Chapter Five: A Busy Week!

 Narrated by Caroline Masterson

Tuesday was Spooky Day, which I'd always enjoyed as a child. Peter and I had decided to throw a party, although the only real guest was Salim. I dressed in a blue fairy costume and got to work making "cheese eyeballs", being careful not to get any cheese or dough on my outfit. 

I heard a knock at the front door, and noticed a trick-or-treater outside.

"Trick or treat!" came a voice, muffled by the pumpkin helmet.

"Ooh, you look very scary," I grinned. "Here's something for you!" I added, handing the child a packet of Haribo.

"Thank you very much!" the child replied politely. 

As the party got properly underway, with Peter and I dancing in the living area, I could hear Erytheia and Xanthe chatting away happily to Salim, who'd come dressed as Luke Skywalker. The girls seemed to love their costumes; there was a certain amusement in a toddler Spellcaster wearing a witch costume, and Xanthe looked adorable in her little bee outfit. They didn't really understand what Spooky Day was, of course, but that would come in time. 

I loved watching the relationship between Peter and the twins. They loved having chats together, and Peter was always keen to get involved, even if they did tend to revolve around the typical little kid topics of princesses and superheroes. 

"Batman's cool!" Xanthe said. "He can fly!"
Peter smiled in agreement. Little did the girls know about their own magical powers... of course, they wouldn't awaken until adolescence, but they were there all the same, lying dormant.

I had joined a couple of online parenting groups, and through them had met a couple of other women who had children the same age as the twins - Supriya Delgato and Lilliana Kealoha. The day after the party, I decided to suggest organising a playdate. They happily agreed, and we made a date for that Friday at midday.

That evening (Wednesday) I had to film a couple of scenes for "Dead Sea Adventures". The first task was to steer the wheel; simple-sounding in theory, but you had to get the basic tasks right just as much as the harder ones. The next task was a sword fight, which I was nervous about; I'd not done much stage combat. Luckily it went well, and the director seemed pleased. 

Up to now, I'd been able to understand why I'd been asked to do all the various tasks across my acting roles. It made sense to "examine" a "patient", it made sense to sing and dance to promote a children's CD, it made sense to sword-fight on the deck of a pirate ship. But what I did not understand was why I had to "give a vampire bite" to the man I'd just had a fight with. Nowhere in the script had it mentioned that I was a vampire, nor had I ever seen one on the series before. I mustered up a convincing enough bite, but it wasn't pleasant. I was glad to be a Spellcaster; the Rite of Ascension had merely involved Simeon Silversweater waving his wand and uttering a spell, not a painful bite in the neck. 

Thursday was Harvestfest. I decided to make a traditional ham dinner, and Peter and I sat down to eat it. We'd invited Salim over, but he'd said he'd prefer to eat later.

"Mmm, this is good," Peter said. "You could've been a chef!"

"Nah, I'd find it too stressful," I replied. "Having to cook multiple different meals a day... I've seen restaurant programmes, it just looks exhausting."

The day of the play date arrived. I got the twins dressed in some cute party dresses, and moved the toy box from their bedroom to the living area. Erytheia shyly greeted little Evie, Supriya's daughter, and the two began a little conversation. Nearby, Supriya and Peter were also talking.

"So, where do you live?" Peter asked.

"Brindleton Bay," Supriya replied.

"Oh, lovely!" Peter grinned. "I used to have a friend who lived there. I haven't been in contact with him for ages though, so I have no idea what he's doing now."

"Ah, that's a shame. I've lost contact with some old friends too. I keep meaning to contact them, but with a full-time job and two children, I've got other priorities."
"Yes, absolutely," Peter agreed.