New Beginnings

(I know, I’m real late with this, but I managed to get myself a nice healthy dose of the flu’. )

Boy, oh boy, do I feel old!

It was my last day at work today, and I don’t quite know how to feel about that. The Chief made a speech about my ‘long and loyal service, blah, blah, blah,’ and I cleaned out my desk before heading home to my family. I’m glad in a way because I’ll get to spend so much more time with my son and daughters, but I spent so much time working that I think I’m going to miss the Brockhall police station!

What do you think of my new look?

I wish Mother and Father could have seen me, but they passed away within a day of each other just before they were to come and visit us. It was bad enough before, when they could only visit occasionally, but now I can’t even to talk to them on the phone every day like I used to do. Still, they were good people, great parents, and excellent grandparents, and we won’t ever forget them. At least I won’t. Marissa and I were going to fly out there with the kids, so we could all say goodbye, but it didn’t turn out that way. Both girls had bad colds, and Abe had to have his appendix out, so I went alone.

I hated the funeral. The priest said some very nice things about Mother and Father, and a few of their old friends spoke as well, but I just wanted to get home to my family.

Anyway, enough of that depressing stuff!

I didn’t want a cake or a party, and my wife and children respected my wishes. It just felt too early for me to be celebrating, when my parents hadn’t even been in the ground a fortnight. Still, everyone has had a good laugh at my new, old look!

I’m really looking forward to spending more time with them.

(I’m updating later than I intended. Not my fault, the game went extra innings!)

Why do birthdays have to be so chaotic? I know I’ve said that before, but geez Louise! Maybe it’s because we have twins, but our house looks like a bombsite!

Still, at least now I’ll be able to have a decent conversation with Abe and Amby now, instead of babbling in idiotic baby-talk. Don’t get me wrong here, I love my children, and my wife, but my God, it’s a lot of work! Even Superman would get worn out working seven hours a day, helping with homework, keeping twins amused, and then getting only a few hours sleep every night before the whole routine starts again!

Okay, enough of that, and on to Abe and Amby.

The birthday cakes weren’t ready, half the presents hadn’t been wrapped, and the blasted telephone kept ringing (nothing chaotic there, it was just one of Alkanet’s little friends), so we’re going to take the kids out on Saturday night for a proper party.

Abe’s certainly a happy-looking little fellow, not sad-eyed like his elder sister, but what I can’t get over is how much he looks like me when I was his age. It’s uncanny. He also looks quite a lot like poor, murdered George Hutchings, which is disturbing.

I’d better not forget Marissa’s little doppelganger: Amby. I swear, she gets more like her mama ever day!

Mother and Father are coming for a visit in a couple of weeks, and I’m really looking forward to it, we haven’t seen them since the twins were born. They’re starting to look quite old now! Mind you, I shouldn’t talk, I turn 50 next week! Yikes! I guess that’s what happens when you marry and have children with someone that much younger!

Don’t feel bad about the names, Claire! I think it was Jill, and Brian was married to Cherry, or was it the other way around? I’ll be damned if I can remember! And, Katie, you’re right, out of the three children, Abe is my favourite, and I have no idea why (actually, he seems to resemble Ralph a bit, and he was one of my favourites, so maybe that’s why!).

(Sometimes my writing reflects my mood, Katie. There isn’t going to be a repeat of the Sasha Saga, however. I write my updates ahead of time, and I didn’t want Ryan and co to be happy all the time, that would be boring, and unrealistic. )

Have you ever noticed that sometimes time flies, and other times it just crawls?

Still, I’ve got my retirement to look forward to, if nothing else. The builders came back yesterday to finish off Abram’s room. We were going to have Amballa sharing with Alkanet, and turn the nursery into Abram’s room, but things didn’t turn out that way at all. Alkanet’s room is just too small for two people, so Abram’s room is upstairs next to ours, and Amballa’s got the nursery. The twins won’t be toddlers for much longer, so the renovations were neccessary.

Alkanet is getting on better with the twins than we could have hoped for, and seem especially fond of Abe. She can sit on the floor, amusing him, for hours. She’s the same with Amby as well, of course, but Abe seems to be her favourite. Speaking of Abe, he’s the only one that seems to resemble me, the two girls taking after their mother.

I’ve got to admit, though, I do get a pretty good welcome home at the end of the work day. Alkanet doesn’t come running out every day, but it’s pretty neat when she does. Iwonder if the twins will do that when they’re older?

Also, Alkanet brought home her first A+ the other day, but unfortunately, Marissa and I were at work at the time, I would have loved to have been here. Marissa has been promoted to CEO now, so she doesn’t get home until four, and I’m at work until six, so I guess a lot of our children’s best moments are slipping by without us being there. Marissa likes to spend a lot of time with the kids when she gets home from work, and she’d like me to get involved more too, but I’m always too tired during the week. I feel bad that the only time they see me, really see me, is at the weekends, but there isn’t a lot I can do about it.

I’ve found out a little more about my little mystery , though. Actually, it was more than I wanted to know. Brian Hutchings, who was my Great-great Uncle, or something like that, murdered his ten-year old nephew George, then turned the gun on his sister-in-law as she held her son. I wish I hadn’t found that out now.

(R16. Certain topics may offend. You have been warned.)

Well, things haven’t been too chaotic around here today, considering the circumstances! Good thing, too, because my nigtmares have come back with a vengeance, and I seem to see the little dead boy everywhere I look. Is he trying to tell me something? How could anyone kill a child? Maybe I’ve just been working too hard, but this is really starting to get to me.

Anyway, enough about that.

Alkanet has been really enjoying school, and she always heads to the bus with a smile on her face.

She’s made a lot of new friends, and even has a crush on a little boy in her class! Don’t let on that I told you, though, she’s sworn me to secrecy!

She brought her little friend Marsha home from school today, but Marsha only stayed for an hour or so before her mother came to pick her up. Marissa did invite them to the twins’ birthday party, but they couldn’t stay. In a way, I was quite relieved!

I was hoping I’d be able to get home from work early, but that was just wishful thinking, everyone seemed to be having some sort of crisis that needed sorted out! It didn’t help that everyone at work kept giving me odd looks all day. Yes, I know I look tired, and more than a little harried, but did every rotten one of my coworkers have to keep staring at me like I was some kind of freak?!? Friggin’ idiots, the whole rotten bunch! That really put a dampner on my day.

Marissa didn’t help matters by accusing me of being late for the birthday party, but it wasn’t my fault!

So now there’s two yowling toddlers in the house. Wonderful.

(Ryan ain’t happy this time, is he?)

(I deleted the Goddamn photos! So, obviously, this is a no-pic episode, grrrr! I am so peeved right now that I could scream!)

Why, oh why, are birthdays so chaotic?

Between work, wrapping presents, and dealing with the twins, I’m suprised that I’m still sane!

Anyway, back to the point. My precious little Alkanet isn’t quite so little anymore, and she’s looking forward to her first day at school, which is tomorrow! Goodness, where has the time gone? Poor Alkanet didn’t even get a cake! Mind you, that wasn’t my fault, the bakery had sold out, and Marissa, who was home from work first, burnt the one she made.

It’s a bit of a shame, really, the only time I’ll get to see my Alkanet as a toddler now is if I look back through the photo album!

Still, she’s a pretty little girl, which I’m glad of, although she has incredibly sad-looking eyes, but other than that, she looks like her mother. Also, she seems to enjoy sitting at the desk in her room, rather than watching TV. While I’m glad that she’s not ruining her eyes and filling her mind with rubbish, I hope she’ll not be a loner.

I’m certain, however, that she’ll do well in school, as she’s quite serious and bookish, which Marissa says she gets from me, and her favourite place seems to be in her room, or anywhere there’s a good book!
Kendal, the nanny, is still doing her job well, with one exception: she seems to pay more attention to little Abram (Abe to us) than she does to Amballa (Amby to everyone). Marissa and I aren’t sure what to do about that, as we try to give all our children equal attention, which is actually a little harder than it sounds! Still, Marissa is going to have a word with Kendal tomorrow. I hope it turns out okay.

(As for my little note at the start, please excuse my language.)

Well, I seem to have hit a perfect balance this time. This blog (unlike the last one) isn’t proving difficult to write, and it hasn’t scared my muse off, so I can still write my own brand of weird fiction. Sweet! And, everyone seems to be enjoying it as much as the old one (personally, the dopey inhabitants of Victoria Hill got on my nerves after a while)!

Also, Katie (and Claire), the twins are a bit of a problem because I sometimes get annoying glitches during the transition between twin babyhood and twin toddlerhood. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but I’m not the best-tempered person on this planet, and glitches usually make me want to kick the computer

I think I’m in shock.

Alkanet has had a bit of a cold for these last couple of days, and she just wouldn’t settle last night, so I told Marissa to head on up to bed, and I’d sit up with our precious little girl. Well, Marissa didn’t even make it to the door before our new little one put in an appearance.

It wasn’t long after that when I got to hold my boy, my Abram. That’s when the suprise arrived.

So now, along with Alkanet Edith, we also have Abram Michael, and Amballa Katie Mellon. Marissa and I still can’t believe she had twins! Seriously, we weren’t expecting that at all! Alkanet’s been very, very quiet since the birth, and I hope it hasn’t put her nose out of joint! Believe me, you don’t want to see my fiesty little fireball in a sulk!

Anyway, the twins arrived at midnight, and it’s 4am now. I’m just counting down the hours until I can start calling everyone we know to tell them the good news! Mother and Father told me to call as soon as the baby (we weren’t expecting twins, remember) arrived, but it’s still too early, and Mother’s health hasn’t been that good lately. She needs her sleep. I don’t expect them to be too happy with me when I tell them the news, they’ll tell me I shouldn’t have waited, but that’s life. I wish I could feel happier, but for some reason, the thought of our twins makes me incredibly uneasy.

(One word: Doh!)

Marissa is, thank God, warming up to the idea of another baby. Maybe it’s because she’s due any day now. Mother has already put aside some money for plane tickets, and sent even more pairs of grotesque booties. God, I sound ungrateful, don’t I? I don’t mean to sound that way, but can you imagine a baby, beautiful in all respects, with a pair of shocking pink booties on its tiny feet? Even worse, though, is the fact that Father keeps referring to Alkanet as ‘Alky’! That makes it sound as if she’s an alcoholic! I’ve tried to tell him, but I think all I did was waste my breath.

I’ve tried to explain about the new baby to Alkanet, but I think she may be just too young to understand at the moment. At least, that’s what Marissa says.

Speaking of Marissa, she’s really looking forward to getting back to work, and I think she’s getting a little bit bored around the house. Because it’s so small, it’s easy to keep clean, all of her friends work, and she’s read all the books in the bookcase. It’s all right when Alkanet is up and about, but when she’s down for a nap, Marissa has nothing to do except watch the thoroughly predictable soap operas on TV.

Remodelling the house has kept her quite busy (not that she did any of the work, of course, we hired someone for that), but since that’s all been completed now, she’s at a loss what to do. The house looks even better though.

Our bedroom is upstairs now, and Alkanet’s room has been completed. In fact, it’s where our room used to be, although it’s been shrunk, due to the fact that it was the only place we could put the stairs (or so the builder said). Still, Alkanet has enough room for a bed, and maybe a desk. She’s still in the nursery at the moment, due to the smell of paint in her new room.

(There was supposed to be an Andy-Brian bit in this update, but I’m in a hurry to finish ‘High Rhulain’! Have you read that one, Katie?)

Oh, dear, I’m in trouble!

No, seriously, Marissa is furious with me at the moment.

I was teaching Alkanet to walk the other day, when Marissa stormed in. I have never, ever seen her so angry!

Anyway, it was our wedding anniversery a while back, and Marissa’s folks offered to have Alkanet for the night, so we could have a night to ourselves for a change. Marissa cooked a nice meal (I did suggest we go out for dinner, but she shot that idea down), and we did the whole candlelit dinner thing, accompanied by a couple of bottles of excellent wine. Not a good idea, as things turned out. Needless to say, we retired to bed rather early that night! I guess neither of us were as careful as we normally would be, I don’t remember, although I do remember the hangover the next morning.

Now, Alkanet was supposed to be a ‘one-and-only’, as Marissa puts it, but…

Of course, it takes two to tango, so I don’t see why I should get all the blame! I am thrilled at the news, but Marissa isn’t, which is a little worrying, but I’m sure she’ll come around. I’m hoping for a boy, a little Abram, this time around, but I will be satisfied with a little girl again. Marissa doesn’t seem keen on calling the baby Amballa (can you blame her, Ryan?), if it is a girl, but she couldn’t think of anything better. Mother and Father hinted that they would like a few more grandchildren, but that’s not very likely to happen after this one! Besides, two children will be enough. I did want six, but that was before I realised how much work children are!

(Claire, I think Alkanet has a pretty well-balanced personality, but I’ll be damned if I can remember!)