November/December 2032 Birthdays & Anniversaries

November 2032 - Evergreen Harbor, Mississippi

Life is quiet in Evergreen Harbor. Kat has taken a job in a biology lab here, studying some of the life around the Mississippi River and what needs to be done to keep the water clean and healthy. She likes her work, but she misses everyone--her family, her friends, Yori. It was hard leaving him back at PSU while she moved off to the job opportunity she'd had.

 

And so she's thrilled when he surprises her with a visit one weekend. She never knew he was coming, but he explained that he had managed to save just enough for a flight there and back for the weekend. (The cheapest seats he could find, but he didn't tell her that because he didn't want her to worry too much about his flight home.) It's her birthday weekend--today is still October 31, but the next day will be November 1, her twenty-third birthday, and she's excited that he's come to celebrate with her.

Kat enjoys showing this town to Yori, and so they spend the day sightseeing everywhere. She hopes that he might want to move here too, though it's far from both their families.

 

That night is Halloween, and so Yori and Kat dress up for the occasion after quickly buying costumes from a local store. Most of the costumes are gone and so they grab what they can find--a cheerleading costume for both of them.

"So has this been a fun trip for you?" Kat asks late that night when the trick-or-treaters have gone home and it's quiet again.

"Better than any trip I've ever taken," Yori says. He looks at the time on his phone and then pulls her toward him. "It's about to be midnight. About to be your birthday."

"You came here because you know you're the best birthday present ever, right?" Kat asks.

"Well..." He looks at his phone again. "It's midnight now. Officially your birthday. And so I have something to ask..."

She never expected that he would get down on one knee like this. She had hoped it might happen one day, but she hadn't thought that he might have come to do it now.

But without hesitation, she says, "Yes! I say yes!"

"I knew I would be the best birthday present you could ask for," Yori says with a wide grin.

Kat laughs and says, "You always will be."

 

Birthdays:
November 1 - Katerina Gates - 23
November 13 - Violet Craig - 23
November 19 - Jackson Chase - 14
November 29 -  Emma Lloyd - 43
November 29 - Audrey Sutton - 43

Anniversaries:
November 10 - Bryant and Madison Craig - 11 years

***

December 2032 - Pine Hollow, North Carolina

Emily Smith feels like she's getting bigger and bigger every day. It's only her second trimester, but if you asked her she'd tell you that she's been pregnant FOREVER and she's getting to the point she can barely move even her arms already and how much longer will this all last?

She's a bit overly dramatic her mom tells her, but it still gets her plenty of attention from Caleb, who feels like he needs to be right there to take care of every little thing she asks for because this whole unplanned situation is his fault. Even though, you know, Emily was there too when this baby was conceived and she had no protest to those moments together, so it was her own decision in the moment that created this baby. But she won't tell Caleb that. If he wants to feel like he owes her the world at her feet because he got her pregnant then she'll go along with it and enjoy being spoiled.

But her parents aren't exactly spoiling her. They were not happy when she told them the news. It's not that they don't want another grandchild, it's just that they hadn't planned for their youngest child to get pregnant while in college.

"I think they should come back and move in with us," Zane tells Belinda one afternoon. The fall semesters at Foxbury Institute and University of Britechester have ended, and so Caleb and Emily have both come home for Christmas. But even though he knows what has happened between them away at college--it's obvious with the evidence of Emily's pregnancy--he still insists that while they're not legally married Emily stays with her parents and Caleb stays with his rather than the two of them living in one room together at one of those houses.

"They need to get married and come back here and we can help them raise the baby while they go to community college or online classes," Zane goes on.

"Caleb wants to stay and get his degree," Emily says. "He's not coming back here and missing out on college life."

Zane raises his eyebrows as he looks back at her. "And how does he expect to not miss out on this 'college life'?" He uses his fingers to make quote marks when he says that. "He'll be at home helping you with the baby whenever he's not in class."

Emily doesn't say anything else. This wasn't how she had planned to spend her first winter break between semesters while she was in college. And this wasn't how Zane had planned to spend his fiftieth birthday.

When Emily leaves, Zane gets up to go get ready for a dinner out with Zared and Carol to celebrate. Belinda looks over at him and says, "You could be a bit more understanding of Emily and what she's going through. She needs her dad to help look out for her during all of this."

Zane sighs. "Seeing my little girl pregnant at eighteen while in college is harder than I ever thought it would be. Happy fiftieth to me, right?"

Birthdays:
December 1 - Todd Gates - 45
December 3 - Logan Gates-Watson - 43
December 11 - Bryant Craig - 37
December 18 - Raven Craig - 7
December 20 - Zane Smith - 50
December 20 - Zared Smith - 50
December 26 - Chelsea Gates - 43

Anniversaries:
December 15 - Logan and Shelley Gates-Watson - 25 years

—————————

Kat and Yori walking together like they’re holding hands was their own doing! I just told them both to walk toward the water. They lined up like that on their own.