Debra's Special Days

Carl and Malia were delighted that Dolly was taking an interest in the flora and fauna of Hidden Springs. They were, however, a little concerned when, after receiving high praise for her bug hunt project, Dolly declared that she wanted to look after some 'little animals' at home. All the more so when they realised that the particular 'little animal' she had in mind was a snake!

They didn't want to discourage her interest, but made sure that she was aware of her responsibilities for it's upkeep and that she would have to pay for it's food out of her own pocket. With her enthusiasm undiminished Carl set out to find an old terrarium to house her new 'pet'.

It wasn't long before Dolly had picked out the snake that she wanted; naming him 'Frannie' for no reason that she could explain, the Slade household became home to a San Francisco Garter Snake.

Of course it wasn't just Dolly that was fascinated by the new addition, young Desirée was also entranced by this strange creature that had been brought into her home.

-- * --

Debra was in her final year at secondary school and been subjected to more "careers information" than she knew what to do with! She already had a plan for her future, as an artist, a radical artist shining a light on society's ills.

Carl and Malia were quite happy that she could make it as an artist, and it would be foolish to try to dissuade her; but they knew it was a tough way to earn a living.

As subtly as they could, her parents would gently encourage her to complete and do well in her final exams; to have other skills to fall back on should she need to. So, it was that at one family meal-time Carl hit on a brilliant scheme ...

If Debra did well enough at school to earn a place at university he would pay for all her driving lessons and fund her first car.

To be fair she didn't need much encouragement Debra had already realised that to really take on the establishment, to be an effective "activist", she would have to know how things worked in order to argue against what she found unpalatable.  This was a deal she was happy to make with her Dad.

-- * --

Both parents and daughter were waiting nervously those few weeks after the final exams, before the results were announced ...

When the letter finally arrived, the news was even better than they had hoped.  Not just good grades but the best performance overall in her year group!

True to his word, the week-end after the results came out Carl took Debra to Valley Motors, a dealership run by an old family friend, Simon Saint.

Valley Motors specialised in rather expensive high-end cars and that was not what either Carl or Debra wanted, but they had a good "previously owned" stock and were also the exclusive dealer for the new eco-friendly models that were becoming popular.

Debra explained to her father and the sales associate what sort of car she wanted; nothing expensive, cheap to run, easy to drive, 'cool' but not 'flashy' and it had to have as good an eco rating as possible.

Although they had no suitable cars at their dealership the salesman, Emmit Preston, said that they had several that matched Debra's requirements at their other sites and he was sure they could find the perfect car for her.

And so it was agreed, they would check out the stock catalogue, make a decision and Carl would pick up the car they agreed on as soon as it was ready for collection.

-- * --

But, before then, it was time for Debra's graduation ceremony. Held in the historic city hall, with all the graduates dressed in cap and gown and parents in their best 'bib and tucker', it was a most impressive occasion.

Though, for Debra and her family, it wasn't so much about being or looking impressive; it was more a celebration of her hard work and achievement.

The city hall ceremony, and all the preparations lasted for several hours, which meant that a special delivery could be made at their Cottenwood Crescent home.

And so at the end of the main event, Carl was able to hand Debra a small but significant little gift ... the keys to the new car waiting for her at home!


As excited as she was to know that the car was finally here, and she was very excited, Debra had one more appointment to celebrate her graduation before returning home; a dinner date with Johnny.

Just across the central park was an exciting new restaurant, Margherita's, where Johnny had managed to book a table.

This was to be his graduation gift to Debra, and she could have anything she fancied on the menu.

Margherita's was not an expensive
restaurant but it was not 'cheap eats' and Debra knew that Johny would have had to save up for this occasion.

The menu was full of traditional Italian recipes and a few local specialities with an Italian twist.

The fact that it included a good selection of vegetarian options made choosing difficult.

In the end they both plumped for traditional Italian, but vegetarian; Debra went for the Spaghetti with Veggie Sauce and Johnny the Herbivore Delight Lasagna. Both delicious and fully satisfying their appetites.

It was a beautiful evening, it seemed that they talked forever, mostly about their plans for the future. Debra was fired up about having her own car and how that would make life at university much easier ... in particular being able to make more frequent trips back to Hidden Springs to see Johnny, who was still a year away from graduating.

As the evening came to an end and they made their way out of the restaurant they posed for a special 'selfie', a photo Debra would take with her to uni., a reminder of the handsome boy waiting for her at home.

The following morning Debra went out to examine her new car, a beautiful Sloppy Sunbeam in "Pearlescent Pumpkin".  It was perfect, exactly what she wanted; this car was going to be part of so many good memories!

-- * --

A couple of weeks later, a letter from Simstate University arrived, the long-awaited response to Debra's application ...

It was great news! She had aced the arts assessment and would receive a scholarship grant for her course.  It was certainly a weight off Carl and Malia's minds; that their daughter would not only attend such a prestigious institution but also be able to afford all the resources she would need.

But Debra was not the only one receiving recognition for her skills...

Malia was having afternoon tea with her good friend Jodi Bishop when she was spotted by Jennifer Bostwick, head of the local Gardeners Circle who came to join them.

Jennifer had some good news to impart; Malia had received another accolade for her expertise.  The official certificate would arrive within a day or two and the local newspaper was preparing a feature article on the local gardening scene which would include a special mention for Malia and her produce.

-- * --

The summer weeks rolled past so quickly and before they realised it, it was term time again.  This time, however, it meant that one of the family was leaving home, albeit for just a term.

Packed and prepared, it was time for Debra to head off to university.

Debra put her cases of clothes and 'essentials' in the back of the van sent by the university and waved goodbye, for now, to her parents and two sisters and thought nervously of the new challenges and adventures that lay ahead.

-- * --

Author's Note: I am very pleased to include in this chapter two creations by good friends from The Sims 3 forums:

• Margherita's Italian Grill by Meg1626 - I added a Business as Usual Bistro oven but otherwise the venue is exactly as Meg created it, see more pictures at http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/11173636/#Comment_11173636
• Jennifer Sims (she's married to Jeremy Bostwick in my game) by bouquetcatcher

The Valley Motors lot is my own creation see my Tumblr page for more info.

Ordinary Days

Debra and Johnny started going out on quite a regular basis, and in these winter months one of their favourite locations was the festival park.

Although it was different skill, having been roller-skating since a young age, Debra had developed a fine sense of balance which allowed her to take to the ice with relative ease.  She was certainly better on blades than poor Johnny.

He, however, had something of a talent for another winter sport ... snowboarding.

Debra was hesitant; it was quite some way up to the platform and some of the boarders went pretty fast and high. But Johnny reassured her that the half-pipe was designed to accommodate all skill levels safely and with the protective gear she'd be fine.

There was clearly a difference between skating on two blades and snow surfing on one board, Johnny was definitely more comfortable on a board and had no trouble transitioning across the flat and between the verticals.

Though, as Debra saw it, he did have a tendency to show off a bit as he flew up the verticals.  That said, and she wouldn't tell him this of course, she was actually rather impressed by her boyfriend's skills.

With Johnny's encouragement Debra was soon travelling between each deck without falling off her board.

By the end of the winter festival she even managed a complete there-and-back traversal of the pipe.  Johnny reckoned that by the end of the next season she would be grabbing, flipping and switching like a natural!

Of course it wasn't all high-speed, heart-racing excitement; sometimes it was just simple fun in the snow.  Building their own little igloos to snuggle up in and snowmen to keep guard!

The other two Slade girls also had fun ways to pass the time.

Both Desirée and Dolly loved stories and books.

Little Desi thrilled at the pictures as she was read to.

And young Dolly was often found in the library at school, devouring the latest derring-do adventure tales.

Not that they spent all their time with books.  They loved playing together, just as Debra had with Dolly; Dolly loved to share playtime with her little sister.

In addition to fun at home, their schools offered Debra and Dolly many opportunities for field trips and out-of-school learning activities.

As 'an artist', Debra wasn't entirely happy about the half-term work experience she had been offered.

Working in some big soul-less office was not what she planned to do but her parents convinced her she could use it to inspire her art - that she couldn't really say anything meaningful about something she knew nothing of ...

Dolly, on the other had, was delighted to join the scavenger hunt for little insects.

Having spent time with her mother in the garden she loved grubbing around for bugs in the soil!

-- * --

Malia's own work, producing fine garden produce for Hidden Springs got an extra boost when she featured in the local newspaper:

Malia had already gathered good reviews from in the local and regional gardening circle but this was a very special award that would give her a much higher profile - as well as a hefty monetary prize.

She also had a most pleasant surprise visit from her friend Jodi Bishop who told her that she was about to move to Hidden Springs. After the success of her previous visits to the town her company had decided to open an office in Hidden Springs and Jodi was put in charge of the office organisation.

She had just found a perfect little cottage on the other side of town, on Ash Drive and was moving in a few days.

-- * --

Carl loved his work at the lab and had a fine team of people with him, but as he was given extra responsibility and took on more project management he was occasionally asked to spend time 'schmoozing' with sponsors and clients.

Whether it was business lunches, corporate events or "networking parties", he never felt really at ease.

He could talk confidently, and endlessly, about his work and the excitement of research but the 'politics' of funding and project deployment were not things Carl could ever feel passionate about.

And there was always someone who knew everything about everything and quite why the lab were doing things wrong and, of course,  he knew exactly how they needed to be fixed!

Carl knew he could only smile and agree that these were some excellent ideas and he really would "take them forward on a pro-active time-line as part of the collaborative development framework" ...

Carl put up with it though.  Every job includes some stuff you'd rather not have to do and, in reality, it wasn't a big part of his job.  And whenever he had a particularly trying day he knew that he had a beautiful family back at home waiting for him.

And Then There Were Three

Malia was, indeed, pregnant again.

With looking after Debra and Dolly, as well as their busy work lives it seemed like no time before Malia and Carl were rushing to the hospital.

Every delivery is different and although having been here twice before their third child was not coming into the world easy.  As the due date approached there were concerns that the baby would not present in the best position, there was a good chance they would have to deal with a breech birth.

As Malia's third labour began it was clear that the new baby had not moved into the preferred and easiest position; Malia decided that the caesarean section they had thought might be needed was the safest choice for both of them.

Despite the extra stresses and strain of the birth itself, Malia and Carl were delighted to be delivered of a perfect little girl, Desirée.

There little house never felt busier.  Debra was becoming more independent but Dolly still needed lots of attention, especially now that she was in full 'explore and discover' mode; always in unexpected places and trying things out.

Even with the latest baby-rocker technology taking care of three children was still a full-time job.

Now that she had achieved recognition for her garden produce Malia was concerned that she may have to give up gardening as a livelihood.

Debra was happy to help out, looking after the two younger girls while their mother was working in the garden, but Malia knew a better long-term plan was needed.  It wasn't just having the time needed for the girls; she wasn't getting any younger and was finding it increasingly difficult coping with the harsh winters in Hidden Springs.

Fortuitously, while checking the eSimStore for supplies, Malia noticed that the SwiftGro Gardening Station was now available in their area.

It was the most feature-rich gardening system available in the country and had been picking up innovation and 'best garden aid' awards in all the magazines and shows.  It wasn't cheap, and would need a greenhouse in order to get the best results but it seemed like a way of allowing her to fulfil her role as parent and also keeping her business going.

The cost would be substantial and many family discussions were had; talking around the pros and cons of installing a greenhouse.  Although Carl had received another promotion and was on a very good salary now there would not be a lot left over, certainly not enough to further extend their house for some time.

The girls were growing up fast and, especially when Dolly started secondary school, they would soon start wanting their own space; which either meant adding to the existing house or moving.  However, after much working out of figures, estimating of time-scales, and compromising of wants, they agreed that, right now, a greenhouse would be the best investment for their future.

It meant cutting down on some luxuries and even selling some of the gifts they had received from their generous friends but the greenhouse was eventually built and the SwiftGro installed.

The difference it made was quickly evident.  As temperatures plummeted outside Malia could still keep the majority of her plants growing and producing.  The composting and analysis bench also meant that good quality fertiliser was always available.

An unexpected bonus was that a nice warm and dry greenhouse encouraged the girls to spend more time in the garden helping out and learning about horticulture. 

But there were downsides to the decision to prioritise the greenhouse over extending the house...

-- * --

Debra had recently discovered that not all boys were gross and annoying!

Well, one boy in particular.  Johnny Christiansen.

For weeks she hadn't actually spoken to him, merely watched him from afar when he hung out with his friends and she always made sure she was there at the end of school to watch him catch the bus that took him away out of town.

What was merely a major crush was to became so much more at the end of year prom.

He was gorgeous.  He was smart and funny.  He was cool and so different to all the dull boys in her year.  Debra was in love!

At prom, she summoned up the courage to speak to him.  Oh, he was even lovelier than she had imagined.  He actually seemed to like her, he loved here dress, said that she looked beautiful and even smiled at her weak jokes.  Oh yes, this was the "real deal".  Debra and Johnny were going to be together forever!

Debra and Johnny exchanged numbers at the end of prom and Debra was determined to speak to him every day.

Bit in the cramped confines of home, finding some time and space where she could speak to him in private, away from people who didn't understand about how much she loved him - well, Dolly really - was often difficult.

It seemed that whenever he called or she called him, Dolly was always there.

But, somehow, she managed it.  Thankfully she had loads of free minutes on her phone contract, otherwise her parents would have had an enormous phone bill to pay for! 

Then, one Saturday, Johnny said it ... "Debs, how about, y'know, going out one night?  Just you an' me, like, umm, a date...?"




Author's Note:

The One Direction poster shown in Debra and Dolly's bedroom is part of a pop poster set created by lifelikesims and can be downloaded from lifelikesims CC Downloads.


The various gardening tools in and around the greenhouse are from the Around The Sims Gardening collection.