From Luke's diary
Misty: Nick really seems to like playing with the kids!
Lyra: (vague) Well... yes, it seems so.
Misty: (suspicious) Why that face? Is there any problem?
Lyra seemed on edge, but Misty was one of her best friends after all. Who else could she talk to?
Lyra: (worried) He talks all the time about your daughters and how much fun he has with them, I'm afraid he wants to tell me he wants a baby of his...
Misty: What? Even the walls know that you can't stand children, haven't you told him yet?
Lyra: ... I know I should, but...
Misty: Don't even think about it, this is something very very serious! Explain to him the situation, and if he disagrees, worse for him!
Lyra: ... Yes, I know.
It was a tough choice for my sister, but Lyra really knew what she wanted to do. And she's not the kind of person who compromises.
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Nick kept my sister Lyra on edge for a few more days before dropping his question.
Nick: Lyra ... there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while.
Lyra: (worried) ... I suspected it. What is it about?
Nick: (all in one breath) Would you like to take a dog?
Lyra: (astonished) Wait, you said a... dog?
Nick: Yes! A friend of mine has a lot of puppies at the moment, you should see how cute they are! He's been looking for someone wanting to adopt them for a while.
Lyra: ...
Nick: So, what do you think?
Lyra remained speechless, she was expecting a completely different question. But she had never been so relieved before.
Lyra: Sure, why not? I'm sure it'd have a lot of fun here, we have a nice garden too!
So, a few days later, they adopted Sammy, the cutest puppy in all of New Sixam.
Nick: Hi!
Lyra immediately fell in love with him too. Objectively, how could anyone say no to a nose like this?
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Weeks passed by, and it was Winterfest once again. For us who grew up in the north it is so strange not to see snow all around, but that hasn't stopped us from trying to bring a little Christmas atmosphere in here too.
And I think it goes without saying that the kids had a blast when opening their presents.
Misty: Say cheese!
Luke: A ball of mud... Ehm, thank you, I guess.
I think even the girls by now have realised that I can't stand dirt. Judging by the amused giggles that accompanied the opening of that present, I'm pretty sure it was a joke.
We also celebrated Venus and Cassy's birthday on the same day. The two weren't very happy to have received both their Winterfest and birthday presents on the same day, but we couldn't really avoid it.
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Both girls love playing outdoors and running wild, but Venus in particular seems to get very bored when she remains stuck indoors. Plus, she has remained as sociable as she was as a child.
Cassy also has a lot of fun reading stories and playing chess, instead.
The fact that they both now spend several hours a day at school also gives me the opportunity to get back to writing. Finally I managed to finish writing my second book, the one dealing with the history of Sixamians since our arrival on this planet and with our relationship with humans. It is not yet on sale in bookstores, but the editing process is proceeding quickly. I expect this book to generate much more controversy than the previous one, but I really hope that the readers will be able to understand where I come from.
More time also means that I can dedicate myself to the New Sixam library again. Too much dust has accumulated lately, there is so much to do over there...
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Soon after, we went to visit my sister at her house. I would like to say that the girls missed their beloved auntie so much but, in reality, they mostly wanted to play with Sammy. He has grown up a lot lately, and he also loves to play with everyone.
Venus: Hi Sammy!
Misty likes that dog a lot too. I have the impression that, soon or later, someone in the family might start asking for one too.
Bah... I'm more used to living with cats, actually.
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Finally, my birthday also came. I like to think that I'm not just getting older, but also wiser, yet I'm quite sure to have surpassed the age at which birthdays are a funny celebration a long time ago.
When we finished eating the cake, the girls suddenly became serious. They seemed to want to ask us something important...
Misty: What are those faces about? Do you want to ask us something?
Venus: Did you hear that they are now organising trips on Sixam with the teleport machines?
Cassy: There is also advertising on TV, everyone is talking about it!
Yes, we had actually heard of it. Teleportation was becoming an increasingly available technology, so the whole galaxy suddenly felt so close to us. And if there was one place that many sixamians were curious to see, that was the very planet our ancestors came from.
Misty: Uhm, we should have saved some money, I think we should be able to buy four tickets... And then I'm curious to see that place too! Aren't you too, Luke?
Luke: (amused) Illegal trips to Sixam seem to have been a constant in my family history, I was told about those all the time. How could I not be curious?
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So we booked four tickets, and the next weekend we headed to the nearest Sixam tour agency and set off on our mini adventure.
If there was one thing that, until a few years ago, I would have never expected to hear, that was the transformation of Sixam into a tourist destination. Times change quickly, that's evident...
Venus: It's so cool in here!
The girls couldn't wait any longer, and immediately started running left and right to see and touch everything they could nearby.
After all the space travel stories we've read to them, they were likely to be feeling like the protagonists of those books in that moment.
Misty: This place is really cool! Even if it's a bit dark, maybe.
Luke: it's just like what my uncles told us it was, even if being here in person is a whole other story...
Yes, a whole other story. In just one generation, everything had changed.
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§HermioneSims§ corner:
With Lyra and Nick I was in doubt about what to do with them for a lot of time, but with Lyra having the "hate children" trait I couldn't just ignore her inclinations and make her start the perfect traditional family too. Then I noticed that Nick has one of those traits about loving pets, and this eventually seemed like the best solution for making them both happy.
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