America's suitehearts

Round 9: Winter 2012


Ryland Whitfield and Jackie are 61, Dawn and Zach are 8.
(Regan is 48, Rianna is 42, Denise and Nyah are 26 and Erin is 17.)

Narrated by Jackie Whitfield

I'm closing the restaurant for the holidays so I can spend time with my family. It's going pretty well. We get a lot of customers and me and the girls have really become a good team. Laura is the perfect hostess and Carole is the best server in town.

The twins have so many friends in the neighborhood that there's always some "extra" kids in our house. Dawn has become good friends with Stephen Marlowe but he'll soon switch to high school so we'll just have to wait and see if they'll remain friends then.

Rianna stopped by to ask if I needed any help with the christmas preparations. I said I had everything under control but I appreciated her offer. We're having the girls and their families over for a proper meal on christmas day. I can't believe I have 4 grandkids already. Denise and Ben just had another son, Liam, a few weeks ago.

I prepared the turkey the previous day so I'll just have to pop it in the oven early in the morning on christmas day.

Ryland and I have become old kooks. We enjoy the quiet days when he doesn't have to go to work and the kids are at school.

Something tells me that our quiet days might be over now. Dawn and Zach have been bugging us about getting a pet so we got them an early Christmas present. We bought two miniature poodles called Fifi (white) and Marcel (light brown).

Zach couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the dogs. He promised he and Dawn would take them for a walk every day.

I have to admit that the doggies look really cute sleeping in the same bed. I just hope they won't destroy our furniture or pee on the floor.

The kids woke us up at 6 am with their very loud pillow fight. Ryland wanted to tell them to stop but I told him to let them play. It's christmas after all!

I put the turkey in the oven in the morning and it was perfect when the guests arrived. Regan had warned me that she had some startling news but I was still shocked to see her 17-year-old daughter pregnant! Ryland didn't say anything, he just stood there holding Liam. Dawn on the other hand was thrilled. She has always liked Erin and now she was so excited to see that her "idol" is having a baby. I just hope she doesn't follow Erin's example when she gets older! Nyah is pregnant too but her situation is completely different. She's 26 and has been with her boyfriend for years.

The turkey was delicious but Ryland kept telling about his trip to the waste management plant. Nyah finally had enough and asked him to change the subject because she was starting to feel sick. I know Ryland didn't mean to cause any harm, he's just still so excited about his job that he keeps telling all these stories.

After lunch some of our guests gathered in the living room and danced smustle. The kids played at the activity table except Sara who was also dancing.

I talked to Regan about Erin's situation. She said that obviously it was a shock for her and Max but they're going to help Erin in every way.

"I'd like to blame the guy but I know it takes two," she said.

She also told me that Erin still wants to go to college but they'll have to see if that's possible under the circumstances. She still has a couple of years of high school left so there's plenty of time to plan things.

The whole party was a success. It's been a long time since we've all gathered together so it was a very special day.

Our new year's party was much more low-key. It was just me, Ryland and the twins. We had some fire works in the backyard and then we got back inside and watched tv together. The kids managed to stay awake to welcome year 2012.

It's been a pretty warm winter this year. We didn't get much snow so the kids have been playing with the dogs outside. We're trying to tell them that the dogs need some training too but playing fetch is much more fun. Marcel still pees on the floor which is starting to get quite annoying.

The spring is getting near and we're feeling quite romantic. The kids don't really like our public displays of affection but they'll understand when they get to our age.

Notes:

• Title from" America's suitehearts" by Fall Out Boy
• Yup, Erin is pregnant! The father is Greg Newman. I watched with horror when I saw the "try for baby" pop up in her action queue but I didn't want to interfere. She and Nyah will both have their babies in the summer 2012.
• I'm hoping that Fifi and Marcel will have puppies someday. They already get along pretty well.
• I know the Whitfields had winter on round 8 too but I finally came up with a working rotation system so they'll get spring next round. It was nice to have a christmas party, I was too lazy to decorate their house though.
• There are no spring birthdays so I'll play the university next.