The Old Mill Chapter 4

Chapter 4
A renovacy made by Jessabeans as a gift to SamelaRita for the Sims 3Amayzing gift exchange.
Link to the renovacy here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9309941
And a link to the renovacy rules in case anyone else wants to play it!
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/920867/the-renovacy-challenge-a-new-and-short-challenge/p1 The wanted child learns to walk outside. The sun warms him. The daybreak child comes back home with a friend. They sit and work together. I am being changed, the rooms within me are changing. Some of my walls are plastered and painted now. It’s been a long time since that happened. I said dogs were an old story. This one has been hanging round for a while. They’ve taken to feeding him, but outside only, say strength and hope to the children. We can’t really afford a dog, but we’ll give him a little food from time to time. He chews that ugly garden gnome. The joy child will be sad. Even though strength does not like the ugly gnome, he knows the joy child loves it. He scolds the dog. “Bad dog, Patches,” he says. They have named the dog Patches because he has them on his body. I know what will happen in the end. Once you give a dog a name, it has found a home… And then strength brushes the dog. He says it is to keep him free from fleas. But where did the brush come from? I know strength bought it especially for the dog. The wanted child goes on learning to walk. The garden is growing well, and hope sings as she tends the plants. The dog has gone off somewhere, but I think he will be back. The daybreak child is sad that the dog is not there. “He will come back, won’t he?” she asks. Hope hugs her and says that as his food dish is here, he probably will. The dog is back. He has brought strength a present – two presents. One is a maple leaf. He puts it at strength’s feet. The other thing he has brought back is fleas. No-one is very happy about that. The dog will need a flea bath! It is strength who has to bath the dog. There is no way hope is going to do it. The three children eat together. Well, I think the wanted child is playing actually, but they all have food in front of them. I have a family within my walls again. Another room has appeared! A new bathroom with a shower in it, for the children to use. These are good parents: they care about their children. But I know that strength wants to make something beautiful for hope. I heard him talking to the dog, telling it about his secret plans. “Soon, soon,” he said. “As soon as I can earn some spare money…” Everyone is out. Except the dog. The joy child and the daybreak child have gone fishing with strength, and hope has taken the wanted child to the library. They talk about buying a bookcase and some books and then decide that they cannot afford that yet. They still don’t own much, but I can feel their roots going deeper and deeper. Like a tree: deep roots early mean good growth later on. And although they don’t have much stuff, there is a lot of love. For each other, for a stray dog, and for me too. The fishing was good, and strength is making a plan with the joy child and the daybreak child. “So tomorrow, you two will ask to go out for the day, to the fair, and I will stay here and tend the garden. I will say that you all need a good day out together, a holiday. And when you come back, she’ll be so surprised!” The joy child brushes the dog. A friend from school gave her the crate of dog toys because they were going spare. I think this dog will be living inside before the winter comes! The joy child and the daybreak child look different! The joy child looks like a cat. What has happened? But strength smiles at them, so it must be all right. “We had a lovely day out,” hope says. “You were right – we really needed this. Thank you so much for insisting on it. And we have a present for you!” Strength has a present for you as well, I think, but I say nothing. This is your present from us, hope says, and shows it to strength. The joy child and the daybreak child go upstairs. Right upstairs, to the top of the house. “Surprise!” they all shout, when hope comes into the room. Everywhere is different. Strength has painted, polished, scrubbed, put wallpaper up, picked flowers, made the bed with the new bedding that matches the wallpaper. He hopes she will like it. This is the nicest thing he could find that they could afford. Hope loves it. “It’s beautiful. Thank you so much. I love it.” “You are beautiful too. And I love you, so much.” I wrap my walls around their love, to keep it held and safe.