Teen Bonding - 5.25



Previously in the Fuller Family: Since money was not a problem, Rosetta quit her job as Mayor. Soon after, she and David took a vacation from home for a little while. The girls had a birthday while their parents were away, aging into beautiful teens. David and Rosetta returned home to find that Dayna had gotten multiple piercings, but accepted and let her keep them, much to her delight.

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The smell of fresh calzones filled the air as Rosetta cooked dinner. This was something she had really grown to enjoy since they had gotten the wood fire oven. Calzones were a favorite of the kids as well, and they always looked forward to it. This meal always brought the whole family to the table.

A few weeks had passed since David and Rosetta's vacation and they were feeling the urge for another one. They had originally decided to wait a year before going anywhere again but both of them were getting up there in years and wanted to spend some time with just each other before their time, and ability to travel, was up. Before becoming an elder, which was soon enough, Rosetta wanted to get out and see just a little bit more of the world. She had only known her birth town of Appaloosa Plains, her college dorm, and Hidden Springs. The last trip grabbed her taste for seeing new things. 



During dinner Rosetta mentioned to the kids that she and their father would like to leave tomorrow and probably wouldn't be home when they got back from school. The kids seemed remarkably fine with it. She had expected a little bit of hesitation from them, considering how bored they apparently were the last time. Then again, they wouldn't be gone as long this time. David only wanted to go for the weekend. 

My babies have grown so fast. They seem so mature sometimes. I didn't think they'd be so open to us leaving them home again. Rylan's birthday is so close. He's almost off to college. I'm so proud of him, he's grown so fast. The girls have turned into beautiful teens and I'm sure will be amazing young women. They haven't decided if they are actually going to college or not, but I hope so. Rylan is anxious to go actually.

 It's my birthday this weekend but I've requested not doing anything except the small vacation. I'm very much looking forward to it. Amazingly, David and I are both going to be entering our elder years while we are away. My grey hairs are already bursting through, I swear I have new ones every day. I don't want to color it though. 

After they had eaten and cleaned up, Rosetta went out to tend her garden while David and the kids stayed inside to humor themselves. The girls played a game of chess and Rylan played his guitar. No one really knew where David had gotten off to, but they assumed he was upstairs watching some television.

The night seemed to end abruptly. It seemed that everyone was tired and wanted to turn in early. The night filled their heads with dreams of different things.

Rosetta dreamed of her upcoming trip and of course everything was going wrong. The taxi they called didn't come and they missed their flight. When they finally got where they were going, neither of them had their clothes, there were also rats in the room they were to stay in. It really was a nightmare as opposed to a simple dream.

 

David dreamed of life when the kids were little, just toddlers. They were sitting on the floor on Snowflake day, playing with new toys. The joy and laughter was infectious. Brenna walked through the door and gave him a big smile, which for some reason brought him out of sleep. In his waking state, though he was smiling, his heart sank. He missed her so much. It was hard when he dreamed of her. He settled his mind again and drifted back to sleep.

Caylin and Dayna both were dreaming of high school. Dayna was in the cafeteria hanging out with her friends, bragging about her soccer feats. Caylin's dreams were polluted by the pressure of having to recite a paper in front of her class. Of course, when she looked down at her paper, she noticed she was not wearing pants. A typical horror for a teenager.

Rylan dreamt of leaving for college. He had taken the bus and quite a few strange people accompanied him. Over all it was an unremarkable dream.

The next morning, all the kid were off to school in good time. The bus had stopped coming to their house though, which meant they had to leave a little earlier, so they could walk to the corner to catch their ride. Once they were off to school, Rosetta and David sat on the couch to talk before leaving on their trip.

"I'd like to stop by and see Sonia for a little bit, I miss her. I haven't seen her kids in a while either." Rosetta was saying.

"Sure, sounds good. Why don't you head over there for a bit while I finish getting us ready?" David told her.

"That sounds great. I won't be long, promise. I'm too excited to leave!"

She was out the door just a minute later and off to see her friend. 

Just as she arrived at Sonia's house, Sonia and her family did as well. 

"Hey! You're out and about already? It's so early." Rosetta asked.

Sonia let everyone in the house. "Yeah, We had to go pick up Nicholas from school, he wasn't feeling well. He'd only been there about half and hour."

 

"Aww," Rosetta talked to Nicholas, "You should drink some water and lay down then, you look a little pale. I hope you feel better!"

"Thanks Auntie Rose. I will." Nicholas walked off and hit the couch.

Sonia had been picking up toys that Sebastian had scattered around everywhere and now came to speak with Rosetta. Her husband, after setting the baby down, had gone to get Nicholas something to drink. Sebastian ran off to pull out all the toys his mom had just put away.

"How's it going Rose?" Sonia asked, "You look well. Happy. How are David and the kids?"

"We are all great, thanks." Rosetta replied. "Actually David and I are about to leave for the weekend. Just a little outing for us. We'll both be celebrating our birthday's too, while we're gone. I think the kids are a little excited to have the weekend to themselves."

"Oh that sounds fun! Where will you be going this time? I know you had fun in Monte Vista last time!"

"Actually we are hitting the city for the weekend, Bridgeport. I've never been and neither has David. I hear there are quite a few things for us to do there. I'm not sure how I'll handle the city people though." Rosetta laughed and Sonia joined in. "We are actually leaving in a few minutes, but I wanted to come and say hello first. It feels like it's been forever since I've been able to hang out with you."

Sonia nodded her head, "Yeah, sometimes it does feel like a while between visits. That's okay though, I'm still here. Just life gets busy for both of us, I get it."

Rosetta and her friend chatted a little while longer, about life and growing babies. The teething of Sonia's little tot and homework from Nicholas. Rosetta spoke of raising teens, and all the surprises that come with it. She advised Sonia to prepare herself. After a few more laughs, Rosetta had to say bye for now. She had promised David she wouldn't be long. The two friends embraced and parted ways.

Rosetta grabbed a taxi and headed to the house to pick up David. He was already waiting on the porch. He grabbed their suitcase and stuffed it in the trunk.

The school bell rang to dismiss students promptly at 1 o'clock. Dayna and Rylan happened to be among the first kids out of the building so they hung out on the play ground equipment to wait for Caylin. She was always one of the last kids to leave. She always took her sweet time getting things packed away.

"So, Mom and Dad are gone for the weekend. What do you want to do?" Asked Dayna as she was climbing the jungle gym. 

"I don't know, but I sure don't want to stay at the house." Replied her brother. "I mean, I don't know about you but I was super bored at home last time. They won't be gone as long this time though."

"Yeah, true." Dayna laughed, "Not enough time for me to get a tattoo huh?"

Rylan chuckled, "Oh, hey, there's Caylin, let's get out of here."

The three teens hopped on the bus and sat in silence on the ride home. They had some leftovers for dinner and watched a little television. Rylan helped both his sisters with their homework before all three of them went to bed. Everyone always slept better on Friday nights, probably because they knew they didn't have anything they absolutely needed to do the coming morning.

Saturday rolled around and woke the kids with sunshine. Generally the weather in Hidden springs is always a little foggy. The same was true today, but there was more sun than normal peeking through. Rylan woke first and decided to make some breakfast calzones. Eggs, sausage and gravy wrapped up and baked. The smell wafted in through the door, when it was opened, and filled the house. That alone would have woken the girls had they not been up already. They bounded down the stairs and sat at the table with their brother.

"Oh thanks man, these smell amazing!" Dayna said. She complimented Rylan on his cooking skills and chowed down her food.

Caylin had thrown on her bathing suit this morning which gave Rylan an idea. "Hey. I don't want to sit around the house today, so how about we go swimming?

"That sounds like a great idea." Both the girls agreed. 

Dayna mentioned a small lake, just around the corner, that she knew wasn't busy or crowded and suggested that spot for their outing.

"I don't want to get my bathing suit wet!" Caylin piped up. Here siblings looked at her with odd expressions. 

"Okay, well wear what you want then, or don't get in the water." Rylan said. He tried to be serious but when he glanced at Dayna and noted a grin playing on her lips, he laughed aloud. It was hard to be serious with such loose cannons in the family. 

Breakfast was finished up and each of them went upstairs to change and get some things to take with them. The weather was getting colder, Rylan hoped it wouldn't be too chilly to swim.

Again, Caylin got some weird looks when she came down in her fanciest dress. Complete with gloves up to the elbows.

"What? I like it. It's comfortable." She said in her defense.

The arrived at the little lake which was protected around it by land and hillsides, and only a small entrance to the ocean. The cove was perfect for swimming or even a little jet ski fun. It was large, but not so big as to feel overwhelmed or lost. 

Rylan and Dayna found some rocks along the shore that were perfect for skipping. Both of them practiced and challenged each other to a skipping contest. Caylin went her own path and pulled out her fishing pole.

"I heard there were sharks in this cove! Mom and Dad swam here once, and Dad told me!" Caylin said excitedly. "I want to catch one."

Rylan and Dayna rolled their eyes. "Good luck with that." They both said.

After a while, skipping rocks got old and no sharks were caught. They changed into some swim gear, except Caylin. She changed into her workout clothing because she didn't want to get her new bathing suit wet. Rylan grabbed some shallow diving gear and passed his sisters a set each. They all went about trying to find whatever he could under the surface. Dayna got bored with that fast, as there was  no real action to be had in it.

Caylin found quite a few shells then changed course, she decided just to swim. For a while she was fine, but eventually she got really tired of having her clothes stick to her and changed into a real bathing suit.

Rylan was enjoying finding his treasures too much to stop snorkeling. He had gotten lots of cool looking shells and also a gem or two. He wondered if he might be able to find something that was actually worth anything. He actually enjoyed himself so much he considered picking up scuba diving as a hobby, as a second to his guitar playing.

Dayna had pulled out her windsurfer and tried to catch a good breeze. It wasn't too hard, since the hillside surrounding the cove created a tunnel of sorts for the wind gusts to travel along. She glided the surface for a while and practiced some small stunts. She hadn't had much experience with this sport but was really enjoying it.

Caylin blew up a couple of floats for her and Dayna, Rylan said he didn't want his. She floated atop hers for a while, dozing in and out of a gentle sleep state. She stared a the sky between each lapse of consciousness. The fog had actually become a lot thicker, and the sun had basically disappeared. There must have still be some shining through though because a beautiful and full rainbow was visible just above them.

"Dayna come lay with me. It's awesome." Caylin suggested. 

Dayna glanced up from her board and smiled. She nodded and made her way back to the shore to put the windsurfer up. Joining her sister in relaxing on the water, she stared at the sky as well. She wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed but knew they had been here basically all day.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?" She asked aloud.

Rylan was too busy under the water to hear but Caylin suggested going to the fair. "It's just here today and tomorrow, it's a Medieval fair! Won't that be fun?"

"Oh that would be cool, I wonder what they have there. Sure let's make that our plan for tomorrow. Sounds fun." She let out a big sigh and closed her eyes. This had been a cool day. She was glad they got out.