Chapter IV: Buttercups [Wilbur's POV]
//TW: Chapter Cleared - no warnings to display //
Author's Note: Just a whole lot of wholesomeness :)))
Hehe smol baby potato bean :D
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November 11th, 1914
I had woken up with heavy eyes and a blank mind having forgotten the date completely. It was cold, which was odd seeing it was towards the end of spring.
"WIL!! GET UP!!"
I feel something soft hit my head. Teo was beating me with a pillow.
I was wide awake but Teo didn't realise. I timed myself perfectly, grabbed the pillow when it hit me, and sat up as Teo pulled the pillow away.
I looked him deathly in the eyes. "I'm. Awake."
Teo tried to tug the pillow out my hand. "Oh...Happy birthday!" He booped me on the nose.
Then it clicked for me. I was fifteen now.
"Oh yeah! I'm fifteen now." I pathetically say as I let go of Teo's pillow.
"Pfft, how did you forget?" Teo Half-scolded me. "Ah, never mind that. Come downstairs! Mum, Dan and the doggies are waiting for you." He started to walk away, but spun around again swinging the pillow hard into my face.
"-AWH!" I spat out, falling back onto my bed. Teo giggled, tossed the pillow on my bedroom floor and ran out of the room.
I heard a small commotion downstairs:
"Teo what did you do?" a sweet-hearted, light voice spoke. It was mum's.
"Bashed him with a pillow."
"Oh, don't wake him up like that!"
I laughed to myself.
I hurried downstairs to greet them. Hannah, Dan and Teo were all on the living room couches, with Teo and Dan looking like they just woke up whilst Hannah looked like she had been awake for a while.
Hannah stood up from one of the single couch chairs with open arms, her white silky laced dressing gown glowing in the sunlight.
"Awh happy fifteenth birthday Wilbur!" She hugged me tightly and harassed me with kisses.
"Ahh stop!" I tried to pry myself away from her. I love my mother to death, but sometimes she can be a bit much.
Dan ruffled my hair. "Happy birthday brownie, did you enjoy your sleep?" I just gave him a death stare. He knows Teo had been messing with me the night before.
"Oh don't be mean to your brother." Hannah half-scolded Dan and Teo. "We got a little something for you Wil."
I was intrigued. I watched as my mother walked over to the couch, pulled back one of the few faint pink couch pillows and picked up something from behind it. It was large, thick and rectangular in shape, and hickory brown in colour. It looked like some sort of book.
She looked at me, smiled, turned the item around and handed it to me. Teo clung to my arm. "We know how much you enjoy art, so we decided to get you a scrapbook!" He said with a bright smile.
I took the scrapbook, opened the cardboard leather cover and flipped through the first few pages, smiling hugely. I looked up to my mother and Dan. "I love it."
***
I heard my partially closed door creak open accompanied by the tapping noise of paws on the hallway tiles. I look over and, just as I had suspected, one of the dogs had come into my room, curious about what I was doing - Ruby, to be exact.
I was sitting at my small desk trying to think of what to draw while the sun warmed the paper magically. She walked up to my chair and looked me in the eyes, craving attention.
"Awhh hiya Ruby" I put my pencil down and pat her head with both hands. She looked so small. That was, until she put her front paws on my legs and stood up almost towering me. Ruby can be scary at times. I tried to pet her as she licked my hand aggressively. Teo must've decided he was very important in this moment because he then walked in to my room.
"Ruby!" The large Australian shepherd turned her head to look at Teo, leaped her 2 front paws down from my chair and greeted my little brother with dog kisses. "What'cha drawin'?" Teo asked me.
I gave him a small glare and side-smirk. "Take a guess."
He looked at my book, head tilting to align his sight with the drawing. "Oh, of course it's flowers. That's all you draw!"
"I don't just draw flowers." I corrected him. "I also draw animals and...people."
"Oh yeah!" Teo agreed. "You draw your characters from your stories." I nodded distractingly as I sketched the veins of a leaf I was drawing.
There was a small moment of silence in the room for the ringing of Ruby's collar charm as Teo Pat her roughly.
"Oh yeah, by the way, I actually came here to tell you to get ready. We're going to Anna's house because Cathy had her baby a few days ago!"
I looked up from my drawing. "Really?"
"Yeah!" Teo looked me in the eye in a strange way, almost menacingly. "Now hurry your butt up, we're leaving in an hour!"
***
Hannah and I kneel down and unleash the dogs from their leads. Ruby and Spark without hesitation start bolting to the house.
I looked up to the David's house. That house was recognisable anywhere – Little flowers were scattered over the front grass path, which is where I assumed Anna got her love for picking flowers from. The house itself was no larger than ours, being a mostly faded blue colour. Pink and yellow flower bushes lined the property. Their house looked very fancy compared to ours, maybe because they didn't have to worry about animals interfering with it, as they lived more in the suburbs rather than on farmland like us.
Anna wasn't hard to spot – she was on the grass, probably platting blades of grass together or making flower crowns. It's clear she's obsessed with making those.
"'Ey, Hannah!" Tom walked off the shallow raised porch only to be attacked by 2 ferocious fur-balls.
"Woah, slow down there, girls!" He pats them both and walks over to meet us. He was dressed in his iconic dark blue checker-patterned tee that looked practically identical to Dan's, only Dan's was red. Anna stood up from the grass and followed his father.
"How are you four? You're our first guests!" Anna held Tom's hand as she was lightly harassed by our affectionate dogs.
He shook my mother's hand. He quickly shifted his attention to me. "Woah, 15 today aren't you kiddo?" He was very happy – the bubbly one out of my dad and Mark.
"Yeah, I am." I put on a bright smile. Anna looked up at me.
"Happy birthday." Her voice was innocently high-pitched. She had a tiny blue flower in her hand.
Her father pat her head, being careful not to ruin her plat-bun. "Where's Cathy?" Teo asks him.
"She's just inside taking care of Bo. She'll be on her way out soon. Come up onto the porch!"
I liked their house a lot. Their porch was large with a nicely sized dining area to the left and a relatively stable porch swing on the far right. The blue colouration and the flowers made the Davidson's look way richer than they actually were.
Just as I was taking my seat Tom looked over at the gate. "Niki!"
Nikita had arrived with her female icy-blue-eyed, blue merle border collie Adelaide. She did the same process we did - open the gate, brought herself in with Adelaide, made sure the gate was locked again and unleashed her dog.
Adelaide, Spark and Ruby all bolted straight towards each other, tails waging exhaustingly as if they hadn't seem each other in decades.
"Hello Tom." She smiled. She looked over behind Tom's tall and slender body. "Hi Hannah, boys."
She soon joined us on the porch decking.
***
Cathy came through the door with a bundle of blankets. "Hello Hannah, Niki, boys." She had a wide smile on her face.
She ever so carefully sat down on the closest seat to her with the help of Tom. Cathy carefully pulled one of the blankets down on the warm bundle.
There she was - Bo Scott David, born just a few days before my birthday on November 8. The precious little bean was wrapped in white and pink blankets and was wearing a headband with a bow on it much too big for her small skull. The tiny baby was sleeping peacefully, but was moving in ways as if she was about to wake up.
Hannah looked us all down. It was obvious she wanted us all to be that small again: tiny, precious, and - most importantly - quiet.
"Awh! If only my boys were babies again." She gently pat Bo's head. I stand corrected, I thought to myself.
Everyone was adoring the baby, especially Hannah, Niki and Tom. Cathy looked up to me. "Hey Wil, do you want to come around and say hi to Bo? She's awake now."
At this point I was the only one that hadn't moved from their original position in the slightest. "Alright." I slid off the deck bench and came around to Cathy's left. Bo had awoken and opened her eyes, revealing her grey-blue irises; she had the exact same eyes as Dan. She was so small my hand could easily cover her whole face. The fragile little bean yawned and blew spit bubbles, her little tongue poking out between her slight golden grin.
"Hello Bo." I greeted her with a gentle tone. I put my hand out to hers, to which she responded by gripping my right index finger with her warm, undeveloped left hand. I smiled.
"Awhh, she likes you Wil." Cathy looked up to me. I shook my hand and flexed the finger that Bo had latched herself on to. She waved her little arms around playfully. Teo came around behind me, seeking the attention from Bo.
"Hi Bo." He took Bo's other free hand, to which he instantly regretted.
Bo dropped her bomb.
She dropped her lip, went pink and started to weep and cry. Teo's friendly, bright, slightly confronting smile faded into a regretful, slightly taken-back half-grin. His face basically read 'Uh oh....oh fiddlesticks'.
"Oh, Bo!!" Cathy tried to calm her crying baby by bouncing and cradling her in her arms. I couldn't help but laugh at it.
"Awh, she doesn't like me?" Teo's voice was sarcastic and slightly agitated. I turned to him. "Teo you have no idea how confronting your smile is." He looked bothered, which is always funny for some reason.
"Oh it's alright, Teo." Tom leaned over into Teo's view. "Bo's scared of me too. You should've seen her in the hospital! Hah, she screamed when she saw my beard!!"
We all had a good laugh about Bo being scared of random people.
***
Anna tugged on Dan's arm. "Come with me, I want to show you something!"
Daniel looked down and his eyes lit up with excitement. "Do you now?"
Just like that both Anna and Dan disappeared from the porch.
Daniel and Annabelle have a very special connection that I find interesting. Dan is usually tough and serious and not very sensitive, but has some form of soft spot for Anna and loosens up around her. Anna loves to play with Dan and they get along so well, despite their nine year age gap.
I pulled out my new scrapbook from the large inside pocket of my large cream coloured jacket and started drawing the small flowers of the David's property.
Niki turned her head and looked at my book. "That's a lovely flower, Wil!"
I smiled uncontrollably. Tom also turned his head and got a good look at my drawing. "Holy crap! You have a talented son, Hannah."
My mother pat my head. "Indeed I do. How lucky I am!"
By this point Dan, Anna and Teo had not been seen by anyone for about half and hour. I got curious on where they could've gone. I got up and off the shallow deck leaving behind the scrapbook on the dining area table. Anna then all of a sudden bolted around a corner giggling between her teeth. She slid down, with the green grass and small yellow flowers surrounding her like she was a goddess, and picked a number of small yellow flowers growing between the field's blades of grass.
I kneeled down onto the grass to Anna's height. "Anna do you know where Dan and Teo are?"
Before anna could answer me Teo came around the corner from where Anna was, with a large pink flower tucked behind his right ear. He looked down to me. "Oh hi Wil!"
"What are you guys doing? And where's Dan?" I asked them. I imagined at first they were just making flower crowns or something, but Teo doesn't care for flower crafts. They must be doing something else.
Anna stands up, fist clenched with tiny yellow flowers, and grabs my right hand. "Come with us!" I stood up and she directed me around the house to a small yard surrounded by gum trees. Anna looked up to me, let go of my hand and pointed. "Look!"
There sat Dan, sitting against one of the trees with a little collection of petals scattered about. I then realised what Teo and Anna had been doing - they had been decorating his long, cinnamon hair with blue, yellow, pink, red and purple flowers. Teo sat to the right sorting the little plants.
Dan had noticed I found him. He looked up from looking at the ground. "Oh, hi Wil." I just smiled teasingly.
Anna ran over to Dan and continued to adorn his strands. "Do you like it?" she asked me.
The whole scene was very cute, as well as the last setting I would expect Dan to be in. He looked so happy to see Anna happy, but no one could connect the dots on why. But it didn't really matter that much.
I smiled and snickered a little to myself. "Yes, I do Anna." I turned my attention to Dan. "You look bloody fantastic Dan."
"Is that sarcasm Wil?" He leaned forward a bit, to which Anna did not really like.
"Dan sit still!" She leaned over into his view. "You have to sit still!" Teo and I both started laughing at it. Anna's tone of voice with accompanying that phrase just made us crack.
"Hey," Dan turned to Anna when he felt there was a break from her lightly tugging on his hair. "Wanna get some food? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry."
Anna's eyes lit up gracefully. "Food! Yes, let's go eat food! My mummy and daddy are the best chefs!" She exclaimed proudly and ecstatically.
***
The sun had disappeared behind large landscape mountains, making way for the stars and lighting up the moon. The atmosphere had changed so quickly, from a golden, flower-adorned evening to a cinder scented, music-tinted dark forest scenery. ember flares flew around like little fireflies above the large blindingly orange bonfire.
I was trying to fix the buttercup, daisy and rose flower crown Anna made me, because it had partially fallen apart in my hands.
Anna and Tom were doing a sort of ceremony dance around the campfire. Tom played a little upbeat tune with a large metal flute that shines gold from the fire, whilst Anna, Teo and the dogs did a little dance.
Well, Anna was doing a dance while Teo was just kind of pretending he knew how to dance but was surprisingly good at it, and the dogs were just...being dogs.
Cathy sat on the log seat just behind Tom feeding Bo, her left foot slightly rocking the small infant whilst tapping to Tom's flute beat. Dan and Hannah did a little clap in beat alongside Cathy, the four of them making a truly beautiful and entertaining moment. I sat there continuing on the flower crown with my new scrapbook open to hold the flower crown up and to catch any flowers that might fall off the crown. I wish I could play too, but it would be difficult to harass around a guitar.
Before Mark left he would come visit every once and a while to teach me a little something about guitar playing. He's taught me well, and I can play it pretty good; but I still have a lot to learn.
I'm not sure how my guitar practice will go without Mark being here, but I hope I can keep myself from falling rusty. Maybe I can arrange something with Niki.
Anna ended her little tap-dance parade with a halt in front of the hot, well lit bonfire, closely followed by Teo. Everyone cheered for the two as they politely bowed. Anna spun to her right and high-fived Teo, then turned to her dad, who was already sitting down, trotted over to him and sat next to him.
I had managed to fix my flower crown gift before I knew it. The flowers barely lit by the fire enough to tell what colours the flowers were. I usually don't care too much for roses and stuff, but I guess this is one of those moments where you kind of just...cherish them.
I started growing tired. Today had been quite a day for Bo and I. Or maybe just me, because Bo mostly just slept. I slid forward off of the seating log onto the grass so my back should rest against it. I looked up to the stars, resting my neck against the log.
"Tired, Wil?" Dan, who was sitting next to me, looked down.
"Yeah." I replied lazily, not breaking eye-contact with the sky. It was pretty. Suddenly all the voices around me blurred, and I felt myself doze off.
- END OF CHAPTER 4 -
Release Date: November 11th, 2021