Spring 2012 - Cormier

Rich (33), Tosha (33), Rosalyn (1)

Rich couldn't believe the big day was here.  His little sister was headed off to college.  With the way she had struggled with her grades, he wasn't sure if this day was ever going to come.  But she had worked hard to improve her grades and even won a scholarship based on her college interview.  He was very proud of her and knew if their mother had been there to see this day, she would be too.

The household was going to be different without Violet.  This would be the first time in their married life that Tosha and Rich weren't sharing their house with a teenager.  The quiet of her being gone, the absence of her friends coming in and out of the house took some getting used to.  Rich and Tosha weren't the only ones who had to adjust.  They lost track of how many times they would look out the window to see Bryan pass by, looking at the house with a lovesick puppy look.  It was obviously hard on him to be left behind in high school because he was a year younger.

  Even though they would miss having Violet around, Rich and Tosha were glad to be their own family of three for awhile.  And they were going to be staying as just three for awhile longer.  Their attempts at trying for another baby had failed for now.  Tosha had been disappointed, but not surprised when their first attempts didn't result in a second pregnancy, but she knew that it had taken awhile for them to get pregnant with Rosalyn and it would probably take awhile to get pregnant again.

Things would happen when they were meant too and it was probably for the best that they didn't have a second child right now.  Rich was still out of work and if Tosha had to take time off work for maternity leave, money might be tight for awhile.

The school was desperate for another teacher since the passing of Ms. Ebadi, so much so that they were willing to reinstate Rich to his former position just as if he had never been let go, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a teacher anymore.  He felt like this might be the perfect opportunity to go in a different direction and try something new with his life.  He considered going into construction, but that turned out to be a fleeting thought.  What he really wanted to do was become a writer.

He discussed the idea with Tosha over pancakes one morning. Would they be alright financially with just her income while he pursued writing a novel?  It would mean that he could stay home with Rosalyn while Tosha was at work instead of hiring a babysitter.

They thought they could manage it, at least on a trial basis, so as soon as Tosha went to work and Rosalyn was down for her nap, Rich sat down at the computer and started writing.  He had so many ideas flowing through his mind that he wasn't sure where to start.

The more he typed, the more passionate was beoming about literature and film and he knew he needed a better workspace than the kitchen table.  Even though he knew they should probably be putting their funds towards building a nursery for the baby, he sold the hottub, bought a big screen TV (for inspiration), a recliner, and a proper desk.  He had the wall separating Violet's old bedroom from the hallway torn down, making the space more open and built himself a den where he could work (and relax).

He was really enjoying taking the time to pursue new hobbies, in addition to writing and studying film, he was taking an interest in cooking.  He was improving his skills and learning to make new recipes to surprise Tosha with when she came home from work.

Sometime he would have a cooking show on in the background while he wrote, trying to immerse himself in all of his new hobbies at once.

It was a great relief and a great sense of accomplishment when his novel was finally complete.

He was just about to tend to Rosalyn when he got the call from his publisher saying his book was being published and it was expected to sell well.

It was an exciting moment, the following morning when the first copy of his novel was delivered to the house.

Rich made sure to find a very special place on the bookshelf for it,

before turning his attention back to caring for Rosalyn.  He was lucky she was such an easy baby to take care of.

As always Tosha was glad to return home from a long day at work.  Her career had had its ups and downs over the season.  She'd discovered a few new underwater species.  With her first discovery she made the mistake of not crediting her supervisor and got a demotion.  After that she learned that brown-nosing was the way to get ahead (or keep her current position) and named the second species after her higher-ups and was returned to her old position.  Who knew there was so much politics in oceanography?

She noticed she was feeling a little off and wondered if maybe the second round of trying for another child had done the trick.  She took a pregnancy test and recieved the happy news, she was pregnant!

She started showing early and was delighted that Rosalyn would be getting a little brother or sister.

Hopefully the sale of Rich's novel and the money from her promotion would be enough to add another bedroom or two onto the house.  Otherwise she might have to convince Rich to part with his new bigscreen TV.

Winter 2011 - Cormier

Winter 2011 - Rich (28), Tosha (28), Violet (17)



After what happened to Jessica Ebadi, the darkening storm clouds made Tosha apprehensive.  She was eager for these autumn storms to go away and hoped the weather this winter would be more peaceful.

Rich could tell how shaken his wife was about the accident and did his best to comfort her.  It came as a shock to him too.  He knew Jessica very well from teaching with her at the Jr./ Sr. High School.  She was only a few years older than he and Tosha, so the news of her unexpected passing hit close to him.

He knew with her death the school system would be lacking for teachers.  No one had approached him about getting his old job back, but he had a feeling that if he wanted it, it would be his for the taking.  He wasn't sure if he wanted to return to teaching.  He thought this might be a good opportunity to explore something different.

He was taking advantage of his time off, getting caught up on household chores that he never seemed to have time for during the school year when he was teaching, and getting ready for the new baby.  Their house was fairly small with only two bedrooms.  He and Tosha had the master bedroom of course and Violet had the much smaller bedroom.  She often complained about how cramped the space was, but there wasn't really any room to spare.  When the baby was born, he or she would sleep in a crib in the master bedroom.  By the time he or she was ready for their own room, Violet would be away at college (with any luck).  Still Rich was thinking about adding on to the house.  As he looked at the house and started to get new ideas, he started considering architecture as a possible career. With all of the building projects going on in the hood, he was sure James McMillian could use some assistance.

He also had a second possibility for his new career.  He wondered if he could make it as a writer.  So he sat down at the computer and started coming up ideas for a novel.  He knew writing a novel would take a lot of time, but he had time at the moment and working from home would be ideal with the new baby on the way.

Rich and Tosha were both really excited about the new baby.  They had wanted to start their family earlier, but getting pregnant took longer than they had anticipated.  Tosha was glad that Robin was pregnant again.  It was nice to have a friend who was going through the same thing at the same time to talk about her pregnancy with.

Things in the household were about to change in a major way, so the family took the time to enjoy the quiet moments before the baby came and before Violet left for college to watch a movie together.

Nine months of pregnancy went by quickly and soon it was time for the baby to come.

Rich was relieved that mother and baby made it through the delivery safely.

He and Violet were excited that the baby girl was finally here.  They named her Rosalyn after Rich and Violet's mother, Rose.

Tosha still had a few days of maternity leave left after Rosalyn was born, but being homebound during her pregnancy was giving her cabin fever.  She handed Rosalyn over to her daddy and ventured out to the grocery store to restock the refrigerator.

She was delighted to run into Robin while she was there and tell her friend how well things were going with the baby.

Things were going well for Violet too.  She had really hit the books during the last few years and managed to get her grades up to a passing level.  She had applied to New Eden University without high hopes that she would get in, but her charisma not only helped her ace her interviews and get accepted, but also earned her a scholarship as well.

She adored her little niece and offered to help out with the baby as much as she could.

But when it came to changing smelly diapers, she did not mind handing Rosalyn over to one of her parents.  She was learning first hand how hard taking care of a baby could really be.

Tosha seemed to come to motherhood naturally.  She enjoyed spending time with her baby girl, but was eager to get back to her work as an oceanographer.

It broke her heart anytime the baby cried or was unhappy.

Violet was nervous when Ms. Miguel called the house one evening to talk to her.  She was terrified that something was wrong with her grades and that she might not be graduating afterall, but she had nothing to worry about.  To her relief, Ms. Miguel was making calls to all of the graduating seniors to congratulate them and talk to them about their plans for graduation and beyond.

Violet wasn't sure what she was going to study in college or what career she would pursue after her education was finished.  She didn't know what the future might hold, but she hoped that Bryan would be a part of it.

As excited as she was about going to college, the achievement was bittersweet, because Bryan still had another year before he graduated high school and could join her at university.  She knew she would miss their lively discussions,

and being able to see him whenever she wanted.  She wanted to make sure he would never forget her.  She decided she was ready to take things to the next level before the next year would take them apart.

But their plan was not well thought out.  Rich couldn't believe they were stupid enough to try using their bed while both he and Tosha were both home and Rosalyn was sleeping in the crib three feet away.  He was just relieved that he caught them before anything actually happened.

He immediately sent Bryan home and decided it was time to have another talk with Violet before she left for school.

But first she let her walk Bryan out and say goodnight, provided that she was back inside in five minutes.

Once Bryan was gone, Violet was safely alone in her room, and Rosalyn was asleep, Rich and Tosha decided to put the bed to good use.  It might seem a little soon to start thinking about baby number 2, but with as long as it took for them to get pregnant with Rosalyn, they decided not to wait.

Fall 2010 - Cormier (part 2)

Being a high school teacher and the guardian of a teenager at the same school did have its awkward moments for Rich, especially when he arrived from from a long day at school to find his baby sister greeting her boyfriend with a gigantic smooth on the sidewalk.  Of course, it probably would have still been awkward to see his baby sister kiss anyone, even if he wasn't the boy's teacher.

As much as she loved spending time with Bryan, Violet knew he couldn't be the center of her world.  She didn't want to become one of those girls who found a boyfriend and forgot about her friends, so she made sure to make time for her girl friends too and tried not to let on how often Bryan was on her mind.

She had hoped to have her best friend and her boyfriend over to hang out and watch some movies, but it was kind of hard to do so when her brother insisted on sitting in the living room to read the paper.  She was sure he was doing it purposely to chaperone them.

"Hey, Violet.  Why don't you come outside?  Geneva and I have been in the pool and the water's not too cold yet.   If you do get too chilly we can hop in the hot tub.  All of us, that is.  Geneva's getting in now."

Violet grinned the hot tub sounded like fun.  "Just let me get my suit."

By the time Violet was ready, Geneva had already gotten out and decided to go inside and get a snack.  Bryan had waited for her, so they got in together.

"Sorry about my brother being in the way.  I really wanted to watch that new movie with you.  I think you'd really like it."

"Maybe some other time," Bryan said, scooting closer to Violet.  "Right now I'd rather be out here alone with you anyway."

"Dinner's ready," Rich announced.

"I'll go tell Violet and Bryan," Geneva announced and quickly jumped up and went out the back door.

As Tosha looked up from feeding her fish and happened to glance through the window, she could see why, Geneva was so eager to be the one to tell them to go in. 

She was covering for the two teens making out in the hot tub.

Tosha kept quiet and decided not to say anything about it to her husband.  She waited until after dinner, after Rich had gone upstairs to change, and pulled Violet aside as she was taking her plate to the sink.

"So, I guess things are going pretty well between you and Bryan, huh?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah.  It's great," Violet beamed.

"Are the two of you getting pretty serious?"

"I don't know.  Nothing is official, but I'd really like it if he was my official, steady boyfriend."

"I know it's fun to have a boyfriend and it's a great feeling to be in love or to have a crush, but you don't want to get too carried away.  You don't want anything to stand in the way of getting into college, right?"

"No and I know.  I'm not going to let anything happen, I promise."

After dinner the teens went outside again.  This time Violet and Bryan stayed out of the hot tub, but that didn't stop them from exchanging a few hugs and kisses in the backyard.

"Do you really like me, Bryan?" Violet asked.

"Isn't that obvious?  I more than like you.  You're my girl."

"Really?" Violet beamed.  "I hoped so.  Do you want to go steady with me?"

"Absolutely," Bryan agreed.

Violet was thrilled, she felt like she was floating on air.  In her joy she didn't think anything about the way Bryan suddenly turned and stepped away.

After making it official, Violet had to go inside to finish her homework, but Bryan and Geneva decided to hang around.

"So, you and Violet, huh?" Geneva asked.  "You know we all saw you kissing out here in the hot tub."

"You all did?"

"Maybe not Mr. Cormier, but I think Mrs. Cormier did."

"Are you really serious about Violet?  Because she's serious about you and if you don't really think you're going to be together for a long time, you should tell her.  I don't want you to lead her on."

"How should I know how long we'll be together?  Do you think I'm a wizard with a crystal ball?"

"She is one of my best friends," he admitted.  "And I do hope we'll be close friends forever, if not more than that."

"I'm glad to hear it," Geneva said.  She realized maybe she was being overprotective of her friend, but after seeing how Charlotte had treated her brother with so little consideration, she wanted to make sure Violet wasn't being played as well.  "Because she's one of my best friends too."

"We're way too young to be thinking about marriage, you know."

"Alright, I'm sorry.  I'll drop it.  I just wanted to make sure you're going to treat my friend right."

Things were not going well for Rich at work.  He was being investigated by the school board for fudging the attendance records for last year's summer semester.  They believed that he should have marked some of the girls absent and docked their grades since they did not attend all activities and lectures conducted at the camp.  He argued that the absences were (mostly) excused.  Violet had food poisioning and a couple of the girls suffered bee stings.  That still didn't explain all the absences and why the girls spent so much time primping in the bathroom or exploring the campgrounds on their own.

That alone wouldn't have been so bad, but they were beginning to question the authenticity of all of the grades he had given recently, especially where his sister, Violet, was concerned.  Her grades had improved drastically over the last semester.  Was that really a true reflection of her own work and knowledge, or was he giving her a little too much extra help?  They decided the only thing to do was to let him go, at least until they could fully investigate the situation.

Rich was crushed.  They didn't need this, especially now that Tosha was on maternity leave and they had a baby on the way.  It couldn't have come at a worse time.

Tosha took the news with surprising calm.  "I'll just have to go back to work right after the baby comes."  She didn't really want to leave her career anyway.  She missed her deep sea diving.

Rich was barely out of work for a day and already he and Tosha were getting on each other's nerves.  He kept turning on the TV when she was trying to nap.

And she kept turning it off while he was trying to watch. 

"Why don't you take a nap upstairs, Tosha?"

"It's only 1 p.m.  I'm not really napping, just resting my eyes.  Besides it's hard to climb the stairs with swollen ankles and the couch is more comfortable for my belly.  I'm the pregnant one.  You should want me to be comfortable."

"I just lost my job.  You should want to let me find a way to take my mind off things."

"You could find something else to do.  Something quieter."

Since Violet had just gotten home from school, he decided to challenge her to a game of rock, paper, scissors.  That had always been a fun one to play when they were kids.  But he just found it depressing that his baby sister, who he taught the game to when she was small, now seemed to beat him easily.  This was just not his day.