Building on Dreams

Chapter 17 - Chanukah

            It was well past midnight, closer to morning than it was evening, when the Abernathy family arrived home at the farmhouse. The children slept more or less soundly nearly the entire way, and everyone gratefully crawled into their beds for a few hours before it was time to get up again on Monday morning.

            Not surprisingly, getting up at the usual time the next morning was harder than it usually was. Susan stretched and yawned as she convinced herself to get out of bed.

            “Why does it feel like we just went to bed?” she commented aloud as Greg was doing the same thing, a bit more successfully on the other side of the bed.

            “Because we just did,” Greg reminded her. “We didn’t get home until just past three. It’s only six thirty now.”

Susan yawned again, a bit more loudly than before. “Don’t remind me. Well we all do have to get up. The kids have to go to school and I need to work today.”

 “I do too,” Greg assured her.

Susan arched her brow. “Am I forgetting something? I didn’t think you had to be in the studio at all this week.”

“Not every day, but I do some, and there are a number of other things I am working on,” Greg reminded her.

Susan nodded tiredly, but her brain was too fuzzy to work out what that might mean, so she simply got up, forcing herself to go through the motions for the rest of the day.

Tuesday was a bit better, as everyone went to bed early on Monday night and they were all better rested the next day. Again the kids went to school, Susan worked at home, and Greg was away from home for most of the day. Susan had so much to do she didn’t wonder about it until the same thing happened on Wednesday too, so by Thursday morning she decided to ask her husband as they got ready for their day, what he’d been up to all week.

            “What are you doing when you’re away all day?” Susan asked after breakfast when Thursday came and Greg still didn’t look like he was planning to work at home.

            “Working on various projects,” he told her. “I told you before Thanksgiving that Alex has some work lined up for me this month. Most of it has been this week, though I will be doing some late next week too.”

            “You weren’t doing that on Monday, were you?” Susan asked doubtfully, trying to remember what he said when she’d asked previously about that.

            “No. I had meetings with Alex and Denis and a few other people on Monday, but my studio days this week are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,” Greg answered.

            Susan looked at him in surprise. Normally Greg had to leave extra early when ever he was working in the studio, but this week he’d been leaving relatively late and she commented on that as they finished their meal.

            “That is a very accurate observation. I’m only doing audio work this week, so there’s no make-up or costuming involved which is ususally the reason I have to be there early,” Greg explained.

            “You’re still taking this Friday off, aren’t you?” Susan verified. They’d been celebrating Chanukah each evening that week so she didn’t really think he’d forgotten about their plans for the weekend, but they hadn’t talked about it much either.

            “Yes, of course. I’ll pack after our lesson this evening, so we can be ready to leave in the morning. Do you need help with the children?” he asked as an afterthought.