Missy Melons was an unplanned child. Her mother Marry never concealed that fact from her. She would have thought it cruel to do so. It was important to her that Missy knew exactly how things stood.



Marry Melons had had a short fling with Mike Steel just after she moved to Strangetown. He was a nice and good-looking man. They were, however, completely incompatible.

Mike was a farmer. He wanted a nice housewife that could help him around the farm. They could go fishing together when she wasn’t busy with the children. He wanted lots of children. Strangetown was a wonderful place with clean, fresh air, where he could grow his organic vegetables and raise a big, healthy family.

Marry on the other hand hadn’t really planned for children or marriage. She wanted to focus on her career, go to parties in the next town. Strangetown didn’t have much to offer for her, except for the low rent. As soon as she’d made a name for herself, she’d move into the city. As for marriage and children, those were things she wanted, but not in the near future.



Shortly after Mike and Marry had broken up, Marry found out that she was pregnant. While she hadn’t planned for this at all, she decided to raise the child. She made enough money to support her family, as long as she remained in Strangetown. And the time with Mike had been enough to convince her that the country air was clearly better for a growing child.



Marry could never quite say what had been the deciding factor, but she never regretted her decision and made sure Missy knew that. They lived happily together in their small house.

Missy couldn’t really imagine anything different than this, even though she was the only child in Strangetown with unmarried parents. It didn’t bother her. Even though she was only a child, the idea of her parents living together, as different as they were, seemed to her funny at best and usually completely impossible.



Mike had naturally been ecstatic when he heard that Marry had a child. While he knew that the three of them would never live together as a family, Marry made sure that he was a part of his daughter’s life from the beginning.

Missy always visited her dad on the weekends, when Mike taught her about plants and farming. She thought it was wonderful.



She’d bring her friends over to see Mike’s fields and he’d let them eat strawberries. Really, things couldn’t have been better. Missy always thought that she must be the happiest child in Strangetown.

The boy talking to Mike is little Chip Grunt, Missy's future husband.




Of course, a lot of kids probably though that. Kitty Hogleg, a good friend of Missy, certainly did. She was an only child. Her parents were good friends with Missy’s dad, Annie Hogleg because of their shared love for all-natural food and Hamm Hogleg because of their shared love for cowboy hats.




As for little Xanthos Salamis, having identical elder sisters had been wonderful at first. There was always someone who would play with him and you couldn’t even tell if it was Helena or Isabella. When he was little, Xanthos had just called them Hellabella to make things easier on himself. Twins were awesome.



Of course he’d always figured that at some point, his sisters would stop being so much alike and get over their habit of confusing strangers. As Xanthos got older, he learned that having older twin sisters could also be a terrible curse. Twins were truly a thing of horror.




The elder McGork siblings, Angus and Owen, would probably have signed both of these statements. Rose and Grainne were a handful, even if they didn’t look alike at all.



With four children, the McGork family was clearly the largest in Strangetown. Wouldn’t have it any other way either.




Bjorn Beaker, on the other hand, wouldn’t have traded his status as an only child for the world.




Neither would Erik Halfdanarsson have traded his status as the oldest Strangetown child and uncrowned king for all the world. The first one to reach teenage age, every single child admired him.



It’s a bit lonely at the top though, so Erik was glad when others like his brother Siegfried came to share this status with him. Little Gundrun meanwhile was happily hiding behind her brothers’ backs.


As a wrap-up for the childhood arc of Generation 1, have a look at some of the less plot-important Strangetown families, including the non-canon siblings. Strangetown is looking a lot more lively than usual!

My general rule for those families was that the families kept trying for babies until they got one with the correct gender. There were some exceptions, like how it wouldn't make sense for the Aliens or Missy to have any siblings, but that's the main thought. I think I reloaded for Gundrun several times, because the house was full and she was the last one missing.

Bjorn sure looks adorable, doesn't he? Hard to imagine he could father someone like Loki Beaker. Really hard to imagine, actually. I can't wait to show you Loki "The Adorable Chin" Beaker. Other Maxis sims are better off. The Grunt nose is going strong.

To finish things up, have a look at Angus McGork and his questionable fashion sense:



Angus...



Angus, no...


Next up: Losses