We’ve had a beautiful, warm spring day. It was a bit chilly this morning, but Mom,
Dad, and I went outside for Tai Chi anyway.
Sunday mornings with a house full of guests aren’t really
any different for our family in Granite Park than they are in Witch Falls; and
we tag-teamed our way through breakfast, getting everyone ready for church; and
the post-meal clean-up before loading up into the minivan and SUV and heading
over to the church. That was a fun
couple of hours for me, partly because it was really interesting comparing the
church that Uncle Blaine and Aunt Grace had grown up attending with their
parents to ours. I loved getting to meet
some of their childhood friends, and there were a few couples that we were
introduced to who would be coming to Witch Falls for the wedding in July.
It was a bit different for Grandma Mercy and Grandpa Duncan,
since they hadn’t started going to that church until they were young adults,
but after decades of regular attendance with their kids and eventually their
grandchildren too; they knew everyone, and had lots of friends there. As for the church service, it was obvious why
their church was popular. They have an
awesome praise team, and a pair of charismatic Ministers. Their ‘senior’ Pastor is about the same age
as Mom and Dad, and he and his wife have three young children close to Jaimie’s
and Kaitlyn’s age. The ‘youth’ Pastor
isn’t really all that much younger than her boss; she’s one of Aunt Grace’s
friends; and she and her husband are two of the wedding guests we were
introduced to. Their two kids are
younger, and are likely just starting to be playmates for Jayden. The music was contemporary, and very much the
same as at our church, and while the two Pastors had a much more ‘now’ delivery
for their lessons and message; those words were just as traditional, well
thought out, and biblically based as anything Pastors Lewis or Martha teach at
home.
Ethan and Ehlana went to the nursery with Jayden when the
kids and teens left for Sunday school, but I stayed in the sanctuary. Aunt Leanne and Aunt Grace were partly
responsible for that, thanks to their whispered, running commentary advising me
of every boy close to my age who was watching me this morning. The dinnertime tweeird zone yesterday was
more than enough for me, and while I’m always happy to meet new people, I
didn’t want to rock any tween boats today.
It’s funny that Aunt Leanne had no problem finding the boys who were
watching me, but didn’t notice that in several of those cases, the girls with
those boys were watching too, and not happy about the attention I was getting
from ‘their’ boys.
What was even scarier than all of that was thinking about
what it’s going to be like for me in Witch
Falls once Aunt Grace is
living there. She and Aunt Leanne can be
a bit scary when they’re working together like that – as if Aunt Leanne doesn’t
have enough co-conspirators already.
Let’s hope that weddings, honeymoons, and babies keep them to busy to worry
about little ‘ole me for a while!
We all went back to Uncle Blaine and Aunt Alison’s house for
lunch, but I went home with Aunt Grace, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Leanne first so
that they could all get changed; we could pick up Aunt Leanne’s and Uncle
Adam’s luggage; and I could get a chance to see Aunt Grace’s apartment – the
one she’d be moving out of in less than two months. I really wanted to do that despite being sure
that I’d be getting teased about boys while my aunts had me alone. Let’s skip that part of the recap, and I’ll
just report on Aunt Grace’s apartment instead.
Her home is a nice, but fairly standard high-rise unit that reminded me
a bit of a couple of the places where Mom and I have lived, but her building is
also part of a little community with two other apartment buildings and several
blocks lined with rows of townhomes.
There were two big playgrounds that Aunt Grace told me Jaimie and
Kaitlyn loved going to whenever they visited her; and a large pool that she
admitted she’d never been in even once – mostly because she preferred borrowing
Uncle Blaine’s pool when she felt the urge for a swim.
That probably disappointed most of the guys in her
neighborhood, but let’s not go there – even though Aunt Leanne did while we
were talking about it.
We didn’t spend much time at the apartment, but lunch was
already close to being ready by the time we got to Uncle Blaine’s house and
transferred the luggage from Aunt Grace’s car to Mom’s minivan. I don’t think there was any space that wasn’t
used by the time everything was loaded except for around the front seats. It’s a good thing that some of the purchases
from yesterday didn’t need to come home with us now, or we’d have needed to buy
a trailer.
Lunch was served in the back yard, and Jaimie and Kaitlyn
had me do a little picnic with them in the little wooden fort that was the
centerpiece of their playground equipment.
Ethan, Ehlana, and Jayden were with us for part of the time, but they
sat at one of the tables to eat first. I
mostly played with my younger cousins, brother, and sister until it was time to
head for home, and though that got me out of helping with the lunch clean-up; I
don’t think it was any less work. We
were finished the goodbye hugs and kisses; in the van; and ready to pull out of
the driveway by shortly before two o’clock.
The drive home was actually quick and uneventful; and Uncle
Adam pulled into his driveway at a few minutes after five. I was barely out of the van when Rowen came
over from her house; as excited as I was to be back together again. She helped us with unloading Uncle Adam’s and
Aunt Leanne’s things, and then we walked over to my house with Ethan and Ehlana
while Mom and Dad brought the van home.
We had more unpacking to do, and once everything was put away; Rowen
helped me carry my luggage and computer up to my room, and helped me get ready
for the late buffet dinner at the Inn that we were both going to with our
families.
That was when I found my little welcome home surprise, and
got the best parts of Rowen’s weekend recap.
The little gift was an Olde Bakery Witch cookie that was on
my pillow with a ‘Welcome Home’ sticky note on it, and the surprise was that
Michael had left it there for me. That
was sweet – and delicious – but what really touched me was finding out that
Rowen and Michael had spent quite a bit of time together while I was away. Yes, his best friend was busy all weekend
too, so they weren’t hanging out together, but while he didn’t admit it to
Rowen; she and I both knew that he went looking for her at the computer store
specifically because he knew she’d be bored while I was away.
They went for bike rides on Saturday and Sunday afternoon;
he helped her with taking care of Mandy; they hung out with some of the teens
and tweens for a while by the falls on Saturday night; and had both afternoon
snack breaks at the Inn. Those last two news flashes are out on the
town gossip network, and Rowen thinks it’s funny that anyone is thinking that
she might be Michael’s next girlfriend.
That, and some other hints here and there, suggested that there was some
of her weekend story that I wasn’t going to be told about. I just hope she wasn’t busy trying to earn
her junior matchmaking badge from Aunt Leanne while I was gone.
If the rumors about her and Michael weren’t enough for him,
I’m sure there will be more floating around by tomorrow; since my first order
of business after we got to the Inn was to go into the kitchen and give him a
big, enthusiastic hug that was all about thanking him for caring about, and
entertaining, my best friend while I was gone.
I don’t care that everyone in the kitchen at the time was grinning at
us; or that Michael blushed while looking very happy too; and let Miranda and
Aunt Leanne tease me all they wanted.
Michael deserved that hug, and that’s all there is to it. I had hugs for the rest of his family and our
friends too, and by the time I met up with the rest of our dinner group again
in the dining room; Grandpa and Grandma were there too; and we started another
round of welcome home hugs and kisses.
The next hour and a half or so was just a whirlwind. Rowen and I were at the kids’ table with
Patrick, Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, Aiden, and Scott and Lindsay Faulkner. While the Faulkners and Palmers had their own
dinner group tonight, we weren’t surprised when Patrick wanted Scott to sit
with us; and Lindsay picked joining us over hanging out with her teen
cousins. The boys mostly kept their
usual antics to a minimum, though there were still some muted prank attempts
and whispered jokes and comments aimed at impressing the rest of us – or just
gross us out.
I’m sure it was just a coincidence that Miranda was sending
Michael home just when we were ready to walk home too, but that was okay with
me; since it gave me a chance to talk to him for a few minutes. There’s no doubt that I gave Aunt Leanne more
ammunition to use against me, but after leaving the Inn, I took Michael’s hand
and led him ahead of the rest of the group so that I could have that little
chat without being overheard. While
thanking him for helping Rowen to have a fun weekend was the reason for doing
that, his side of their weekend recap was suspiciously lacking in certain
details too; and what I was sensing empathically through our linked hands
pretty much confirmed that Rowen was working on that junior matchmaking badge.
Aunt Leanne whistled at us when I hugged him goodnight when
we reached the sidewalk leading up to their house. We both laughed, and I must have temporarily
lost my mind or something because after stepping back and looking into those
smiling, beautiful blue eyes; I leaned in again and kissed him. It was just a little peck, but it was on the
lips and surprised him as much as it surprised me. It also had the added bonus of leaving Aunt
Leanne speechless as the rest of my family, Rowen, and her family caught up
with us – though that only lasted until we got home and Aunt Leanne needed to
come inside for a few minutes and tease me about it before letting Uncle Adam
take her home.
Pleading temporary insanity didn’t help me, and Aunt Leanne
would not believe my insistence that I’m not crossing over. Neither did Rowen, though we didn’t talk
about it until later since she’d needed to go home with her parents after
hugging me goodnight outside of my house.
I could tell from out little bedtime text-chat that she was still
grinning about that little kiss – and probably patting herself on the back.
Let them believe what they want. It doesn’t matter how nice it felt holding
Michael’s hand as we walked home; and the sparks flying from that little peck
of a kiss was probably just static electricity from my sweater because of the
hug. I am definitely not crossing over.
I’m not!
The good news for the rest of my night was that the travel
time on Friday and this afternoon gave me lots of time to get my homework, and
my usual school night archive and language work out of the way. The bad news is that I didn’t have that to
keep my mind busy. I helped Mom with
getting Ethan and Ehlana to bed so that Dad could get some work done in the
office. After that, it was time for some
quality Jacuzzi action, followed by a keyboard practice before climbing into
bed with Mandy for the night. Rowen and
I had our little chat then while I was doing the usual bedtime computer checks,
but she’s probably been sleeping for a half hour or so by now. I had some email to deal with, including one
from Rebecca that included some pictures; her first impressions of Washington; and a couple
of travel stories. None of that helped
to distract me very much, and the not dreaming of bunnies thing is not working
for me tonight; but I’m ready to wrap this up and try to get some sleep even
with the risk of tweeird zone dreams, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out.
P.S. I am not
crossing over!
