I once loaded up a household I hadn't played in a while, and their dog had recently passed away, which I didn't immediately realise. So I was checking up on everyone to see what they were up to, mom was cooking, kid was out playing, and the dad .. well the dad was standing next to his dog's urn crying. Which was kinda heartbreaking coz he had the dog long before he met his wife & before they had kids. So it was very touching to see that he was the only one still crying about it, and as I noticed, quite regularly. Here's a pic of them. Poor Lars :/
https://i.imgur.com/NhkgNKQ.png
ETA: also I LOVE your story, OP :D And yes, the see what's happening action is pretty cute!