Pumpkin soup

Round 15: April 2023


Kurt Robinson is 67, Tina is 35, Frieda is 15 and Tim is 2.
(Jack and Grace are 40.)

Narrated by Tina Robinson.

Frieda moved in to live with us last year and it hasn't gone as well as Kurt expected. He was thinking that his little girl is going to live with us but Frieda's not a little girl anymore. They mostly clash about school and her boyfriend. She's been getting quite poor grades lately and Kurt thinks it's all because of this boy.

They've come to an agreement now though. She will work harder on her grades and he will cut her some slack.

She's really serious about football. We even got her an exercise bike so she could work out at home. She's determined to get a sports scholarship for college.

It was a bit awkward for all of us in the beginning but I think we're all getting along very well now. I think Kurt has finally accepted that his little girl has grown up and Frieda is trying to respect her father's feelings and not act out too much.

We often watch movies together after we've put Tim to bed for the night.

Frieda's a great big sister and Tim adores her. Kurt goes to work right after Frieda's come home from school and she babysits Tim until I get home. It's really nice knowing he's home with someone I can trust.

Kurt was quite unsure if he could manage fatherhood at his age but he's doing really well. He loves spending time with Tim and the feeling is mutual. I've been wanting a second child ever since Tim was born but Kurt has been quite reluctant so far.

One night in Tim's room he simply took my hands and said that we should start trying. It's not like neither of us is getting younger and if we want a second child together then we'd better hurry.

Our main focus these last days has been Frieda's 15th birthday. She didn't want a huge party but just inviting Jack and Grace and their families makes quite a guest list. She also invited a couple of her friends and her boyfriend.

We got her a chocolate cake which she said she loved.

Her boyfriend Christian brought her a beautiful bouquet of roses. Kurt slowly starting to like him because he's always behaving so well when he's visiting our home.

I think Jack and Paige and the kids still miss Frieda. She visits them quite often but it's not the same as living with them. It's nice that she has so many adults to support her. Growing up without a mother hasn't been easy.

She got so many presents, mostly stuff for her room which she can take with her when she goes to college. Grace and Sam got her a handheld game so that she doesn't get bored on bus rides to football games. We got her a dresser and Jack's family bought her an easel and some paints.

A couple of days after Frieda's birthday we got some very exciting news. I'm pregnant! Kurt and I were both so surprised that I got pregnant so fast. We had originally planned to talk to Frieda that we're trying so that it doesn't come as a total surprise for her. There have been so many changes in her life lately that it felt important to let her know what was going on.

She seemed genuinely happy about the news though so I guess we needn't have to worry.

It's still very early but Kurt insists he can already feel a little bump. I'm just happy that he's happy about this pregnancy.

Notes:

• Title reference: Pumpkin soup by Kate Nash.
• Frieda's first update in this household. I had so much fun planning her birthday party even though the pictures didn't quite turn out like I wanted.
• The baby's due in January 2024. Tina really has had the want for another child ever since Tim was born so I finally gave in and took her off birth control. She got pregnant right away.
• I recently bought a new video card and my game is running much more smoothly now. And so far it's been crash-free (fingers crossed)! This will hopefully speed up my playing because I can fire up the game when I have time without it crashing every 15 minutes.