Chapter 15: The Gift of a Child
Time moves fast and soon it is Winterfest again. As usual, they all gather at Charles' and Candice's where Candice has cooked not one but two grand meals. One with meat and one vegetarian. Willow approves of the second one. The entire family is there, including their grandparents, and some friends, but with so much family they invite less friends than they used to. But then those friends now also have a family of their own to celebrate with. Olivia is there as usual, however.
"Things are just weird at home since grandpa and grandma died," she says.
Things get a bit weird here too when suddenly Candice's parents decide to use the new guestroom for things other than sleeping...
"In the middle of the party?" Candice says. "Seriously?"
"When you love each other you just do," her father answers with a smirk.
With Sunny being so little they sing carols and open presents quite early on the day. Sunny loves this tradition. Winterfest is the best ever!
For Willow, however, there is another gift she rather wants, and she waits with baited breath until Father Winter arrives.
"Is this your only Winter's wish?" Father Winter asks.
"It is!" Willow agrees.
"And you are certain you are ready for the responsibility of a child?"
"I am!"
"Well then, on tomorrow on Thanking Day you should travel to the place where magic happens, and your wish will be granted."
The next day she does, and sees that once more the place has transformed. The magical bean tree is gone, vanished without a trace, as is the bookcase she's learned so much from. In its place a bed has grown out of the ground, and when she looks at herself she can see her clothes has transformed into robes of red and gold.
She's a bit nervous, but relax when Father Winter arrives.
"You are certain of this," he asks again, and again Willow says that this is truly what she wants, and so Father Winter grants her hearts biggest desire and Willow feels her heart soar.
But pregnancy is one thing, a baby another, and the trailer that Willow lives in is far too small to raise a child in.
So is the land she lives on, or so she thinks. There are already plants everywhere and there is no room for her dream of a green house, and so Willow set out to find a larger plot of land for her trailer. Somewhere she can build her and her child's future home on. She finds the most beautiful plot of land next to Olivia's house.
As growing and selling rare plants is so lucrative, she has the money to buy it. And so the next day she does, driving her trailer to her new land so that she can live there while her house is being built. She also arranges for all her plants to be carefully moved, one by one setting them in the soil. It's not perfect, with the snow still being deep, but spring is coming, and the plants will survive. She cannot help but to make a snow angel out of sheer joy.
Her only grief is that her beloved cow plant didn't survive the move. As she has no new cow plant berry, she cannot start over yet either. It pains her, feeding and playing with Little Simzee was one of the things she really enjoyed. But she will find a new cow plant berry, and in the mean time she will remember Little Simzee with great fondness.
"RIP Little Simzee."
The first one Willow tells about her pregnancy is her sister, as she travels to Oasis Springs to see her.
"You're going to do this all on your own?" Sandy asks, a bit worried for her sister. She knows how much work there is in having a child, and she is only too grateful that she and Rory shares all the work, and that there is such a thing as day care when they work.
"I work in the park, I can bring a child with me. Others do. And mum and dad are close by, and I'm sure Olivia will help. I'm going to build the prettiest little cottage for us to live in," she says.
"Well then I'm happy for you," Sandy says.
Charles has fewer reservations. He's just delighted at the prospect of another grandchild. One that will be closer by than little Sunny.
"I will name her Christmas," Willow tells him.
"And if it's a boy?"
"Oh I've been craving strawberries," Willow says. "When you eat a lot of strawberries you know it's a girl."
"What do you crave if it's a boy?" her father asks.
"Carrots, apparently." Willow says.
"So Christmas?"
"Yes. I find it fitting."
Even Candice is happy about the new grandchild. "You will bring her around often?" she asks. "Of course mum, but you know you can visit me too, right? You've never been."
"But that's because that trailer is too small for visitors."
"I won't be living in the trailer for much longer, they've started on the house now. And dad's visited several time. Grandpa too."
They've really come a long way on her house, but there is still a long way to go. Willow is glad she has dragon fruit maturing every day, it means she can afford to keep the project going, and time is off the essence. She's getting bigger every day.
And then one day as spring has arrived, she returns home from work with cramps in the back that comes in waives. She knows it is time, and since there is no such thing as a hospital yet, she goes inside her trailer to have her child, and so little Christmas is born.
Mother and child sleep most of the rest of the day, and then Olivia comes by to say hi. The two end up talking until the sun rises the next morning.
Spring is a beautiful time, and Willow is grateful for this time of abundance. The house has now gotten windows and doors, and the screen porch is nearly finished. This is one of the features of the house that she is most happy about.
Inside too, you can see that it's starting to look like a home.
And time is of the essence, as little Christmas will soon be needing a new bed, and a room to sleep in. There is no space in the trailer for that, and no more money in the bank, so Willow does what she must, putting out an add on her beloved trailer so that she can afford to finish her house. In the end, Christmas matter more to her than the home she's made in the trailer.
Then one day she gets a surprising call from her brother. She didn't take Malik for the romantic kind, or the proposing kind for that matter, but apparently she was wrong.
Of course she advices him to say yes. Malik may be a criminal, but he seems to genuinely love her brother, and that's all that matters, isn't it? Besides, Summer is a criminal too and they all like her. So why not live a life in crime? What's the harm, really?
"None," says her brother as he gets promoted to a petty thief.
So Malik and Neo ends up engaged, and as he is ready to turn into an adult soon, Neo decides to get a make over. "I like the new look," Malik says.
"I think I'm going to steal us some new furniture," says Neo. "Fix this place up a bit."
"Go right ahead," Malik says.
As Springster comes around, the house is finally finished. Or finished enough, at least, as there are still some cabinetry that has not arrived yet and a few more lights to find and get up, but the house is livable. Just in time too, for Christmas is about to age up.
Willow cooks a feast and invites her entire family. There might not be much of a dining table in her house, but there is plenty of space to hang around and you can eat sitting in the sofa. The entire family and a fair few friends file into the house.
Willow has made several dishes for people to enjoy, all vegetarian, of course.
"I really like that wood wall," her dad says.
"I do too. It's reclaimed wood!" Willow answers.
"Things are just weird at home since grandpa and grandma died," she says.
Things get a bit weird here too when suddenly Candice's parents decide to use the new guestroom for things other than sleeping...
"In the middle of the party?" Candice says. "Seriously?"
"When you love each other you just do," her father answers with a smirk.
With Sunny being so little they sing carols and open presents quite early on the day. Sunny loves this tradition. Winterfest is the best ever!
For Willow, however, there is another gift she rather wants, and she waits with baited breath until Father Winter arrives.
"Is this your only Winter's wish?" Father Winter asks.
"It is!" Willow agrees.
"And you are certain you are ready for the responsibility of a child?"
"I am!"
"Well then, on tomorrow on Thanking Day you should travel to the place where magic happens, and your wish will be granted."
The next day she does, and sees that once more the place has transformed. The magical bean tree is gone, vanished without a trace, as is the bookcase she's learned so much from. In its place a bed has grown out of the ground, and when she looks at herself she can see her clothes has transformed into robes of red and gold.
She's a bit nervous, but relax when Father Winter arrives.
"You are certain of this," he asks again, and again Willow says that this is truly what she wants, and so Father Winter grants her hearts biggest desire and Willow feels her heart soar.
But pregnancy is one thing, a baby another, and the trailer that Willow lives in is far too small to raise a child in.
So is the land she lives on, or so she thinks. There are already plants everywhere and there is no room for her dream of a green house, and so Willow set out to find a larger plot of land for her trailer. Somewhere she can build her and her child's future home on. She finds the most beautiful plot of land next to Olivia's house.
As growing and selling rare plants is so lucrative, she has the money to buy it. And so the next day she does, driving her trailer to her new land so that she can live there while her house is being built. She also arranges for all her plants to be carefully moved, one by one setting them in the soil. It's not perfect, with the snow still being deep, but spring is coming, and the plants will survive. She cannot help but to make a snow angel out of sheer joy.
Her only grief is that her beloved cow plant didn't survive the move. As she has no new cow plant berry, she cannot start over yet either. It pains her, feeding and playing with Little Simzee was one of the things she really enjoyed. But she will find a new cow plant berry, and in the mean time she will remember Little Simzee with great fondness.
"RIP Little Simzee."
The first one Willow tells about her pregnancy is her sister, as she travels to Oasis Springs to see her.
"You're going to do this all on your own?" Sandy asks, a bit worried for her sister. She knows how much work there is in having a child, and she is only too grateful that she and Rory shares all the work, and that there is such a thing as day care when they work.
"I work in the park, I can bring a child with me. Others do. And mum and dad are close by, and I'm sure Olivia will help. I'm going to build the prettiest little cottage for us to live in," she says.
"Well then I'm happy for you," Sandy says.
Charles has fewer reservations. He's just delighted at the prospect of another grandchild. One that will be closer by than little Sunny.
"I will name her Christmas," Willow tells him.
"And if it's a boy?"
"Oh I've been craving strawberries," Willow says. "When you eat a lot of strawberries you know it's a girl."
"What do you crave if it's a boy?" her father asks.
"Carrots, apparently." Willow says.
"So Christmas?"
"Yes. I find it fitting."
Even Candice is happy about the new grandchild. "You will bring her around often?" she asks. "Of course mum, but you know you can visit me too, right? You've never been."
"But that's because that trailer is too small for visitors."
"I won't be living in the trailer for much longer, they've started on the house now. And dad's visited several time. Grandpa too."
They've really come a long way on her house, but there is still a long way to go. Willow is glad she has dragon fruit maturing every day, it means she can afford to keep the project going, and time is off the essence. She's getting bigger every day.
And then one day as spring has arrived, she returns home from work with cramps in the back that comes in waives. She knows it is time, and since there is no such thing as a hospital yet, she goes inside her trailer to have her child, and so little Christmas is born.
Mother and child sleep most of the rest of the day, and then Olivia comes by to say hi. The two end up talking until the sun rises the next morning.
Spring is a beautiful time, and Willow is grateful for this time of abundance. The house has now gotten windows and doors, and the screen porch is nearly finished. This is one of the features of the house that she is most happy about.
Inside too, you can see that it's starting to look like a home.
And time is of the essence, as little Christmas will soon be needing a new bed, and a room to sleep in. There is no space in the trailer for that, and no more money in the bank, so Willow does what she must, putting out an add on her beloved trailer so that she can afford to finish her house. In the end, Christmas matter more to her than the home she's made in the trailer.
Then one day she gets a surprising call from her brother. She didn't take Malik for the romantic kind, or the proposing kind for that matter, but apparently she was wrong.
Of course she advices him to say yes. Malik may be a criminal, but he seems to genuinely love her brother, and that's all that matters, isn't it? Besides, Summer is a criminal too and they all like her. So why not live a life in crime? What's the harm, really?
"None," says her brother as he gets promoted to a petty thief.
So Malik and Neo ends up engaged, and as he is ready to turn into an adult soon, Neo decides to get a make over. "I like the new look," Malik says.
"I think I'm going to steal us some new furniture," says Neo. "Fix this place up a bit."
"Go right ahead," Malik says.
As Springster comes around, the house is finally finished. Or finished enough, at least, as there are still some cabinetry that has not arrived yet and a few more lights to find and get up, but the house is livable. Just in time too, for Christmas is about to age up.
Willow cooks a feast and invites her entire family. There might not be much of a dining table in her house, but there is plenty of space to hang around and you can eat sitting in the sofa. The entire family and a fair few friends file into the house.
Willow has made several dishes for people to enjoy, all vegetarian, of course.
"I really like that wood wall," her dad says.
"I do too. It's reclaimed wood!" Willow answers.
Candice is delighted to meet her new grandchild, and the feeling seems to be mutual.
Christmas also likes her auntie.
"You and Sunny are going to be playing so much together when you're just a little bit older," Samdy tells her.
But as the guests return home, both mother and child are very tired. Willow puts Christmas to bed first.
And as it has become something of a Springster tradition, she and Flower Bunny then spend some time watching the sky. Stars this year, rather than the clouds.
"Bunny?"
Bunny hums.
"Why did we lay down on the hard rock instead of the soft grass?"
Bunny cannot answer that, so they say nothing.
And as it has become something of a Springster tradition, she and Flower Bunny then spend some time watching the sky. Stars this year, rather than the clouds.
"Bunny?"
Bunny hums.
"Why did we lay down on the hard rock instead of the soft grass?"
Bunny cannot answer that, so they say nothing.
Willow appreciates that about Bunny.
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