#task 13

Timmy and Savanna reluctantly packed bags in preparation for their stay with David this weekend. Both of them seemed less than thrilled about having to go...Savvy even shed some tears because she wanted to stay home with Victoria and Declan. She didn’t understand why she and Timmy didn’t get a say in the matter. “I know you’re upset, butterfly, but you have to go. If you don’t, mommy will be in big trouble and a judge could take you and your brother away from me forever.” She wasn’t trying to scare the seven year old, she was just telling Savanna the truth. This was part of a court order. David had the right to see his children, even if his children didn’t want to see him. “It’s only for the weekend. Two days and you’ll be back home, I promise.”

At least this time they were staying in Nevada. David had a condo outside of Limbo because he knew weekends back and forth to Los Angeles weren’t possible now that school was back in session. “But mommy… Two days an’ the weekend is over.” Savanna said with a pout. “How come we can’t stay with David when we have school?” Victoria suppressed the urge to laugh when her daughter called her father by his given name. “Savanna Madelyn…” She forced a stern look. “Please…” She didn’t have to finish her sentence for the seven year old to know what she was being scolded for. “Sorry mommy…” She replied immediately even though she didn’t see what the big deal was. His name was David. DC probably would have chuckled, or given her a fist bump at the very least.

—————

Journal entry #13

I wish I didn’t have ta stay at daddy’s house every other weekend. I don’t like it here. It smells like beer and cigars. He told mommy he doesn’t smoke in the house, but I know he does when me and Timmy are asleep. He leaves his empty bottles with half-smoked cigars on the coffee table for Maria clean up, but sometimes I do it before she gets there cause daddy leaves everything for her to do. I can hear him tellin’ her ta do laundry while he takes me an’ Timmy for new school shoes. He was supposed to take us before school started, but work was more important. It’s always more important…

I miss mommy and DC already. I want to go home. DC said he was gonna show  me an’ Timmy how ta fix a motorcycle. He’s buildin’ mommy one that looks just like his...She doesn’t know it yet. It’s a surprise. Maybe someday I will get a motorcycle that matches theirs too. One like my bike, but bigger...with a leather jacket so I can be part’a the same club DC belongs to... I forget the name of it, but they have their own club house! It’s only for grown ups though… One’a these days I’ll get him ta take me in there. I gotta know what’s inside’a that club house.

—————

“Savanna, let’s go.” A voice called from down the hall. Timmy. And from the sound of it, he was getting impatient waiting for her...Probably because he didn’t want to be left alone with David either. Not with his unpredictable temper. A side effect of his increased alcohol use.

David was quiet. An uncommon personality trait for a man who usually talked non-stop. A lot of things were different about him since his split with Victoria. The changes were noticeable enough that Savanna and Timothy could pick up on them. It wasn’t that David seemed to care about them less...It was just that he wasn’t making much of an effort to spend time with them, even when he had them for the weekend. His distance was beginning to put a strain his relationship with his children. The David Thorne that used to do anything and everything to keep his family happy was now doing the bare minimum. He couldn’t even keep track of the weekends he had Savvy and Timmy without Victoria’s reminders.

“Daddy…” Savanna’s voice broke the silence in the car. He didn’t give her a verbal response, but he looked at her through the rear view mirror. “Are you gonna play with me an’ Timmy t’day?” The seven year old asked innocently. She couldn’t remember the last time they did something as a family where David was actually involved. In the last few months he had taken them to the park, the beach, and the carnival, but he stood by and chaperoned. He didn’t seem interested in playing even when Savanna tried to include him. “Mommy and DC play with us at home…” The little girl added. Clearly her comment struck a nerve because David’s grip on the steering wheel tightened to the point of making his knuckles white. “‘Member when ya used’ta play with us too?” Timmy had been silent until now. Both children still clearly loved their father, they just didn’t like this version of him. They didn’t like the person his drinking was turning him in to. “We miss that.” The little boy stated. “After we get school shoes, can we go ta the arcade? We can win all the tickets on the skeeball machine like we used to...and take home the biggest prize! Or we can play the claw machine!” David had many talents, one of them being how skilled he was at the claw machine in the arcade. On a good night he and the kids would walk out with most of the stuffed animals in the machine. His wallet would take a hit, of course, but he didn’t seem to mind when he saw the smile it put on his children’s faces. “Think ya still got the magic touch, daddy?” Savanna asked.

David didn’t seem to be paying much attention, his mind was elsewhere, but he nodded like he agreed. It was hard for him to focus when his lawyer told him that morning that his chance of winning the custody battle wasn’t looking so good. They were going to try and play it from a different angle. He still wouldn’t get full custody, not once his drinking was questioned, but he’d be able to get unsupervised visits at the very least. The arrangement he currently worked out with Victoria would probably remain in effect, but that meant going back to California wasn’t an option for him. How was he supposed to live in two states at once? Would he have to pick his job over his kids, or vise versa? What if he did choose Los Angeles over his own offspring? Would they understand? Were they old enough to understand? So many questions left unanswered. It was hard for David to keep moving forward with his life when he was literally stuck in Limbo.

----------

Sunday Night: Victoria and Declan’s home.

“How was your weekend?” Declan asked the kids with a cheery smile on his face. He probably wouldn’t admit this out loud, at least not to an adult, but he missed the chaos Timmy and Savanna added to his life. They were so energetic and full of curiosity, not yet jaded by society, and their smiles were so contagious even the Grinch would grin.

“I missed you.” Was the first thing out of Savanna’s mouth. She was looking at Declan but her arms were wrapped around Victoria’s legs in a death grip. She was glad to be home. “We don’t need’a go back’ta daddy’s house next weekend, right?” The seven year old asked. “Cause I might have’a lot of homework ta do…” Savanna was grasping at straws, but she would say anything to convince her mom and DC that her time would be better spent at home with them.

“Lots of homework, huh?” Declan arched a brow. “Then I guess we’ll just have to reschedule our trip to the Botanical Garden.” He teased. It was something they had planned for a while now, and he knew how excited the kids were to go, especially Savvy. She had been begging to go to the butterfly exhibit all summer and was bummed when they didn’t make it before school started again. “So we get’a stay here?” Her smile grew when DC nodded and Timmy’s did too.

In België komen de provincieraad- en gemeenteraadsverkiezingen (14 oktober) eraan. Hier geen campagnes om ervoor te zorgen dat mensen naar de stembus komen, want er geldt opkomstplicht! Dat betekent dat je naar het stembureau moet komen om je stem uit te brengen, maar het is wel mogelijk om blanco te stemmen, dat betekent: om niets in te vullen. Omdat stemmen anoniem is, kan je immers geen stemplicht opleggen: je kan niet controleren wie wel of niet effectief gestemd heeft. België is een van de weinige landen ter wereld waar dat zo is. Wat vind jij daarvan? Is het beter dan stemrecht, of vind je dat mensen zelf de keuze moeten hebben of ze willen komen of niet? We horen het graag!

Task 13 - day 10 - Learn 1 new grammatical concept/make a post and explain a grammatical concept if you learned everything related to grammar

I learned the te-form today. I understand how to form it, but idk when/how to use it.