Chapter Seventy Six

The morning after Elenie's birth, the whole family took a short trip down to the local store to buy some extra toys and baby equipment for her.

After they had finished picking out all the toys they thought she would like and the extra baby stuff they would need, Mira told Dory to take the afternoon off and spend it with Pete while she looked after her new grandchild.  After all, she'd raised five children of her own and one of her sister's, she could certainly cope with one small baby!

It took some persuading, but eventually Dory and Pete agreed and Mira took baby Elenie home.  She spent some time just rocking back and forth happily cuddling her granddaughter. 

Before taking her up to the nursery and settling her in the baby chair while she unpacked all the toys they had bought for her.

Once everything was unpacked and set out to her satisfaction she played peekaboo and other baby games with Elenie.

Meanwhile, Pete and Dory had changed into their going out clothes and gone down to the local beach bar.

Dory was particularly glad to be able to enjoy a drink now that her pregnancy was over, although she was mindful of her baby back home and didn't overindulge. 

They then threw their cares to the wind and danced together as the evening drew near. 

It was a nice change for the two of them to just enjoy themselves without Pete worrying about Dory's pregnancy or Dory getting frustrated with his hovering. 

Eventually, they decided that it was time to call it a night and head home to their new family.

As soon as they got home, Dory headed upstairs to check on Elenie, feed her and put her to bed.

The next morning, Mira was the first up and, going into the nursery to check on Elenie, she was astounded to find her lying in the middle of the floor instead of in bed where she thought Dory had put her the night before.

She carefully picked the sleeping baby up and settled her back into the cot, murmuring quietly "Now what have your parents been doing?  You should be safely asleep in your cot not lying on the floor."

Pete had to go back to work of course, but he carefully checked on Elenie before he left and, seeing that she was awake, fed her and spent precious moments playing with her.

Mira and Dory  spent some time early morning tending the garden, and Dory was equally astounded to hear how her mother had found Elenie lying on the floor that morning.  "I don't understand it, I put her to bed after her feed last night and I know Pete wasn't up in the night - he always wakes me up when he has to get up and go in to work"

Mira added that to the list of unexplained events and filed it in the back of her mind.  She had other things to think about however, with Elenie's birth she had decided it was time to retire and she phoned in to work for the last time to confirm the final arrangements.

As they were gardening, Dory glanced over into the paddock and saw Taliesin sniffing a stray cat.  She didn't think much of it at first beyond hoping that neither Rascal or Merlin would get into a fight with the stray.

As she finished off in the garden however, she noticed the same stray now greeting Merlin while Rascal looked on without any concern. 

She finished off tending the beehive and went over to the small cat, holding out her hand for her to sniff.

"Well who are you then little one?  Usually Rascal and Merlin chase off any strays who come round"

Somewhere in the back of her mind she sensed a response from the cat, nothing in words, but a strong sense that she got on with Rascal and Merlin and wanted to stay.

"You're going to adopt us are you little one?  Well, if you're going to stay then you should have a name, I think I'll call you Misty if you're happy with that"

To make sure that the others didn't feel left out, Dory then spent some time cuddling Merlin while Misty conversed (in cat) with Rascal and obtained her permission to stay.

And, while Mira looked after little Elenie, Dory spent some time looking after all three cats, brushing their coats and fussing them. 

She didn't want to neglect her own child though and after a while went indoors to look after Elenie while the three cats spent time outdoors playing and getting to know each other. (cue lots of pet spam)

 

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Town News

• Louis McKinley-Sabo aged to a child
• Joey McKinley aged to adult
• Dasia Harris & Derrick Crist aged to elder
• Bobbie Clemetis is dating Salvador Harris
• Ralph Marlin-Crist & Raina Sabo-Harris are dating
• Lukas Sperie & Yuki Sabo are dating
• Adamina Sperie & Sindre McKinley-Sabo got engaged & then married (now McKinley-Sperie)
• Kaitlyn Sperie & Andreas Harris-Crist got engaged
• Elijah McKinley & Irish Marlin got engaged
• Brook Harris-McKinley & Grant Sperie-Sabo are expecting a baby
• Bryn & Rhiannon Glyndwr had a baby boy called Ieuan