1.4 Crazy for Parenthood

New chapter's here, enjoy!

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Trisha's pregnancy went on smoothly and nicely. Salim got a nice amount of royalties from his books and was becoming quite famous for his writings. He was getting to the point where publishers competed over him and his works. Trisha knew, that it meant a lot for him to be able to contribute to the family moneywise. When they added the royalties and the money from her garden together, the two of them managed to live quite a comfortable life. Thus a baby was a welcome addition to the household.

In between hectic gardening there was limited time for socializing, but Trisha had managed to get a few good friends. One of her best friends was Clara Bjergsen, who had already given birth to a couple of children and therefore gave many handy tips for easing the nausea and overall uncomfortableness.
"Ginger tea, I swear for it", she said. "A few drops of honey there, and you'll feel much better in no time!"

"What kind of plant are you even?" Trisha tried to think so hard she felt like her brain was going to explode. "What - or who - is behind this? You cannot find such things from nature!"

"Now look at you, that's a handsome one!" Trisha praised the cowplant. "We'll see, for how long I'll succeed to keep you alive! What do you eat, I wonder? I guess normal cows would eat grass, but you look like your appetite is greater than that, am I right?"
The plant mumbled happily. By the green drop of saliva that hanged from the cow's lip Trisha could conclude it desired the piece of meat she was holding in her hand.

"Tasty, was it? You're kind of cute after all. You better not bite any living person with those teeth of yours!"

You better watch out Trish, if you don't feed the plant often enough, soon it might feast with your family!

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"Oh my gosh, not again with this plumming morning sickness! Did I somehow screw up the ginger tea", Trisha sighed in agony. "I must call Clara and ask again the recipe."

Clara was compassionate as always. She gave Trisha her ginger tea recipe again, and this time, Trisha wrote it up. Additionally, they discussed motherhood in general, and Clara gave some good tips for parenting. Trisha was thankful for her friend's support. Of course she also had Salim, who helped in any way he could and listened when she needed him to, but he could never understand the pain of an expecting mother as well as someone, who has been through it too. That's just how it was.

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Because Trisha was due soon, the house got a renovation to meet the needs of the little family. The home of the Crowes got a second floor, where the living room and the baby's room were constructed, so that the ground floor got more roomy. The house was still a bit tiny and cramped, but served the needs of the family still way better than before.

In addition to the fact that Salim's books were selling like hot cakes, he was also doing pretty well in his career. Today was another good day at work, and he had earned the promotion he had been after for a long time. Now it was time to celebrate with a good movie and a glass of red nectar!

Trisha spent her days by either reading skill books or trying to come up with other fun activities to do. In winter there were few growable plants, so there wasn't much to do in her garden. So she had to plan something else to fill her days with, and then decided, their lawn needed a guardian. Since they couldn't afford a pet, they had to settle with something else.

She had fulfilled her Aspiration and become a Freelance Botanist, and she was very pleased with herself. Now there were only the perfect plants to grow, and she could start building a park to Newcrest! The energy she had used earlier to hone her gardening skills she now used to master cooking. Her new goal was to become a Master Chef, and luckily, because of her garden, she had unlimited resources of fresh ingredients. 

"Mmm... No canned sauce beats the spaghetti sauce you make from tomatoes from your own garden!"

Suddenly she felt sharp pain in her lower stomach area. And then again. And again. It was stronger than any pain she had ever felt before, and different too. All of a sudden she realized, what it meant.
"Where's Salim?" she moaned. "The baby wants out NOW!"
Her husband was nowhere to be seen, so she couldn't do anything but bite her teeth and try to survive the whole giving birth alone.

A short while after she was holding an adorable baby boy.
"Welcome to the world, Dylan", she cooed to the little one. Her feeling was surreal. Was she really just become a mother all of a sudden? A little bit of panic was lurking in her mind. She wasn't ready for such a responsibility! What if she did something wrong? The baby was so tiny and fragile, only one wrong move and she could hurt it badly.
But then she looked at Dyl's innocent eyes and calmed down. Maybe there was a chance everything was going to be just okay.

Anyways, her mealtime had suffered from the unexpected disturbance. The baby could wait a bit, mommy needed some food now.

"Look at mama being all silly! Boo boo! Eyes all crossed!"
It didn't take long for Trisha to release her inner child to the outside.

As Salim returned from work, the first thing he did was go and say hello to the newborn.
"Well hello, little Dylan, here's daddy", he cooed. "From now on I start to write only children's literature, so that you have plenty of books to read when you grow up!"

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"I love Winterfest", Trisha sighed happily. "And not just for the food, the presents too!" She carefully shook the package. "What have you bought me, I wonder?"
Salim smiled. "Open it, and you'll see!"

After seeing Trisha's enthusiastic face as she opened her present and found a brand new grill oven inside, it was Salim's turn to open his. He wasn't that keen on materialistic things, and not only because the life had already given him the best presents he could possibly imagine. He had a loving family and a successful career, what else could he hope for?
Well, he wouldn't say no to the newest detective story from his favourite author, that was for sure.

"No present can beat you", he cooed to Dylan. "That's one thing me and your mom fully agree on."
Dylan babbled softly and burped after eating himself full.
"Honey! The guests are arriving!" Trish called out to Salim, so he put the baby down to his bassinet. It was time for a birthday party.

"Wow! So that's how it feels to be an adult? It's not so bad at all", Salim thought out loud after blowing out the candles of his cake and twirling in the air for his aging. "And I don't even have wrinkles yet!"

Also Clara was complimenting his looks - platonic, of course, she was also happily married, but like anyone, she could see that he had aged rather elegantly. Salim gave her his thanks and couldn't not agree with her. It didn't matter that he had gained a bit weight to his waist area, it was just part of marriage, wasn't it? Especially when Trisha's cookings were so tasty, no one could possibly resist them.

"What on Earth is this beverage you have produced? Maybe I'll store it somewhere and taste it later, if I dare."

Later in the evening Father Winter himself arrived to crash the party and handed a present to the man of the hour. 
"More presents? I didn't know I've been that nice all year!"
"Well you have! You have earned every present you get."

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Dylan became soon close with the nanny, because during his baby years, his parents went to work to earn money for the future. Luckily La'ei was nice and caring, and she soon became like a third parent to Dyl.

The young boy grew up in all of a sudden, in peace and quiet. Luckily he's still too young to notice any missing birthday parties, his parents thought relieved.

Salim was surprised of the fact, how brisk little man his son had grown up into. He could ask for a bedtime story all by himself and everything.

Salim couldn't imagine, how good it would feel to be a father. He felt an enormous amount of pride as he watched his son snoring quietly in his dreams. This little guy had all opportunities ahead, the whole world lied in front of him! What would he achieve when he grew up? Salim hoped he would live long enough to see all of that happen.

"Hahahaha, dada is an aeroplane! Dada is an aeroplane! Weehee!"
"Daddy is... an aeroplane... *huff* But daddy can't... do it much longer... *puff*"

Trisha was following Dylan's growth with a warm heart as well. Her son had a truly colourful imagination and he told wild stories to his parents all the time. There were dragons, princes and knights, but also robot cars and aliens in them. But in every story there was a hero (named Dylan, by chance) who rushed for the rescue and saved the day just in time. Where did the boy get all his ideas from?

The members of the little family spent their time with their favourite activities, either fining their skills or exploring the new. Life went on smoothly. For once, everything was well.

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"Ten seconds to midnight!" Clara shouted. Dylan watched confused the adults shrieking and shouting. Grown-ups were so silly!
"Nine... eight... seven... six..."

"Five... four... three... two... one..."

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

As Salim pressed his lips on Trisha's, she could only think of one thing:
I wish everything could stay the way they are right now.

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