MSSSC September Entry: Seeds of Innocence

A/N: Hey Simmers, I managed to squeeze in another entry into the amazing and completely addicting Monthly SimLit Short Story Challenge. This month I was seriously missing my #BuildNewcrest Legacy family, the McGinnises, because I have been spending an absorberant amount of time with Spirit Guardian while the inspiration lasts so I decided to do a little check in with them and their newest little generation 3 heir, Lillian Marie McGinnis.

If by chance you have followed my #BuildNewcrest Challenge you will know my founder Adaleigh. She has already completed her Freelance Botanist Aspiration, had triplet heirs who are all fully grown and is in the prime of her elder years enjoying her first and, as of yet, only grandbaby [though we all know that there will be WAY more to come from the second generation heir with his BIG Happy Family Aspiration. ;)]. This short story takes place one month after Lillian’s birth (or Chapter 2.25) although it should work well as a stand alone since its mostly Adaleigh reminicing.

Ok, so… all that aside. Aema please tell us what were the parameters, right?

THEME: Apple(s)
WORD  COUNT: Up to 850 max
SCREENSHOT REQUIREMENT: min 5 to max 10
DEADLINE: 30 September 2019 @ Midnight PST

My final piece ended up at…

WORD  COUNT: 849!! (Not including long worded author’s notes….)
SCREENSHOTS: Kept it to 8! (Gasp, I know!)
SUBMITTED: 27 September 2019

Please, as always, don’t forget to read all the other entries and if mine seems like a favorite vote for it along with two others in the Novice category and a top three in the Veteran’s category. LisaBeeSims had outlined all of this on her blog and on the page in the Sims Forums. There is also a Facebook Page for those who want to like and follow. Make sure to bookmark these pages and check out ALL the amazing writers. Seriously this community is awesome and supportive. Or if you are a writer looking for an oppurtunity, check it out and enter!

This short story made me look back through all of my screenies and reminisce about when my pixelated grandbabies were tiny tots and Adaleigh was figuring out how to take care of triplets with me and her hubby, Laurent. I hope it gives you those sweet reminicent vibes as well…

---

“I started out right here… On a big flat lot with only a few trees and bushes…” Adaleigh laughed to herself. “I had an outdoor toilet hidden between the bushes for the first week. Now there’s real bathrooms in the greenhouse…”

She looked down at the small baby girl bundled up in her swaddle. She had been watching her granddaughter for a little bit. She realized that she still hadn’t shown her granddaughter the place where her family had truly began. Lillian looked up at her with bright inquisitive eyes. She was just about a month old now and the spring weather was just giving way to warmer summer sun. This might be the best time to take her out.

“Your grandmama was thought to be quite crazy for coming out here to the Newcrest Project. They didn’t even provide a salary as the mayor of this little endeavor. But I knew a community garden was the way to bring everyone together…” she walked into the middle of the park. “One of the first things I ever planted was an apple.”

The orchard had been changed into the soup kitchen area and she and Cameron, her son and the current Mayor of Newcrest Project, had carefully scattered the trees across the park to provide shade and food for anyone who cared to pick it. There had originally been two trees planted but one of them had unfortunately not survived transplant.

With the warm weather coming, the tree was bright green and happy but no telltale apple blossoms had started to bloom yet. “When the fall comes, this entire tree will be bursting with little whie blossoms. I’ll bring you back then. And of course, we’ll come pick some apples too. There’s nothing like the sight of apple trees full of flowers and fruit.”

Thinking on it, she loved the sight of those more because beneath their boughs was where she had spent so much of her time. The garden had been an obsession then and with Laurent cooking the meals and taking care of the kids she had spent hours beneath their shade pulling weeds. Her obsession with the garden had lead to the one and only fight that she and Laurent had ever had.

Realizing her mistake, she began to turn that around. The kids, especially Laura and Collin, had often joined her in the garden. So when they joined her she began to talk to them about the garden. To explain the difference between plants and weeds because Collin loved to pull at everything in the beds… and when harvest time came, she made sure to gather all her babies with her.

“Your daddy wasn’t much for being outside. Cameron liked being in the kitchen with Grandpa. Or looking at picture books… he was always my cautious baby. But one time, I got him to come outside the house to pick apples with me. Do you know inside apples are little seeds and each one planted can make an entire new tree?” Lillian smiled and gibbered up at her and Adaleigh smiled. “Well, I don’t suppose you do… but you will.”

She ran a finger down her precious granddaughter’s cheek and then pressed her face to hers. “I think children are the same way. Small little seeds inside you that we have to nuture. Grandmama will help you to grow little one just like your daddy and uncle and auntie before you.”

Smiling she walked onto the porch, she wanted to stay a bit longer. The sun was beginning to set as it was just a little after six-thirty. From the porch she could see the entire park. The archway where she and Laurent had been married. Where Cameron later married Madeline and where she hoped someday that Collin and Laura would also choose to marry…The bar where Laurent had learned his mixology skills for work.  The playground where the kids had played after school.

Turning she looked through the glass of the greenhouse. She still remembered where the kitchen used to be. On the porch had been their dinner table and highchairs had once lined the front of the house, three in a row. The bedroom was now the greenhouse…

“Mom.”

She turned to see Cameron put his hand on her shoulder. “Cameron. I was just showing Lillian our old home.”

He smiled. “I know. Dad asked Madeline and me to come get you. It’s time for dinner.” he looked down at his daughter then, his eyes filled with love.

Feeling ridiculously proud of her son, she shifted Lillian and offered him his baby. Smiling Cameron gently took her from his mother.

“She’s so lucky to have you as a father.”

Cameron smiled at his daughter and then looked at his mom. “She’s even luckier to have you as a grandmama.”

They were so engrossed they didn’t even hear the click of the camera phone.

Adaleigh laughed. Looping her arm through Cameron’s they started back towards the house. “In the fall, Cameron, let’s bring Lillian back to the park to see the apple blossoms.”

“Ok.”

---

Creator Credit:

• Hello, Baby! Posepack and swaddle cc – ClumsyAlien
• Body Height for Toddlers – redheadedsims-cc

A/N: Aside from the very first photo, unfortunately none of these shots are gameplay shots. I intended to use some but… well, truthfully, when I started out writing the McGinnis Legacy I didn’t have a clue about screenshots or what I should focus on. I always missed very key moments…So while looking through my old gameplay shots, I realized I only had a couple of the toddlers in the garden with Adaleigh because I had been so focused on Adaleigh finishing the garden I hadn’t paid them much mind. Thus I decided to reshoot a couple of them in the garden with her and just because I want to make some cc Pictures to add the the legacy house I took a family shot. This is a pose by SophiSparks called Legacy Posepack and I love it so… just so you know…

This is the McGinnis Family (Generation 1 & 2)

We have Laurent Collins-McGinnis with baby Laura Jean McGinnis on his lap, Collin Matthew McGinnis, the little trouble maker in the center pulling his Dad’s ears, and Adaleigh Mae McGinnis is sitting on the right with baby Cameron James McGinnis.

♥ Thanks for reading and happy simming! ♥