The Good Old Days

April 2007 (Light in your Eyes)

The months went by quick it seemed like. Cathy had been gone for more than half a year now. Melissa had given birth to her and Jed's third child, a girl named Riley Joan. The stress from Cathy's death had been so much on Mel that it put her into an early labor in October of last year, shortly after Cathy's funeral. This caused Melissa's baby to be born at only 30 weeks gestation. Though the little girl was alive, there was still an uphill climb for her to get to full health.

Everyone did their best to move on, but it was far from easy. They tried to distract themselves by focusing on their families, but Cathy was always close to their thoughts.

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"And that should do it," Adam said as he poked his head out the door of a freshly built treehouse, "Come on up, Bushy Tail." That was the nickname Adam had started to use for her.

The now five year old squirrel girl quickly climbed up the ladder, Adam telling her to be careful the whole time.

"Whoaaaa!" Lily said coming through the doorway, "This is coooool!"

It was rather plain at the moment, as Adam still had to take her to get decorations and some other things for it, but right now he just liked seeing her happy.

"Thanks, Daddy!" Lily exclaimed, wrapping herself around her father's leg.

Adam had managed to build the whole thing in about a month, spending most of his free time doing it. Mel had offered to help him build it but he insisted he could do it on his own. It was the only thing Lily was talking about since he agreed to build it for her, and that motivated him.

"Not bad," Daisy said from below, "Is it safe?"

"Is it safe?" Adam asked mockingly, "I'll have you know I have excellent carpentry skills." He began to climb down the ladder when the first rung snapped in half under his paw.

"You were saying?" Daisy smiled sarcastically.

"Uhhh..." he said, "I'll fix that after dinner..." He reached up and grabbed Lily and set her on his shoulders and carefully climbed down.

"Lily," Daisy said, "Go wash your hands, dinner will be done soon."

"Kay Mommy," Lily replied before scampering into the house.

"So..." Daisy said, "Still wanna have another kid? Melly said that Lily could have a sleepover with Dakoda and Piper this weekend if we wanted a night off to... Be together... Uninterrupted..."

"Heh," Adam laughed, "I think I could go for that~"

"I'll let Mel know then," Daisy said, "Saturday night."

Saturday morning came, and as usual, Adam was the first one up. He was always ready to get the day started, but today, it seemed to take him some extra effort to get out of bed.

"Ugh..." He yawned, walking out into the kitchen. He couldn't explain it, but he had a sense of dread. He tried to shake it off as he walked into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror.

I feel like I'm dead... He thought to himself, Not that sounds like a bad thing right about now.

He had realized what he just thought, and for a second, couldn't believe he was thinking that. He tried to shake the thought and went to get a towel from the closet.

He got showered and ready for the day. He thought after a nice, hot shower he'd feel better, but his mood was still just as dreary as when he got up.

You can't let your family see you like this... He thought, Don't drag them down because you're feeling like crap.