Hello again, world!
It's certainly been a while since I last posted anything! Sorry about that, but it's been interesting times here in Willow Creek, and no mistake!
Liberty and Orson's daughter was born a month ago, and they've named her Primrose. She's absolutely beautiful, and I've passed on some of Sophy's old baby clothes, as well as buying some lovely new ones. It really took me back, shopping for baby clothes again. I've been to visit a lot, of course, but I've had to stay at home with the children quite a bit.
Also, I am now Juliana Forrest-Goth! That's right, we tied the knot! We got married in a private little ceremony, although I will need to go and visit my family at some point, because weddings are a really big thing for my family, and they won't be pleased to have missed mine, especially as Liberty, Orson, Cassie and Alexander were all there.
However, I have to admit that me and Mortimer have our differences, and sometimes I've been a little irritated, as awful as that is, by how he deals with the children. He really is a doting father, but sometimes that's not good for them. For example, yesterday was horrendous.
Instead of waking me up, Mortimer decided I could use the rest, and fed the children breakfast. Sophy was happy enough to eat in her highchair, but Elliott decided he didn't want to, and started throwing a large tantrum.
Instead of telling him off, or anything even remotely close, Mortimer put him down on the little couch the children have, letting him eat breakfast there.
Well, as we're currently dealing with Tantrum Central anyway with both of the children, that set the tone for the rest of the day. By the time I got down to the nursery, Elliott was already in a horrible mood, and Sophy didn't understand why Elliott had been allowed out of his highchair when meals are eaten in the highchair.
As I walked into Elliott's room, where Mortimer had brought both the children after breakfast, I noticed him tearing up one of the books on the shelf, and immediately had to sit him down and make him stop. How had Mortimer not noticed?!
"Elliott, stop." I took the book out of his hands, and put it back on the shelf. "We don't rip books."
I also noticed that while Sophy was already dressed, Elliott was still in his pyjamas. I tried not to sigh as Mortimer headed back upstairs.
"Listen, Mama is going to play Flashcards with you, Elliott, and then we're going to get dressed. Sophy's dressed, so we'll get dressed, too!"
Well, that was fine, up until Mortimer called down that he was heading off to work, and went without saying goodbye to the children. I suppose he was just forgetting that that's what he usually does, or he was in a rush, but that was that.
Sophy had been watching the flashcards with a lot of interest, and repeating what she could to herself, and had been very happy to do so, from what I could tell.
However, the second the door went and Mortimer shouted a goodbye, her little face puckered and she ran out of the room crying.
In fact, she so tired herself out that I had to put her back to bed once I'd calmed her down. Meanwhile, Elliott didn't think much of Mama stopping playing Flashcards, and threw a huge tantrum once I was able to go back into his room, Sophy being settled down to sleep.
Well, luckily I can sort that out quickly. I picked him up and smiled, and began playing Airplanes with him. It's a trick that always stops him throwing a wobbly or crying.
And even luckier, after that, I persuaded him to get dressed, and took him off upstairs with me to watch 'The Adventures of Bobby'. It's a new children's show with a little bunny in dungarees as the main character, and both our little ones love it. Elliott sleeps with a little Bobby plush now, although Sophy still likes her old bunny plush.
The main point of this is, I could have slapped Mortimer at that point. Oh, yes, I calmed both of them down, but if he hadn't done all that, my day wouldn't have been so stressful! But when he got home, I couldn't bring myself to say anything, because he looked so downtrodden.
"Juliana, I..." He stopped, and his expression nearly broke my heart. I hugged him tightly, and he moved back slightly after a few moments.
"They took the work, but they haven't paid me. They say it's in the post, but...The newspaper decided not to pay me, Green Bean."
That was why he had been so stressed, he explained. He was waiting for a payment, and it hadn't turned up, and he was thinking of us so much that he hadn't managed to think about us.
I took him by the hand downstairs, where the children were playing.
"Mortimer, help me with the children tonight. You get Elliott into his pyjamas, and I'll give Sophy a bath." I kissed his cheek, and whisked our little daughter off to the bathroom. Sophy can take a little persuasion to get in the bath, unfortunately.
However, she was worn out again, so I managed to bathe her, and dress her in her pyjamas, and together Mortimer and I tucked her in. He looked on softly as our precious flower settled down to sleep, her bunny clutched tightly in her arms.
"Juliana, I love you." He looked into my eyes. "And I will never, ever stop loving you."
"I love you too, eternally." I smiled softly at him.
Our differences can always be settled.
That night, the baby monitor went off, and I went downstairs sleepily to find Sophy out of bed, tears running down her face. I rushed towards her.
"Little flower? What's wrong?" I asked, and she shook her head, hiccupping slightly. I realised that it must have been a bad dream, from the way she clung to me.
"It wasn't real, darling. It wasn't real." I held her close, and started to sing the song my mother had always sung to me and my siblings when we had had nightmares.
"There is a tree, far away,
In the land of Lullaby
There is a child, in that tree,
In the land of Lullaby
And the child is dreaming there,
In the tree in Lullaby
So close your eyes and you will be,
In the land of Lullaby."
Juliana
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