Chapter 17: Diarmid's: The Third Generation

Seven and a half months after their wedding, Leonie gave birth to a baby girl. They named her Cree.

Although they were proud parents straight after the birth, the excitement and the thrill of having a baby daughter soon wore off. Curtis and Leonie were very much alike, they were party people, social butterflies, they liked to have a good time and dance and drink and generally do their own thing. With the arrival of Cree they both very quickly realised how tied down they now were, how tiring the baby's demands made them feel and how much their partying spirits had been doused by dirty diapers and 2am feeds.

In short, they weren't planning on following through with Curtis's original suggestion of "having a whole pile of babies".

"Don't ever expect me to go through this again Curtis." was Leonie's only comment.

Marjorie and Luke decided to move into the barn and let Leonie and Curtis have free range of the house, small as it was, they needed the extra space now, and Cree was settled into Tara's old nursery.

Although they had the run of the main house, with Leonie being on maternity leave, they were struggling for money. As an elementary school teacher Curtis wasn't making enough to do the things to the house that Leonie wanted to do.

"Ugh..this wall colour is so drab!" she would complain. "I feel like I'm in a khaki green nightmare some days....and those drapes! Do not get me started on those drapes! They look like the wall threw up on them. Also the stove is giving off fumes again and I think the toilet is clogged....the place is basically falling apart Curtis" Leonie would start nagging about the problems she had with the house as soon as he walked in the door.

Curtis felt that they should be grateful that his parents had opened up their home to them and were living in the barn, for their sake, to help them out of the mess they had gotten into from not thinking or planning....anything. The tension between them grew as the weeks passed.

Marjorie was doing well at Plumbob Pictures and had been promoted to Production Manager, which involved some long hours, but
Luke worked evenings mostly, networking with clients over dinner and drinks. So during the day he would try to relieve Leonie as much as possible by taking care of Cree. He really doted on his granddaughter.

To make matters worse Leonie couldn't even cook a basic meal. Curtis found himself coming in from work and going over to the barn to have whatever meal his Dad had rustled up. It began to irk Curtis that Leonie would help herself to a plate too and then settle in front of his parents' TV, because the one in the main house was old and the picture was a bit crackly.

Curtis hadn't noticed that Leonie was so useless, bad mannered and lazy until after Cree had been born.

 Luke had noticed the change in his once carefree son's demeanour. When they were alone he tried to talk to him and offer some advice.

"Having a family son is a very big responsibility. It can wear you down. And it can change you...make you do crazy things. I remember when you and Tara came along, I wanted to give you everything, I wanted to make your lives so much easier and more fun than mine had been. I made some bad choices you know....but Cree won't be small for long, she's growing up...."

"Don't worry Dad. I love my job, I love teaching, you know? I'm going to work hard and try to get a promotion to department head. Maybe if we have some extra cash, Leonie will be happier and make more of an effort."

"I just want you to be happy, son." said Luke. But Curtis could barely remember what happiness felt like.

He was starting to spend more and more time out of the house just so that he could relax and unwind.

The Autumn Fayre Carnival had set up its stalls in the large field next to heir house, so he would spend hours over there and in the nearby Pick-ya-own Pumpkin Patch, in all weather.

One day just before dusk, he heard a familiar low and sultry voice behind him. "Hello there handsome! Need any help there picking the perfect pumpkin?"

Involuntarily his heart skipped a beat.

Curtis turned to say hi to Salome Mayer. She fixed him with an extremely sexy and dangerous stare as she said "Long time no see! Still a cutey though I see?" Curtis was lost for words

It had been well over a year since he had last seen Salome, but the memory suddenly burned bright in his mind of her in her thong at his wedding. Of course at the time he had only had eyes for Leonie. But now he spent a few minutes retrospectively appreciating the sight in his mind.

"Good to see you too, Salome." replied Curtis. And then he felt a surge of bravado "Care to dance?"

 As darkness fell and the rain began to fall, Curtis forgot his troubles and danced with Salome. The stresses and cares of his day floated away.

They talked and laughed about old times and moved closer and closer to the hay bales to shelter from the rain and the wind. Later those same hay bales offered them some privacy for another kind of fun.

And poor Cree was getting bigger, day by day she developed and learned new things. And sadly she spent much of the time on her own entertaining herself.