I came home one night after a hard day putting out fires.
And this was what was waiting for me.
“Allison!” Hetal came running down the stairs. “Where are we going for my birthday?”
I just stopped and stared.
Hetal’s eyes narrowed. “You DID remember my birthday, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Of course I did,” I lied. “You have the best birthday present ever waiting for you.”
Hetal clapped her hands greedily. “What?”
“A new house!”
“You have to be kidding me.”
That wasn’t the kind of response I was expecting, but it was too late now.
I got the family together, and we said goodbye to our cramped little duplex. I was so glad to be getting out of this place.
I sent Hetal ahead with the kids, and I walked the kitties to their new home.
Kitties have a rough time with change. They just need a little bit of extra loving care at a time like this, you know?
Our new house was waiting for us.
Sure, it looked a little bit creepy, but it was nighttime. I would look a whole lot better in the morning.
While I was still walking to the new house, Hetal had her birthday.
Her mom was there to greet her to middle age, but I missed it. She was never going to let me live that down, new house or no new house.
The kids explored the new yard while they waited for me. Such a lot of space to run and play!
When I showed up, I brought a cake with me from the store so that we could at least have a little something to celebrate Hetal’s age up.
Hetal wasn’t terribly grateful. “I am not sitting here” she exclaimed. “This chair has something growing on it!”
“Then don’t,” I said.
So we all sat in the living room.
Hetal said that living in a dump like this was going to turn her to a life of crime.
“I’m going to fix it up,” I said. “It’s going to look amazing. You’ll see.”
Jin and Caitlyn knew better than to say anything, so they just ate their cake.
Branden, meanwhile, got really attached to Raspberry.
And we seemed to have mislaid Deanne.
Christof appreciated the dining table at least. He’s not scared off by a little bit of scuzz.
“I can’t believe I’m sleeping in this,” Hetal whimpered as we curled up together in the damp, creaky bed.
“We’ll be living in the lap of luxury,” I said. “You’ll see.
Jin and Deanne slept on the upstairs landing with a lot of old clutter.
And the kids got bunk beds! See! Just as good as at the old house.
And everything looked better the next morning.
Hetal and Jin went to explore the shed at the back of the property. They almost needed a machete to get there.
I headed to City Hall to receive another award for capturing gnomes, but something went very wrong.
Fortunately, when I got home, Hetal found my new look a real turn-on.
Not that I’m complaining.
At least the kitties liked the new place.
Caitlyn and Christof got used to it and played hide and seek in the waist-high brambles.
I put Deanne’s potty out in the dirt-floor garage.
At least it kept the stink away from the house.
And then it was Branden’s birthday!
We all cheered while he transformed….
…. into some kind of horrible, distorted monster.
Then the kids all climbed up through the floor.
To sleep in the air over my bedroom.
Even the monster-that-was-Branden.
And then I woke up.
“Allison? Allison? Are you ok?” Hetal was shaking me awake.
“Uh, what?” I mumbled.
“You were crying out in your sleep. Are you ok?”
I blinked. I was in our shabby, but comfortable, bed in our cramped but comfortable duplex. It had never looked so wonderful. “I think I just had a nightmare,” I said.
Hetal pulled me close. “Oh, baby!” she said. “Let me scare the monsters away,”
Whew.
Now that I had a chance to do this over, I was NOT going to forget her birthday.
———-
So here’s a little bit of retcon from the lot and the playtime I lost. Plus all the messed-up glitch shots I was able to take. I didn’t bother to track fails. Branden peed himself once, and that’s the only one I’m sure of.
Allison used a LLAMA to go to City Hall to collect an award, and she got the fail that turned her into a tragic clown for a day. It was pretty funny. She stumbled around everywhere, but I couldn’t catch it in a screenshot.
And it occurs to me that I never went back to get that award since I restored from save. The opportunity has been sitting at City Hall for about a sim-week. I need to go do that.