This is it. This is when we decide if skipping school should warrant a punishment. The jury is ready to decide. One of the members of the jury is asleep, but it’s okay, I guess I’ll just have to carry the whole team on my shoulders.
It’s a trial by combat.
Water balloon combat.
Dad’s in the wrong team.
My aim is unmatched — Cléo’s probably getting a cold now, but I’m trying to teach her the way of the jungle.
Okay, I’ll admit I don’t actually mind the whole skipping-school business. Dad, Cléo, the cats and I spend a really fun morning together.
Today, Cléo just feels like she can’t be bothered going to school. So, under Loladorada’s disapproving glare, she calls to tell them that she’s terribly ill. Yes, the change in seasons, they’ll understand for sure. It’s been raining a lot.
I’m not sure I approve either, and I will not be an accomplice to this terrible, terrible business, so at ten past eight, I head back to the poolhouse.
At least my relics don’t skip school.
Meanwhile, Cléo decides that the best way to spend her school-free time is to play with dead leaves that have accumulated behind our house.
At least she makes herself useful by burning them.
Though I suspect she really just likes the flames and isn’t really trying to make herself useful. Granted she looks badass.
She’s got the attention span of your average teenager, so the leaves have barely started to smell like coal and she’s already out, back towards the house.
Dad is complicit with her lack of discipline. As a matter of fact, he supports it. Loladorada is still not convinced.
The weather is still warm, but I still wouldn’t go for a swim at the start of fall. It just doesn’t look right.
Today, we’ve got family coming over! Gram, aunt Miranda and our cousin Nolan, all at once! I am beyond excited as I haven’t seen aunt Miranda and Nolan in ages, and though I love my younger siblings, I’m looking forward to actually getting to know my older cousin. I’m hoping we finally become friends!
I might have been a little overzealous in table-decorating, but as I said, I’m taking this lunch seriously. Everything had better be perfect!
For example, I was the one to remind Mom that we needed to get tofu-based, fake turkey for Gram. The twins complain about it not being real meat the whole day, and I don’t trust Mom enough not to prepare it myself, but it’s worth it.
Cyril, in typical teenager fashion, absolutely has to take a selfie before we start the meal.
I may or may not have confiscated his phone thanks to my Older Sister Authority.
Here we are, all eight of us, and as I planned, everything is flawless. Somehow the tofu smells really good. Even Gram makes a comment on the quality of the food, and I feel my heart explode with pride.
And, perhaps more importantly, even the twins have nothing to say about the taste.
Some great-grandma/great-grandchild time. Gram and I were close when I was a wee little one, and now that I’m an adult, I want to deepen that bond, and learn everything she has to teach me. She must have so many stories to tell, so many things she knows about the world, and about our own family! She’s been alive to see five of all fourteen of us Stewarts heirs alive!
You know I need to know everything about it all.
I’m about to start quizzing her when Nolan pulls up a chair in front of me. “So cousin, he said. How have things been since your prom?”
“Well I don’t need to hide behind my big cousin in social events anymore! But then again I don’t go to social events anymore.”
Quickly, Nolan and I start getting along like old best friends. He’s everything I hoped, and I’m glad we finally can finally make up for all of the estranged, vaguely cordial years.
Gram watches over that, and I can practically read the amused “Youth!” she’s holding back from saying on her face.
The thing with parties is you have to clean up after. I sure as heck wasn’t going to let Gram, aunt Miranda, Nolan or my parents do it, and the twins, those little devils, have ran off to hide somewhere. So I’m taking care of it.
It’s fine, though. Nolan stuck around and we get to enjoy some more time together on the swings as the sun sets. The weather is getting cooler, yet I feel all warm inside.
You know I’m not exactly a social butterfly, but I love being around family almost as much as I love exploring a good (very) old tomb.
My name is Nounou. I run like the wind and explore the universe. There’s a whole world outside of that big house the humans call home, and it’s mine, all mine. All mine to explore. I knew my kingdom had to be more than that San Myshuno apartment!
I am the explorer of worlds and piles of dirt. Bow before my grace.
Loladorada is my friend, but she’s also very different from me. She says she’s been on the other side of the world, and now she’s content staying safe and well-fed inside. I don’t know if I believe her. She talks about walking human-shaped skeletons and blessings and curses and I think she’s just a show-off. Also, how dare she imply my kingdom is boring.
Lola does love food a whole lot. She always watches the Human in Chief when she cooks. And today, in particular. It’s a special day for the humans, they plan on having people over. It means we’ll have more opportunities for snatching food off the floor.
I’m a kind ruler and I let Loladorada have dominion over the dinner table. Most of the time, and as long as she promises to alert me when there’s something interesting on it.
That first leaf has barely had time to fall, and already we got the house all prepped and ready. Let it be known the Stewarts family won’t welcome the first winds of autumn without a properly decorated abode.
We got together as a family and despite the arguments about which shade of acorn exactly we wanted to hang above the door, we arrived at a result we all loved, ready to welcome friends and family into our comfy little home.
Mom’s friend Charlotte is the first to visit.
She was expected! Mom has been talking about her visiting for days now. They see each other so rarely. She says Dad and her still haven’t properly been introduced to their children, Patience and What’s-Her-Name.
I know Patience, though. She was in my class in high school and she was a brat who managed to convince the whole class she was some type of angel.
Yeah, the angel wings tattooed on her back didn’t fool me. She had little respect for me and my C average, and I didn’t care for her little clique of heart-eyed boys who followed her around like poodles.
That being said, we always remained civil to each other, out of love for our respective mothers. They would be broken-hearted to ever learn their kids didn’t get along. Even though I can’t figure out why, Mom and Charlotte are still the best of besties after all these years.
Cleo has the theory that mom and her might have also been brats when they were younger.
Guess as an archeologist that’s the only thing about history I’d rather not look into too much…
We spend a few more hours with Gram, then as the shop closes, we hug her, and head to the Oasis Springs beach with Mom and Dad. The heat is almost unbearable for most people here, but I don’t mind it at all. I just love the sun.
The twins are sharing secrets as soon as we arrive. Over their shoulders I can see what looks like a glass roof — are they looking up greenhouses? Good luck convincing Gram to get one! But I’m thrilled they are showing such passion into a common interest.
I hear Mom and Dad whisper about how the bar on the beach “hasn’t changed a bit”, but they won’t clarify when I ask. They just exchange knowing looks and smiles so intimate they make me look away — I’m not sure I want to know.
I love my sister, but I’m not taking her up on her offer to play Don’t Wake the Llama. She’s a sore loser and I’m much better at it than her. Learning dodge traps in the jungle has the side effect of making you more agile than the average teenager, you see.
What’s better than having your legs soaked in fresh water during a hot day?
I’ll tell you what. Having your legs soaked in fresh water during a hot day as a family.
And then we go jam to the sound of some summer tunes. Mom does a good job of not looking too disappointed at how little her kids can stick to the rhythm.
I may not dance as well as hear, but I sure do look fierce doing it.
The Stewarts Family (and other shenanigans) 