Well, while Molly Chikamori was suffering the humiliation of being thoroughly and utterly outclassed and beaten up by a chicken, Haruo had to go out and talk to a buyer about one of his paintings. Well, he drove his Vaguester.
It turned out very well, even though the amount of simoleons that he brought in with his commissioned paintings was nowhere near the amount that River brought in. But it would provide a comfortable living wage.
He received yet another call while out on the first one and managed to sell a painting on commission to Simis Bachelor, which he appreciated. Chalk up two sales that day.
When the kids came home, they immediately sat down at the kitchen table with a bit of coaxing and started to finish their homework. This was the routine every single day after school. After all, their objective was to achieve honor-roll status.
When River got hungry, she came downstairs and grabbed a bite to eat.
...and was soon joined by her husband, which offered her an opportunity to talk to her husband about some things that had been weighing on her mother's mind which Fiona had mentioned. He sat in silence for a long moment waiting for her to finish chewing her food.
River looked at her husband and said hesitently, "The thought has crossed my mind that my mother really misses her home-town." She paused for a long moment to let that sink into her husband's mind and then continued. "She moved to Sunset Valley to be with her boyfriend; my father, but he turned out to not be the man that she thought. But because I was born here, she was stuck living here because she didn't have the money to move back."
Haruo realized that this was going to mean a major upheaval. The Chikamoris weren't from Sunset Valley either. In fact, it was only because his parents (Yasunobu and Mayumi) had thought that Sunset Valley was the perfect little small town to raise Haruo, that they had even set down roots. And he was grateful for that because he had met the love of his life there. "...so where was her roots?" he asked wondering how far they would have to go.
"She's originally from Riverview...and her ancestors are buried in the cemetery there so that's where she'd like to be...you know...to finish off her life." she explained, hoping that was explanation enough for Haruo to uproot their life in Sunset Valley.
Needless to say, they had to talk it through because it was a tough decision. It would mean uprooting their children from school, taking them away from friends that they had made and putting them in a new school during the middle of a school term. But at least they would have each other to rely on. Would they break-even on their investments and above all, would they get a decent market value for their home? But change was an integral part of life. If one didn't change and grow, one would stagnate. Haruo thought pensively for a long moment...then said, "OK...we'll look at doing this. Your mother made a choice to stay in a town that she didn't know to raise you up to womanhood. I think we can make a choice to move to your mother's hometown to give her a measure of peace."
River looked at her husband gratefully; it was going to be a tough decision: leaving everyone that they knew and venturing out to a town that only her mother had any ties to, even if it was the McIrish family hometown. But her mother had selflessly did everything in her power to raise her daughter and give her a sense of security when she, herself, was wallowing in the depths of despair with a failed relationship and a rash move to a town where she was completely alone with no visible means of support. She had started out her career as a paper-deliverer, just so that she could have a roof over her head and food for her daughter. Could she have moved back to Riverview earlier, certainly, but she wanted to give her newborn daughter a sense of stability. But because River was with the love of her life, she found that it was easier for herself. Her family (her husband and her children) was her bulwark and as such, it would be much easier for River and Haruo.
But how...to break it to their children...
That night it snowed heavily...as they uprooted themselves from their comfy existence in Sunset Valley and moved lock, stock and barrel to Riverview. Fiona was overcome at the thought of her son-in-law and daughter doing this for her. The house that they had moved into was a large mansion, but it didn't suit the style that they wanted for their home, so it would be torn down and remade into a house more typical of what they were looking for in a home. Cozy and comfortable, but still large enough that they could have a decent living space and privacy...the house would be expanded as the children grew in age.
"Thank you, my love..." River said as she gave her husband a hug. "You realize just how much it meant to my mother to come home...to her hometown..." They say you can't truly come home again...all of what she knew here was gone...(Fiona's parents were long since deceased) but at least she was at peace.
...and so River and Haruo's family's life in Riverview began...
