Chapter Nineteen

 After Joshua's first day at his new school, Tamara invited him over for the afternoon.

They spent some time chatting and Tamara admitted she hadn't the faintest idea why her father had moved the entire family.  She'd tried asking but had been told that it was vampire business...

Dismissing the puzzle for the time being the two of them went upstairs and had a pillow fight

Back home, Jo had spent quite a lot of time cuddling and playing with Smudge

Before settling down to read a book about handiness around the home while Smudge played with one of the toys they'd got him

 Joshua got home in time for some spaghetti and Jo suddenly asked him about his old imaginary friend/toy

"You used to talk about that friend of yours, Cosmo, all the time, you know, the one I could never see, whatever happened to him?"

 "Oh Mum, he was imaginary!  I made him up from my old toy cos I didn't like anyone at school enough to play with them..."

 In the morning Joshua got up bright and early to tend his small garden before school

 Jo spent most of the morning chatting on the phone to her new colleagues, getting to know them

Before she headed off to her first shift in her new workplace, fortunately there had been an opening at the local Bistro when they'd moved  

 When Joshua got home from work he spent some more time on his garden

 And paid the bills

Before heading down to the lakeside to fish.

He was surprised when his line caught on an old box, and even more surprised to find an old bath toy inside! 

 When he got home again he spent some time playing with Smudge who had easily wrapped both Jo and Joshua round his paws

 While Jo got on with some cooking as soon as she got home from work

That night, Smudge met another member of the family, although they'd taken most of the family remains (which Max Fields-Vamp had oddly insisted they bring with them) to the local graveyard, Jo had decided that her twin should be buried at their home

Their lives fell into a simple pattern, Joshua would get up early in the mornings to tend his garden before school

Jo would cook for them

And something about the either the move or possibly Smudge's presence in their life had reinvigorated her, she took to repairing broken items around the hous 

And cleaning up

Smudge proved to be a very well behaved kitten, always using the scratching post rather than sharpening his claws on the furniture 

And he had plenty of toys to play with 

 When of course Jo wasn't fussing him

 When Joshua got home from school he'd finish off the garden each afternoon

Before heading off to one of many fishing spots nearby for an hour or so 

Jo managed to progress from repairing the broken household items to learning to upgrade them 

And of course Smudge got lots of cuddles and attention from them both 

 

And they took to finishing their evenings with a meal together 

Chapter Eighteen

Jo & Joshua looked at their new home, it certainly looked like a nicer place than the cottage they'd lived in back in Riverblossom Hills, but why had Tamara's father been so insistent that they join his family in moving to Hidden Springs?  And why had they gone along with his orders without questioning him?

 As Joshua got to work planting a new garden, Jo phoned the pet adoption service

His garden planted, Joshua called Tamara and invited her out on a date 

He arrived at the park first and fished while he waited for her 

When Tamara arrived she had her baby brother with her, "I'm sorry, Mama said I had to babysit today" 

While her little brother played with his doll, Joshua and Tamara embraced and kissed

 Before Joshua summoned up his courage and asked Tamara to go steady with him

 She happily agreed

 They ended their date gazing at the stars together 

 Meanwhile, a tiny kitten had been dropped off by the pet adoption service and Jo decided to name him Smudge

 After a great deal of fussing and petting, Jo settled down to watch television while Smudge played with one of the toys she'd bought him

 Smudge was a very good kitten and used the scratching post rather than the furniture, while Jo prepared dinner

 She'd already filled Smudge's dish, so when he'd finished scratching he was able to eat his fill

 Joshua got home from his date just in time to have dinner with his mother

 And then it was time for bed, but not before a little more petting of their new kitten

 Who then proceeded to curl up in his bed and sleep as well

__________________________________________________

Notes: So, as some people are aware, I had to rescue my family and move them since Pets decided to bork my saved games :(  I had meant to move them to Hidden Springs at some point soon anyway so I'm not too disappointed, although I've not entirely worked out a good reason in the story for why they've moved so suddenly!

Chapter Seventeen

In the morning, Joshua got up early to tend his growing garden while Jo lay on her bed reading

 After work Tamara asked to come home with Joshua 

 After spending some time together Joshua had to tend his garden

 So Tamara joined Jo indoors reading and chatting as they did so

 Once Joshua had finished in the garden he and Tamara spent some more time together flirting 

  The next day Jo received another promotion at work and when she'd finished for the day she gathered her courage and visited the hospital to ask about counselling 

 Over dinner that night she explained to Joshua what the doctor had told her and that she'd been offered a two day intensive residential course of counselling.  She would be leaving the next day but she knew he'd look after the house and would be able to take care of himself

The following morning the taxi arrived for Jo as Joshua was out tending the garden 

After school, Joshua headed straight for the consignment store - he had plans for while his mother was away 

 As soon as he got home, he phoned Tamara, explained his plans and asked for her help.  Tamara was only too happy to help and said she'd be over as soon as she could

 The first thing to do was to get the piles of rubble in the house cleared

When Tamara arrived, Joshua explained that he wanted to surprise Jo when she returned by completely redoing the house, he'd ordered new furniture but this evening he needed to completely clean the entire house inside and out and he needed her help

 After a lot of work the house was finally spotless and clean (with a few additional renovations)

Both inside and out 

Albeit the only new furniture that had arrived was the plumbing in the bathroom!

 He asked Tamara if she wanted to sleep over, but she said that her father would come and find her and drag her home if she wasn't home by curfew

Knowing a little about Max Fields-Vamp's reputation Joshua didn't dare argue!

With no bed, Joshua had to spend that night in a sleeping bag on the floor...

He desperately hoped the furniture he'd ordered would arrive before Jo got back 

  The next day they had a field trip to the local Theatre, Joshua and Tamara had a great time but Joshua was eager to get home and see if the furniture had arrived yet

 Fortunately when he got home from school he found that it had

So he spent the afternoon sorting and setting everything up 

 

After he finished Joshua had a little time left to weed and water his plants

Before curling up in his new bed and going to sleep 

 When Jo arrived home the next morning she was astounded, the change in the house was just unbelievable 

 She spent some time wandering round the house looking at stuff

 Before using the new kitchen to make some yummy pancakes

The dishwasher was so much easier than washing up by hand! 

Jo then went round the house collecting the laundry 

In order to use the new washing machine for the first time 

In school that day, Tamara had mentioned to Joshua that it was possible to register at City Hall to grow and sell crops so Joshua went over there as soon as school finished for the day

 From there he went on to the consignment store where he'd been told they'd sell his excess produce for good prices

 Jo had the day off following her trip and was enjoying the new TV Joshua had bought them

 When he got home Joshua tended his garden

And paid the bills

Before going in to see what Jo thought of his handiwork 

She was absolutely delighted and hugged him tight, thanking him for all the work he'd put in while she was away

"I'm so lucky, most parents come home to find their kids have had wild parties and wrecked the place, I come home to find you've spent all your time renovating the house completely, thank you so much"