Chapter 19: Growing Together

Before their camping trip, Sandy and Willow and the rest of the family head over to the museum, where Charles and Candice has asked them to come. It turns out that having lived through the challenge of a curse, and seen the other side of it, they want to renew their wedding vows. It's a surprise to everyone who just showed up in their normal everyday clothes, but a happy surprise that gives everyone the hope that love can survive even through adversity.





It's in a good mood that Willow and Sandy take their families to Granite Falls. Willow has arranged for the tents, and shows them around the camping area. Then they take their time fishing, foraging and eating grilled food.




The next day, Willow take them to the natural park with its lake and nature museum. Sunny is grossed out - and weirdly fascinated - by the bugs, but for Christmas the high point is swimming in the lake.



It ends up being a good holiday for all of them, even Sunny even if he found the bugs a bother, the bathrooms gross and swears something brushed against him when he was swimming in the lake. "Probably a fish, what's the big deal?" Christmas asks, but Sunny just shivers. He is the happiest of them when they return home to Willow Creek, where Sandy and Rory with their superior handiness skill help Willow set up a treehouse for Christmas to play in, while Sunny tries to teach her how to ride a bike. This is the kind of nature he likes.




When they're finished, Willow makes a meal for them and serve it in the back yard.



They finish off their day with a water fight, cooling down after a long hot day.



But for Christmas, the best thing with the day was her treehouse. Here she can play for hours. "Can I sleep here tonight?" she asks her mom, who readily agrees. "Why not."



Christmas spends the night watching the stars, playing shipwrecked and falls asleep happy.



Her mother, not done with sleeping outdoors either, sleeps in her tent for the night. After all, why not? It's too hot to sleep inside anyway.



As fall begins, Christmas joins the scouts. Willow couldn't be prouder of her, and even happier when she gives her a present for her birthday, one she made herself. "But I wasn't going to celebrate my birthday," she says.
"I know, but you should have something," Christmas says.




That evening after dinner, she and Patchy have their own party in the living room. While Willow is tending to her new Cowplant. Finally a replacement for Little Simzee, Rosalie is proving to be a strong and big plant.




Now that Christmas is at school, she often goes by grandma and grandpa on her way home. Mom is at work anyway, so the house is empty for another hour, so she might as well spend time with her grandparents.



Grandma still works a lot, but grandpa is always at home, and always makes time for her. He's stopped chasing projects, and spends his time as retired, waiting on the day when Candice also will see the point in stepping down as CEO and spend her days in a more relaxed pace.

She's not there yet though, still keeping busy, running from one task from the others. Perhaps one day she'll want to slow down, but she still finds her job rewarding and she still enjoys being out and about. She does, however, also make time for her family. No longer chasing that next promotion (CEO is fine, thank you very much), she prioritises her family and her husband.

So on Harvestfest, she makes it a point to invite the entire family, just like in old times. Willow will simply have to understand. She does, and they have a nice time. Even Malik seems happy enough to be there, even if he does have a problem with so many happy people in one place.



Back home, he and Neo has made a good life for themselves, or so Malik thinks. Neo is finding himself a new way to get rid of those pesky gnomes that keeps showing up on Harvestfest, by simply kicking them to pieces. It does make the other gnomes angry, and their toilet, sink and tv all break at once, but Malik is handy and knows how to fix it. Neo is having fun, kicking one after the other until they're all gone.



"You know we could get money for selling them?" Malik asks, but Neo shrugs. "We have money. You were just promoted, weren't you?" Malik grins. "So were you."



Fact is, they make a good team. They share their time between the gym where they either work out or run the office upstairs.




And doing heists. Malik will distract the people living in the house, while Neo take what he wants. They have a fancy new TV now.



But the crown on the jewel is the museum. Neo has been wanting to collect some of their collection for himself since he was a teenager and went there instead of school. Malik loves art and thinks its a fantastic idea.



But you just can't rob a museum. You need a good plan. And so Malik comes up with the ultimate distraction - a wedding. Their wedding. They've been engaged forever (when they started dating, Neo never guessed how much of a romantic Malik could be. Not that he's complaining), so a wedding seems like a perfect idea. It will definitely keep everyone, including staff, outdoors, so Neo can sneak in and get them some new decor for their house.

Of course the wedding is the main priority, for both grooms.




And family and friends are invited to the event.



After, they gather on the porch for some celebratory drinks.



While Neo scores them some "wedding presents" from inside.



Back home again, Malik really enjoys their new artwork. "We don't need to sell this one, do we?"
"Of course not," Neo says. "Not if you want it. We can fill our house with precious art if you want, though we might want better lighting to appreciate it."
Few things he could say would make Malik happier. He does love his art. It's a passionate wedding night for the two of them.



And considering Neo's promise, Malik gets working on making some more wall space for them, by adding a room for their little shack. They move the new TV in there, and a long table that Malik bought as well as their chairs, adding a more reasonable dining situation to the kitchen where they can both sit at once.

Neo makes a few more visit to rich people in Willow Creek and scores them a stereo and a new sofa. For Neo life couldn't be much better than this.