Man, I'm glad Holly and Elysia wear different colors, because at first glance they're identical. I think the blog style is a very cool way to tell the story, and you really capture it well.
Sometimes even the colors don't help.
And thanks!
I love this story. Darlene is brilliant and I love the way Ethan and Holly react to Elly getting a boyfriend.
Darlene is a ton of fun to write. I might just have to pull another chapter from her perspective again at some point.
Chemistry classes must be a blast for Elly! 
And I congratulate her on getting her driver's license. That was a very big mistake for Elly to post that picture of her in the hot tub with Judd. 
Elly learned the hard way that scaring your father is never a wise idea.
Thank you all so much for reading and I'm so glad that you are enjoying!
Chapter 28 – An Eventful WeekThese past seven days have been incredibly intense. Not crazy as far as busy is concerned, but quite a bit has changed seemingly all at once.
Sunday morning began with a bang. Several of them, to be exact. Holly and I were awakened at the slightly rude hour of 8 a.m. to the sound of our daughter and her boyfriend having a jam session in the upstairs foyer.
We've for the most part gotten used to the musical wake-up call, though it wasn't usually with drumset accompaniment. I had thought it was rather strange that Judd was over so early in the morning...until I noticed that he appeared to be wearing pajamas. When I asked, Elly casually replied that they had been up late watching a movie and he had spent the night in the spare room.
Don't fly off the handle, Ethan...he just spent the night...it's nothing to worry about, I had to remind myself. This was going to take some getting used to.
I managed to get over that little shock to my system just in time to get another jolt from a completely different source. Shortly after lunchtime I received a phone call from my baby brother, who much to my surprise was in France...
on his honeymoon. Several months back Ian told me that he was seeing someone, but never revealed exactly who. I finally found out why he was so hesitant to reveal the truth; the woman in question was none other than one of my co-workers, Jamie Jolina.
I've worked with Jamie for more than twenty years. She is an amazing doctor and an all-around sweet person. She is also thereabouts
twice my brother's age. I will say this much: it made for an interesting conversation at dinner that night...
Monday started out with birthday cake for breakfast. Hey, it's not every day when my favorite niece turns five.
(All right, thus far she is my only niece.)
School started the very next day, and although Darlene swore that she wouldn't cry both she and Malcolm were in tears as they watched Iris board the bus for the first time. I remember when it was Elysia...sigh...
Under normal circumstances, Darlene would have already been out the door and getting ready for her 9 a.m. class. She had decided to take the morning off, and it wasn't just to see her daughter off for her first day of school. That particular morning Darlene had a certain appointment with a certain doctor who happens to now be her sister-in-law (I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around that...)
The result of that appointment?
Just shy of seven months from now Iris is going to be a big sister.
Everyone was ecstatic at the news, and we all decided that we would celebrate that next day and take Darlene out for lunch and a movie. Those plans were quickly scrapped when Elly woke up Wednesday morning feeling decidedly unwell.
She wasn't the only one, either. Malcolm had apparently been up all night sick, and that morning Iris was starting to show similar symptoms. Surprisingly Darlene had managed to avoid it, but in her delicate condition (and with her luck...or lack thereof) she wasn't about to take any chances with the safety of her baby. Geoffrey and Nancy offered to let her stay the night at the Estate while this bug ran it's course, and reluctantly she accepted.
In retrospect it was probably not the wisest idea. A brief snippet of conversation from Wednesday night...
DaringD: Can't I just come home and pitch a tent in the back yard or something?MrEB: ?
DaringD: She's about to drive me up the wall! Now I know why Malcolm preferred to hang out at our place all of the time.MrEB: Nancy a bit overbearing?
DaringD: A bit? The understatement of the century. I'm not “proper” enough, apparently. AND she's been trying to convince me that we need to enroll Iris in boarding school! MrEB: Oh brother.
By Thursday morning both Elly and Iris had pretty much recovered. We kept them home from school since they were still a touch under the weather, so they spent most of the day playing video games with each other on the sofa.
Unfortunately...
My sister's bad luck must have rubbed off. Of course, now that Holly was ill that meant Darlene would have to stay another night over with her in-laws.
She was less than thrilled.
The two kids were well enough to go back to school on Friday morning and Malcolm was able to return to work. Poor Holly still felt a bit rough, though much better than the day before. Since her fever had broken she was pretty much no longer contagious. That bit of good news couldn't have come quickly enough for Darlene; almost as soon as we had disinfected the house she was back home, breathing a sigh of relief as she walked in the front door.
“If I ever have to spend that much time with my mother-in-law again...” She looked at her husband. “How the heck did you wind up so normal?”
At this Malcolm laughed. “Now you know why I didn't want to live at the Estate after we got married.”
It was nice having the family back together again. Iris was certainly glad to have her mommy back, and I know that Malcolm was relieved to have his wife and unborn child back in his arms.
By Saturday morning everything had more or less returned to normal. Holly and I were once again awakened by the sound of music from the foyer. Once again it looked as if Judd had spent the night, only this time...it didn't bother me quite so much.
Holly and I looked at each other and just smiled. I think that Leighton was right; this pair really is in it for the long haul.
I think I could get used to that.
