Hey Young Man!

“Are you both ready?” Bianca asked the twins, helping them both get their boots on. The two twins nodded, remembering what their mother had told them the day before. For their hard-working father’s birthday, they would surprise him by waking up really early and getting some of his work done for him. Of course, it was only the simple stuff like weeding and watering the fields, but they were sure he would love it.

Of course, having a practically newborn baby was a challenge but baby Jo was making things a lot easier for her with how deeply she slept. Bianca was able to wrap her up in the sling wrap without much of a fuss at all; much to her relief. Sometimes, their baby girl could really fuss, an oh-so-familiar pouty face present on her face. However today, it was almost as if she knew how important it was.

“Mommy!” Lucia peeped, trying to get her mother to hurry. When Bianca placed her finger to her lips, the little girl quickly covered her mouth and quietly giggled. “Oopsies! I forgot…” Her mother held onto the little girl’s hand, a smile on her face. “It’s okay. Let’s go head outside.”

The sweet girl nodded, pulling her mother along to meet with her brother outside. He was holding a pair of pink gardening gloves in his hands and held them out to his sister when she ran over. “You forgot..” He sighed, crossing his arms. Lucia pouted, shaking her head. “Did not! You just got them for me~” The boy rolled his eyes while his sister giggled but before he knew it, she was pulling him along to the fields. 

While the kids weeded the plot, Bianca stuck with watering since it would be easier for her to do. Of course, she had to make sure the little ones weren’t pulling out things they weren’t supposed to… Although it was just the beginning of summer, the mornings were still pleasant. Usually, the young mother hated being out and about in the summer heat. However being out so early in the day before the sun was high in the sky was wonderful. There was a slight breeze that kept them cool as they did a portion of their man of the house’s work. 

Of course, Bianca knew they wouldn’t be alone for long as she noticed the lights coming on in the house. She continued to work until she saw her husband walk outside. Mason and Lucia noticed him too and ran over to him. “Daddy!” Lucia shouted, relieved in the fact she didn’t have to be too quiet anymore. Bianca walked over and joined the rest of her family, rubbing Johanna’s back as she stirred a bit.

He sat up and stretched, thinking it was odd that he hadn’t heard Johanna crying. Nowadays, that was almost always why either he or Bianca got up especially early. However, Bianca must have handled whatever was causing their littlest girl to fuss, because the house was unusually quiet...almost to the point that he felt like he was the only one in it.

Still, it was time for him to get up, so he did. He figured he ought to at least check up on Bianca and Jo, and possibly the twins if they were also awake. He stretched his arms and went down the hall toward the nursery.

He peeked his head in the doorway, only to see that the room was completely empty. Well, that was a shock...where could they all be? Clearly, they weren’t inside the house, but what could have prompted them to all be up so early?

In order to venture outside, he needed to get dressed, so that was his next step. Once that was taken care of, he went out the door at the end of the back hallway that led to his field.

Upon going out, though, he was met with an unexpected sight. His family was outside, and all of them (except, of course, for Johanna) were working. After he’d gotten over the initial surprise, he started to smile. They were doing this for him, and he was truly grateful for the help.

They all seemed to notice his presence around the same time, but Lucia was the first to call out to him. She eagerly ran up to him, and he couldn’t help but smile at the dirt all over her gloves. Obviously, the member of the household most fond of making messes had enjoyed being able to handle the soil.

Bianca approached him next, and his cheek felt warm as she kissed it. “Thank you...and thank you for this. I’m really impressed with how all of you did!”

Johanna turned her head, looking at him with a pout. He smiled, gently brushing her hair with his fingers. “Oh, and look who else is up early! Did you learn anything out here?” In response, she stared for a moment before starting to blow spit bubbles, which he immediately got away from. “Heh...I’ll take that as a no, then?”

“Daddy!” Lucia called out again. “Daddy, Daddy, guess what?!”

He bent down to be closer to her level. “Yes, what happened?”

“I got rid of the bad weeds! Masey did too!”

He smiled, looking over at a pile of weeds against the fence. “I can see that! You did a good job! And Mason...” He made sure that his oldest child was paying attention. “I know you’re not a fan of dirt and outside things, so it was really, really nice of you to help me out. Thank you.”

For a second, Mason looked flabbergasted, but he frowned and looked away. “Yeah...you’re welcome.”

Danny noticed as he finished stocking the shelf. Ah well, it was just about getting to be the end of turnip season anyways, so it didn’t really matter. He’d order a few more later. His current supply should be enough for Raguna growing anything in the dungeons, or if Kross wanted to come by for any last-minute seeds.

He immediately gave his longtime friend a smile and a wave. “Hello there! Lovely day to cause a public disturbance in someone else’s place of business, don’t you think?” He laughed awkwardly. “But really, I do have business here...everyone else just decided they’d like to go as well!”

By then, Lucia had already made her way up to the counter, but due to her height, she couldn’t see over the top of it. In order to correct that issue, she started to repeatedly jump as high as she could in order to talk to Danny.

“Danny! Lookit!” she started off. “Baby Jo is here! She’s so cute! And I’m hopping up and down like frogs! Except Masey doesn’t like frogs! Have you seen a frog?!”

By then, Erik was already stifling laughter as he also approached the counter. He picked Lucia up and held her up so that she could actually see the person with whom she was having a one-sided conversation.

Winter was finally turning into spring. That sort of weather could be a sort of pick-me-up whenever Danny stepped outside, but inside the store, it really didn’t make much of a difference. When torn between working hard and general laziness, Danny tended to err on the side of lazy, and so for the last few weeks, he had taken to stepping outside when the weather was agreeable and no one was inside the store. It was something he should probably try to break before it became a habit, but still, a little fresh air never hurt anyone, and even if there were technically things to do inside, it wasn’t like he was ignoring customers this way.

Enjoying a moment of sunshine, Danny took a moment to take in the square. It was fairly bright out today- the kind of day where the runeys looked sort of silly glowing and floating around there in broad daylight. To his right, Danny could hear the faint voices of children approaching. Too young to be Marco or Candy, Danny identified them instantly, and turned to greet them, a welcoming smile springing to his face, replacing the neutral expression just moments before. Erik’s kids were always a welcome sight. To Danny’s surprise, it wasn’t Erik or Bianca who was accompanying them, but another, older woman.

She was worried for Bianca, of course, as she knew of her daughter-in-law’s past health issues and that carrying Mason and Lucia had been especially taxing on her body. But she also knew how strong-willed Bianca was, and that Erik wouldn’t be leaving her side. She also knew that second babies often came quickly in many cases, including that of her own second child.

One of Erik’s favorite things to do in the early evening, even after a hard day of work, was cooking dinner for his young family. It never felt like an extra chore to him…it was relaxing.

However, that was not the case on the evening of March 17th. Nothing he did that day seemed to put his mind at ease, but under the circumstances, he shouldn’t have found that surprising.

Her immediate reassurance caused him to laugh a little...he really was that easy to read, at least to those who knew him. “I...I know that. I guess I just can’t help but worry, though...”

He smiled, thinking of something that always seemed to cheer him up. Maybe that was because of how silly it was, or possibly because he loved the sound of Bianca’s laugh that came with the silliness.

“I think the little one could use some talking to.”

/Feeling his phone buzz in his pocket, he answers it, recognizing that it’s Danny, but before he can say anything, his friend blurts out the reason for his call/

“One of Jasper’s expectations was that they receive private tutoring, as is traditional of De Sainte-Coquille children,” he explained. There was obviously more to it, but that discussion could probably wait. “So, that’s what’s going to happen! It’s still a few years off, but...somehow, I feel like those few years will be gone in no time at all!”

He laughed. “That’s always been the case...there were some times back in the very early days where I thought her screaming would shatter the windows...” He frowned. “A-And I certainly am not the type to go around making too much noise for no reason at all, so I resent that!”

“Dad,” Mason said, almost immediately after Erik had spoken.

He looked over at the more serious of his children, whose expression was in its usual, deadpan state. “Yes? What is it, Mason?”

“Too much noise.”

His mouth opened, wanting to protest that accusation. However, that might just result in more noise, making the three-year-old the one with the valid point. And that was not acceptable.

The noise levels went back up, though, once Danny addressed Lucia’s question...and she was obviously pleased with the accuracy of his response.

“Yeah!” she replied, hopping up and down in her excitement. “Dat’s why! My mommy’s habing a baby! An’ we dunno if is a boy baby yet, an’ it might not be a boy baby! When Daddy’s gwowing fings wike, um...wike stawbewwies, is when is gonna be a baby! At my house!”

Erik wanted to let her finish sharing her excitement - which was manifesting mostly in words she’d just heard from him and from Bianca - but all that enthusiastic movement seemed to be taking a toll on her breathing. Of course, that much moving around would have that effect on anyone, but the weather was getting colder, and at three, Lucia didn’t really know her own limits.

Once she started saying something about how babies sometimes cry at night (as if Danny didn’t know that), she started to look a little worn out, and she was certainly having difficulty breathing. And yet, she was still trying to hop up and down...Erik didn’t know whether that sort of occurrence should make him thankful she had such an upbeat personality even when her health wasn’t at its best, or if it should just worry him more.

Regardless, he had to take action, and he took a few steps toward her and picked her up. “That’s enough, now...” He brushed her hair away from her face. “We’ve told you, haven’t we? When you start breathing like that, what do you need to do?”

“Sit...down...” she responded. “Take...a bweak...”

“That’s right,” he told her. “So, if I put you back down, you’re not going to start talking too fast and jumping up and down like a crazy girl again, right?” She shook her head. “Okay.”

He gently set her back down, and he sighed, looking down at Mason, who had started attempting to chat with Danny so as not to bore their guest...although the way he was attempting to awkwardly make conversation with phrases such as “I had cake today” and “please don’t sell turnip seeds anymore” was kind of adorable.

Once the birthday subject came up again, Erik smiled. It was nice enough that he got presents for them, but the way Danny interacted with kids was always fun to see.

Lucia seemed concerned by the claim of him not having any presents, but Mason’s expression changed to one more of...annoyance? Hopefully that wasn’t it, and that he was just misinterpreting it. There was no way Mason would start openly sulking or being rude about that...was there?!

His fears were soon put at ease when Mason walked around and reached up for one of the wrapped gifts. When he couldn’t quite reach, though, he settled on pointing at the not-so-well hidden presents.

“Dese ones?”