Chapter 8Delilah's birthday arrived. She was already cranky and tired from working so hard, the fact that she did not have an ice sculpture in the museum irritated her to no end.
Delilah tried to be cheerful. After all an ice sculpture wasn't a requirement.
But Delilah was a completionist and wanted the dang sculpture. So she was whiny.
Darren assured her that he was thisclose to being able to sculpt unmelting ice sculptures. Based on that assurance, Delilah took the day off of work and set about her gardening chores.
After her chores were complete, Delilah ran to the field next door, resolving to stay close to the house. She also resolved after walking past cat puke to hire a maid.
And then he was ready.
And thank freakin' goodness, it was done.
Her birthday occurred before she could get to the kitchen or her cake. Well, Danica's birthday would be arriving shortly and they still had leftover cake from Darren's birthday. Delilah tended to Danica, getting her fed and to bed while Darren ate and collapsed in exhaustion in the rocking chair. So for her birthday, Delilah ate leftover cake. Alone. While staring at her sleeping husband.
But she was pleased that her man came through. Delilah hoped that in the future, tasks wouldn't be completed at the last minute like that again.
The first full day of her adult life and the cool, rainy weather coincided. But the sunrise was as brilliant as ever.
Zoe and Max were becoming close companions and advanced hunters, although they weren't catching anything worth too much.
Delilah's gathering and gardening efforts were paying off. She had now harvested one Death Flower and several Life Fruit.
Delilah invested more time and money into her Performance Park. She still had a ways to go, but she was getting there.
Darren finally could take a short breather and spend time getting to know his daughter.
However, Delilah didn't feel as if she could take a breather. She kept pushing herself, while telling herself that once she completed her tasks, she could enjoy life. Meanwhile a niggling voice in her head kept asking, "What if it doesn't work and you slaved your life away for nothing?"
The cool and the rain had arrived and Darren was back at work because Danica wouldn't be a toddler for too much longer.
It was Delilah's turn to work herself into exhaustion.
It was only fair. One person couldn't be pulling the load all of the time. They were a team.