1. Meet the Hawthorne Family - Kira

 So before we get into the challenge aspect, let's start with a bit of context and introduce our first Sim...

Kira Hawthorne is a loving and warm lady who always dreamt of a large family. She married her high school sweetheart, David, at a young age and not long after, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Trey. Kira worked from home as a struggling author, while David was climbing on up in the business career. For a short time, everything seemed fine. That was until Kira decided to surprise David at work one lunch, but discovered David was having an affair with a co-worker. Distraught, Kira immediately left and waited for David to come home and explain himself. But he didn't. Not for a little while at least. About a week had passed before David came home to his family. He informed Kira that he felt rushed in their relationship, and he had never wanted a family, just a bit of fun. Kira was fuming. Why hadn't he told her this before they were married and had a baby?! She made her feelings very clear and David repeatedly told her it all happened before he could realise the repercussions. Kira felt hurt and betrayed, and couldn't understand where this had all come from. Just six months before, it felt like everything had fallen into place. She had just given birth and was still a newly-wed, madly in love with David. But now she had to question what was real and what wasn't. Had David ever loved her? Was their whole relationship a lie? Confused, Kira asked David to give her some time and space to process everything and think through how they were going to fix it all. But David had already decided what he was going to do. He told Kira he would pack his things and leave immediately, he wanted to start a new life and didn't want to be reminded of his old life with her and Trey. And that was the last Kira heard from David. She tried contacting him, purely for the sake of their son, but he never responded, and he never gave her his new address. How would Kira explain to Trey where his papa had gone, and why he wasn't coming back?

Thankfully, David hadn't taken all his belongings with him as he wanted to start fresh. So Kira decided to sell everything that had belonged to him and at least gain something from their break-up. She managed to get a decent sum from everything she sold, which let her afford a small two-bedroom place to live as well as enough money to survive for about six months. Kira knew that she had to get a full-time job to provide for herself and Trey, so sadly had to abandon her writing career. It wasn't stable enough to keep a steady income, and she couldn't let Trey down, not after his father abandoned him. Due to her experience, Kira was able to get a job as an assistant in an publishing office. It may not have been exactly what she wanted to do, but at least it was a start in the right direction. Maybe if she got close with the boss, she could slip them one of her book drafts and get herself published?