Generation 2, Chapter 5: Un mariage, un bébé et un petit ami

Days in the Collier house fell into a new routine once the twins started school. The house was so much quieter that I actually found myself longing a little for the noise of a full house, even if it was distracting.

Every morning the girls would get up and eat breakfast together. They all got along well most of the time, but Blanche and Lenore seemed especially close.  I couldn’t exactly put my finger on why, but Margot seemed a bit like the odd one out. Perhaps it was her blonde hair. I knew how silly it sounded, and I also knew Blanche and Lenore loved Margot. But they didn’t seem to go out of their way to include her.

Despite that, Margot was a cheerful girl and she relished going to school every day. When she came home in the afternoons, she would greet me with a big hug and excitedly tell me about what she’d learned that day. I know all mothers as supposed to say this about their children, but Margot was a very friendly and ambitious child. Perhaps that’s why she didn’t fit in as well with her absent-minded (but still wonderful) sisters.\

Apparently they had a whole unit on waste disposal.

After homework was finished, Blanche would usually steal away to her bed and bury her nose in a book.  Lenore was out the door at the very first opportunity she got – she loved the outdoors and she grew restless and fidgety when she had to be inside for too long. She and Margot spent long hours outside, letting their imaginations run wild.

The days passed smoothly and quietly. I painted and sculpted. Yves worked at the bistro and kept moving up the ladder. The girls excelled in school. Our lives must have seemed mundane and boring to an outsider, but I was content with family life. It was all I’d ever wanted when I was growing up. It was the whole reason I wanted to be the heir of this legacy. With Blanche about to become a teenager, the idea of which of my girls would carry on the legacy lived in the back of my mind.

But I pushed it away when I could. Who had time to think about that when I had a party to plan? 

Since Blanche’s birthday was on a school night, we decided to have a low key gathering at home with just the family.

Blanche aged into a beautiful teenager.

And with age she did NOT outgrow her absent minded tendencies, which I was actually grateful for. They had become a part of her personality and quite frankly I couldn’t imagine her without them. She still made good grades in school, so how could I complain?

Blanche could now help Lenore and Margot with their homework, which made me happy. Since Yves worked in the evenings, the task had always been delegated to me. 

 
Now that Blanche was available, I finally found time to make a run to the local junkyard to restore my depleted stock of scrap metal.

However, I found only useless curved piping, which I hate. Loathe, even. 

Kai had made no mention of wedding plans since he proposed to Tricia. It seemed like an eternity had passed since he’d asked her, and to my knowledge they hadn’t even thought about a date yet. They still saw plenty of each other.

And I do mean plenty.

I knew it was not a problem with their relationship. I began to worry that Kai had stayed here so long out of what he perceived as an obligation to me, to Yves and to his nieces. Ever since Mama died, Kai had stepped in to help us. From changing diapers to cooking dinner to consoling a crying toddler, he’d been there for all of it. I instantly felt guilty, like I was holding him back. I knew he was eager to start his life with Tricia. 

One night these thoughts kept nagging me, and I found myself getting out of bed and getting dressed in the middle of the night. I’d heard Kai making noise in his bedroom so I knew he would still be awake.

I opened the door to my bedroom and to my surprise I found him in the process of sneaking out the front door, suitcase in hand.

“Kai? Kai, what are you doing?”

He dropped his suitcase in surprise and turned to face me. He looked frustrated and ashamed.

“What’s going on, Kai?”

I felt panicked and afraid. He was sneaking away in the middle of the night. He was so tired and miserable with us that he felt he had no other way out. Why couldn’t he have just said he wanted to move out? We would have understood.

I found myself growing indignant while I waited for him to stammer out a response.

“It’s me and Tricia, Vivien. We want to get married and we’ve been waiting so long.”

“Yes, I know. I have no idea why you’ve been waiting so long, you know you’ve had all this time to start planning the wedding. You know that Yves and I would be happy to help-“

“Tricia’s pregnant, Viv. We’re eloping.”

Those words hit me like a ton of bricks. A whirlwind of emotion passed through me in just a few short seconds. Shock. Anger. Frustration. Ultimately, happiness. I was going to be an aunt!

But I found myself desperate to keep Kai from eloping. I wanted so much for him to feel like he could have his special day here, even if it meant getting married in jeans and a tshirt.

“You know I love you. You know I only want what’s best for you and Tricia. But please…please think about what you’re doing. I know it’s not my special day, but I want to be a part of your wedding. You can have it right here, if you want. Casual, no pressure. Please?”

He looked at me and his face broke into a small smile.

“Okay. I’ll talk to Tricia about it.”

One week later, Tricia and Kai decided to tie the knot in our living room. Surprisingly, it was quite romantic. 

Of course, along with the marriage came a day I had been ambivalent about. Kai was going to be moving out.

On one hand, I was elated that he and his new wife would be starting their life together – starting a family together. But I was also a little sad. I was so young when Kai was born that I don’t remember being in this house without him. He was there when I needed him the most and I was going to miss him terribly. 

But as I watched him pack his things into Tricia’s small car, I knew he would be just a short drive away. They’d found a house to rent close to the stadium, which meant Kai’s commute to work would be much shorter.

And life, life goes on. Margot discovered a love for the galaxy. We woke up many mornings to find she’d been out of bed for hours, searching for new stars or patterns.

I was pleased to see the twins spending more time together since Blanche had gotten older. Margot seemed to find her place with her two sisters.

Blanche decided to try her hand at guitar and I must admit, she sounded awful. However, being the supportive mother that I always try to be, I forced a smile and told her how excited I was to hear her play more often (hopefully that would encourage more practice, at the very least.)

She developed a penchant for Sim Gnubb and even taught me how to play. I wasn’t half bad.

She also developed a penchant for boys. Yves and I heard her mention the name “Tam Keller” on more than one occasion, but we couldn’t really nail down what the nature of their relationship was. We hadn’t met him yet, although we’d tried to get Blanche to invite him over on more than one occasion.

Finally she relented and Tam came over for dinner one evening. It became quite clear to Yves and I that she definitely had feelings for him. 

I grinned a little to myself as I prepared dinner. I was excited that Blanche found someone she could spend time with and be excited about.

Yves, however, did not share my same enthusiasm.

“What are you smiling for? Vivien? That’s our daughter! She is much too young to date.”

“Relax, mon chéri. She’s a teenage girl with a crush. What’s the harm in that? We were only a few years older than her when we got married.”

He looked positively mortified after those words slipped out of my lips.

“That is exactly what I mean! I don’t want her getting serious with some boy so fast.”

I felt hurt by those words. What exactly did he mean by that?

“You mean…like we did?”

His expression softened and he realized the implication of what he said. He walked to the other side of the kitchen island to put his arm around me.

“Ah, no Vivien. I’m sorry. I don’t regret a single moment I’ve spent with you. It’s just…I feel different with Blanche. She’s our daughter. I know we were so young when we got married and we took such a big risk. It paid off for us but I can’t help feeling like, maybe she will not be so lucky, you know?”

I did know. I felt incredibly lucky every day I got to wake up next to my husband. I also realized how terribly wrong everything could have gone if just a few things had been different. I shuddered to even think about it.

Yves and I put on a happy face during dinner, and couldn’t help peeping out the window as Blanche and Tam raced out the front door after finishing the meal.

Ach, non. My little girl was growing up much too fast. 

I stewed a little in self-pity at the thought of getting older, and at the thought of my babies getting older. I wasn’t ready to see them grow up. I wasn’t ready to let go.

A ring of the doorbell snapped me away from my daze, and I was surprised to find Tricia on the other side.

“Hi Viv. Kai is working late tonight and I was lonely in the house by myself so I thought I would stop by. Is now a bad time?”

Bad time? It was never a bad time for Tricia. Her tummy had grown considerably since the last time I saw her.

I was a little annoyed with Kai for leaving her home alone late at night when she was this far along in her pregnancy. What if the baby came?

Tricia and I shot the breeze for a little while. When I got up to grab a drink from the kitchen, I heard a sharp gasp and a wail come from the living room. 

“Oh god, the baby!”

Yves had just arrived home to find Tricia in the early stages of labor in our living room.

I tried to remain calm despite myself. I asked Yves to drive Tricia to the hospital. Meanwhile, I hopped into the car and sped across town to the stadium, where I knew Kai would be practicing. I raced down the concrete hallway of the stadium and into the stands. I didn’t even wait until the field came into full view before I started to yell.

“Kai! Kaiiiii! The baby is coming!”

I heard a round of whistles and claps from his teammates as he raced off the field. We rushed to the hospital together – he didn’t even bother to change out of his practice clothes.

It felt like hours later when we emerged from the hospital. Yves drove home and I accompanied the new parents back to the little house by the stadium.

Welcome home, baby Brandon.