The
oldest child in the house woke up early and filled to the brim with
plenty of youthful energy to spend. If only they had a treadmill, he
thought, as he got out of bed and went upstairs to eat the leftovers
of his fathers birthday cake for breakfast. Because sugar was
definately what he needed...
Meanwhile downstairs the parents sleep was cut short by
their toddlers waking up and wanting breakfast. They found it very
annoying as usual, but could only take it in stride..
Laundry was piling up too, and things needed to be done, but caring for the toddlers came first. They knew very well how to make it hard to focus on these other things.. it was just the way it had to be.
Even Rune had to understand this, that whenever his younger sisters needed something, he would be on his own. Feeling energized by the sugar from the cake and just being a 12 year old boy to him this was the perfect time to head outside and throw the ball with his dad. Patrik would have enjoyed that too, but as his young baby girls weren't old enough to eat on their own yet, they took priority.
Patrik could only tell Rune to go ahead and practice shooting goals with the football, and then he would be out in a minute. Rune knew that he probably wouldn't, because it wouldn't take long before his stupid little sisters would start screaming about something else and then daddy would need to come to their rescue once more..
Pfft! He didn't need his daddy, he was
a big boy! He didn't need anyone, he was perfectly capable of
practicing on his own! And one day he would join the team as a
professional player, and he would be much better than his dad ever
was! And he would get signed to an even bigger club, maybe even
abroad, instead of quitting to spend his days at a desk inside the
police station! So lame, so pathetic! That's what he thought to
himself as he kicked the football as hard as he could repeatedly into
the net. You take that, you stupid football! Maybe he didn't even
want to play football at all.
Maybe he would do the radical opposite, whatever that was.
Maybe he would become a teacher at school, or a professor at
university.. or maybe not, because then he'd just be rotting away at
an office too... No, he wanted to do something athletic or outdoorsy,
he just wasn't sure what yet... Maybe a bath would help him figure it
out, which is something he needed right now anyway..
He didn't want to spend his day at home with mom,
dad and his annoying, screaming little sisters. He wanted to invite
some of his friends to hang out at the park.... and Elisa. So he
needed a bath.. kicking that football had made him all sweaty and
smelly, and that wouldn't be good.. He had to smell his best, maybe
even steal some of his dads perfume. He wouldn't notice, and he
deserved to have some of it stolen anyway.
So, after taking his bath and stealing some of his dads cologne to put under his armpits he called his friends Bodil, Samira.. and Elisa to hang out at the park. The cologne went under the amrpits because where else would he put it? As far as he knew, the smartest thing to do was to kill something by going directly for the source... wasn't that obvious?
-- Kids in the park --
Cliffon Park, where they were going, was quite a distance away from his house, but it was right next to Bodils house, so some responsible adults would always be nearby. Not that they would need that of course. They were all big, responsible kids. Bodil and Samira agreed to meet up at his house before going to the park, while Elisa would join them there a little later.
Spring was coming quickly as the temperature was rising and the snow in the park had already melted considerably. It probably helped a little bit as well that the park was located much closer to the ocean than Runes home, but still.. spring was definately on its way and many people had decided to spend their day in the park to enjoy this moment. No need for thick winter jackets or mittens.
The girls quickly met up with Tatiana Maria Vanderfjert, another local child, who had also found her way to the park on this currently damp and foggy day, due to the rapidly melting snow. However, it would soon enough become mild, pleasant and sunny and the leaves on the trees would once more begin to sprout..
..and speaking of sprouts, back home the parents were busy catering to the toddlers needs and teaching them necessary life skills. Patrik got the honour of being the one to complete the last stretch of teaching Lilian to talk. And her first words after this wasn't a "Thank you, daddy.", but crying and wailing because she soiled her diaper... well, thank you, daddy. ;)
Rune was a little bored that Elisa hadn't showed up yet, and wanted to take his last shot at playing inside an igloo someone else had built before it melted away..
..but he didn't get to enter before
Elisa arrived as she had biked there as fast as she could. Elisa
really loved her bike, the sense of freedom and being outdoors. All
things that were very important to her, and she would not let anyone
take them away from her, never again. What a beautiful spring day
this was..
Rune was pretty happy when Elisa finally showed up and completely forgot about the igloo. They get along really well, and it turns out they also share the same favourite colour. Things couldn't be better. ;)
-- There's no such thing as a dandelion --
Of course, the people in town knew all about Elisa
and the other children from the incident at the peat factory. They
didn't mean to be nosey, but it was a small town where everyone
didn't necessarily know everyone, but everyone knew about
everyone, and so there was no such thing as "nobody's
business". So local police officer Jingguo Xie-Luo wasn't trying
to be rude when he brought his son, Hung Jian, to show Elisa to him.
He was mostly proud, proud to be a part of the team that had
freed her from being held captive, and wanted to tell his son about
it. The town was keeping an eye on the kids from the factory, as well
as the adults that were there with them. Not to stick their noses in
others business, or so they told themselves, but because they cared.
They cared, of course, that they were doing well after everything
they had gone through. And they cared to watch that all these
newcomers were being properly assimilated into the town.
Elisa didn't notice Jingguo, so she wasn't bothered. She was much to busy talking to Rune, and sharing a little bit of gossip and secrets of her own with him. The kids were getting along really well and for them it didn't really matter right now what others did or didn't say about them.
Unfortunately they couldn't talk forever. Elisa had to do her homework before monday, and there wasn't a better place to do it than outdoors in the park. Not because the dining table at home was a bad place to do it, but the park was better.
With Elisa now being busy Rune remembered that he wanted to play in the igloo, which still hadn't melted. However, Bodil was having the same idea and she had already beat him to it, now saying the igloo was her fort and a girls only zone, so he couldn't enter. And he thought they were friends..
Well, if that's how she wanted it, she could have the igloo to herselves. The parks jungle gym was much cooler anyway – and it was for boys only! Because he said so. Well, boys and Elisa only, if she hadn't been busy with her homework, that is.
---
Meanwhile Samira and Tatiana Maria was throwing the ball together in the parks northeastern corner, right next to the pond and that weird totem pole some local artist had made, claiming it could control the weather or something. Not even the kids believed it could do that, but there it was.
Eventually Tatiana Maria walked over to talk to Rune. She had better not try to climb up on the jungle gym.. well, he was happy she didn't. She was more concerned about the snow melting and hoped it would start to snow again. She wasn't done with winter yet, and wanted to make another snow man. Spring weather can be a little capricious so there is still a chance she might get her wish. However hopes are dwindling and it didn't look like she was gonna get it today..
While they were talking Edny Sævik walked by and waved at Tatiana Maria. Ednys mother is still in prison down in Sunset Valley, but a possibility has opened up for her and the other inmates from the town to be transferred to the North Sunderland prison, which would make the visits much easier.
I suppose Edny wanted to play with Bodil, since they are best friends, but then Edny turned around because she suddenly realized she has homework to do.. and Tatiana Maria did the same..
The punishment for not doing ones homework before the weekend starts..
Well, atleast Tatiana Maria was now being a good girl doing her homework. Edny however figured she could postpone it a little longer to hangout with Even Foss, another one of peat factory kids. Unlike Elisa, who has been adopted by Danica, Even hasn't been adopted by anyone and still lives at the orphanage ran by Fred and Wanda Westgård.
When Rune noticed that Edny was in the park though, he decided it was time for him to go home. Not because he didn't like her or anything, but just in case she meant trouble. Her mom was in prison after all, and if what the other kids said about her was true he didn't want to be seen hanging around her.. It was her mom that was responsible for what Elisa had to go through...
Well, that, and it would probably be a good idea for him
to be home by sunset. Sprottenham is a small and pretty safe town,
but still, it was probably better this way.. and then he was certain
that his dad especially wouldn't freak out because he wasn't home
before dark.. He knew that he would not like it if he was hanging
around kids like Edny..
-- Sprouts --
When Rune came home Solvej was in the bedroom trying to jam out a new tune on her guitar. The milder temperatures, the melting of the snow, the days getting longer, plants and animals waking from their dormancy to live and grow made her feel inspired. She was experimenting trying to find a tune that encapsulated the feeling of spring, a gentle, nurturing tune of awakening and growth.. and even trying to find some lyrics to match. The flowers, the grass, the sky, the sun, new life... little sprouts stretching their leaves towards the blue skies above, swaying gently with the rhythm of the breeze...
While she was downstairs losing herself in the world of music, Patrik was upstairs in the living room getting the toddlers ready for the night. Making sure they are fed and their diapers are clean..
The sun had now set for the day, painting the skies with a pale pink-orange mauve hue. Some of the kids were still hanging out in the park playing around or doing their homework..
It was easier for Edny to focus there instead of at home with her younger brothers constantly needing something and helping her father in the absence of her mother. The park was one of few places she could sort of feel like the child she was supposed to be, even if it meant sitting on a park chair doing homework while everyone else had their fun.. but atleast the birds were still singing, even if the sun was down...
Back at the house Rune wanted to sleep in one of the bunk beds in the guestroom, he just had to check for monsters under it first... He had just barely started his journey towards realizing that the true monsters aren't necessarily the ones hiding under bunk beds in guest rooms, but he still had to lie down to have a look.. and sure enough, there was a monster there, with long hairy arms and red glowing eyes...
The guestroom was not a place for him to sleep... how grandma and grandpa could sleep well in there on their visits was something he didn't yet understand. He was better off sleeping in his own bed. It didn't have monsters under it nearly as often..
In the parents bedroom downstairs Patrik was feeling
grumpy at Solvej for still playing guitar while he was trying to get
the toddlers to sleep.. "Do you really have to do that in here?"
he snarled at her. Maybe this family life wasn't for him. Maybe he
would actually be better off living free like those insects and birds
that Solvej was humming about..
..but he couldn't do that, even though the thought was tempting him from time to time. If he was to do it, he had to be smart about it. He didn't know excactly how.. maybe when the toddlers were older and more self-sufficient. Or maybe he could be lucky and hope that Solvej, whom he fell in love with because of her free spirited nature, would be understanding.. and maybe they could reach some agreement. But he couldn't say this now.. It wouldn't be appropriate. It wasn't right, and he knew it. He could only explain to her that it was bedtime for the toddlers and that they needed quiet..
"Yeah, you're right.. I'm sorry", Solvej said. "I just got a little carried away. I think I got a song on the way, and I just.. got a little lost in there.."
"Alright, well.. that's nice, but... it's been a long day already, and I'd like for us to get some sleep.." Patrik continued, trying to sound as gentle as he could. He wasn't much of a musician, but as far as he could hear, Solvejs jamming wasn't bad and there was probably a song in there.
"I'm sure if you sleep on it, you'll get some fresh ideas to make it an act.. to work on it for tomorrow" he said, thinking it was best to encourage her to keep working on it at a later time.
"I'm sure you must have some good ideas for lyrics." Solvej said, pointing directly at him. "I think it's a song about spring, it just feels that way. And I want it to be dedicated to our twins. How much you care for them.. it we both sleep on it, we can write it together."
It was heartwarming that she would have this much faith in him. She was right about him caring for the toddlers, but he had absolutely no skill, or interest, in writing music.. and poetry or lyrics has never been where he shined.
"Well, you know how I am with music" he said, "so I can't promise anything.. good. But if I do get some ideas.."
"Then we have a deal. This will be our song, for the twins. And everybody has music in them.. I'm sure you'll find it." Solvej was all into this now. Patrik wasn't convinced he would have any worthwile contribitions, but if it meant Solvej was happy, he would play along. Solvej had music in her, and he had faith that no matter what happened, she would be able to finish the song all on her own, and it would be an infinite amount of times better than anything he could ever think of..
So finally for one last time they helped their little babies to sleep, before crawling under the sheets themselves.. and this little household was ready for a new day, a new month and a new chapter..
Good night.. ;)
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Other:
When checking in on Leya and Gautes home because I had to do a little correction on one of Bodil's outfits I found that Leya is pregnant again, and Bodil and Orinder is going to get a new younger sibling. And Leya would need to get another heart tattoo with a name on it, as soon as it is known..
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