A Bit Simpler
Dash’s POV
While Zinnie and Juniper Berries made cookies, I sat next to Melitta as she snoozed, replaying the scene with our families in my mind. If I had to pay for better gate security, I would. They shouldn’t have made it through this time, and it wasn’t Serenity’s fault they’d probably never dealt with
a bunch of…weirdos before in the commune’s history.
Then I laughed softly as I thought about how wrong I was. The commune was a breeding ground for weirdos, and the kind they had at Serenity were growing on me.
Forty–five minutes later, My Little blinked, stretched and made a little squeak.
“Well, hello there, honeybee,” I said as I lifted her into my arms. Once she had a fresh diaper, I carried her out to the kitchen where Juniper was regaling Zinnie with tales of teen age angst. She didn’t even pause in her narration when she saw me walk in.
you
“…and I was like, well, too bad, Cedar. You made your choice when took Bluebell paddleboarding on the lake after school. She’s telling everyone you kissed her, too. And he was all no, I didn’t, and I told him I wasn’t stupid. And then he said he could do what he wanted because I didn’t control him. And I said I never wanted to control him and then I got really mean.‘
“What’d you say?” Zinnie asked, and I could tell from her breathless tone that she was enjoying
this story.
“I told him that Onyx Courage was more my type anyway because he wasn’t a two–timing chipmunk, and Onyx was nice and way better looking than Cedar was. Cedar always walks around like he thinks he’s all that.
“Sounds like you’re better off without him.”
“Totally. And Cedar’s an even bigger jerk because the next day, Onyx came up to me by the lake during science class and told me to stop saying stuff about him because he was two years older than I was and he wasn’t interested in a toddler. He called me a toddler! I’m fourteen! That’s practically a grown up. And then Starry came up and reminded him he was her partner for testing the lake water samples, and he walked off with her. So I’m done with boys because they’re all
stupid.”
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“Indubitably,” Zinnie said in an uppercrust accent, glancing my way, making Juniper crack up.
“You’ll get no argument from me,” I said to my wife.
“Why can’t guys be normal, Dash?” Juniper asked.
“I wish I had an answer,” I told her. “But I don’t. Maybe…try not to give up on all the boys because
some are nice.”
“My Dad is. My grandpa is. But nobody my age is. If they don’t get better soon, I’m leaving the commune at eighteen so I can see what else is out there.”
Zinnie flinched a bit, then shook her head when I was going to ask if she was OK. Melitta gave a warning cry letting us know she was hungry, so I handed her to Zinnie.
“Next batch comes out in five minutes,” Zin reminded Juniper, who gave her a thumbs up.
“Do you think my dad would mind if I left the commune?” Juniper asked me.
Shit. This was advanced parenting, and I was still working on diapers.
“I think he’d miss you,” I said diplomatically, “but if it’s something you wanted to do for the right reasons and you explained everything to him, I’m sure he’d want you to do what brought you
happiness.”
Then I pictured Melitta telling me she wanted to leave in eighteen years and pictured myself begging her not to go. But…no. What I’d told Juniper I’d stand behind. People on the commune valued freedom, and I couldn’t see the people I’d met trying to hold back their young adults if they wanted to spread their wings, probably waving them off with a line from Desiderata.
“Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence!” they’d
call after their children.
“I’m going to take Zinnie a glass of water and see if she needs anything. Are you OK with getting
the cookies out in a few?”
She gave me a thumbs up, and I filled a glass and then walked it to my wife.
“You want anything else, Zin?”
“No, Dash. The water’s all I need, thanks.”
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“You OK after that scene with our families?”
I never wanted to assume anything about how Zinnie was dealing with things now.
“Let’s talk about it later,” she said meaningfully.
Pressing a kiss to her head, I walked out, wondering what later would bring.
~
That evening, Zinnie and I were sitting on her porch again, listening to Melitta snuffle softly on the baby monitor and the crickets sing their chorus.
“We never did this at home,” I said to Zin. “Just sit outside on our porch and enjoy the evening
together.”
“It’s Serenity. I want to be outside here all the time, Dash,” she said happily. “I have so many things I want to do, so much I want to learn. I want to put in raised beds behind the house and grow vegetables. I want to learn more about bees and things you can make with honey so they can be sold at the commune’s farmers market. And I love Genny and Ella, but I want to quit and be a mom and maybe start a honey–related business. Sunny said she bottles the honey, but her main focus is on making her goat milk skin care products soaps, creams, cleansers. So I could bring a whole new product line to the commune.”
——
When had Zinnie ever been so enthusiastic about anything? I searched my mind, but she’d never shown this openness and enthusiasm about something. Never. But here, on this commune, she’d found a passion for life and her new interests, not to mention a joy in motherhood.
“OK, Zin, first, quit your job. You don’t need to work, and you’ll never have to worry about money, I promise. Second, I’ve been looking into the local community college, and they offer beekeeping classes through their continuing education program. They even have an apiary, but you may get enough hands–on experience here with Sunny.”
“I’d love that,” she said. “I didn’t even think to look into classes. Sunny knows so much.”
“It’s like a medical residency, maybe. We learned from a lot of different doctors who gave us new perspectives, and you can learn new things from different apiarists.”
“True, but do you think Sunny would be mad?”
“Not at all. She may even want to go with you. She could add a new perspective to the class.”
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Zinnie smiled as she sat back in her chair, and I could tell she was excited about the classes.
“That’s a lot to think about,” she said, “but there’s something else we need to discuss. I’m kind of freaked out that our families got onto the property, and I can’t stop thinking about them trying it
again.”
The flowers would grow well the following year.
The pigs would be well fed.
They’d be fitted for cement shoes and end up in a deep lake somewhere far from here.
“I’m hoping they got the message today, but I plan on asking Branch to beef up security at the you.” front gate. I want to put a security system in your house, and get a trained guard dog for
She blinked at those possibilities. “Oh, well, yes, those are all great ideas, but I was thinking of something a bit simpler.”
“What’s that?” I asked, wondering what else there was.
“Maybe you could live here full time.”
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.