Chapter 12: Lease on Life
Sometimes it's just so nice to sit around and 'hang out'. Christen and I really liked doing that after all the kids went to bed. I had to constantly reassure her that I had indeed forgiven her, and loved Lucas as though he was my own.
There were times when I felt I spent more time with him then my own. Was it because I felt guilty? Or that I had to prove that I wasn't going to neglect him in favor of my own 'flesh and blood'? After all, he WAS my flesh and blood, just my nephew and not my son. Though I wanted him to be my son.
After prompting from me, Christen started to spend time with her son. I pushed her so that she wouldn't always look at Lucas as a reminder of her mistake. He wasn't a mistake, just unplanned.
With Christen showing more interest in Lucas, I was able to spend more time with my daughters. Moonbeam wanted to grow up and be a Robot Cross Breeder, so she would spend hours with me at my little man-made pond fishing.
Together we spoke about a lot of things, but mostly about fish. It made me happy to have someone who got why I loved fishing so much, even if only a little bit.
Though the pond wasn't that old, and I had dug the hole myself, sometimes I would find a little surprised. I couldn't help but wonder who would put a birthday cake in a box, in the water?
I'm very proud to say that Christen started to move away from depending on Phillipe so much. She would insist on getting over her fear of crowds, and go the park to find people to interview. She would sometimes run into family, like Phillipe's son, but she was becoming more brave.
She would even stay out late sometimes to meet local residents or even tourists to interview. She was flying up through the ranks.
I often wondered if that had anything to do with the fact that Phillipe was her boss now, and perhaps he felt a little bit guilty about what he had done.
When a new family called Anchor (from The Anchor Legacy) moved into town, she insisted on going down to meet them.
After much chit chat, she even asked to interview them for work. They readily agreed, and she got three reports down!
Though she noticed Caty Anchor enjoyed kicking the pink flamingo decoration out front. She reminded me a little bit of my brother Phillipe, just a bit on the insane side.
Bear did confide in me that he had developed a little bit of a crush on a classmate's older sister. He would go over to his house after school, and ask her for help on his homework so he could get to know her.
He kept hoping his birthday would hit soon so they could go to high school together.
And very soon he got his wish. Because of being so busy all the time, we didn't have time to throw the boys a proper birthday party. That seemed to happen a lot.
Both grew up to very handsome, not looking anything like me. Bear was now family orientated, but had yet to decide what he wanted in life.
Teddy decided he wanted to be an illustrious author, and continued writing and painting when he had a chance. After all, he was now a workaholic.
Because Zappa wanted to be a Chess Master, something we always seem to get every generation in this family, she liked to challenge Christen to games all the time. The two spent a lot of time outside at the chess table together, chatting away as they fought to win each game.
Bear started to take a major interest in helping us with Lucas. It had to be because he was family orientated, but mostly he was keeping Teddy from stealing his candy all the time.
And before we knew it, the girls became teenagers too!
Zappa grew up to have a great mix of me and her mother.
And Moonbeam grew up to be quite lovely as well. She chopped off her hair, feeling it kept it from getting dirty while working in the garden.
I think Mom would be very proud of my family, even little Lucas.
There were always kids coming home from school, giving Christen plenty of people to interview. In fact, she was just one level away from being her LTW of an International Super Spy!
As you can see, Bear really worked on earning that girl's affections. I should ask him what her name is, I forget these things all the time now.
He even got himself his first kiss while on a date at the park.
It seemed that if they didn't have teenagers over, the kids would be on the phone with someone. It seemed that Moonbeam really liked a friend of Teddy's named Diam.
And then suddenly Lucas wasn't a toddler anymore. No more babies to cuddle! Though Lucas liked to cuddle anyway. He was always following the older kids around, or hugging me or Christen. He was all around a good kid, so friendly.
And even with such opposing personalities, all of the kids were very close. Closer then anything I could even imagine with such busy schedules and so many things for them to do!
Sometimes we would all just run around and play a big game of tag after dinner. It was fun, and it brought us all so close together.
And then it was time. No, not for Phillipe's ultimate revenge.
It was our birthday! I invited all of the family, and our friends over. Phillipe was happy to celebrate there, and even spoke a little with his son.
And then it was my turn. I was now an elder!
After a few slices of cake, Phillipe and I really took the time to talk. About everything.
We decided that this stress between us was extremely tiring, and decided to put it behind us. It was now time for a new generation to live, laugh or cry.
Phillipe even admitted to me that he really cared for Christen. He promised to never steal her, but he did keep an eye out for her at work. I appreciated his honesty, and we agreed that we would keep that between us.
Of course I couldn't keep away from my favorite thing to do! With Christen at work, and all of the kids at school, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands.
When not fishing, I would sometimes watch the TV.
And in tradition of my family, I even took time to start writing my memoirs. I didn't pretend that in any way it would be as well received as Mom's, the rock star, or Grandpa, the Sports Legend. After all, I'm just a fisherman!