Generation 4: Part 8. All you need is love

Having a baby was a big step. This was something we both had been aware of, but now that little Grace was in this world, it felt even more real. I couldn’t help but smile when I thought about how our life was going to change now. We would have to change diapers and get up in the middle of the night to calm her down, but it was all worth it. There was a small human being that we created, and we would be the ones preparing her to enter the world.

After the first euphoria had faded, the stress kicked in. Grace cried all night and even when we went over to her room she wouldn’t stop. It seemed like our attendance made her feel worse, if that is even possible. After some time we always managed to console her, but still it was a challenge. Apparently she was more of a loner, just like her mother, and didn’t want to be around other people much. Even if they were her loving family.

With a little baby in the house we couldn’t possibly take care of five big dogs. It was not fair for them that they were on their own the entire day, only because we were busy with Grace and our jobs. Something had to change and so I made a significant phone call.

Delilah was going to live in another family, some place where she could get what we didn’t give her. It was sad to see her go, but at the same time we knew it was for the best. One last hug and it was time for her to go.

Cassie couldn’t watch her get into the car that would drive her away, but I did. I waited until the last bit of the car had disappeared into the rising darkness.

Then we had to do something that was even harder – say goodbye to Bodo as well. He had grown into an old dog and needed some place where he could live happily for the rest of his life, without so much trouble around him. Saying goodbye to Delilah was hard, but seeing Bodo leave almost broke my heart.

The last step was about to happen. Benny was the wildest of the five dogs and we decided that he could too easily scare Grace once she was out of her crib. So we wanted him to find a new place to live as well.

Giving away three of our five dogs was a tough decision. But at the same time it meant time to connect with our beautiful little daughter who slowly opened up to us. She stopped crying when she saw us and smiled instead – probably the sweetest smile I had ever seen. (Please don’t tell Cassie I said this)

We also had some free time on our hands, which we used to sustain our relationship. During the first few days with Grace in our life, we didn’t have any time to be there for each other, which we now made up for. This didn’t always result in pillow fights but sometimes in other situations that involved pillows and beds, if you know what I mean.

Now only living with two dogs made us realize that our decision to give away three of them had been right. There was enough time to play with Flip and Cora, without neglecting our daughter. Flip was such a sweet dog that never stopped playing. Sometimes it could get a little annoying, but in general it was just sweet. Cassie loved to play with him outside, which was weird, since she hated the outdoors. I guess, living with me changed her quite a bit. She had once told me that she was afraid of commitments and only wanted to be in one if she was really sure about it. Apparently this was what we had and it made me incredibly happy. Having someone who enjoyed being on her own be with you and knowing that it feels right to her was great.

When she wasn’t outside, with our daughter or with me she started writing on a novel she had wanted to work on for quite some time now. It had always been her dream to make a living with writing books, but so far she had no writing experience. It didn’t really help that she was afraid of everything technical…

Like I said, when she moved in with me, she changed a lot. And this was a good thing, because in her novels she could keep hold of what happened in our lives. One of those things being Grace’s first birthday! Time had rushed by so fast and we couldn’t wait to see how she would look like. She would be blonde, that we were sure of. But the eyes? And the shape of her face?

Apparently we had completely forgotten that genetics could skip a generation. My father had been the only black haired person in our family and Grace had gotten his hair. This was a very touching moment and made me wish he could still be there to see her. But I was sure that he could see her from heaven.

Teaching Grace how to walk and talk was easier than I thought. I had expected that it would take her a long time to understand how this works. Obviously I couldn’t remember anything from my childhood and there were no parents to ask. So I just did what I thought was right, and it actually worked. Before we knew it, Grace was up and running.

Soon after our little angel was born, it was time for somebody else to leave our world. Cora had led a wonderful life here, had kept me and my father company when my mother died and now was ready to leave us. Still we were devastated. And although Grace was too small to really understand what is going on, she did realize that Cora wasn’t around anymore and was sad about it. Poor little girl.

I think it even got to her more than we would have thought – all of a sudden she started playing with her dollhouse that had been unused for quite some time, but was really cruel to the little dolls. Maybe expressing anger like this was her way of dealing with Cora’s death, I don’t really know much about that. But it did worry me a little to see her like this. And every time we found another doll head on the floor in her room, we looked at each other and tried to find a way of helping her.

Time passed on and Grace spent more and more time with her toys. It was nice for us to have some alone time, but we worried about her being lonely. Apparently, this was what she wanted, but still it couldn’t be good for her to be on her own all the time. So we made a decision, both based on our love to each other and our thoughts about Grace. A decision that meant some serious alone time, if you know what I mean.

Cassie’s second pregnancy (or should I say “our pregnancy”?) passed by rather quickly. We were so involved with Grace and our jobs that there was not much time to relax. So much had to be done! I often regretted that I couldn’t take more care of Cassie, but she repeatedly told me that she was fine.

She took great care of Grace during that time. Not that she had ignored her before, but the moment her emotions kicked in again she started to act even more like a loving mother. Something Grace enjoyed a lot!

Before Grace’s little sister or brother was born, it was time for another miracle – Grace was aging up already! Her days as a toddler had gone by so quickly and she was about to turn into a school kid.

An enormously cute kid, might I add! Obviously, a part of me is saying this because she is my daughter and I love her more than anything in the world, but also because I really think she is pretty. Her nose was very much like her mother’s, and her hair was from my father (which we had already noticed before), but we loved it. She was a true mix of our two families.

Then it happened. During the evening of Grace’s birthday, the moment Cassie wanted to take a little swim in our pool, she went into labor! I panicked, although we had been through this before. So I called the babysitter agency we had looked up before (for emergencies just like this) and drove her to the hospital. On the way there we talked about names. Both of us really wanted another girl and Cassie had taken every precaution to make sure our dream came true. She even told me she ate great amounts of watermelons, since this was supposed to help. Anyway, we were discussing all the way there and had only settled on the first letter, which was going to be an H. Then I was asked to stay outside the room while she was being prepared, and only entered when she was in the middle of giving birth to our little, beautiful baby gi….

BOY! This took us completely by surprise. But when his melodious laughter reached our ears, we knew what name he was going to have. It was still supposed to start with an H, and since a former friend of ours, who was a great musician, was named Henner, this was the name for our baby boy. He really looked like he could be a musician himself, a musician and a genius at the same time.


Author's Notes:  So, this was a big surprise I hadn't expected! Cassie ate three watermelons and everything. And suddenly that little window said "Congratulations, it's a boy!" My face was looking like this: O______________O Stupid game.
ANYWAY. Henner actually is the name of a musician I know (he's also the brother of my favourite singer/songwriter AND was very close to be my boss in his music company, but then he chose someone over me.) and the first name I thought about. And since I wanted this baby to relate to music,this worked out nicely.
I realized that I didn't really introduce Cassie and Grace to you, so I tried to put it into the story itself. Cassie is a loner, hates the outdoors and commitments, is a technophobe and athletic. Her lifetime wish is to earn a certain amount of money with writing (I think it's 4000 $ a week?).
Grace is a loner, hydrophobic and now also clumsy.
And Henner is a genius and virtuoso.
So now there are two children to choose from. So far. And only one dog left in the house, which is a good thing, since 5 were way too much. Which is why I had to give away three of them...
The chapter title is from a great song by The Beatles.