Big Sky Dreams

Vivian - Chapter 1

Vivian snuggled deeper into the sherpa blanket as she sipped her morning coffee.  The early Montana mornings were still brisk, but the promise of spring was there in the melting snow and tips of early flowers poking through the mud.  The porch swing creaked quietly as she watched the sun rise over the mountains to the east.  Normally, she preferred to sleep in until she had to get up, but this morning she woke up relaxed and refreshed for the first time since she could remember.  The winter had been hard, but thankfully the house had been in good enough condition that she and the kids were able to get through their first winter in Moss Agate Springs in relative comfort.  And business had been good.  Her remote bookkeeping business was taking off and Vivian had enough clients to keep her comfortably busy while bringing in enough money to get repairs on the house and barn started once the weather warmed up a little more.

She smiled as her dreams rose in her mind like the sunrays over the mountains.  A couple horses in the pasture, chickens in the coop attached to the barn, maybe some barn cats to help with rodents.  A garden in the barren patch behind the kitchen, nothing huge, but large enough that she could put things away for next winter.  A dog that the kids could play with.

Speaking of kids, Vivian groaned as she unfolded her stiff limbs and stood up.  She needed to get breakfast going before waking up Elenore and Matt.  They were headed into town today to pick up supplies and to put in an order for laying chicks at the feed supply store.  It was a bit too early to bring some home, but Vivian wanted to get her name on the list early.  And then maybe they could check out the cute little bakery on the corner of Main Street before heading back home.

***

The feed store was a success, and after letting the kids explore the entire store, asking non-stop questions the entire time, they were finally headed to the grocery store.  It had been two weeks since their last trip and they were running low on a few things.  Elenore grabbed a cart without being asked while Matt walked silently next to her, his hand in hers.  He had been more subdued since his father's death and Vivian wasn't quite sure how to bring him back out of his shell.  He had already been a quiet kid, his autism making him more shy and reserved than his naturally more outgoing sister.  Vivian added looking up a children's counselor to her mental list of things to do.

"Mom, do you think we could get some apples?"  Elenore asked as they walked towards the produce section.  Wanting to give her a bit more independence, Vivian handed her the shopping list.  "How about you help me find and mark things off of this, I can reach things on the top shelves, and Matt can grab things off of the bottom.  How does that sound?"  Matt nodded quietly while his sister cheered.  They raced off towards the fruit displays and quietly started debating which items to get.  Smiling softly to herself, Vivian scanned the rest of the store.

It was smaller than the chain stores she had frequented back in Oregon, but it was well stocked, clean, and obvious that the staff took pride in making sure all the displays and decorations looked good.  Keeping an eye on her children, Vivian wandered over to the community board.  Pinned to the large corkboard was a mishmash of business cards, help wanted signs, fliers, and notices on community activities.  But what really caught her attention was the small piece of paper advertising free puppies.  Vivian was raised to always get animals from the local shelter, but when she had first looked into adopting a puppy, she was told that the nearest shelter was over a half day's drive away.  But, knowing this was a rural community, she knew that it was only a matter of time before someone's dog had some puppies.  Squinting at the worn paper, she quickly emailed the information to herself.

Hurrying to catch up with her kids, she looked over the cart at their progress.  Nodding in approval at their choices, she smiled at them.  "How are you guys doing?"

"Mom," Elenore said, drawing out the word, "we got this.  We know this store like the back of our hand."  Vivian couldn't help but smirk at her 9 year old daughter and her sass.

"Oh, do you?" She replied, amusement lacing through the words.  "Well then, I guess I will just get out of your way.  I am going to go look over the clearance section, see if there is anything interesting over there.  And then maybe I will take a look at the plants, see about getting another indoor plant for the living room."

"Yes, please," Elenore made a shooing motion with her hand, "You are just in the way right now."

Choosing to stay in the joy of the moment and understanding that her daughter was just playing when she spoke her blunt words, Vivian chuckled and started to move away, but stopped when small arms hugged her around the waist.  Looking down into the sad blue eyes of her son, she knelt down and gave him a hug.  "Mom," he whispered into her ear, "I love you."  Pulling him in tighter, she smelled his hair, a mix of little boy and the shampoo the kids use.  "I love you, too, buddy.  You doing ok?"  He nodded into her neck before abruptly letting go and jogged to catch up to Elenore.  She watched them for a moment, a bittersweet feeling swirling through her.  They were growing up so fast, and with the death of their father, the lightness that used to shine through them was gone.  Vivian missed that innocence, the light, the unshakable faith that all children had and inevitably lost along the way.  She wished that they could have held onto it for just a little while longer.

Standing, Vivian took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.  She could feel the turbulent emotions that memories of their father always evoked later.  Right now, they had some shopping to finish up.