Chapter One - A Place to Call My Own << | >> Chapter Three - When is it "Me Time"??
Very soon, Jessi noticed some disturbing nausea and other symptoms.. and sure enough, a test (pop-up.. lol) confirmed that she was pregnant.
Expecting? Oh yes...
Since she was already awake, Jessi set about doing some house cleaning and maintenance - it appeared the sink had stayed dirty so long that it had broken! After pulling out her handiness manual, she decided she might be able to fix it on her own. It took two tries - but wonder of wonders, it was fixed!
Broken sink? .. No problem...
Since her jammies and fuzzy kitty slippers were now completely soaked from the sink fiasco, she did another load of laundry, and cooked up a nice breakfast of waffles for her new husband to wake up to (from one of their very few eggs). After a lovely breakfast, the first order of business was ordering Dave's bike so he could get around the town as well. Jessi had more fish to catch, and she headed to the shore to work on her fishing.
Since his bike wouldn't arrive until the next day, Dave walked across the street to the old farmhouses (left over from the original colonization attempt) and searched through their weed-ridden surrounding property until he found a few seeds for Jessi. Content that he had a nice present for her, he then aimlessly walked around town, wondering what he would do with his life from now on. He'd always wanted to be a Sports Star.. but now that he was out in nature, he figured that was pretty silly. He didn't want to have to commute across the bay to the mainland, and without a harbor or an owned boat, that was pretty impossible anyway. Sighing, he wondered what an athletic sort of guy could do. He'd learned Photography while working as a Paparazzi, but his camera had been one of the many personal items he'd had to leave behind. To pay tribute to his darling Jessi's dream, all he had brought with him was his diploma and his clothes - not exactly an auspicious start to a life, was it? ... He wondered for a while whether he ought to start a Military base with the offer Jessi had secured from the mainland general... but he'd never been one for buzz haircuts and the thought of drilling every morning frankly made him sick to his stomach. For now.. he resolved to do something with his desire to be athletic.. and ordered a stereo and a workout tape or two. After watching poor Jessi struggle with morning sickness AND a broken sink that morning, he also resolved to learn a thing or two about wrenches, tools, and fixing things, so he headed home and set about reading the handiness manuals she had in her .. interesting.. bookshelf.
Oooh! A wild horse!
On her way home from fishing, Jessi saw a wild horse and her foal for the first time, as well as a deer. Amazed by all the wildlife, she vowed to... someday.. tame one of the horses for her own.
The long bike ride to the shore every day was taking it's toll on pregnant Jessi, and she decided to hire some mainland workers to dig a small pond on her home property. Obviously, it would have no fish - yet - but hopefully she would soon be able to stock the pond from her own fishing adventures. With the baby on the way, she also decided another home addition was going to be necessary... so she had the workers put on a baby's room and install a permanent awning for a "garage" of sorts. It would protect the washer and the bikes from the elements. As the pregnancy progressed, Dave obligingly started doing more around the house.
What a considerate man he is...
Dave also started making good use of his new stereo and bike. He spent several hours each day combing the local flora and fauna for collectibles to send back to the mainland for sale. Money was getting tighter and tighter with all these home - and family - expansions, and they still had to think about Jessi's dream fishing hole. Dave finally mastered the basics of Athletic, and started jogging instead of biking sometimes on his money-making jaunts.
Up down up down.. (I'm a little teapot?)
(in the picture, you can also see the half-wall and fence/gate kitchen "addition" I installed for them.. and the sleepy Falcon) All this exploring led Dave to wondering more and more about the world around him, especially the night sky, and he ordered a telescope so he could see the stars closer. Pretty soon, he mastered the basics of logic, and wanted to know even more.
What's up there??
All this sky-searching led to some more soul-searching, and Dave began to wonder .. yet again.. what he would do with his life. He had to do something! He didn't feel right just doing nothing, and the town had to grow. ... eventually, at least. And not just with their family. Perhaps he should think of what would help the community out.. and use his new Logic skill.. and Athletic... hm... more thought was going to have to be undertaken.
Then.. one fateful evening, Jessi went into labor. Since a hospital visit was out of the question, she simply sweated and screamed through it. Tylenol didn't help much, and her ire rose.. and with it, the annoyances with the "little things". Before you know it, Dave was running around cleaning the entire house for her, hoping to appease the mother-to-be.
Dave cleaning house while the baby is born..
(clearly, looking out the window - he wishes he was anywhere else!!) After an eternity (it seemed), the new baby was born. A boy! They named him Peregrine, in honor of both their last name, and the town.
Meet Peregrine..
Soon after seeing the wild horse and the deer for the first time, Jessi started noticing hoofprints around her garden, and some missing produce. They didn't mind sharing, but when it was their only food source, it only made sense to protect it. A visit the next morning.. or rather ..home-invasion of the furry kind.. drove that point home for sure. (out-take.. lol)
A home invasion of the furry kind. (notice the pedo-bear ice cream truck too.. lol)
(oh, and that's another paparazzi about to get squished by the wild horse... note the baby horse peeking around the house-corner.. apparently he's a bit more shy. this pic also gives a better idea of what the home looks like currently - the solar panel and wind turbine are in the back yard, the pond off to the right..) A fence was clearly going to be necessary, and the newly-handy Dave set about building her a fence for their food garden.
The baby was a joy - well, ok.. most the time.. - and the home-life stayed busy. Jessi finally got tired of cleaning the sink, and installed a self-cleaning mechanism.
Yay.. no more sink-cleaning!
On a roll now, she decided fire-proofing the stove was a must with a baby around, and Dave watched the baby for her.
a spartan baby room.. but it works!
He loved spending time with his first-born son, anyway, so caring for him while she worked on making their home safer seemed like an easy trade-off.
There.. all safe!
Oh.. and one final note.. the falcon, Gyr, learned to talk.
Gyr learns to talk..
Chapter One - A Place to Call My Own << | >> Chapter Three - When is it "Me Time"??
