Gen 1 Ch 9: The Conversationalist

They all loved their new house. Apart from having more space than they knew what to do with, it was also much closer to both the school and the police station.

The boys really enjoyed their little playground in front of the house.

Arthur's higher-ranking colleagues were now willing to carpool with him, since now they wouldn't have to drive their fancy cars down the little dirt road in the swamp.

And Kaitlin still documented every little development of all four of their children.

Since they lived so close to the town center now, Broccoli was allowed to play at the park after school with his numerous friends.
 

Under the condition that he would not forget to do his homework of course!

Bloom still preferred the company of his easel over other children.

There was a girl in his class whom he sort of liked.

But all he ever got from her were rude stares when she thought he wasn't looking.

He did love the new house too, though, and painted a picture to celebrate!

Soon the children's room was decorated with many of Bloom's artworks.

When Beryllium's birthday grew near, Broccoli asked their parents if he could throw her a party and invite her future classmates so she could get to know them. Bloom suspected that it was a ploy to invite all of Broccoli's own friends, but their parents thought it was a great idea.

Bloom was shocked to see that Broccoli had even invited his secret crush!
"Hey, Bloom, look who's here!"
He meant well, of course, but Bloom was extremely embarrassed!

 Besides, all the girls were only interested in Broccoli anyway. Bloom at least tried to dance a little by himself.

He was glad when it was finally time for Beryllium to blow out her candles.
"Happy birthday, little sister!"

She grew into a very girly girl!

As soon as she was done eating her cake, however, she headed straight down to the lab to experiment. Kaitlin looked so proud!

When Broccoli wasn't out playing with his friends, he chatted with them on the computer or on the phone.

Bloom worked on his painting skills every day. He loved surprising his family with personalized paintings and made a picture for his daddy this time around. He had a vague recollection of Arthur bringing home a stray cat that sort of looked like this when he was still little.

Next, he painted something for Beryllium, who had become obsessed with finding out more about her heritage ever since her birthday.

He spent so much time painting that it came as a bit of a surprise when his own birthday rolled around!
"Yaaay, congrats, big bro! You should have let me throw you a party though!"
"Eh, nah. And please stop it with that noisemaker, Broc."
"Oh Bloom, but you could have met so many new friends! Having friends is so much fun! Don't you want to have lots of friends too?"
"I'm perfectly content here with my easel, thank you very much."

Later, as he was soaking in the tub, he got to thinking about his younger brother's words. Did he really not want friends? When he was perfectly honest with himself, he had to admit that he would not be entirely opposed to the idea. But how? He wasn't nearly as carefree about approaching new people as Broccoli was. He just wasn't that kind of guy.

"No, that's nonsense!", he sat up in the tub.
Sims could change and grow, no matter what they were like and so could he! He vowed to himself then and there to take a leaf out of his little brother's book and become the most outgoing Sim that he could be.

The next day his new resolve seemed a bit daunting, so he decided to practice on one of his mom's plants. He didn't notice Arthur getting up and watching with concern in his eyes.

Bloom was unbelievably flustered when he noticed his father watching him and ran out of the room without saying a word.
"Baby steps", he thought. "... baby steps."