With the death of my grandfather, we, the inheritors, decided to sell their house and land. It was a two-hour drive from the closest supermarket, and the terrain was too vast for anyone to simply use it as a holiday home, so that was for the best.

Violet drove our little family through those dirt and dust paths—more adequate for goats than cars—as slowly as they demanded, making the long trip take even longer. The previous winter had lots of rain, and grandpa’s failing health hadn’t allowed him to fill up the new potholes that had formed.

“Good thing I didn’t wash the car as I had thought,” Violet sighed, sounding slightly irritated. “How are you girls doing?”

“All good on my part,” I answered.

“Are we there yet?” our daughter Charlotte asked as she hugged Mr. Sealy in her tiny arms, the plushie Violet gave me so many years ago and that now was hers. It having been our first gift to her on her first night at our house when she became part of our family, and the two were inseparable. “I need to pee.”

There was still a bit of driving to be done, so I told Violet to stop so we could take care of that. It’d also allow her to stretch her legs for a bit.

Charlotte handed over the plushie to my wife before we held hands and walked a bit further into the bushes.

“Don’t go too far, ok?” Violet said, despite us still been well into her sigh and could perfectly hear her without shouting.

The problem with that was, Charlotte got a bit shy about it, so Violet and I had to stand on the opposite side of the car, something my wife got nervous about.

“What if a boar is nearby?” she asked in a worried whisper.

Unlike around our hometown, here, that was a legitimate worry.

“It should be alright,” I told her. “They probably heard the car and people hunt them around these parts, so they most likely ran away as soon as we started talking outside the car.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pfft, fufu, yes. Relax babe, our daughter is safe.”

The same worrywart as always, and as always, put at ease with my words. Some things really don’t change, do they?

“All done?” Violet asked, crouching down and checking Charlotte’s clothes once our daughter came back to us.

She was looking excited over something.

“Mummy, mummy! I saw a huge ladybug! It was this big!” she told Violet as she pointed at the last joint of her pinkie finger.

“Fufu, you did? That’s so nice!” my wife giggled as she stood up. “Anyway, we should get back on the road.”

“Can I sit next to you? Please?”

Violet didn’t want to because she was still a bit too young for that, but I volunteered to be her chair and told her it’d be fine because we were in a private road and driving very slowly.

“She’s been so well-behaved too,” I added, picking up Charlotte and joining her in giving Violet puppy-eyes.

“Haah, fine,” she sighed with a slight pout. “You two will be the ruin of me.”

Because she loved us that much. Grumbly as she was, she still kissed me and smooched Charlotte’s cheeks as a response to our daughter going “eww!” when seeing her mamas kiss.

It took us a further fifteen minutes to reach the short stone fence and another ten to reach the house.

It wasn’t too run down, impressive if you consider that grandpa was a ninety-two-year-old man, but the tall grass showed how hard it had gotten for him to take care of the place in his last year on Earth.

The baggage we carried wasn’t much because we’d only be staying for the weekend. Despite how it went when Violet and I came here those many years ago after we got married, I still held the place in a special part of my heart and wished to stay longer, but we had our jobs waiting for us back home.

I don’t like thinking it was karma because the punishment was far too great for her transgression, but six years ago, grandma had her first stroke, one of too many, and eventually had a final one three years after. My grandfather kinda gave up on life after her passing. Honestly, it’s surprising that he endured another three years of being completely alone. Surprising, but most of all, unbelievably sad.

Violet and I would be staying in the main room while Charlotte would have the room right next to it.

“How do you feel?” Violet asked, hugging me from behind as I finished unpacking my stuff.

I was a bit sad, very nostalgic and more importantly, looking forward to seeing Charlotte having fun in the place that was once a sort of sanctuary for me. Even if it’d be just this time and she’d forget about it once she grew older, that was what I wanted the most for the present.

“The creek might have some water, so let’s go there,” I told my wife as I placed my hands over hers. “There might be dragonflies too. Charlotte will surely love that.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

There was still the matter of the boars, but since we’d be talking and there were plenty of trees we could climb on, it shouldn’t be much of an issue.

“Dragonflies!? I wanna see them! I wanna see them!” a very excited voice clamoured as its owner rushed us and started tugging our dresses.

“Hehe! Ok, ok,” I told her as I lifted her up. “But first, let’s grab your wide-brimmed hat and apply some sunscreen, hmm?”

As I had suspected, the creek had some puddles of water, and the air was filled with dragonflies that our daughter delighted in cataloguing. It turned into an excellent opportunity to practice her numbers, and even writing, so she’d have an easier time when she started going to school in a few months.

Charlotte sat on my lap while I sat between Violet’s legs as she hugged us both tightly and kept watch. We were under the shade of a tree that had at least a cicada on its branches, one of many around us, the noise coming from them as loud as it could get. The air of that spot felt slightly damp and there was a breeze running through.

Hehe! Our daughter is so cute!

She looked just like a doll with her curly brown hair under the hat, white dress and sandals, and a choker matching ours. The way her big, brown eyes darted around as they followed the flying bugs, and huge grin illuminating her face were absolutely precious. Violet and I couldn’t have hoped for a better daughter than her. It was well worth it, those seventeen months of hardship to finally be able to adopt her.

“Honey, Charlotte, be very, very quiet,” Violet said, tightening her grip on us, her tone snapping me back to reality.

On the opposite side was a huge boar that had come to drink, and its noise had been drown out by the surrounding cacophony.

He regarded us briefly as Violet hoisted Charlotte as high as she could and told me to climb too. As scared as she was, she was surprisingly cool, acting calm and collected as she made sure her family was safe before she worried about herself. I’m not going to lie, I felt in love with her all over again and a thousand times over.

Charlotte too didn’t get scared, but that was most likely thanks to Violet. In fact, she asked if it wasn’t possible to pet the “big piggie” after we all got back on the ground. Only an innocent child would look at such a mean-looking thing and think that. It might be an exaggeration, but I think the tusks of that boar alone were as long as my forearm, so you can guess how big it really was.

“Eww! You are kissing again!” Charlotte laughed with her eyes covered as I osculated my heroine.

“Sorry dear, but mama Violet was very brave and deserves a reward,” I told her before giving Violet another big kiss before she could tell me not to do it in front of our daughter. “That big piggie could have gotten very mean and hurt us if she hadn’t protected us. Come on, you give her a big kiss too.”

“Thanks, mummy!” Charlotte said, tugging Violet’s dress, prompting her to crouch down so she could get her hug and kiss.

“Maybe it’s better for us to go back?” Violet asked with a giggle, still being smooched by our girl.

“We should. I think this was excitement enough for a day.”

We also had to prepare dinner for when the others arrived.

I forgot to mention, but this was a weekend escapade with the whole family, my dad, sis, Stan and Violet’s teen brothers coming too.

Nine people gathered around the dinner table, all of us clinging our glasses together in a toast to Violet’s previous actions.

“Oh, give me a break!” she cried out, red as a tomato. “What about you two? Tell here to your big sister what you’ve been doing lately?”

“Erm, the same you always see us do?” her sister told her.

Isabel—or Isa—took a lot after Sophie, but only looks wise. In the way she carried herself, she was the spitting image of Stan. I guess her eyes were also his.

“Yeah, sis, the same as always. I know you’re embarrassed, but...” her brother jabbed.

Rob’s face was also similar to my sister, but with him aging, he was starting to look a bit more like Stan, and for a thirteen-year-old, he was already quite tall. I guess he took that from my father.

“Oh really?” I said to him, ready to tease Rob as payback for teasing my wife. “What about that girl Rose? You two seeing each other during this summer?”

“H-huh!? What are you talking about!?”

“Oh? Playing coy, are we? And after I caught you staring at her during PE and chatting her up more than once, hmm? You’re at that age now, after all.”

“You said you’d keep it a secret!”

“I never said such thing,” I hummed, satisfied by his reaction. “She’s super cute though. I guess good taste runs in the family.”

“Honey, please, not in front of Charlotte,” Violet said, before looking at him with a keen interest. “Still... I’d like to hear about it later.”

Our girl was also looking at him very interested, but not in his love life. She was more keen on asking him to teach her how to draw, but still hadn’t gathered the courage to tell him about it. It was amazing the mess the two could make together, but credit where it’s due, he was quite the artist for someone his age, and a good teacher too.

“Is it ok with you if Charlotte and I sleep together?” Isa asked, thinking her niece was staring at her.

“Can we?” Charlotte asked, almost jumping out of her chair.

That was a welcome thing, actually. With Isa taking care of our daughter, Violet and I could get some couple’s action without worrying so much about getting interrupted. Between taking care of her, work, and being generally tired, we didn’t have much time for that.

My poor old father was who started the next topic in our conversation. He announced that he was thinking about retiring.

“Finally,” I said. “I was starting to think you’d work until the day you died.”

“Yeah, I’m finally ready to enjoy some peace and quiet. Stan will surely run the company flawlessly, and Sophie also offered to help. And of course, if they need, I’m always open to give them some advice. But for now, I want to spend some time with my grandkids and do some fishing.”

I joked about him getting a wife too, and he laughed it off. He joked back that now that he was seventy-four, he’d find himself a young bride instead of when he was still younger than sixty.

Jokes aside, I was sad that he didn’t find anyone after divorcing my mum in the same way she did. I never talked about it with him, but maybe that was by choice. Regardless, I truly wished he had found someone who genuinely had loved him these past fifteen years or so.

Maybe that simply wasn’t meant to be. Live was exactly that, a gamble. Even if you take all the care in the world and always make the right choices, good results are never truly guaranteed.

Stan invited my dad to join him at the gym.

I chimed in, telling dad that it’d be a good idea to do some exercise in his free time. It didn’t have to be lifting huge weights, just enough to move his body and prevent loss of muscle mass due to his age.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. My father—your grandpa—worked this land until the very end and he lived almost a century.”

I hoped my dad lived that long too, and in a better health than his own father. At the very least, I wished for him to be able to see Charlotte grow into an adult. That meant at least another thirteen years, so... he’d be eighty-seven. If he is still healthy by then, then I’ll be greedy and hope for him to live long enough to see her finding a good partner and maybe start a family of her own.

But that’s all they are, hopes. Only time would tell.

Nevertheless, what a wonderful family I now had.