And now we arrive at the last of the pre-made Pleasantview sims, the Burb family. Related to the Pleasant family, they've been looking for somewhere to live for a while now.

"I think this will do us." Jennifer said, looking at the small whitwashed building in front of them. "The master bedroom's a bit small though... how do you propose getting a double bed in there?"
"Get someone in to knock a wall down!" John responded. "There's that wasted bit at the top of the stairs; if we rebuild the wall there our bed will fit fine." After surveying the space John had mentioned she could see what he meant. So that's what they did. Lucy got the other bedroom next to the balcony.
Speaking of Lucy, she'd disappeared off to school. The family had moved in at 8am, and although Bluewater Primary was a bit of a distance and quicker by bus, she knew she could still walk it before the bell went. Jennifer wasn't 100% happy about her eight-year-old daughter crossing two main roads and the bridge over the river by herself, but at the same time she inderstood Lucy's dedication.
After hauling the beds into their new home, and arranging the settee, TV and computer desk where they wanted them, John started to prepare some food. All this effort builds up an appetite!
Lucy arrived home at 3pm.
"Dad, can you help me? We're learning about the SimCity Invasion of 1954 in school, but Mr. Wilson wasn't very specific with the details. Now I've got to write an essay on it." History hadn't been John's favourite school subject but he wasn't going to say no to Lucy just because of that.
"1954? I remember doing that at school too Lucy. There was a great deal of anti-alienism at the time; all the greenskins hid out in Strangetown." Pulling an old book off the shelf, John soon refreshed his memory on the subject and then spent over an hour with Lucy while she worked on her essay.
After Lucy had gone to bed, John and Jennifer were trying to decide on whether they should have another child. John was all for it, as being an only child himself he'd envied his friends who had siblings.
"Okay," Jennifer said, being just a little unsure. She'd got Daniel Pleasant as her brother, and look how he'd turned out! So, they tried, and as they dropped off to sleep Jennifer thought she heard the tinkle of chimes.
The next morning, while Jennifer was at work and Lucy at school, John dug up a patch of the garden and planted a few crab-apple trees. He'd always enjoyed gardening, and even a very small area could feed their family. The leaves the trees dropped in autumn would make valuable compost for the following year. The tomatoes went in, and John added the old newspapers to the compost bin. His mind wasn't just on the garden though; he was thinking about woohoo too! Whether this was with Jennifer or the woman who passed his house (Titania Summerdream) at that moment is unclear.
"Look Dad!" Lucy was very excited when she got off the school bus. "I got an A on my essay!" John was pleased too.
"That's brilliant sweetie!" he said, giving her a big hug. "Well done. Now, have you got homework tonight?"
"Yup, science this time."
John grimaced. "Don't look at me, I never understood that at school."
"It's okay Dad, I can manage this one." Lucy grinned, and went inside. She liked to do her homework the moment she got home. It saved on having to think about it later.
To celebrate Lucy's achievement, John cooked dinner that night. Well, I say cooked; it was more burnt. He still hadn't grasped that grilling hamburgers on the stove was rather different than on the BBQ.
"Dad, when are you going to learn?" Lucy asked, choking on her second bite of burger. Jennifer looked up at her husband.
"Just practise John. You'll make a decent one soon."
Jennifer was right. It took a few attempts, but eventually John DID manage to avoid burning the burgers. He savoured every bite of THAT batch!
Meanwhile, Jennifer was most definitely growing larger. It soon became obvious that a new family member was on the way, and she was placed on maternity leave. However, the bills didn't pay themselves, and more than once Jennifer was seen running out to the postbox so she could pay them!
Lucy had become interested in the computer too, and one night she discovered that she could chat online. John had checked that the person she was talking to was an actual friend, and promised Jennifer he would supervise her conversation, but he fell asleep on the settee. Luckily, Lucy didn't start chatting to a stranger!
"JOHN! JOOOOHN!" Jennifer was in the kitchen when her waters broke. "JOHN, THE BABY'S COMING!" John rushed downstairs, just in time to see his wife give birth to a healthy baby boy.
"What shall we call him?" Jennifer asked.
"Hmm... how about Laurence?" John suggested. Laurence it was.
The next birthday to be celebrated was Lucy's. She was outside on the balcony when the tingling sensation started, signalling the transition from childhood to teen. And what a teen! Despite her studious nature as a child, all Lucy wanted now was to have fun. And she started off in style by going down to the shopping centre to meet some people. Also she felt like freestyling for tips.
She wasn't too bad, to tell you the truth. Okay, she didn't earn much on her first time out, but a number of people came to watch, and most seemed to like what they were hearing. Better still, it improved her reputation.
Just as Lucy was wrapping up her performance and getting ready to leave, there was the sound of thunder as a shady figure swooped on to the lot on a broomstick. Lucy was intrigued, especially as the woman had just conjured a black cat out of thin air.
"Err... hi." she said, a little nervously. The woman appeared a good bit older than her, and had green skin to boot. "I'm Lucy. How did you do that?"
"Magic." the woman said, turning to the startled teen. "I'm a witch."
"Oooh." Lucy, although not being one of these kids who was immediately into all this magic stuff, wanted to hear more. "How do you get to be one?"
"Well, first..." the witch looked down her long pointed nose at Lucy, "You need to become friends with a witch. THEN we might consider granting you the power to become one yourself."
Being friends with a witch sounded pretty cool, even if she DID have green skin. Lucy thanked her, got her phone number (yes, witches DO have phones) and made her way home.
John was struggling to fix the TV (which had blown yet another fuse) when Lucy got in. Unfortunately, Laurence was crying for a bottle at the same time.
"Dad, let me do that. You go look after Laurence."
"Thanks Luce." John handed the screwdriver to Lucy, and made his way upstairs. Lucy started unscrewing the cover to the fuses when the screwdriver hit a live wire.
"ARGH!" Lucy didn't look too good after being shocked like that. Her hair was standing on end and when she looked down at herself she could see that there wasn't much left of her clothing! All she had left was some rather blackened undies - not a good look.
Before she had a chance to get in the shower, John handed her baby brother to her.
"Can you hold him Lucy, I'll be back in a minute. Actually..." John stuck his head round the door, "I've changed his nappy but he could do with a bath. You think you could manage that?"
Lucy sighed. "Okay Dad. I'll bath him."
"Knew I could count on you. Thanks!"
So, still in her raggedy underwear and black all over, Lucy bathed baby Laurence in the kitchen sink. "Thank goodness my friends can't see me now!" she thought to herself. "I'd never hear the end of it!"
Despite the downsides of baby-care, little Laurence was pretty cute. John loved playing with him. He was usually the one that fed him and changed nappies too. It wouldn't be long before he'd become a mischievous toddler.
It wasn't either. Lucy was the one who helped her little brother grow up. Now the hard work could commence.

So, will Lucy befriend the green-skinned witch? Will Laurence learn everything he needs to? Will the tomatoes grow and produce a decent harvest? W



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