1. The Cooke Legacy: Chapter One - Oh, Happy Days A joint legacy between ilovereecee & meadowthayer

2. Hi! I'm Albert B. Cooke, but everyone calls me Albert. Or at least they will when I meet some friends. You see, I don't actually know anyone at the moment. I was just plopped down onto this lot and told I was the founder of a new joint legacy between some ladies named Katie (who is writing this chapter) and Haleigh. They're apparently friends at an awesome forum called SiMania. Anyway, I'm excited to be here and tell my story. So let's get started!

3. Welcome to my humble home! It isn't much, but one day I hope that it will be full of my very intelligent children* who will carry on this legacy. *Albert B. Cooke is a knowledge sim with a secondary family aspiration.

4. “ Hey there handsome!” Rose Dai, one of the women in my town, shouted while passing by. “ Oh, good morning miss.” I replied casually enough. I got to know Rose pretty well that day, she was a Romance sim looking for a good time. While she was very interesting and fun, she wasn't what I was looking for in a wife. I stored her number, but didn't think I'd ever call her up for anything more than a casual lunch.

5. I found my desired career* easily enough later that night. I'd been told by a few of the townies that came to welcome me that I was lucky to have no difficulty in my search. They'd said some would search for weeks before finding a decent job. I thanked my lucky stars, because I knew the bills would be coming soon and I couldn't afford to have a low paying job for weeks. *Albert has the LTW to reach the top of the Education track.

6. My luck continued to follow me throughout the next day. Not only did I find the Education career track quickly, but I received a promotion on my very first day at work! I really enjoyed my job so far and my future in it was looking exceptionally bright! I couldn't ask for anything better to happen on my first day.

7. The next morning as I was off to work I stopped to greet another one of my neighbors. She introduced herself as India; We talked briefly as the horn blared from my carpool. “ You know, Albert, you seem like a pretty nice guy. I have a friend who I think you would hit it off with really well. Would you like her number?” India questioned. “ Sure, I don't see why not.” I replied as India took out a pen to write down her friend's number on a small piece of paper.

8. On my break at work I called India's friend, Kaylynn Spitzig, and set up a blind date at my house that very night. I came home from work with yet another promotion. My second one on my second day of school, life was feeling pretty great! One of my colleagues came home from work with me, but I had to bid her farewell quickly. I didn't want Kaylynn showing up and seeing another girl on my doorstep. First impressions were everything and I wanted this date to go well!

9. India was right; Kaylynn and I did hit it off right away. She was playful and caring. She listened with genuine interest as I told her about my legacy, job and other various things. She didn't care that my kitchen, bedroom and living room were all one. She seemed very excited for me that I was starting a legacy. I decided right away that I liked her, she was very sweet and not only that she was gorgeous. Although her wardrobe wasn't something I would choose for a woman, her personality out shined her eccentric taste in clothing.

10. “ Wow, I never thought I would have so much fun on a first date. You really are sweet and I hope we can do this again sometime soon, Kaylynn.” My stomach had butterflies in it as the date ended. We stood holding hands and swaying to and fro. “ I hope so too, Albert. You're a really neat guy. I'd love to spend more time together.” A hint of red rose to Kaylynn's pale cheeks before she leaned in and kissed me goodnight on my cheek. As soon as the door shut I had the urge to dance and jump for joy! I knew at that very moment she was the one I would marry.

11. My good luck didn't seem to have an end! Two promotions in two days, a fantastic blind date and now on my third day of work, another promotion! Life seriously couldn't have gotten any better for me at that point in time.

12. And yet it somehow managed to get a little sweeter. I earned a fourth promotion on my fourth day and had saved up enough money to expand my small dwelling. I now had separate rooms to live in. As soon as I got home I went to call Kaylynn to share this great day with her and tell her about my new promotion.

13. Kay came over right away and I jumped on her to shower her with kisses all over. Then I told her the good news, “I've been promoted. AGAIN!” “ Ha ha ha, that's great Al, that's really great!” Kaylynn returned my enthusiasm and also my kisses. This was the moment that I fell in love with my girlfriend.

14. Not caring who walked by to see my actions I playfully pinched Kaylynn on her butt. She squealed with delight, but scolded me, “Now Al, you shouldn't be doing that. People will think I don't have any morals by letting you touch me there!” “ They wouldn't think that if we were married.” I said seriously. “ Yeah, well, that's true. . . what are you getting at?” She said cautiously with a questioning look on her face.

15. “ I'm saying,” I started as I dropped to one knee, “that I want you to marry me. So I can grab you ass without anyone's judgment” “ Oh and is that the only reason?” Kaylynn laughed as she slid on the ring excitedly. “ Um, yes.” I teased, but seeing the one raised eyebrow told me to save myself quickly, “Of course not sweetie, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

16. And with that Kaylynn moved in as my fiance. I couldn't be any happier no matter how many more fast promotions I received! Kay donned a new look when she moved in as well. I thought it suited her better, although she'd always been gorgeous in my eyes. I bought her a new dress which she loved and she let her hair down into two pigtails instead of one night pony tail. She looked absolutely stunning.

17. After studying a physiology book off our bookcase, Kaylynn discovered her body skills skyrocketed when she worked out*. *A member of SiMania, Rachel, found that having your sim study physiology makes that sim gain body skill points in an insanely short amount of time, Kay maxed hers in under one hour.

18. “ On, scissors okay; and no cheating Al! Rock. . . paper. . . scissors!” Kaylynn was very playful and enjoyed games such as red hands, rock paper scissors and an occasional pillow fight. I was so happy that Kaylynn had a little kid inside of her, too many adults get stressed over the little things in life and don't find any joy in the small things anymore.

19. After Kay beat my butt at rock paper scissors three times in a row we decided to be a little spontaneous. We decided to get married in our living room! I slipped the small gold band on her tiny finger and she did the same for me. We kissed and that sealed the deal. Kaylynn was now Mrs. Cooke!

20. We spent the rest of the evening and the better half of the following morning doing what every newlywed couple does. But of course I'm not going to show you any pictures of that! We did, however, sleep like children afterward.

21. Early that morning we had a huge scare! We couldn't afford to pay to have an alarm system installed so we relied on the locked door system to keep us safe. Unfortunately that wasn't enough. Gordon King, an infamous robber, broke into our home to steal what possessions we had.

22. Unfortunately for Kaylynn she did witness the scary scene. Gordon was in the middle of stealing our ancient Mayan statue when Kaylynn was coming out of the bathroom. She tried to be quiet, but couldn't hold back her fear. She screamed and startled Gordon who bolted for the stairs. Luckily he didn't try to harm my new wife, because I couldn't do a thing about it – I was downstairs calling the cops.

23. My luck seemed to hold out, for a second I thought Gordon would get away with all of our things! Just as he hit the door, the police officer managed to grab him by the wrist and place him in handcuffs and under arrest. We were given cash for our stolen items and it did cover to have them replaced. Although the money couldn't reassure our safety, so we used a little of it to buy a security alarm to ensure this wouldn't happen again – or if it did the alarm might scare away the criminal before anything could be stolen from us.

24. Kaylynn was recovering well enough from the ordeal. She'd been scared out of her mind and hardly slept through the night for the next few following days. But something else put Gordon King out of her mind. We found out we were expecting a baby! Kay, a Family sim, had no room in her mind for the trespasser who robbed us once he belly began to show. She only had excitement for the little one who would soon be in her arms.

25. I cannot even begin to explain how it feels to know that you have a baby on the way for the first time. It is wonderful, scary, exciting and nerve wracking all in one feeling! I have big hopes for Kay and mine's child. I hope he or she will be beautiful like their mother, but also have a good brain to get them through school.

26. Kaylynn wasn't having a horrible pregnancy like some women do. We have both heard the horror stories of never ending morning sickness and aches that reach deep into the mother to be's muscles. But luckily for us Kay felt fine! This meant I was able to focus on skilling for more promotions so I could expand our home to fit our baby on the way!

27. “ I think if we have a little boy,” I started during breakfast one morning, “that we should name him Albert B. Cooke Jr.”. “ There is no way I'm naming my tiny baby infant Albert!” Kaylynn laughed, “Can you imagine calling a toddler Albert. Poor kid, he would get made fun of.” Kaylynn rejected my idea, but I still held hope that I could talk her into it by the time the baby came.

28. My promotions were coming on steadily. It seemed like every day that I went to work, I returned home with a promotion and a nice fat paycheck. The house was expanding nicely, but this meant that I had to study more and more each night to keep up earning promotions at the pace I was.

29. I was downstairs cleaning up after breakfast when I heard Kaylynn yelling upstairs. I knew she'd gone to take a shower, I hoped with all my might that she hadn't fallen or tripped up the stairs. I didn't want her or the baby hurt this close to the delivery. But when I got upstairs I saw she was in labor. . .

30. “ A baby boy,” Kaylynn screeched, “with your blonde hair and blue eyes.” She looked from me to our newborn son with the biggest smile on her face. “ We'll name him Albert B. Cooke Jr!” I exclaimed, happy that everything had gone well. “ No, we wont. I've already named him,” Kaylynn said matter-of-factly, “His name is Adam.”

31. Kaylynn left to put Adam in his crib then came back and asked what I thought about trying right away for another baby. I of course had no objections, after all, the process to make a baby was very enjoyable for me. Plus I wouldn't mind having another little one like Adam in the house soon.

32. It was the middle of Winter and there was not much to do outside with Adam, so we kept him indoors and played, bathed and fed him. Although I didn't get a say in his name I didn't get mad over it. After all, we would have other boys. I would get my Albert Jr. Hopefully . . .

33. I continued to skill in order to earn my promotions. The raises were now getting bigger which meant we could furnish the house and buy lots of toys and such for Adam. I was happy that I was able to provide for my small family on a one parent income.

34. Kaylynn began feeling a little sick and had to stay in bed for the better part of the day. I could not afford to stay home to look after her and Adam, so I hired a nanny for the time that I was away. She did well enough when it came to caring for Adam. She even had the house spic and span when I came home from work with a promotion.

35. Winter was finally leaving and the snow was beginning to melt. Kaylynn went outside to check and see if the flowers were blooming yet and that is when it happened. She found out we were going to have another baby. The reason why she'd been sick and weak was because this child, unlike Adam, was making the symptoms of pregnancy very well known to his or her mother.

36. We were playing a game of chess one night when I decided to bring up the naming of our children once again. “ So, honey, do you think if we have another boy we could name him Albert B. Cooke Jr.?” “ Nope. Sorry, I still feel the same way about that name for my infant. It's not going to happen, babe.” Kaylynn hardly looked up as she rejected the name again. I guess I wasn't going to get my Albert Jr. after all.

37. I was feeling a little defeated about getting Albert Jr., but I figured Kay was the one carrying our baby so she should have the say so in the naming. Besides, what did the name matter really? Adam wasn't an Albert Jr., but so far he was proving to be a great child. I loved him and I could tell by the way he giggle and cooed in my arms that he loved me too. It didn't matter that he wasn't Albert Jr. It wouldn't matter to my future sons either.

38. Adam's birthday came quickly and Kaylynn, bless her, had been throwing up all day with morning sickness but still managed to make it to see her son grow into a toddler. She hooted and hollered while I let Adam look at his cake and candles in awe.

39. Adam turned out to be a very cute boy! I knew Kaylynn and I would have handsome children. He looks a lot like me, in my opinion. Kaylynn agrees too, he has my eyes, nose and mouth. So far he's a happy toddler, very active but with a mean streak.

40. Kaylynn played with Adam on the floor with his Wobbly Wabbit Head. She spoke of different things than he did, but they still enjoyed the bonding time. “ Baby brother. Albert Jr.” Adam rambled on a few words. Kaylynn stopped talking about art, “Oh, your daddy. Momma's gunna hurt him for putting you up to this.” She laughed, but apparently my attempt was not good enough to persuade her.

41. Kay was getting pretty far along in her pregnancy, but still managed to keep up with our active tot. She taught him how to walk and he caught on fairly quickly. I was so proud of my little man!

42. When Kaylynn was about to give Adam his nightly bath she went into labor! I wasn't there to witness this event because I was downstairs studying. I didn't even hear Kay yelling for me to help! Little Adam was the only one there to comfort my wife, and he wasn't much help. He found his fingers more interesting than his mother giving birth to his sibling.

43. As I said before, I wasn't there to witness the birth of our next child, so we didn't get a picture of our twins together right after birth. That's right! We had twins! Two blonde babies with blue eyes, one girl and one boy. We named them Amelia and Andersen. Kaylynn is feeding Andersen his bottle now.

44. All the snow had finally melted and the flowers were beginning to bloom again. The birth of my twins had brought new life into the earth outside, or so I liked to think. Kaylynn tended to the babies while I watered our bright yellow and red flowers oustide.

45. All too soon it was time for my little guy Adam to turn into a big kid! Kaylynn got up from her nap to cheer for our oldest son on his birthday. Adam blew out the candles atop his cake and giggled happily as he aged into a child.

46. He stayed as cute as a button! I'm starting to think he looks more like his mother, I don't know why I thought he was a clone of me as a toddler. He seems to have much of my personality so far though, he's very quiet and reserved.

47. The next morning it was time for Amelia and Andersen to grow into toddlers! We held the birthday party early that morning before I went to work so I could see my babies age. I couldn't believe all our children were growing up so fast! Where did the time go?

48. My twins turned out wonderfully! Amelia, the older twin, is a sweet heart just like her mother. Plus she's gorgeous like her mom; she has the thickest set of lashes I've seen on a toddler! Andersen looks like his older brother Adam. He's a cute kid, but don't let that smile fool you, he's mean just like Adam too! The exact opposite of their sweet sister.

49. My little daughter has me wrapped around her tiny finger! I see so much of her mother in her with looks and personality. I can't believe how blessed I am to have such a great family. And my kids are smart too! Little Amie learned how to walk in no time.

50. Kaylynn took on the difficult task of potty training. I didn't have the patience she had to sit the toddlers down time and time again and try to explain to them they had to use the big boy and big girl potties now instead of going pee-pee in the diapers. Bless Kaylynn, she's such a great mother!

51. When it's dark outside and all is quiet in the house, things start to heat up with Kay and I. I know that she wants another baby more than anything in the world. But our home is full and we don't have any more room for a new baby. We hardly have room enough for the twins cribs in their nursery as it is. I knew what Kay's intentions were with all the kissing and romancing, but I didn't let her know I knew. I didn't mind the extra lovin'!

52. Kaylynn's day were a little less full now that Adam was a child. She had a lot of extra time and so I had a green house built for her! She had such a sweet, nurturing soul and absolutely loved her little garden.

53. I was so proud of my oldest son. He was a miniature me, always studying and yearning to learn new things. His nose was always stuck in some type of book. He skilled pretty quickly and was becoming a bright young lad. I was very proud of him!

54. The birthday celebrations came again all too soon. This time my toddlers Amelia and Andersen were growing into children. We were leaving the days of diapers behind us for good with this birthday! Adam was there to cheer on his sister and brother as they aged into children like him.

55. Amelia, my sweet, darling daughter, is more like her mother everyday. She's such a caring, beautiful little thing. I dread the day she turns into a teen and starts dating!

56. And my youngest son, Andersen. Cute on the outside, but with a hidden bad boy attitude. It doesn't show though, he's best friends with his mother and I and even both of his siblings.

57. Kaylynn spends her days as a full time stay at home mother and she wouldn't have it any other way. This way she gets to see all of her babies grow into bright young adults. She gets to help them with their homework every night and see to it they are well cared for. For her it is better than any job in the world.

58. I was working on earning my one last promotion until I achieved my LTW! I was sure I had the promotion in the bag as I set out one Saturday afternoon. I was in such a good mood I even decided to stop and pet the skunk in my path. Bad idea! I stank the rest of the day!

59. It was Saturday which meant the kids were free to frolic about as they wish. Andy enjoyed watching a few Saturday morning cartoons and Amie ran around the house trying to fill it with bubbles. She is so her mother's child!

60. Amelia even helped her mother work in the vegetable garden that afternoon. She was like her mother's shadow on the weekends and enjoyed doing very girly things with her mommy. Kaylynn enjoyed the bonding time with her little girl and soaked up every moment of laughter and fun of her baby girl's childhood.

61. All of the kids were very attached to their mom. She was best friends with Adam, Amelia and Andersen. They all enjoyed spending some quality time with their mommy and she equally enjoyed the bonding time with her sons and daughter.

62. The kids even got on great with each other. I've heard horror stories of sibling rivalry, but there isn't any to be found here. Well, aside from Amelia's brothers taking advantage of her sweetness during a game of chess. Adam, with a mean streak, usually always cheats to move his pawns to a better vantage point on the board.

63. I love my wife! I love how caring she is and has always been since our very first blind date. She doesn't stop caring for our kids once they day has ended and its time to go to bed. She even reads them to sleep every night*! *Kay really did autonomously read Andersen to sleep every night.

64. I finally earned my last needed promotion to be at the top! Now I'm the head of the Education career track and living on cloud nine. My sweet, darling Amelia came out to congratulate me with a hug. She's such as sweetheart!

65. It was time again for another birthday in the house. This time my quiet, reserved Adam was aging into a teenager. This made me feel very old and I think Kaylynn was a little sad that her first born was already becoming a young man.

66. It didn't matter that Kaylynn and I felt a little sad about Adam growing up, we had to support him. And I couldn't have been any happier for my son that night. He told me he'd decided to pursue a Knowledge aspiration in life, just like me!

67. My poor wife was feeling down in the dumps about Adam aging. She felt as if her kids no longer needed her. To cheer her up I tore down the walls of the green house and expanded her garden. Now she could breathe in the fresh morning air as she threw herself whole-heartedly into her gardening.

68. By the time Amelia and Andersen's birthday rolled around, Kay was feeling much better. Although her children were growing up and getting ready to leave the nest, she still had her garden that relied on her TLC to grow and live.

69. Amelia aged into a beauty! I was a little sad to hear that she'd decided to follow the Romantic path in life and hoped she'd still remain the sweet, loving person she'd been all her life.

70. Andersen, the fun loving child, decided upon a path similar to his twin sister's, he choose a Pleasure path. This didn't surprise me, but I had hoped my children to be a bit more on the Knowledge path. Of course I was happy with them and how they turned out though. Any one of them would make a good candidate for heir and I am interested to see who you all choose at the heir poll at SiMania. And now it's time for me to say farewell, the next time you see my family, one of my three children will be telling the tale. Until then, goodbye!