Sharing the Good News

It's been a little while now since Virginia announced that she was pregnant to husband Ambrose. Up until now, they've generally kept it to themselves. But, as time moves on and her baby bump gets bigger, they feel it's necessary to tell folks.



First one on the phone was Brosie, hesitating, he dialled his boss's number and waited.




"Um, hi, er, just to let you know, Ginny's pregnant."

"Oh that's wonderful news, you'll be all nervous and excited and stuff."

"Uh, yeah, sorta. It's still not sunk in yet."

"I'm sure it hasn't. How along is she?"

"She's starting to show, gets tired a lot now and the doctor told her she really must get more bed rest. She's sleeping now as we speak."




"Is she eating well?"

"Yes, she's trying for a girl, so she's living on a watermelon diet, although I don't really approve of that one. I don't think there are enough nutrients to keep her and the baby sustained. But, you know Ginny, she's strong willed."




"Watermelons huh? So, she's trying for a girl then?"

"How....?"

"Oh it's common knowledge around the Simming world. It's just a matter of whether it's actually fact or fiction. The proof of the pudding, is well.... when she finally gives birth and you'll know for sure."

"Listen, anything we can do, just holler. I'll get the staff to rally around and perhaps get her a load of gifts."

"You don't have to do that."

"Oh I insist, really."

"Well, just a teddy bear then. Or a toy of some sort."



"I'm pretty sure she'll have much more than that. Have you organised the nursery yet?"

"Uh, no, just been overwhelmed by this all."

"You'd better hurry, as time will slip away very quickly, and you don't want to be caught short!"

"Uh, thanks."

"No problem, see you at work."

After Ambrose had hung up, Ginny was found sitting reading her book.



"You should read this," she said, not looking up, "it's very fascinating. Lots of hints and tips etc."

"I'll read it after you're finished with it honey. In the meantime, I'm just going to be outside, looking at the stars. Holler if you need me."




So, whilst Ambrose was soaking up the night sky, Virginia decided to call long distance to her old friend Jolene Montaque.

"Bonjour!"




"Ah, bonjour mon ami, comme ca va?"

"Oh, I'm doing really well thank you."

"And what brings you to call me at this hour?"

"I want to tell you, I'm having a baby!!"

"Ah bon, c'est tres bon!!! I must say congratulations!!!"




"Aww thank you."

"Any idea what you are planning to have? Boy or girl?"

"I'm hoping for a girl, so I've been eating watermelons."

"Aha! You know what though?"

"What's that?"

"You know what the secret is to having a girl?"

"No, do tell."

"FRENCH watermelons!!!! They are the sweetest of any variety and much more delicious. Would you like me to send you some seeds so you can grow your own?"

"Oh that would be wonderful, thank you."

"Anything for mon amie Ginny. I am so happy for you."



After that, Ginny had to go back to bed, being pregnant was really taking it out of her. So she fell asleep, thinking about the four hourly feeding routine they were preparing for.

A Short Visit, and Married Life

True to her word, Jolene made arrangements to pay a visit to Riverview. Ginny, all excited, met her at the bistro, which was exceptionally busy that particular day, with locals, tourists and newcomers alike.




Sadly, it was the briefest of visits, as Jolene started getting some undue attention from local lothario ..... Don Lothario. His eyes were bugging out at the prospects of some 'new blood'. It seems that move of his STILL hasn't curtailed his womanizing ways after all.




Jolene, feeling uncomfortable in his presence, made her excuses before heading off. It was a great pity that they couldn't spend any more time together, but, both women realised that the longer Jolene stayed there, the more chance Don had of hitting on her. And she felt exceptionally loyal to her BFF Gustave.

Undeterred, Ginny made her way home, to her special little garden.




Where she spent a bit of time talking to her plants, tending to them, watering, feeding and weeding. In her underwear!!! Guess that cuts down on the laundry side of things!!!




And it seems that this actually worked as the little apple sapling, sprouted up overnight!!!!




With the little extra money, Ambrose indulged himself (again) of an antique telescope that he couldn't wait to try out. So, whilst he waited for the sun to go down, he decided to rest and relax and ponder at how well life was treating the two of them.



In the meantime, Ginny was getting some rather peculiar cravings....

.... for watermelon pancakes!!!!



and a few times, she found herself making very best friends with Mr Porcelain himself.




Are you thinking what I'm thinking here?????

Foreign Connections

"Hello?"

"We have a connect call coming directly from Champs Le Sims, would you like to accept it Mademoiselle?"

"Uh, okay, yeah."



Virginia was torn between excitement and trepidation as she waited for the call to be connected. Who'd have thought they'd made quite an impression whilst on their honeymoon? There was a slight delay before the call finally connected.

"Allo? Is this.... um... Vir-gin-ee-ah?"

"It is."

The French accent was unmistakeable.

"Ah! Bon!! C'est moi, Jolene Montaque."

"Oh yes, the horrid woman from the Nectary."




"Ah, yes, about that, I am really sorry. I hope your 'usband he is okay, yes?"

"Uh yes, no thanks to you."

"I am so sorry. I be'aved in a bad way? It was really bad of me yes?"

"Uh, yes, yes it was."

"I would like to apologize, I was ... not a good person that day. I was still angry at somebody else I'd met a little earlier. She was a foreigner like you and same colour hair. She was ... making eyes at my Gustave and I told her to keep her eyes to herself, greedy woman. We go back a long long way, Gustave Delven and myself and he is a good person but not good with falling in love. Yes? But I want to put that back behind us ... yes?"

Ginny wasn't sure, but, being the really nice friendly person she was, she couldn't possibly say no.

"O-kay."

"Ah bon!! Perhaps you would like to help me?"

"It, depends. It's nothing bad is it?"

"Oh non mademoiselle, it's just that......"

There was a little bit of a pause, and Ginny thought first of all that the connection had been disconnected.

"I have a friend who wants to travel, and she asked me to join her. I wondered if you would not mind showing us some of your countries' landmarks/sights? Oui? Perhaps we could have un tasse du cafe togezzer?"

Ginny had to laugh.



"I doubt it'd be a patch on your coffee," she chuckled, "but I'd be glad to meet up with you. Just let me know when you're coming across and I'll be there."

"Ah, merci, merci beaucoup, c'est tres bon! Thank you!"

Ginny hung up with a strange smile on her face. Funny how things work out isn't it?

Honeymoon at Champs Le Sims - Part Four, the Nectary (cont.)

Ambrose dashed to the bathroom, his stomach churning.

"Damn!" he groaned as he hurtled full speed towards the toilet, "I should have stuck with lemonade. What a honeymoon this turned out to be."




Noelle grabbed a glass full and sipped it down.

"Maybe you shouldn't have done that," Ginny suggested helpfully, "especially if it's a bad batch."



"Oh, I must insist," Noelle replied, "I cannot possibly let this be sold without having tasted it myself. That's bad business!"

"If you insist."

Ginny watched helplessly as more people turned up to sip the wines.





She hoped and prayed that they wouldn't target the plasma one, but it appeared they all made a beeline for it and gulped it down. Including the rather snooty and unhelpful Jolene.



In the bathroom, Ambrose hurled up everything he'd eaten and drank for that day, which wasn't much really, then proceeded to splash his face and brush his teeth.



"Can't possibly go out there," he thought to himself, "with puke breath. Not nice at all."

He came out slowly, feeling a little shaky and nauseous, his skin paler than normal.



"You okay sweetie?" Ginny asked gently.

"Um, I think so."



Ginny reached into her handbag and brought something out.

"Try this," she said helpfully, "I always keeps some handy ... you know ... just in case."

She grabbed a clean glass from the shelf, went over to the sink and ran some cold water into it. Then she poured the powder in, stirring it up with a handy spoon and handed it to Ambrose, who'd decided his safest option was to sit down. He drank it in several sips.




"Feeling better?"

"Yes thanks, what was in that? It tasted weird."

She leaned in and whispered in his ear.




"It's an old family trick," she said quietly, "works every time. Never failed yet."

She turned to Noelle.

"I always carry these around with me," she explained, "just in case. I think I've got plenty to go around here, but I suggest that you get rid of that batch of nectar you've already bottled up and check the rest of the stock, to make sure none of it's contaminated."




"How can I thank you?" Noelle beamed, obviously happy at Ginny's suggestions, "we put so much time and money into this new brand."

"Oh, I can only imagine."

"Is there anything we can do for you to make your time here more enjoyable?"

"Um, well....."




"We can give you a discount at the store ..... plus, if you wish, you may purchase some of our rarer grapes to take home with you. That way you can have some much better memories of your stay here!"

"Oh that's lovely, thank you."

"Just speak to Elliott at the counter and he'll only be too happy to oblige."

"Wouldn't that put a big dent in your profits?"

"Oh don't worry about that, discovering a bad batch of nectar and stopping it from being sold wholesale, is doing us a HUGE favour. Can you imagine the thousands of Simoleans lost, and the family name being dragged through the mud with court cases and illness claims???? This is nothing compared to what COULD have happened."

"Can I be cheeky and ask for something else too?"




"Sure, anything."

"The 'pink champagne well' ..... is it true?"

Noelle laughed and handed Ginny a key.




"Go check for yourself."

"So it's true?"




"You'll see."

"But please excuse me," Noelle cut in, "I'd better head off to the bathroom, I'm not feeling so good. You were right, we need to pull that brand of nectar immediately."




With that, she dashed off in the same direction as Ambrose had headed not an hour ago.




Ginny and Ambrose took off towards the back of the building, to the vats and fruit presses. Ambrose stopped dead and gasped.

"Hey Ginny," he said, awestruck, "I think I've found it."




Sure enough, behind a fence and heavily padlocked gates, they found a well that had shimmering pink liquid bubbling up inside it. Ambrose gave a low whistle.

"Talk about your 'best kept secrets'," he said, shaking his head, "this one just has to be the coolest!"

Ginny wandered towards one of the presses and paused, deep in thought.

"Say Brosie?" she said rubbing her chin, "do you think we could try this at home? Make our very own nectar using whatever we've got around the town?"




"I can't see why not?" he replied, "it'll make for interesting parties....."

They grinned at one another.

"Let's go get us some grapes then and take them home."

So, the two of them went outside into the enclosure and started picking the grapes.




"Do you suppose they'd mind if we picked a variety?" Ginny asked, pausing over a vine of luscious light yellow/green grapes.




"Don't think so," came the reply, "as long as we leave plenty for everybody else."

It was mid afternoon, going into early evening when they finally finished their grape picking and already they were feeling hungry. So, Ginny decided to enter the shop.




There, she saw another pair of tourists mulling over the selection of nectar that was available, and hoped that none of it was from that batch of bad stuff they were tasting downstairs. She didn't want to alarm them, so she approached the counter where a young man was manning the cash register.

"Are you Elliott?" she asked.

"Oui, I am he," he replied smiling, "ah, you must be the young lady my wife was telling me about. Just let me know what you need and I'll see what I can do for a discount."




"I'm looking for some advice really, there were some lovely grapes outside but I couldn't tell you what they were."

"Ah, the Cranerlet Nuala, perfect for red nectar, Cherimola Blan, that's a light sweet grape, ideal for white nectar, the Meloire is a rich heady grape that's more suited for our vintages, and the Renoit is our own special breed of grape that we nurtured ourselves."

"Interesting, but can I ask you ..... could we grow any of these back home?"



"But of course, if you nurture them well, give them the right fertilizers and the perfect conditions, they should all give you a sizeable crop, year in year out."

"How about making my own nectar? How do I go about that?"

"Oh, there's nothing more rewarding than making your own. It's a matter of your own personal taste though. What appeals to some, however, doesn't to others. But there are plenty of books around that'll help you along. And if you're particularly interested, we could order you your very own nectar making machine ... at a vastly reduced price. Just because of your help."

"Ohh, I'd like one of those, thanks."

With that, Ginny purchased some more grapes that weren't in the enclosure, and ordered the nectar making machine.

"It'll be delivered to you, right to your doorstep. I just hope you've got plenty of room and a decen sized basement for your new hobby."

"Thank you for your help."

"No, my dear, thank YOU!"

After that, they both headed back to base camp.