4. 'Twas the Week of Birthdays and Broken Plumbing

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The week began with Xavier growing up into a teenager. Because he had the Artistic Prodigy aspiration as a child and he always loved books, I gave him the Renaissance Sim aspiration, which comes along with the Quick Learner trait, and also gave him the Bookworm trait. Let's see what lies in store for Xavier in the future!

Jane used her new-found cooking skills to bake him a birthday cake. He was very happy to celebrate his birthday and he had a party with the Orphanage kids.

They all had some cake together and a fun afternoon at the Willow Creek Orphanage!

"Happy Birthday, Xavier! I'm so proud of you!" Xavier couldn't have been any happier, that day. Even though he wasn't spending his birthday with his parents, because they couldn't take care of him properly, Jane and the kids were his family now and despite his hot-headed tantrums, he genuinely felt at home.

Meanwhile, every plumbing object in the house was getting dirty or breaking down, more than once. The kids were already playing among the wreck that was left after repairing the plumbing.
Jane had her hands full cleaning up and repairing plumbing. Since she had been building on her repair skill, I had her upgrade a few faucets to avoid this happening so frequently.
The fridge also broke down a few times, but that I refuse to make Jane fix (I just replaced it) - I can't have her dying from electrocution!

Xavier was beginning to dabble with cooking, now that he had grown up into a teenager and Jane let him use the stove. Teenagers would be a big help to the Orphanage, since they are more self-sufficient.

After all the craziness was done, Jane was able to get back to her routine. She woke up early and made eggs and toast for the kids and managed to have a nice breakfast with, well, at least some of them. It's hard to catch seven kids in the same place at the same time.

Then, after the kids had gone to school and with no babies to care for at the Orphanage and no more plumbing to repair (for now!), Jane decided to take a stroll in town. She had been so immersed in the Orphanage and the kids that she was going stir crazy (thank god this isn't a thing anymore or I'd have to get her out of the house more often!)

She ended up going to the Museum. It was nice to have a peaceful day out and be able to look at some art and discuss it with someone with a common interest.

Having the Orphanage was her dream and she was happy as ever, but she'd never thought that it could get lonely sometimes, even though she was never really alone and she loved her Orphanage kids to death. 

Little did she know, that little trip to town was what she needed. On the next day, someone she met at the Museum paid her a visit. Jane had never really thought about it, but maybe making a friend was what she needed. No one said having an Orphanage meant you couldn't have any friends! Jane and her new acquaintance, Annabeth, spent the afternoon chatting.

When the kids got home from school, they were very curious to know who the strange lady was and they joined the two women in the living-room, trying to listen in to their conversation. Eventually, Annabeth had to go home and Jane went to cook dinner for her and the children.
Her needs were all finally fulfilled and she poured her contentment into her cooking. She made an Excellent Pan Fried Tilapia, and is now able to cook gourmet meals! Way to go, Jane!

As another weekend made its approach, so did birthdays at the Orphanage. Two of the children were going to age up and Jane had planned a party for them.
She made one chocolate cake for Antoine and one strawberry cake for Tiffany - they were both growing up into teenagers.

When it was time for the celebrations, the kids were all super excited. The birthday girl and boy made a wish and entered teenage-hood (or teenagedom as the game says...).

Tiffany was first to blow out her candles. She grew up into a beautiful young lady. 

Since she was a Social Butterfly Aspiration kid, I continued the trend by giving her the Friend of the World Aspiration, which comes with the Gregarious trait. Then, I added the Romantic trait for some 'flavor'! Happy Birthday Tiffany!

As for Antoine, he always seemed like the creative type to me, so I gave him the Painter Extraordinaire Aspiration, which comes with the Muser trait and I also gave him the Gloomy trait, that fits well with the painter character I'm picturing him to be. Happy Birthday!

As it turns out, he grew up looking like a bit of a jock. Even Jane was confused, look at her face! 

After that, some of the kids took the party outside, to the pool or the monkey bars.

Others to the experiment table!

And so, another week came to an end at the Willow Creek Orphanage. Time is flying by - it's like they say, "Kids grow up so fast!" 

To be continued...

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Note: All the birthdays in this chapter made me realize that time is flying by at the Willow Creek Orphanage and we didn't really have time to get to know the kids. Next chapter will be focused on that, I'll develop each kids' story a little bit more. Can't wait!