The Hutchins and Mojica Renovacy Ch. 1

Chapter One: The Arrival This is Mmdrgntobldrgn's renovacy - the link to the back story is here:
http://mamadragonssims.weebly.com/renovation-challenges/hutchins-and-mojica-renovation-challenge
And the download for the lot is here:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9190694

“This is it? This is Aurora’s idea of a home? Oh no, it was Lincoln’s, wasn’t it?”
Maybe it wasn’t fair of Regina to speak to Viriato like that, but she was well cheesed off. And the twins had run away to play among the weeds and brambles at the back of the house. They knew their aunt in this mood – and didn’t like it. Viriato stood there, little Tesni safe, warm and trusting in his arms and couldn't believe, not for the first time, that his mother and Regina were even sisters, let alone twins. How could the same womb have produced them both? His mother had been…The hurt of losing his parents stabbed at his heart again. But he wasn’t going to cry. The other children needed him to be strong. And he needed this selfish bat of an aunt until he was old enough to take care of the others. Then she could go take a running jump off the nearest cliff. He laid Tesni tenderly down just as his aunt Regina walked through the front door of the house and wailed aloud. The contrast between the sunshine outside and the gloom inside was almost unbelievable. Regina’s skin crawled at the sight of it. Nobody could live like this! She wasn’t going to stand for it! This – this ruin - could be sold, and the children could all go into foster care. Nobody could expect her to take this on.
She didn’t even realise that she was speaking aloud. The only other room in the house – house? Hut, more like – was a bedroom. With one bed. Regina didn’t know where anyone else was going to sleep, and she didn’t care. One night here, and that was it. Tomorrow she’d make some phone calls…She was still planning aloud. “I’ll tell you where everyone is going to sleep.” Viriato had heard her quite clearly through the ill-fitting windows.
“The twins are going to have that bed. The cots are coming inside. You and I get the floor. And I’ll tell you something else. You try selling this and putting us into foster care, splitting us up, and I’ll have that all over social media before you can say Snapchat. And what will that do for your profile? Put that pretty nose seriously out of joint, I should think.” And with those words, Regina knew she was beaten for now. If Viriato did that – and she didn’t doubt him – she’d have no life left to go back to. Her social media image was everything! She glared at his sullen impassive face.
“All right. Have it your way. But as soon as you’re eighteen, I’m leaving this awful place, awful island. I’ll be over that road bridge to the mainland so fast you won’t be able to see me for dust.” “That suits me just fine. But while you’re here, you’re going to help me – and I mean help – bring up the other children. And you’re not going to take it out on them either. They’ve lost enough.”
And so have I, he thought, but he didn’t say it aloud. Unlike Regina, he knew how to keep his own counsel. The place was filthy. They’d found an old and stinky fridge in the garden and brought it inside between them – with many muttered curses from Regina – to see if it still worked. Which it did! Regina mumbled something about going to buy some food to put in it, and someone had better clean it, and then vanished.
“I’ll clean that stinky fridge,” Viriato said. “Desmond, will you play with Eugenio and keep him safe? Uiara, will you help me in here?”
“What about Aunt Regina?”
“She’s gone shopping for food. And then I think she’ll look round outside to see what’s there.” Viriato was very sure she wouldn’t come inside and clean.
“What did you two see outside?”
“Weeds. Like the ones when we went on that mat-weaving day on holiday last year.”
“And maybe some vegetables under them. I think this was a small farm once.” Uiara did notice things. Bag after bag of dirt, dust and dead leaves that had blown in under the doors. It didn’t really look much better afterwards, but at least they knew it was clean. Now to move the cots inside, move the small amount of furniture around…Uiara could see that there wasn’t nearly enough stuff for them all. Regina had gone outside to she what she could find. Brambles and weeds and what use were they? And a shed with a washbasin outside it. Full of foreboding, she went closer. It was just as bad as she had feared. The sight and the smell of the toilet turned her already queasy stomach right over. Yesterday it had been that sea, churning yeastily under the road bridge to the island, today this.
There was no way she would admit it had anything to do with the amount she’d had to drink at that farewell party. That had been some evening! And night. And early morning. In fact, there was quite a bit she didn’t remember very clearly, though she did remember those good-looking athletes… A passing paper boy stopped to chat with Uiara.
“Say are you folks new here? There’s been nobody living here for ages. You want me to start leaving you a paper?”
Uiara had already seen inside the toilet. Newspaper might just come in handy…
“Yes please.” She didn’t bother consulting the others. “Yes, we just moved here…”
To her embarrassment, she felt the tears welling up. “It was supposed to be with my parents, but then…”
He stopped her short. “I heard. News travels on an island. Knew they were moving to the island, hadn’t realised it was to here though.”
He looked around at the furniture outside on the old porch.
“You want to get that under cover by this evening. There’s a big storm brewing.” Uiara looked at the cloudless blue sky.
“How do you know?” Was this some sort of gift you had, if you lived on an island?
“It’s showing up on the coastguard’s satellite. It’ll hit tonight. So I’m telling everyone as I drop their papers off in case they haven’t heard the warning on the radio. It’s going to be a big one – better warn your folks.”
She probably better had. Safely out of earshot of the younger children, Regina collared Viriato again.
“And just where do you propose we’ll sleep? If the children are to have all the beds?”
Viriato gestured lazily. “Hay’s nice and warm. You and I can sleep outside – there’s two stacks here.”
What Regina might have said in return to that remained unknown, for just then Uiara came running up. “There’s going to be a massive storm tonight. A neighbour just warned me. We have to get everything in and under cover by the evening.”
Viriato looked round – at the crops which would probably be flattened by the storn, the supple-stemmed weeds he knew he could weave into some kind of sleeping mat for himself and Regina – there wasn’t a moment to lose. Regina had to admit that the sleeping coverings Viriato had woven were better that nothing. But she still resented the fact that the twins had the bed and she only had the floor. Still – at least she wasn’t in the kitchen with the babies. Viriato was there. Now as long as those twins didn’t snore… Viriato was the last one to use the outdoor toilet that night. By now it was raining hard, a strong wind was blowing, and the sea looked decidedly choppy. He hurried back inside as fast as he could. The storm was fierce in the night. Cuddling Tesni, who had been woken by it, Viriato saw distress flares tracing their cry for help against a dark sky somewhere out at sea. I hope they get home safely, he thought.
No-one else woke – they were all worn out with the physical and emotional demands of the day. I have to look after them now, Viriato thought. I must protect them. There’s only me. There’s no-one else I can trust. Except of course, Viriato did have to trust someone else. He had to trust Regina with Eugenio and Tesni during the day. Skipping school was not an option, even if he was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open in class.
Regina had decided – reluctantly – that she was going to have to wear something a little more casual. At least none of her friends could see her! She still did her hair just as carefully, and her make-up. Even on this island, there might be someone worth meeting. And for her own sake, she was going to improve this place slightly! Once Viriato was home, she’d go out and buy some paint! First she’d check the mail though… The bills fell from her nerveless fingers and lay on the wet ground. They – no, she – just didn’t have enough money to pay them. And there would be more. What was she going to do? For the first time in a very long while, Regina faced reality and didn’t like the look of what she saw.