The Hutchins and Mojica Renovacy Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Breaking Ground

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

“I can’t believe there’s only two small children at home now and all the others are at school.” Regina was posting again.
“This is Henrietta and Charlie, the youngest two, and twins like Desmond and Uiara. Like my sister and me too, except they’re not identical. There’s a few basic differences!” She had a handful of followers still, but not enough to be earning any money from the blog. “I do wish things would stop breaking!” Regina thought. This was not going to be a post for the blog. They’d extended the toilet hut, moved the bath in there and turned it into a bathroom so that they could fit the beds into the house, but there was still no sink in the kitchen and still no money to extend the house. Which was what they really needed to do. She – and the twins – were still sleeping in the kitchen. And the other room was now crammed with bunk beds and their one bookshelf, with its handful of second-hand books and Regina’s complimentary copy of her cookery book. That all seemed so long ago now…
“I could write a really good cookery book now if I had the time. All about how to use fresh ingredients economically.” But spare time was as rare as spare money in Regina’s hectic life. Viriato still felt permanently exhausted, even though he was no longer looking after two small children. He’d come home from school, fall asleep, wake up and try to do his homework and then fall asleep again. He didn’t know that buried grief would do this to you, and he held himself so stiffly aloof from everyone else that no-one had a chance to talk to him.
He’d finally dragged his school grades up to a B, but he could see that he’d only be able to find a part-time job when he left school. His dream of being able to support the rest of the family on his own – and of kicking out Regina – was fading fast. “I must get a photo of you all!”
That garage sale had also yielded second-hand school clothes. The school had a uniform, but weren’t too bothered if people didn’t wear it; most parents went for it because it saved the what-shall-I-wear-today arguments. But up till now, they’d never had the money for the clothes.
“After all, there’s only this year when you’ll all be in the same school together. Next year, Uiara and Desmond will be joining Viriato. And we’ll save their uniform for when Charlie and Henrietta need it.”
“Good job we’re a boy-and-girl twin like them, then,” Uiara said laughing, and moving into the group. Her new hairstyle was making a difference to the way she felt about herself, and she liked the uniform too. Another year went by – autumn into winter, spring, summer, autumn and now winter again. Regina was running out of original things to post and began to get a little – just a little! – more personal.
“There were two red-headed girls out in the snow earlier, making this snowman.” She made sure that the Christmas garland – their one decoration! – could be seen through the window. Everyone would assume the whole room looked festive.
“They reminded me of Aurora and myself when we were young, and snow was magical and new each year.”
To her surprise, people started responding. In the winter, the library put board games out for people to come and play. And the library was warm! They went there a lot at the weekends.
Regina frowned at the dominoes in her hand. From the look on Tesni’s face, she had an amazing hand and was going to win. Again. Eugenio preferred the painting sessions at the art gallery. It was a bit soon to say whether he had any talent, but he did enjoy it. The older three tended to go and read downstairs. Desmond’s reading matter always featured horses! Viriato on the other hand was still trying to catch up with the school work he just didn’t understand. He’d be graduating very soon now and his school grades still weren’t good enough. “What are you writing?” Uiara had come up behind Regina to say that she’d go over to the art gallery and pick Eugenio up.
“Oh – my blog,” Regina said, unwilling to shut Uiara out by refusing to tell her. Uiara rad a few lines over her shoulder.
“You’re writing about Aurora. About my mother when she was little.” She paused for a moment. “Will you tell me some of the stories?” Early spring, and still chilly enough to make a fire welcome. Regina had risen early, lit the fire, made the pancakes: it was a hot breakfast day, she thought.
“Thanks,” Uiara said, coming to sit next to her. A tentative friendship was growing between the two of them, based mainly on Regina’s stories about Aurora when they were both children together. “These are great, Aunt Regina,” Desmond said, grinning.
Viriato said nothing. He didn’t like the change in the relationship between Uiara and Regina – and where Uiara led, Desmond would follow. And as for the younger ones – they’d been totally corrupted.
“Reggie’s made pancakes,” Tesni called out to the children still in the bedroom. “Bags I the last seat too.” “This sink is beyond a joke,” Regina thought, attacking it yet again, and getting soaked by it yet again. “Next bit of money we’ve got, we’re having a sink for the kitchen.”
But at least she wasn’t standing among vicious brambles any more. Three teenagers instead of one working on the land had made a big difference – the brambles were cleared, new fencing was up and painted. And their crops should do better too with more care and attention. The sink fixed, she picked up the dirty dishes ready to wash them. On the mantelpiece above the fire, little seedlings were growing, ready to plant out later when the last of the frosts had passed. This year, maybe, they might make some progress instead of only just managing to stay afloat. The foundations were in for extending the back of the house and making two bedrooms – one for the girls and one for the boys, which would be a step forward. “And maybe I’ll get my own room when I go into a retirement home,” Regina thought wryly. “Still, better late than never.” They’d managed to clean up and paint the walls in the kitchen, but life still seemed to be a battle for cleanliness and order. Without small children to look after though, Regina found that she had more time and energy for the fight. Desmond was heading purposefully off towards the garden – gardening first, homework second but, unlike Viriato, he was managing to do both. Uiara was pausing to reveal her plans to Regina.
“Things that cost nothing – I thought that we could move those bushes, clear up at the front of the house. I’ve found someone – Fawn’s dad – who’ll cut down those dead trees, cart off the wood and even pay us a little for them. Then maybe we could fence off some more ground, keep the deer at bay. Then…”
“That’s great, Uiara. Go with all of it! Whatever you want to try – we can’t make the place any worse, can we?” And they smiled at each other, two women on a mission together. “Falafel.” Another week, another post. Regina was alternating between factual and slightly more reflective, usually about her and Aurora when they were children, and the contrast with this family’s childhood. Uiara liked it when she came up with new stories for her to hear.
“One of the children asked me to make something new, so I did.”
The ‘one of the children’ had been Uiara – who’d also asked if Regina would teach her and Desmond how to cook. Viriato had looked on helpless as the twins had quite happily spent a couple of hours in the kitchen with Regina. Three teens working on the garden and their income was going up a bit. Enough to alter the house! The extension had been built, and now there were three beds only (and Uiara’s Prom Queen crown) in the room, and the three girls were discovering the pleasure of a girls-only space. After sharing with four other people for so long, it didn’t occur to them to complain about having to share a room for three. And finally – before she reached the old people’s home! – Regina had her own tiny slip of a bedroom, complete with one of Eugenio’s early paintings to go on the wall. She had been thinking of making this little room into another bathroom, but Uiara had been adamant.
“You need a bedroom. You’ve slept in the kitchen for long enough.”
And Regina had given in to her determined niece, gratefully and gracefully. The other bedroom had four bunk beds in it, and no girls! Three boys and one soon-to-be man instead. Viriato was finished with school and now he was graduating. He’d just scraped his grades high enough, but never made it onto the honour roll, unlike most of the rest of the family, who seemed to be permanently there. The outside of the house was looking slightly better too, Regina thought, glancing back at it as they all piled into a taxi to go to Viriato’s graduation. Neater, for one thing, and the vegetable garden and the orchard at the back were thriving. They were, finally, beginning to make some progress, a few small steps towards a less poverty-stricken existence. He was graduating. He had finished school. Viriato looked over at Tesni in her hand-me-down best dress, his youngest sister, and felt like he’d failed her. Failed her because there was no way he could make a home, a life, for the five of them on his own.
Charlie and Henrietta stood next to Viriato, puzzled as to why he’d shrugged off their congratulations, their excitement at his achievements. Charlie in particular was hurt – he’d always looked up to Viriato, admired him since he’d been a toddler and Viriato the oldest and wisest brother.
Desmond wasn’t too happy either, as he watched Viriato stride purposefully towards the doors that led to his future. Desmond was by no means sure that Viriato was heading the right way, becoming the man Aurora and Lincoln would have wanted him to become