Europa - A Banshee Story

3. A Crimson Morning

Danny Morder (just north of Aghavannagh, Ireland - October 13, 2020)

It is a sunny morning in the green hills of Ireland. Being a witness to this beautiful view, I cannot help but admire its awesomeness from the balcony where I'm standing. That being said, however, there is one view that I prefer over anything else... Turning my back on the scenery outside, I step back into the bedroom, where my eyes are drawn immediately to the king bed, the center of the whole room, or rather what's inside said king bed; the center of my whole universe.

Jean is still asleep...

Breathtaking as always...

...with a faint smile on her face; she is probably having a happy dream right now. Sleeping next to her, in the middle of the bed, is Lucy, our four year old daughter. She has a room all to herself but she wanted to sleep with us last night.

So far, our stay here has been quite enjoyable. We arrived a week ago, after our friend Lana had invited us to come stay for a while. Being a politician, she won't be able to join us right away, but she's coming tomorrow. Our other friend Kayden will be coming today. She arrived yesterday afternoon and had decided to walk over here, camping halfway between here and Dublin. This means that she could be arriving within a few hours. Good thing the jet lag has enabled her to stay up all night... I think... It definitely wasn't jetlag that kept me and my girls up last night, however. The skies were so clear that Jean and I decided to take Lucy stargazing. Being far enough away from Dublin, our view was unobstructed by any light pollution...

Can't get a view like that back home in Amsterdam... 

...and Lucy absolutely loved every minute of it. As a result, we didn't get to bed until 2 o'clock in the morning. Perhaps today, we'll take a walk to the village and back, before Kayden should arrive. If she arrives early and we're still out, she should be able to let herself in.

I decide to slip back into bad as quietly as possible. It isn't silent enough, however, to go unnoticed by Jean, who stirs a little and wakes up a minute later.

"Hey love", she says sleepily, "good morning..."

"Good morning to you too honey, did you sleep well?" I respond.

"Well enough I suppose, Lucy was quiet all night."

"That's nice I guess..."

Lucy wakes up rather energetically, looking slightly confused at first, but soon knowing exactly where she is.

"Hi!" she says when she notices us looking at her.

"Hi back," Jean says as she picks our girl up from the bed to get her dressed.

"Is Aunt Kayden here already?"

"Almost," I say, "she should be here within a few hours."

"I can't wait! I haven't seen her in forever!"

"She'll be here before you know it, and I'm pretty sure she'll bring something nice for you."

"Really?"

"Really."

As Jean whisks little Lucy away to get her washed and dressed, I decide to make some breakfast. In other words, I end up making scrambled eggs and a stack of pancakes, because that's basically all I'm good at. I'm almost done when the others walk in.

"Something smells really good, Danny", Jean remarks.

"Why thank you Jeanie", I reply before kissing her.

We begin to eating the eggs and pancakes, racing each other to see who can eat a pancake the fastest. Surprisingly enough, Jean wins this time, although not for my lack of help...