Continuing the apocalypse …
Lawrence jogs to work and arrives just as his clients do. Meanwhile, Brook goes to the park and decides to upgrade the toilet there to unbreakable.
I forgot to mention earlier that Lawrence did have his own car; so placing a parking spot, but saving the expense of buying a car, has paid off. (Items in spouses inventory are considered dowry.)
Baby Leo is born.
His crib is placed in the corner by the fireplace that Brook upgrades to fireproof. And, unfortunately, Lawrence had concentrated on meeting on his clients rather than making friends with his boss right away. So, caught unexpectedly with forced time off work for Snowflake Day, he now needs a new job.
It’s … SCIENCE! (All the old excellent and below plants were removed, except the opportunity and windfall left-overs from work that haven’t progressed that far yet). Lawrence plants the two unique seeds he gained from learning gardening.
Though Lawrence dislikes children and gets a very negative moodlet for three hours after interacting with his son, he still is directed to. And, they try for another right away.
Brook has planted one each of all the outstanding produce she has harvested, and Lawrence is watering just that one plant in the corner. (I want him to learn as much gardening as possible from his books, as he is a genius and thus should learn faster that way.)
It’s nice for awhile not to worry about hanging on to the old plates to lick, though it still is a lot faster for Brook to get her nourishment that way.
Yep, that time clock has been ticking away. Baby Leo is now a toddler.
It’s week 5 and we buy a potty chair for Leo. (I’m not limited to just one item a week. I chose the build supply limit of one two items per category each week – 15 points, cramped on a 10×10 lot – 10 points, roll for first lift – 5 points, and a 4 day elder lifespan – 10 points, which is the max 40 points allowed. I’ve just been adding the bare minimum needed as I go.)
After paying off the mob and zeroing out the household funds, guess who visits again? Luckily, the ladder wasn’t taken this time (or the bookcase), but I knew I should have left that painting on the easel until Brook was ready to paint again! The burglar stole the easel and … the potty chair!
Brook wakes up to discover not only the missing items, but that she is pregnant again. Then she feeds Leo as late as possible and keeps him busy learning to walk while waiting for Lawrence to earn the needed money for another potty chair.
Brook soon gives birth to their second son – Lucas. She places him on the gardening rug and crawls back in bed for more sleep. When Lawrence gets Leo out of the crib, Brook brings Lucas downstairs and puts him in the crib. (I could have just bought another crib, but I wanted to see what would happen – Lucas was NOT happy on the floor! His mood tanked and he hadn’t fallen asleep yet.)
While Lawrence is at work, Brook teaches Leo to talk and use the potty. When Lawrence comes home, he tries to finish reading that second gardening book.
They do buy that second crib and put Leo in it for the night. (I wanted to avoid Lucas crying when he needed a diaper change and waking up Lawrence.)
Lawrence’s nose in his book reminded me that bookshelves will have one toddler book. Amazingly, toddlers are allowed to read books on the floor before education is completed! So, Leo gets to learn one writing skill early. Yay, Leo!
Brook is not the only one surprised to see all the blond hair on little Lucas when he grows up!
However, maybe none of us are surprised to see that Brook is pregnant again.
I’m not so sure that Brook is happy she gave up her career for the new domestic tasks – washing dishes, cleaning out the potty, and the back-bending job of teaching a little one to walk!
But, she’s maxed gardening and completed her lifetime wish to grow a perfect garden; so she swaps out the gardening and career building tasks with Lawrence as she concentrates and cooking and cleaning and caring for little ones.
And, time, as it always does, ticks by. Leo is now a little boy.
This means that Leo can play peek-a-boo with his little brother and sleep in a big-boy bed.
Let’s end the chapter with this moment of a dad helping out with teaching his son to use the potty. Not that it doesn’t happen a lot! Just that it’s nice when it does. 😀
Ciane Sims 