The Ottomas Family - Part VI - Episode II
Being the family matriarch was hard, but rewarding work, and Dora was doing a pretty good job of it, in her own, humble opinion.
The most important part was to be in control, of course, and keep track of everything and everyone, making sure they were doing all right. At the moment, Samantha was the top priority, being pregnant with her sixth child.
The twins were older now, but still a handful, and Dora wanted to make sure Samantha didn't overexert herself when playing with them.
Samantha insisted on spending a lot of time with them, since once the new baby was born, she wouldn't be able to give them as much attention.
Tansy was the spunky one, clever and active. Teesha was more reserved and grumpy, but she showed great interest in her mother's growing belly, which pleased Dora. Tansy seemed rather indifferent about it all, much like her older sister Sharla always had been. Dora didn't know where she'd gone wrong with those two, but she had high hopes for Teesha - maybe she would someday follow in Dora's and Samantha's footsteps.
Then, there was Tommy.
Quiet, little Tommy who had dutifully accepted that he was no longer the centre of attention, and slipped into the background after the arrival of the twins. With another baby on the way, his status in the family wasn't about to improve.
He didn't seem to mind, or at least he didn't complain about it. He found ways to entertain himself instead.
That made it all the more important for the adults to remember that he was there, and to acknowledge it once in a while, even when it was not requested. Dora made her best effort to do so, and at least once a day set aside a minute or two in her busy schedule to ask how his day had been. It was more than what his parents did.
Dora was also the undisputed master cook of the family, and it was usually her who prepared dinner, and often lunch and breakfast as well.
It was the only time of the day she could be sure that Peter would show up. She timed the dinner so that it would be ready when he came home from work.
Dora knew her son was busy with his job, but lately, he had been even more distant than usual, preferring to spend time on his own even when he was at home, and paying very little attention to his kids.
When confronted about it, he would simply shrug and say there had been a lot of stress at work, then go back to watching whatever game was on TV.
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Samantha went into labour late one night, waking the whole house up.
The baby was a healthy, little boy, whom his parents named Melvin.
For Dora, it was - like always - love at first sight.
Certain other members in the family didn't quite share her fascination.
In a way, though, this was a good thing. Sharla was devoting a lot of time to Tommy lately, and the two had gotten very close. It made Dora feel less bad for the both of them. In all the chaos, at least they had each other.
Soon it was time for Tommy's birthday, an event which even brought David home from college so he could attend.
It was obvious that Tommy looked up to his older brother a lot, and through the whole evening he was questioning David endlessly about life at college. He could hardly wait to go himself, but that was still quite a while away.
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Dora and Samantha weren't the only ones fussing over baby Melvin.
Peter was uncharacteristically interested in his newborn son, and even voluntarily did some of the more unpleasant chores, like changing diapers. This convinced Dora that there was definitely something going on, something that wasn't right.
Another sign was the amount of time Peter spent on the phone, talking in a hushed voice. When anyone approached him, he quickly excused himself and hung up, dismissing it as 'work business'.
He was still keeping his distance from the rest of the family. Dora was dismayed. Peter wouldn't talk to her, so she had to figure it out on her own. The only question was how?