Chapter 52 -- Messes
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I discovered the oher day that I can now buy a journal. I like this so much better than putting a file on the computer and giving it the name "Utilities" to keep my children from snooping. Writing by hand seems more personal than typing, and my time on the force strengthened my finger muscles, I took so many notes.
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Since I quit my job, I decided to open a store. At the moment, I've spent more than I've made, but I expect that to change. Paolo also reminded me that he, Jade, and Eva are bringing in more than enough to handle the bills and not to worry. The name of my store is Fit and Fancy, and I'll be selling exercise equipment and clothing.
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My co-workers gave me a security camera as a going-away present when I left the force. I think it was a gag gift, but it's actually useful. As thanks, I'm keeping a "Have you Seen" box to help catch criminals. Probably the hardest part of my job when I was a detective was finding my suspects, and the more awareness the public has, the better.
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Working in the store, I sometimes see people that I used to encounter as a cop. Federico Ernst (blond guy) was a witness in one of my cases, and I once gave Dina Caliente a citation. Hopefully she doesn't recognize me now that I'm out of uniform.
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The last time I saw Don Lothario and Dina they were having a fight. When they came into my store, I decided to try and patch things up between them. As a result, Don apologized quite nicely to Dina.
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But the minute my back was turned, they got into a fight again. Maybe next time, I just won't say anything. They're two of my best customers (and practically the only ones who look good in exercise outfits. I'm tempted to put up a sign that says "Exercise is what makes you lose weight, not exercise clothing." But that might alienate some of my other customers.)
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People seem to be generally more argumentative. Eva has usually taken out her temper on inanimate objects -- Count Batstraud, the garbage can -- but Agatha told me that the other day she was ripping into Paolo about something. I hope she doesn't make a habit of it.
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And all of a sudden, children have started making messes. "Why would you even do that?" I asked Alyssa. "I don't know," she said. "Mom, what do you think I should do to become a ninja?"
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Marcus, the sweetie, cleaned up that mess as well as the one that Rudy made later.
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Rudy seems to prefer paint. "You're getting too old for this," I scolded him. "I want you to clean that up yourself." But he knew that if he waited a few minutes, somebody else -- Jade this time -- would do it for him. He had a strange question, too -- "Is it okay to eat dirt?"
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And it's not just my kids -- Gavin came over to play with Rudy and made a mess upstairs. I don't know what's gotten into kids these days.
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We have a new wall decoration in the house -- the family bulletin board. I could use it to set curfew if I wanted, but with Agatha having a part-time job, I don't want her getting into trouble just because she's at work. Besides, I consider the threat of possible punishment to be a more effective deterrent than punishment itself. I did use the bulletin board to leave a picture for Agatha, though -- a homeless man next to a couple of garbage cans -- the sorry fate of people who steal.
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When she's not making a mess, Alyssa is working on her mental skill. She produced three emotion potions for her aspiration.
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Diagnosing and treating her new Tum-tum Teddy enabled her to complete the Whiz Kid aspiration and taught her some empathy as well. I'd like all my children to learn compassion (especially for their overworked mother), so I took the three of them on a walk for Curing Gas-and-Giggles the other day. Agatha tripped in the middle and sat down to nurse her ankle for the rest of the 3-hour period, but it did the younger children some good.
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The time finally came for me to tuck Rudy in for the last time. I feel a little sad -- Alyssa will soon become a teen, too. On the bright side, that's one less child to make a mess.
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He blew out his candles while Gavin was here. We really did cheer him on, we just didn't get a picture of that.
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I think he turned out quite handsome. He inherited my nose and freckles, but his father's firm jaw.
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Sadly, he didn't inherit his father's broad shoulders, but exercise should help with that. Rudy will have to do most of his exercising indoors or at night because he's now a vampire. His dark form is that of a butler because he says that butlers are the scariest thing he can think of.
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Rudy wants to be a writer when he grows up, and he's started keeping a journal. Since he's now a gloomy bookworm, a journal is a good idea.
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To my surprise, Agatha started a journal, too.
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She's going through a phase now, where she wants to be alone.
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The other day she was in the bathroom so long that I started to worry. I knocked on the door and asked if she was all right. "I'm fine," she said, "I just wanted some privacy."
"Well next time, try the upstairs bathroom," I said, "not the one that's closest for everyone else."
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On the plus side, Agatha is fond of her little sister (fingers crossed that Alyssa doesn't try to snoop in her diary)...
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...and she's started working on the portraits she'll need for our museum. I just hope we can both make it through her adolescence.
