now, I have chosen to embrace her. After all, she's proven to be unlike most nannies and actually takes care of the kids.

I can't remember her name, but I've been calling her the Grey Mother in my head. I've also forgotten the butler's name and have taken to calling him Methuselah. And now you might know what other game I'm obsessed with.

I don't know how you learned to talk, either. It's a complete mystery how sitting there and shaking your head managed to work.

Oh well. You still got that 2,000-point aspiration boost out of it, so I'm not gonna question it too much.

Siya! You're supposed to be the nice one!

Siya: "What's the problem?"

You're telling your sister to put the square block in the triangular hole. You know it won't fit.

Siya: "I also know that she broke all the blocks on the activity table. I might be nice, but I'm no chump."

Zell: "Siya liar! Bad Siya!"

Siya: "Heh heh. Revenge has been had."

You'd better just hope she doesn't remember this once she gets older and can fight back.

Siya: "She'll have to catch up with me in body skill before she can do any fighting."

Oh boy.

Sophia: "Alright, Ark, walk to mommy."

Ark: "No. I crawl."

Sophia: "Silly bear, you need to walk."

Ark: "No walk. Crawl."

Yeah, the trick Ark pulled with learning to talk? He pulled the same one with walking. Refused to take a single step the entire time, but somehow learned to walk. I don't get it, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Siya: "Really? You have a whole room in your house just for working out? That's amazing! Can I come see it?"

Siya? Who are you talking to?

Siya: "Oh, um, nobody." whispering "Okay, I gotta go. No, I didn't say anything. Bye."

Siya, I need to know who you were talking to.

Siya: "Oh, I don't know. It was a wrong number, but we talked for a minute, that's all."

You need to promise me that you won't go to a stranger's house. It's not safe.

Siya: "Okay. I won't go to a stranger's house."

Thank you.

Joe: "It's time for you to walk, Zell Belle."

Zell: "Won't walk."

Joe: "Come on, sweetie. Just a few steps. It's really easy."

Zell: "No."

Just like her brother, Zell refused to take a single step while learning to walk.

From the look on her face, she's offended by the mere idea.

Sophia: "Ow! Mary, I'm glad you want to go jogging with me, but please get your hand out of my skull."

Mary: "Oh, sorry. I really need to remember not to stretch so close to people. It always causes clipping issues."

Sophia: "Happy birthday, Ark!"

Siya: "Yay! We'll be able to play even more now!"

Kennedy: blows horn

There is no way that the twins are old enough to be turning into children. They're supposed to be cute toddlers for another day at least.

Joe: "No use trying to stop it, Cap. We're already blowing out the candles."

Ark: "I wish good outfit!"

Well, it's not a bad outfit.

Ark: "I'll take a half-granted wish. It's better than nothing."

That's a good way of looking at it. And there's a better outfit waiting for you in the dresser.

Now I guess it's Zell's turn to age up and rob me of more cute toddler pics.

I'm glad the twins have a decent sized birthday party. I mean, I didn't actually throw them a party, but a couple of people just happened to be at the house so I'm counting it.

Zell: "I wish be pretty!"

Have you seen your parents, kid? You being pretty is practically guaranteed.

Zell: "Yes! I got my wish!"

Told ya so.

Here are the twins in their new clothes. Though I am considering putting Zell back in her transition outfit. I think it might have suited her better.

Thanks to a snow day right before the weekend, all of the kids end up starting school on the same day.

After getting home from their first day of school, Ark tries to befriend a girl who followed him off the bus.

While Joe helps Zell learn to study.

Zell: "I don't see what the point of this is. Homework should only be for kids who are struggling or work you didn't finish during the day."

Joe: "You're preaching to the choir, kid. Unfortunately, if you don't do your homework, the school will get pretty mad at us. So we'll just have to suck it up."

Zell: "Oh fine."

Hmmm....Zell, where's Siya? I see her homework there, but I didn't see her get off the bus.

Zell: "She asked me to bring her work home for her because she was worried that she'd leave it behind at her friend's house."

What friend?

???: "Hello, Anastasiya. Come in."

Cristian: "Perfect..."