House Hunting - part 2

January 2030

Violet is 36, Uziah is 39, Wesley is 13, Willow is 7

The next morning Violet headed to work determined to focus on her current project and stop thinking about househunting and bills for at least a few hours. She ended up staying late every night that week and finally got home just before 9pm on Friday, meeting Uziah at the gates as he returned from his evening run.

“Hi honey, how was your day?” Uziah met her with a smile and a rather sweaty hug. She didn't answer at first and he looked at her curiously. “Everything ok?”

“Yes, at least nothing disastrous to report.” Violet still looked pale and Uziah thought she seemed a little shaken. “But there is something I need to tell you.”

Uziah frowned and then smiled gently, “as long as you're not about to run off with your secret millionaire lover I'm sure we can cope, what is it?”

Violet paused for a moment and then looked back up at her husband.

“We had an interesting day at the lab today, you remember I told you I was working on a cloning device?” she asked him.

“You mean the device you've been muttering about for months, getting up in the middle of the night to make notes about and working late to perfect? Yes I think I remember something about that.”

“Yes, that one,” she still wasn't smiling and Uziah wondered what had gone wrong, hopefully she hadn't lost all the work she'd done or had the machine blow up in her face.

“Well, we had some progress with it this morning and I finally came up with a way to solve the stablisation problem we were having. I still have no idea where the idea came from as I'm sure I was thinking about houses at the time.” she took a breath

“Anyway, after all this time we've finally managed to clone all of the test items consistently... Uziah, it works!”

“Violet, that's fantastic. That's your hard work honey, you have finally managed to produce a cloning device and you are absolutely amazing.” Uziah hugged her again but wondered why she wasn't grinning from ear to ear as he would expect. Had something gone wrong?

“Vi, is there something else? You don't seem to be as happy as I expected”

Violet was still straight faced but gradually her lips began to twitch with the beginnings of a smile.

“Well, we got the machine working reliably this morning and then we had a whole load of phonecalls and meetings and liaison coordinators running around like headless chickens...”

“And...?”

“We sold it!”

“That's incredible, you sold it the same day you finished it? Is that even possible?” he asked,

“Apparently it is when the Simland Interstellar Agency has been closely following your progress, desperate for a possible solution to reducing the weight of ships on long distance voyages.”

“Of course, we were talking about that only the other day. If we can clone replacement parts and supplies in deep space it would dramatically reduce the weight of the ship and the amount of fuel we would need to carry. Hey, maybe we could even replicate fuel?!” Uziah was grinning now, this would make an incredible difference to his work as well as Violet's.

“And then there's the food serum,” Violet looked at Uziah waiting for him to understand,

“You believe you can clone your food serum?” he couldn't believe what she was saying.

“Yes, if we can work with your engineers to get everything working in space you could be cloning your meals on your first ever trip to the Kazian home planet.”

Uziah swept Violet off her feet and swung her round in a bear hug.

“But there is one thing I haven't mentioned.”

 

“OK, what's the catch? Do we have to move to the other side of the country now? Or are you going into orbit for six months of testing?”

“No, nothing like that... actually believe it or not it's more good news. As this is my invention I will receive a percentage of the advance payment from the Space Agency. Zia, it's 50,000!”

Now she was grinning and he was laughing and she wondered whether the children would look out of the window and think they were finally going mad. Uziah couldn't believe she'd managed to keep a straight face all the way through the conversation and it took him a few minutes to completely comprehend the amount and what it would mean.

“We don't have to move.”

“That's right my darling, we don't have to move, thank goodness we don't have to move!” Violet was so relieved at the thought of not having to uproot the family again that she could barely believe it herself.

“Are we being sensible to stay though? Do we need to sit down and think this through? If it's a single payment it won't last forever. I hate the thought of going through this again, should we think about downsizing anyway, make it last longer?”

“You're right we need to think about this before we tell the children.” Violet tried to be sensible, “and definitely before I tell mum. But I think we'll be ok. My supervisor assured me today that I will have to be promoted in the next quarter given the money I've brought it, they won't want to risk losing me to another company. And you're due a pay rise in April even if they don't promote you soon which they really should.”

“Hey, if you keep making inventions like this I could build my own rocket and work for myself exploring the cosmos!” Uziah laughed.

“Who knows what the future may hold my love...” Violet simply held the man she adored and smiled, who knows indeed?

**********

Gameplay Note: This first chapter did not work out quite as I had planned.  I rolled bankruptcy for Uziah and decided that a debt problem caused by their bills which meant they had to urgently move house was more realistic given their history and the ridiculous size of the Sims 4 bills (at some point they have to be able to pay their bills without the kaching magic wand!).  Then, just as I was working out where to move them Violet invented the cloning machine and I realised that they could use it at home along with the transform ray to make more than enough money to pay the bills.  I had to repay her somehow and so they got a reprieve.  Hopefully the next couple of chapters will be a little more light-hearted and a little less wordy...

House Hunting - part 1

January 2030

Violet Fyfe is 36, Uziah is 39, Wesley is 13, Willow is 7

Violet stood outside the house she was there to view and immediately knew it was going to be another let-down. Priya Dawlish, her estate agent, clearly saw it on Violet's face,

“I know it's close to the road but there's a pretty garden at the back and it's near the river which means there are some lovely views from the upstairs windows.”

Violet thought about the views she currently had, looking out the bay towards the lighthouse, and couldn't imagine persuading the family that a view of the shops across the river would compare.

Her feeling of disappointment continued as they went around the house, the rooms were a decent size but the outside space was tiny compared to their grounds and it just wasn't right. Haven Bay wasn't a large town and she was starting to think they would run out of places to see before finding anywhere she could bear to show to the rest of the family.

“Next!”, she tried to sound cheerful and optimistic as they got into Priya's car to go to the next property.

The next house was better, it was built in a similar style to their home but definitely on a smaller scale. Violet knew she shouldn't keep dwelling on how places compared to a house they couldn't afford to keep but it was difficult when she had been so happy living there. Priya kept up the cheerful chatter, she knew the situation the Fyfes were facing and felt bad for them but she was realistic about the houses they could afford. They had become used to a mansion style of living but they were only a family of four and downsizing to a perfectly good house was hardly a disaster. When they got to the next house she waited for Violet's reaction.

“But Priya, isn't this is your house?” Violet looked around confused,

Priya smiled, “no, different road but it is the same style of house. You mentioned at the office that you liked our place and since it was a new build you can buy land and have it built to order, if that's something you might find interesting.” She didn't say it but while Violet looked around she couldn't help thinking that it would be difficult to say there wasn't enough space in this house. She wasn't close friends with Violet and Uziah but she had helped them find the previous house and with teenage boys in the same football team the two families had visited each other's homes a few times. Of course while Violet and Uziah had a beautiful large home with plenty of room for them and their two children, Priya and her husband had to fit five children into their modest house and they managed just fine. She waited for Violet's response.

“I do love your home, it had such a lovely feel.” Violet paused while she thought about it, “but how long would it take to have a house built to order? And what about available lots?”

Priya turned around and pointed to the field next to the house they were viewing, “how about that one? It will take longer than you had planned for the move but I can find you somewhere to rent while it's being built. And it does mean you would have more say in all the details...” she wasn't sure what else to say without sounding like she was trying to sell her own family's lifestyle.

Violet did her best to smile, it wasn't the delighted grin of a househunter who had found the perfect place but then she already had the perfect place,

“OK, it's a good option and I think I need to talk Uziah through everything I've seen this afternoon and see what he thinks.”

“Of course, just give me a ring if there's anything you want to show him or pop by the office if you want me to look further afield or talk about any other options.” Priya switched off her professional demeanour for a moment. “I know this isn't easy Violet, to feel like you've given something lovely to your children only to have to take it away from them again so soon.”

Violet looked up, surprised at how accurately Priya had pinned down her feelings.

“Just remember, children are more resilient than we think they are and often their priorities are completely different to ours. Wesley and Willow may think it's more important to be closer to their friends, or not mind having a smaller house if it means they get more expensive birthday presents.” The two women smiled at each other with the shared camaraderie of mothers.

“You're right, I think it's time we talked about this as a family and decided what everyone would like from their new house. Thank you Priya”

That evening Violet and Uziah sat down with the children to tell them the news about the house.

Wesley and Willow weren't as upset as Violet had feared, although Priya had been right about them having different priorities.   

Wesley was worried about having enough room to keep all his gym equipment, Uziah was able to reassure him that with an astronaut as a father they were hardly likely to get rid of the equipment he needed to keep his fitness levels up. Of course then Wesley was quick to mention the for sale signs he had seen near his girlfriend Dahlia's house. No ulterior motive there Violet thought with a smile.   

Willow was more focused on the area they might be moving to, she was obsessed with geology and fossil hunting and loved the beach area opposite their current home as well as the woods adjoining their garden which had yielded plenty of goodies for her collections. Then she started wondering whether a cheaper house would mean more money for her to have a new computer. Different priorities for everyone, just as Priya had foretold.

Once the children had gone to bed, Uziah and Violet sat down to discuss the options. They agreed to view a couple of the houses Violet thought might be acceptable on Saturday and headed to bed, still downcast about leaving their home but at least feeling a little less worried about how the children would cope with the upcoming change.

Willow Fyfe

Willow Sheila Fyfe

Age: 8
Born: 30 March 2022

Parents: Uziah Fyfe, Violet Fyfe (nee Cooper)
Siblings: Wesley Fyfe (14)

Aspiration: Social Butterfly (child asp)
Traits: Geek 

Hobbies: Gaming, Collecting, Piano 

Friends: Alex Goth, Shawna Woo, Jodi Woo, Tristan Sheppard, Olivia Kim, Kyleigh Allred

Wesley Fyfe

Wesley Cooper Fyfe

Age: 14
Born: 21 October 2016

Parents: Uziah Fyfe, Violet Fyfe (nee Cooper)
Siblings: Willow Fyfe (8)


Aspiration: Bodybuilder
Traits: High metabolism, Active, Romantic,Gym rat

Ambition: Athelete (footballer/soccer)

Hobbies: Sport, Cooking, Gaming, Comedy, Socialising

Friends: Rohan Dawlish, Luke Broadoak, Jenna Avebury, Rose Dawlish
Romance: Dahlia Muniz 

Dawlish Family

The Dawlish Family

Priya Dawlish (35)

Owen Dawlish (36)

Rose Dawlish (16)

Ruby Dawlish (16)

Rohan Dawlish (13)

Grace Dawlish (3)

Harry Dawlish (3)

Uziah Fyfe

Uziah James Fyfe

Age: 40
DOB: 21 August 1990

Parents: Not local
Siblings: None
Spouse: Violet Fyfe (nee Cooper)
Children: Wesley Cooper Fyfe (14), Willow Sheila Fyfe (8)

Aspiration: Bodybuilder
Traits: High Metabolism, Active, Genius, Ambitious

Career: Astronaut
Hobbies: Fitness, Chess, Astronomy, Cooking
Friends: Erin Johnston, Meredith Cranbrook, Zack Guildford, Owen Dawlish

Violet Fyfe

Violet Marie Fyfe (nee Cooper)

Age: 37
Born: 10 March 1993

Parents: Sheila Cooper
Siblings: none
Spouse: Uziah Fyfe
Children: Wesley Cooper Fyfe (14), Willow Shelia Fyfe (8)

Aspiration: Nerd Brain
Traits: Family-orientated, Genius, Self-assured, Quick learner 

Career: Scientist 

Hobbies: Chess, Astronomy, Cooking, Comedy, Painting

Friends: Dora Ifield, Kaye Sheppard, Victoria Wakefield, Teagan Starnes

Ugly Bills part 2

January 2030

Violet Fyfe is 36, Sheila Cooper is 70

“...so we went to the bank this afternoon but no luck. We've already borrowed as much as we can and if we were to borrow any more we wouldn't be able to meet the repayments. And that's the whole sorry story.” Violet had fled to her mother's house that evening, fearing that she would be unable to keep her distress from the children if she stayed at home. Now, having told her mother the whole situation, she looked up at her, wondering whether she would see disappointment or disbelief in her mother's face. As far as Sheila knew the Fyfes were doing well, with strong careers, a happy family life and a lovely house by the shore. Of course that was what anyone would see, the ugly truth was buried deep underneath.

But Sheila's face was not disappointed, angry or dismayed, instead she simply looked at Violet with understanding and love, “I always worried that house would be too much,” she admitted, “no-one ever realises how much more they will pay in bills when they move to a larger place and we all like to push from our mind the worst case scenarios, such as a hike in interest rates just as you lose your savings. It's such awful luck Vi, but it's not the end of the world and you know that.  You still have Uziah and the children, just keep remembering them.”

Violet felt her eyes welling with tears, “it just feels like the end of a path we were hoping to follow though mum. We had this wonderful dream, this ideal life that we would get as a reward for years of hard work, were we just fools all along?”

Sheila smiled sadly, “Not fools love,” she said, “just innocent or a little naïve maybe, the way we all are when we are young and anything is possible. It's partly my fault for always telling you that everything was within your grasp if only you worked hard enough. I should have made sure you understood that sometimes hard work simply wouldn't be enough and life never works out quite the way we planned.” She reached over and squeezed Violet's hand gently.

“Now Vi,” her voice took on the brisk tone Vi always associated with 'getting things done', “what do you need me to do tonight, I can be a shoulder for you to cry on if you just want to get everything out of your system while the children aren't around, or I can be 'practical mum', help you work through the options and see if there's anything I can suggest.”

“Practical mum sounds perfect, thank you.” Vi felt like she had done enough crying when they had returned from the bank that afternoon, now she needed to be doing something, anything, to move on.

“As far as I can see you have three options,” Sheila always liked to list things in threes, she said it was the best number for the human brain to remember, or at least her human brain...  

“One – you increase your income, work more hours, get another job, earn money at home somehow. Two – you decrease you outgoings, I know you've probably looked at that, but I have a lovely accountant who can go through all your bills with you if you want to see if there's anything you can reduce. Three – you sell the house, move somewhere smaller with more reasonable bills, and put any money you save somewhere safe this time, such as into the children's college funds!”

Violet smiled at this, Sheila was always convinced that both Wesley and Willow were going to top universities and had set up college funds for them as soon as they were born.

“Thanks mum,” Violet stood up and hugged her mother, “you always make things seem so simple. We've talked about decreasing the bills but we've been on a tight budget ever since we moved in and shaving a few simoleons off the electricity bill won't touch the problem. We could sell some of the furniture and paintings that came with the house but that would only be a short-term fix and without knowing for certain when Uziah and I might get promoted we are likely to end up in the same position again within a couple of months. If either of us work any more hours the children will never get to see us and then what are we working for?  I think we both know the only option is to sell the house, it's just such a shame, it's so lovely.” Violet allowed herself a quiet sob on her mother's shoulder, she had fallen in love with the house when they first viewed it and the thought of losing it after only a year living there was like a kick in the stomach. But then so was the thought of her children living on the breadline, or ending up in bankruptcy if they just buried their heads in the sand. No, a clean break was the only way to go. Now they just had to break the news to the children and pray the house was worth enough to clear the bills and leave them enough for a house that at least still had a bedroom each for the children. 

For the rest of the evening they discussed houses for sale, the delight of Willow coming top of her class again in a recent test and Wesley's first girlfriend, Dahlia, who had recently come for dinner.  Violet admitted that just the idea of her baby boy dating was making her feel ancient and Sheila laughed, reminding Violet of the first boy she had brought home when she was only 13, to her mother's horror.

After coffee and a long chat, Violet finally felt ready to return home and face the problem head on. “Estate agents, here we come...”

   

Lovely House, Ugly Bills

January 2030 - Fyfe Family (part 2)

By the time Violet got home from work that evening she was more than ready for a therapeutic bubble bath and maybe a back rub from Uziah.  Wesley was cooking as part of his science fair project as Uziah had persuaded him that you couldn't research a project on nutrition without at least being able to make a basic salad and his attempts had so far been reasonably edible.   Her discovery had meant staying late at the lab to finish off some tests so she was expecting the family to be scattered around the house, finishing homework, playing games or maybe out for a run.  She wandered into the kitchen to see what Wesley had managed to cook up and found Uziah sitting at the counter, looking glumly into a glass of juice.   

“Zi, are you ok?”, Violet asked, laying a hand upon his shoulder.

Uziah jumped, clearly he had been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed the front door or her footsteps towards the kitchen.

“Hi... yes... how... how are you, good day at work?”, he stuttered,

“Yes it was good but I'll tell you all about it after you tell me what's wrong. Unless you're studying the surface tension of that juice?”  

Violet grew worried as he continued to stare into the glass, Uziah was usually confident and cheery, even if he hadn't had a good day at work he would be chatty when she got in. Something was clearly wrong.

“Are the kids ok? Mum? Zi...? Zi, you're starting to worry me.”

“Yes, sorry, the kids are fine and I... I haven't heard from your mother. It's nothing like that, no-one's sick or anything.”

“OK, good, so what is it?”

Finally Uziah looked up at her, “you might want to grab a coffee first, I'm afraid we need to talk about money.”

Violet grabbed a coffee and perched on a stool next to Uziah.  She couldn't think what the problem was likely to be, sure money was tight but they were much better off than many of the other families in the area and only last year they had been able to afford to move into this lovely big house with views across the bay and room enough even for an observatory.  They had been careful to budget for the move and Uziah hadn't said anything about his job being under threat.  

“OK, I have coffee and I'm sitting down. Whatever this is I'm sure we can sort it out, what's happened?”

“I had a call from Tommy, you remember, my old friend who advised us when we were sorting out the finances for the house.   He wanted to warn me that interest rates had just been announced as going up more than we expected.   On it's own we could deal with that, but the money we invested into the savings scheme, it's... I'm sorry but it's gone.”

“How can it be gone?” Violet exclaimed, quickly lowering her voice and glancing upstairs to where she assumed the children were in their rooms.  “It wasn't supposed to be a risk, just a slightly better rate than we could get if we left the money in the bank. Zi, we were just doing what Tommy and the man at the bank agreed was a good idea. How on earth can this be happening to us when we've always been so careful?”  She could feel tears in her eyes but when Uziah reached out to take her hand she pulled away.  She had to understand what was happening before she could think about how she felt. Understand the facts first, that was what her mother had always taught her growing up and she clung to that thought now.

“Please, just explain what's happening and then surely...surely we can work it out.” she whispered.

“I don't know all the details yet, there should be someone contacting us tomorrow but Tommy said a big company has gone bust, completely unexpected.  We may get a small amount back but it's likely to take months at least.  I had a look through our bills, tried to work out if we'd have enough for everything without it but I just can't see a way out.  We stretched ourselves thin buying this place, with the way the bills have gone up recently and the increase in the mortgage from the interest rate rise we simply don't have enough money coming in to cover our bills.  Wes gave me the form for the summer football camp today and we simply won't be able to afford it.   How can we be good parents when we can't even afford a week of camp and might not be able to keep a roof over his head?. 

Tears were rolling down Uziah's cheeks and Violet could feel her own tears, hot against her suddenly cold skin.  She thought about the excitement of earlier, all that fuss over a piece of rock, and she started shivering at the thought that suddenly everything was collapsing, as though someone had chiselled away at their life only to shatter it into pieces.

They both sat for a while, sipping their drinks just for something to do, something to stop them sobbing or shouting.  At any moment Willow or Wes could appear in the kitchen and there wasn't going to be any easy way to explain what was happening.

Violet took a deep breath and turned to Uziah, “I know you've already been though everything but I think I need to see the figures myself, get my head around it.  Then we need to talk to the bank as soon as possible, see if we can at least extend the overdraft or maybe get a loan just to cover this month's bills while we sort something out.  Are you ok to ring them in the morning to arrange an appointment Zi?  If I go in early I can probably arrange to take the afternoon off so we can go in together.”

She was trying to be logical, think about things step by step, but her mind just kept darting around, picturing red bills and the disappointed faces of her children.  Slowly she stood up and finally allowed Uziah to wrap his arms around her.  It wasn't his fault after all and they would only be able to get through this together. She just wished that she could wake up and find it was all just a bad dream.

Violet's Dusty Discovery

January 2030 - Fyfe Family (part 1)

“If I wanted to spend my days digging in the dirt I would have become an archaeologist,” muttered Violet Fyfe as she chiselled carefully at the desert rock. Violet usually loved her job at The Curie Institute out at Oasis Falls but arriving at work to find her name on the day's list to look for mineral supplies in the desert compound had put her in a grumpy mood. She knew she would go home covered in the orange desert dust, from her shoes to her hair. On top of the dust, she was at a crucial point in her research and it was frustrating to have to leave it for even a day.  

The sound of her phone gave Violet a good an excuse to stand up and stretch. Although looking at the caller ID gave her another reason to sigh. “Hi mum, how are you?”, her mother often phoned her during the day, however many times Violet pointed out that she couldn't always stop to chat in the middle of her experiments. Days like today she did rather envy her mother's clean, modern office, cluttered only with shelves of books and her many whiteboards but theoretical physics had never appealed to her the way it did to her mother and her passion for applied science meant she still dreamt each night of inventing something that might change people's lives.

Violet avoided going into details when her mother asked how her day was going, complaining about work was something she saved for Uziah when she got home. However she was delighted to be able to report on Wesley's science fair project on alien plant life and sports nutrition as she knew her mother always enjoyed the opportunity to boast about her grandson's achievements.

Having stopped for lunch, Violet went back to her digging. She had found a couple of useful crystals but a particular rock had caught her attention and she was becoming certain that something interesting lay within. Removing the strangely coloured metallic substance she dashed into the lab to show it to Dora, her research assistant.  

A couple of hours later and the tests and database searches confirmed it, she had found a sample of the unusual metal, Crytunium. Suddenly the day that had started as a dusty, boring dig had turned into a wonderful discovery. “This,” Violet announced to Dora, “is the reason I love my job!”.

Fyfe Family

The Fyfe Family

Violet Fyfe (37)

Uziah Fyfe (40)

Wesley Fyfe (14)

Willow Fyfe (8)

Jenna Avebury

Jenna Avebury

Age: 23

Born: 15 Oct 2007

Parents: Deceased (raised in foster care from age 10)

Siblings: None

Romance: Luke Broadoak (boyfriend)

Aspiration: Musical Genius (singer/songwriter)

Traits: Creative, Muser, Geek, Outgoing

Work: Tech Guru

Hobbies: Playing guitar, Songwriting, Cooking, Tinkering, Gaming

Friends: Meredith, Erin

Jenna was born in Leon City in 2007 and raised by her parents who were both musicians.  In 2016, when Jenna was 9, her parents both died in a car accident on their way home from a music festival.  Jenna was staying with her grandmother at the time and she continued to live with her until 10 months later when her grandmother had a stroke and had to go into a nursing home. 
With no other living relatives Jenna had to go into foster care.  She was fortunately placed with a loving family who also had a 12 year old son.  Her foster father was a baker and he encouraged Jenna to learn to cook and to experiment in the kitchen.  As she had inherited her father's guitar, Jenna's foster mother arranged for her to continue with her music lessons and her music teacher encouraged to write her own songs to express the feelings she found difficult to discuss with anyone. Preston, her foster brother, was a keen gamer and once he realised that Jenna was an able competitor in he taught her how to mod her favourite games.  Her interest in programming and gaming was encouraged by her school and Jenna went on to study computer science at Leon City University.  Unfortunately her foster family had to move away to care for her mother's elderly parents and Jenna found herself alone again in a big city.  She enjoyed living in university accommodation but yearned to again be part of a family.  When a graduate position became available at JT Games on the outskirts of the city in 2029 she decided to move out to the nearby community of Haven Bay where she could afford to rent a small bungalow near the river.

Jenna has settled into Haven Bay and made a number of friends but will she be able to overcome her fears of losing another loved one to be able to fall in love and have the family she desires?  And will her songwriting ever bring her the fame and fortune her music teacher always believed Jenna would someday achieve...?