Chapter 9.5 – July 2023 part I: The most important thing.

It was a bright summer day for Palash and Sofia, with only a few seemingly distant clouds on the horizon, and they were just about to enjoy it by relaxing by the pool in their backyard when of course..

..the heavens opened and it began to rain. "I think we'll have to wait it out inside instead" Palash said. "I'll go turn on some music... I don't want you to catch a cold." How sweet of him, always considerate and thoughtful of his wife, and of course he would be.. she is, after all, carrying perhaps the most important thing to him right now, right there inside her belly....

Sofia still had her craving for pancakes, which she would feast on now, as often as she could... but still on occasion, she would get nauseous and need to make a run for the nearest bathroom shortly after eating..

..before commiting to the same routine all over again..

The pregnancy hasn't been a smooth ride for Sofia. She would deny it in the beginning.. no, she wasn't pregnant, that couldn't be, she was just.. sick.. but as time passed, and her belly grew, there was no more denying..

..she went into a period of rapid mood swings, from eagerly awaiting her child, to loathing the thought of being pregnant and in the future raising a child, so much so that yes, she did consider to go to the hospital and have her pregnancy terminated, but still.. something in her knew she couldn't do it, not for herself.. when she thought about what it would do to Palash, the love of her life.. how it would crush him if she would ever do such a thing.. and after Laranya had learnt about the pregnancy too, following her father-in-laws stay at the hospital just last christmas, it became even harder to do it.. so it was never really an option, though the thought would sometimes still be there...

..and maybe, if she would dare to dig a little deeper, maybe she would find that she would enjoy it, too.. atleast it would like it, considering that all the conversations the couple was having about their future seemed to revolve around this one thing.. and they were all positive.. the toys, the clothes they were going to buy.. the cute, tiny little shoes..

Later in the evening Palash spoke to Sofia about their neighbours funeral last month.. or rather, some of what was said during the event..

    "The weirdest thing happened at Mariannes funeral" he began "I had just retreated to their backyard swimming pool to practice some guitar when Max approached me.. and he was furious!"

Sofia listened attentively. She didn't want to attend the funeral herself, especially not now when she was pregnant, as she had always had an iffy feeling about the Skurckh family since around the time of her mothers sudden disappearance..

As a young child her fathers explanation that she had ran away with another man seemed convincing enough.. for a while, until she started questioning why they never heard anything at all from her since then. No phone calls, no letters, no visits, no child support.. had mom abandoned them completely? Wasn't Sofia her child anymore?

    ..and none of this was made any easier by her dads tendency to bury himself in work, spending more and more time at the fire station – seemingly – then at home caring for his daughter, his only child... 'He had to do it to pay the bills....' he would always say, only stopping by at home to dump another useless toy on her.. when all she wanted was a little bit of affection and attention from dad.. the fancy, expensive toys and the constantly rotating cycle of teenage baby sitters was a very poor replacement...
She knew this now, in her adult years.. but as a child, and eventually a teenager and young adult.. the search for fulfilment through increasingly expensive items, clothing and make up started to feel more and more hollow as time went on..

    "He threatened to give me a beating..." Palash said "..unless I got out of there and went home to you.."

    Somehow, she wasn't surprised by Max's fury.. Of course, he was a grieving man, and she had felt the same fury herself when her daddy died... The autopsy had confirmed it was a heart attack, and it was speculated that it was due to stress, given his relatively young age of being only 53 years old in combination with the heavy work load he put on himself.. in order to, according to his own words, pay the bills for the house, take care of Sofia.. and...?

    "He said if I didn't get off the property, he would dump me in the river..but the most shocking thing he said.." Palash continued.. "..was that they should've done you in too!"

That's why she began to not trust the Skurchk family.. she suspected they were behind something else.. that they were responsible for her mothers death...and that they were somehow blackmailing him for money.. but she had never figured out a way to prove it... perhaps until just now...

    "..it was just as if he admitted to having murdered someone! What on earth could this be about!? Does this make any sense to you!?"

    Sofia knew very well what Max meant... but she couldn't tell Palash, not now.. She was so close, contractions could start any minute.. It was probably best not to.. It was probably best to play along for a while, then try to deflect it and hope he would forget about it.. like she always used to do whenever he delivered one of his far out conspiracy theories.. except she knew of course that this was more than just a theory..

    "Oh, wow.. did he really say that?" Sofia said, pretending to act surprised. "That's really quite shocking – even for a grieving man!"

    "I know, that's what caught me so off guard!" Palash said "I wasn't expecting that!"

    "Yeah.. I wish I knew how to explain this one!" Sofia said, not needing to fake her honesty "I mean.. everybody sort of knows that they're not.. that they probably have some skeletons in their closet one way or another, but I always thought... I don't know..."

    "Look! If it's really true that they've murdered someone.. I would think that someone must've found the body already.. and that someone would have.. that someone would have reported someone as missing..."

Sofia had to swallow at what she just said.. Reported missing.. If mom had been reported missing.. then maybe..

    "Yes, probably... " Palash said in response as if he could read her thoughts... "...well.. I'm not gonna press charges for them on this during this time, but.. I think we should probably keep our distance from them now.. just to make sure..."

    "Isn't that right, daddys little one?" he said as he bent down slightly to talk to Sofias belly.. "You don't need to worry" he continued with a baby like voice "Mom and dad is gonna keep you safe, away from all the bad people and neighbours.."

"Peek-a-boo! Here's daddy! Kick your legs if you can hear me!"

"No no, Palash.. no leg kicks, please.." Sofia chuckled "Daddy's being a silly man! Yes, he is!"

Palash was much easier to distract than she had thought.. what a blessing this man was. ;)

He was still the same quirky goofball she first fell in love with..

 

A peculiar man with a good heart, who knew to value family above everything else.. She knew this was the man for her.. there couldn't be anyone else..

Good night. ;)

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Chapter 9.4 – June 2023 – part III: Grandma..? Who was grandma?

The morning after the funeral in Dudleifs household...

Nishit was the first to wake up to have some leftovers of one of moms salads for breakfast. Udisha being a very busy woman would often go for making simple, fast and effective, but healthy meals..

    Nishit had eventually figured out that the grandma he had never met or known had passed away.. Dad hadn't spoken much of her, only saying that she wasn't 'a very good woman', and that she was 'self-righteous', 'manipulative' and 'deceiving'. Nishit wasn't sure yet of the actual meaning of all these words.. was grandma really this bad? Why? What had she done? Why couldn't they visit her, like they would go visit Laranya and Deepak? Why didn't they even go to her funeral...?

    When he tried to ask his mom about it, he didn't get much wiser.. Apparently his grandma must have done some terrible things, but what? The only answer he really got was 'You'll learn when you get older...'. As if that was an answer... why are adults sometimes so annoying, only saying stupid things like that..

    The answer to Nishits ponderings came to him in the form of a question from a kid in the grade above him during recess at school one day.. a scrawny looking boy with freckles and dark blonde hair that in a few years time would become the terror of the schoolyard, before he mysteriously and suddenly had to change schools which lead to his family moving out of town never to be seen again.. but that's another story...

    "Why does your granny kidnap and murder people?" the boy asked while he tried to pull up the sleeve on the left arm of his shirt, that appeared to be just two sizes to big..
Nishit was bewildered at the question.. His thoughts immediately went to Laranya, whom he knew as his grandmother.. "Granny isn't a murderer!" he shouted back at the kid.

    "Yes, she is. Don't you know?"
    "Granny is not a murderer!" Nishit shouted again.
    "Yes, she is. I heard daddy say it." the kid with the oversized shirt said. "She has dead people in her basement. Everybody knows about it."

    "She does not! My granny isn't a murderer! She's a musician! She makes music for the cinema!"

    "Not that granny! Your other granny!" the kid with the white shirt explained.
It just so happened to be that both of Nishits grandmothers where celebrities, with Laranya being a famous hit movie composer and Marianne being.. well.. who she was..

    "What? I only have one granny.." Nishit said, now even more confused.. Laranya was grandma to him. Marianne was just.. 'dad's mom that he never talked about'...

    "Nobody has only one granny! That's impossible!" the kid said. "Don't you know about your grandma?"

    "She's not grandma. She's just mom's dad." Nishit said, having finally understood what the other kid was getting at...

    "That's what a grandma is" he said. "They're parents of your parents. When my dad gets angry, that's where I go..."

    That's when Nishit learnt that he had a grandma that was possibly a criminal.. a criminal that murdered people? Could this be true? He had asked Dudleif about this one day.. was his mom really like that? Did she keep people in the basement? Questions to which Dudleif, a man usually not prone to anger, snapped at him for as he shouted "Where did you hear that!?".
    "J- Justin told me" Nishit said. "Justin from school.."

    "Oh.." Dudleif knew about Justin and his family, as he had himself gone to their door while on duty after the police station had received a concerned phone call from a neighbour about some family quarrel going on inside their house...

    "Well.. you probably shouldn't believe everything you hear.. That thing about the basement.. is not true.."

    "So.. your mom isn't a criminal then?"

    "Well.. she's got her ways, she's umm.. if I could prove she was a criminal, I would have her in jail..... now, don't you have homework to do?"

Nishit realized realized that was probably a good as answer that he would get.. his other grandma, Dudleifs mom, must've been up to something.. why else would he be willing to put his own mom in jail..? It had be that way.. that's why people were saying these things.. That's why they never went to visit.. that's why they didn't go to her funeral.. That's why Nishit only really had one grandma...

Dudleif didn't want any of his kids to visit the old Skurchk household.. he couldn't, because he knew there would be no warm welcome.. and he wouldn't, because he didn't want any of them to have a bad influence on his kids..
    Dudleif wanted his kids to do good in life, in whatever path they would choose, as long as it was on the right side of the law.. and it may well be something creative, music or arts, like most members of his wifes family.. or business, like his wife or that one weird brother she has that he hasn't quite understood..

Upstairs the youngest member of the family had woken up her mom to let her know she had just dropped a major stinker, and was in need of a bath..

    "Well, good morning..Smelling lovely today." Dudleif said in a playful banter as Udisha came down the stairs
    "Funny..." she said sarcastically, as she turned around to take Madhunisha to the bathroom..

    "Looks like mommys a little grumpy today, isn't she?" Dudleif said to Ole Christian while preparing another spoon of his breakfast. "Open up, here comes another one! Atleast us guys can have a good time, can't we?"

..but who's to say the ladies can't be having a good time? After the dirty diaper has come off and most of the filth has been washed off, taking a bath can also be good quality time for mom and daughter. ;)

..and speaking of mom and daughter, here's another one! Gerda Botnen, the frontwoman, singer and guitar player of the band "The Bushweeds", just gave birth to a lovely little boy called Øyvin. She has chosen a less common form of the name 'Øyvind', omitting the 'd' at the end, citing that it just isn't necessary as it nobody pronounces it anyway. (The 'd' at the end is silent.)

New Sim: Øyvin Botnen.

Date of birth: 24.06.2023

And as usual with every new birth, the town council steps in to provide a crib for the newborn and the mother, so that she doesn't have to worry about her baby resting comfortably while doing other things, such as preparing a simple meal to herself in the kitchen. :P

 

Nishit wanted to hangout with his friend from school again, and called over Elen to hang out.

Now that his neighbour Emilia had become a teenager, they had somehow began to drift apart and their friendship fade, so it was time for Nishit to find another 'girlfriend' to spend time with. ;)

Elen wanted to make a good impression on Nishit, talking fondly about the theatre and conduction music, since of course, she knew (and was impressed by) his good grandmother being a well known composer and all that.

Nishit likewise wanted to impress his new friend by handing her a gift of festival tickets he had collected. ;)

Dudleif was inside teaching Madhunisha to talk and the value of being a good person to make friends.. not enemies...

The always ambitious Udisha was busy preparing another business plan to be presented at her job the next upcoming monday...

Nishits old friend had now found her first romance in Notzo Curious. When the message popped up, she was hanging out at the junkyard with her brother Atle.

Notzo was at the park downtown with Tay Bayless.

Oops, Madhunisha created another stinker. This is what you get for poking fun. ;)

Udisha evaded this one by going outside for some fresh air and talking about the theatre with Nishit...

Family life was good in this home, in spite of smelly and stressful times, much laughter and joy was also heard..

After Dudleif had given Madhunisha another bath, Elen came in to say hi to the little toddler and play a game of peek-a-boo.

Elen had gone out to find the spring rider as Nishit had decided to continue his painting of a chocolate cake, or whatever that is supposed to be. :P

Dudleif was taking Madhunisha out to show her the playground area in their backyard.

"There you go, you stay here and have some fun while daddy goes back inside to do some private business.."

Hmm.. I'll call this dubious parenting, leaving a one year old kid alone in the backyard like that late at night, but then again, maybe this is how Dudleifs own parents raised him when he was a kid.. which wouldn't be to surprising...

Ah, but luckily Madhunisha is both resourceful and indepent for her young age, as she immediately heads over to the spring rider. ;)

What a smart kid. She climbs on top of it with ease and intuitively knows just excactly how it works without anyone there to assist her in anything. ;)

Inside again Udisha just finished feeding Ole Christian and takes him upstairs to the bedroom so that he can go to sleep for the night..

Dudleif is finished with his business too, and goes outside again to pick up Madhunisha, leaving the spring rider for Elen to enjoy once more.

Nishit is still painting his candy coated work of art while Udisha passes him on the way back to the bedroom after she went downstairs quickly to empty another stinker from the potty...

Madhunisha got her last meal of the day on the couch while Nishit had realized he couldn't stay up painting all night and decided to go to bed..

..and soon everyone would be sleeping tight again once more. Good night. ;)

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Chapter 9.4 – June 2023 – part II: The funeral portrait..

                                         Song: Otis Redding – I've got dreams to remember

The news of Mariannes death was, of course, a hard hit to the three remaining members of the household..

Max especially seemed to take it really hard, and would occasionally faint at the thought of his long time wife no longer being there.. They were only teenagers when they first got together, and though it was against their will, and their marriage had it's ups and downs, over the years they both learnt to respect and even love one another.. 70 years is a long time to be married..

Three days later they decided to host a small funeral ceremony, only inviting some of their closest friends and family before her urn would be placed inside the family mausoleum..

A stone and a plaque to her memory was already in place in their backyard, along with the flowers and wreaths they had been given as expressions of condolances and grief by the local community.. She may have been rumoured to be a criminal, but that doesn't mean people would be unwilling to show their last sign of respect... Bad guys feel sorrow too..

Bill and Julienne were still griefstruck on the day of the funeral...

..and not to mention the now only remaining head of the family, Max, turning to the Watcher to get some relief from the pain he felt, before serving the food to the guests that were soon to arrive..

Supper was served while the stereo in the background was playing Mariannes favourite soul records from her younger years when they sometimes would spend their weekends out on the town enjoying the local nightlife.. those were dreams to remember..

All these people, the music.. it was still a little to much for Bill to handle after his mothers passing, so he picked up his meal to eat it inside. That was just the way he wanted to handle his grief, in private.

Palash had also shown up at the party, though he was uninvited. The Skurchk family may have a sketchy reputation, but they were neighbours – and being the family oriented man that he is, he couldn't let this opportunity to show support to the family in their time of sorrow pass him by...

He walked over to Max's table to sit down with him and was met with a low grunt from Max where he thanked him for the consideration, but he would rather eat alone.

 

So Palash had to turn back and sit with the other table alongside the rest of the guests. And as it would be, the Skurchk family couldn't even arrange a funeral without having a paparazzi come in and crash the event..

The paparazzi didn't even have the decency to dress in all black formal wear, but chose to just show up in his everyday attire.. no respect from that lot.. Normally, Max would have gotten up to tell the paparazzi to get the hell out of there and stick the camera up a place where the sun never shines, but now.. he just didn't bother...

If the general public wants to feast on stories about an old man grieving, then let them...

After supper was over Pattina Knekknes, Juliennes mother, and Julienne walked over to look at the condolence flowers and say their last goodbye to Marianne, but both found themselves unable to do so without bursting into tears...

Rosa and Rikard Rikerud somehow found it more fitting to display romantic affection towards one another instead.. A part of them knew that their relationship with the Skurchk family was mostly based on them being affluent mostly, so though they were saddened by the passing of Marianne, they had no issues keeping their uh.. composure...

After finishing his meal and mourning for a while on his own inside, Bill finally felt ready to join the others and let his emotions show..

Father and son spent a moment grieving together, while the guests of the party do their best to talk and mingle..

Dudleif had, for obvious reasons, not showed up, or even been invited to the ceremony, but he wasn't the only one of Mariannes sons absent this evening. Though his wife, Sol, was there, Bills twin brother Dennis was lacking in attendance... "He just couldn't make it" Sol told Bill as they slowed dance to another one of Mariannes favourite soul tunes. "I.. I really tried to encourage him to come over with me, but.. he just shut down and locked himself into his office and refused to speak to me..."

Bill looked away. He thought he knew how his brother felt..He didn't at all blame him for wanting to keep to himself. "We were not..... he uh.. he probably just needs some time alone" Bill said with a soft voice. "You know.. it was always like that..."

"I know." Sol said, giving Bills left hand a gentle squeeze. "I know..."

Over by the swimming pool things were a little more dramatic...

    "I never asked for your condolances!" Max scoffed at Palash. "What makes you think you can just come in here, grab a plate of MY food and ask to sit at MY table and pretend to be oh-so-sad about..."

"Just get the hell out of here before I whoop your ass, you little punk! Get the hell out of here and go home to your mistress! If it was up to me, we should've done her in too!"

"Wow, chill there Max.." Palash said with surprise. "I only came here to pay my respect, you know.. and what was that last thing there...?"

"Just get off my property before you end up at the bottom of the river there!"

    "Fine! I'll leave! But know that I heard everything you just said!" Palash shouted back, before turning on his heel and heading for the door. Now, Palash knew that Skurchks were a little dubious to say the least, but he wasn't expecting to receive death threats directed at both himself and his wife.. and what sounded like an admittance to murdering someone.. but whom? Was there something there that Sofia hadn't told him...?

Max was frustrated and angry now, still riled up from the confrontation with Palash as he walked back over to Pattina to berate her for wearing a sleeveless and open back dress at his wifes ceremony..

That didn't receive much understanding from Pattina as she snapped back at him. "Look! We're all grieving here, and I'm deeply sorry for your loss, I really am, but that doesn't give you the right to act like a dick the way you're doing!"

Julienne overheard the quarrel between her mother and her father-in-law, and stepped in to change the topic. Not necessarily a more lighthearted one, but still one she hoped would cool things down a bit, as she began to talk about placing Mariannes urn at her final resting spot in the family mauseloum.
    "She's going to feel right at home there, right next to several generations of this wonderful family" Julienne tried. "She'll love it, and I'm pretty sure it will give her all the peace she wants."

Pattina agreed, and continued in the same vein, talking about how beautiful it was to have everyone in the family gathered in the same spot like that..
    "Wow... wow, ladies..." Max was a little freaked out by their conversation... Sure enough, he was convinced there would be no better place for his wife now, then inside the family mauseolum, but.. did they really have to talk about this now...?

It was getting late and all the guests except Pattina had left by now, and Bill had stood for a while by the poolside overhearing the arguments and strange conversation and decided it was time to go to bed and get some rest... It would be a hard day tomorrow as well when they would – in private – put Mariannes urn at her final resting place....

He could hear his father lashing out at Pattina once more for being disrespectful towards his wife as he walked up the steps to the back door entrance to go inside..

Pattina decided enough was enough and offered them both a brief goodbye and goodnight, before she went back to her car to drive back to her own estate just a few blocks down the road...

Max knew he had crossed the line maybe once or twice, and apologized to Julienne for his behaviour, and Julienne offered him an apology in return. "I'm sorry, we probably shouldn't have talked about... the mausoleum... "
"I should've known it would be upsetting.. Marianne.. she sure had her ways, but.. she was always good.. she was always good to me, and I..."

"...I always felt welcome in this family you know, and I'm just so.. grateful..." Julienne struggled to keep her voice from cracking "...grateful for every.. for everything... you know.."

"I know..." Max whispered, and for a split second he almost gave Julienne a hug... "I know.... now, if you don't... if you don't mind.." he said "..I would like some time... some time alone with my... ...with my wife..."

The last three words were almost inaudible, but Julienne felt she knew excactly what he meant.

"I understand..." she whispered quietly as she turned to walk back to the house with her tears being a secret shared only between her and the absence of light by their backyard swimming pool..

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