Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Harper laughed suddenly. “Second skyscraper is mine.”
It was going to be a long game.
That’s it, everyone. Next time I will get us caught up with April as well as May as, other than reporting on lots of rain and Beltane, not much happening in the Kage household. I hope. I like it when there’s no life-and-death events to explain. Anyway, stay safe and well until we talk next. Have a wonderful rest of April, everyone.
MAY 2024
Hello, all, happy May, and welcome to He Said, he said. I hope you're all having a good month so far. And happy belated Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. We don’t celebrate that particular holiday at our house, as there are no mothers, only fathers, in our home. As usual, we went to see Sam’s mother in the morning, took a huge bouquet of flowers and her present, and then all went out to brunch. This year Kola was in charge of her gift, and I have to say, he surprised me. I thought he’d ask Hannah for help, but no. He did it himself. He got her a karaoke machine, which was a bold choice since some people in the family—namely Michael—could not carry a tune if their lives depended on it. Sadly, my dear husband is also one of those. Sam Kage can do a lot of things really well, but singing is not one of them.
Last time I talked about St. Patrick’s Day, so now I have to move you forward, through April, because honestly, Easter was a snore. Sam and the kids, plus Jake, went to Easter Mass/Vigil, I’m not really certain about the specifics, but it’s a midnight situation. I stay home because going would be wildly hypocritical of me. Once they all returned, Kola, Hannah, and Jake stayed over because they had to be back around nine the following morning anyway. Sam was tired and grumpy when he got up, but once I got some coffee in him and an egg scramble with sausage, he looked better. Then we loaded up in his car and went over to his parents’ house after swinging by the boys’ place to pick up her Easter lily, which they’ve been keeping for us.
Once we got there, I started cooking, Hannah assisting me, and Regina as well. The rest of the family arrived around one, and yeah, Easter! Lots of food, Easter baskets for people who are far too old to get them, mine included, and then talking, eating, and going home early.
Easter is a day holiday. So is Christmas. Most of the holidays we, meaning my family, celebrate are. Halloween, Fourth of July, and New Year’s being the exceptions. Thanksgiving, which is my favorite, is sort of a split one, because in my house, we eat all day and night because you need to be fortified for Black Friday shopping. Not that I do that anymore, I get everything online these days, but still. The eating is fun.
The last thing we did in April is help Hannah make Beltane candles. That sabbat falls on the first of May, so we were pouring like crazy the weekend of the twenty-seventh. She also made tabletop maypoles, which were really cute, with colored ribbons, fake grass, and mushrooms. Finn was great at pouring beeswax. I was impressed. Like, he eyeballed the containers and filled each perfectly, without mishap, each and every time.
“You might have a future in candle making,” Hannah told him.
He beamed over her praise, and I understood at that moment that even though he had not wanted to be charmed by her, he was. Completely. He’d fallen under her spell just like everyone else in her life. I wanted to tell him, George was enchanted by my daughter, and if anyone could have remained unaffected, it would have been him. He did not seem like a man given over to sentiment, but in her case, he most certainly was.
On the first of the month, Hannah came home to visit, banging into the house just after lunch, and flopped down at the kitchen table looking distraught. I was glad I had been working from home that day so I was there to see her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, putting the chicken in the oven.
“George moved his wedding.”
I squinted at her. “Well, it is May already, and you originally told me it was going to be a spring wedding, so yeah, I figured.”
She whimpered.
“Why are you upset about this? People move wedding dates all the time up until the invitations actually go out.”
“They do?”
I nodded. “That’s why no one knows the date you’re working with until it’s announced, which again, goes back to you getting an invite in the mail.”
“But don’t you think that’s a terrible sign?”
“No, I think it’s a sign of the date not working. He made the mistake of telling you before he and Kurt had their schedules figured out.”