"Have we packed everything?", Emily asked Dolly, "Tomorrow while we are at our first day of school, Mama and Papa are moving everything to the new house, isn't it exciting!". Dolly wobbled her head in agreement.
Marvin dropped off a rental removalist's van to the dockyards shortly after Tamara and John had returned from taking Emily to her new school. Marvin helped Tam and John load up the van, before vanishing off into the nearby subway. Marvin was the kind of person who was always on the go.
Once the van was loaded, Tam pretended to have a short nap in the passenger's seat while John drove. Secretly she was annoyed that John had found another place without her input. John was forever showering her in surprises, and for the most part she really enjoyed them, but shouldn't choosing a house be a couple thing, rather than another surprise?
John had chosen the perfect penthouse with amazing views for the couple after they had graduated, even though they soon outgrown it when Emily arrived. Then John had chosen the houseboat, which had been wonderful, except when the weather made the boat rock. It wasn't John's fault that Tam could be so motion sensitive, after all car rides didn't upset her.
Tam's attempt to decide if the situation should make her angry or not was interrupted by John, who nudged her gently, "This is the place sweetheart.", John said enthusiastically. Tamara opened her eyes and looked down the road. All that she could see was the back side of a two story barn, 'Things are looking so good for you this time John, I am not living in a barn!', The voice in Tams head growled.
Tamara let out a sigh of relief as the house also came into view, it was an old Eco-Box design, much like John's firemen uncles had built for their wives. It had rows and rows of solar panels on the roof and a horse float. "A horse float?", Tamara inquired as she opened the van door. "The horse float isn't part of the package." John explained, "But the horse it delivered is.", John beamed.
"When I told Melvin that we needed a bigger place, with room for a garden and a horse for Emily, Melvin said he knew a guy, that knew a guy, and he knew another guy, who knew another guy.", John trailed off as he watched the expression on Tamara's face as she looked around. "Um, we don't own the house yet, but we do own the horse, Marvin said that a few celebrity's had been checking the place out, so if we want it, we need to sign by close of business today. If we don't want it, the horse trainer that sold us the horse can lodge it for a fee, until we get a place."
Tamara soaked in the information, she was still pissed that John had arranged this without her, but she knew from her visits with Dylan and Jasmina, and with Dominic and Margarita, that the Eco-Box design was perfect. She took the house keys from John and explored.
John quickly began moving things in, "Why are you unpacking already John? I haven't even decided if I like the place yet!", Tamara asked. "To give us a better idea of what the place might look like if we did buy it?", replied John, rushing out for another armload full of stuff. Tam poked around the lounge room, the existing couch was all kinds of ugly, but as she sank down in front of the television, she discovered it was also all kinds of comfortable.
Tamara admired the pair of 'Pegasus Zoomsweeper's' by the small bookcase. John had become increasingly concerned with his carbon footprint of late, and between the solar power, and magic powered transport, she could easily see why he was so excited. Tamara poked her head into the kitchen to see John putting down a couple of coffees. Her eye was immediately drawn to a replicator, its blueish shell standing out immediately from the color scheme of the rest of the kitchen. Tamara resisted the urge to enthuse out loud to John about the kitchen, and kept her 'I don't know if I like it' face on.
After looking at the amount of space into the master bedroom, Tamara had made her decision. Unless there was something majorly wrong with the rest of the place, it was, so far, perfect.
John had already loaded Emily's room with some of her stuff, and this only further cemented Tam's decision.
John began hanging pots and pans in the kitchen despite the fact that Tam had already explored that room. Tamara again felt that niggling annoyance that John had already made a decision, but she wasn't so stubborn that she was going to refuse this opportunity just to be spiteful.
"There's one or two more things you have to see!", John said, taking Tam's hand in his and leading her outside. He lead her into the barn, the barn appeared to be divided into two sections. The first containing a stall and some horse paraphernalia. It also contained a young sleeping foal that elicited a soft "Awww", from Tam.
John and Tamara tiptoed past the sleeping foal and through a doorway into the second half of the barn. Tamara stared in disbelief at the workshop that filled the lower part of the split level area. The lower section contained almost everything a scientist, an inventor, a chemist or a tinkerer could ever need, and seeing as Tamara was all of those things, she was in heaven.
Tamara and John happily signed the papers.
"You can give me a hand to pull these weeds!", Tamara stated, looking at the garden, which was the only part of the property that wasn't in good condition. "You know how much I love gardening.", said John sarcastically. "Yes, and I know how much you will enjoy cooking and eating homegrown, one hundred percent organic food!", Tamara shot back, "So give me a hand with the weeding dumb ass, or your ass will spend the first night in our new home on the couch!", with a cheeky grin.
"I might have to stop calling you 'Nerd', and start calling you 'Mistress'.", John called out as Tamara went to fetch the green waste recycling bin. After the garden had been weeded, Tamara pointed out that the only part of the property that hadn't been investigated was the haystack between the garden and the front gate.
Tam grabbed Johns wrist, pulling him close, and they investigated the haystack.
As they readjusted their clothes, Marvin arrived. Tamara went to collect the signed papers as John and Marvin hitched the borrowed horse float to the rented removalist's van. John and Tam waved as Marvin drove away.
John and Tam were about to head inside for a coffee when the school bus pulled up right in front of the house. As Emily stepped off the bus, she had a relieved look, she could see Mama and Papa in the front yard, and didn't have to go far looking for her new house.
"Welcome home Emily, I hope you had a hood first day at school?", John asked. "I did, Dolly and I met our new teacher, Ms. Emily Watson, we have to call her Ms. Watson, but she has the same first name as me, and I made some new friends at school, and got given some homework, so I have to learn about all of the different peoples in Simnation.", Emily replied before stopping for a breath.
"To celebrate our new house and your birthday, Mama and I got you a little something.", John smiled as he handed a small parcel to Em. Emily hugged John with all her might before unwrapping her present to reveal a hand made pirate treasure map. "This is you, here.", John pointed to the drawing on the map of a little girl that was clearly Emily.
Emily followed the treasure map until she found herself at the doors of the barn, "Oh Wow! You got me a horsey!", Emily squealed as the foal got up on its spindly legs to investigate the noise. She hugged John again, and Tamara, who had joined them from the kitchen. Emily asked, "What's his name Papa?".
"She doesn't have a name yet princess, and as she is your pet, and your responsibility, it's only fair that you give her a name.", John explained as Tam handed him his coffee. John looked at Tam, who was grinning just as hard as Em. "Mama and Papa think I'm a princess, and I think you are too, so I will call you Princess!", Emily told the foal.
"You and I and Dolly will be best friends forever!", Emily told her foal later that night after dinner. "But for now I have to do my homework and get some sleep, or there is going to be trouble", Em added.
Authors Notes:
Could it be? Could my sims finally have found a glitch free house? Only time will tell!
