Growing up on Adelinda's Farm -on hold

chapter 3

A few weeks later, things were finally starting to feel normal for Annalisa. It took a while for her to understand that she could argue and talk above practically a whisper. She had to learn to trust adults, that much was clear to Adelinda. Just watching her interact with Dai, Adelinda could tell that Annalisa was way behind in terms of what six year olds are usually like. In an effort to make Annalisa feel more at home, Adelinda decided to take both Annalisa and Dai out shopping to make Annalisa’s room more hers.

“Come on kids! Its time to go!” Annalisa heard her aunt yell. They were going to the hardware store to get paint so that they could finish Annalisa’s new bedroom.  They had had carpenters and electricians at the house the previous afternoon to build the new housing for Annalisa’s bed and to fix up around the room some for her. They replaced the window seat, lighting, and closet. For her bed, was a two level bed shaped like a little house. The bottom part had two hollow paned windows and one big window shaped opening that opened to the bed itself. Under the two windows were small window boxes. On the right side of the “house” were a set of stairs with drawers built into them. The stairs led to the “upstairs” of the house, which had two small windows with shutters. The upper part was set up as a sort of hiding place that Annalisa could use for relaxing or as a reading nook.

“Coming Aunt Adelinda! Come on Dai; let’s get the paint so we can finish in here!” Annalisa excitedly pulled her friend from her room and down to the main hall where her aunt was waiting for them. They went out to the drive where Adelinda’s car stood waiting, all three of them piling into the car and heading to the next town over. 

After about thirty minutes, the two kids were completely bored and like most kids started to ask the question that drives most people nuts. “Are we there yet Addie?” Dai asked. Just that one time started both of them asking.

“Are we there YET? Are we? Are we almost there? Addie? Ms. Addie? Are we there yet?” The two kids started asking every few moments.

“If you ask ONE MORE TIME, I will turn this car around and you can forget finishing the bedroom today!” Adelinda snapped at them giving a sharp glare at them through the rearview mirror before turning her attention back to the road. A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of a large home improvement store. The three of them hurried into the store and over to the paint section. They picked out some different shades of tan and picked up some small fence pieces for the bottom of the “house” that they were decorating. Once they got the paint, they left and headed to the local craft store where they bought an assortment of silk flowers for the flower boxes.

“I think that’s everything we needed Aunt Adelinda. We already have the supplies for the cloud lanterns, the new bedding, the pillows for the window seats, and the hanging chair. Can we head home now?” Annalisa asked. She couldn’t wait to get her room painted. She loved the idea of having her own little house so when her aunt showed her pictures of possible room designs she immediately chose the cottage design for her bed instead of the princess castle that most little girls would have chosen. Lost in her own thoughts about her room, Annalisa didn’t notice as they checked out, got into the car, or even drove home. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear her aunt or Dai calling her name, so when Dai shook her shoulder to get her attention Annalisa jumped in fright.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you but you were totally out of it, we’re home. Don’t you want to go finish your room so that the paint can dry before dinner? That way we can finish with putting the bedding in and adding any little things you want in there,” Dai explained as Annalisa rubbed her head from hitting the roof of the car.

“Ok! Come on Dai! Let’s go paint!” Annalisa exclaimed as she ran into the house, leaving her aunt laughing by the door. The kids, with the help of Adelinda and some of the housekeepers that volunteered, nailed and sanded the fence pieces to the bottom of the cottage, and painted the entire cottage. They finished it all in about three hours and then all proceeded to head downstairs after cleaning up all of their supplies. The housekeepers went back to their jobs, Adelinda went to her office to work, and the children headed out to the swing set.

“Race you to the big tree Anna!” Dai yelled as he took off running towards the biggest tree in the yard behind the swing set.

“HEY! No fair, you got a head start!” Annalisa yelled as she ran after him. She pushed herself harder than usual and pulled ahead at the last minute putting her hand on the trunk of the tree before Dai could. “I won! I won! Yay I beat you for once!”

“Yea well I let you win! As if a girl could beat me without me letting her,” Dai responded trying to hide his embarrassment of being beaten by a girl. He knew he would never live it down if anyone found out that a girl, especially one smaller and younger than him, had beaten him in a race.

“Well done Anna,” a deep voice suddenly said. The children spun around only to face a tall tan skinned man with short choppy hair. He was dressed in a pair of loose fitting dark jeans, a deep blue tee shirt, and pair of cowboy boots.

“Luke!” Annalisa yelled, “When did you get back? I thought that you were going to be in Stone Berry until next week. What did you miss us in little old Owlville? Not that there’s much to miss, if you’re not careful you’ll drive right through town in less than 3 minutes!”

“Well you know, there just weren’t any cute little girls there. I couldn’t get any sort of entertainment! None of them knew how to tell jokes or giggle the way I like. No sir, not once could I find a little girl with long blonde hair, pale skin, pretty light-blue eyes. I wonder where I could find someone like that? I did manage to find a couple of horses though, including one that I got permission to but special. She has a little one on the way!” Luke told them with a slight smirk on his face.

“Luke! You’re silly! Did you really miss me that much? Well you know what? Since you came early and there’s time until dinner, we’ll help you get the new horses settled!” Anna offered.

Smirking at the little girl in front of him, Luke just shook his head. “Nice try little one, but the horses are all put away and resting in their stalls. Although, your aunt did say that I can take the two of you to meet our new mama if you want,” he told them with a knowing smirk.

Without even answering, Annalisa ran off towards the stable with Dai and Luke running after her. Slowing as she reached the stable doors, Annalisa walked into the stable a straight to the stall reserved for pregnant mares in the back. Looking in over the door, Annalisa saw a beautiful paint mare looking back at her. The mare walked up to the door and stuck her head out and down level with Annalisa’s chest where she started rubbing against the young girl asking for attention. Annalisa rubbed the side of the mare’s face and noticed a shiny nameplate on the halter.

                “Bella,” Annalisa whispered. She giggled as Bella nuzzled her cheek in response. “So you like your name do you mama? Well you and your baby will be happy here, Aunt Adelinda is really nice, and so is everyone who works here.”

“That’s right, sweetie, everyone here loves you. And we’ll love this mama just as much,” Adelinda said as she gave Annalisa a hug from behind. Adelinda was so proud to hear the words come from her niece, because it just proved that she was settling in and was happy in her new home.