6.21 I Don’t Know Why You Say Goodbye

#sims3challenge #sims3legacy #sims3story #thesims3

The call came before breakfast.

Amy Winter, Sawyer’s biological mum who had never shown any interest in him, had passed in the night. She left half of her sizable fortune to her acknowledged daughter, Rosie Winter, and the other half to Sawyer.

Sawyer was shocked into a tirade that lasted hours.

“Leaving a bunch of money to someone just because you share genes with them is completely irrational,” he ranted. “She had no reason to do that.”

“Maybe she felt guilty that she never made you a part of her life,” Abby suggested.

“Waiting until after you’re dead to apologize is idiotic,” Sawyer said.

It was hard to argue with that.

But it was Sky everyone was worried about.

“I miss mum too,” Abby said. “But I’m so worried about Mama. She seems like something broke inside.

Abby tried her hardest to get her mama to engage in anything. She even challenged some of Sky’s favorite music. That ought to get her to show she cared about something.

But Sky only nodded.

Then she wandered out into the snow and played guitar alone for hours.

Edmund, of course, was oblivious.

He took a lot of attention, and that helped lift the dark mood that had fallen on the house.


His first word was, “Alarm.” Nobody really knew what that was supposed to mean.

Connery also helped lighten the mood.

In the middle of this, Abby had her first big breakthrough in her career.

Dragonwife Wu, Xia’s brother Jian’s wife, had recently risen to prominence as a writer/director. Her most recent film, the romantic mystery Don’t Tell Me Why, was a breakout hit.

Dragonwife caught Abby as she left the soundstage after yet another unpromising audition and handed her a script.

Abby was taken by surprise. “What’s this?”
Dragonwife smiled. “It’s the script to my new movie. I’ve been watching your auditions, and I think you might be perfect for one of the parts. Read it, do some research, and see if you can figure out which one.”

Dylan heard Sky crying when she was alone in the dining room.

“Mama,” he told her. “We know you’re strong. You don’t have to prove it. Stop trying to pretend everything is all right. We all miss Xia.”

Sky started to speak, then she broke down into sobs.

“I don’t know what to do without her,” she admitted.

“Mama, everyone loved Xia. I don’t know what the right thing to do is, but you don’t have to do it alone.”

Sky thought.

Then she forced a smile. “All right,” she said.

Sky headed to the local pub and ordered a drink.


Then she called up her friends for a party in Xia’s honor.

She even called Leah. “I know it’s kind of strange, but we’re all golden oldies now. I think Xia would want you here.”

“Thanks for asking me,” Leah said. “Of course I’ll come.”

It was a release for Sky. She hadn’t felt so comfortable with her since she saw Xia lying on the floor by the dishwasher.

Then, in the middle of dancing, Xia’s brother Jian passed away.

Jian seemed at peace. Xia and Jian had been very close for their entire lives. Sky hoped

And that was the end of the party.

In the morning, Sky received another surprise call — Garry Crumplebottom had passed away in the night.

She sat down to breakfast as if she were ten years older. “He’d been seeing a cardiologist,” she said. “I guess it was worse than he told us.”

Right in the middle of the somber breakfast, Andria went into labor.

Little Victoria came home from the hospital.

The new baby got a lot of attention.


Everyone was delight about the new arrival except Edmund.

He celebrated his new sister by throwing his food on the floor and screaming.

It wasn’t really that Edmund was suddenly abandoned, after all. It was just that he had to share all the adult affection with another child.

Sky received a surprise call. It was Leah. “I know this is even crazier than usual, but I’d like to give the band one more try. I have someone who could play in Garry’s place.”

Plum turned out to be a natural.

Ghostwriter had a fantastic comeback. They played they best they had ever played. And they dedicated their performances to Garry.

The band saw crowds like they’d never seen before.

Including a lot of teenagers and young adults — new fans, not just old ones there for the nostalgia.

“You’re my very best friend,” she whispered in Adam’s ear one night after a concert. “Thank you for staying by me all these years.”

“Who? Me?” Adam asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Don’t play false modest with me,” Sky replied. “I’m not the easiest gal to live with.”


Adam scuffed his shoe. “With out you, I don’t think I’d ever have gotten Ali back. So we’re even.”
A fan came and asked for an autograph before things got too mushy.

Within the week, Adam had passed on too.

The Samples were becoming afraid to answer the telephone.

Sky soldiered on. She performed a sold-out show at Llama Music Center.

After she’d warmed up the audience with her most popular single, she stopped the music and stood in silence on the stage.

“I want you to know that I love each and every one of you,” she said. “But it’s time for me to retire. This will be my last concert.”

Sky’s family, who had turned out for the concert, was shocked.

Sky pulled out her guitar and sang a simple love song, one of the first she had written for Ghostwriter. It sounded so different performed by one vocalist alone.

“I can’t believe it,” Hunter told Abby. “Sky’s life has been about music since she was a teen. I hope this is really what she wants.”

After the concert, Sky stepped down into the crowd to sign autographs and exchange tearful hugs with her closest fans.

“You want to know why I’m doing this?” she asked Hunter. “Here are my pictures of why. Edmund and Victoria are wonderful children. I don’t want to miss a minute with them.”

“And,” she admitted, “I want to focus on enjoying the days I have left. Music is just too much right now.”

Hunter nodded. He always understood.

“And now, have you met my almost-daughter-in-law?”

That evening, back at home

She had a private retirement party with just the family.

“You did good, my love,” she heard from behind her.


The voice was familiar. She didn’t turn around.

“I know,” she said, and smiled.

———-

This was a really rough portion of the game to play. The Elders in Sky’s life were dropping like flies.

But we did get Gen 7 #2, Victoria

I did think it was interesting that Sawyer got such a large inheritance from Amy Winter. NRaas didn’t know they were estranged, of course, but it allocates inheritance pretty strangely in any circumstance. I think this is the first time an active character has received an inheritance.

9 thoughts on “6.21 I Don’t Know Why You Say Goodbye

  1. I thought your last chapter was sad! Poor Sky. It must be hard when your friends, who you've had your whole life, start falling around you. It must have been a hard decision for her, but I think Sky did the right thing. The scene between her and Adam was beautiful. I need to reload the Bookabets to make sure they're both still healthy and youthful!

    Something tells me that Edmund is going to be a lot of work …

  2. This was really rough to play. Part of it is that so many of Sky's friends were the same age. But Garry was actually quite a bit older, and he died fairly close to Adam.

    I should have put this in the post notes, but I discovered at this LAST concert that I'd been doing Showtime performances all wrong. I didn't realize you were supposed to interact with the crowd. I'd just been running the performances on autonomy all that time. There's a whole aspect of Showtime gameplay I never though to try because I never clicked the crowd.

    I will have to play an Acrobat or a Magician at some point.

  3. Wow, this family had a lot to deal with over those few days. So many people passing away…

    I hope Sky will be able to enjoy the time with her family now that she has retired. She definitely deserves joy and contentment!

    Also, I really like the name Victoria, completely ignoring the fact that I have a very tense history with a person of the same name 😉 Will we learn her traits soon?

  4. Wow. So many feels. Well, firstly, guess I'll take back what I said about Abby not being meant for acting…go Dragonwife for giving her her (hopefully) big break!

    Sawyer holding Victoria was adorable. I'm looking forward to seeing what both kids look like as they age up.

    I love how full circle Sky has come, especially with Leah. Honestly, I thought she might pass over in this chapter, and I'm so glad she didn't. The ending with Xia was perfect.

  5. Yeah, I remember being pretty depressed when I wrote this. I thought it was pretty cool that Sky had so many inactive friends, and then they all died at the same time. :-p.

  6. Wow, so many Sims died in this chapter, I’m happy Sky wasn’t one of them. I really hope that she will live long enough to be able to see her grandchildren go to school… It’s always so sad when they become Elders, because you never know when the Grim will come for them… Yay for baby #2 of the 7th (!!!) generation 🙂

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