Changing Seasons. Spring IV, part 2

Spring IV, part 2 Well, my plants are slowly growing, and I’m doing the best I can with them. I’m not sure how good the crops will be though – I’m not even sure what I’m growing, as the packets were so old, worn and mouldy that only these few seeds had survived right in the centre. But I’ll see how I get on. When I’ve finished out here, I think I need to clean up a bit inside as well. And then head to the laundromat and get that bedding washed. I could make this look a bit better, couldn’t I? Okay, the floor’s clean, but maybe I don’t need the cobwebs… And if I went and found some more of that corrugated iron, I could patch up the holes in the walls. It is a bit draughty. Let’s clean up first. There! Cobwebs gone. Do you like my DIY bedside table? Lachlan put me on to that –said that Frank had taken a couple for himself and Honey to use. And my precious photo album is up here as well. Reminding me of what I hope to achieve… I’ve put that string of cards back up as well – it cheers the place up a bit. Laundromat next, I think, and then I’ll go and look for something to block those gaps. Maddie was there, waiting for her washing to finish, when I arrived with my smelly bedding and dirty clothes. And the laundromat was different again! I hadn’t been for ages – Marcus or Annette used to take my stuff down with their, as they were driving down anyway. Though now that they’ve got one baby and another on the way, Marcus is talking about buying their own washing machine. And drier, for the wet days or the multiple-clothes-change days. Posters. A sink (well, everyone had been saying how useful that would be for a while), a hot drink maker and a little fridge.
“Would you like a drink while you wait?” I asked Maddie, heading over to see what was what. “Why thank you. That would be really kind of you. I’m afraid I’m not really up to date with gadgets like that. Do tell me how your crops are coming on. And have you started to rebuild your grandparents’ farmhouse yet?”
It was so nice to have someone actually listening to me. I made us both a drink and we sat and chatted while the washing swirled around in the machines. There was something sad and valiant about her as she talked of losing the love of her life, when she’d met him so late on. And how she hoped to end her days peacefully here. I really felt for her. If I could help her, I would. That would be a noble quest, bringing some happiness into someone’s life. “Do you need a hand?”
“No, it’s only a salad. But if you could lay the table…”
Honey sounded tired. She sounded tired a lot more these days.
“Full-on day at school?” Frank asked.
“We were out in the garden for a lot of it,” she said, her voice warming into happiness. “Twenty minutes just looking at worms! What they looked like, what they did, how they moved…I love teaching like this, with time instead of a timetable.” Frank went into the other room to get the plates. This room didn’t look any better than it had when they’d arrived – how long ago now? More than six months. Every time they had a bit of money to buy paint with, it seemed to get swallowed up in one of Maddie’s soft, clinging demands. And Honey didn’t want to say no to a dying woman. “Surprise!” he said to Honey as she mixed up the salad ingredients. “Look at the table.”
He’d been working this week, over in Newborough, and been paid. And spotted the – admittedly very small – surprise in a shop over there. “Table mats!” Honey said, sitting down in surprise and delight, and smiling her amazing smile at him.
“I thought you’d like the colour.”
“I do, I do. You’ve only laid for two.”
“I thought we’d eat early tonight. I’m starving, and Maddie will still be having her rest.”
“Sounds good to me,” Honey said. “Her portion will keep no problem.”
“And then we’re going to go out together,” Frank whispered. “Up to Leo’s place. We haven’t been out together for weeks and weeks…” “Hop on behind me and hold on tight!” Frank kissed Honey and she giggled like a schoolgirl sneaking out with her boyfriend when she should have been doing her homework. “Goal!” Honey said, slamming a goal home as Frank leapt, too late, to his own defence. “One game all. Want a decider?” “One more then.” He held the ball out, ready to drop it, watching Honey with her hands ready to try and beat him again. It had been a good evening. He’d beaten Blake at darts (and listened to how much Blake admired Maddie) and then Old Tench had beaten him at darts. And asked after Maddie too, and passed on his regards to her. They were the last two to leave (must remember to turn out the lights, Frank thought).
“That was lovely. Thank you,” Honey said, wrapping her arms around him. “It was so nice to be somewhere else.” Somewhere pleasant, Frank thought, as they went to bed. He really ought to do something about this room. Honey deserved better than this. See this potato on the ground next to me? Well, it’s my first crop from my own farm. Only trouble is, I won’t be making any money from it – the only way I can describe its quality is foul. So I’ll plant it, fertilize it, see if I can improve it at all. And then if I do the same to the parent plant? Surely things will get better… There! That’s it planted. There’s some fish in the fish bucket, so I’ll feed it. And I better clear some more weeds as well. I don’t want this poor plant to have to compete with them. I’ve got a week’s work with Marcus – they’re doing a big spring planting session – so I sneaked a quick look at my old bunkhouse: Chris said that was fine. I must admit, it does look better than my current place by a long way. I see Marcus or Annette bought an extra chair for them. This place is really looking impressive now. Thriving – I think that’s the word for it. Some of what I’m going to earn this week is going on paint for sure. I can at least paint the barn and make it look a bit better, inside and out. It’s really nice to be eating in this sunshine yellow kitchen again. Caleb and Chris are good company too. Marcus opened a bottle of wine for us to share.
“After all, you’ve all helped make it, so to speak.”
Annette wasn’t too happy about not being able to have any. “I helped as well!”
She’s definitely both looking and sounding pregnant: I remember last time. Chris and Caleb seem to take it all in their stride though – apparently they’ve got older sisters and they’ve been through this before. “Is there something in the water round here?” Chris asked, with a deadpan face, in between mouthfuls of Annette’s spaghetti bolognaise.
“I mean, there’s been so many multiple births…”
Marcus looked distinctly alarmed at the thought! And then calmed down again, as he realised Chris was teasing them both.
“Marianna conceived her four back in Harbour Bay. Patience conceived her first three in Woodville – and okay, she conceived her next three here, but she’s clearly a multiple ovulator. We made our first child here, in Two Lakes, and she’s a singleton. It’s not the water here!” This bedding does look and smell a lot better. I think I’ll buy some paint for the bed frame as well as for the walls. After all, Clara’s always painting things, so how hard can it be? Chris got really interested in where everyone had come from, and how we’d all ended up in Two Lakes, and asked about Clara, but Marcus didn’t know, couldn’t remember…
Which is a shame: I’d been hoping to be able to tell Maddie, jog her memory for her, because I know that not being able to remember is bothering her. And she doesn’t want to ask Clara again, because it just sounds as though she wasn’t listening first time through, and that’s not kind. Well, I’ve patched up downstairs at least, and Chris and Caleb say they’ll give me a hand with upstairs when they’ve got some time. I’ve bought the paint, so I can brighten everywhere up a bit. And Marcus says they’ll need me big time as an extra hand once they start pressing, what with Annette too pregnant to help and then two small children in the house.
“This one’s going to be the last,” he said. And Annette was even more emphatic about that! It’s quite nice though, having all these children coming along. I said that to Maddie, when I bumped into her in the library.
“Yes,” she said, with one of her sad, brave smiles. “It was always a great sorrow to me that I had no children of my own. But dear Frank and Honey go a long way towards filling that gap…” When she’d gone, I picked up Amber’s follow-up to The Scarlet Hawk, The Emerald Star. Justin still hadn’t regained his throne, but the scroll he and the Knight of the Scarlet Hawk had restored to the monastery told them how to find the missing jewel from his rightful crown, the Emerald Star. But it wasn’t just about finding it. It was also about being able to wield its powers – and only a truly noble knight could do that.
I’ve always loved the idea of being a noble knight on a quest, ever since I was a small boy in a too-big, too-empty house. Protecting and helping the weak, like Maddie. Or standing up for those who were being threatened by people stronger than themselves…

Blake and his house were made by Jessabeans. Link here for Blake
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9352926
and here for the house
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9352888
which I tweaked slightly to fit in with the landscape and the story.

Caleb and Chris were made by Suzses, for BreeMiles for the Homebound Holiday Gift Exchange 2020 Link here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9432116

Frank, Honey, Maddie and house were made for me by Hidehi as a lovely gift.
I’ve tweaked them slightly to fit the scenery of Two Lakes, so if you’re going to play them, they won’t look quite like this. I’ve tweaked Maddie’s personality too…
Link here for the house:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351879
And for the family:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351878

The kitchen and bunkhouse oddments are by Sandy at ATS3