15 minutes

Round 34: June 2040 (Winter)

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Miles Jacobson is 37, Matilda is 34 and Phoebe is 3.

(Claudio is 59, Virginia is 48, Lia is 43, Maia is 38, Ethan is 34, Adrienne is 33, Alice is 14, Willow is 5, River and Peter are 3 and Beau is 2)

Narrated by Matilda Jacobson

My career has been going very well and honestly, with the money I was making, it didn’t make much sense for me and Miles to stay in our tiny house in Sullivan. So we bought a new place!

We were happy there but we’re so much happier in our new house in Exeter. 

It’s bigger, of course, but there also some nice little luxuries, like a pool in the backyard. It’s been too cold to test it out lately, unfortunately.

We’re definitely going to need to add a fence or something, to keep Phoebe safe. But still, we can’t wait to use it.

My favourite thing about our new place is that we now live literally right across the street from Adrienne.

We see each other almost every day now, because it’s just so convenient to walk across the street for a coffee or whatever.

And while we chat, Phoebe can play with Beau. They’re so cute.

We’ve raised them together, pretty much, so they’re good little buddies now. 

Seeing Phoebe with Beau is actually the main reason that Miles and I have been talking about the possibility of a second child.

We can both imagine really enjoying the experience of having another baby and it would probably be a lot of fun for Phoebe as well.

At the same time though, we do have some doubts. 

With Matilda getting older, we’re finding it easier to squeeze some couple time into our day and neither of us are sure if we’re ready to give that up for another baby. 

Miles is quite introverted and needs a lot of time to himself to recharge. That can be hard to do with one kid but it would be a lot harder with two.

Having another kid would also mean I’d have to take more time off from acting, which I’m not sure I want to do. So there’s that too.

We love having Phoebe but we’re leaning towards not having another and using the extra bedroom as a proper office for Miles. He really needs a better place than the hallway for his work and he would love to have his own space.

And Phoebe seems happy without a sibling. She likes to play with our friends’ kids but at home, she’s happy to play with Alfie instead.

Being Dad’s only grandchild means Phoebe gets spoiled a fair bit.

Dad and Virginia still live over in Sullivan but they’re over here visiting most weekends. 

Miles isn’t particularly keen on the frequency that they’re here but it’s important to me, so he copes. 

And Phoebe absolutely loves it when people come over - just about anyone - so Miles deals with it for her sake as well. 

She has so much fun with Alice especially. We have such a tiny family, so I’m glad she enjoys the relatives we do have.

Alice has even babysat Phoebe a few times. I almost wish Alice could drop out of school and be our nanny instead!

She’s great with Phoebe and she even cleans. Our nanny is good with Phoebe but her cleaning leaves a lot to be desired. We usually come to empty bottles on the floor but never with Alice. 

The past three years have gone by so fast with Phoebe. 

It doesn’t seem like so long ago that I was pregnant with her and now, she’ll be heading off to pre-school at the beginning of next year.

I wish she was starting with Beau but he’s a little younger, so he won’t go until the year after. 

Miles and I are good friends with Ethan and Maia, so seeing River is starting pre-school along with Phoebe, we invited them all over to our place. 

I also had Maia invite her sister Lia, whose son Peter is also starting at the same time. I’d never met Lia before, so of course, she walks in and the first thing she sees is Phoebe napping in the dog bed. She’s never done that before!

I’m pretty sure she thought Miles and I were total weirdos or really gross after that, because she seemed a little standoffish. 

Maia said Lia’s just like that though, especially with people she doesn’t really know. She’s had four kids, she knows they do weird things sometimes. 

That was a relief to hear, though I don’t know if Lia and I have much in common anyway. She’s a nice woman but I don’t think we’ll ever be great friends. She’s a little conservative for my tastes.

Phoebe, though, had such an awesome time with River and Peter. 

We didn’t even need to encourage them to play together. One would move off and do something and the other two would immediately follow.

I’m really excited for Phoebe to go to pre-school now. I know that she’ll love it!

Notes:

• Title is from 15 Minutes by the Strokes.
• So much of this was game play! Every time there were people over, Miles would go hide out and I'd have to force him to come back and spend time with everyone. Also, Alice spent most of her visit cleaning her sister's house! Which is kind of rude, in my books, but I can imagine Matilda being cool with it. 
• Lia looked so disgusted at Phoebe in the dog bed, so I think she was judging a little bit. ;)
• Unless Matilda or Miles roll a baby want (or have a risky woohoo pregnancy), I think Phoebe is it for them. I kind of like the idea of having an only child around again, as I haven't had one among my playables since Madelyn! Seeing she's 60 now, that's a long time.
• When did these guys all get so old? I had it my head that Matilda was 31, Miles was 34 and Phoebe was 2. I was quite surprised when I checked my notes and realised Phoebe will be a child next time I play her!