Happy 18th birthday, Jake!
I wouldn’t have ‘officially’ been allowed to know about him
anyway, but this will not be an extra-special birthday for Jake anyway; and he
will not be having ‘the talk’ that every Magi teen is most excited about when
they finally turn eighteen.
Before you wonder if that little news flash affects my
little crush on Jake, don’t forget that it isn’t news for me – I’ve known who
nearly all of the Magi are since the summer before last. The exemption Rowen and I gave him when we
were nine and ten still applies, and even if she knew he wasn’t a Magi too;
Rowen wouldn’t want to change that any more than I do.
I wasn’t involved in Jake’s birthday celebrations at all –
in fact, I didn’t even see him around town today; and sent my happy birthday
wishes to him through Violet, Michael, and an e-card and email that I sent
first thing this morning. Though Mom and
Dad hadn’t planned on a big house and yard work day, we had a fairly nice
weather morning; so Dad and I spent some extra time working in the yard and
cleaning up the storage barn. That
included cleaning up a few canoes in the hope that we’d have some warmer
weather soon so we could enjoy some play time on the river soon. I worked on the porches, paths, and sidewalks;
helped with cleaning up some downed branches; and we washed the truck, van, and
Violet’s car.
While we were doing that, Mom, Violet, and Alicia were busy
with housework and doing a little running round town. Violet was able to hang out with Mom because
Dillon was working the breakfast and lunch shifts at the Inn so that he’d have
the evening off for Jake’s party. They
were able to do a short lesson too while Alicia took Ethan and Ehlana out for a
little play time at the park; but even that was just some Magi-assisted
cleaning.
Violet, Alicia, and I were all set free after lunch today,
and I hopped on my bike and headed over to meet up with Rowen at the computer
store. They’d had a busy morning, and
Rowen was just finishing her lunch when I got there, so we had time for a
little visit with her Mom while they both ate and then we were off and
riding. That’s when we met up with
Michael. He was starting an extended
afternoon break since he’d be helping out at the Inn
tonight while all of the older teens were celebrating Jake’s birthday. I strongly suspect it wasn’t a coincidence
that he was on his way to meet up with Tim at Landry’s at the same time that
Rowen and I were getting started on our play afternoon. What I don’t know is who tipped him off;
though Tim’s look of surprise at seeing Rowen and me with Michael when he
joined us outside looked very suspicious; and so did the grins that he tried
not to let me see.
So now we get to the tweeird part of the day. Going for another bike ride together was fun
– right up until the first band of the forecasted rain moved through while we
were still about a half-mile north of town.
We were all fairly damp by the time we got back to town, and Rowen was
nice enough to invite the guys to come home with us so we could warm up, get
dried off, and have a snack break together.
I don’t even want to think about Tim’s jokes about her suggestion being
better than doing that at his house, Michael’s, or Rowen’s where there were no
parental units around. I’m sure he would
be right about that kind of story being a hit on the town gossip network, but
the tweeird zone that was my house for the next hour or so will be a very entertaining
story too – if it gets out.
First of all, we were more than ‘damp’ when we walked into
the house, and that already felt weird before Mom ordered us to lose the wet
shoes and clothes and get changed. I’m
so glad she at least let Rowen and I go up to my room, and sent Michael and Tim
into one of the guest bedrooms on the second floor to do that. Dad was recruited to get dry clothes that
Michael and Tim could wear while their clothes were dried. The temporary fashion ensembles he came up
with for them weren’t likely going to be anything that might become the next
fad at school, but at least they were warm; and I was grateful that Dad hadn’t
tried to give them any of my track pants or workout clothes to wear despite the
fact that they would have fit better.
Laugh all you want, but I’m in Grade Seven, and have no
doubt about whether there would be jokes making the rounds about having not
one, but two boys getting into my pants – especially since Tim is often a
primary source of those kinds of jokes.
The tweeird continued as soon as Rowen and I met up with
Michael and Tim in the kitchen. I was
immediately positive that I shouldn’t have picked one of my soft, warm, fuzzy
sweaters to wear even if it was warm and one of my favorites. Michael’s jaw would have hit the floor if the
table hadn’t been in the way; and I don’t think anybody in the room missed his
reaction to seeing me. Ehlana was
sitting in his lap; and she giggled and hugged him enthusiastically.
Rowen and I had needed longer to get changed and downstairs
again, mostly because we’d needed to deal with our wet hair. Maybe it was the change from wind-blown and
wet that made such an impression, but I was wishing that I’d picked something
else to wear while Rowen was quite happy about the reactions from both Michael
and Tim; and the rest of my family thought the whole scene was cute and
entertaining. Mom already had hot
chocolate ready, and she’d warmed up an apple pie in the oven; so Rowen and I
were directed to sit down at the table right away. Ehlana made sure that I sat next to Michael,
and climbed from his lap into mine for a hug and cuddle.
That little move wasn’t the only one used to nudge Michael
and I together over the next hour or so while he and Tim waited for their
clothes. I’m sure that Mom wasn’t making
excuses about washing their clothes because she didn’t want the dirt in her
dryer, but it did make for a convenient excuse to keep the two boys hanging
around for longer than they would have if she hadn’t thrown their jeans and
sweaters in to wash too. We had time for
our snack; Ehlana and Ethan wanted us to play music after that; and we played
video games for the rest of the time.
The rest of the tweeird included Ehlana getting Michael to sit with her
next to me on my keyboard bench while I played; and getting me to sit next to
him on the sectional sofa while he and Tim played video games, she sat on my
lap, and Ethan sat in his and tried to use the game controller.
I am not crossing over, but I had fun despite the tweeird;
it felt way too good sitting there with Michael and the twins; and he is so
great with them that it’s no wonder that Ethan and Ehlana love him so much.
I’m sure that timing the clothes being dried and ready to go
when Michael needed to be back to the Inn was not completely a coincidence, and
it was probably another pair of nudges that led to me being in the lounge on my
own when Michael just happened to be sent upstairs to help me with carrying the
glasses and bowls we’d used while playing video games down to the kitchen to be
cleaned. Nice try, but nothing happened
for the couple of minutes we were alone. I’m sure that Aunt Leanne will want to tell me
how disappointing that news will be for her, but I’m sure she’ll survive. The goodbye hugs that Ethan and Ehlana had for
Michael were spontaneous – even if they might have had ulterior motives too when
getting him to pass each of them off to me instead of just getting set down
again, but that was their last nudge opportunity before he and Tim left.
Dad gave them a ride to the Inn and shop, and once they’d
left; Rowen and I went back up to my room so we could chat and hang out there
for the last hour or so we had left before she needed to be home. She’d needed to tease me about Michael too,
but the tweeird was over for the day, and we had fun; played with Mandy; and
watched some music videos until it was time for her to go too. It’s been another quiet night since
then. With a big food day ahead
tomorrow, we just had a light dinner. I
was on the clean-up crew, and after that, we had a couple of hours of play time;
Ethan and Ehlana did the full bath and bedtime routine; and I spent some
quality time with my Jacuzzi after they were tucked in for the night.
Mom, Dad, and I played Easter Bunny after that. There are Easter Bunny footprints all over
the house now; eggs and surprises tucked in here and there along those
footprint trails; and six Easter baskets waiting to be ‘found’ on the dining
room table. That was a lot of fun, but
we’re all going to need to be up early to have time to have time to play that
little game with Ethan and Ehlana and still have time to get ready for the
sunrise service at church. Violet’s
still at Jake’s party, and will likely be late – and tired when she does get
her early morning wake-up call - but I’ve skipped all of my usual nightly
computing except for checking my email and writing this journal entry. Since I won’t get that birthday party update
until tomorrow sometime, that’s all the news for today anyway, so I’m going to
wrap this up too; cuddle with Mandy; and get some sleep. Dreaming about bunnies will be easy tonight –
yummy, dark chocolate, Olde Bakery Easter Bunnies!
Until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor; logging
out!
