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Patrick came home from school with a new friend - Michael Shaw - who he took downstairs into the new lounge to play board games.

"What?! How did you beat me?!" Patrick protested when Michael won easily.

Michael giggled. "Sorry. We play board games all the time at home. My twin sister is kind of obsessed with them."

"Oh well. Hey, it's my birthday tonight. Do you want to stay for the party?"

Soon, the other guests were arriving. Patrick's aunt and uncle were there, along with all of his cousins and his friends from school.

As soon as Vincent and Carol clapped eyes on each other, they started shyly flirting again (adorable) and then everyone squeezed into the kitchen to watch as Patrick blew his candles out...

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It was early in the morning so Harriet headed off to work at Oscar's store while Patrick climbed aboard the school bus.

"Enjoy your last day in the children's class, Patrick!" called Harriet, waving to him.

Liliana spent her first day in the farmhouse in her absolute element - planting seeds in the greenhouse in preparation for the upcoming winter and talking to them to help them grow big and strong.

She also hung the sunlight lamp Oscar had given back to her in the lounge. She had wondered if it might be better off helping the plants in the greenhouse, but eventually decided that she and Patrick would need it more and they didn't want to spend every night outside!

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Round 7 - Autumn 2 - The Sherman Family

The Shermans loved their spacious new farmhouse. It was perfect for their needs. There were lush fields all around, numerous fruit trees, and plenty of tilled soil ready for planting.

Harriet admired the country-style green kitchen approvingly - although Liliana was the better cook, she was the only one who ate actual food now so she guessed she'd be spending lots of time in here.

Patrick had also rushed inside. He admired the family photos on the wall in the entrance hall, and discovered he had his own room. He had to admit, he loved having a private space just for him, even though he didn't need sleep.

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And nothing else of note happened for Oscar and Sol that evening, so that's the end of their round!

Oscar is now 46 and Sol is 4.

Next let's check in with the Shermans at their newly-built farmhouse!

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"Oh, man, look at those wrinkles!" Oscar groaned later as he gazed into the mirror. "And now I need glasses to see! I'm getting old..."

He picked up the phone to call Harriet at his furniture store and check in.

"How's everything going?" he asked casually.

"It's great!" said Harriet. "We could do with some more stock if you have the time, but otherwise nothing to worry about! Say hi to Sol for me!"

Oscar smiled. He couldn't believe how well his life was going. All right, he'd never actually met 'the one' but he had a wonderful son, a thriving business, and was moving up in his career.

He reached down and touched the wooden edge of the coffee table in front of him. Don't jinx it... he thought to himself.

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Liliana couldn't babysit again the following day as she needed to take care of her farm, so Oscar stayed home with his son (even though he was fairly sure he would have received yet another promotion had he gone into work).

"Come on, Sol. Time for you to learn how to talk!" he said, sitting cross-legged on the hardwood floor in the lounge with Sol and feeding him another bottle of Smart Milk.

Talking was another skill that didn't take long for Sol to master and soon he was gabbling Oscar's ear off.

"Go and tell the bunny toy, Sol. Daddy needs some food!"

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Oscar came home with another promotion to Vice President! He already had all the skills and friends required so Autumn did all the rest. Congratulations Oscar!

"How did it go?" he asked Liliana.

"It was a breeze! Don't forget I've already raised a toddler - I know what to do!"

Oscar nodded. "Sorry, sorry, you're right. I just worry! Anyway, this is for you!" He produced a gift for Liliana.

"Thanks; you didn't have to do that! What is it?"

"Oh no, it's nothing special. I noticed you forgot your sunlight lamp when you moved out and I figured you would need it, so I worked out how to disconnect it and wrapped it up for you."

"Oh, that was thoughtful. Thank you."

They hugged goodbye and Liliana headed home, sunlight lamp neatly tucked under her arm.

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"Are you sure you're happy to babysit?" Oscar asked Liliana the next morning.

"Oscar, you called me at 6am and asked me to come over to look after Sol. Do you think I'd be here if I wasn't happy to do it?" Lili said, rolling her eyes. "Now go on, I can hear your carpool!"

Liliana picked up her nephew and gave him a hug. "We're going to have a great day, aren't we?"

And a great day they had! With Sol being a toddler, he was still in need of a long midday nap so Lili's job was nice and easy. She fed him and played with him and put him to bed, and before she knew it Oscar was already at the door again!

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With Sol fast asleep, Oscar got on with some woodworking. He still loved making furniture for his shop, even though he had another job now.

It would be a while before he would be able to get back into his store again now that he had Sol to care for, but he knew it was in safe hands with Harriet running it so he whipped up a few bits and bobs to send over there anyway.

That night was the first time since moving in that he had been able to sleep in the master bedroom. He still missed his sister but he had to admit that he was pleased to be able to starfish in the large bed!

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Next it was time for a try on the potty before nap time and, although it wasn't Sol's first attempt at potty training, it was the first time he went successfully! With Oscar cheering him all the way, he managed to pick up potty training thanks to the Smart Milk as well!

(Have I ever mentioned how much I love Autumn?)

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Once inside, Oscar put Sol on the floor in the kitchen and whipped him up a bottle of Smart Milk.

"Looks like it's just you and me now, little guy. No more Auntie Lili, and Auntie Maya hasn't lived here for a long time. It's going to be weird without them. What are we going to do, huh?"

He decided to start with teaching Sol to walk. After all, shouldn't every one year old know how to walk? With the combo of Smart Milk, it being Autumn and perhaps just something in his alien genetics, Sol powered through and was walking in no time flat.

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The next morning, little Sol was one of the first out of bed. He crawled into the lounge and found the shape sorting toy that used to be Patrick's. While the rest of the house slowly woke up, he discovered that he really enjoyed learning about the world and that Science was his One True Hobby!

But soon, he found himself being scooped up and taken outside.

"Wave goodbye to your aunties and cousin, Sol! They're going to live in a different house!" said Oscar. "Bye everyone! Good luck in the new place!"

They watched until the taxi had driven off into the distance then slowly came inside again.

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Patrick was excited to play with his newly aged-up cousin.

"Peek-a-boo!" he said, giggling every time at the toddler's confused little face.

Patrick looked up at his uncle. "He's so cute!"

Oscar smiled. "Hey, no arguments here! But it's his bedtime now so I'm going to have to drag him away from you."

"Awwww."

While Sol was being tucked in, Harriet and Liliana were all over each other in the lounge.

"Ew, Mums, can you not? It's not like I can go hide in my room. I don't need sleep!" moaned Patrick.

Harriet winked at Liliana. "It's okay, sweetheart. We're going to go and hide in our room. Just, uh, turn the TV up nice and loud, okay?"

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Oscar fed Sol happily while Harriet (the only other person who ate) had her dinner.

"Are you so excited to become a toddler, buddy?" Oscar cooed. "It's nearly time!"

And, soon enough, it was time! Sol aged up to an adorable toddler! He appears to take after his alien ancestor way more than Oscar, but that doesn't matter to me when he's just so cute! Happy birthday Sol!

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Oscar came home that afternoon with a promotion to Senior Manager at his job!

He came inside and flopped onto the sofa next to Harriet.

"How was Sol today?"

"Oh, good as gold. He's sleeping now," she replied. "Hey, listen. Liliana and I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Now that you have Sol, we think we should move out and leave you in peace. We'll still visit, and obviously we'll babysit whenever you need, but we agreed it's time for you to start your own family and for us to properly start ours."

Oscar smiled. "Well, I can't deny I'm going to miss having you all here, but honestly I think that's a great idea! But... what about my furniture store? Who will run that when I can't?"

"Well, hire me properly and I will!"

Oscar threw his head back and laughed. "Fair point. I guess I've taken advantage of your good nature for too long. All right, you're hired! You won't move out until after Sol's birthday though, will you?"

Harriet reached over and hugged him. "Of course not."

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With a few more crates of fresh produce in her inventory, Liliana headed over to her market stall for the day.

"Fresh peppers!" she called. "Picked this morning! Mouthwatering and juicy!"

She gave David Jenkins the hard sell about the peppers and he gladly agreed to buy them, knowing the fresh produce could only benefit his family. This, in turn, earned Liliana a Gold Sales Badge!

As the afternoon progressed, Lili noticed that one of the townies had a notepad and pen in her hand and decided to pay particular attention to her.

"Did you find everything you needed today?" she asked when the woman came to the cash box.

"Um... sure. It's just a market stall, right? Pretty easy to navigate!"

"Are you planning on writing an article about it?" asked Liliana, nodding eagerly at the notepad.

Carla blushed and hid it behind her back. "Oh, um... you weren't supposed to see that. I was thinking about it, but I'm not going to because there's not really enough to write about, you know? Maybe when you've expanded a bit."

"Oh. Right. Well, here's your change!" Liliana was a bit crestfallen that she wasn't going to be receiving a good review for her business, but at least she wouldn't be getting a bad one.

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Lili began the round by harvesting her now fully-grown crops.

"Ooh, I can go and sell these at the market!" she said excitedly. "These pole beans look delicious!"

"Bye Mum!" called Patrick as he climbed onto his school bus. "See you later!"

Inside, Harriet was in charge of the little one.

"Here you go!" she said, feeding him a bottle. "Auntie Harriet is going to take such good care of you while your dada is at work! We're going to have a great day!"