Chapter 44

So, how are things with the Greenman family? We haven’t visited them for a while.



Daisy is still dating Avri, but sometime around Christmas she starts seeing sides of him that she doesn’t like very much: his constant boasting for example. Of course he hasn’t just recently started speaking so highly of himself, but before she really didn’t want to see it. She turned a deaf ear to all that didn’t fit the picture of the person she wanted him to be. That pink shimmer of her first love has faded now and reality shines through.



But some things in Avri’s behaviour have also changed. In the beginning he clearly wanted to make a good impression and make her feel at ease with him, but now he has started complaining about a lot of things in her personality. He finds her far to boyish and independent and he gets very irritated every time Daisy speaks her mind (which doesn’t stop her from doing it), and he clearly finds it very disturbing that she is so handy (which he is not), but growing up on a farm teaches you to handle things on your own and Daisy is Daddy’s girl and has always followed him around and helped him with his tasks. She knows how to use a tool box.



Daisy’s youngest sister, Summer, has grown a lot and has learned how to walk now.





Violet has also grown a lot this winter and is not a child any more. But she is no tomboy as Daisy, but rather very feminine. She is never in jeans, always wears dresses or skirts and likes to wear jewellery and make-up - a proper young lady. Her biggest interest is music and she loves to play the piano.



“Why can’t you be more like your sister!?” Avri angrily asks Daisy one day. “I don’t want to have a girlfriend that acts like a boy!” They have been arguing a lot the last couple of weeks and the atmosphere between them has become very irritated.



“Well, perhaps then you shouldn’t!” Daisy hears herself saying and sees a shocked look spread over Avri’s face. This is not going as he intended. Daisy can see him very clearly now and has noticed how oft he tries to manipulate her. A subtle threat about breaking up doesn’t scare her though – on the contrary she can feel the relief flood through her body once the words are out there. She is so tired of him! So she makes up her mind here and now and follows up what she has begun and breaks up with Avri.



These last couple of months Daisy has been spending all her time out of school with Avri, leaving room for almost nothing else. Now she starts socializing more with her sister Violet.



The might seem different on the surface, but they understand each other well and have a lot of fun together.



And at last Daisy can read books again, which has been impossible with Avri always around, always needing her attention. God, it feels great to be single again!!



The single days are long gone for Nellie. The time has come to give birth to her second child.



A little daughter, whom they decide to give the name Emma. Stefan buys Nellie a lavish bouquet of roses ...



... but their home still doesn’t clean itself and with two children Nellie really has her hands full now.



Stefan is expecting everything to stay the same between them, but Nellie is too tired for any sweet loving now – and to be honest she is not happy with his laziness. Grabbing the toilet brush could prove very successful for Stefan if he wants her to get between the sheets with him, but of course he doesn’t understand that. He is completely confused and can’t understand why Nellie suddenly always says no. He feels hurt and mistreated, and starts stomping around with a suffering expression, replying curtly whenever Nellie tries to talk to him. Nellie in her turn starts feeling really angry with Stefan.



So one evening they have a real row, that doesn’t lead anywhere.



Instead Stefan puts his outerwear on and goes out. Nellie gets very upset. What on earth is he doing!!?
“Stefan, where are you going?! It is late! What are you thinking!!!” she shouts after him.
“I am going out!” Stefan shouts back, and then he is gone.



He goes to a club nearby and sits down to play some cards. Such a relief to get out of the house!! Nellie is acting so strange and unfriendly these days. She is always nagging at him for one thing or another and he loves his children - but don’t they seem to take an unbelievably big chunk of Nellie’s attention? She keeps telling him that they come first. Of course they do! He is their father; he would risk his life for them. But he is a man too, and a man needs to get his needs fulfilled. A man needs his woman. He can’t understand what is going on. Escape seems like a good plan right now and the company of other men feels soothing. No fuss, no nagging, no misunderstandings.



That very same evening Cleo has stopped by her old work place for a short drink after work. She used to DJ here. Everything looks the same, some old faces, some new. But one face she hasn’t expected: Stefan's.



What on earth is he doing here? He and Nellie have two small children now. Why isn’t he at home?



When Cleo gets home she tells Christian about seeing Stefan in the club.
“Is their relation on the rocks, do you think?” she asks him. “They always seemed so happy to me, nuts about each other.”
“I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions,” Christian says. It could be a million reasons for Stefan to be in that club.
“Not really,” Cleo says with a hint of sarcasm.
“Well, it is not for us to interfere,” Christian says, clearly uncomfortable with the subject. “They have hit a bit of bumpy road, that’s all. They’ll sort it out. You’ll see. Now, shall we watch the late movie or shall we call it a day?”
“You are probably right,” Cleo says but makes a note to herself to call Patricia the following day and see if she has heard anything. It could very well be so that Nellie is in great need of her friends right now.



As you can see, Cleo has finally gotten to remodel the house she got from her aunt.



It is mostly Christian's doing that the project got started and he has even done a lot of the work himself. He likes to work with his hands and he needed something to keep him occupied while thinking over his future.



The band Christian has been playing with for the last seven years, has split due to creative disagreements between the lead guitarist and the singer, who have been writing all their songs, and Christian has decided not to follow any of them.



He has always wanted to write music of his own, but there has been no room for that in the band. Now seems the time has come to make that choice and try something new.