Novel Sweet
423 My Dream Life
423 My Dream Life
423 My Dream Life
(Winona)
Another girl who looks Abby's age approaches with a friendly smile.
"This is Lotte. Lotte, this is Abby, she is six like you."
"Want to see the sandbox?" Lotte asks, her voice sweet and inviting. Abby hesitates for a moment and looks up at me.
"Go ahead, darling. I'll just be inside with Klara."
Abby smiles and then lets go of my hand to follow Lotte around the side of the house.
Bobby hangs back, his eyes scanning the scene until the teenage girl with a tablet walks over. "Hey," she says with a friendly smile. "I'm Katalin. Come and meet my brother, he's working on another invention." She rolls her eyes and smiles. Bobby just follows her like a puppy dog.
"I think he'd follow her to Mars if she asked." I grin. "I can't blame him."
"Katalin has that effect on boys. But don't worry, she doesn't let that go to her head. It's her business first
for her."
"Business?"
"Yes. She's our social media and marketing design guru."
""Oh wow! How old is she?"
"Sixteen. She'll be keen to pick your brains later."
I smile. "She's welcome to but the way technology is moving, she can probably teach me a thing or two."
Klara turns back to me, her eyes warm. "Let's get you settled inside," she says. "I know you've had a long drive, and I'd like to check your blood pressure before Jayden and Viktor arrive."
I follow her into the farmhouse, Henry cradled against me. The interior is cozy and inviting, with wooden beams and the scent of herbs hanging in the air.
Dried flowers and bundles of lavender are suspended from the ceiling, and the kitchen table is laden with jars of homemade jams, honey, and fresh bread.
"Honestly, this place could have come out of a magazine. It's so perfect."
"Thank you, but I can tell you, it gets chaotic at times."
"I don't know how you manage your schedule."
"We work as a team. The older kids all work here still. Have their own homes. But they help out with the young ones as needed. The younger ones all have their jobs to do." Klara sets Leo down in a playpen in the kitchen, and Henry coos softly as I put him in as well.
"Jo and Anna, where are you?" Klara calls out. Then she looks out the kitchen window. "Oh, there they are
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on the swings. Have to have eyes in the back of my head for those four-year-olds."
"More twins?" I ask, absolutely blown away.
"Yes and talk about a whirlwind of energy."
"You must think I'm hopeless complaining about managing my four."
"No. I've been useless too. Especially when the older ones were small and we had no work prospects. Not knowing where the next meal was coming from was hard."
I nod, knowing how hard it must have been. "I've never had that worry with my own kids, but as a kid, that was a different story. I want to give my kids everything I never had, but also I don't want them to think that life isn't about hard work and everything just comes because you ask for it."
"You will find the balance as soon as you find your balance inside yourself. Just trust in yourself."
Klara motions for me to sit at the table. "Deep breaths," she reminds me, wrapping the blood pressure cuff around my arm. Her touch is gentle but confident, and I close my eyes, focusing on the sounds of the farm.
The distant clucking of chickens, the rustle of leaves in the breeze, the chatter of children outside. The cuff tightens and releases, and Klara studies the reading with a smile. "That is perfect. Considering what you've been through lately. Are you calm about today?" I nod. "So far, yes. I'm relieved to be finally able to tell Jayden about the baby."
"That's good. How are you both?"
"We've decided to set aside our differences and work through the fact that we both have made some bad choices for whatever reasons. We want to move forward and we'll work on it."
"I think that's a good outcome for now. You aren't stressing either way on outcomes. But managing each day as it comes. You know you can do everything right and still lose the baby, it is not just about what you do and don't do."Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.
"I know. But at least if I know I made good choices and gave myself and this child the best chance, then that will make it easier for me I think."
"Good. You are making sense."
"Thank you," I say softly. "For everything. I don't know what I'd do without your support."
Klara smiles, her eyes full of understanding. "Now, how about a little tour to pass the time before Jayden arrives? It'll give us a chance to talk, and you can see how everything works around here."
"Great. I'll need to grab Henry's wheels from the car."
"No need, he can fit in Leo's carriage. They can lie next to each other."
"I think Henry will love that. He's always at his most calm when he's being pushed around outside. Now he can share it with his first little buddy."
I follow her out the back door, and we walk through the expansive kitchen garden. I can see all manner of herbs and vegetables that I know and some I've never seen before.
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"This is amazing."
I may have missed out on being a kid. But my kids won't.
That I'm determined about. They will never have to know the pain and fear I did.