Making a living from his music wasn’t easy. Adjo hadn’t thought it would be, but he had no idea just how hard the truth was.

He started out his busking career working just a few hours in the evening, but soon he was out from the afternoon far into the night. He played until his fingers bled, which is hard to recover from when you have to go out and play with those same sore fingers the next night. He built his calluses fast.

(Spoken by someone who actually does play a stringed instrument. I’ve never been so dedicated as to play till my fingers bled, but I’ve certainly made myself sore. :-p)

But soon he was drawing modest crowds.

They weren’t half the crowds that Grandmother Susie had drawn with that same guitar, but they generated enough tips that a guy could support himself. And maybe someone else. Provided that someone else also had a job.

(Adjo actually drew better crowds than this, but I failed to get a picture.)

“Hey stranger.”

Adjo felt suddenly self-conscious. He’d played for almost everyone in town except the one person whose opinion mattered most. “Hey. I was going to call you.”

“Don’t stop,” Toya said. “It was good.”

Even that little bit of praise made Adjo’s heart sing. “I’m glad you like it. But, um, I wanted to see you tonight anyway. To, um, talk” With trembling fingers, he packed up the guitar.

“That sounds dangerous,” Toya said. “Talk about what?”

It came gushing out. “My tips have been going up all week. I’m making enough to move out now.”

Toya’s face lit up. “Really? Wow!”

She pulled away and leaned her forehead against his. “I think I know just the way to celebrate.”

And she did.

It was a good think Shanni was such a good sport. She didn’t complain once about sleeping in the kids’ room again.

Afterward, as they lay gazing into each other’s eyes, Adjo almost whispered, “Toya Ursine, will you marry me?”

“Sure I will,” Toya said. And as they drifted off to sleep, she added, “Silly.”

In the morning, Adjo got up to shower alone.

(Included because I take a lot of shower shots, and I think they look really cool, and there’s never a reason to use one.)

Shanni cornered Toya in her bedroom. “I just wanted to give you the obligatory, ‘Hurt my brother and I’ll kill you’ speech.”

(Wow. Toya’s sleepwear is kind of amazing.)

Toya gave her a secret smile. “Hurting him wasn’t what I had in mind. Unless he likes that.”

“Your family–“

Toya waved her hand. “Look, I’ve warned that boy off as many ways as I know how. He knows what he’s getting into. But if you’re worried about me, don’t be. The last thing I want is to make him regret treating me like a gentleman.”

And with that, Shanni had to be satisfied.

The next day, Adjo gave his news to the other menfolk.

“She’s the one for me.”

“I can see that.”

“Yup.”

Then he made a trip to City Hall to get his marriage license and all the paperwork in order.

This was it. Last chance to back out.

(What he’s actually doing here is about the closest equivalent to getting a marriage license. He’s changing his last name so that the married couple will have the name I want.)

When the day came, the house was all ready.

Adjo worried to anyone who would listen.

(Hey, CourtneyHelen! It’s Kate!)

The bride arrived alone.

Her mother was sick, and her father had “business to attend to.”

(Actually, Rachel was invited and didn’t show. It turns out that nobody has actually MET Harvey in the Sample family. I used three different characters to plan this party, and none of them could invite him.)

Shanni arrived in the nick of time after a long day of work.

Toya wasn’t entire abandoned by her family, though. Her half-brother Jess was there to give her away.

Shanni felt a bit forlorn to be attending her brother’s wedding stag, watching him waltz off to his happily-ever-after while she was single. She half-heartedly hit on Jess, but he had a girlfriend he was devoted to. Even Shanni wouldn’t touch that.

Adjo’s best best friend, Malcolm Landgraab was there as best man,.

And I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Ursine-Sample.

You may kiss the bride.

And after, there were the expected festivities.

Whoops! And even a bottle for Ada.

And that, my friends, is how Adjo Sample joined the family. You know what kind of family I mean.

Best wishes, Adjo.

(*Sniffle* It’s hard to believe, but Adjo is the first Sim I have ever moved out in the entire time I’ve been playing Sims 3. He left the household with his lifetime wish of Super Popular fulfilled and ~70,000 happiness points. Part of me wanted to keep him and see if I could take a shot at 100,000, but the truth is that there were eight Sims in the house, and I was going nuts. Also, having a full house had some unexpected consequences coming up in a Simfail rant.

BTW: Adjo and Toya hyphenated because I like the idea of the descendants of legacy spares floating around the town generations later, and me always knowing what family branch they came from. I’m setting the Ursine-Sample household to “legacy surname” in Twallan’s story progression mod.)