Sunday, April 17, 2011

july, july!

August 2043 - Alison Cameron and Toby Wright are 18, Bella Cameron is 2 (Dylan Wright is 12).

The other kids she graduated from high school with are getting ready for college, buying things for their dorm rooms and planning which classes to take. But Alison isn't going to college; she's living with her mom and taking care of her daughter. When her daughter is a little older she'll get a job, but they have enough money from her father's life insurance for her to be a stay-at-home mom for a few years.

Alison has thought about getting a place of her own, but she can't afford one, and her mother assures her that she doesn't mind having them live with her. Their cat Alegra, though, isn't too thrilled to have a toddler in the house. She's too old to enjoy getting squeezed by a toddler.

*****

Toby invites Alison and Bella over one afternoon. It's been a while since he's seen them, and he wants to hang out with his daughter before he starts college.

"So are you excited?" she asks him. "When are you moving into your dorm?"

"In a few weeks. New Student Week is the first week in September." He pauses, then adds, "Harper, Georgia, and I are in the same dorm."

"Yeah, Georgia told me."

"Do you want to go in the water?" Alison asks. "I wore my suit under my clothes."

"No, but I'll watch Bella while you do."

"Thanks." Toby gets to swim in the ocean whenever he wants, but Alison hasn't gone to the beach since before Bella was born.

When she gets out of the water, Toby is tossing Bella into the air. "You're good with her," she says.

"Thanks."

Alison is worried that Bella's been out in the sun too long, so they go back inside for a cold drink. Toby tries to teach Bella a nursery rhyme.

Toby's little brother has been practicing the piano downstairs, but he heads into the living room to say hi to his niece. "Hey guys. Hi Bella."

"Hey Dylan. Do you want to hold her?"

"She's gotten so big," says Dylan.

"You have too," Alison laughs. "I remember when you were that big."

*****

That night as Alison reads Bella her bedtime story, she realizes that Bella is singing the song Toby taught her.

"La la da," she sings happily.

"Did you like seeing your Daddy today?" Alison asks.

"Yah!" says Bella.

5 comments:

  1. Bella is adorable, she looks like her uncle Dylan, at this moment anyway. The beach scene was nice, a little break for Alison. I feel sad for her that she can't go to college with everyone else, I hope things work out well for her and Bella.

    Is Alison and Toby together still?

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  2. Bella is super cute. I'm glad Toby still seems to be trying to be a good dad, even though he and Alison aren't together any more. They both seem to realise who they need to watch out for in this sitation, which is good to see.

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  3. Thanks for commenting!

    I thought about sending Alison to college, but she only rolled the "go to college" want sporadically, and she was never a very good student, so I decided against it. Alison and Toby aren't still together; they broke up shortly before their junior prom, and Toby started dating Harper Myers.

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  4. I feel sad for Alison that she can't feel as much freedom to be a kid and enjoy herself as Toby does. But it's good that she's such an attentive mom and takes care of her daughter. And Toby seems like he's trying to be a good dad too.

    Bella is so cute!

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  5. Thanks for commenting, Shana. Having Bella has made Alison grow up fast, but she's handled it well so far. It will be interesting to see how things go now that all of her friends are in college and she's a stay-at-home mom.

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