Chapter 3: Autumn Growth

Alex's garden is pretty stagnant. It's been several days and he hasn't harvested a single piece of fruit, and the nectar he makes from stolen neighborhood plants is pretty terrible. He decides to learn fishing to fertilize his plants.

This isn't nearly as fun as squishing fruit,

but there are rewarding moments.

He also tries talking to his garden in soothing tones, asking them nicely to grow up quick and healthy and, most importantly, bearing high-quality fruit.

He doesn't know if it works, but it's surprisingly nice to talk to plants. Socially fulfilling, if you will. 

Since Alex's garden hasn't bore fruit yet, he doesn't really have much to do in the way of nectar making. It gives him some time to be introspective.

Looks like a promising start!

Shanti is reading in the park one day when a concession stand worker doubles over with nausea. Everyone starts screaming and crowds around him, but she takes care of him in no time.

Bella Bachelor turns into Sally Finklestein in her distress. She doesn't even notice, poor thing.

The Hands can't afford a computer just yet, but workaholic Shanti finds a way to work "from home" at the library. 

She spends most of her weekend here and at home, scrubbing away at the appliances.

She likes things to be just so. Cleanliness and order is the first step towards success and productivity.

Alex finds some pretty good seeds at the park, and some he can't identify.

The discovery renews his faith in his gardening abilities. He hopes the unknown seed is something cool, like flame fruit or a money tree, but it's probably just an onion seed.

His painting improves.

It's finally fall, and the Hands feel it's time for a wardrobe update.

They begin dressing a little warmer, in red tones that evoke dying leaves and the cold sun of autumn.

They also update the decor a little.

Alex decides this painting represents fall better than any amount of pressed leaves could.

With rain and colder weather comes something more threatening: frost. When some of his new plants show signs of dormancy, Alex begins the painstaking task of moving his garden into a new room adjacent to the kitchen.

The tiny room costs almost every cent they have left, but the expense is necessary.. There's no way a farmer would survive two seasons without his garden.

The new indoor garden quickly flourishes under Alexander's attentive care.

How come people always seem to get sick right when Shanti is getting to the good part??

Stiles McGraw is traumatized by the sight of Connor Frio dry-swallowing the enormous mystery pill. Within seconds, though, everything is right as rain.

Connor salutes her in thanks. Shanti is reminded why she loves her job, even if it sometimes interrupts her reading.

Sandi French joins her when Shanti returns to her book. The girl sees her as a kind of role model. Maybe she wants to be a doctor, too?

More paintings begin to fill up blank wall space. 

Shanti joins a book club to supplement her reading. Although she loves her medical journals, they're just not enough to satisfy her craving for the written word.

One night she vaccinates thirty-seven sims in four hours, including her boss Morgana. She's promoted to Trauma Surgeon on the spot.

This is what she wants in life and she loves her work, but being on call all the time is exhausting. 

Shanti's promotion bonus is enough to purchase an outdated computer for the home. She immediately gets to work. She and Alexander have been discussing starting a family, and she needs to really excel at her job in order to make that dream come true.

---------------------------------------

Notes: 

Bit of a disjointed chapter, sorry..

Alex's garden is officially the biggest I've had in this game. It's a pain in the ass to take care of, especially because the automatic sprinkler doesn't seem to work on the indoor grass rugs. Or maybe I'm just doing something wrong. 

Anyway, we're still pretty stripped of cash, but we're trundling along. The Hands are over halfway through their YA stage so I guess I need to get started on the kids, but I'm stalling so they can accumulate just a little more household funds for a nursery room, or even just a washer & dryer. The dirty laundry is piling up...