That's amore

Round 14: Summer 2021


Amabelle and Chase Harper are 66, Will is 36, Alexa is 29, Connor and Dane are 5 and Jena is 1.
(Brooke and Toby are 29 and Erin is 26.)

Narrated by Alexa Harper

We moved into a new house this summer. It all started when we wanted to extend the porch in the back of the mansion. We called Ben Cooper and asked him to draw something. He came to see us and checked out the house and found a huge crack in the foundation. He then did some further research and found out that the whole foundation was completely rotten. There was really nothing to be done. The whole house could've collapsed any minute and wasn't safe to live in anymore. Ben said that it would be easier to build a new house than to fix the old one. We didn't want to lose the land so we decided to tear down the old house and build the new one on the same spot. So we lived in an apartment for a few months and let Ben's company do the dirty work.

Dad was pretty crushed because he had hoped that we could keep the mansion in the family for future generations. I was quite sad too but I have to say that I really love our new house. It has so much light and it's much more practical compared to the mansion. And it's the perfect size for our family too.

I love the whole house but I think my favorite rooms have to be the kids' rooms, especially Jena's. I always wanted a nice nursery for the boys but they ended up sleeping in our bedroom for the first few years before moving into their own room.

Connor and Dane are thrilled about the pool and they would probably eat and sleep there if we let them. Mom's been on vacation so she usually sits in the shade by the pool and watches them. She says she's not ready to retire yet but she seems to enjoy her days off very much anyway.

Spending all day outside swimming and playing usually gets the boys pretty tired. Sometimes getting them to bed is a real struggle with their "5 more minutes, mommy" pleas but this summer they have gone to bed very nicely - unless they fall asleep on the living room sofa in which case Will has to carry them upstairs.

Lately I've been reviving my dream of owning my own flower shop some day. We really can't afford to buy a property right now because we had to take a loan to build this new house but I'm slowly starting a home business. Jackie Whitfield saw a bouquet I had done when she visited us and she decided that she wanted me to provide flowers for her restaurant every week. Jena is usually happy to play with her doll house for a couple of hours while I work so I've come up with a working routine to get at least two hours of productive work done every day. Mom's said she'd be more than happy to babysit Jena while she's on vacation if I want to work for longer but I think at this point two or three hours a day is more than enough. Jena's constant babble has become great background music for me.

Just the other day I was joking to mom that I'm the only one of her children who hasn't gotten the ambitious gene from her. Brooke is a journalist and Paige has a career in the military but I've always just wanted a family. Now it seems that I might have gotten at least a fragment of that gene because for the first time in my life I'm seriously wanting to build a career for myself.

My friend Erin and her fiancé Toby came to see me one day and said that they had seen my work at Jackie's restaurant. They asked me to handle the flower arrangements for their wedding next year! It's going to be a huge task but I really want to do it. I told them that I'm just a beginner but they said that they're confident that I'm the right person for the job. I'm so excited about this!

Will got a promotion a few weeks ago and he's working in counter intelligence now. I'm happy for him but I'm also really worried that something terrible might happen to him. He's not allowed to talk about his work but I can imagine that it's not the safest job in the world. I try not to think about it too much but it has also made me aware that there are women and men who have lost their spouses and are struggling to get on with their lives. I wanted to help somehow and although money is pretty tight at the moment, I donated some to a charity fund. It doesn't take much to write a check but it still felt good to do something to help others.

Naturally I'm more in charge of raising our kids because I'm home all day but Will really does his share. He tries to spend as much time with the kids as he can. He plays catch or throws football with the boys and plays with Jena. We've talked about having another child but we've put that dream on hold for a few years. We already have three wonderful children and we want to focus on them now. I'm still young so if we feel differently in a few years then there's plenty of time to do something about it.

Besides it's nice to have some time for each other too which would probably be impossible if we had another child. We usually go downstairs after we have gotten the kids to bed and just watch tv or talk and cuddle on the sofa. The house is quiet and for a moment we feel like we're the only people in the world.

Brooke came over the other day. She had a day off and she said she got bored waiting for Charlie to come home from work. I'm always happy to see her especially now that I don't get out of the house much. She's always so much fun to hang out with.

I mentioned that Erin and Toby want me to arrange the flowers for their wedding and she was really happy for me. She half-jokingly frowned and said that all around her people are getting engaged but she's not any closer to marriage. She did say that she's not even sure if she wants to get married.

"Everything's going well with me and Charlie and I don't really know what difference would it make if we got married. But I do want kids some day and I'm not getting any younger."

I told her that she's not that old but I do get her point. We're turning 30 next year and the longer she waits, the more difficult and risky it will be to get pregnant and give birth. She and Charlie have never really talked about having kids so she doesn't know what he thinks about it.

I can tell that she has baby fever because she's much more enthusiastic about being a good aunt to Jena, Connor and Dane than she has been before. She's always been very fond of them but I haven't seen her crawl around the floor playing with them!

The kids adore their "cool" auntie Brooke. Connor and Dane are always so excited to tell her about their school stuff and their friends and everything.

I can see that there's a bit of sadness in her eyes because she fears that she may never experience motherhood. It would be such a shame because I know she'd be a great mom. I hope her dream comes true one day.

It all just makes me even more grateful of having my family around me.

Notes:

• Title from "That's amore" by Dean Martin.
• As you might have noticed, I've uploaded a new banner for the blog. This one features Alexa and Jena.
• I'm sorry for not updating earlier but hopefully that'll change in the future now that most of the RL "madness" has subsided.
• The Harper family's new house is part of my attempt to get rid of some of the oldest and biggest houses in Wellington. Most of them seem to have become practically unplayable due to bugginess and/or other weirdness. I had to come up with some back story as to why the family would tear down the family mansion and I think I got it covered. I got this house from MTS (built by Suhina-Lempi) and only redecorated it, the floor plan was nearly perfect for the Harpers as it was. I'm really happy with how the house turned out but I'm not promising to post a tour... I never seem to get those done anyway ;)
• Will was promoted but so was also Chase! He's now Clone Researcher and only one step away from the top of his career! Well done, Chase. His promotion didn't really fit into the update but I didn't want it to go unannounced.
• Alexa got the ROS: Charity strikes! You're feeling inspired and donate 10% of your personal net worth to charity. Maxmotives because you feel so good.