Christmas is now over as we return to the old Mosquito Cove and Ranveig Motorsens house on this rainy january morning... there is something about this house, or maybe one of its residents, that might just leave you with a feeling of being under a perpetual rain cloud.. even if the sun was shining... in this old house of 50 doors, regrets and sheets so cold...
Things have just returned to normal again after last years christmas celebration over at her ex's house, which is now also the father of her youngest sons boyfriend... and with that sentence, I think its time for another family tree, just to show how it really is.. even though I do not count anyone as a true member of family until they are married and/or have children.. but I'll make an exception just now for this teenage romance. ;)
Both her boys were still sleeping as Ranveig got up during the early morning hours to have breakfast and relax by watching a rerun of yesterdays episode of 'Next Level Chef' with celebrity chef Schmordon Gamsay.
Watching the romance channel, as she usually would, was not the way to get ready to go to work...it was best not to dream away to much about what had been unobtainable in her life so far..
The rain had just ceased as she walked out the door, but it still had that moist, damp feel to it. The only blessing was that it was january so it wasn't to hot, but well within the range of what was tolerable. As she walked towards the car to wait for her colleague to pick her up, she thought about Oliver Freddy and it filled her with pride. She knew she had to say goodbye to him once more when she returned from work before he and his girlfriend went back to finish the last semester of their bachelors degree at university.
In spite of all the struggles and her life not being
everything she had hoped for, the future seemed bright. Even her
youngest son Robert, who reminded her so much of his father, for better
or for worse, was starting to get some interest in science, and maybe
one day she would send him off to university as well...
Though Robert had proved himself to
be a promising writer by finishing his first science fiction novel
last year (no doubt inspired by his older brothers journey into the
world of science), and starting his second novel in the romance genre
(since he got a girlfriend in Margrethe..), doing homework still
wasn't his favourite thing to do.. but he knew it was necessary if he
was going to do like his brother and go to university.. he almost managed to finish it
before the school bus honked for him on the street...
As expected its mostly just the retired elders hanging around at this hour, not to much of interest.. Ayesha Ansari is the one standing up, talking to the others about how pumped she is from working out.. The ones sitting, I believe, are left to right Jamie Jolina, Leighton Sekemoto and Victoria Andrews. The only non-elder is Leightons son Sam Sekemoto to the right. I think they're the only ones there until I hear a laughing toddler in the background..
Of course I have to check out who the youngster is, and I find that it's Emmy Reppe who has been taken to the park by her older sister (and Oliver Freddys girlfriend) Inge. Inge, when she's at home, doesn't have any set work hours as she is freelancing as a writer. Being a more artistic kind, her dream is to make a living off of painting, drawing and writing by being an illustrious author. Later on this day she will go back to university with her boyfriend, but for now she's just enjoying a last trip to the park with her sister.
Wow, hey, up you go! ;)
Their father Jarle was also hanging out with them, and Inge had to make sure to take a few selfies with him. Having some pictures to look at may just ease to pain of being away from her family when she's at university... Her mother Iselin works as a journalist alongside Ranveig, so she is likely at work.
When Ranveig leaves work she is a little puzzled by the vehicle that has parked right behind the carpool car.. "Where did that come from? We never had a food truck in Sunset Valley... Well, either way I'm not gonna make use of it... I have no need for junk food..."
Ranveig would rather make her own food from scratch, and tunes in to the cooking channel once she gets home, to kill some time while waiting for her sons and hopefully learn some new interesting recipes. Cheaper, better and much healthier than anything any food truck could offer...
Robert Bråge returned from school to relax by playing some video games and boasting to his mom about everything he learnt in todays class on personal finance. Now all of a sudden he's an expert in economics and ready to make it big by investing on the stock market.. but Ranveig was quick to curb his enthusiasm.
"Not yet" she said, "not while you're under my roof....but investing isn't a bad idea. If you really mean it, I suggest we make a plan to put a part of your weekly allowance into a fund for when you want to go to college.. or buy yourself a house. And if you do it well, I might just increase your allowance... how does that sound?"
"Yeah... ok, that's cool mom..." Robert replied thinking.. "...but do I really need to use it for college?"
"Maybe not" Ranveig said, "but it has to be something that will secure your future.. a house, an education, a drivers license, maybe a car... or at the very least to have some cash handy if you should need it... I don't want you to squander it away on something that isn't going to be worthwhile..."
"Then I want to spend it on a drivers license and a car. I want to learn how to drive, mom. Margrethe is gonna start taking lessons already this summer."
"That's a good idea, but I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait a couple more years for that... besides, we would need some time to save up the money first..."
Ranveig knew of course that with only the money coming from his allowance it wouldn't be enough to cover the costs of both a car and a drivers license, even if put away in a fund, but she was already two steps ahead and had already been putting aside money in a fund for his future since his first day of school already... but it wouldn't hurt to teach the young boy something about finances as well, now that she had the opportunity...
When Oliver Freddy returned home from work he immediately phoned his girlfriend to remind her to come over to his place in good time before the van taking them back to university would arrive.
She wasn't hard to ask... her bag was packed and ready, and she had almost started to grow a little impatient with him making the call.. it didn't take long for her to arrive and walk up the steps to startle everyone inside by ringing the doorbell.
"That was a little unecessary" Oliver Freddy thought as he walked down the steps, "she could have just walked right in..." but Inge was herself and she wasn't really the kind to just barge into someone elses home – even if they (for the most part) considered her to be a part of their family too..
..even Ranveig had eventually began
to warm up to this girl now, and how could she not? There wasn't a
bad bone in her body, and she truely, deeply loved her boyfriend. He
was definately going to be a part of her future, from now and until
forever.. they all were, there was no doubt about it.
..yeah, she was starting to like this girl too.. a little bit.. but not enough yet to want to get up from the wooden couch to give her a warm welcoming into their house.. her house... well, that and she didn't want to interrupt their romancing.. clearly her son had found "the one" for himself.. as a mother, it was a sight that warmed her heart ever so slightly, somewhere in there, underneath that coating of stone...
Inge is totally enamoured in her boyfriend and may not even have noticed that Ranveig and Robert was in the room, as she did her best to charm her boyfriend before walking up the stairs to where she knows the bedrooms are..
..but there wouldn't be any of that right now, as Oliver Freddy just received a call from the driver of the van that he was already outside on the street waiting for them...
Ranveig just rolled her eyes at Inge having gone up the stairs.. she knew what she was up to, but not in her home, atleast not while she and Robert was in the house... that would be crossing the line...
Inge had no choice but to walk down the stairs again to get in the car with her boyfriend, who was by then already outside and ready to get into the van.. Robert was already on the spot to wave his brother goodbye.
Inge stopped for a while to catch a last glimpse of Ranveig and Robert waving them off, before turning around to get into the van.. "They look kind of cute, these two..." and she caught herself wondering how it would all be on that special day when her father would walk her up the aisle... they were all family now, even if everything wasn't always perfect...
While the driver shifted the van into gear to drive off, Robert turned around to head inside to finish his homework.. maybe he was going to do like his brother one day, or maybe not.. but either way, doing homework couldn't hurt.. if anything, it would keep his mom happy, and maybe if his grades were good enough she would increase his allowance even more, which meant that he could get a license and a car faster... or have more money to spend at the arcade...
..and so off the students went, and it was goodbye to Sunset Valley once more...
..ready for another semester of long hours of studying, partying and silliness..
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