Chapter Nine

 

Tommy can be so boring sometimes. All he wants to do is fish and paint. I swear he is the least ambitious person I know, aside from our Dad. The two are peas in a pod.

It's so crazy to me that Mom and Dad have a toddler. Mom is so old now. Somehow she still finds the time and energy to teach Samuel the skills he needs to grow up.

Dad figured we needed a break so we all decided to go to the fall festival in town. Dad ran off as soon as we got there. I guess he really needs a chance to unwind. Who knew gardening and fishing could be so stressful?

Mom won the apple bobbing contest. I was surprised, and she yelled at me for being so surprised.

"Just because I'm older now doesn't mean I'm dead, James!" she admonished me.

Ok, so I kinda deserved it.

Dad won the pie eating contest. Jeez, what ever happened to parents letting their kids win stuff now and then?

Mom found a huge hale bay out back and couldn't resist the urge to start baling it. I think Dad has rubbed off on her a bit too much. I just realized now how that sounds. Ew.

We did get a really nice picture out of the whole thing though, even if some of us still had pie all over our faces.

Samuel is still a baby, but Betty is now an adult. She and Dad had already talked about her plans for after graduation. I know he's excited because all she can talk about is Arthur. He's happy there'll be another man in Betty's life to take care of her or something. That's a little sexist to me, but Dad has old-fashioned ideals. 

Mom also adores Arthur. I have to hand it to him; he did everything right. He got on our parents' good side and even asked Dad for Betty's hand in marriage.

She said yes of course. It's going to be weird here without Betty, too many guys in the house, a real sausage fest. At least I'm pretty sure Arthur is a good guy. If he's not...

"Just so you know, if you do anything to hurt my sister, I'm gonna punch you in the face," I said, laughing but not really joking at all.

"Jeez, James, calm down," said Tommy, ever the negotiator and nice guy.

"I love your sister, James," said Arthur. "I'd never do anything to hurt her, I promise."

He better not. 

It's rare when the family has a meal together these days. Dad is always busy fishing or gardening, Tommy's off doing his own thing and me...well, I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that I'm the supposed heir of this whole family inheritance thing. I don't think Dad fully gets that I intend to make my own money and eventually move out of this cramped cottage of a house for something bigger and better.

Dad has been trying to spend more time with Samuel lately after his fishing is over. It feels like hardly anyone pays attention to the little guy. His birthday is coming up. At least he somehow learned how to walk and talk.

I don't know what it is about Sam, but I find him a little off-putting. I know that's kinda a terrible thing to say about your little brother, but I don't know if I really like him. Of course I love him, but it's hard to like a kid that hardly ever has anything nice to say and always seems to be in a really crappy mood all the time, not to mention always bugging us for stuff. Maybe we'll get along better when he's older. 

Chapter Eight

 Author's Note: In this chapter, we switch POVs from Henry to our generation 2 heir James! 

Dear Journal,

Prom ended up being a drag. Betty made Prom Queen, but when I asked out a girl I had a crush on, she rejected me! It was so humiliating. Dad kept going on and on about how proud he is of us, and I love him, but man he has a tendency to be so sentimental sometimes.

He's tried repeatedly to get me to take over the farm when I'm of age, and I keep telling him it's not gonna happen. I've known since I was a kid that I just want a normal job, maybe something in business. We've struggled so much growing up, never having as much as other kids, and I don't blame my parents, but I just...don't want to struggle for money so much.

So on Leisure Day...yeah, I get the irony...I decided to do a job shadowing thing at the Doo Peas Corporate Towers. One day I'm going to get a job there for real.

Betty got asked out by this kid named Arthur Grover at prom and now they've got a steady thing going. I wish it was as easy for me to talk to girls as it seems to be for Betty to talk to boys.

While I was working hard to ensure we actually have money in the future, my family was goofing off in the garden. Why am I not surprised...I mean, I guess it was Leisure Day but still. No wonder we never have any money!

Apparently they went from playing in the sprinklers to having a water balloon fight. Don't they realize how bad that is for the environment?? That's a total waste of water. 

Betty spent the day at the Festival with Arthur. She placed dead last in the hot dog eating contest. I could make a joke about that, but I'm not, because it's my sister and that would be gross.

Dad loves Arthur. He says he's an upstanding young gentleman. He's always saying old-fashioned stuff like that. He's taught me how to be respectful and polite and stuff, but it does get old after a while. Sometimes I just want to break the rules and see how much he flips out.

Dad kept going on about having the perfect garden for some reason. I don't know. It looks like any old garden to me, but I don't know anything about plants. But yeah he feels like he's achieved his lot in life or something, and now it's basically just discovering all the plants there are to grow or something. Wow, so exciting. I swear I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but we're just different people.

Samuel grew up into a toddler. He's pretty cute I suppose. I don't feel all that close to him since we are so far apart in age. I'm honestly not sure what my parents were thinking having a baby at their ages. They seem more like Sam's grandparents than his parents.

Apparently Dad found some special seeds. It's all he could talk about lately. One of them gives off this cool fruit that keeps you warm. The other one creeps me out though. The fruit has skulls on it!

Betty is still going steady with Arthur. The two of them are so cute together that it makes me wanna puke. I wish I could've found a girlfriend at prom. Dad says I have plenty of time to be dating girls, but he's old. 

Thomas is a teenager like me now. He's pretty cool, but he takes after Dad a lot. He loves being outside, loves going fishing. I just don't get it at all. Dad should just let him inherit everything; it would make more sense. But Dad says I'm the one who has to carry on the family name. That's stupid. Just because I was born first? Who came up with these rules? 

Mom is an elder now. She doesn't let it slow her down. She still has time for all of us somehow. I don't know how she does it. How am I supposed to do what my parents did? Raise and support a family with barely anything to their names? I hate to admit it, but what they've done is pretty impressive. I'm not sure I can live up to their example. 

Chapter Seven

Fishing at the Hatchery continues to be efficient and profitable. I'm still amazed by the fish they have there, even swordfish!

Tommy is older now and a very distinguished little gentleman.

Aha! Now I won't need to borrow my granddad's shotgun and go hunting. I was finally able to save up enough money to have a fence installed around the garden. A very wise investment.

But just when we'd spent all our money on the fence, we learned that Elaine was pregnant again even though we both agreed Thomas would be our last. It wasn't planned at all and with Elaine getting older we were sure she wouldn't be able to have any more children, but life has a way of proving you wrong.

With our family getting even larger, it was time to expand the house as much as we could. Through several opportunities that arose to sell our produce to local business owners, we were able to afford a second floor, although it isn't finished for now.

Elaine still helps out in the garden. She says the fresh air is refreshing and good for the baby. I worry that she exerts herself too much, but she doesn't seem worried.

With the basic plants I have doing so well, I thought it would be a good idea to try and find more exotic species of plants. So I've been hunting around town looking for seeds. Riverview is so picturesque. I'm really glad I picked Riverview when looking for a place to live all those years ago.

Rudy, Elaine's half-brother, the son of her father and his much younger girlfriend, is now a teenager. Elaine is nearly an elder, and her half-brother is still in high school! I've nothing against him personally though. It's not his fault, and he seems like a decent young man.

Elaine enjoys spending time with him when she can, which isn't often. She's always been so family-oriented, and that includes her family of origin, half-brothers included.

James' birthday was coming up, but he had a special ceremony right before. He was so proud to receive several shiny new scouting badges. I can't say I was any less proud.

Jamie is a serious young man, but he still retains his kind heart. I fear he is a bit over-sensitive sometimes though and will take things to heart a little too much. I just hope some young lady doesn't end up breaking his heart one day.

We're about to have two teenagers, a child, and now a baby in the house! Elaine is worried that our youngest child won't be close to his older siblings because of the age gap. I know Betty at least will be very attentive to her baby brother.

And yes, it is a boy! Three sons, a father couldn't be any prouder. We decided to name our youngest Samuel. I get the feeling he is going to be a bit of a handful. Elaine thinks I'm nuts, but sometimes a parent just has an intuition...
 

Chapter Six

 

Elaine does a great job with teaching the children their skills and helping Betty with her homework. I wish I had more time to spend with the kids, but the garden is a huge time sink.

Still, I find time where I can. I try to instill the importance of being independent and living off the land to my eldest son, but I'm not sure he gets it.

"Our garden allows us to live independently," I tell him one day while he is doing his homework. "With the garden I grow our food and then your mother cooks it."

"My friends' families just go to the store, Dad," James rolls his eyes. "It's way easier."

Love Day ended up being very rainy, but that didn't stop us from visiting the festival. Betty spent her time hunting down eggs. We all got a bit wet, but we didn't care.

James got his face painted, and it was strangely disturbing to me. Perhaps I have a fear of clowns.

Betty took a spin on the rollerskating rink, reminding me of the time I took her mother there long before she was even born.

Betty grew up into a pretty teenage girl. Her eyesight is a bit poor though so she needed to get glasses. There's another expense on top of everything else, but it's necessary of course.

Some damn deer have been getting into the garden and munching on my plants that I've put my blood, sweat, and tears into! If I weren't a peaceful man...well, let's just say we'd be having venison for dinner. It made me realize though that I need to use some of our meager funds to install a fence around the garden.

Betty has come a long way from getting angry at her younger brothers for always waking her up. She is such a great big sister to little Tommy. 

James enjoys spending time with his brother playing blocks and showing him how to assemble different houses and things, but Tommy would rather just put the blocks in his mouth.

You'll never guess who turned out to be a huge fan of fishing! That's right, Betty is an angler like myself. I couldn't be more proud, and now I have a fishing partner so my time spent out on the river isn't so lonely anymore.

Of course we still visit the Hatchery too. It's very convenient having the stocked ponds all in one place. You wouldn't believe the types of fish they have there.

They even have jellyfish! Sometimes they sting you if you're not careful, as I learned the hard way.

You'll never believe what else I saw at the Hatchery one night. A real live unicorn! And yes I'm sure it wasn't just a horse with a horn stuck to its head. It did spend time with an actual horse though.

Of course I had to try and pet it. It didn't like that though, but it did sniff my hand for a while. I wonder if I'll ever see it again. 

With all the time spent gardening and taking care of the children, there hasn't been much time for Elaine and I to have to ourselves. We try to make time when we can, like in the garden. Time seems to be going by so fast. Before we know it we'll be elders, and it will be time for James to take over the household and the garden. I just hope he will understand how important it is.