Gen 9- Chapter 12: Wisteria Lace

Tosca Chiffon was by far the most curious little guy I had ever met, and I had met many little guys over the years. His curiosity started out small. Examining anything he could get his hands on, figuring out how they worked and of course putting them in his mouth. Every time I turned around, I found something stashed in his cheek, or under his tongue. It was enough to make a poor mother lose her mind. The fear of him choking on something small scared me. He never seemed to swallow anything, but it didn’t take long for me to get into a habit of picking up anything small to keep it off the floor. This only worked until he started walking. Then I had a whole other set of problems to deal with.

Crawling early lead to walking early, which meant he was up and mobile before we were ready or prepared for it. But then when are you ever really prepared for a toddler? It started out cute, and we figured it was a one time thing, or perhaps it had been some mechanical error on our part. What ever it was, one afternoon we heard a strange noise coming from Tosca’s room. Tapestry and I were cuddled up on the couch together, and last we had checked, Tosca was napping. So the strange tinkling sound from his little xylophone was rather unsettling. Tapestry headed to his room, to find Tosca on the floor, happily playing away. The crib latch had been unlatched and the door was in it’s down position.

“How did you get out bud?” Tapestry asked, placing him back in his crib.

After he was convinced he was secure this time, he kissed Tosca on the forehead, and rejoined me on the couch. Plopping into the seat, he looked my direction. “Sweetheart, did you latch Tosca’s crib when you put him down for his nap?”

“I think so, why?”

“He was out on the floor. Playing with his toys.”

“What?!”

“I latched it this time.”

“Okay. I really thought I had. I’m sorry.”

“He’s fine. It’s alright, just gotta make sure next time.”

It didn’t take long to realize, there had been no mechanical 0r manual for that matter, failure. Tosca was undoing the latch himself. Popping the bed open and crawling out. Three time in one afternoon, I returned to the living room, to find him sitting on the carpet, watching the discovery channel. His bright eyes watching as the man on screened discussed Shang Sim La at great length, which I doubt he understood, but I could be wrong about that. Twice I put him back in his room, the third time I decided to grab what I had been working on, bring it downstairs and sit with him. It was much easier that way…

His crib was just the beginning, things only got worse as he got older and wiser. Making use of the “secure” play pin outside, we thought for sure it would be able to contain him. Again, we were wrong. He couldn’t figure out the latch ( it had a small combination number) so he figured another way out. Taking all of the toys, even his little potty, he stacked them together, until it was tall enough so he could get out. He was quick too! I had only gone in for  second to grab a bottle of cereal and then I was going to come right back out. Nope, that was too much time. He was up and almost over when, I spied him through our large kitchen window.

“TOSCA!!!!”

I took off immediately, running through the kitchen, out through the dining room, almost slamming into the glass door as I made my exit. At the very last second, I ripped the door open on its tracks and bolted across the grass, screaming his name the entire time. “Tosca! Get back here! Tosca Chiffon!” I am convinced toddlers ears don’t develop fully until they are about four, because he just kept on going, not even a flinch, from the sound of my booming voice charging up behind him. Finally I caught up to him, scooped him into my arms, and proceeded to squeeze him. “You really gotta stop doing that. You are going to give me a heart attack.”

“Hehehehehe.” He gurgled back. Boy did I have my hands full.

What can you really do with an adventurous child? You can’t scold him for his nature, but at the same time, you want to keep him safe. It’s a difficult balance. Every thing we did with that boy, whether it was playing, reading, singing, only made him more intrigued. He wanted to learn more about, what was making the music, what happened next. When dad started the flying airplane, I figured this would be a good way for him to get a little height, little fun, and whole lot safer than other things he could be doing. Yeah, I was wrong again.

Soon flying airplane wasn’t high enough. He wanted more. After getting a grasp on what a trampoline was all about, he figured a way up onto it. Dad found him bouncing away one afternoon. Dad’s eyes must have been as big as saucers, though I can’t really tell you for sure. It took years for him to ever admit it had happened.

We finally had to resort to dropping a chair at his front door, with at least one person keeping watch. His room had no open-able windows, so there was only one way for escape. This helped, but it was sure tiring for everyone else in the house. Grandpa didn’t seem to mind much though. After he had retired, he spent most of his free time reading anyhow. So he quickly became our resident security guard.

Even though he was a handful or two handfuls, he was just the sweetest little boy, with a giant heart. The entire house loved him to bits and there were many times when we had to schedule time, just so we all got a chance to play with him. Lesson number one when playing though: Don’t take your eyes off of him, not even for a second!

When he got a little older, his interest turned to books. Not to say that his curiosity was in any way lessened though, no it may have just made things more trying. Now he had more ideas, things he would see, he wanted to try. Berry help us if you’re really up there.

Affair and Gloss had not yet taken that last step towards marriage, but I had a feeling a baby would be coming long before. They both couldn’t get enough of Tosca and to my surprise, Affair really shined as an uncle. It kind of surprised me, in a good way. They spent a lot of time together, spending it watching me as I practiced. I had definitely gotten better since I started, but with those two it didn’t really matter. I could have been sitting there just mashing all the keys and they would have eaten it up. Love my boys.

“Mommy I play.” Tosca smiled, reaching out for my shoulder.

“Not yet sweetie, maybe when you- urghhhhh.” Older didn’t even make it out of my mouth, but my lunch almost did. I pushed away from the piano and started down the hall, two steps and I almost hurled all over the carpet. Affair had been staring off out the window, and hadn’t even realized I had moved. When he swung around to find me, I was just slamming the door of the bathroom. “Come on little dude, let’s go downstairs for a bit.”

“Mommy?”

“She’ll be alright.”

Affair was right, nothing was wrong with me. Only that I was now harboring Chiffon number two. I was even more excited this time around, than the first, but the second I considered two babies as adventurous as Tosca, my tummy did a swan dive into my feet. What were the odds though, right?

When we told Tosca the good news, his eyes lit up. He was definitely excited about being a big brother, which was a big load off my mind. Squabbling siblings are no fun. My parents always boasted how well the three of us always got along. So I hoped it would be the same. Who knew once they finally arrived though. All bets are off sometimes, once that happens.

“Hello?”

“Hey Momma!”

“Cerise!”

“Look I’m calling to tell you and no I am not even asking this time. We are having a baby shower.”

“But I don’t want one.”

“Nope. Not optional this time Missy. I let it slide the first time, but you are not going to get away with the second.”

“Only if you promise, no gifts. We still have everything we need, there is way more stuff I can scrounge up from the basement.”

“No promises.”

“Ohhh you.”

“I must go now. See you sooooooon~ Love you!”

“Bye bye love you too!”

I agreed to a shower, but I did make her promise to keep it small. I didn’t want a lot of people around, it was something weird about my pregnancies, I always felt like was on edge when there was a crowd. So in total, counting me there were four. Taffy, or course, Gloss, since she was also expecting a little Chiffon and Cerise. It was just the right size to keep me chilled and content. Grandma and Grandpa took Tosca for the afternoon, which left me free to just relax and enjoy my intimate party.

But oh the deception, this party had been planned, not only by Cerise. No my mother and father were in on it too. It seemed my decision to use antique furniture was not to anyone’s liking but my own. I vaguely remember my mom trying to talk me out of it, but I didn’t see the big deal. Every thing was in working order, nothing was dangerous. Sure it was all color coded peach and orange, it was my great great aunt Oranges after all, but I liked it. It gave the room character. I guess that just wasn’t going to fly this time around. Mom and Dad were up to something, something just out of my view.

I’m not even sure how he had managed to get it all in the front door with out me noticing. Or assembling, where had they organized all the stuff?! It would seem my grandmother suggested the martial arts training room, since she was the only one who ever went in there. So it worked perfectly, I was none the wiser. Later I found out everyone in the house was in on it, but me. How rude!

My annoyance quickly faded though, when my eyes caught a glimpse of all the beautiful furniture. It was heavenly, adorable, modern and just perfect for out little Ferra Tilly. Yes, we were having a little girl!

“Mom! Dad! What did you do!?”

“Well, we figured we could surprise you with a little gift. We wan’t our granddaughter to sleep in style. Hope you won’t hate us forever.” Daddy grinned.

I just laughed. “Hate you. This stuff is amazing, but you must have spent so much!”

“You would be surprised!” Mom nodded, winking to my dad. “Besides she is worth all the world in gold, this was nothing.”

I could feel myself getting choked up over it all. Stupid hormones! “Mom, Dad this is amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“We love you angel.”

That did it. The tears started to stream. “I LOVE YOU TOO!! Buuuuuuuh!”

Labor the second time was not any easier. Not that I thought it would be, but I did figure on Tapestry being able to handle himself a little better. I think I should just stop assuming, because I am always wrong. Well, I can safely announce that we welcomed our second child Ferra Tilly into the world. The sweet little angel I had been waiting for.

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And your bonus shot! Little Ferra Tilly being uber adorable!