The Good and the Bad

Even with all the craziness being conducted by my lovely children, I somehow managed recently to find a small window of time where I could go to the spa to get a massage without wondering what the house's condition would be when I returned home. It's been a long time since I've been able to splurge money on myself in such a manner, which is highly freeing. We are slowly but steadily getting to the point where money to pay the bills is no longer my first worry. I suppose though that even if our savings were lacking more that the massage still would have been necessary. This child I'm carrying is in a different position than normal, and is causing me much more pain because of it.

I was walking back home from getting that massage when I spotted Melui alone at the park. She had some time off work, and with the festival being right across the street she thought it would be a good idea to have some fun there. I had a bit more time to enjoy myself before I was due back so I stayed with her for a while. We did a bit of dancing, got some lunch, played a game of horseshoes which I lost once again, chatted, and overall simply had a good time. We have both been very busy lately. I am glad I had that moment to see her, get caught up with her, and learn that she is doing quite well.

It was several weeks later when I was gifted with a new son- Calun. I thought the name sounded perfect for him. He was born with a head full of fair hair, but I believe he'll develop more like his father as he grows older. That's what I hope at least. Dodge is a good looking man. Calun should turn out to be one good looking boy. Personality-wise, it's hard to say for sure what Calun is like. He does seem to be very spacey though.

Besides a birth, we had a birthday as well. I now have lots of hands to help with this lone infant in the house. Lomenia, Lueth, and Lithaldoren are all now old enough to babysit and assist with the minor tasks their younger brother requires.

Lueth is always the first one to volunteer, and the only one who does what I request without any sort of complaint. It appears she has developed a strong love for caring for young children. She and Navinai get along better than ever too. Lomenia is a bit harder to convince to help. That's because in addition to her love for painting she has now picked up a love for music. I usually know where she is since the sound of the piano being practiced has become a constant sound emanating from the basement. Lithaldoren normally helps out without too much complaint, but I worry just a little for him. He has become more sullen since his birthday.

I was in for quite the surprise one day. Sind returned home from his walk, but he wasn't alone in his arrival. Someone came in with him, and not just anyone- a girl. Sind instantly brought her over when he spotted me spotting him. He said he knew this was sudden, but this woman, Griselda Swanson, and him were now dating.

That certainly did catch me off guard. Sind pressed forward through my confusion to explain that the two of them had met in the graveyard when Ms. Swanson had been paying gratitude to some relatives of hers buried there. They had met often since then, and started going on secret dates a while ago. Sind apologized. He hadn't meant to keep their relationship a secret. He knew he didn't have to hide it from me. All Sind wanted to do was make sure his and Ms. Swanson's relationship was something that was actually going to work before he made any sort of announcement.

It was hard to work through my shock, but the nervous yet hopeful look on Sind's face made me give the couple my blessing. Ms. Swanson was instantly likeable as well so I wasn't too concerned.

On one of my own walks I found a bunch of seeds merely lying there on the ground. Seeing them made me remember I really did want to start a garden again. There's no communal one here like there was in Aurora Skies. The seeds were of good quality, and the amount I found was the perfect number for me to take care of. I had no idea what the seeds would turn out to be though, which will be an interesting surprise I suppose. I merely have to plant them, and wait to see what I will get.

Everything was going so peacefully for a change. That peace had lasted too long though. I knew something had to give soon, but I now wish I hadn't been right. It was like reliving a nightmare when the fire started. I don't even know what caused it. All I could do was rush out when the alarm started to see half of the dining room already in flames. Lueth rushed to get Calun, and I had Arnin escort her visiting friend and the rest of the children out of the house.

I was making sure everyone did get out safely when I noticed Sind suddenly rushing towards the bathroom with the back of his clothes on fire. That foolish boy had tried to fight such a massive fire on his own. I heard the shower running and he reappeared less than a minute later in perfect condition, but the damage to me was done. I dragged him out of the house with me as three firefighters burst in to control and extinguish the flames. The house eventually cleared of the smoke and we were given permission to enter, but I refused to let Sind leave my night for the rest of the evening.

Somehow, Sind calmed me down enough to convince me to let him got to sleep. The rest of the children wearily went to bed, save for Calun. He was restless and irritable for hours. It didn't really matter for I could not sleep either. Adrenaline and fear still made my heart race. It didn't help that I kept going to stand and stare at the damage that had been done.

I had to have something to do to keep me from going absolutely crazy. I took to cleaning up the mess. There was nothing to be done about the table and all but one of the chairs. They had to be replaced. The floor, however, was salvaged after a lot of tough scrubbing that wore my poor mop down to almost nothing.

The children all tried to appear unaffected the next morning, but it was all too easy to tell they were very much shaken up. None of them looked as if they had gotten a good night's sleep. I took pity on them, and called the school to say they were all "sick." One day off wouldn't hurt, I figured. Arnin, Lomenia, Lithaldoren, Lueth, and Navinai took a long morning nap before they woke up in much better moods. After that, I told them they had to be productive with their time.

Arnin asked Sind if he would help her to learn how to drive- something she's been wanting to learn for a long time now. The two were out the door before I could blink.

But not before Sind called over Ms. Swanson, When Lithaldoren heard Arnin make her request, he too wanted to spend his time practicing his driving. I obviously couldn't help, but Sind said Ms. Swanson would be more than willing. She was. She arrived a few minutes later before she and Lithaldoren took off in her car.

Lomenia relaxed herself by continuing to practice the piano. It calmed me as well for her beautiful melodies could be heard throughout the whole house. It is astounding how fast she picked up the instrument without having much experienced instruction. Navinai got away with ignoring my request to do something productive. She hid out with Lomenia by just standing there and listening to her music.

Lueth told me to go take care of the garden while she watched over Calun, who had had his birthday. He has my ears in addition to my hair, but he has Dodge's rich brown eyes. His spacey personality has only gotten more distinct though. It is cute when he seems so dreamy now, but hopefully he'll become more attentive in the future.

I had calmed down somewhat, but I must admit even after most of the day I was still in a rather uptight and panicked mood. There was no choice but to take out the bottle of wine I had secretly purchased on that trip to the consignment store with Lueth. That moment just felt like the best time to have a glass. Clearly, I don't turn to alcohol often at all. The glass did nothing to inebriate me, but it did as I hoped and gave me the ability to relax that I so desperately needed.

I thought Sind's revelation that Ms. Swanson was his girlfriend was surprising enough. It became obvious the pair wanted to outdo themselves in the realm of unexpected revelations. A couple of days went by, and Sind brought Ms. Swanson over again. He asked me to listen and not freak out, which I promised hesitantly to try to do. Both Sind and Ms. Swanson explained that Sind catching fire naturally frightened them terribly. It made them realize just how anything could happen. It hadn't been all that long, but they were sure of the strength of their relationship. They wanted to take the next step so they could be together for real if anything else were to ever happen.

They wanted to get married.

It was certainly hard to decide what reaction was most appropriate. I gave them silence for quite a while. In the end, I gathered my voice to let them know what they wanted to do was fine by me. Sind was already well into adulthood. He was more than experienced and mature enough to make such a decision as this. It was about time he made his own way in life anyway. There was no reason for him to stay here any longer.

That's the thing though, Sind started to say. He had hoped that he and Ms. Swanson might remain here after they married. They wanted to stay here? It was a confusing admittance. Sind gave me more explanation. He still wanted to help me with the money situation. Also, he didn't have enough of his own to be on his own anyway. Ms. Swanson then let me know she is pretty much estranged from her family. No one wants to talk to her since she doesn't fit into their "cool" image, and she makes the choices that they don't want her to make. She's wanted for so many years to be surrounded by a real family again.

Sind finished by saying he remembered the time when I told him of how elvish families live together in large houses. He understood he was only half-elvish, but maybe that was a tradition he could follow?

I smiled. I would love that......