Paola Picaso and Garrett Newson - Week 4

If you want to refresh your memory about week3 with this household, click here.

It is not all that long ago since we last spent a week at this "country cottage" located in Downtown New Max; it was for Garrett Newson that we were here. This time, it is for Paola Picaso's name being next on the list.
Maybe you remember how Paola messed up her relationship with Garrett by sharing a kiss with Corydal Capp, and how the two of them made up and are as much in love as before.

Paola is talking here to Georgia Newson, who is still around in the early hours of Monday morning after almost all the Newsons came visiting on Sunday.
For Paola, her career is as important as her relationship with Garrett; she still dreams of becoming Education Minister and currently holds the position of High School Principal. I fully control her until she'll make her lifetime want come true.

Garrett has reached his some time ago when he became Game Designer. I direct him only occasionally, such as when it comes to inviting his family over, greeting a passers-by or for his nightly sessions at the telescope (you know why!).

And believe it or not - as soon as I had taken the previous picture, Garrett was invited aboard an Alien spaceship!
He returned a few hours later with it being not only a good memory for him, but also wishing one of his relatives would meet the Aliens, too. And, thankfully, Garrett is still 8 days from Elderhood, so the baby jingle was heard when he arrived home :-)

Paola gets up first on Tuesday morning. Unlike Garrett, she has to go to work today.

There is just enough time for a spot of gardening...

...and harvesting, then she is off.

Garrett finds out that his belly is not just due to the few extra pounds he has steadily been gaining!

He is placed on paternity leave and can therefore greet Sarah Love when she happens to walk by the house.

Paola returns from work with a promotion to College Senior Professor - I think she's not far from reaching her LTW now!

Nice to see Sarah Love is still there, because...

...finally, Ryker Love accepts Paola's invitation to move in!

Remember, he is/was an NPC student, and so he instantly age-transitions into an adult, getting rid of his mohawk along the way.
Ryker Love is a Romance Sim with the LTW of becoming Prestidigitator. He has 13,000 Simoleons - not bad for a student, is it! There is no love interest or three-bolt Sim in his relationship panel, but he is friends with all the playable students currently at uni, I think.

Before I make him move out on his own, he looks for a job (unsucessfully) and is pleased to meet his "relative" Sarah. "You mean there are two of our extended family already living here" Ryker asks excitedly. Yes, indeed, there are now Sarah, Christian and Ryker Love living in New Max!

On Wednesday, Garrett gets up before Paola and spends part of the morning browsing the web for science.

Over breakfast, Paola has a very specific topic to talk about! (Neither of the two has rolled the want to get married yet this week, though.)

When she is at work and Garrett has retreated to the bedroom for a nap, Helena Stacks comes visiting - she enters the house without anyone having greeted her, goes to the bedroom, stands in front of the bed just as Garrett gets up from his nap, and says "Look at the time! I better go."
That was odd!

For Paola, Thursday begins with filliing the hole a stray dog has dug in the garden during the night. Normally, Garrett would be doing this while she is out at work, but at this tage of his pregnancy Paola does not want to risk him doing anything strenuous.

And rightly so, because that day at 9 minutes past 10 in the morning, with only the repairman present (he was called in to repair the computer)...

...little Ned Newson is born!

Garrett is a devoted Dad, never having known his own father. The study is quickly furnished to become Ned's room.

Paola comes home from work with Garrett's niece Nellie Newson in tow. That is nice, because so far, Garrett and Nellie have not spent much time together; they are not even friends yet. (Nellie is Ginger Newson's daughter, Ginger being Garrett's big sister.)

Nellie picks up little Ned from his crib on her own accord.

She even gives Ned his bottle as Paola prepares stuffed rainbow trout for the adults.

On Friday, Kennedy Smith - another townie/tourist with the same name as a playable family and therefore eligible to become a citizen of New Max - arrives. He met Garrett Newson during a holiday at Three Lakes, the mountainous holiday resort, and the two have kept in touch via the phone until the friendship was firm enough for him to be invited over as a house guest for three days.

Georgia Newson, Garrett's younger sister, lives just next door. She sees Kennedy arriving and pops over as well.

A guest bed is quickly set up in Ned's room for Kennedy (he never slept during his three-day stay, not once! I have not often played with house guests from holiday locations and therefore can not remember whether this is normal).

Paola serves the remaining stuffed rainbow trout. It goes down a treat with Kennedy, who finishes his plate in no time!

Auntie Georgia insists on holding and feeding her new little nephew.

This is the scene I find on Saturday morning - I am still so glad this lovely couple has overcome their problems and have remained together!

With a Nanny engaged just for the day, the two of them drive to the shops to stock up on groceries. Also, young parents need to remember that they are not just parents, but also man and woman, and spend at least some time as a couple.

Several New Maximilianians and townies gather around the pinball machines. Do you know them all? Left to right, they are a townie, Ophelia Nigmos, Cherry Kim, another townie, Jill Smith and Jill Indie (nee Smith).

Outside, Garrett and Paola start kissing and hugging on their own accord.

Back home, the Nanny has taken advantage of little Ned sleeping and joins Kennedy Smith at the garden pond. Strangely enough, although Kennedy is a house guest and stays for 3 days (and nights), the option to take him along to the shops did not come up. I guess they would have had to form a group for the outing. But maybe Kennedy offered to stay behind and look after the baby while his hosts are out. In that case, the Nanny would not have been necessary. She does a spot of cleaning, however, I give her that.

"This was a lovely sunny afternoon, I am really enjoying my stay here," Kenneday says later over his bowl of comfort soup.

Just before bedtime, Ned grows up into a toddler.

The next morning, Sunday, Paola gives Ned his first bottle of smart milk. Definitely not the last - it makes the toddler "years" so much easier, doesn't it, when they learn to walk and use the potty quicker!

It is Kennedy's last day here in New Max before he has to travel back home. Garrett clinks glasses with him over breakfast: "Here's to international friendships!"
Most likely, we will see Kennedy move to the neighbourhood for good sooner or later. He is, after all, a distant "relative" of the Smith family, who already have found two "lost" members in previous rounds.

Paola invites her younger brothers Pablo and Prezioso over. Prezioso's wife Lilo Landgraab is of course also invited.

To make this a complete family Sunday, Garrett invites his siblings, nephew Nigel and niece Nellie over, too.

Garrett's oldest sister Ginger is of course accompanied by her husband Clover.

It is nice to see the relatives interact like this autonomously! Here, Georgia and her niece Nellie are clearly happy to meet so soon again.

The house is full to the brim with so many Sims - good job little Ned sleeps through good part of the family visit! Meals are eaten in turns, as there are only 4 chairs around the table, and a lot of time is spent fishing at the pond.

This was a lovely week to play with so much happening! I couldn't believe it when Garrett was abducted by Aliens seconds after entering the lot, and I was happy when Ryker Love finally accepted Paola's invitation to move in. She was also doing well with her career, and little Ned's only "flaw" is that he has no nose - that can be remedied once he becomes an adult. And who knows - Paola and/or Garrett might roll the wish to get married next time I play them!