Sunflower - Gen 1 Ch 7

Life has settled down again at the Greenbow's after all the excitement of Raven's wedding. Max came home from work today with great news - he's been promoted again. His alien invasion theories have proved so popular with his superiors that he was allowed to join the astronaut program in order to investigate them more thoroughly.
"I couldn't have done it without you, Sunny. Thank you for making me stick with it when I wanted to quit."


Max's new schedule gives him lots of free time, so he is upgrading all our appliances. No more kitchen fires! The stove is now fireproof.


It's time for baby Rayne's birthday. I can't believe he is growing up so fast. I snuggled him one last time.


Happy Birthday! Rayne was delighted at growing up. He is fascinated by my easel, and keeps begging me to let him use it.



"Please, mom, can we go to the art museum today?" I hear this request at least two or three times a week.
"Of course, sweetie. Just let me finish my gardening." Today Rayne discovered the easel at the museum, and after the seeing how much he enjoyed it, I had to buy him one of his own. We set it up right next to mine.



"Mom, wake up!" Rose was calling me. "There's a burglar in the yard! Call the police, I'm going to go out there and try to stop them."
"No, Rose! Come back!" but she was already running out the door. I quickly called the police and ran out to try and stop her.
"Let the police handle it, you'll get hurt!" Fortunately the officer arrived at this point, and ordered the burglar to halt.



"I'm ready in case that thief tries to get away!" Rose yelled out to the cop, her fists balled up.
Sometimes I wish my little girl wasn't quite so brave.


"Don't worry, everything is under control." The officer proceeded to cuff the thief.
"Wait just a sec, I'll be right back, I want to get a picture!" Rose dashed into the house and returned with the little camera I had purchased on our first visit to China. It had sat unused in a drawer for years.
"I think the newspaper might be interested in these," Rose said as she snapped away.



It will be Rose's birthday tomorrow. Max and I decided to have some private time out by the pond. "Oh, Sunny, you are so beautiful," Max was in a flirty mood. "I love you so much."He was quiet for a few minutes, then he looked at me wonderingly. "They like you, too, you know."
"Who does? "I smiled playfully.
"The ghosts who live here. They like you a lot." Max's voice was almost a whisper.
I went along with it. "Do they like you?"
"A little, not the way they like you, though. They like Rosie a lot, too."


Then Max took the conversation in a whole new direction. I was left wondering why Max thought there were ghosts here, and what possible interest they could have in me... and Rose.


Rose insisted we not have a party for for her, since she had to work late at the bookstore. She is so conscientious about her job.

My only green-haired baby is all grown up! And still as serious as ever.

"I know you didn't want a party, but I have a gift for you, Rosie." I pulled out the pendant I had worn for for all these years. "This has been in our family for many generations. I hope it will lead you to find what you seek." I used the same words my mother had spoken so many years before. I was reluctant to give it up, it had been my guide to so much happiness - our lovely farm, and my sweet Max. But I knew I had made the right choice when it glowed softly as Rose held it in her hand.

"Oh, thank you, mom, it's so beautiful! I'll treasure it always!"

Sunflower - Gen 1 Ch 6

Ever since we returned from China, Max has been obsessed with ghosts. He spends most nights at the graveyard, "doing research" for the military. He still insists it is possible to communicate with them, contrary to all popular opinion. It turns out the big wigs were so pleased with his success in China, that they have given him free rein to follow his own lines of research.


One night Max brought home the scariest looking fish I have ever seen. He wants to investigate any possible use for the ugly thing. "Just don't put it in the refrigerator!" I shuddered.
"And don't you dare release any of them in the pond!" I called after him, as I watched him head off in that direction. He turned and gave me a sheepish grin.
"I.. uh.. of course not Sweetie, I would never even consider such a thing."


As for me, I've been feeling sicker and sicker every day since we returned. I couldn't possibly be expecting again, could I? It sure feels like the same old pregnancy nausea. Our kids are almost grown; I really don't want another baby.


Heather tried to cheer me up. " You know Odin and I just recently had little Jeramy, after our two girls were already grown up. And he is the light of our lives. You just wait and see, when you hold your baby in your arms everything will change."

"Oh, I hear Jeramy awake in there now, can you get him for me?" Heather gave me a quick hug.

Awww, such a sweet baby boy. I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to hold a little one close and breathe their sweet baby scent.

Maybe having another child isn't going to be so bad after all. I know Max is grinning from ear to ear about it. "There's something in the water in China, that's what I think, " he winked mischieviously at me.

I really wanted another girl, so I made sure to follow Heather's advice and eat lots of watermelon. Max just smiled, "Wait and see, I think you may be surprised."



Well, Max was right, I was surprised when little Rayne was born, and he turned out to be a boy! How did Max know? But Heather was right about one thing - once we held him in our arms, nothing else mattered.


Rayne is such a happy baby, always smiling, especially at his daddy. He has gorgeous green eyes, just like Max. His favorite toy is the xylophone; he can spend hours plinking away on it.


My first-born is becoming an adult! The first thing he did after his party was to take down all the pictures in his bedroom - the ones I had painted.
"Uncle Travis says that art is a frivolous persuit, and not practical in the least, and I agree with him."
I sighed, a little hurt. Raven has always looked just like his uncle, now he sounds just like him as well.
Number two on Raven's to-do list was to join the military. He has decided he wants to "be all he can be" as his lifetime goal. Number three was Sharonda.

My baby boy is getting married!

Rose gave Sharonda a make-over in preperation for the wedding. I think she looks beautiful, but she insists Rose made her look like a clown.


The ceremony was so beautiful, Max wore decent clothes, and Heather and I hugged each other and cried. Our babies were getting married! To each other!

"With this ring I thee wed"

At the reception, Max dicussed his theories and recent research into ghosts with his dad.

"I don't feel so well, Max - maybe we can discuss this later? I need to lie down."

Sadly, Luke's time here was over. Max begged him to stay, but he was already gone. Sharonda looked on with an odd expression on her face.


Suddenly Sharonda gasped, her eyes rolling back in her head.

She fell to the ground in a dead faint.

Raven worried about Ronda, but I am worried about Max. He is not taking this well at all.

He started spinning around in all directions, talking to something or someone no one else could see.

My poor Max, he is unconsolable. Rose is crying, and Raven is hovering over Ronda. Strangely enough, all the wedding guests proclaimed the party an epic success.

The only way I could get Max to calm down was to promise to take him to the graveyard. Tonight. I hope we don't see any ghosts.


I brought candles, and Max cut some flowers from the garden. We placed Luke's gravestone next to Ginny's who had died last year. Afterward we both felt much better. Max says his dad says thank you for the flowers, and that Ginny likes them too. I just replied that I was glad they like them, and Max smiled brightly and gave me a little kiss. Then we headed home.

Sunflower - Gen 1 Ch 5

Rose is such a serious little girl. She is serious when she defeats her brother at chess..

.... and when she plays tag with her dad...

....and especially when she is working on her schoolwork. Raven tries to help her out, but I think she helps him more than he helps her.

Even growing up is serious business for Rose!

Rose wanted a telescope for her birthday more than anything, so we scraped together the money somehow. She spends hours searching for stars. She even discovered a new planet!

Today I got a call from the military base. "Pack our stuff, Sunny! My commander is sending us to China again! Just the two of us!"
"But what about the kids?" I worried.
"They are both teenagers now, I think they are old enough to take care of themselves for a few weeks."
I reluctantly agreed that he was probably right.



This trip we were supposed to research something called "dragon armor." After discreetly asking around, we began our search in the various old ruins. I found some wonderful ancient statues...

... but no dragon armor.

Poor Max ran into some very hot situations..

... which left him gasping for breath. But still no dragon armor. I think the locals may be misleading us.

So Max came up with a new strategy. He would win the trust of his sparring teacher; maybe he could convince her to divulge the information. After a few days of lessons, he arrived at the academy ready to put his plan into action.


But when he returned to the hotel, Max was quiet. "Did you get the information?" I asked. He just shook is head slowly and stared off into space. Finally he started to talk.
"When I arrived at the academy, I heard a loud 'boom.' So I ran upstairs to see what had happened. There was my teacher, lying on the floor, and Death standing over her. No one else was around."

"She..she..turned into a ghost right in front of me. Then she looked at me, really sad-like. She was trying to say something. 'You will find your secret in the spring.' Then she just kind of melted away, into wispy cloud, and disappeared. What does that mean, Sunny? What is my secret? And why do I have to wait until springtime to find it?"
I decided that now was not a good time to remind Max that ghosts didn't talk to people. He was so upset. I convinced him to visit the meditation garden. Maybe a little meditation would help him forget.

Max returned from garden all excited. "I know what the secret is, Sunny! It just came to me while I was meditating! She knew what I was going to ask her; the secret is the dragon armor!"
I must have looked dubious, because he continued, "Don't look at me like that, I'm sure this is real. And the spring isn't the season, it's the hot spring up in the hills, I'm sure of it. We have to go check it out right now, we have to leave tomorrow!" Nothing would do but that we drive up to the hot spring in the middle of the night. I yawned sleepily.

When Max showed me the dragonfish he pulled out of the hot spring, my jaw dropped. How..what...?? Now I was unsure... did that ghost really speak to Max? And was there more to this meditation thing than I realized? Maybe my Max isn't as crazy as everyone thinks.

Now that Max's mission was complete, we could relax a little. It was our last night in China, so we played in the hot springs pool. Max can hold his breath waaay longer than I can!

We relaxed on the lounge chairs.

Then we returned to the hotel. The panoramic view from our balcony was lost on us.

We only had eyes for each other. And we celebrated our success the best way we know how.