Here and whole

Round 17: January 2028

Janie Greene is 34, Danny Cooper is 32, Bridget Greene-Cooper is 10, Lucas is 9 and Molly is 7.
(Brooke is 36, Charlie is 34 and Ava is 4.)

Narrated by Janie

I'm not going to lie, I wasn't exactly thrilled to sell our house in Exmoor and move to Allerdale. But I can't really be unhappy about it, not with the way things have gone ever since. Danny and I are doing so much better now and I think that's very much due to us being in a good place financially. We've almost debt-free now and can actually breathe a lot easier nowadays without having to worry about how we are going to make ends meet.

The kids also are thriving. All our kids are pretty outgoing and it's easier to have friends over when most families with children live either here or in Wellington.

We have something resembling a schedule for weekdays to get kids to school and keep everyone fed but weekends are pretty much free range. The kids love to sleep in. Not too late but they don't have to get up before the sun if they don't feel like it.

There's a really nice park near by and we go there almost every Saturday. I'm not so keen on going on playgrounds because I find them so boring for adults. The park has nice activities for pretty much everyone so I actually like going there. Never thought I'd enjoy ice skating but it's actually quite fun.

Bridget loves playing with Lucas and Molly in the playground and I'm so glad to see them get along so well. I can't believe she'll start high school in a couple of years. And then it'll just be a short moment for Lucas and Molly to become teenagers too. It's crazy to think sometimes that in a few years Danny and I are going to be parents of three teenagers when it feels like we're just barely out of college ourselves!

The park doesn't have a restaurant but there's a small food stand where you can get hamburgers and other fast food. Usually fast food is not exactly my cup of tea but after playing outside in the cold for a couple of years it's nice to eat something warm.

The kids obviously love the indoor games as much as playing outside as well. Hopefully now that we're financially more balanced we can start actually buying fun stuff for home too instead of just trying to get all the necessities.

We took a bus to Exmoor after leaving the park and visited Charlie, Brooke and Ava. Brooke's now about 7 months pregnant with their triplets and she's been on bed rest for a couple of months now. She was complaining about it before but now she says that moving around isn't much fun anyway so she's happy to just either lay in bed or sit propped up on pillows on the sofa. Her C-section is scheduled for early February and doctors have been pretty much on stand-by for a few weeks now in case she goes into labor. The babies will most likely have to stay in the hospital since they'll be born prematurely. I reminded her that if they need anything we'd be happy to help.

Charlie and Brooke recently decorated Ava's room, she's on the third floor now and turned her old room into a nursery for the triplets. Our kids absolutely love playing with Ava and it's hard to drag them out of there. It'll be interesting to see how Ava adapts to being a big sister. She says she's really excited but she's been an only child for 4 years now and it might not be easy to not be the center of her parents' attention all the time.

I'm sure Danny gave Charlie some good pointers. In honesty I think they just talked about sports and drank beer but it's more fun to imagine them exchanging tips about raising children.

Danny and I both got promoted just recently. He's now the lead designer in his studio and I was made senior manager. We sometimes have to work at home when the kids have gone to bed but it's a small prize to pay for a bigger salary and the opportunity to leave the office at a reasonable hour.

Sundays are dedicated to family though. I know mom would probably be appalled to see us lounging around in our pajamas until afternoon but Danny and I are more laid-back and the kids love it when we're in no hurry. I've even learned how to make waffles for breakfast so Sunday brunch is usually our favourite meal of the week. I never imagined I would be happy being back in Allerdale and thought I'd miss the buzz of the city much more but life is pretty wonderful at the moment.


Notes:

• Title from "Here and whole" by Joan Shelley.
• As said, Janie and Danny both got promoted during this play session and they have paid their mortgage almost completely, I think they have about €2.000 of debt right now so they'll most likely be able to pay that off next time.
• I mentioned at N99 that I´d like to modify the salaries of some careers to make them more realistic but I don't really know where to start. It just doesn't make sense to me that Danny makes a lot more money than Janie and she's supposed to be the senior manager of a big successful corporation and he's the lead designer in a graphic design studio. Oh well, I guess I have to do some research.
• Next up is February birthdays and the birth of the Greene triplets! I can't wait to see Charlie and Brooke's babies.