Take Me to the Moon 4.3: The Clock Keeps Ticking

Previous Chapter/ Next Chapter
Narrated by Delaney Tesla

Four Years Later...

The triplets were finally old enough to take along on a camping trip to Granite Falls, so Alexander and Gavin and I packed up a couple extra tents and plenty of food and fishing poles, and the whole Tesla family headed into the wild for a weekend.

As soon as we got there, Alexander started wondering if he was up to being this hands-on with the boys for the whole trip.  Darryl, the youngest triplet, started saying that Dennis, the middle one, was being mean to him.  

Dennis, of course, denied doing anything to provoke Darryl.

I think Alexander was starting to believe Darryl until Darryl got cheeky.

Fortunately, Cacey stepped in and reminded Darryl of appropriate behavior.

After his mom got strict with him, Darryl looked a lot more contrite

Finally, Alexander asked the boys to go fishing.  That took their mind off the squabbles.

I checked with Dashle, the eldest, to see if he wanted to go fishing, but he just said, "Eww!" and stayed with Cacey at camp.  He doesn't think highly of skewering worms on to hooks, or tricking fish into biting into one, either.

Alexander went ahead to the river with Darryl while Gavin and I walked with Dennis to the bathhouse.  

The fish were biting and in no time they were both getting nibbles.

It was a gorgeous afternoon to be outside. 

Dennis was the first to reel something in ... a wad of vegetation!

But Darryl caught a minnow, pretty fair sized, before we returned to the campsite.

I walked back with Dennis to make sure he wasn't going to sulk about not catching a fish like his brother.  He had already forgotten about it, though.

 Then I asked Dashle to cloud gaze with me, since he had missed out on the fishing.   He likes activities that don't involve blood or slime. 

While Cacey and Gavin entertained the kids, Alexander and I got supper ready.

Cacey is still a foodie, even on a camping trip.  I didn't think that the cobbler was that good.

Cacey and I caught up on some of our gossip while we ate, trying to be sure not to say anything incriminating that  the boys might repeat at school.  Before it got dark, Cacey's work called and said she had to come in.  The drawbacks of being a Secret Agent, I guess!

 As it started to get dark, Alexander started a fire and we took turns walking the kids to the bathhouse.  Alexander roasted a fish he caught, while Dashle roasted a veggie dog.

There was some discussion of the "Big Fish" that were caught earlier...

 Soon we had all bathed and our mouths were watering as we impatiently roasted our fish.  Except Dashle, who had already eaten his veggie dog.  

As it got really dark, the boys asked for a story.  Dennis was especially keen to hear a scary one, and Darryl perked up too.

I told them the story of a pirate who had taken a wrong turn at Twikki (near the equator!), and sailed up the river, and explored his way all the way into this very cove, and never found his way back to the tropics.  He died here, in the mountains, of the cold.  

So his ghost spends his nights looking for a nice warm campfire to haunt.  And when he finds one, he jumps out at the people, to scare them away,

and sits down, and eats their fish, and their marshmallows, and their veggie dogs.

After the story, Gavin said he would sing and play the guitar for us, and the boys cheered.  

After a while, we sent the kids off to the tent to play and hopefully, fall asleep soon.   We sat up talking and laughing with Gavin about old times.

The next morning I made a breakfast scramble so the boys could eat as soon as they got up.  I hoped that would keep them from getting grumpy while they waited for food.  Dashle woke up in a mood, though.

Alexander kept an eye on Darryl and Dennis while I walked with Dashle to the bathhouse.

When I came out from the bathhouse, I found the ranger in the next campsite, talking to Dashle, who was still pouting. 

When we got back to the campsite, Darryl asked me to play horseshoes, while Dashle went in the tent to read and Dennis played in the woods right around the campsite.

By the time the next morning came, everyone was pretty relieved to head home.  Alexander and I spent the rest of the day working together on the new rocket.  He's quite handy and a big help, even though he can't work on the more technical parts.  

Monday, I got home before Alexander, so I headed over to Ryleigh's to use the pool and swim some laps.

Ryleigh came in from work, and Dante told her I was here.

She suited up and joined me.

I told her Alexander still seemed ambivalent about having kids.   For a while, I was just working on my career, and figured that by the time I got the promotions I wanted, he'd be ready too.  But being around the triplets was making me want kids, and it seemed like it was having the opposite effect on him.

 She didn't have much to say about it, but she's not ready to have kids either, so I guess she kind of sympathizes with Alexander here.

Alexander called and said he was home from work, and we invited him to come hang out.

He joined us for a while for a swim, and then we had drinks, and dinner.  We're happy, but sometimes I wonder when he'll be ready to move to the next stage.

To put the feeling of dissatisfaction behind me, I worked through the night, finishing up the rocket.

One person who I can count on to bring up the subject of grandchildren, is Alexander's mother.  Every time she comes over, she makes hints about us having everything we need to have a family.  And it's true, I make almost $4000 a week, and Alexander does pretty well too. I've got tons of leave stored up, too.

Ryleigh's not shy to tell Bella that she's still working her way up the ladder and not ready to take the hit to her career to have kids.

But Bella's also not shy to show Ryleigh what she thinks of her career-mindedness.  Bella is very family oriented and traditional.  I feel like a kid with Ryleigh sometimes, but making funny faces relieves the tension!

Alexander copes with it by eating in his room, claiming he has programming to do.

 So Bella ended up eating with Gavin

While the rest of us "checked" on Alexander in the other room.   

Dante and Alexander have become good friends over the past few years.  I just wish I wasn't the only one that is getting baby fever!

 Notes:

• Cacey can be very firm with the boys when she needs to be.  It really seemed like she was rescuing Alexander from the boys' tiff.

Dennis got some of her spunky attitude!

Delaney was able to take some insect repellant with her this time, that she had made.