Chapter 10: Mr. Mom

Author’s note #1: First, a brief apology for the long delay in getting this chapter up. I have screenshots for probably 4 chapters worth of material, but I’ve just been hammered by work the last week or so, and haven’t had time to do any writing. Hopefully I will get the next few chapters up quickly.  And now, to the next one… “Mr. Mom.”

Our couple has now settled into a normal routine.  Since Birch has never really taken to the idea of work, and Tammy likes politics and “schmoozing”, she has become the family’s “breadwinner,” and Birch stays home to take care of little Ash.

“I feel like Michael Keaton in the movie Mr. Mom,” Birch says to his son one morning.  Ash smiles but doesn’t really understand.

Since he’s home every day, Birch spends a lot of time with Ash, which certainly improves their relationship.  Each morning, after breakfast, Birch takes Ash outside and works on teaching him how to walk.

Teaching Ash to walk

Birch then lets Ash play outside while he works on the garden, which is turning out to be quite a project.

Growing the perfect garden... not quite yet

“Maybe I’m Old MacDonald with a Farm, instead of Mr. Mom,” Birch murmurs.

Birch now has potatoes, watermelons, lettuce, tomatoes, and apples growing in his garden. As a side note, that apple-laden tree to Birch’s immediate left there? That’s his first “Outstanding” plant.

And so, Birch spends his early mornings teaching Ash to walk, and his later mornings working in the garden. Then it’s inside for lunch, after which he lets Ash take a nap in his crib, while Birch relaxes with TV or, in some cases, reading the newspaper. It really is a great life for our California bum.

Relaxing in the late afternoon

Sometimes, so the two of them don’t get stir crazy, Birch walks across the street with Ash to the little pond in their neighborhood, and starts showing him the joys of the great outdoors, and of fishing. Of course, Ash is too little to handle a fishing pole yet, but he loves being outside with dad.

Day at the park

Tammy works during the day, but in the evenings she tries to spend some time with Ash.  Although Birch has focused on potty training (already done) and teaching the kid to walk, Tammy, being more focused on chit-chat and making speeches, focuses more on the verbal skills.

Teaching Ash to Talk

And eventually, all of Tammy’s hard work pays off.  She gets elected to the city council in the November elections, and has gone from being a mere cog in the government wheel, to being someone who will make some of the decisions.  She rushes home to tell Birch about her promotion, and he’s thrilled.

Councilwoman Tammy

“This is great, Tammy!” Birch exclaims. “Now you can make sure the city doesn’t zone the park across the street commercial like they were talking about.”

“That’s just one part of my platform,” she says with a nod.  “I also want to make sure we protect our beaches and fishing holes… and the graveyard has to be protected as well.”

Birch looks at her in surprise. “Protected… from what?”

“Oh haven’t you heard?” asks Tammy. “Some of the Sims in town are saying that the place is haunted.”

“You mean ghosts? You can’t be serious!” Birch laughs.

But Tammy shrugs and says, “Well there are reports… and the council is going to have to look into it.”

Birch thinks this is an odd thing for the City Council to waste its time on, but he doesn’t say anything further.

In the mean time, the promotion gets them a little more money, and they can pay for some updates to the house.  They are able to fully enclose and renovate the kitchen…

Nearly-finished kitchen, finally

And enclose most of the rest of the house, so that now the “living room” basically functions as a front porch, and the rest of the rooms (except the back hallway) are all enclosed and at least painted.  It takes Birch the better part of the weekend to do the painting, but the end result is what could almost be called a real house — even if it is just a mobile home on a cheap foundation.

Updated house

Once they’re done with the updates, the couple and Ash spend a nice evening on their “porch/living room” watching TV as a family for the first time.

TV on the "porch"

It’s a nice way to end the week. Starting Monday Tammy is a council woman, and will need to start raising funds for her next campaign. This time she has an eye on the state legislature!

Author’s note #2: There are some more pictures of the house updates on the house page.