Chapter 5: The Curious Incident of the Rain in the Night-time

Even though Shanti is on maternity leave, she keeps busy. There seems to be no end to chores that need to be done around the house.

Surrounded by sun, even in winter.

Alexander helps out, too.

It's still clogged from Shanti's earlier vom-fest. Gross, sorry, I know.

Shanti slips away to the library for a few good hours of reading, interrupted by yet another ailing Sim. 

Shanti takes care of a nauseated Boyd Wainwright while his wife Susan looks on in worry. Both his illness and his choice of attire are probably attributable to too much juice. Stay away from those kegs, old man!

She already knew, but it's nice to have confirmation.

Back at home, a random Sim rings the doorbell. Alexander Hand is a nice guy, so he invites her inside with a smile, but he's not so nice as to not notice the awkwardness of a complete stranger showing up at his doorstep in hot pants in the middle of the day.

"Sooo.... What, um, do you do for a living? Tamara, was it?"

The woman is Tamara Alvi, wife of Iqbal Alvi and under the employ of City Hall as a Yes Woman. 

Alexander is too polite to ask if she only came over to play with his daughter, or to suggest that she return home and spend time with her own infant. Rain doesn't seem to mind, so he lets them be.

Tamara stays until two in the morning, then suddenly seems to remember the time. She walks outside and puts Rain down in the snow before running home.

The tiny girl immediately sinks deep into the cold snow.

What??? I mean... just, what? Who does that? She has a crib, you know, a nice, warm crib with a stuffed animal and clean sheets and everything. Who are you, Tamara Alvi?

Luckily, Alex happens to be up checking on his nectar and comes to the rescue.

"It's okay, baby, Daddy's here."

He decides not to tell Shanti about the incident, not wanting to worry her, so she is thinking only of her next promotion when, the next morning, she makes a house call to Mrs. Alvi.

Her and Iqbal's son, a boy named Perry Alvi, is there too.

"Uh-oh, blinking and beeping, that's not a good sign."

Shanti diagnoses the woman and prescribes her some medicine. "One of the side effects of your illness is erratic or irrational behavior," Shanti warns Tamara. "Best to stay inside and away from children and hot pants until you're completely recovered."

Shanti dislikes being away from work, but the plus side of maternity leave is having time and energy to watch the stars and enjoy the season with her love.

"Hey, honey? When did we get a garden gnome?" Shanti asks.

"Um.... I don't know, actually. I thought you bought that." Alex answers, perturbed. 

Squiiiishin' in the snow.

Alex has made enough nectar to be considered a master! Wooo! But as a master he knows that he needs more varieties of fruit to make truly great nectar. More specifically, he needs cherries. Alexander decides to make a quick trip to China to collect the fruit he's missing.

Rain ages up just as he's leaving.

She strongly resembles her mother, but that looks like her Dad's wide jaw...

Alexander resolves to make this trip as quick as possible. China is beautiful, but to him, his family is infinitely more so. Being alone in a strange country and apart from his toddler and pregnant wife is agony.

First, he visits the market to see if they sell cherries. He doesn't think they will, but it's worth a shot.

A relic merchant tells him of the Scholar's Garden, where there are several cherry trees that Sims are welcome to pick from. Alexander thanks the man and moves on.

But not before stopping at the book shop to pick up a gift for his book-obsessed wife.

"4 cherries and 5 limes, maybe a banana, or a pomelo... yes......."

Alexander, inspired by the studious ambiance of the Chinese scholar's garden, is already running through recipe possibilities as he picks the sweet fruit.

He stops to read a chapter of the book he picked up, just to make sure it's to Shanti's tastes. Not that it'll make a difference, because Shanti will read anything.

The book, recommended to him by the shop owner, isn't a novel like Alexander expected but a guide to beginner Martial Arts. Alex isn't a great reader by a long shot but he understands enough of the book's detailed explanations of qi, breath control, and the health benefits of zen-based martial arts to know that Shanti would be very interested indeed. The book lists essential materials for training with a dummy and block breaking, so Alex makes another trip to the market before heading home. The entire trip is a bit of a splurge, and leaving early might be a bit of a waste, but he's very pleased with what he's accomplished, and he's sure Shanti will be pleased too. And to him, that's all that matters.

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Notes:

Just rolling with the punches. Seriously though, what was Tamara's deal? This game is too much sometimes.