Joel thinks that one of the best investments he made with his children was buying Helena a toy oven.
The girl has a good hand in cooking, Joel reasons while enjoying the sugar cookie.
Talia had decided to cook some hot dogs for her daughter’s birthday, unfortunately the rain had started when she had already put the sausages on the grill, so she had no choice but to endure the water falling on her body.
Fortunately the rain didn’t ruin the meal so the family, along with the only other resident of the town, enjoyed a nice lunch.
Jane was happy to be invited to the birthday party, with how few they were in Sunset Valley it was very important for her to form a bond with the Sheridan family.
Talia smiled at Jane, the young woman had had the idea of them dancing and Helena was enjoying it immensely.
“How was your trip?” Talia asked her when she was close.
Jane had been selected to give a talk on the qualities of Sunset Valley stones at Sim National University. The young woman had been surprised with the proposal but had accepted immediately, after all it was a great opportunity.
“Very good, the conference had a larger turnout than I expected.” Jane replied while blushing.
Talia noticed this and knew Jane was thinking about something else.
“You met someone! Tell me!” The older of the two exclaimed happily.
“His name is Shad, he was at my presentation.” Jane said in a whisper.
“And?”
“We spent some nice days together and now that I’m back here we talk almost every day. I don’t know where this is going, he lives in Twinbrook.” The young woman said a little sadly.
Talia understood her low mood, Twinbrook was one of the furthest cities from Sunset Valley.
“Well, don’t give up. Life sometimes takes you to unsuspected places. Look at me! Who would have said that I would be happy being a farmer? Not teen me.”
Jane smiled gratefully.
Sebastian preferred to play with his toys, lest the women force him to dance with them.
Helena could say that she had a more fun birthday than she expected.
Although she thinks she would have made a better cake than her mother. She wouldn’t say it out loud, of course.
Despite being a teenager, Helena still has a bit of childish joy in her.
Although she also spends time helping around the house or with his siblings. Her parents couldn’t be more proud of her.
They allow her to use the oven now that she is a little older. Helena really loves experimenting with different ingredients and she would like to be able to do something with this, maybe start a small restaurant.
She told her father about her wishes, knowing that he would have some advice to give her.
“If you want to open a restaurant we could contact the commission and see what suggestions they have. I don’t talk to them as much now as I did when I first moved, but surely they must still have some kind of credit program.”
Joel was proud that his daughter was already planning something for her future, although he was worried that their financial situation would hinder her dream. The farm gave enough money to live without major prohibitions but building a restaurant from scratch was not something they could afford.
He is a little sad that none of his older children show any interest in the farm. Helena spends long hours in the kitchen, while Sebastian prefers to read or write. He has already noticed that the boy locks himself in his room and fills one of his notebooks with words that no one has been able to read for now.
Despite having wanted someone to show interest, he would never force them to do something different to their wishes. If his uncle Jack had taught him anything while he was growing up, it was to think independently, and that was a legacy he didn’t want to change. He still had hope with Benjamin, he told himself. He really didn’t want all the effort of founding this farm to go to waste.
The end of spring came with many warm days. Helena and Sebastian took advantage of the heat to spend several moments on the beach enjoying those days.
Helena tried to teach her brother to fish.
“This is very boring.” Sebastian snorted. He couldn’t understand why the rest of his family liked to do this.
“Why do you leave me alone doing this while you sunbathe? It’s not fair!”
There is something in the secrets of stones and rocks that makes her sit for hours in front of a computer writing her observations.
Or spend hours looking for them despite the cold of winter.
Sunset Valley, she found, is a place filled with stones, rocks and metals. That is the reason why she has been living in the town for the past few weeks.
“The Scientific Sims Magazine is going to publish my latest work.” Jane expressed happily.
“I guess that means you’re moving more permanently to Sunset Valley?” Said Sandy Ryder, the landlady of the Boarding House where Jane has been staying for the last few weeks. “It’s good to know that I’ve seen at least two families move in my time here.”
Jane could see that the smile on the woman’s face was genuine, forming wrinkles around her eyes. Sandy had had that job since the Sheridans, the only family currently living in Sunset Valley, had arrived in town.
Jane met Joel Sheridan a few weeks ago while looking for collectibles, the man seemed excited about the possibility of a neighbor.
Jane frequently passed by the front of the house where the man and his family lived, sometimes stopping to say hello. She thought it was good to cultivate friendships with the only inhabitants of the town.
When she finally decided to move permanently to Sunset Valley, Jane bought a lot on the same street as the Sheridans, so she wouldn’t feel so alone. Construction on the house began almost immediately.
Meanwhile, Jane continued to document her findings. She landed a regular spot in the magazine, having weekly publications.
Although she also took time to have fun, the waterfall with its frozen lake was her favorite spot to de-stress.
The construction of her house was going much faster than she expected.
“We estimate that it’ll be finished by the end of winter.” The worker told Jane on one of her many visits.
She couldn’t be happier.
Jane told Talia, Joel’s wife, the good news when the young woman went to meet the new member of the family.
“I don’t know who is happier, you or my husband. He has long wanted neighbors.” The older woman told her giggling. “Seriously though, I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you, it was not an easy decision, separating myself from my city and all my loved ones is painful, but the opportunity that this town offers me in terms of my career outweighs it.”
“Sometimes you have to do what is best for yourself and not think about others. That’s what I did when I decided to follow Joel here. That’s not being selfish and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Jane smiled gratefully at Talia.
Jane kept the woman’s words in mind when she finally moved into her new house in Sunset Valley.
A/N: Finally a new house in town! It took me longer than I expected when I started the challenge. During this chapter, Jane was living with the Sheridans, I took some photos in an alternative game to create this chapter that is a kind of prologue for this household.
The March family is going to be in charge of the random legacy challenge. These are the rolls for the first generation: Marital status: Couple 2 children 1st Career: Writer 2nd Career: Inventor Gen Goal: Expansionist Misc Fun: My precious The idea of Jane being a geologist and writing about it seemed like a good way to combine her career with the misc fun of this generation.
This isn’t something she has told her parents, it’s not because of them that she feels this way, but because she is the only girl her age in the valley.
At least her brother’s birthday seems to be a possible solution to that feeling of loneliness. Now that Sebastian leaves his toddler years behind, she may be able to share things with him that until now were not possible.
Like eating birthday cake while watching TV with her brother. This is much more fun than doing it alone!
“I’m going to miss having a toddler in the family, but I’m glad that now Helena has someone to share her things and games with.” Joel said looking at them with a smile.
“Me too, but it’s the best for Helena. She thinks we don’t know, but it’s obvious that she was lonely.” Talia responded without looking up from the cake she was savoring. “Although maybe the days of toddlers aren’t so far behind.”
“Honey? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I think I’m pregnant. I haven’t taken the test yet, but I’ve the same symptoms as with Helena and Sebastian.” She said in a whisper.
“This is great news, I know we had said that two children were enough and we didn’t plan for this pregnancy, but I can’t deny that I do want another child.” He said in the same tone of voice but a little more excited, he didn’t want the children to know until they were sure.
“I feel the same about this, thank goodness we are on the same page.” Talia said in a louder tone that reached the children.
“What’s all the fuss?” Sebastian spoke from where he was sitting with his sister.
“We are thanking the Commission that your schoolwork has arrived, you can start today.” Joel said laughing.
The boy grumbled.
“You shouldn’t have asked, that’s what you get for being a gossip.” Helena told him jokingly.
Although his parents didn’t tell him what they were really talking about, the homework is real. So Sebastian had no choice but to study together with his mother.
Helena is a little confused, why did her parents buy a bunk bed when a simple one would have been enough for Sebastian?
Having a brother who is at her same age stage is great. Now she can do fun things like build a snowman together.
Although her brother took a liking to schoolwork that she could never catch on to, Helena prefers playing with toys to studying.
With the arrival of winter the garden became dormant, so the only income comes from fishing. Joel had no choice but to bundle up and venture to the beach.
He had been on that part of the beach for a few hours when he saw something that is not very common in this town. A sim that was not part of his family.
The woman seemed to be gathering something from the ground. Joel waited for her to pass by him again before introducing himself; he couldn’t miss the chance to know if her visit was temporary or perhaps something more permanent.
The woman turned out to be Jane March, a geologist who is just beginning her career.
“Searching for information on rocks and gems, I found that Sunset Valley had been a great source of these in its past times. So when I found out about the town’s reconstruction project I couldn’t help but come right away. My job is to write papers on rocks so I can do it from any location.” She explained the reason for her arrival in the town.
“So you’re thinking about moving to the valley?” Joel asked excitedly, maybe he would have neighbors soon.
“I haven’t decided yet.” She said, laughing kindly at the man’s enthusiasm. “For now I have requested to stay for the winter months at the boarding house. Depending on how well my research here goes, I’ll decide whether to move or not.”
“Well, I hope it turns out very well, and I’m not just saying this because I want to have neighbors. I really hope this works for you.”
“Thank you, at least I know that if I decide to move I will have good neighbors. In addition, the landlady of the boarding house told me that you sell fresh products and fish, so at least the food would be covered.” Jane said with a smile.
“Right she is.”
Winter brings dormant plants and little income, but it is a great time to spend time with the family and strengthen relationships.
Joel couldn’t be more proud of the family he and Talia have formed.
“Have I told you how beautiful you are?” Joel asked taking his wife in his arms.
“All the time, but you can say it even more often if you want, especially now that I feel like a balloon.” She said laughing.
The Sheridans took a family outing before the baby’s arrival. Poor Talia found herself walking a little slowly in the middle of all the snow.
There they saw that Jane had also had the same idea as them. Joel was glad to see that the woman was still in town despite the months that had passed. Surely that would have to be a good sign.
Joel and Helena immediately went on the frozen lake to skate. Neither of them knew very well how to do it, but they were determined to learn.
For his part, Sebastian preferred to keep his mother company since skating was risky in the state she was in. Talia couldn’t be more proud of the little knight of hers. But after building a snowman, she told his son to go have fun with his father and sister.
Like a good older sister, Helena taught Sebastian everything she had learned in that hour of skating she had done. The boy decided not to tell her that that amount of time was not enough to make her an expert.
Jane approached Joel’s wife to introduce herself, they both quickly hit it off.
Seeing the women together, Joel quickly approached them.
“Sorry about my husband, he is terribly excited about the possibility of having neighbors. It’s something that has worried him since he arrived, that he was the only one with the intention of living in the middle of nowhere. It seems that sometimes he forgets that I have decided the same thing.” Talia said good-naturedly, knowing that Joel was listening to her.
“Now I’ll have to punish you for talking about me to new people.”
That punishment wasn’t exactly what Jane thought was going to happen. She smiled sheepishly, but couldn’t move her gaze from the couple. They seemed so in love even though they were expecting their third child, she hoped that one day she could have something like that.
“Once again I have to apologize for my husband. But tell me, what are you still doing in Sunset Valley?” Talia asked to help her get through the awkwardness Joel had caused for both of them.
“Well, in the end my research turned out to be very proliferate. What I had read about the valley was true, this town has great potential for a geologist like me, so I extended my stay at the boarding house and bought a plot of land here. Soon the construction of my house will begin.” Jane said with great enthusiasm.
“We have a new neighbor!” Joel shouted with joy.
Jane couldn’t help but feel like she had made the right decision when she saw how friendly her new neighbors were.
The trip to the waterfalls couldn’t have been at a better time, since just one day later Talia went into labor.
Despite it being the third time they had gone through this, Joel couldn’t help but panic.
For her part, Helena took it better. Maybe it’s that she was still too young to understand the risk Talia was taking by not having a hospital near her. Or maybe she just was more level headed than her father.
Talia was relieved to see that her third child was in good health. They named the little boy Benjamin, to continue the tradition of long names.
Jane found out about the birth of the child and went to visit the family to congratulate them.
Talia was very grateful for the visit, having interactions with another woman is very refreshing for her. She loves her family, but misses the camaraderie of a female friend.
The fish that Joel caught was sold for a better price than he had thought, so he was able to give Sebastian and Helena items to practice the skills in which they are interested. The man offered to sell the paintings that Sebastian created when he goes to Moonlight Falls to sell his products, but the boy told him that he was not interested in that yet, he wanted to become a better painter before sharing his work with the world.
Helena, for her part, expressed interest in cooking, so Joel gave her a toy oven. The cookies the girl has baked so far are better than anyone in the family had expected. The father believes that his daughter has a future in this.
Helena could see how the construction of Jane’s house began.
Sometimes they saw how the woman stopped by to see how the progress of her house was going.
Finally, in the last days of winter, Jane’s house was ready for her to move in. Talia could see it from the entrance of her own house. She was glad that her new neighbor had decided to move to the same street as them.
A/N: I don’t know if I’ve mentioned the children’s traits until now, so here they are: Helena’s are Athletic, Good and Angler; Sebastian’s are Loves the Outdoors, Artistic and Bookworm; Benjamin’s are Loves the Outdoors and Excitable.
Jane lived in the Sheridan house for a few days until enough money was raised for her to move out on her own. Joel met her in the fall in the previous round I had not shown her before because I did not know how to introduce her. The screenshots where she appears are all of her when she lived with the family. The challenge that she will take on is the Random Legacy because it is one of my favorites. More about this in the next update which is about Jane.
The Sunset Valley Project 