1.24 Your dreams seem to become true

Now that two of her kids were teenagers and old enough to take care of themselves, Anna finally was able to dedicate herself to the garden as much as she wanted. It filled her with pride that she was still doing something she started so many years ago, when she first came to Appaloosa Plains. Now, as a middle aged woman, she could already look back to an exciting life she had lead here. Exciting in a good way, even though it had some pretty bad moments. 

One of these moments had been losing her husband. It felt as it had been only yesterday, yet many years had passed by already.  Years in which she missed having somebody at her side. She wondered whether it was too late now. One evening, when her kids were busy with homework and playing, she went outside to make a call. Her children didn’t need to hear it straight away, it was better to take one step after another. 

When she sat in the cab that would take her to her destination, she felt her heart beating faster than usual. She hadn’t seen him in a while, and she wondered what it would feel like to stand in front of him, smelling his perfume, looking into his eyes.

Each step that took her closer to the house brought more memories, and she couldn’t wait for it to finally happen. Moments after she rang the bell, the door opened and she was invited inside.

He was old. The brown hair had turned grey, his hands were wrinkly, as was his face. But the smile was just like the one so many years ago. 

Benjamin was glad to see her again, since he had heard about her loss and never got up the nerve to call her. He still was dating Gracie, a small detail Anna probably didn’t know about, but he had always been in love with Anna. Now, in the last years of his long life, he felt it was necessary to make the right decisions. 

 

Hours later, Anna returned home with a smile on her face. The kids were all in bed already, but the light in the kitchen was still on. So they had noticed she was gone. Of course they had.

The next morning, at breakfast, she noticed Birdy and Billy shooting her some looks. She decided to ignore them. It was too early to say anything, and she didn’t want to get their hopes up. In addition, she didn’t want to get her own hopes up, either. 

Her children noticed that their mother was hiding something from them, and they weren’t too happy about it. Although Anna had the right to keep certain things to herself, of course, but this seemed to be something huge. She started every day with a smile, sometimes sang while she was tendering the plants, and seemed bubblier than before. What was going on here?

They decided to tell the two little ones that something might be up, because it wasn’t fair to completely leave them out of this. If it was what they thought it was, and if that thing went wrong, they would all be in for big troubles. Britney was delighted to hear that something mysterious was going on, and she couldn’t wait to find out all about it. If her mother really was dating somebody – and that’s what her siblings thought was happening, at least that what SHE thought they thought –, that would be phenomenal. What a story! Widow falls in love with attractive men, and realizes that life still is beautiful. Of course, she would have to work on the headline. This one was too long.

 Author's notes: DONE! Caught up with my gameplay. I never thought this day would come. Finally, I can go on playing, and maybe even start exploring Britney's life. As I said, I'm out of town for four days now, and will not be able to post anything. So be ready for some chapters around next weekend :) I should manage to finish Anna's generation not too far from now. Whoo, exciting!!