Time Marches On

After the birth of Garret, my life seemed to be stuck on fast forward. Carlotta was doing great taking care of our son and she even found time to keep painting. Garret was a wonderful baby and rarely ever cried.

Before I knew it, three years had passed and Garret had become a strong toddler. He learned how to walk and talk at an early age, by the time he was two he was using the potty by himself. He occasionally even would try to dress himself.

He was so handsome, equipped with the best of me and Carlotta. I was so proud of him.

Shortly after his third birthday, we decided to try for a little girl. After a couple of months trying, Carlotta became pregnant again.

I was very excited, however nothing would compare to the first time around. I tried to make this pregnancy just as special as the first. Carlotta seemed to be just as excited, and I wasn’t going to let her think I was any less excited.

I got a promotion at work, I was now a teacher’s aide. Making little more than when I began, but it came with a sign-on bonus that we used to build two bedrooms onto the house. We turned one bedroom into our master room, and the other into the kid’s room. Our old bedroom was converted to a family room and the old living room was a dining area. Our house was far from complete, but I was trying to better it with each chance I got.

The pregnancy flew by us, and before too long, Carlotta had went into labor. Since this pregnancy had been so easy, she decided to try having the baby at home with a nurse on site.

She put Garret to bed and then went to our bedroom with the nurse and me by her side. The delivery was quick, and Carlotta had no troubles. It took close to 20 minutes for her to push this baby out, and I soon got to hold my second-born son.

He was 20 inches and only 6 pounds 7 ounces. The nurse declared him healthy, although a bit small. We named him Joshua David Greymane.

He caught up in weight and grew normally. I loved him very much, but I can’t deny that my relationship with Garret was stronger.

Joshua grew into a toddler and learned to walk and talk a little later than Garret had, but still at a young age. He was potty trained by the time he was three.

We had a small party for him when he turned four.

Garret and I spent a lot of time together. We were best buds and talked about everything. Joshua seemed to enjoy watching Carlotta paint and I had no problem with that. She was a wonderful artist, and I could tell he would become one also.

My favorite past-time with Garret was to play chess.

His intelligence was outstanding and he often outwitted me. I could see so much of myself in his actions and mind, yet his features reminded me of his mother.

We both loved to be outside, a trait that my whole family carried. On sunny days, Garret and I would play outside or go fishing. I knew my age was catching up with me, though, because I couldn’t run around with Garret as well as I could have when he was a small child.

It seemed like only days had passed, yet it had actually been years. Garret had grown into a handsome teen. All the girls at school fawned over him and he was constantly getting “secret admirer” letters at school. He never seemed too interested in them, however, he was very focused on his studies and always put the family first.

My second son, Joshua, had also grown up and was now a ten-year old child. He didn’t look much like his older brother, but he was still a very handsome boy. He prefered to keep to himself though, and rarely ever wanted to do anything with me.

I had just turned forty when Carlotta announced to me that she was pregnant again. We had not been trying this time, and I was not too enthused about the idea of having another child. I was ready for grandkids, not another child of my own. We would never pass up a gift from the creator though, so after nine months of sickness, Carlotta birthed our third child. This time we had a baby girl.

She was born 20 inches and weighed in at 6 pounds 9 ounces. She, too, had Carlotta’s beautiful brown eyes and dark hair. We decided to name her Layla Ann.

A few months after Layla was born, I was offered an all-expense-paid vacation to Italy. It was a rare opportunity and I couldn’t pass it up. I would miss out on work for the two weeks that Carlotta and I were gone, so I was nervous about the bills getting paid. Garret told me to go and he would take care of the house and the bills while I was away. Since I had so much trust in my son, I agreed and the next week, Carlotta and I were off on a grand adventure.

Garret easily switched into head-of-house mode and took over. I truthfully think he was better at it than me! He made sure that Layla was cared for.

He even had his friend, Brett, come over and help him instead of going to the homecoming dance.

Once Layla was looking good, Garret would turn his attention to Joshua. They would work on their homework together, and he would help his little brother with the hard math problems.

When Joshua told Garret about the mean bully on the school bus, Garret stepped up and sat with his brother. No one would harm his family, and from then on, Garret rode the bus with Joshua every day.

I was very pleased to see how well everything went while I was away, but I was glad to be back. I offered to give Garret some money for all he had done, but he refused and asked if he could whip me in chess a couple of times.

When Layla turned three, we had a small party for her. It was crazy how fast my life had changed before me. I was forty-three years old with two teens and a baby.

Garret had prom coming up soon and even though there were several girls wishing to be his date, he decided to go alone.

He was so loved by everyone in his class it came as no surprise that he was awarded prom king.

When Garret graduated, he decided to stay at home and attend the local college. Joshua began high school as a very handsome teen.

As for my beautiful Layla, she was now in grade school and doing very well in her studies.

I couldn’t believe how fast my world had changed. But once everyone was in school, I had time to spend with my wonderful Carlotta. One weekend we all decided to go out and fish together. We even found a nice stranger to take a family photo.

It wasn’t easy trying to get five people to all synchronize a smile. I wouldn’t want to remember my family any other way though.

Chapter Seven: The Choices We Make