Daughter-in-Law

Sind and Griselda's wedding was quite unlike Elioviel and Morti's. The two of them barely wanted a ceremony at all. They told us we didn't even have to dress up if we didn't want to. I dressed up, but the rest of the children didn't. Sind and Griselda truly didn't care. That's just how they like things- simple. We had a small private ceremony in the backyard. Though the wedding was performed in such an unusual manner, it was sweet and intimate and I teared up the same as I always have.

I bought a wonderful wedding cake for everyone to enjoy. Griselda told me I didn't have to do so much, but she was my newest daughter-in-law. How could I stand by and do nothing to celebrate the day? I had gotten Lomenia to find out beforehand what Griselda's favorite cake flavor was. It turned out to be strawberry. Sind and Griselda were so ecstatic by such the plain joy of getting to cut into that cake.

The two smartly booked a nice room at a nearby bed and breakfast for the night instead of choosing to remain at the house. I can now fully sympathize with the trouble ada had with feeling weird thinking of me doing adult things. It was incredibly weird to think what still feels like my little boy could've been doing in the next room over. I would rather not think about it at all.

The days after the wedding passed peacefully. Griselda did receive one congratulations from her family- which was from her cousin. Griselda told me she is the only she that she is on mildly good terms with. I wished so badly things could be better between her and her family, but there's not much I can do nor is it my place to try and fix anything. I have instead decided to spend a lot of time with my daughter-in-law. She loves helping me out in the garden. Griselda also adores cooking. Now I don't have to work so hard to keep food in the fridge. I can go and do other activities now.

Like continuing the task, for one. I was running behind on it once more. I had been too distracted by everything else that had been going on. I wondered where I could possibly turn when I ran into the man who had been so nice before- Mr. Alphonso Hammonds. He was the one who let Lithaldoren and I ride his horse, Ricochet. He was more than willing to be nice to me again.

There have been two recent birthday celebrations with Navinai's being first. She truly does take so much more after me in terms of appearance than Melui does. If it wasn't for her eyes I would hardly believe she is half-alien at all. Navinai was happy her birthday came during the summer. She still loves the warmth and heat so much more than anything else. She has plenty of hours of sunlight to go outside and soak up that sun. I barely see her in anything other than her swimsuit.

Arnin's birthday followed quickly. I couldn't believe it was already time for her to move out. It feels like centuries ago when I gave birth to her in that tiny house. Now she has become a talented young woman ready to spread her wings. As you might assume, Arnin has chosen to keep up her sculpting. She's a lot like Sind in that she has taken on some commissions, which will give her advance pay allowing her to get her own place where she can work freely without worrying about getting in the way. She promised to come back some time to make another ice sculpture of me since the other one melted.

That is one promise I wouldn't mind being broken.

It was after Arnin left and everyone had finally gotten fully used to having Sind and Griselda married when the time came to shake up the household once more. Alphonso and I will be having a son together. I have enough money to find out the gender of the child every other time now.

I always hear the constant tinkling of the xylophone outside my room. I think Lomenia is attempting to make Calun as much of a fanatic about music as she is. Her plan appears to be working. Calun can sit there for a half hour to even an hour doing nothing but banging on that xylophone without getting bored.

Leisure Day came on Sunday this year. It had been raining recently, but the gray clouds vanished to let us have an amazingly beautiful warm day. Sind suggested we go to the more isolated beach instead of the more crowded one or the festival this time around. Everyone else quickly agreed. We got into our bathing suits and headed out. Everyone rushed towards the water, except one.

Griselda held back by procrastinating. She kept applying more sunblock, fixed her hair, or fiddled with the things in her bag. I've learned after all these years that such actions are a sure indicator that she had something she wanted to say, but was too afraid to bring it up herself. She hoped I would ask her about it instead. So I asked. Griselda admitted she had found out she was pregnant as well. She said Sind already knew when I asked her if he did.

I didn't understand why she seemed so nervous. This was wonderful news. Griselda apologized. She was really excited, but after not being able to trust her own mother or have her care about her at all that made it more difficult to be so open around me even though she trusted me fully. I wasn't quite sure what to say. Griselda told me not to worry about it. She simply smiled and said it was also a bit weird being pregnant when I am pregnant as well. I laughed. I remember that feeling quite well when my children started having children of their own.

Sind called for Griselda to join the rest of them, which she eagerly did. Calun and I splashed in the water by the shore for a while, but Calun didn't like the water too much. He's still very much a reserved and cautious boy. He did thoroughly enjoy stamping his feet in the sand though. I knew he was probably going to need two baths later on that night.

Lueth eventually came to watch over Calun for me so I could spend some time in the water. My belly was starting to get big to the point where it really got in the way, and the relief of being in the water was welcomed very much. Lomenia kept splashing me every time I tried to float peacefully. I was not having that. She got a face full of water when she wasn't paying attention.

Lomenia, Lithaldoren, Lueth, and Navinai started a rather ferocious water balloon fight that us adults were not interested in getting involved in. The two teams were evenly matched for a long while. Lithaldoren then took a nasty hit by Lueth to the stomach. I was surprised, and a bit concerned, when it left a slightly red bruise on his skin. My four teens truly enjoyed themselves though. Lithaldoren didn't care about the bruise at all.

It was while I was standing and watching the water balloon fight that Sind and Griselda kept Calun preoccupied by building sandcastles. Griselda built a rather nice one, but Sind had more fun building a big pile before smashing it flat. Calun laughed loudly each time Griselda through sand high into the air. It kept settling on him. He was going to need three baths now.

Unfortunately, there were no grills at the smaller beach. We had to make our way over to the main one in order to prepare our dinner. Well, I was the one who did the grilling. The others stood about talking and enjoying the beautiful sunset. I must say I cooked the fish to perfection, and sitting there in that beautiful scenery was the best way to end the day.

Calun had his birthday towards the end of the season. It is a bit difficult to deal with him since he so often stubbornly refuses to leave the house for anything other than school. It's an almost impossible task to even get him out into the yard. He would rather stay inside to read, watch television, or play with his toys. I will have to find something he's enthused about to encourage him to be more active.

It was mid-afternoon when Ithilas arrived with a head full of fair hair. The boys are leading the count by two now. I hope I will have some girls next so that the count can remain as even as possible.

Griselda was apparently inspired by my home birth, and wanted to give birth at home too. It was several weeks after Ithilas' birth when she went into labor. I didn't realize we were quite that close. Griselda didn't show nearly as much as I did. I was very proud watching Sind. He did what I requested instantly, and supported his wife so well. Griselda herself dealt with the pain much better than I expected what with this being her first time giving birth. If her mother was even a halfway decent person she would be very proud of her daughter as well.