Chapter 7: Bundle of Ash

As we saw in the last chapter, Birch and Tammy have decided to try for a baby.  They began a couple of days ago, and they pretty much try every night.  The next night is no different.

Time to try again

And so each night they have cuddled up on the bed, started out with a bit of kissing, and then “gotten down to business.”  And as they are both young adults with  vigorous body chemistries, it is not long before Tammy finds herself on her knees in the powder room each morning.

Tammy's morning "ritual"

After a couple of mornings like this she finally goes to Birch and taps him on the shoulder.

“Honey, I think I have some good news for you,” she whispers.

“Oh? What is it?” asks Birch.

“Well I’ve been getting sick in the mornings. I think… I think our trying has succeeded.”

Birch’s whole face lights up, and he says, “A baby! That’s great!”  He gives his wife a warm embrace, and they start talking about baby furniture, toys, baby formula, and the sorts of things expectant parents like to discuss.  Later, Tammy pays a visit to the doctor and discovers that, yes indeed, she is with child.  She and Birch decide not to be told what the baby will be until the birth — they want to be surprised.

Chapter 6: Making the house a home

Birch and Tamara are now a couple, and beginning their married life together.  But the first order of business, now that a nice tax break from the town, and Tammy’s small savings account brought an infusion of cash, was to start trying to build a real house.  Tammy suggested they could get a mobile home, but they don’t really have enough money for the whole thing. So instead they hire some workers to frame out the foundation, on which the mobile home will eventually sit.

At last, a foundation

Some temporary dry-wall is set up to house the plumbing, but otherwise the house remains open to the air.

A real bathroom at last

Tamara has to work during the day.  She leaves early, in fact before Birch is even ready to get up (there’s that beach bum attitude again). Birch vaguely hears the car pull away, which wakes him enough to realize he is hungry.  Now that they have a real home, with appliances and a true kitchen (well, except for the whole “no walls” thing), Birch decides to try his hand at cooking some waffles.

Cooking waffles

Unfortunately, he’s not quite got the hang of it down yet…

A little on the cripsy side

Birch sighs as he looks down at his plate. “Maybe I was better off with the instant shakes.” He contemplates just tossing the waffles, but knows that they are on a tight budget and he can’t afford to waste them.  So, with a grimace, he downs the charred breakfast.

Chapter 5: Nuptual Day

It’s an invigorated and hopeful Birch who awakens the next day.  He first tends to his garden, which is sprouting lots of produce under his careful guidance.

Fruits and veggies

Following this, he heads into town to track down Vita Alto, who is a member of the city council of Sunset Valley who usually performs civil wedding ceremonies.  Birch has decided he wants to surprise Tamara with a romantic wedding by the beach. He doesn’t have much money, but he figures Tammy will be OK with a private ceremony done by a city official.  Now to keep this a secret, Birch can’t meet the councilwoman in her office at City Hall. Tammy works there part-time and might see him. So he sets up a clandestine meeting in the gym.

Secret wedding plans

Unfortunately, although Councilwoman Alto is happy to do it, there is a shall charge for services, and Birch doesn’t quite have the money for it. He promises to have enough for the ceremony, and sets the plan for tomorrow evening at the beach — which has already become his and Tammy’s “special place.”

Birch then wanders across the park, heading for the grocery to sell his produce, in the hopes that it will be enough to fund the wedding, when he once gain spies…

Another abandoned plate

And, of course, being Birch, his reaction is predictable now:

Eating table scraps

As he gets up from the table, he meets a strange woman named “Crumplebottom.” She notices he looks worried, and asks what the problem is.

“Well I want to surprise my girlfriend with a private wedding at the beach,” Says Birch. “But there is a charge and I’m not sure I can make enough with just these vegetables and apples.”

A conversation with Crumplebottom

“Well dearie,” says Mrs. Crumplebottom, “I have just the suggestion for you. Over there,” she points toward the corner of the park, “Are some purple monarch butterflies. They’ll fetch you a nice penny.”

Birch thanks her and heads over to catch the butterflies.

Catching butterflies

With these in hand, he heads to the grocery store, where he sells his produce for $150, and then to the museum, where he sells his butterflies to the curator for $144! With almost 300 extra simoleons in his pocket, Birch can not only afford the wedding, but he can also afford a table and a second chair — which he’s going to need if Tammy will be moving in tomorrow night.  On the way home, he once again stops at the Build and Buy, and purchases a folding chair and another table that he has to assemble himself. After some work with a hammer and screwdriver, his new furniture is ready.

New table and chair

Now with the Councilwoman arranged and his new table and chair, all is set. Birch calls Tammy that night before bed, and tells her to meet him at sunset at the beach for “something special.” He hopes she’ll like what he has planned.

The next day is hectic for Birch. He starts with a breakfast at dawn, enjoying his new table, which is much nicer than eating on his lap.

Breakfast at table

Birch knows he won’t have time if he spends hours int he garden again, so he turns on his water sprinklers and leaves the plants to themselves today.  Instead he heads off to the gym to work out, and try to buff himself up a little bit for his bride. He starts with a walk on the treadmill.

Workout on the treadmill

Well… some of it’s a walk, though a lot of it looked more like this:

Falling down on the job

Birch did have time to stop and chat with a new acquaintance, Annemarie Eller. But he was in a rush, since he wanted to finish his workout, and only had time to ask her how she was doing, and learn that she didn’t have a job.

New friend

Birch quickly hit the pool for a few laps to finish off his workout, before heading for the showers.

Doing laps

And by the time he was done, the sun was already going down and he was nearly going to be late. He hopped into a cab and told the driver “Step on it!” They got to the beach just as the sun was going down, and just as Tammy arrived in her sexiest green dress. Tammy burst into tears when the Councilwoman arrived and started the ceremony, telling Birch she couldn’t have imagined anything more romantic.

"I do"

The couple said their vows as the sun slipped below the waves, and then Ms Alto said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

"You may kiss the bride"

Birch had kissed Tammy many times by now, but somehow this was different.  She wasn’t just a hot girl anymore; she was his partner for the rest of his life.

Of course, neither Birch nor Tammy have much money, so they didn’t have a reception. After paying the Councilwoman, Birch took his new bride to the grass beside the beach for a private wedding picnic, which Tamara thoroughly enjoyed.

Wedding feast

And then at last, after many kisses and tears of joy, the couple headed back to Alderwood Manor for their first night of wedded bliss. Of course Birch needed a new bed, and he didn’t really have any money. Fortunately Tammy had some money, and so they stopped at the Build and Buy and bought a cheap queen sized bed for their first night together.

New bed

Tammy doesn’t have much money, but she does have a little, that she has saved up as a ballot counter for the town.  She brought about $3,500 into the marriage. And when they arrived home, they also found in the mail box a small check from the lawyer of the Alden Alder estate. Birch’s uncle, it seems, had left a small $1,400 check in Birch’s name, to be awarded upon his marriage — this was to encourage him to get going on making heirs.  So all told the couple starts with a small nest egg, and they agree that next week they will start working on getting a real house built — perhaps setting the foundation for a small mobile home, for instance.

As the day draws to a close, Birch cuddles with Tammy on the bed, a perfect close to the best day of his life.

Wedding night draws to a close

Chapter 4: A decent proposal

It’s been about a week now since Birch moved in (or should we say “out”, since there’s no house yet) to his uncle’s estate at Alderwood Manor.  He still has just a wall, a fridge, and a bed, but when he wakes up the next morning, he finds that his gardening has finally (literally) started to bear some fruit. Apples in this case.

Birch's first fruit harvest

All four of the first apple trees Birch planted have now yielded some fruit, so it seems like Birch really does have a green thumb. This is great for Birch, since the local grocer is looking for freshly grown produce. Birch is able to take these apples into town and earn some more Simoleons with them. The new cash, combined with the money from the butterfly, will enable him to buy his first new furniture, as you’ll see later.

Meanwhile, as long as he’s in town, Birch pays a visit to his favorite park again, and while he’s there, he gets a call from Jamie Jolina.

Talking to Jamie

Jamie seems interested in Birch, and might agree to a date, if he asked. However, Birch only has eyes for one woman now: Tamara Donner.  He invites her out to the diner, and the two are so hot for each other now that they can’t even wait to get inside before they start up the festivities.

Kissing at the diner

They have a great date. Tamara, who works as a ballot officer for the town, loves to talk politics, and they spend the night debating the upcoming Sunset Valley mayoral election.  Birch is starting to feel like Tammy is not just hot, but someone he might want to spend a lot more time with, someone he might… love? This is all happening pretty quickly for our California bum, who up until now thought commitments were for people to dumb to avoid them.  Suddenly he has met Tamara and he is thinking all sorts of new thoughts, such as where she would sleep if they moved in together.

On the way back home, Birch stops at the local Build and Buy store, and purchases one of those “screw together” night tables and a cheap lamp for his home. Birch isn’t very handy, but the night table is easy to assemble, and for the first time since moving, Birch has some light at night, and he is able to enjoy the evening paper.

Birch reads by his new night light.

The next morning, Birch heads to the garden to find that even more fruit has been produced over night… more apples, but now also tomatoes.

More fruit in the garden

“Hey,” Birch thinks. “I was going to just live off my garden but if it keeps producing like this, I might be able to make some actual money off of it!” He decides to see if he can find some more seeds later today, and also, if he might be able to sell his fruit and some of the fish he’s been catching to buy himself a water sprinkler. That should make tending the garden easier.

Birch heads into town to sell his tomatoes, and then decides to work out at the gym. He crosses through the park, where he meets a new friend, Bebe Hart.

Meeting Bebe

A week ago Birch probably would have started hitting on Bebe, but now he’s really become obsessed with Tamara, so he only thinks of Bebe as a potential friend, nothing more.  Birch discovers that Bebe likes gardening, and they share gardening tips with each other.

Talking about fertilizer

Bebe makes some suggestions about how to better fertilize his garden, which Birch figures he will try out in the next few days.

Birch then continues across the park, where he comes across something on the ground…

Hot dog on the bricks

Now, although you and I would just think, “Ew” and leave it alone, Birch still has some of that California bum in him, and so his next step is not exactly what yours or mine would be:

Ew?

We just have to hope it wasn’t spoiled, or too dirty.

After his “meal” at the park, Birch then heads to the gym for a workout and a shower.

Aerobic workout

After the shower, guess who shows up at the gym?

Birch and Tammy share another kiss

It seems like Birch is quite fortunate when it comes to his encounters with Tamara. She seems to be very welcoming of his advances, and even has made a few of her own.  As Birch says good-night to her and leaves the gym, he is starting to think about more than just “moving in” now.

On the way home, Birch stops at the Build and Buy again, this time picking up a water sprinkler. It’s a cheap one, that has to be turned on and off manually, but it should still make gardening a bit more efficient. Of course it’s not big enough to cover even Birch’s small garden entirely… soon he will need to buy another one. But it’s a start.

New sprinkler

The next day finds Birch doing some more gardening, though it’s faster now that he doesn’t have to water some of the plants by hand.  He heads to the gym as usual for food, a shower, and a workout, and spends some time fishing. But Birch really only has one thing on his mind all day: Tamara.  Finally he calls her and asks her to meet him at his favorite spot in town — the beach-front.  Tamara agrees, and the couple finds themselves once more on the shore by the sea, sharing a sunset romance together.

Date by the sea

They share a lingering kiss as Birch works up the nerve to pop the question.  His kissing is distracted.

“What will she say?” Birch worries. “What if she says no?”

Another kiss at sunset

Finally Tammy pulls back and looks Birch in the eyes. “What’s the matter, honey?” she asks. “You seem so distracted.”

Birch finds it hard to speak, but finally screws his courage to the sticking place and says, “Tammy… there’s… something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?” says Tammy.

“Well, first of all, I wanted to say that I love you.”

Tamara smiles and says, “I love you too, Birch. “

Birch swallows hard, then finally gets down on one knee and…

Will you marry me?

To Birch’s relief, there is no hesitation. Even though they’ve only known each other a few short days, Tammy is already madly in love, and her answer is immediate.

The answer Birch was hoping for

As Birch slides the ring onto Tammy’s finger, he is thinking about the future. He worries about how he will provide for her, given that he has no job and really doesn’t want to get a job. But he also hopes that where they have love, they can find a way through the challenges.

There’s a lot more kissing, of course, but you can imagine well enough what went on the rest of the evening.  After Tammy headed back home for the night, Birch stayed at the beach with his thoughts, and did a little fishing.  What the future will hold for this young couple, only time will tell.

A good end to a great day

Chapter 3: Enjoying the great outdoors

A new day dawns at Alderwood Manor. Birch Alder awakens, still outside, since he can’t afford more than a single wall yet.  In fact, Birch has yet to make any money. This will be a problem shortly, since he’s still being assessed weekly property tax by the town of Sunset Valley. Either he’s going to need to start selling his garden fruits and veggies soon, or our California bum may need to bite the bullet and find that most dreaded of things — a job!

Birch really doesn’t want to do that — he hates the idea of regular schedules and work hours.  So he’s hoping his little gardening project will pay off. His first step, therefore, is to head to the side of the lot and see how his garden is doing.

Birch checks his garden

Things are looking good. The four apple trees are coming along nicely, having fully matured.  The three tomato vines are starting to sprout up well. Birch waters the plants and adds the fish he caught yesterday to a few of them as fertilizer.  Things are looking up. In a little while maybe he will have some fruit he can sell.

His long stint in the garden, however, leaves Birch pretty grungy. He still doesn’t have a shower, so he heads down to the gym to take a quick shower and grab a bite to eat from their snack bar.  While there he meets up with a new acquaintance, Stiles McGraw.

Birch meets Stiles

Birch and Stiles talk about work, politics, and gardening for a while. Stiles seems like a nice guy, and Birch takes down his number.  Stiles might be fun to hang out with in the future. After this meeting, Birch heads to the park across the street with the vague idea of doing some more fishing. On the way, he spots some butterflies, and manages to catch one.

Birch catches a butterfly

It turns out to be a rare species, and Birch is able to sell it to the local museum for a whopping $45. Those are the first Simoleons Birch has managed to make so far.  Sure it’s not very  much, but it almost doubles his net worth, so he’s pretty happy about it. Maybe soon he can afford some conveniences for his “house,” like a lamp.

As he’s heading across the park Birch also comes across something else…

Brich finds a mysterious seed

It’s a large seed from some kind of plant. He doesn’t recognize it — it doesn’t appear to be an apple or tomato seed, since he’s pretty good with those. But what else it might be, he has no idea. He’s going to have to plant this seed and see what grows. Perhaps it will be something new and exotic.

The day is wearing on by now, and Birch finds that he is missing Tamara already.  He decides to ask her if she’d like to meet him at the beach, and gives her a quick call on his iPhone.

Birch calls Tamara for a date

Birch is in luck. Tamara answers right away, and says she’d like to meet him at the beach.  So Birch hails a quick cab and heads to the waterfront.  There, he quickly finds Tamara, who is already waiting for him when he arrives.  The two of them immediately fall into what seems like a very comfortable pattern of conversation. They discuss things like the weather, and their favorite colors.

Tamara discusses her favorite color

Finally Birch asks Tamara if she would like to go steady. Her response is immediate…

Going Steady!

… and lasts long enough that the sun goes down before they come up for air…

Kissing till sunset

And so here at the end of Day 4 in Sunset Valley, our Founder, Birch Alder, has managed to earn a little bit of cash, and a lot of love. He has a steady girlfriend, and maybe more, if this relationship keeps heading in the same direction. What will tomorrow bring? We’ll just have to wait and see.  One thing’s for sure, though… Birch is certainly enjoying himself int he great outdoors. Perhaps Uncle Alden had something there.