Hallelujah

Round 14: Days 66-70

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Narrated by Julian Sitko

What do you think of the new uniforms at The Greasy Spoon? The hot dog vendor outfit just wasn't working for me so we've gone simple. And yes, it's "we" now. I finally have some real employees. Joseph Carmody is working as my cook and Araminta Benton is my waitress.



She's a very sweet young woman and the customers really seem to like her.

When she's not dumping salad over their heads, that is. Poor girl. I really want to give her a chance and I hope she won't quit before she improves.

I think she just needs to concentrate more. She gets distracted rather easily.

Uh-oh, Collette is one of her moods again! Arguing with her mother about something or other. Collette is great but you just need to know how to handle her.

My preferred method is avoidance, so I snuck around the back and occupied myself with Owen instead. Owen and I are getting along great. No one would ever guess that he wasn't really my son. Well...except for the fact that we don't look anything alike. Apart from his hair and skin colour, he looks exactly like Collette.

I was secretly hoping our baby would look at least a little like me, as much as I loved Owen. I couldn't be there for the birth but Collette's mum and our new housekeeper were there to make sure nothing went wrong.

So here she is - our daughter Kirstin!

I was doubly surprised when I got home from work that day - a new daughter and a nappy to change! One of the surprises was a little more pleasant than the other.

Here's a picture of Kirstin shortly after her first birthday. I said I wouldn't mind a kid who looked like me but I didn't realise we'd get one who was almost my clone! She's got my hair, my eyes and basically looks like a girly version of me in almost every respect.

Collette was able to take some time off work to care for her. I should see if I can finagle some daddy-daughter bonding time at home before she starts school.

We had two other new additions to the family too - two little kittens!

They didn't stay long though as the house isn't really big enough for 4 cats. Collette sold one to Leontine Kirby.

And she gave the other one away to her brother.

Now that Kirstin is walking, we really should get some kind of baby gate set up. She's constantly running out into the snow to look for one of us and we're afraid that one day, the social worker might catch up with her before we do.

Hoping to encourage Araminta, I gave her a small raise. It seems to be working okay.

As patient as I am with her, I was really hoping she didn't end up dumping salad onto the reporter's head.

I doubt I would have got a positive review AND the best of the best award had that happened! The award is hanging pride of place right behind the podium, so customers can take our award into account when deciding whether to dine here.

It wasn't all happiness for us though. Cedric passed away, aged 77. Poor Kirstin didn't know what was happening to her grandpa.

I think I took it even harder than Collette did.

Worst of all was Justina. She and Cedric were married for over 50 years and had known each other for around 60.

A visit from her youngest son Ben lifted her spirits a little bit but she's still talking about how much she misses her husband.

The children seemed to be coping with their grandfather's death well but I don't know how much kids understand about that sort of thing anyway. Owen and Kirstin spend a lot of their time together and he's very sweet and gentle with her.

I wish he'd spend all of his time indoors with his sister, instead of outdoors in the pool. At least in winter. When there's steam coming off the water, it's probably a sign that it's pretty damn cold out there but it doesn't seem to bother Owen.

He'll stay out there until he turns blue and we have to get him in the bathtub and pump him full of hot chocolate.

Notes:

• BLONDE BABY! Now that I've had a redhead and a blonde, I'll shut up about hair colours. Maybe.
• I am really loving running the diner. The guy who got the salad dumped on his head was the first customer I noticed sitting at the counter. I may set up the customer adjuster so I can get more customers at once so it looks more bustling. I think the maximum they've had had been 5 but they could probably have at least 9 or 10.
• I didn't even have time to get bored with Cedric before he died! Awww...I love having the grandparents live with their families. They're great babysitters and it keeps them occupied too.