9.1 Christmas Eve
Winter 1996, West residence
"Welcome, Herbert!", Linda said politely to the man when she opened the door for her visitors.
"Hello, Miss.. eh... Linda! Thank you for the invitation!"
Linda noticed he was still insecure about adressing her by her first name.
"And you must be Mariella?", she turned towards the girl. "I'm Linda, Mae's sister", she introduced herself.
"Yes! Hi, Linda!" Mariella was definitely much more confident than her father.
"Come inside and sit down. Mae is preparing the food", Linda said, leading them to the living room.
"Woooowww! What a big Chrismas tree!", Mariella exclaimed, when she saw it. "And even a real fireplace! And so many presents! Yay!"
"You don't have a christmas tree at home?", Linda thought the girl's excitement was really cute. She reminded her of Mae, some years ago.
"No... we don't even have space for that...", Mariella said, looking a bit disappointed about it.
"Uhm... can I go to Mae?", she asked then.
"Sure, I guess she would love some help", Linda answered. "The kitchen is straight through the hallway."
Mariella was already running there.
"Maeee!"
The adressee turned around, and her face lit up.
"Marie, hi!", she said, happy to see the girl.
"Can I help you?", Mariella asked her with anticipation.
Mae smiled at her eagerness: "Sure! Can you wash a lemon?"
Mariella nodded and took the fruit.
"I need some of the zest for the pasta, so wash it well", Mae explained. "Oh, and you can put away the flour and the sauce."
Suddenly she heard some noise.
"...Oh!" Mariella cried out.
When Mae turned around, she saw that Mariella had dropped one of the pots, and the whole floor was covered with flour.
"It dropped...", Mariella said with an almost weeping voice.
Mae had to laugh. So Mariella had something in common with her father!
"Don't worry, it can happen", she tried to calm her down.
"I'm sorry..."
Mae believed to spot a tear in the girl's eyes. Oh no.
"In my first year of cooking school I dropped once eggs on the new shoes of the teacher.. He was not too happy about it!", she told her.
This worked.
Mariella started to laugh.
"What you're doing? You seem to have a lot of fun!"
Linda and Herbert arrived into the kitchen, drawn by the noise.
They definitely had.
Oh man finally a use for the "make a mess" interaction. Usually it just annoys me.
ReplyDeleteHaha, yeah it's kinda weird.
DeleteBut some of the faces the kids make look like it's an accident, so I had to use it xD
I love the way Mae and Marie are bonding. It’s so,sweet.
ReplyDeleteMae has a talent for older kids and teens. Maybe because she is still quite young.
DeleteWhat a great use for those messes! As always, Linda looks great! Actually for once, she's wearing something I'd probably wear. Linda, I need your fashion sense. That was nice of the sisters to invite Herbert and his daughter for Christmas. He looks nice and festive too. That's a cozy sweater to cozy up to. ;) your Christmas decor is so homey and sets the scene well. I just realized how pale the girl is. She needs a little color.
ReplyDeleteThanks! so many compliments, I'm blushing xD
DeleteHerbert, being Mae's boyfriend now, is like family. Ofc they would spend christmas together c:
Yay!
DeleteMeh, that mess was one of the reasons I never bought the parenthood thing. That, and parenting was already tough enough without all the extra crap. At least you did get some use out of it.
ReplyDeleteThe mess is definitely one of the things I found less fun, but I liked the idea of active parenting.
DeleteAnd still I haven't found that it changed the gameplay too much, tho tbh I don't play that much anymore either.
Mae is such a chirper. I love how she comforted Mariella and got her laughing again. Herbert is still so shy and awkward. I wonder how can he coach anyone if he's so insecure like that. Oh!! Does his insecurity only play up around women? That would make sense. Otherwise I don't think coaching is the right job for him at all.
ReplyDeletethat's a pretty good question!
DeleteBut since he's coaching children, and also they are really interested in what they're doing, it is not very hard to keep one's confidence, I guess.
Mae is much more intimidating with her loud confidence! 😂
UURRh. I think he will still get eaten alive. Children can smell fear a mile away and WILL use it to get what they want.😅 But I get it. I know some who are insecure but their love of children make them the best teachers so makes sense! And he's not a teach hes a coach so he automatically get brownie points for being cool.
Deletehehe I didn't mean kids wouldn't figure it out, more like Herbert is less intimidated by them 🤣
DeleteAww, Mae and Mariella are cute together! How lovely.
ReplyDeleteThey get along so well :)
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