The Ottomas Family
Dora Ottomas felt a great sense of pride and satisfaction as she stood with her family in front of their new house in Riverblossom Hills.
It had been her idea, of course. Well, not entirely. Peter was the one who had gotten the job offer from Riverblossom Hills' local newspaper. It seemed like a good opportunity - after all, it was better paid than his job in the city; not to mention that he would get to write about sports, which was his great passion.
Despite this, Peter was not thrilled at the idea of living in such a remote, little town, and neither were David nor Sharla. Dora, however, argued that the fresh country air would do them all good. They could have a big house instead of the cramped apartment they were all trying to fit into in the city, and Peter's greater income was certainly a welcome change. Besides, growing up in the country was good for the kids, she said. And she'd already talked to the local primary school and found out they had openings for both herself and Samantha.
Once she had Samantha convinced, it didn't take long before the decision was made: The Ottomas family was moving to Riverblossom Hills.
They settled in quickly. Dora found great enjoyment in the large, new kitchen - she loved cooking. The kitchen was very much her room, and she liked having it mostly to herself.
Life had not always been kind to Dora. From when she was very young, barely more than a child, she had known she wanted a large family. The only problem was that she could not find anyone to start a family with.
Dora was considered homely at best, though while growing up she had been far worse things than that. It was something she had come to accept. She did have a close circle of friends, did reasonably well at school, and so she decided early on that there was more important things in life than being pretty.
She hadn't predicted that dating would be such a challenge. The older she became, the harder it seemed to get. All her requests for a cup of coffee, a drink at the bar or a dinner and a movie were rejected.
After a while she found out that the men who had already had a few drinks at the bar weren't quite as picky. They may not have wanted to date her, but for a one night stand, they found her to be acceptable. Dora realised that she may not ever get married, so she decided to take the opportunity that was offered to her.
She didn't get the big family she had wanted, but she did get Peter. She never told the unsuspecting father; she had slept with many men and couldn't possibly know which one it was. Besides, she didn't remember any of their names, either. When Peter grew older and started to wonder about it, Dora simply told him he didn't have a father. For a long time, it was just the two of them.
Then along came Samantha, and Peter fell for her. So did Dora. Samantha wanted children - many children, and she made this clear very quickly. For Dora it was a promise that she would finally have the family she had always wished for. Grandchildren. Lots and lots of grandchildren.
She got them. First David, then Sharla, and then little Tommy - and now two more were on the way. It was a dream come true. Dora loved helping out and spending time with them.
In addition to caring for the children, she did most of the work with planning and furnishing the new house, she cooked and cleaned and she worked part-time as a substitute teacher at Riverblossom Hills primary school.
It was at times exhausting for an aging lady, but with Samantha heavily pregnant and Peter busy with his new job, it was the least she could do. Anything for her family.
Every night she went to bed content. It hadn't always been easy, but all in all, things hadn't turned out too bad for Dora Ottomas. Not at all.
-----
All in all, Peter had nothing in his life he could complain about. Not really.
He had a nice house, a good job and a loving family. What more could a man ask for?
So his dream of being a star athlete hadn't quite worked out. What did it matter? Maybe he wasn't exactly writing for the greatest and most popular newspaper ever, but he was writing about what he loved the most, and how many could claim they had a job that they truly enjoyed? Sure, most of what he wrote was about the local school teams, but he did get in many good articles about the big events around the country, too. At least every other week or so. He kept himself updated; never missed a game. Not when it was shown on one of the TV stations available locally, anyway. He was sure a promotion or at least a bonus was just around the corner, he just needed to be patient. He was still new, after all.
The important thing was that he could provide for his family. Peter loved them more than anything and wanted them to have the best.
As a famous football player, he might have had a new woman every week, but how could that compare to the loving relationship he had with his wife? It had perhaps not been all flames and fireworks, but Samantha was a kind, caring, beautiful (or at least reasonably pretty) woman and she loved Peter. What could be more important than that? Besides, his mother approved of her. He was so glad the two of them had such a good relationship, that they hadn't become characters of one of those mother-in-law horror stories he kept hearing from friends and colleagues.
Samantha was always there for him. Of course, her time had become somewhat limited lately with so many kids to care for. And with her ever progressing pregnancy, he knew that soon, she would be too tired to spend much time with him in bed, too. That was understandable. She was having twins, after all. His twins. He could never imagine being so ungrateful as to be upset when she couldn't keep up with his needs. Children were a lot of work, and everyone had to make sacrifices. He knew that.
Peter loved his children. It might not have been his idea to have quite this many, but still, he loved them all. He hoped that one of them might pick up on his own love for sports; maybe even make it to the top one day. But then they would have to start early. That was the only way to really get good. That's where Peter had gone wrong, he hadn't started early enough. His mother had no interest in sports. Maybe if he had had a father around, who could have pushed him in the right direction... None of that mattered, though, it was his children who were important now.
David had already gone down a different path. Music was everything to him, and he had never been more than moderately interested in any kind of sport. To Peter it had been a disappointment, but there was no use forcing the issue.
And Sharla... well, Sharla was a girl. It wasn't that Peter loved her any less for that, or that he was sexist. Sharla was full of energy, she loved playing ball with her dad and she never sat still.
It was just that the world was sexist. Who really cared about girl football? Things were getting better, of course. There were actual women's teams now, who did play professionally. Such a thing hardly existed when he was a child. Even so, it was not what most people wanted to watch or read about. Maybe for Peter's grandchildren it would be different, but right now? Not so much.
That left little Tommy, who was still too young to understand much about ballgames or anything else. Peter figured that if he got in a good dose of influence right from the start, maybe got Tommy into one of the junior teams once he was a little older, then there might be a chance.
So, Peter made sure to spend time with Tommy at least for a short while every day. He was almost surprised at how much he enjoyed it; with David it had seemed like so much work, and with Sharla, he had opted out of almost all of it while she was a toddler (he was just so busy with work at the time). However, with Tommy, it seemed like he had found a good balance. Playing with and caring for the little boy made Peter's day a little brighter.
As long as he could leave the more unpleasant tasks to others. After all, Peter had a job to focus on and important games to watch, and his mother was more than happy to help.
So Peter couldn't complain. Wouldn't complain. There was nothing to complain about.
-----
Samantha had considered herself very lucky the day she first met Dora Ottomas, the mother of the man in her life. Peter was handsome and charming with a decent income, and she already felt quite certain he was the one for her, but once she and Dora became friends, she was completely convinced. To have a mother-in-law with the same aspirations, dreams and hopes as herself - it couldn't be more perfect. When Peter asked - shortly after they got married - if it was all right if his mother lived with them, Samantha never even considered saying no. Why would she? That way, they'd always have a free baby-sitter, too!
The constant doting had been flattering at first, then amusing, then mildly annoying.
It eventually felt like Samantha couldn't have two minutes to herself without Dora by her side; warning her to be careful with the stairs, careful with lifting heavy things, careful to eat right, sleep right, not strain herself, not sit still too long, and so on and so forth.
Once David was born, Dora diverted most of her attention to her first grandchild. So much, at times, that Samantha felt left out. It was her baby, after all. When she became pregnant again, though, she figured that Dora would leave her more alone this time, since she had been through it before and there already was a child to focus on. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. Dora was, if possible, even worse than she'd been the first time, and it repeated itself during Samantha's third pregnancy, and now, during her fourth.
With time, Samantha got used to it. It didn't mean that she particularly liked it, but she accepted that it was something she would just have to live with. She had let Dora into their home, and there was no denying that the old woman had done a lot for them; so much more than anyone could ask of her.
Besides, Samantha had to admit that sometimes, it was nice to have someone to take the kids off her hands. Being pregnant with twins was understandably harder on her body than the previous three pregnancies had been. Peter was usually busy with work, and David, while he tried to help out, also had his own life with school, homework and a part-time job. Sharla - while she was old enough to mostly look after herself now - was still too young to help out much. So, quite often, it was Dora who took care of Tommy.
This allowed Samantha to spend some time in her garden, something which she loved to do. In the city, all she was able to grow was a few potted plants, but here, in their new house with its very large yard, there was room for all the plants she could ever want. She hoped to someday fill it all up with flowers, fruit and vegetables, but for now, she had enough with her apple trees and tomato plants. Gardening was hard work, and she couldn't do it for long before Dora told her to stop and come inside, to think of herself and the babies.
Samantha did worry that with so much going on, her children would grow up without her noticing. Especially little Tommy. They grew so fast at that age, and Samantha was worried she would miss it. Things like his first step, or his first word. Dora had already stolen away several moments like that. Tommy's first smile. Sharla's first, stuttering 'mama'. David's first, spectacular, bumbling run across the living room floor. It wasn't fair. But Samantha never said anything about it. She didn't want to sound ungrateful. Didn't want to stir up any trouble.
Still, it did become increasingly obvious to her that she would have to be careful, and it was not about what she ate or about lifting heavy things, but about Dora becoming more of a mother to her children than she herself was. With the twins' arrival in mind, it was now more important than ever.