Home Is Where The Heart Is Part 1

 

Hello again, c’est moi, Savannah Plumb Cheesman, catching a break. 

Two days ago we arrived in Sunset Valley, my birthplace and hometown.  Why?  We’re here for the dedication of the Nathan J. Plumb Performing Arts Center, which was recently built. 

Even my kid brother, Bassy, is here, having emerged from his month-long seclusion.  I worry about him, seriously.  I can’t help it.  Ever since he was born, it’s always been my responsibility to protect him.  It’s what I do.  I haven’t done that and I feel bad about it.  I never wanted a little brother, but now that he’s here, I don’t know how I ever lived without him.

He did this once before, when he’d just turned teen, I’d gone to Egypt and he pretty much clammed up.  Shut himself off from the world.  Wouldn’t go anywhere, wouldn’t answer the door, just shut himself up in his room.  So I know something is up, I just haven’t figured out exactly what, yet. 

Meanwhile, he has been entertaining my kids with his renditions of dad’s guitar compositions.  Sage in particular loves him to death.  He gave her one of his golden retriever puppies. 

Back in Hidden Springs, just before we left for Sunset Valley, we were surprised by a personal visit from the Queen herself.  “What can I do for you?” Andy asked.

“I’d like to see your wife, if you don’t mind,” I heard the queen say in her haughtiest voice.

Of course I was in no condition to see anyone.  After all, Skylar had been running me (and all of us) completely ragged. 

In fact, Max, our new butler, almost quit because of Skylar.  She is a handful, far worse than any of my other kids combined. 

“Mrs. Cheesman,” she began, “I’ve left an invitation to my son’s wedding in your mailbox.  But that’s not why I came here.  I came to personally appoint you as minister of culture for Hidden Springs.”

I gulped.  “Minister of culture?  What’s that?”

“In layman’s terms, someone who arranges the community’s entertainment.  You would also oversee the art museums.”

I had to admit the position intrigued me.  After all I did grow up in show business and still have plenty of contacts in the industry.  Between Andy’s sports acquaintances and my Simmywood acquaintances, we pretty much have the bases covered.

The first act I booked in Subalpine Square was a magician, Azzie the Magnificent.  The kids loved him, especially Sage.  Sierra could care less, lol.

Next was a pop singer called Yours Truly.  Apparently Princess Anastasia (one of the Vanderburg twins) showed up wearing only her bathing suit in front of the guy, which my kids and I found hilarious. 

And the other day Andy took the kids to see Marcelo the Flexible perform his high-wire act in the Coliseum. 

So we leave for Sunset Valley, for this dedication ceremony.  I’m actually kind of dreading it.  I just know something is going to go wrong. 

Aftermath part 2

So there I was, on my way to Summer Hill Court to see what the heck my father wants.  I hate to say it, but I’m still at his beck and call.  Even now. 

I got to the mansion at a quarter to five, even though I had to go to work in fifteen minutes.  I knew I was going to run late, but meh. 

Walking on the marble walkway and through the manicured gardens, I was assured that at least the exterior of the house was being kept up.

I was stood in the entrance foyer wondering what the heck my father could possibly want. 

When I walked into the kitchen, I saw my father and my brother making faces, as if something had died. 

I greeted my father’s butler, Jeremey Chapman, and then lambasted him for not keeping the kitchen clean.  “My father pays you good money just to look cute, right, is that it?” I asked him.  “This place is a mess.”

Sure enough, my dad and my brother had been feasting on pies and hamburgers, and Jeremey had been catering to their every whim.  “At least attempt to make sure they get a balanced diet,” I demanded. 

Finally my dad emerged near the fish tank.  “Hey, princess.”

After all this time my dad’s voice still makes me melt.  Doesn’t make everything he’s done go away, or the anger that I still have at him for breaking up our family the way he has, but he is my father, the only one I’m going to get.  I don’t know how much time he has left, but I have to savor every precious moment I get – which is why I postponed going to work to see him. 

I had never seen my father like this.  He was visibly shaking.  You have to know that my father is not an emotional man.  It’s a Plumb quality.  They never raise their voices for anything.  My Aunt Margaret had that, too. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s your mother.”

“Wha – What’s wrong?  Where is she?”  I had looked around the house and didn’t see her.  I assumed she was out running errands in town,

“I’m on my way to the hospital.  She’s in pretty bad shape.”

“Wha – what happened?”

“She was downtown at the bookstore signing copies of her biography and she collapsed.”

We didn’t say anything more.  Dad and I drove to the hospital.  Bassy arrived later, after he changed out of his clothes. 

Mistress #1: Dena

Hey it’s me, Savannah, doing more reporting from the birthday party.

My brother Bassy and I were in total agreement.  We just had to have a little chat with Ms. Dena Hart, the first of dad’s mistresses and the one most responsible for the dissolution of our parents’ marriage. 

But I couldn’t say what I really wanted to say to her just yet.  Both Noah and my dad were right behind me.  The goddamned home wrecker… she really has some nerve.  What pisses me off about this whole deal even more, is that my mother was friends with this woman.  If any of my female friends decides that she wants a piece of Andy, it’s going to be me and her.  Seriously. 

I cleared the room so it was just me and Dena.  Woman to, well, home wrecker. 

“I don't know how you have the nerve to turn up here.”
“I was invited by your father.”
”And he's got some nerve too. You're NOT welcome.”

“Like hell I’m not.  I’m a guest of your father.”

“Well I sent out my own private invitations and your name was not on the guest list.”

“I’m not allowed to come as a guest?”

“Like hell you’re not!”

“Well I wanted to finally meet you guys.  Your dad talks a lot about you guys… especially you, Savannah.”

“And I’m not done with him either.  He shall be dealt with when I get the chance.”  I took a deep breath.  “I want you to get the hell out of my house.  RIGHT NOW.  Before I call the police.  I don’t want to see you on these premises ever again.”

Scenes from a Marriage … and Family

Hey it’s me, Savannah, sitting in the counselor’s office with my parents.  I finally convinced them to see a marriage counselor. 

Here’s what you have to understand about my parents.  They are drastically different people.  That they’ve been together this long and have produced me and my brother is a small miracle in and of itself.  And they didn’t have the benefit of a Toya or a Halima to keep them straight. 

What I’m not really understanding is, why now?  Why did it all have to fall apart like this?  

I love my parents to death.  I just wish they could see eye to eye.

To my right is my mother.  We had a rough relationship, but now, in truth, I feel sorry for her.  She actually had it pretty rough.  My grandmother was domineering, my grandfather disappeared when she was a little girl, and she didn’t even know who half her family was.  She waited years for my father to commit and then when he did, finally, he goes and does this.   Of course, it didn’t help that I wasn’t exactly a typical girl. 

My mother was basically a single parent, even though my father was right there in the house.  My mother and I definitely had our rough moments, times when we couldn’t stand the sight of each other, but she is still my mother, the only one I’m going to get.  And I love her.

To my left is my father.  When I was little I thought he could do no wrong.  We did everything together.  I was a total daddy’s girl.  I think in some ways I still am.

My father was never the ‘typical’ dad.  For starters, he never ever raises his voice above a whisper.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him angry or upset.  He’s very even tempered.  It’s a Plumb family trait, both Aunt Margaret and my grandfather, I’m told, were the same way.  And I see traces of this even-temperedness in both Noah and Bassy.  I wish I had it but I don’t.  I get really angry, really easily – a lot more like my mom. 

For example, Noah’s reaction when he found out Neil’s GF was pregnant?  A simple posting on his Simbook account, calling himself “Grandpa Noah.”  So typical of him.  But I digress. 

“How did the two of you meet?” the counselor begins, looking in my dad’s direction.

When my dad didn’t answer, my mom spoke up.

“We were both members of the Sunset Valley orchestra.  I had been there awhile and he was the hip, flashy newcomer.  I asked him once, ‘Are you sure you’re a classical musician? Because you don’t look or act like one.’  He told me, and I’ll never forget this, ‘I’m as much of a classical musician as you are.’  He reminded me he was capable of doing pop numbers too.”

“So he played a few bars of my favorite song at the time, Debussy’s Claire de Lune…

“..and then he turned around and told me that he’d once played for the Grim Reaper himself.  I was sold.  I was buying what he was selling.”

“So we had a small commitment ceremony in the community park, for our family and a few of our closest friends, and I moved into his house that he was building on Summer Hill Court.  Then I found out I was pregnant with our daughter, Savannah…”

“When I told Nathan I was pregnant and that I was having a girl, he was ecstatic.  And I remember asking him why he was so happy, and he told me, ‘I’ve got four sons.’

“I fell in love with Nathan because he made me believe the impossible dream.   It was like he had created his own personal wonderland and he wanted me to join him there, if only for a brief moment. 

And for awhile, it worked.  For a while we were blissfully happy.  We were raising our daughter, and then our son Sebastian came after that, and we made it work.  We somehow made it all work.  We lived our lives as members of the orchestra and we were pillars of the community…”

At that point I had to interrupt my mother, because she was engaging in revisionist history.  Lots of revisionist history.  I reminded her that all the parties were her idea, to keep up with her own personal vision of a society dame. 

“I never wanted or needed any of the parties,” I shouted.  “I used to disappear to go to the cemetery just to get away from everything.”

I’m tired of being their band aid.  For once in their lives, why can’t they just tell the truth?

-to be continued -

A Big Day

 

Hey, it’s me, Savannah, looking up from my novel to tell you about a HUGE day in the lives of the Plumbs. 

It began inauspiciously enough, with crying Sierra in the crib in our bedroom. 

The little tyrant disturbing my sleep really pissed me off.  It took me awhile to calm down, so I simply walked away. 

All Andy did was pick her up and she stopped crying.  Hate to say it but he is STILL way better at this parenthood thing than I am.  And yet he wants MORE children.  He has lied.

One of the neighbor kids, Michael Falcon, asked Satis to the prom.  Michael is kind of geeky, actually.  I’d rather her with a geek than a muscle bound guy who’s going to cheat on her. 

Meanwhile, Sety and AJ managed to chase each other around the house before finally taking it outside. 

And Andy, fresh from tending to Sierra, went outside to play hide and seek with Sage. 

It was time for AJ to blow out his candles.  Today he would become a teen. 

My little man all grown up *sniff*  and already he’s asking for a car and a driver’s license.  Sigh. 

Here he is after he got cleaned up.  Goodness he looks like his dad.  The brown hair is from my mom, shockingly enough.

After AJ blew out his candles, Sety and Satis sneaked out to go to their prom, also being held that evening. 

But AJ wasn’t the only person celebrating a birthday.

Yep yours truly.  Joining the ranks of the adults.

And who did I spy at my party?  Oh yes.  Bassy and then a lady in a bright pink vest.  Ugh.  Dad didn’t have to bring HER here.

Dena Hart.  As in, his new girlfriend.  Ugh.  Such a killjoy. 

Yep it’s me, with a few more age lines on my face.  I’m no longer a young adult.

 

I was tossing and turning in my bed when I heard Satis and Sety coming in from their prom.  They’d been named king and queen! 

They came in and ate PB & J sandwiches and went to bed.  By then we were ALL tired.