Saturday 13 September 2014

Video killed the radio star

Round 16: May 2025


Deacon Burrows is 60, Stella Harris is 61, Minka is 7 and Nick is 5.
(Liv is 27, Dawn is 21, Finn is 20 and Shea is 5.)


Narrated by Deacon.

One of the best things I know nowadays is being greeted at the gate to our house by Minka when I come home from work. "Daddy, you're home!" she shouts and throws her arms around my neck. It took months before she started calling me Daddy so it's like winning the lottery every time I hear it.

Seeing Minka and Nick bring home friends from school and hearing their laughter makes me really happy. I'm glad Stella talked me into adopting these children. I haven't regretted it even once since they became a part of our family.

I still work full-time but at the end of the day I leave my work at the office. There were times when I would get home and then bury myself in papers in the study but I've learnt to delegate. After all, what's the point of having employees if you can't trust them to do their job without constantly watching over them? I'm not nearly as stressed as I used to be and I enjoy my life so much more.

We try to see our older kids more often too. Finn and Dawn are very busy with their studies but they drive to Wellington to visit us and Dawn's parents quite often. It warms my heart to see how good they are together and such good parents for Shea. They usually take over the kitchen when we get together and it's so interesting to watch them move around and work together like a well-oiled machine.

We invited the whole gang over the other night and were pleasantly surprised when Liv asked if she could bring a friend with her. We know she's been seeing someone but apparently it's gotten more serious if she's willing to introduce him to us.

I'm the first to admit that I never really liked Liv's ex-boyfriend Niall. God knows Stella chewed my head off more than once for treating him not-so-welcoming so I'm trying to keep an open mind meeting the new guy. His name is Jamie and he's an art restorer. Probably about Liv's age, maybe a year or two older. And I like him. He seems genuine and nice and he clearly likes Liv. Liv seems to like him too. She can be loud and brass - even mean sometimes - but she seems softer somehow when she's with him.

The kids seem to like Jamie too. At some point I saw Shea and Liv sitting on the couch and heard Shea telling Liv that she likes Jamie better than Niall. And that's saying a lot because Niall was pretty much her hero for a while because she used to love sports more than anything at one time. Liv smiled this wide bright smile and said that she does too. Later that night we said goodbye and as we watched Liv and Jamie walk out of the house hand in hand Stella took my hand and sighed happily.

"Liv looks happy" she said.

Stella is in between productions so she and Elissa Cooper have been going over some of their ideas for a new project after they finish the trilogy that they've been working on. The sequel to "Moon over Southwest" and "November Song" will start filming soon so it'll be a while before they'd start working on a completely new project though. It's going to be an indie movie instead of a big studio production and I've promised to help them gather funding once they have a working script. Or as Liv puts it I'm going to "use my power for good instead of evil for once".

Minka and Nick have been asking about Stella's job a lot because they've started to realise that she's a bit different than everyone else's mom. They've already seen my work place and since it's just an ordinary office building there really wasn't much to see. They're really excited about the prospect of being able to visit a movie set though.

At first we tried to stay away from public places as much as possible because the media was really interested after learning that we were adopting two children. Nowadays we like to go out on weekends and take the kids to play in a park or to see a movie at the cinema in Exmoor or just stroll around the town. The paparazzi sometimes follow us and take pictures but the kids have gotten use to it by now and at least they don't harass us they way to do to some celebrities. The initial interest has faded so it's not that often that someone bothers to take our picture anyway. It's nice to go out and show the kids around, there's so much to see in our home town.

Notes:

  • Title reference: Video killed the radio star by The Buggles.
  • I've been sick with a flu for over a week or so and my brain has turned into mush so if I've made any huge errors in the text please let me know.
  • Liv is now officially dating Jamie due to rolling so many wants for him when I popped into changing her clothes. 

8 comments:

  1. Couldn't find any errors in the text - it was the perfect company for my morning coffee today! Hope you're on the mend.

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    1. Good to know I didn't mess up the text. I still have a cough but I'm feeling much better.

      Thanks for your comment. :)

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  2. Glad to hear you're feeling better!

    It's really nice to see Deacon has slowed things down a bit, work-wise. I guess with getting older, people start to reprioritise and I think Deacon has definitely moved in the right direction with that. He and Stella seem like great parents for Minka and Nick.

    I'm happy Liv is happy as well! Jamie definitely is making a better impression on everyone than Niall did. It's always easier when your family likes your partner too. :)

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    1. I think it's true that getting older usually changes people's priorities. Deacon really wants to make sure that Minka and Nick feel safe and loved.

      I think part of why Deacon never liked Niall was because Liv was very young when they first met even though they didn't start dating until she was a bit older. Jamie definitely made a better impression and I think Deacon's just happy to see that Liv's happy.

      Thanks for your comment. :)

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  3. Deacon is right - what's the point of having employees if you're going to do most of the work yourself? I'm glad he's taking more time to enjoy life! The movie sounds cool and I bet the kids would get a kick out of being "on set." Thanks for this great read!

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    1. Deacon really needed to learn to let go of some of his power at work. I think when it comes to his job he's a bit of a control freak so it was hard for him to let anyone else take charge.

      I hope someday to build a movie set where Stella can take the kids to visit and see her work. I have many other things on my building list though so it'll be a while before that happens.

      Thanks for your comment. :)

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  4. Nice to see Deacon slowing down and enjoying Minka and Nick, I'm a sucker for that hugging interaction when parents get home. Super sweet. It was nice seeing Liv happy with Jamie. All of their kids seem to be doing well, and it's nice to see the older two pop into their update. A movie set for Stella would be great, I can just imagine the kids really enjoying themselves visiting her.

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    1. I love that hugging interaction too, it's so sweet. I think this family's doing really well and I'm really happy that Stella and Deacon were able to adopt.

      I'm definitely going to build a movie set at some point because I really want the kids to see where their mom work.

      Thanks for your comment. :)

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