Search and destroy

Round 17: Days 81-85

last update/next update

Narrated by Drusilla Clarke

I've had just about enough of this. Having Debbie and Linnea fighting all the time is so damaging for Cordy and Luc. I have to try something to help them for the sake of my grandchildren. I thought being in a new house would give us all a fresh start but I don't think much has changed.



I talked things over with Linnea first, because I knew she'd be more agreeable to an attempt at reconciliation than Debbie.

Predictably, Debbie was reluctant but she agreed to hear Linnea out, at least.

I heard them talking for a little while ...

...but the second Linnea made a move to touch Debbie, she was shoved off. Too much too soon, maybe.

It's hard for me to see my daughter so distraught. I know she was unfaithful but I do truly believe that she's remorseful and has learnt her lesson.

The kids are coping with all the turmoil in their house in their own ways. Luc has thrown himself into his schoolwork - he got his first A+, which we were all so proud of him for.

And Cordy...well, we can hardly get that girl out of the pool for anything. She does her homework when she gets home, then she's back in the pool until dinner time. Then she's usually swimming away until it's time for her bath and bed.

Linnea is still trying to gain Debbie's forgiveness but she seems unmoved. They'll be talking civilly for a while and then it will erupt.

Luckily, we're still managing to eat two meals a day together at the dining table. I'm insisting on it.

I guess despite my best efforts though and the fact that Linnea has been really trying too, it's just not enough for Debbie.

She told Linnea that she was leaving as soon as she could.

Cordy and Luc will continue to live here with us. Debbie didn't want to disrupt their lives any more than they already had been. She'll be moving to an apartment in Exeter and the children will visit her on weekends.

The children are very upset, obviously but I think it will be better for them in the end. It's better to have two happy parents living apart than two miserable ones living together.

I'm pretty sad about this too. I still like Debbie a lot and I wish they could have made it work together but I suppose some things are unsalvageable.

I'm impressed with how Linnea is stepping up to be there for Cordy and Luc now that Debbie is gone. She never said anything to me but I suspect that she was very unsure about motherhood even when she agreed to bear the twins for Debbie. But she's really trying to be involved with them now, even though their relationship is still not the best.

This is really more Linnea's arena but Luc asked me to take him to play soccer, so like a dutiful grandma, I went. He's much better at it than me.

I held a little party the other night. My other daughter Athena and her husband Adam came, my sister Xanthia and her two daughters, Araminta and Zelda were also there along with various other extended family members and friends.

It was mainly an attempt to include Tatiana in the family a bit more. She's my brother Galen's daughter, born of an affair but I think she has the right to know the other half of her family. The way she came into the world isn't her fault.

I was happy to have her meet some of her cousins. It's a shame we didn't know about her earlier.

As you might have seen in the last picture, Cordy was again in the pool but Luc was very taken with Tatiana.

Athena ended up saying long after the other guests had left (including her husband). It was so lovely for me and Linnea to see everybody again. I really hope we can do it more often.

Cordy and Luc are doing better now. They speak to Debbie on the phone every night and I think they're happier now than they've ever been.

We've had to hire a nanny though. Debbie was always home by the time the kids got home from school but Linnea and I both work longer hours than that. Perhaps we should have told the nanny how often the kids bring friends home from school. She often finds herself babysitting more than just two kids.

I take over when I get home. Linnea works even later (until 11pm) now that she's an MC so it will continue to be just me and the kids from dinner for a while.

Notes:

• The first pictures of Drusilla talking to Linnea and Debbie are from the Couples Counselling interaction. The picture of Debbie shoving Linnea is what happens when it's rejected. Had it worked, Linnea would have kissed Debbie but Debbie wasn't having it.
• Linnea and Debbie really hate each other. Linnea has the constant want to "drink" Debbie and Debbie currently has the want to drink Linnea and to turn her into a zombie. I did try to keep these two together but I'd get their relationship up a bit and then there'd be another slapfight and it'd be right back down to -100 again. I believe they used to be three bolters but they are now enemies with negative chemistry.
• There will not be separate Debbie updates, seeing she started out as a townie and served only as a partner for Linnea. Debbie's apartment is much too small for me to do actual real visits where they stay over and everything. but I may, as part of the next Lane update, show Debbie taking the kids on an outing somewhere.
• I just noticed that Drusilla and Tatiana are best friends, for some reason. I have no idea when that happened as it's not something I encouraged myself but I wrote it into the story anyway.
• Adam pretty much didn't stop dancing for most of the night. He loves the hula and he learnt the slap dance at the party too. Even when I turned off the stereo, he still kept going.
• Party spam in the middle of the entry - just random pics from the party that I liked so I didn't caption them.
• If you were wondering, that's Lia Novak making herself at home in the last couple of pics.