The trooper

Round 10: Winter 2013


Max Fielding is 57, Regan is 49, Erin is 18, Lilly is 8 and Iona is 6 months.
(Greg is 20.)

Narrated by Erin Fielding.

We moved to Exmoor a couple of weeks ago. A water pipe had broken in our old house which had lead to mold in the structures. That was the final straw for mom and dad. They said they've never really liked our house so they bought a new house next door to the Harpers. I don't feel too bad about moving. The new house is really great and there's a huge pond in the backyard.

Dad's business is going pretty well. His employee has started doing his job and there's plenty of customers. He had to close the shop early the other day because he had sold almost all of his stock.

I'm starting to get really good in this whole motherhood thing. At first I was terrified to even hold Iona because she was so tiny but now I'm changing diapers and feeding her.

I definitely didn't plan to become a mother at 17 but I really love my daughter.

After the initial shock my parents have settled into being grandparents pretty well. Dad works late nights so he takes care of Iona while I'm at school.

Mom usually feeds Iona in the morning on the weekends so I can sleep late.

Lilly's been asking where do babies come from. Dad finally explained something to her while they were playing chess. I don't think that she buys the whole "a stork brings the baby" talk, she's a pretty smart kid.

I'm working hard to get accepted to college. My grades have always been good but I haven't had much time to earn scholarships since I was ordered to bed rest while I was pregnant.

Mom is prepping me for the interview at Brixton. They want to make sure that I can take care of my child and my studies before they let me enroll.

I feel a bit sad that I'm not very close to Lilly. She seems like a great kid but I wasn't very interested in spending time with her when I was younger.

We've been bonding lately though. We both enjoy playing chess so we usually play while Iona is taking a nap.

We even had a small pyjama party the other night, just the two of us. I think she's definitely going to become a scientist. I wanted to become a scientist when I was about 13 or 14 but nowadays I'm not so sure. I feel like I don't have the same passion for science as mom does. I know she'd be thrilled to see me follow her footsteps but on the other hand I'm sure she'll be happy if I find something I enjoy more.

Dad got an offer to write his memoirs some time ago. The publisher says people would love to read about all the things that have happened to him over the years that he's been the "official" party animal. He finally got started and now I hear him typing in the study whenever he has some free time. I think it's gonna be interesting to read about his life. I don't really understand his job as he basically gets paid to make appearances in parties!

Greg came over the other day. We haven't seen each other very often. He always says that he's busy with his studies. I haven't even visited the dorm where he lives. Hopefully it'll all change when we move in together next year - if I get accepted to Brixton.

He seemed happy to see Iona again. I'm sure we'll be just fine.

Notes:

• Title from "The trooper" by Iron Maiden
• The old Fielding house had apparently become corrupt since it kept crashing my game so I moved them to a new house. It's the "Villa Visionary" house by Maxis (I don't know which EP it came with) but I've modified it quite a lot.
• Erin managed to get 3 scholarships so she'll start college in the spring 2014.