Chapter 3: Then All the Puddles Will Be Gone

Let's go see what Suchandra and Darleen are up to. Right, that again.

"Darleen? You feeling okay?"

The next morning is Spooky Day, and an early snow has covered the mesas.

"It's spilling water everywhere!"

And it will keep spilling water everywhere until someone feels like repairing the shower, because there just isn't enough money to replace plumbing right now.

Suchandra wants to visit the Fall Festival, so he puts Kamala in her stroller and takes her out with him. The morning snow is already starting to melt away by mid afternoon.

Darleen has been nursing a wish to learn the writing skill, which she's finally getting around to today. So she's at the library now, working on her first novel, The Forgotten Prince, and will meet up with the rest of the family at the festival later.

Darleen's mom and little sister Shelia are also at the festival today. Mariana drops her toddler on the ground and takes off to do whatever. Yes, quality parenting time here.

Suchandra of course would never...oh, right, yeah, he would.

There are abandoned toddlers all over this park. 

Suchandra goes through the Haunted House three times before stopping to chat with his co-worker, Oscar. Do you even know where your daughter is right now, Suchandra?

Darleen, meanwhile, earns her first point in the writing skill, and spins into her maternity wear. She doesn't have any pressing desire to go to the festival, but she does want to meet someone new, and the festival is as good a place for that as any. Arriving at the park, she announces her pregnancy to a random food vendor, escaped from his booth and loitering around the festival.

Then she meets up with Suchandra, who has finally picked up Kamala. The couple mutually decide to get a greeting card photo of the family.

All right, just take Kamala home before you lose her...

The shower is broken. Still. Darleen periodically mops the never ending puddle, but no one is interested in fixing the problem. They can't afford new plumbing, so they're stuck with it.

Back again to take another crack at the puddle. The toilet decides it wants its share of the misery, and clogs up.

"This bathroom is disgusting!"

Darleen is thinking she should have married a handyman and not a musician.

There goes the kitchen sink.

Yeah, that puddle is not Darleen's water breaking. She is however, going in to labor.

Darleen and Suchandra have a son, Suresh. This time, Darleen sits in the back of the cab with her husband and child, rather than jacking a taxi and stashing the baby in the trunk.

When she gets home, the first think Darleen does is take nice refreshing shower. And breaks it. Now, both showers and both toilets are broken, as well as the kitchen sink.

Burned, rotting waffles on counter? Check. Spoiled food emitting green cloud from the fridge? Check. Puddles from the broken plumbing taking over the house? Check. Oblivious adults woohooing like this squalor is perfectly acceptable? Check.

Brayden and Kadia King dance while Suchandra plays for tips at the local arcade.

"My kids are aging up tomorrow and I need money to build an addition on my house, so your donations would be welcome."

Much to the dismay of their teen daughter, the Kings are being gross. Suchandra is dismayed by the lack of tips.

Finally! Some cash!

Abrielle and Suchandra pretend they totally aren't aware that her parents are woohooing in the photo booth behind them.

"I made $400 in tips," Suchandra says proudly, coming home to his filthy kitchen to grab a bite before his shift at the theater starts.

The sink is still broken, but at least Darleen is cleaning the stove.

Burnt waffles for breakfast is becoming a tradition.

"Maybe we should throw a birthday party for the kids," Darleen suggests.

It's a nice idea, but the house is a mess, Suchandra's shift starts at 3pm, and they really can't afford for him to take the night off.

While he's at work, Suchandra gets an opportunity to work overtime. They need the money and it gives him a chance at a promotion, so he stays and misses seeing his kids age up.

Kamala has a mop in her hands before anyone notices she's become a child.

Aw, hugs for being such a good girl.

Suchandra managed to get enough money together to add a small bedroom on to the house for Kamala. It's not much, just a bed and table, but it's better than making her sleep in the nursery.

Suresh also ages up.

There was also enough in the budget to afford a blocks table for Kamala to practice her future handiness skills. Start them young and they grow up wanting to upgrade all the plumbing.

"This house is a sty, Mom."

"Your father is working overtime tonight so we can afford to replace all the plumbing," Darleen says hopefully, "Then all the puddles will be gone." Until you break everything again...

Darleen reads Kamala a bedtime story before ticking her in.

Perhaps inspired by her daughter's handiness with the blocks, or just the horrid conditions in the house, Darleen decides she wants to unclog one of the toilets. The rest of the broken plumbing is on its own.

Putting in the overtime really paid off. Suchandra not only got the extra cash, but a promotion and bonus, too. They were able to afford to replace both broken showers and the kitchen sink.

"Suchandra, I was thinking, I'd like to have a baby with you."

"You have two babies with me. Before Suresh was born you told me you wanted to have two total children."

"That was when we only had the one. Two is great, but I want another. Ultimately, I want 5 at the very least."

____________________________________

The puddles. Oh, the puddles.

My plan was to give all the kids random traits but  Kamala got Handy as her childhood trait because I am hoping that as a teen, she will roll wishes to upgrade stuff, or at the very least roll wishes to repair stuff as it breaks. Because Darleen and Suchandra sure don't.

And here's the most annoying thing. First couple of days into this, Suchandra would roll a wish to magically clean the house every time he had a dish to wash. And he was constantly rolling wishes to magically clean everyone around him. But when there's filth everywhere, does he want to magically clean anything? No, of course not. And when Darleen's hygiene is in the red because both showers are broken, does he want to magically clean her? No, he wants to magically clean random Sims in the arcade he was playing at.

When there's no plumbing, clicking on his own smelly moodlet makes him magically clean himself. Sometimes, actually, he'll magically clean some random other Sim, but clicking his hygiene moodlet repeatedly will get him to eventually use it on himself. But of course when the plumbing is broken at home and Darleen needs a magical cleaning, she never gets it.

I was so happy when we got new showers again. I really hope they don't break any time soon.

Darleen did roll a wish for 2 total children when she was pregnant with Suresh. I don't see that one very often. By the end of this chapter, she has 3 wishes for children, one to have a baby with Suchandra, one generic have a Baby, and a leftover wish to have a girl that she got while pregnant with Suresh. I figure I can just leave that one there because it will get fulfilled eventually.