The Witch's Tale

Don't Try to Fix What Isn't Broken

Kris and Rebecca were well settled in by now in the new house, and their relationship was growing in ways they had not expected. Each of them would often wonder when it would be appropriate for one of them to take the lead and push things on to the next level of marriage. There really wasn't a question of whether or not it would happen ... More or less a question of when. They still never brought it up with each other and continued to avoid the inevitability of it.

The previous day had been beautiful, and the family had enjoyed the warm weather hanging out in the back yard. The next day storms were rolling through and threatened any chance for an outing. Kris and Rebecca had both gone to work on their books prior to Hanna waking up, and they had decided that it would probably be a good workday for the both of them.

Hanna finally woke up, and they split duties as far as getting her fed, and then dressed and ready for the day. It's like she knew it was going to be an inside day and quickly found a way to entertain herself. Occasionally the purple dinosaur just had to give way to the doll house. When her parents working just feet away at the dining room table, they were still poor conversationalists. Hanna liked to talk, so Mr. Green Shirt got an earful.

Rebecca still had a lot of work left to finish in her current masterpiece Crossing the Threshold, but Kris was close to wrapping up Little Feet, Big Dreams and getting it ready to send off to the publishers. He skipped his regular afternoon workout and pushed right through until he was done shortly before dinner and took some time to play with Hanna.

 Kris commented to Rebecca that he didn't know whether or not he would start on a new project after dinner or just find something to do with Hanna around the house when she did her workout that evening. Rebecca offered another idea ... "We have plenty of workout equipment upstairs ... And there is a crib, toy box and play area in the corner of the room ... Why don't we just take Hanna up there this evening and we can both get a workout, since you skipped yours earlier today?

I mean it's not going to bother Hanna ... She is fine figuring out what she wants to do. It might be a good idea to make sure the purple dinosaur gets up there and then back down, but I don't see a problem with her being there. Plus ... She can get to see what we do when we disappear and I don't see any harm in that."

Kris thought about it for a moment and as usual could not think of decent reason to disagree. He wondered why it hadn't crossed his mind.

He figured it out while they were upstairs and talked to Rebecca about it ... "Yeah, I don't know why I didn't think of this ... But it goes back to the Service, where everything has an order to it and an underlying plan. A lot of people think it is the institutionalization of Service Members for the purpose of uniformity alone, but that's not really why.

It's just like repetitive and redundant training ... It's not done because they want you to become something you aren't. You do things over and over again ... And follow a certain plan repetitively, so when **** hits the fan, your world doesn't fall apart. You can more easily access the knowledge you need to survive on the spot almost without having to think about it. It keeps you out of a zipper bag and someone from having to contact your next of kin.

I like our routines around here, and they have made me more comfortable easing back into the Real World ... I know what to expect without having to think about it. Still ... Over time I have noticed your way of approaching things looking for a best solution to serve us all. You can cut through some of the clutter and get to the point ... And that most definitely is 'on mission'. I didn't think about changing the plan, just tried to adapt to the changes within the scope of the plan ... And you did a better job of that."

Rebecca just giggled and came back with ... "Oh please, stop it ... I was just being selfish. If you start skipping workouts regularly, you're going to get the daddy belly, and we won't be having that if we don't have to."

Summer had finally turned the corner and the next day the family decided to visit the Festival Grounds. It was still early in the season and there weren't too many people present. As they pulled up Rebecca noticed the Riverhawks were there ... The whole family including Nicholas, Hanna and their son Gene. Rebecca knew that Kris wouldn't pass up the opportunity to chat with anyone ... But warned him ... "Watch out for that one ... Hanna Riverhawk is a witch but not like me. She is a bit more careless with her magic ... Enough that I have an elixir waiting for her in a chest back home. Just like our Hanna ... I gave it to her, and I can take it away."

As Rebecca put Hanna down in the shade, she glanced over at Gene crawling away. Gene was a good bit older than Hanna although they were both still toddlers, and he was still crawling. Hanna was walking and talking by now ... She hardly ever shut up, and sometimes it was all Kris and Rebecca could do to keep up with her.

Kris had started chatting with big Hanna ... Little Hanna got up and started following Rebecca over to where they were. Once little Hanna had figured out that her parents weren't going on an adventure without her, and Gene didn't want to play, but had crawled off somewhere ... Little Hanna remembered she had the purple dinosaur.

Big Hanna was all excited and filling Kris in about what was going on with her ... "Oh you wouldn't believe it ... I have an art show opening soon at the A.J. Willow Art Center. I finally got Jessica to let me hold one there, and I am so excited ... You guys need to get a babysitter for Hanna and come. I think I have some really good stuff, and you might find something you like for the new house."

Kris responded ... "That sounds great and I have seen some of your work, we will have to make a point to stop by. Although ... We will probably bring Hanna with us. She hasn't been to the art center, and she'll probably love it. You should bring Gene with you, and the two of them can have some fun."

Hanna was a little weary of that idea ... "Oh no ... There's going to be some buyers and collectors coming in from Bridgeport, and I am going to need to be on top of my game. If Nicholas cannot manage to get the night off at the Bistro, I'll just get Sandra to come by the house and watch Gene ... She's awesome and takes care of everything when we need her. I am sure she wouldn't mind watching Hanna too.

Y'all need to come and spend a little time out with the grown-ups. It will be fun, and Jessica is thinking about an open bar and maybe some music if Fransica can manage to talk the quartet into it. Nicholas is making some of those fancy finger foods ... They are just awesome, and almost worth the trip themselves."

Rebecca chimed in ... "By the way, I did see Nicholas here, where did he and Gene head off to? I wanted to congratulate him on his promotion to head chef at the Bistro, everyone in town has been talking about how good the food is there now."

Hanna replied about the time purple dinosaur disappeared again ... "Oh, they're both around here somewhere I am sure ... But hey, I noticed Hanna was walking, and geezers, can that girl talk or what? I see she has the powers too and it's going to be great the two of you learning that together.

I am pretty sure Gene has them too, but he is just a little booger ... Always crawling off and getting into things. It's so exciting watching him sometimes, and Nicholas and I don't want to stifle his desires to discover things. Probably nothing like the boot camp y'all have going on with Hanna, and she is going to be a handful."

Kris laughed ... "Boot Camp, huh ... I wish ... Hanna is pretty much the General by now. We don't have to tell Hanna what to do ... We just make sure she knows what is available and show her that she can climb mountains if she wants to. She figures a lot of stuff out on her own ... We just try to give her the best tools to work with."

Kris and Hanna kept chatting with casual conversation ... But Rebecca was past her limit of nonsense, noticed Gene had crawled off into the road and thought it might be a good idea to coral him back to where Hanna was playing.

Kris and Hanna did finally notice that Rebecca had wandered off to collect Gene, and their conversation faded a bit before Hanna wandered off a little disgruntled. Rebecca put Gene down near Hanna and turned towards Kris.

Kris started to say something ... "Becca ... I don't ..."

Rebecca cut him off ... "Oh, don't start ... You know better and I don't need to explain myself ... Now come here and give me a kiss."

Little Hanna wanted to play with Gene, but he was more interested in some flowers a little further away than the purple dinosaur. Rebecca took a 'time out' while Kris scooped up Gene and they played for a little while ... "Hey buddy ... I bet you wish you had wings. I know I wish I had wings sometimes" ... Followed by airplane noises, and a short journey towards the sky.

A little later they had all gravitated towards the picnic tables. Big Hanna had disappeared, and the guys were about to have some fun seeing who could eat the most hot dogs the fastest. Rebecca was watching the kids while eating a snow cone and thinking ... "Well at least Nicholas knows where Gene is ... But I am not too sure Gene isn't going to discover some hookworms if he doesn't stop eating that dirt. Oh, stop being ugly ... You've got nothing to complain about, and to each their own I guess."

Little Hanna giggled ... "Poof ... Bye-bye Mr. Dinosaur ... See you in a second."

After the contest Nicholas and Gene headed out, while Rebecca came to congratulate Kris on his victory. They were getting ready to pack things up and head home as there wasn't much more for them to do there and the Festival Grounds were rather dead at the moment.

Rebecca looked over at Hanna and asked Kris ... "I know I get in my moods sometimes ... But do you think we are really doing what is best for Hanna?"

Kris' answer was direct and to the point ... "Becca ... If I didn't, I would tell you. However ... If there is one thing I can say about what I learned the hard way ... You cannot fix the world and everything in it. We will take care of ourselves and Hanna ... We will open doors for her ... We will teach her to be independent and not worry about what hangups other people have. 

We're not perfect and have certainly had our struggles ... We will teach Hanna that everyone fails from time to time. We will also teach her to get back up when she fails, learn from her mistakes ... And not to let it ever be an excuse to stop trying.

She is going to be okay ... And we are going to do everything we can to help her ... But that doesn't mean we are going to do everything for her, and she will learn to stand on her own two feet. All we can do is show her what it can be done, and to keep at it ... That's our job.

Don't try to fix what isn't broken ... She's a good girl, and we may be capable of being good parents ... But in the long run, she might even teach us a thing or two."

Happy Simming ... 💖