1.3 Strange Plants

Not much to say here, just read and enjoy! Don't forget to comment!

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Salim spent more time at Trisha's than he did at his own house, or at least it seemed so. Trisha didn't mind at all though, not at all. Even if he didn't know a thing about gardening, he was still happy to listen to Trisha tell him about different qualities, growing seasons and special needs of various plants.
She knew her ranting had to be boring for him, but he knew how to mask it under a polite smile. Or alternatively, he was genuinely interested.

Besides gardening, Trisha was also interested in fishing (even though she naturally didn't eat the fish, being the vegetarian she was). Sometimes Salim joined her, sometimes not. She enjoyed solitude while fishing. There was something really meditative at standing at the water and listening the waves rippling. 

Before moving to Newcrest Trisha hadn't realized how rainy the town actually was. It felt like almost every day there rained more or less and the ground was constantly wet, and thunderstorms weren't rare at all.

Well, at least the plants enjoyed, and Trisha saved time from watering them herself.

She already earned a good money from her little garden, and her care was somehow successful - but not as much as she was hoping for.
"These are only Nice quality", she said frustrated with a sigh. Why was it so slow, evolving these plants? Did she something wrong?

She was still good friends with Marcus, although he had sometimes difficulties with remembering, where the boundaries between friendship and more-than-friendship lied.
"For the thousandth time, Marcus! We are no longer together. I can't invite you here anymore, if you constantly try to cross the borders!"
"Sorry... *sob* I just miss you so much..."

"Marcus, why are you standing on my taco???"

"I'm holding your taco hostage until you agree to make out with me again!!!1!"

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"Well hello, handsome", Trisha cooed and flirted with a twinkle in her eye. "What do you think about my outfit?"
"The hottest thing I've ever seen", Salim chuckled. "But even the hottest outfit can't beat the woman who's wearing it..."

"Look at you and your honey tongue", Trisha laughed.
"I'm just telling the truth", Salim said with a straight face, but Trisha heard a glimpse of playfulness in his voice too.

She invited him in, and then she said out loud what she had been thinking for a while now: what if the Town Hall was his home too?
"What do you say? Would you move in?"
"Would I? Absolutely."

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Strangely, something about the whole moving in thing got Salim's mind all blue. It wasn't because he didn't want to live with Trisha, no. He didn't have regrets, he just... It was hard to explain. Maybe in some level he still missed the big city with all its noises, events and life. Moving to Newcrest was some shock therapy in a sense. But it will get better, he assured to himself and comforted himself by doing what he loved: reading books.

Trisha had found and bought a bag of seeds, which looked very peculiar. "What kind of plant these will grow into, I wonder. They have this strange glow in them. They aren't poisonous, are they?" 
To be safe, she planted the seeds into their own pot and not into the same soil as the rest of the plants.

If there was something good about "living in the countryside", it was the fact that focusing to your writing was a lot easier than in a noisy city. For Salim's surprise and pleasure his books were well received by both critics and common readers, and the royalties spoke for themselves. Soon he and Trisha could lead a comfortable life, and they wouldn't have to cram themselves in the little shack they were living, especially if they were soon to have offspring...

The residents seemed nice enough too. In such a tiny village everyone knew each other, so that meant everyone was interested in Salim, who was the fresh face and all. He told gladly about himself and his career plans and also listened to other sims' stories with great interest. The blueness in his mood started to vanish. There would be a time when he could call Newcrest his home.

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One night Marcus called and invited Trisha to see an opera with him. First she was suspicious about the invitation, but he told her he received the tickets from his co-worker, who had fallen ill and therefore could not use them himself. "This is NOT a date", Marcus assured. "But it would be a shame if the tickets would be left unused, don't you think?"
Finally, her curiosity won. She had been longing to see Cicero's Llama Wedding for a long time, and now she finally had a chance. It was okay for Salim too, so why not take advance of the situation?

And she wasn't disappointed. The performance was wonderful. She talked and talked about it to Salim the whole night after she finally arrived back home.
"Good to hear that you had a lovely evening", he chuckled. "Your shoulders feel a little tense though..."
"Mmm, now the evening is totally perfect!"
"Oh really? Yet I still had one question in mind..."

The sight of Salim kneeling before her made Trisha feel her breath was taking away. 
"Trisha Crowe, I had prepared a speech for this moment, but it all vanished from my head the moment I saw you in that dress and that joyful glow in your face. Do you marry me and maybe share a bit of that gorgeous glow with me?"
"Yes!" she said with an excited shriek. "Forget what I said earlier, now the evening is perfect!"

"It's so beautiful", Trisha sighed and admired her ring. The diamond was so shiny!
Then she noticed his worried face. "What is it?"
"Honey, you are quite orange-spotted. You should probably go to bed now. We'll celebrate this tomorrow!"

Luckily, the partial orangeness couldn't spoil the perfect evening for too long. After drinking a bottle of miracle potion Trisha went to sleep happier than she had been for quite a while.

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The pier in Magnolia Promenade was an excellent spot for fishing. How have I missed it before? Trisha thought. It was nice change from the little puddles of Newcrest. Besides fish she caught also strange treasures, a chest among other things, which contained the weirdest-looking seeds she had ever seen. 
"I must plant these and see, what kind of plant they will grow to be."

"What kind of plant is this? I've never seen a sprout with horns!"

Trisha and Salim had enough funds from both her garden and his royalties for them to build a little wedding altar in their yard. They had already scheduled a day for the wedding and they both were excited. Soon they were to be Mr. and Ms. Crowe! Trisha was glad for the fact that Salim was willing to break the norms with her and take her last name. He would continue to use his as his pseudonym though.

Trisha's cooking skills were also evolved, and for her surprise she realized she even enjoyed hustling in the kitchen. A burnt kitchen hood was the only memory of the traumatic fire, which she had managed to cause whilst cooking for the first time. She was amused. How could she once be so helpless, that she couldn't even cook pasta without burning the whole kitchen down? It felt like an eternity ago. And that pasta wasn't even that good, nowadays she could cook much better. 

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"Smile, my future wife! Say 'wedding day'!"
"Wedding day!" Trisha joined the fun.
It had finally arrived. The day, on which she and Salim would promise themselves to each other for the rest of their lives.

The wedding guests were suddenly shy and no one dared to come close and sit on the chairs that were meant for them. Trisha and Salim didn't mind though, all they saw was each other.

After reading their vows and exchanging rings they finally were Mr. and Ms. Crowe.

Where the guests were and if they had a good time, the newlyweds didn't know and they didn't even care. Grown-up sims could entertain themselves just fine.

These grown-ups would find alternative ways for entertainment.

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Salim's book grew more and more popular day by day, and so did the royalties. Publishers fought over him, critics ate from his palm and readers loved him. Such fame was something he had always dreamed of, and it felt surreal, that it had finally happened to him. Reality feeling surreal. Yeah, there was a conflict to be seen. But what a name for a novel...

"Holy Plumbob, it's a cow!" Trisha shrieked as she saw the little sprout which had just saw sunlight for the first time. "It really has horns, it wasn't just my imagination!"
What kind of special powers would this plant hold?

The life of the newlyweds was just as peaceful as one could imagine. In their little home there weren't many activities to do, so either they watched TV together and told each other, what they had done during the day - she told him about the weird cow plant and he told her about his newest novel idea - or then she would watch TV and he would work on the said idea. Trisha didn't mind living peacefully, but maybe it was time to bring some more meaning in their lives?

She loved well her plant children, but what about one sim child in addition?

One morning she had good news to bring to her husband.
"Darling, I just tested... I'm pregnant!"

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