Chapter Fourteen: Komorebi and Kittens

 Narrated by Caroline Masterson

Winterfest had rolled around again, and I couldn't help thinking about how much had changed; living in a much bigger place and the fact that all the children were school-aged. Once again, I'd purchased the children Christmas jumpers, although finding a yellow one for Xanthe had been impossible. She didn't mind, though, and looked happy as she played on the grand piano in the living room. I watched as she practised. Although she and Erytheia were both very creative, neither of them had mentioned anything about a dream career yet. Of course, they were still young, and could easily change their minds. 

Later, we sat down for a traditional turkey meal. Peter finished first and said that he wanted to put a few more presents under the tree, so the kids and I had a chat.

"This is great, Mum!" Xanthe grinned. "I love Winterfest food."

"I am stuffed, though," Artemis replied. "I don't think I'll need to eat again for a week."

"Everyone feels like that after Winterfest," I smiled. "Just take it easy and relax, and I'm sure you'll feel less full soon."

That evening, after the kids had gone to bed, Peter decided to try his hand at potion-making again. Sadly, he was yet again hit by the Curse of Uncleansable Stench. The Magic Sages had recently decided to make things such as potion ingredients and spell tomes available to purchase digitally via the new Occult Emporium website and app, so Peter quickly purchased the Potion of Curse Cleansing tome. He had now reached the stage of magical ability whereby tomes floated above his hand as he read them, which looked pretty cool. 

The following afternoon, we decided to go to Mt Komorebi for a couple of nights.
"So, how do you feel about skiing?" I asked.

"Should be fun!" Artemis grinned. "It's so cool that we're staying right by the slopes."

"It's pretty convenient," I agreed. "It's a little late to go right now, though. We'll start tomorrow instead."

Unsurprisingly, the child who was keenest on hitting the slopes was Apollo. Even as a toddler he'd had permanent ants in his pants, so it was no surprise that he was the first one to fasten his helmet and buckle up his ski boots. I kept a close eye on him as he raced down the bunny slope; he seemed to be having a whale of a time. 

That evening, with all the kids having spent some time on the slopes, I decided it would be fun to try out the hot pot and kotatsu table. 

"Mmm, this stuff is amazing!" Erytheia exclaimed. "You know what, I'd love to be a chef someday."

"Good idea," I replied. "Maybe you'll open your own restaurant one day."
"Yeah, maybe," she agreed. 

"I don't know what I want to be," Apollo said. "There are probably lots of jobs I haven't heard of."
"You don't have to decide right now," I explained. "You're still young and might change your mind. When I was your age I wanted to be a teacher."

Saturday was New Year's Eve. Once we'd returned home and unpacked our things, we settled down to watch some television, standing up for the Countdown to Midnight once it started. How was it already the end of another year? Gosh, time flew so fast...

We had recently purchased a chess table, as there had been one at our Mt Komorebi accommodation and Artemis had fallen in love with it. I decided to give her a game after her Scout meeting the next day.

"Hmm... what should I do next..." she muttered. 

"Try this," I said, pointing at a piece. I wasn't a particularly competitive person, and felt it would be good for both of us if I helped her out a little.

Something I'd been thinking about for a while had been adopting a kitten. So, whilst the children were at school, I rang the animal shelter. The adoption agent brought over two kittens; one gingery one and one black one.

"What are their names?" I asked.

"The shelter named them Monka and Chloe, but you can change their names if you want," he said.

Monka was a new one on me, and something I hadn't heard of. Chloe was cute, and I knew it was common to give animals 'human' names, but it just didn't really seem to suit her. 

"Hmm... I think I'll adopt both of them, if that's OK," I said, straightening up.

"That's fine. It's 200 Simoleons per kitten," he replied. 

I handed him a wodge of notes, and he picked up the giant crate and stepped into the lift. 

"Welcome to the family!" I said to the kittens, who looked up at me curiously. 

"KITTENS!" Erytheia exclaimed as she got home from school and I shared the news.

"Ooh! Can I see them?" Alexander asked.

"Yes. They'll be in the living room, probably," I replied.

"Kittens? Oh, that'll be fun," came Salim's voice. "I love cats, but I feel like my flat's a bit too small for one."

"You'll have to help me look after them," I told Erytheia. "They can be a lot of work."

"OK, sure," she smiled. "I'll make sure their food bowls are full."