roaches never die

October 2078 - Blake Miller is 33, Clarice is 32, Elliot is 1.

Elliot is just a couple months past his first birthday now, and still doesn't have much hair to speak of, but is positively an adorable little boy. Those ears come from his mother, which you wouldn't know because she does a pretty good job covering hers up. But Elliot is sweet and friendly, and considering both his parents are goof-balls, we don't know how he ended up so serious.

Elliot sucks his thumb and enjoys watching his daddy try to sing nursery rhymes. He is nearly walking on his own now.

The Miller household is definitely feeling the pinch this fall - eating cereal and milk for dinner, and had to borrow some grocery money from Aurora and Joel until payday comes around. It's a good thing they have such close friends to help out, because that's not the kind of favor you ask of just anybody.

The problem isn't with work, Blake assures Clarice. He feels like work is going great - Blake should even be up for a promotion any time now. Maybe they shouldn't have bought that new hot tub when they had that extra money. They really feel like they're paying for it now.

Even though neither of them are in school, this time of year just brings out the desire to learn, and during Elliot's naptime, they both try to improve themselves a little. We're not sure how Blake figures reading about teddy bears is going to get him that promotion to State Assembly?

But on top of all their troubles, some idiot knocked over their trash can! Now they have roaches and can't even afford an exterminator. Clarice gets a really nasty case of the flu while trying to kill them all.

Aurora and Joel stop by for a quick visit. Aurora brings a turkey, since she knows they're kind of strapped for cash lately. "Just something I threw together," she says.

Aurora is four months pregnant now, and decides that pregnancy requires a nice comfy track suit and a ponytail. Joel decides that fatherhood requires a beard.

Aurora practices her peek-a-boo game with little Elliot. She's going to need to know these things very soon.

Blake worries because Clarice is still very sick. She hasn't been able to rest very well taking care of Elliot during the day, and they can't afford a nanny since they've spent Blake's entire paycheck finally stocking up on groceries and catching up their mortgage payment for the month. And they're still behind on their utility bills too.

Blake didn't want to ask, since pregnant women and flus aren't really the best combination, but they don't really have a choice here. Clarice needs to rest, so Blake asks Aurora to come over and help out with Elliot while he works, and Clarice is quarantined to the bedroom. Blake and Clarice don't have any family in town and Aurora and Joel are the closest thing to family they have.

Aurora forgets the quarantine and tries to make Clarice feel better with Elliot's teddy bear. It's okay though - she doesn't catch anything.

And Blake comes home that day with some good news! A private organization decides to send out bonuses to all city council members who voted to restore a local park, and Blake is one of them! Over $9000! Maybe his hard work isn't going unnoticed after all. They catch up on all their late bills and still have quite a bit left over. Maybe they'll put the extra in a savings account this time ;)

So, those roaches sure do pack a punch it seems. But it looks like Clarice is finally feeling better. Next time maybe she'll stay away from the roaches, until either they can afford an exterminator, or the roaches die out on their own. And since roaches never die, maybe they'd rather just move instead.

***

notes: strange that Blake still hasn't gotten a promotion at work. Must be a result of harderjobs or something. *sigh* That's life, I guess.

Hmmm, can pregnant women actually get sick?
I played Clarice for about four days, and then I just fed her soup because I was bored of her being sick. I don't usually use the soup, since it kind of negates the point of having a realistic sickness mod, lol.

That's the downside to using realistic sickness - it takes forever for them to get better. I guess I could leave her sick until the next round, but I'm not sure how I could make sense of that in the storyline... a two-year flu? Or maybe she was just coincidentally sick with flu again? Hmmm...

Does anyone else use realistic sickness? How do you all play your illnesses? Do you always play the household until they get better? Or do you leave them sick until it's their turn to be played again?