No excuses

Round 13: Summer 2019


Stella Harris is 55, Finn is 14 and Deacon Burrows is 54.
(Niall is 24, Liv is 21 and Dawn is 15.)

School's out for the summer so Finn is allowed to spend more time with his girlfriend Dawn. She hasn't seen the Harris family's new house yet so Finn invites her over.

This is the first time that Stella meets his son's girlfriend. Dawn seems like a nice girl.

Stella lays down some rules though. "Finn isn't allowed to take girls upstairs to his room. You can raid the fridge and use the pool as much as you like but stay out of the bedrooms" Stella says. Dawn is trying to make a good impression so she listens carefully.

Finn is so embarrassed by his mom but Dawn doesn't seem to mind. It's not like they were going to jump to bed anyway.

They go out to the beach and build a sand castle instead. Dawn wonders if she could convince her parents to buy a house on the beach as well. On the other hand, she's leaving for college in a few years so it wouldn't affect her that much even if they moved.

Stella and Deacon are glad that Finn is such a level-headed boy. What they don't know is that he sometimes sneaks out late at night to hang out with his friends. They don't get into much trouble since they only hang out at the local beach and have bonfires but still they're underaged and shouldn't be out at that time of day.

Finn is old enough to have a job but he doesn't have to worry about that kind of stuff. His parents are loaded with money and they give him enough allowance so that he can have a burger or go to the movies sometimes.

Liv has no intentions of moving back home after she graduates but she visits her parents quite often nowadays. Sometimes it feels like the old times when she and Finn were just kids and were always playing and having fun together.

Liv asks Finn about his girlfriend and she's surprised to hear that their parents seemed to approve Dawn right away.

Liv gives her father an ultimatum. If he doesn't start treating her boyfriend better, she'll stop visiting.

"You always talk Niall down and I'm tired of hearing your excuses. Finn is much younger than I was when I started dating Niall but you don't seem to have any problem with him dating. Is it because his girlfriend is the senator's daughter?"

Deacon tries to convince Liv that Dawn's parents' status has nothing to do with it. He just has a bad feeling about this guy. He's only lived in the area for a few years and nobody seems to know anything about his past.

He finally gives in. "Fine, I'll meet the guy and try to get along with him" he says. He knows that he's just pushing Liv away by disapproving her boyfriend.

"Oh dad, you're the best. I'll call him and ask if he could come over right away."

Stella is pleased with how things are going. She was ready to interfere if Deacon didn't change his opinion. She doesn't understand why he's so reluctant about Liv dating Niall. He seems like a perfectly sweet guy and he makes Liv happy.

Deacon puts on his best behaviour when Niall comes over.

The conversation at the dinner table is somewhat awkward.

Finn is the perfect person to break the ice. He starts telling jokes and soon everyone relaxes. The rest of the dinner goes quite well and Deacon starts to think that maybe he's been too hard on Niall. He does seem like a nice guy and Liv obviously cares about him very much.

Liv is so happy that her father is finally coming to his senses. She's happy and that should be enough.

Notes:

• Title from "No excuses" by Alice In Chains
• I moved this family into a beach house. It's pretty similar to their old house except with an indoor pool and obviously the beach. I'm planning to do lot tours of some of my sims' homes eventually but I don't have the time right now for anything extra.
• I've always thought that Deacon was a bit snobbish so it would make sense that he would be more approving of Dawn than Niall. He did get along pretty well with Niall during the dinner though so maybe things are improving a bit.