Day: June 22, 2018

The Heir

There we go: the day dawns on my daughter’s last day as a teen — or her first day as an adult.

Hugo and I have been working on her cake since Hugo came home this morning, after a night spent at the office.

We’ve outdone ourselves, not only does the cake look edible, it’s actually really pretty to look at.

Happy Birthday, baby!

And there you go..

Hannah’s an adult.

We have a great day as a family, all of us celebrating around the table. Hannah is not quite ready to leave the house yet. Unlike me at her age, she’s not longing for independence. She knows she’s already independent enough — what she wants is to stay close to us, and more importantly, her siblings.

We’re fine with that. Ironically for people who couldn’t get out of their parents’ house fast enough, we’re not quite ready to let her go yet.

Now that she and I are older, though, I have to hand the title of Stewarts heir over to her. My life is far from over; but hers has just begun.

So this is where I leave you. It’s her turn to guide you through her story.

First Day at the Lab

Here it is, my very first day at the Oasis Springs Laboratory! It feels like they missed a fundamental issue with the idea of wearing full-body coat and protection in the middle of the desert.

The lab is both impressive and, quite frankly, sort of gloomy.

It’s cooler on the inside though, both literally and figuratively. Quickly I meet my superior. I’ve had him on the phone before, he’s a peach.

So is his assistant, who I suspect probably has a thing for him, but that’s really none of my business.

I get to play with cool new toys!

And with no one to supervise me, too.

It’s a blast!

Around lunch break, I get a bit of exercise on the machines upstairs, and I get greeted by a man in an odd haircut who says he’s been assigned to be my lab partner.

He doesn’t look all that bright, though.

And he keeps following me around.

Luckily, you need to be alone to use a microscope.

I’m having a blast at this new job, and I haven’t even discovered what this weird, egg-shaped machine does!

Hannah’s Prom

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Hannah’s Prom Night is very different from mine.

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First of all, magical garden themes are out of fashion. Her promotion’s theme is “in the middle of the night”, whatever that means.

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But it’s not just that. I went to my prom with a solid group of five of my friends, one of them the long-term boyfriend I would end up marrying;

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Hannah… Hannah walked into these doors alone. Not that it bothered her, but for me, the contrast was stark.

That being said, I was also at the event, sneaking around the corners, officially for chaperoning purposes, unofficially because I’m nosy like that.

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The dress code was fancy, but they were pretty lax with actually enforcing it — some people here just didn’t care enough to actually make an effort. Hannah low-key admired that.

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Nolan was also a chaperone, and Hannah spent most of her evening talking to him.

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Because as it turned out, when she tried talking to other people…

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There were misunderstandings…

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And bad experiences.

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We didn’t linger very long.

On the car ride home I try to comfort Hannah, but she reassures me — she couldn’t be happier now that this is all over.