Chapter 11.3 - May 2023: The botanists joke...

Solvej and Patrik learns that just because their babies got older and became toddlers, things aren't really all that different yet.. They still require their parents attention to be fed... Immediately. Now. It doesn't matter then if it's in the middle of the night and mom and dad are terribly deprived of sleep...



Lillian is in need of both a diaper change and food.. and as usual, Patrik does nothing and leaves it all to Solvej..



Lillian learns to eat. :P I like these close up shots to show their faces.



Silvia works on a completely different schedual than her sister, she didn't even fall asleep, so Solvej might as well just take her out of her crib and play with her. Solvej suspects she's not going to get much rest this month either..



Solvej had to go back upstairs to look after Lillian, and there's no help in Patrik because he is still asleep, so... Silvia was then left on her own to do some exploring. Looks like she found herself a new toy...



Cleaning is not the top priority right now.. Solvej instead wants to prioritize teaching the toddlers necessary skills as fast as possible, and she begins with most rewarding task, to teach Lillian to talk.. and the first word she teaches her is matchstick.. "They used to call me that when I was a kid" Solvej recalls, "..and I never really liked it.
    'There comes matchstick Solvej' they used to say, because I was always tall and thin with freckles and red hair... I want to prepare my girls for what is probably to come, and I think the earlier I start, the better... Being a 'matchstick' is not a bad thing.. Don't play with fire, I'm just saying..."



When Patrik wakes up, he's just more concerned with whatever he wants to do, and goes to work out..



..until Solvej gets to tired and goes to shut off the tv to nap on the couch. "You watch after the kids for a while, I need to rest..."



Unfortunately Solvejs rest was cut short when Lillian started to practice on the xylophone right next to the couch...



Finally Silvia got tired. She had seen what mama did and wanted to copy her example. :P



With the toddlers now upstairs (and Silvia napping) Solvej managed to squeeze in another small nap on their bed downstairs..
    Also, since she thought she was pregnant a couple of months ago ("when she had 'something in the oven'...), and since she now has three kids with Patrik, she thought it was time they got married and became a proper family. Now about the pregnancy, she did take a couple of pregnancy tests to make sure.     The first one was negative and.. the second one was too. So with somewhat mixed feelings she had to conclude that she wasn't pregnant.. a sigh of relief from not having to raise even more babies and toddlers, and a bit of disappointment that another new life wasn't growing inside of her...



She still hadn't given up the idea of getting married and did her best to find time to set Patrik in the mood to ask the question..



However, he was being a little difficult as if he didn't want her to get to close, almost literally as he kept rejecting her attempts to give him a good romantic hug.. She had tried a few times earlier to discuss the topic of marriage with him, but he had always appeared a little uncomfortable every time she brought it up.
    She knew everything about his reputation and his past, and how people had warned her not to settle with this man, but.. he was what she fell for, how could she not? The always idealistic and younger Solvej thought she could be the one to make it work... but now he was the father of her children, and she wanted to seal it properly.. If only he could stop being so evasive.. She had to keep trying...



Upstairs Lillian and Silvia were being cute next to Lillians new favorite toy, the xylophone. ;)



Patrik did show the occasional sign of being a family man as he made sure Silvia was being fed and cheered enthusiastically for Lillians xylophone practice. A glimmer of hope for Solvej..



It warmed Patriks heart when his boy Rune woke up to talk about physical exercize with him, apart from women (in plural...), sports and physical activity is Patriks main interest in life..



..but even so, it's hard to not love your own kids, even if you may not have planned to have them.. you were only there to enjoy 'the pleasures of the flesh' and then one thing led to another, and here you are... ;) He had just been out shopping to buy a new teddy bear for Silvia before putting her to bed when she finally got tired enough to fall asleep..



Rune wanted to hangout with Elisa Meek from the twins birthday party, so he hopped on his bike to go to her house to see if she was home.



Solvej had yet again gone to nap on the bed in their bedroom and Patrik was now left alone upstairs with Lillian.. and then it must have finally snapped for him, because he went directly to the doll house and, well, smashed it...

"I'm so fucking sick and tired of this goddamn dollhouse and being kept awake all the fucking time!...." he began before he continued into a pretty lengthy tirade of a highly unrepeatable nature.. the part I just shared with you is innocent like a toddler in comparison... if Solvej had been there to hear that she would no doubt consider a change of heart... It's probably for the better right now that Lillian has not yet learned to talk, and let's just hope she won't pick up on any of what he just said.....




When Rune came to Elisas house she had just left to go to the Harbour Square just across the street. He was just about to leave and go back home when he saw her and called for her to stop and wait for him. ;)



She was heading for the Harbour Café with Danica who had adopted her after the.. incident.. last autumn when they were all freed from being held captive and their captors were sentenced to prison... Danica would often go to the Harbour Café to eat, it was part of her therapy program as suggested by her psychologist. Repeated exposure to combat the fear and unpleasant memories.. To make the Harbour Café and the surrounding area feel like the warm and pleasant place it was supposed to be..



The Café was very crowded with people waiting to buy their lunch, however the baristas were nowhere to be found. People were getting pretty impatient, and it got worse when a toddler let everyone know just how hungry it was...



Elisa was hungry too, and had looked forward to eating there, but as it couldn't be done Rune suggested they head over to the local seafood restaurant instead.. He hoped the restaurant should be a little calmer too..



He had to let Danica know before he could take here there as she was Elisas guardian and caretaker..



"I'm so hungry I could eat a whale..."



As Rune and Elisa entered the restaurant Fragen Froosh, one of the town elders exited to complain about the food and the service..



..but this is typical of Fragen, she was never really satisfied with anything. A retired teacher of the old school kind, she had always been firm in her belief that world had always been greatly lacking in order and discipline and if it had been up to her, teachers would still have been allowed to give their pupils a smack across the fingers with the pointing stick whenever they refused to sit still and pay attention..



Back home Solvej and Patrik had switched positions with Patrik now napping on the bed and Solvej taking care of the kids...



Rune and Elisa had both ordered a meal of sushi and they sat down to eat at the same table.



One of the current teachers at the school and the wife of Robert, the criminal mastermind behind the aforementioned incident nobody in town likes to talk to loudly about, Sandra Gudmestad-Kiinsmo has discovered a squirrel probably hanging around the restaurant to pick up food dropped on the ground by the guests..

She finds the squirrel cute and amusing, but Fragen.. does not.. "Squirrels are akin to rats pretty much" she snarls.. "Vermin and pests, that's all they are. That's all everything is.. just a pain in the... " Well, I think we just found the location of the aforementioned pointing stick... I guess she had to put it somewhere, when she could no longer use it to torment her pupils... What a cantankerous old fossil! ;)



Well, things have modernized quite a lot since Fragen last tought anyone at school. Nowadays every pupil are given each their computer to do school work on by the state. Fragen would no doubt hate that.. There's no teaching like the old way, with chalk and a blackboard...



Here's the main reason why Rune wanted to hangout with Elisa, to hand her a gift. So far only to make friends, but he is just a little less than a year away from turning 13 and should soon begin to find more interest in romance.. just hope he won't end up like his father, but who knows.. :P



Elisa was super happy to receive a collection of festival tickets in a box. Not the most amazing gift in the world, but it was what he had, and as long as the gift worked, it's all good. ;)


They're still just kids though, and for the rest of the night they run around the restaurant area playing tag with each other and having great fun. ;) Great fun.. Fragens most hated word, so.. it was good for them that she had left to go home, or she probably would have waved her cane at them and threatened to give them a whooping with it... and they would have ran in circles around her, making her even more sour than ever before! ;)



The kids played around in the restaurant area until it started to rain and Elisa immediately decided it was time to head home. Not much reason there for Rune to hang around and it was already past curfew again, so he better head home too and hope mom doesn't notice.. again.. ;)



It was bedtime now. Patrik and Silvia were already asleep downstairs, and now it was Lillians turn. Solvej had of course noticed the broken doll house and wondered what happened..
    Lillian had seemed upset as she babbled and pointed at it, so Solvej knew something had happened, but didn't know what it was. "Don't worry my little girl, I will have a look at it and see if I can fix it tomorrrow, but now it's time for bed..."



Just as Solvej came downstairs Rune came in through the door. "Oh.. hi mom, I have just been over at Elisas house and we forgot about time. I had told dad where I was, and Danica was there with us the whole time, so..."
    "It's still to late and you should have been home an hour ago" Solvej interrupted him. "It's ok for now, but don't let it happen again. Now, go to bed."
Solvej usually wasn't this strict, but she was exhausted and feeling a little irritable too, so Rune didn't dare to do much but obey and go to bed..



And finally everyone was asleep at the same time, parents, child and toddlers alike and hopefully for once they could all get a good nights sleep without interruptions..



Good night. ;)

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Chapter 11.2 - April 2023: Double birthday party.

"The Frumpenheimer House" by night, peaceful and quiet on the outside...



It's another month in the Jensen /Rasmussen household and the parents once more wake up in the middle of the night to the high pitched voice of one of their infants..



Patrik seizes the moment to have a very early breakfast (or a late night meal depending on how you view it), leaving Solvej downstairs to take care of the babies.. Solvej is not very amused. ;)



They only a get a few short moments of sleep before it's up again to start the new day..



Having babies is a 24/7 job.. the always flirtatious Patrik still manages to keep a good mood between the parents, though..



The twins birthday (Lillian and Silvia) falls on a saturday this year, so everyone will have the day off, except Solvej that doesn't have any fixed work hours. Solvej job is in the greenhouse, and the plants in there are in great need of some attention to pull weeds and harvest their growth...



It's a good thing then, that Solvej has such a green thumb. ;)



Now, Patrik likes green things too, however his kind is the one usually played sports on, as he decided to spend his time off watching the lates game of Simmerican foot-to-handball on tv. ;)



Rune spent his morning sleeping in after staying up late over at Tatiana Marias house and didn't notice his father was up until after he finished his breakfast and cleaned up.. "Morning, dad.."



Solvej had delegated the task of inviting guests and fixing the cakes to the birthday party to Patrik. Since he kept evading caring for the twins, he had to do something.. Solvej wasn't any less tired than he was...



Guests begin arriving shortly after the invitation was sent out (as do the rain..), and the first guests to show up are Leo Xie-Luo and Elisa Meek. Most of the guests invited were kids that are friends of Rune. Leo is the oldest son of Jingguo and Dongmei and Elisa is an orphan living at the orphanage ran by the Westgård family (they have practically adopted these kids and made them their family).



They're quickly followed by Karoline Gundersen and Samira Klinemann. Karoline is married to Kabelo Gundersen (birth name Kabelo Okalake, so he took her last name after marriage). They have one son together, Alexander Gundersen. Samira is the daughter of Chansa Klinemann (nee Beadoux) and Jørgen Klinemann.



Right behind them came Selma Vaddelmyr greeting Karoline with her best smile, but Karoline wasn't necessarily smiling in return..



Someone else that wasn't smiling was Edny Sævik, the oldest child of the Sævik household. Her parents are Vetle Sævik and Oda Sævik, the latter unfortunately being in prison, so Edny sometimes has to take on the role of being the 'mother' of the household to help her father with caring for her two younger brothers....



Selmas daughter Jorunn was the next guest, greeting her mom as she arrived because it took a while for everyone to sort out who should enter first through the front door.. :P



Leya was the second to last guest I caught arriving, not holding any grudges against Selma for what happened a couple of months ago. ;)



The last guest was Lars Erik Fikdsal, another kid that had recently been adopted by the Westgård family.



Tatiana Maria had somehow managed to sneak inside the house without anyone noticing. A future international super spy there, perhaps. :P



Solvej and Patriks living room is right up the stairs from the front door, but for some people its more natural to take the first door to the left and walk straight into their bedroom instead... It was quite crowded when Solvej went in there to pick up Lillian to celebrate her birthday.. Karoline had started an argument with Selma, and Leya was with Samiras father, Jørgen..



"If Gaute can flirth with others, then so can I...."



"...or maybe I shouldn't have done that. I better leave this party before somebody finds out..."



Then the main event could begin, and Lillian was the first one to be celebrated. Though the guests didn't seem to care much. It was only her brother Rune and her father Patrik that actually cheered for her. Everyone else were more concerned with their own business.. but anyway, happy first birthday to you, Lillian. ;)



Welcome to toddlerhood. You'll probably get a little better dressed later. :P



Then it's time for the second twin Silvia to have her celebration. Elisa and Samira had left in between here, and just like with Lillian it was only her father and her brother that actually cared enough to celebrate. I guess people on this day just wasn't in a mood for partying. :P



Happy birthday, young one. ;)



Those red hair genes must be pretty strong, as all three kids that Solvej have given birth to have gotten the same hair colour.



----


Yeah, people weren't to interested in partying at all, because by the time they sat down to eat the cakes even more people had left, and upstairs now it was really only Bodil that remained of all the guests...



The toddlers had located each their toy. Silvia with the doll house and Lillian with the peg toy box in the background.



Patrik didn't mind all the guests leaving so soon as he was still very tired, and so he suggested to Patrik (so that Bodil would hear it), that it was probably bedtime soon...



Oh, but the party had yet another guest, because I heard some laughter from outside.. I suspect that Gaute had spent most of his time there playing with the sprinklers in Solvejs greenhouse...



Gaute is very fond of children for a man that doesn't have the family oriented personality trait, as he rushes inside to cuddle with Lillian.



Solvej thinks it's bedtime and wants to put Silvia to bed, but Gaute was already there as well...
"Gaute.. please put down my child, so I can put her in her crib.. It's getting late and we all need our sleep..."



..but Gaute wasn't really listening, so Solvej had to pick up Lillian first.. :P



News ticker: Danica Tomren, "The girl from the Harbour Café", has now found a boyfriend in Lothar Marier, another one of the towns vehicle enthusiasts. He is the clever mechanic and engineer behind the local racers custom built cars. ;)



Lothar Maier driving in a rusty old car that he sometimes drives in because it draws a lot less attention compared to his favorite ride...



Back in Solvej and Patriks house it's bedtime for Lillian and Gaute and Bodil take the hint and head back home to their own house by Cliffon Park.



"Thanks for the invitation, we had fun."
The buffet table in the background was Patriks idea, however since both he and Solvej was pretty tired the entire time and all the guests left pretty quickly, there wasn't really an opportunity to make use of it.. so into the storage it goes, hopefully to be used some other time. ;)



Bedtime for Silvia too.. nighty night, sweetheart. ;)



Finally then, the parents could make an attempt at getting some well deserved rest once more..



Rune didn't feel like going to bed just yet though, because, well.. there were monsters under the bed again...



Pretending to be a king is much better... "I commandeth thee, monsters of the underworld.. yield! Yield and return to the dark depths from whence thou cameth!"



The peace of the adults and toddlers bedroom didn't last very long, because Silvia needed to be fed..



Of course, that job was left to Solvej as all Patrik did was shout and curse and go back to sleep...



Eat and be merry.. Silvias first meal all on her own. ;)



What comes in, has to come out.. with a smell that makes its way through every pore and is potentially lethal... :P



Downstairs Rune has successfully banished the monsters back to their lair so he can go to bed, and Solvej has put Silvia in her crib for the second time, and everyone can now finally asleep..



Well, everyone except one...



Good night. ;)

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