Emma got a job as a pastry chef at a bistro in town, and bought some new recipe books. Good cooks were always in demand.
She had been clubbing with SimSample. One night they shared a hot tub and there were chimes.
So Emma had a time bomb. She knew she didn't want to be a single mother. "That's just too much work." She wondered what to do about it, because SimSample just didn't seem to be the marrying kind, nor was she quite sure that he was the right partner for her.
She needed fresh plums for a recipe she wanted to try. Plums being rare in Newton leFade, she asked around and someone at work told her that Jolrei Perdition had some plum trees, she went to see him. She didn't know him but what was the harm of asking?
"Well they are not ripe yet but will be in a few weeks," he said. "But come in, come sit in my garden and have some iced tea. You look very warm."
They spent a lot of time together, as he started to tell her about his work at the labs.
They made friends; in his simple masculine way, he thought she fancied him.
And one day she realised he was right.
They got to know one another very well during her pregnancy. Because his house was a long way out of town, she often stayed over there. Of course, Jolrei was a perfect gentleman! He was teaching her to garden, in between practising breathing exercises with her.
Spooky Muffin dropped in and noticed Emma was there, looking very much at home.
She left looking gleeful. "My friend the paparrazzi will pay well for THIS story; Jolrei is famous!"
"Jolrei, it's time!"
"My waters broke!"
"Don't worry, I have a washing machine. Let's get you to the hospital!"
"But I want a nice piece of toast when this is all over," she gasped. "A grilled cheese sandwich, even."
"I made sushi already..."
She gasped. "Hospital. NOW!"
She called her baby daughter Semele. She had Hydrophobic and Loves the Outdoors traits. She half-hoped and half-feared that Sim might ask to marry her when he saw the baby - he had known she was pregnant, but had not been around much. She didn't need to worry.
When Jolrei brought her and the baby back from the hospital, Sim Sample was at her house. The hospital had rung him, to say the baby had his SimDNA.
Initially he seemed pleased about the baby. Emma wondered if he would be willing to share in little Semele's upbringing. But instead, Sim Sample picked a fight and left, saying that she had spent far more time with Jolrei than she had with him. He had heard rumours, and his mother had shown him an article in the gossip columns linking Emma and Jolrei. He glared at Jolrei, then decided it wasn't worth making an enemy.
"I don't care who you go out with but leave me out of your adventures as far as the newspapers go! Nice to meet you, Jolrei."
Sim had great respect for scientists and felt it would be very unwise to pick a fight with one as respected as Dr Perdition.
"Semele does look a lot like her father," thought Emma. And it was true, she had stayed at Jolrei's house, on and off, for most of the pregnancy. She suffered a public disgrace, even though she had done nothing wrong and it was Sim who had been playing around. Typical: the joys of being a celebrity, she thought. "Not that I ever asked for it; going out with Sim was what did it. In more ways than one!"
She kept in touch with him, and Sim Sample did come to Semele's birthday. But he was in a very silly mood and did nothing but point and laugh at her. "Does insanity run in your family?" she asked. "I wonder if it will affect Semele."
Now Jolrei was a much nicer person, if he was still interested in her now she was a mother, she reflected. He had been such a good friend to her, and was there with her at the hospital when Sim Sample couldn't be found. While Semele was tiny she had no time to call him or do anything about it, but toddlers might be easier to look after.
Sim Sample did give her some money for child support. Not that she was particularly short of money, but of course it helped. She was able to take more time off work to spend with little Semele, and she decided she might carry on learning to garden.
Emma was getting much more practical; she was even learning to fix the television when it went wrong.
Emma's self-Sim is available from MATY.