It's hard to explain what happened during that second summer. Tara was almost a teen and even she didn't get it. What is agreed is that dad started talking to mom more as they gardened together, and that this time he was genuinely interested in her answers. Tara and Colm both remember this conversation. "Do you really want to start a produce stand?" Dad asked. "Yes ... No ... I don't know." Mom admitted. "Then why were you so determined to start one last year?" Dad asked. "Income source mainly, plus I love being outdoors." Mom answered without any hesitation this time. "What's different this year? I know it's not a sudden income source." Dad responded. "You mean besides gardens taking a lot of work?" Mom laughed "We both know I'm not very good at organizing, or being miss perfect Suzie homemaker, it turns out those same skills are critical for running a farm stand." Dad chuckled with mom "Yeah your right, and my lack of focus on any one goal for to long doesn't leave me in a strong position to help or criticize on that front." As dad was leaving the garden he turned and called back "I almost forgot, Mr Peoples wasn't able to order any floaters in, so we won't be able to teach Siobhan how to swim in the pool." Just because there were no safety wings for me didn't stop mom from taking the occasional dip as I played near by. Dad was almost always someplace nearby working on murals or playing his guitar. Every once in a while mom would take me with her to the warehouse grounds while she picked flowers. When dad would ask her about her day, she would comment that it went well, but that Mr Peoples and his girlfriend Tiana were still at a rocky stage. With the weather so nice mom and dad would let us kids stay up late on Friday's. When Colm's 10th birthday rolled around Dad asked him if he wanted anything special or a party. The only thing Colm had wanted was for dad to play guitar while he painted. According to Colm dad's music helped inspire his art work. According to Tara mom and dad would have lots of conversations when they thought us kids were preoccupied. "Sark it really bothers me that there's not much for the kids to do here, let alone adults. I know planning isn't my thing but we need something more for them here." Mom said. "We have plenty for them here at the house ..." Dad had started to say when mom cut him off. "No, that's not what I mean. I mean they need someplace beside home and school to go, same for their two classmates." According to Curtis mom's voice had a tone to it that he'd never heard before. "Do you want to move back to the city, the Y has lots of programs." Dad sincerely asked. "No!" Mom was so emphatic that it startled Tara and Colm "I like it here, despite the lack of almost everything. What I was thinking is if there was something more like a rec center or mall then maybe more people would stay and help resettle the island. I mean there's a lot that needs to be fixed because of that danged meteor, but there's a lot of charm to being here." "An art gallery would be nice" Dad commented. "But you'd be showing to the same people over and over again. Yes the ferry has picked up service but not many people are coming over, or if they do they don't stay past a few hours" Mom replied. If they talked more Tara and Colm don't know because they had moved outside. Mom and Tara had a long talk about being an almost teen. The upshot was that mom gave Tara a bit more freedom to roam when she didn't have to be at school. Naturally as a rebel Tara would skip breakfast at home and get herself snow cones at the festival for her first meal. I'm pretty sure mom knows that Tara does this, 'cause I've spotted her wink at dad. Dad's a whole different story. He got to where he was constantly hovering around mom. I guess mom didn't know what to make of his sudden change of behavior, but she yelled at him and waved her arms. Tara and Colm were at school so I don't know what mom said, she won't tell me other to say it wasn't important. The upshot was that dad would spend part of each day painting murals around town. Colm sold another book, he now had three books to his name and was receiving regular money from the publisher. Mom cried when he insisted that he didn't need a college degree to become a best selling author and illustrator. Mom cried even harder when she found out that Colm wanted her to hire a cleaning service. "I'd have done it already mom, but the secretary at the firm won't take me serious because I'm only 10, something about legal age for contracts." Colm had told mom. Dad had walked in on the tail end of the conversation. He whispered something in mom's ear, and now we have a maid, and everyone's happier. As often as dad was about there were also the days when he wasn't, and mom would brush it off as not a big deal and that dad needed his space. "Why don't you open a daycare?" Dad asked mom out of the blue. "That would fall under lack of organizing, besides I'm not interested in raising other peoples children." Mom responded. "But your so good at bringing out the good qualities in children." Dad replied. "Our children Sark, just ours, I don't do so well with other peoples kids for more than a short time. It's why I dropped the education courses in favor of the art class where we met." Mom replied. "Plus, a daycare doesn't solve the problem of an all ages place for kids and adults." "There's the festival grounds." Dad replied. "True, but they have nothing for toddlers, and limited hours." Mom pointed out. That Tara's big transition was creeping up rapidly became apparent when she started pranking stuff around the house. Dad was sitting with me when he heard mom scream from the bathroom. Dad has admitted that he wondered if mom's scream meant that she no longer wanted more children. Another weekend rolled around, and with summer dwindling to a close Tara wanted a pool party. Colm not so much, to many people around makes him uncomfortable. They both knew that mom and dad had been discussing the issue of someplace for families to go again. They were trying to decide which would get more support, a park, a hangout or a library. Tara heard mom say that they might be able to get extra money for a library from the science center. What made Tara pause before entering the room, was dad's response. "A library would be a good choice, because it could have something for everyone, which is really good for families" Tara and Colm spent five minutes trying to figure out when dad had become so family orientated. They finally decided it must have been a gradual shift over the summer, as they realized that he had gone out of his way to do more with them. Once Tara had recovered her shock of dad's changed attitude she decided she'd better ask about a pool party quick. Tara never asked, instead she bolted out of the kitchen making a gag sound "They're being gross ..... " Colm peeked through the doorway "gross". Mom and dad both swear that there was no sudden declarations of love. Mom however did invite dad to share her bed if he wanted. The house started to change again, suddenly the neutral space between the two got filled in, walls added and removed.
Dad still wasn't keen on the idea of commitment, but family, our family with mom, had become very precious to him. Tara and Colm both swear that you can tell that mom and dad really do love each other, by how they hold hands and flirt when they don't think us kids are watching them. One of the last purchases before the end of summer was a car. Dad and mom didn't always agree on everything, but they both felt that teaching Tara how to drive when her big transition arrived in a few months time was going to be important.
1 Comment
Lisabeesims
3/10/2018 01:32:58 pm
I hated the teach them how to drive in Sims 3 .. took forever!
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