Marguerite - Gen 3 Ch 5

Lots of kids means lots of birthdays! Today it's Olivia's turn.  She is definitely daddy's little girl, and he carried her to her cake.

Happy Birthday, Olivia! We bought her a tool set and workbench for her birthday. She was ecstatic.

Lily had her birthday, too. She so impressed her teachers in her gardening class, the Science Facility offered her a job working in their greenhouse. I made an ice sculpture of her to celebrate! Of course it melted in a few hours, but ice is so much fun to work with. I just love that chain saw. Someday I'm gonna figure out how to keep my ice sculptures from melting. James just laughs, but there's just gotta be a way.

And Lance had a birthday, too! James is so happy to be around to see his last baby grow.

"Come here, Lance! Walk to daddy!"

"Daddeeee! Hugz!"

I savor every moment with my last baby. Of course, he is such a sweetie, everyone has fallen head over heels for him.

"Goodnight, sweetie."

"nigh nigh mommeee"

Lara can't keep her hands off him.

"Are you hungry, sweetie? Big sis will get you some dinner."

"Num num Lawa!"

Little Lance even has Papa wrapped around his little finger, begging to be read to. Papa is so flattered, being the book lover that he is.

Olivia has been coming late from school, just reeking, every day this week.

Ugh, Livie, what is that smell?" I demanded.

"Oh, I was at the junkyard. Look what I found!" She pulled an old bent pipe out of her backpack.

"Well, you need to go shower right now. You stink!"

"Really, mom?" She sniffed at her shirt. "It's not that bad, is it?"

"It is! Now march, young lady."

Livie's been spending all her spare time in the basement, playing with that junk she's been finding.

Today I heard a shriek of delight coming from the basement, that made me jump a foot in the air!

"Yes! I did it! Look what I made! Everybody come look!"

She had actually made a toy out of her junk. We were all amazed.

"Look, Lance, a doggy! Do you want to play with the doggy, Lance?"

"Doggeee!"

It really is an amazing toy. It's legs move, and it's tail wags. I wonder how Livie figured that out? It soon became Lance's favorite.

It was getting close to Livie's thirteenth birthday, and she still stayed busy at her workbench, making all sorts of odd little contraptions. Each new gadget was met with a shriek of delight. Today, the shriek was louder than usual, though.

"Lilllyyyy! Come quick! You have to see this!"

"Uh... what is that?"

"Its a harvester! For your gardening! Come on, lets go try it out!"

She grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her out to the orchard.

"Just point it at the tree, and push this button. Yeah, like that! See! It's sucking up the fruit! Isn't that cool?"

We all came out to watch the cherries fly into the harvester. Lily showed it to her boss the next day, and her boss said she had never seen anything like it. What will Livie come up with next, I wonder?

Livie sure grew up fast! Time for another birthday.

She will be going to the Science Academy to study logic. No one is surprised that she wants to be an inventor when she grows up.

It's taken a long time, but the Nectar Bar is finally finished! James and Papa have been working on it when they've had the time, ever since Lance was born. Wow, I can't believe it's the same place. The old worn wooden siding is all brick now, and somehow they found doors just like the ones I remember from the nectary in France. And a new sign - The White Rose Nectar Bar - named for my mom, and for Papa's famous nectar blend.

Inside it looks twice as big as is used to be. James says it's a decorating trick, but it seems like magic to me.

Papa poured some nectar for tasting. Our first customers should be arriving soon. James put a full page ad in the paper, so I hope we have a good turnout.

I was checking out the back patio, and the new nectar-making demonstration equipment, when I heard a commotion inside.

It was Papa! The grand opening was in full swing, with the bar full of customers, when Papa started feeling faint. Before we knew it, he was gone.

Papa had always told me that when he died, he wanted us to celebrate his life by drinking his nectar and remembering all the fun times. So that's what we did. That evening I set his ashes on the new bar, and we all drank White Rose Nectar and spent the evening with family and friends in our new Nectar Bar, that wouldn't have been possible without him. RIP Papa.