Emily Dillard 1
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As an aspiring writer, Emily is keeping a diary. "Journal," she corrected.
Week One.
It's exciting to participate in a dynasty and especially exciting to be in one with rivals. At the same time, I feel somewhat frustrated. I have to get a degree, but it has to be a distinguished degree, which I'm not likely to get if I don't have any skills. In order to get some skills (and make money), I've signed up for a freelance career in writing. My first task was to write a children's book for the popular Voidcritter series. I was given a character (Vulpes), a setting (Mauven Wood) and a plot (Vulpes struggles but ultimately wins).
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I'd intended to go to bed early after finishing this drivel, but I found out that the Humor and Hijinks Festival was taking place in San Myshuno. After the plucky earnestness of Vulpes, I definitely needed some humor. Giddy with the tea they served, I greeted Diego Lobo, art critic for the San Myshuno Times, with great enthusiasm and demonstrated my impossibly long sausage mime. Face palm. What was I thinking? Mime? That was so twentieth century.
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But Diego took it in good part and flashed crazy eyes at me later. Maybe he was giddy from the tea as well.
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The next morning I fixed myself a breakfast burrito in my brand-new microwave. Despite being top-of-the-line (Schmapple, and they don't come more expensive than that), it produced a mediocre burrito that was hot on the outside and numbingly cold on the inside. I did another job, writing a self-help book. That took all day, so I went to bed early.
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Early the next morning, I awoke to discover that the gremlins had visited. My toilet, sink, and shower were erupting water; my mini-fridge and microwave were emitting sparks; my computer had a hacking cough (more of a buzz, really, but I couldn't resist the pun). I fixed the toilet and sink and replaced my cheap shower, picking out one with a wall of subway tiles. I tried to fix the mini-fridge but got a bad shock and went to lie down.
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Diego called while I was taking a nap. He had a tip that Thorne Bailey and Octavia Moon would be signing autographs at Orchid A-Go-Go. Did I want to come? Did I want to get away from my death-dealing appliances? And see Diego again? He arrived with someone from his paper, an annoying fellow who was checking his phone messages rather than moving away from us.
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When he finally left, Diego stared at me intently. "I'd like to see this really, really micro home you've been bragging about."
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So I gave him the tour, ending with the brand-new shower with its highly fashionable subway tiled wall.
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The pregnancy test turned out positive. I was happy about that until I looked at the rules for the challenge and found that the baby's father would have to live with me.
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Would Diego want to leave his posh apartment where the living room was larger than my humble abode? Forget the living room. His bathroom was larger than my house.
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Would he want to leave that incredible view of downtown San Myshuno?
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In return he'd get the very ordinary view of Newcrest, thrilling if you liked grass and trees, I guess.
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I fixed myself some salad. With a baby on the way, I would have to eat more real food, less microwaved stuff. I did some proof-reading, and then Diego called, inviting me to join him at the park in San Myshuno.
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As soon as I saw him, I gave him the news. He was a bit stunned at first, but then he said he was happy about it. "But will you be able to manage, going to school and all?" he asked. I told him that I'd given it some thought. I told him that I was in a race with two other people, but that one element of the race was how quickly your children could be ready to take over. I was at a disadvantage there because my child -- our child -- would have a few more requirements to complete. So it was a good thing that I was pregnant already. I hesitated, not wanting to ask him to move in.
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"Have you ever been in the observatory here?" Diego asked. I hadn't, so we went inside to check it out.
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We set off the fireworks by the wedding arch. I kid you not. The fireworks went off on cue, so to speak. "Tomorrow's Love Day," whispered Diego. "I'll see you then."
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I met him at The Shrieking Llama for Love Day and gave him a snapdragon that I'd picked from a bush behind my house. He gave me a rose.
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I finally got up the courage to ask him to move in with me.
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I'd put in a real kitchen with a stove and regular refrigerator.
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And we would have a bedroom to ourselves upstairs. It wouldn't be a really, really micro house anymore, just tiny, but that was okay.
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Diego felt the baby kick and said it would be more than okay.
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Diego proposed.
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We got married.
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And it wasn't long before Baby Isaac joined us. He has his toddler bed, potty chair, and high chair already, but I haven't figured out where to put his toys.
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Emily finished her journal entry. She would have to wait until her next time under the Watcher's eye to start taking classes, but with all her writing experience, she was pretty sure she could get into either the Communications program or Language and Literature. Besides the children's book, motivational book, and non-fiction book she'd produced as a freelancer, she'd also written a few short stories and a romance novel, Love Me Once, "loosely" based on her romance with Diego. She hadn't published them yet. Hopefully that would be enough to get her a scholarship or two.
