Wednesday, 9 August 2017

Chapter 6: Look forward to it


Checking the mailbox at 6 am.


Posing with the food at 7:30 am.


Playing chess at 8 am (even when there's a physical chess set downstairs).


At 10 am, Ermilinda opens the door to see a crying teenager on the porch. Recognizing him as one of her daughter's classmates, she stares at him and decides to wait for the teen to say something first, which he eventually does. 

"I'm sorry Ma'am," he sniffles. "I spilled your garbage can while throwing out the newspapers."

"That's...okay," Ermilinda wonders why would he cry over that, but she doesn't have room to judge. "Why don't you come inside?"


Lucida sees a crying classmate getting inside the house and sighs. She's going to have a long talk with her mother about inviting her classmates in when she's still in the house.


Turns out there was a meeting for a group project, and Lucida apparently doesn't have the plan to go. She knows she's dragging them down with her lack of motivation to work, but Oliver Saint is the only one who bothered to go to her house.

"Can't I just send the instructions over the chatroom or something?" she says, exasperated.

"We just need you to be there for a couple of minutes," Oliver insists. Leo wonders why Lucida is so bent on not going there, but decides to keep it to himself.


"You could just, search stuff on the Internet," she suggests quickly.

"I know, but it's better to have someone there to teach us," Oliver looks at her pleadingly.

Lucida opens her mouth to point out that there's a thing called "instant messaging," but a look from Ermilinda means that it's better to just begrudgingly go with this poor boy and be done with it. 


Fortunately for both of them, most of the group had already left when they arrived at August Woods' home. It's not that Luciaa hates her classmates or anything, it's more like she just isn't in the mood to interact with people right now, but this coincidence is making her mood better.

She finds their house really...eccentric in all sorts of ways. But she likes it.


In the end, only Lucida and August is working on the assignment, as Oliver had been called for his part-time job already.

August glances at Lucida's paper only to see it almost done. "Wow, if you have been here earlier, our group would have finished by now!"

Lucida frowns, knowing that August means well, but can't help feel a bit cheated.


Ermilinda starts to make some paintings for the nursery as soon as the baby started to kick.


"You looking forward to this bundle?" Ermilinda looks down fondly at her daughter, reminding herself that she used to be that bundle before.

It feels weird to touch this lump, but she knows that it's not going to be a bad thing. Looking up, Lucida meets her mother's eyes and admitted, "Not really."


Leo is looking forward to this a LOT.


He has already read both pregnancy books twice and intends to review them tonight when his phone starts to ring. He doesn't seem to snap out of it, though, or rather he doesn't seem to mind it at all. 

Ermilinda has to prod him with her elbow to make him take the call. She doesn't want to hear any complaints coming from his colleagues, especially her sister.


Ermilinda's cravings usually lead to eating grilled sandwiches at 1 am. 


Her daughter sees her up at 4 am playing the guitar, and wonders if this is how her mother was back then, when she was still a lump of flesh living on tummy rubs and random cravings.


Leo gets the award for panicking in advance.


While trying to get out of the bed carefully and comfortably, Ermilinda decides that this will be the last time she'll experience this. 


"I'm just gonna go to the hospital now," Ermilinda calls out to her daughter, who has to cram on some forgotten homework.

She waves her hand and didn't bother to look up. "Sure, sure, take care."


Leo sees the school bus waiting outside and wonders what's taking Lucida so long. Then he remembers that he's supposed to take his wife to the hospital now, and quickly whips out his phone.


Going to the hospital in style.


The news that one of the town's prominent artists is giving birth now has spread already, and two doctors try to compete with each other to get to the hospital first until they realized the blinking green light. Sadly, someone has already beaten them to it.


Presenting the very blue and pink nursery!

(flash forward to toddler pics since I didn't bother to take any during the baby stage)


Thea is almost an exact copy of her mother's features.


While Hana gains her father's likeness.



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And with Hana and Thea in the house, the rolls for the 3 children and half-siblings are officially fulfilled! I might as well wing it now while I can.