where the green grass grows

August 2027 - Charlie and Caroline Wilder are 26, Riley is 3.

Caroline is using the last month of summer vacation to get the orchard and garden into pristine condition. Once school starts, she won't have nearly as much time to tend to the plants, and she wants them to keep doing well.

While she's working in the garden, she brings Riley outside with her. Riley loves to toddle through the grass and play with the dog.

The dog is very protective of little Riley!

Even though Caroline loves being a teacher, she's not really looking forward to going back to school. She's gotten used to spending her days at home on the farm. She loves tending the garden and the orchard, and using their fresh produce and freshly-caught fish to make dinner.

It'll also be hard to be away from Riley during the day.

Between his soccer schedule and her teaching schedule, most of the time they can arrange for one of them to be home. Charlie has some gym equipment at home so he can work out while he's home with Riley.

"Maybe we should start thinking about having another baby," she suggests one night.

"Another baby?" Charlie asks.

"We both want lots of kids, and now that Riley's out of diapers, I think we could handle a new baby."

Another baby, another little person, a mix of her and him. He smiles. "Okay," he says. "We better get started then."


*****
The Wilder baby is due in May!

So I've been thinking about writing more stories per Sim year. So far I've been doing four, one per season, so I can get through a lot of years quickly. But this year I feel like I'm missing out on lots on interesting things; for example, four families are having babies this round (the Smiths, the Wilders, the Stantons, and the Coopers). On the other hand, it'll be more interesting when the kids get older. Sim babies are cute, but they don't have very drama-filled lives.