2.8 - Milestones

  Melisandra had warned them before that she wouldn't be so kind the next time the aliens decided to snoop on her property. He was not impressed with the sudden cold.

  It was a quiet Saturday when Laura brought up their impending bundle of joy.
  "Boy or girl, do you think?"
  Mel shrugged. "I dunno. But I'm happy with whatever."
  "Mel, just take a guess. It's just for fun. I'm hoping for another girl."
  "Alright, boy then. Just, one request, if we do have a baby boy."
  Laura peered at Mel curiously.
  "He has to be named Thomas."
  "Alright, but why?"
  "I promised someone years ago that if I ever had a baby boy, I'd name him Thomas. I just never thought I'd actually have children."

  For Octavia's birthday, Laura invited a ton of people. Shana Littlefield was not one of them. The woman refused to leave though, and Mel was too busy to worry about kicking the woman out.

  Melisandra hadn't seen her sister, Sapphire, in ages. Not since the last meeting was called.
  "How have you been?" Mel asked.
  Sapphire just laughed. "Well, you know."
  Mel did.

  Theo also managed to swing by as well. Poppy though was not impressed with being dragged along. She wasn't a fan of her husband's family.
  "I'm sorry I haven't stopped by lately, Laura. I've had a cold, and now Reed's caught it. He's with Poppy's brother right now. Since they're also sick there, it was okay for him to visit. Get some peace and quiet."
  Laura pulled Theo into a tight hug, ignoring Poppy. "I'm just glad you made it for Octavia's birthday. She's excited to meet you."
  As Laura pulled away to go greet other guests, Theo grabbed her arm and pulled her close. "And, Laura, I'm sorry about Cemre. But I'm glad you've found happiness with Mel."

  Octavia didn't care for blowing out the candles. She just wanted to dig right in to the cake. Laura took a step away so she wasn't close enough to grab the candles.

  Only three people made it out to actually watch Octavia blow the candles out. Everyone else was too busy chatting inside. Laura didn't mind though, this party was more for the adults than for Octavia.

  Oriel stopped Laura on her way for cake.
  "We must speak sometime. The next time you hold this party, we will speak."
  Laura nodded, her hand going to her stomach. Oriel smiled, knowing that Laura understood what she meant.

  "Uncle Theo, is it true that you're a rockstar?!"
  "Uh, not quite. I've still got a ways to go before I'm a rockstar.
  Octavia proceeded to talk Theo's ear off for nearly an hour before Poppy announced that she and Theo were leaving. Octavia extracted a promise that Theo would teach her to play guitar sometime.
And bring her cousin over to play.

  After the party, Octavia sat alone in her room. It was an exhausting day for her, and tomorrow it got even better! Since she still had a few days before she'd begin school, Laura and Mel were taking her to a special surprise!

  The special surprise ended up being a children's indoor play area/ arcade. Laura brought Octavia's normal clothes to change into when they got there. She knew that Octavia would want to go climbing and couldn't do that in her current attire.

 
  They hadn't been there five minutes before Octavia made a new friend. He introduced himself as Lincoln. The two talked for quite some time before Lincoln had to go.

  While Octavia was talking to Lincoln, Laura decided that her daughter couldn't have all the fun. Whack-A-Witch was a very addicting game. Mel watched from a few feet away, slightly warey of her girlfriend.

  Once Lincoln left, Octavia played around, pretending she was a warrior princess off to rescue the prince from a mean dragon!

  Of course her adventure ended early when Laura went into labour. Mel dropped Octavia off at home before driving Laura to the hospital.

  "Grandpa! Is mommy going to be okay? She was hurting and mom wouldn't tell me what was wrong with her!"
  Brendan pulled Octavia in for a hug. "It's okay, mommy is going to be just fine, your baby sibling just decided that he wanted to make an appearence."

  It was several hours later when Laura walked in the front door, with a new baby in her arms. Mel followed in behind, looking a lot more tired than Laura did.

  "Octavia, come meet your new little brother, Thomas."
  Octavia stood several feet away and waved. "Mommy, he's smelly."
  Laura's nosed crinkled. "I know, I'll change him in a moment."

  After getting a fresh butt change, Thomas was happily sitting in his swing with Melisandra and Brendan making funny faces at him.

  Laura pulled Octavia aside to talk. "I'm sorry for scaring you today, O."
  "Next time, can you tell mom to say something instead of being quiet?"
  Laura laughed. "Unfortunately, when your mom gets nervous or scared, she clams up. But I will talk to her for you."
  "Thank you," Octavia said, pulling in Laura for a hug. "When can Thomas come play dollies with me?"

NOTE: I didn't actually intend to take this long to get back to writing this. xD I have another two chapters worth of pictures, and I'm opening up my game in just a few minutes to play some more.