Monday 31 October 2011

Chapter Nineteen

 After Joshua's first day at his new school, Tamara invited him over for the afternoon.
They spent some time chatting and Tamara admitted she hadn't the faintest idea why her father had moved the entire family.  She'd tried asking but had been told that it was vampire business...

Dismissing the puzzle for the time being the two of them went upstairs and had a pillow fight
Back home, Jo had spent quite a lot of time cuddling and playing with Smudge
Before settling down to read a book about handiness around the home while Smudge played with one of the toys they'd got him
 Joshua got home in time for some spaghetti and Jo suddenly asked him about his old imaginary friend/toy

"You used to talk about that friend of yours, Cosmo, all the time, you know, the one I could never see, whatever happened to him?"
 "Oh Mum, he was imaginary!  I made him up from my old toy cos I didn't like anyone at school enough to play with them..."
 In the morning Joshua got up bright and early to tend his small garden before school
 Jo spent most of the morning chatting on the phone to her new colleagues, getting to know them
Before she headed off to her first shift in her new workplace, fortunately there had been an opening at the local Bistro when they'd moved  
 When Joshua got home from work he spent some more time on his garden
 And paid the bills
Before heading down to the lakeside to fish.

He was surprised when his line caught on an old box, and even more surprised to find an old bath toy inside! 
 When he got home again he spent some time playing with Smudge who had easily wrapped both Jo and Joshua round his paws
 While Jo got on with some cooking as soon as she got home from work
That night, Smudge met another member of the family, although they'd taken most of the family remains (which Max Fields-Vamp had oddly insisted they bring with them) to the local graveyard, Jo had decided that her twin should be buried at their home
Their lives fell into a simple pattern, Joshua would get up early in the mornings to tend his garden before school

Jo would cook for them
And something about the either the move or possibly Smudge's presence in their life had reinvigorated her, she took to repairing broken items around the hous 
And cleaning up
Smudge proved to be a very well behaved kitten, always using the scratching post rather than sharpening his claws on the furniture 
And he had plenty of toys to play with 
 When of course Jo wasn't fussing him
 When Joshua got home from school he'd finish off the garden each afternoon
Before heading off to one of many fishing spots nearby for an hour or so 
Jo managed to progress from repairing the broken household items to learning to upgrade them 
And of course Smudge got lots of cuddles and attention from them both 
 
And they took to finishing their evenings with a meal together 

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Chapter Eighteen

Jo & Joshua looked at their new home, it certainly looked like a nicer place than the cottage they'd lived in back in Riverblossom Hills, but why had Tamara's father been so insistent that they join his family in moving to Hidden Springs?  And why had they gone along with his orders without questioning him?
 As Joshua got to work planting a new garden, Jo phoned the pet adoption service
His garden planted, Joshua called Tamara and invited her out on a date 
He arrived at the park first and fished while he waited for her 
When Tamara arrived she had her baby brother with her, "I'm sorry, Mama said I had to babysit today" 
While her little brother played with his doll, Joshua and Tamara embraced and kissed
 Before Joshua summoned up his courage and asked Tamara to go steady with him
 She happily agreed
 They ended their date gazing at the stars together 
 Meanwhile, a tiny kitten had been dropped off by the pet adoption service and Jo decided to name him Smudge
 After a great deal of fussing and petting, Jo settled down to watch television while Smudge played with one of the toys she'd bought him
 Smudge was a very good kitten and used the scratching post rather than the furniture, while Jo prepared dinner
 She'd already filled Smudge's dish, so when he'd finished scratching he was able to eat his fill
 Joshua got home from his date just in time to have dinner with his mother
 And then it was time for bed, but not before a little more petting of their new kitten
 Who then proceeded to curl up in his bed and sleep as well

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Notes: So, as some people are aware, I had to rescue my family and move them since Pets decided to bork my saved games :(  I had meant to move them to Hidden Springs at some point soon anyway so I'm not too disappointed, although I've not entirely worked out a good reason in the story for why they've moved so suddenly!

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Chapter Seventeen

In the morning, Joshua got up early to tend his growing garden while Jo lay on her bed reading
 After work Tamara asked to come home with Joshua 
 After spending some time together Joshua had to tend his garden
 So Tamara joined Jo indoors reading and chatting as they did so
 Once Joshua had finished in the garden he and Tamara spent some more time together flirting 
  The next day Jo received another promotion at work and when she'd finished for the day she gathered her courage and visited the hospital to ask about counselling 
 Over dinner that night she explained to Joshua what the doctor had told her and that she'd been offered a two day intensive residential course of counselling.  She would be leaving the next day but she knew he'd look after the house and would be able to take care of himself
The following morning the taxi arrived for Jo as Joshua was out tending the garden 
After school, Joshua headed straight for the consignment store - he had plans for while his mother was away 
 As soon as he got home, he phoned Tamara, explained his plans and asked for her help.  Tamara was only too happy to help and said she'd be over as soon as she could
 The first thing to do was to get the piles of rubble in the house cleared
When Tamara arrived, Joshua explained that he wanted to surprise Jo when she returned by completely redoing the house, he'd ordered new furniture but this evening he needed to completely clean the entire house inside and out and he needed her help
 After a lot of work the house was finally spotless and clean (with a few additional renovations)
Both inside and out 
Albeit the only new furniture that had arrived was the plumbing in the bathroom!
 He asked Tamara if she wanted to sleep over, but she said that her father would come and find her and drag her home if she wasn't home by curfew

Knowing a little about Max Fields-Vamp's reputation Joshua didn't dare argue!
With no bed, Joshua had to spend that night in a sleeping bag on the floor...

He desperately hoped the furniture he'd ordered would arrive before Jo got back 
  The next day they had a field trip to the local Theatre, Joshua and Tamara had a great time but Joshua was eager to get home and see if the furniture had arrived yet
 Fortunately when he got home from school he found that it had
So he spent the afternoon sorting and setting everything up 
 
After he finished Joshua had a little time left to weed and water his plants
Before curling up in his new bed and going to sleep 
 When Jo arrived home the next morning she was astounded, the change in the house was just unbelievable 
 She spent some time wandering round the house looking at stuff
 Before using the new kitchen to make some yummy pancakes
The dishwasher was so much easier than washing up by hand! 
Jo then went round the house collecting the laundry 
In order to use the new washing machine for the first time 
In school that day, Tamara had mentioned to Joshua that it was possible to register at City Hall to grow and sell crops so Joshua went over there as soon as school finished for the day
 From there he went on to the consignment store where he'd been told they'd sell his excess produce for good prices
 Jo had the day off following her trip and was enjoying the new TV Joshua had bought them
 When he got home Joshua tended his garden
And paid the bills
Before going in to see what Jo thought of his handiwork 
She was absolutely delighted and hugged him tight, thanking him for all the work he'd put in while she was away

"I'm so lucky, most parents come home to find their kids have had wild parties and wrecked the place, I come home to find you've spent all your time renovating the house completely, thank you so much"