Hello, hello! This is my story about Lillian and Cam's daughter, Violet. Technically, this is a sequel to my most recent fic, Lillian's Tale of Two Towns. If you've read that one then awesome! If you haven't then that's okay because this one stands on its own with a whole new cast of characters. Either way, I had a little more story left in me when that story was done and this is the result. Here we go!
"You're really doing it, aren't you?" Marissa spoke with a resigned sigh as she helped me grab the ridiculously heavy suitcase and bring it down the steps next to the other ones.
"Mmm-hmm. I'm going home," I replied, out of breath as I carefully sat my last piece of luggage down and watched her do the same on her end. We took a step back and I let out a sigh. Yep, I was doing it. I was going home. I hadn't been home in about three years. It was a strange realization to come to as I stood there waiting for the taxi to show up. On the downside, there were many people I had really missed throughout the years. On the upside, at least, I'd had the opportunity to spend plenty of time with my grandfather since he lived in the same city.
"You're crazy," she informed me with a shake of her head. "Violet, you have everything going for you here."
Marissa was right. I did. I lived in a great apartment. I had a great job. I had great friends. But. . .This wasn't Bluebell. It wasn't Konohana, either, for that matter.
Marissa wasn't done talking and snapped me out of my musings. "And you're giving this all up!" She threw her hands up in the air and motioned around the general area. "You're giving it up for milking cows and eating pie."
"Hey. Don't knock my mom's pie. You haven't tried it," I said, lifting an eyebrow in amusement.
She looked a little panicked then. "I-I'm not insulting your mom's pie. I'm sure it is delicious, Vi. And your mother is a wonderful person. And your father is. . ." At that, she got a dreamy little look on her face.
"Ewwww! Come on, Marissa. You know I hate it when you do that," I exclaimed as I smacked her arm.
The first time she'd met my parents, she'd quickly become infatuated with the tall, reserved, handsome man that also happened to be my father. I was fully aware that my father was attractive. Oh who was I kidding? My dad was a hottie! But I certainly didn't want my friends panting over him. Yuck. . .
"Sorry, sorry!" she told me, looking anything but apologetic before she got back on track. "But really? Do you know what you're doing?"
I knew what she meant. Here I was, a successful and independent young woman who was leaving the city to return to the middle of nowhere and working on a farm. To an outsider, somebody who didn't know that kind of life, it was a crazy notion. To me, though, it made perfect sense.
I left for college when I was eighteen. My heart was set on going to school to study art and my parents didn't try to stop me. Well, my father was certainly less than pleased with the idea of his little girl going away, but he accepted it. And my mom. . .She had always been about letting me be my own person and make my own decisions. She told me that if I wanted to go away and become an artist then to follow that dream. She told me that if I wanted to stay and work on the family farm, then that would be fine. But she made it abundantly clear that whatever I did would be my choice and she that she would understand and accept it.
So that's what I did. I left home and went away to school. At first, I did what many other college students did and I went home during breaks. The summer right before my senior year, though, I got offered an amazing internship that I could not turn down so I didn't make it home that summer. When I graduated, that internship turned into an amazing job offer that I couldn't turn down. Work happened. Life happened. And before I knew it, three years passed without me going home. My family had visited me, but I hadn't had the time to visit them. Now, though, I was doing more than visiting. I was going home for good.
"I know what I'm doing, Marissa. Don't make that face at me. I do. Look, I don't want to lose our friendship. If you ever feel up to it then you can always come visit me in the middle of nowhere. If you don't want to, then you could always write! The mail carrier will. . ."
"Wow," she cut me off at that. "You really do live out in the boonies, don't you?" I knew that the notion of being cut off from so much technology was a foreign one to her, but it was the way I had grown up and it didn't bother me one bit. She shot me an incredulous look as the taxi came into view. I saw her shoulders drop in defeat as she let out another sigh. "I don't want to lose our friendship either, Vi. I-I don't. . ." She drew in a shaky breath and then shook her head. "We'll make it work, okay? And if I have to walk through knee-high grass to make it to your front door then I will."
I laughed at that, wiping a few tears away before I managed to lose it completely.
"Violet Drayton?" the taxi driver asked as he came to a stop along the curb.
"That's me," I assured him before he got out and made quick work of getting my suitcases in the trunk. He managed most of them with an ease that had Marissa and I feeling like weaklings. Apparently I had been gone from the farm for too long and needed a little manual labor to toughen me back up. The driver did struggle a little on the heaviest one, though, so that made us feel a little better.
"Well, this is it," Marissa said before opening up her arms. "Get over here, you."
She hugged me tightly and I hugged her back, knowing that this moment really was bittersweet. "I'll miss you, M."
"I'll miss you, too," she told me before taking a step back. "Now get outta here before I change my mind and drag you back up those steps."
I climbed into the back of the cab and waved from the window. She waved back and the next thing I knew the city was blurring by me.
Yep, I knew she thought I was insane. I couldn't blame her for thinking that. Other people who graduated with me would have killed for the job I had recently given up. And now somebody who wanted it much more than I did would be lucky enough to get it. That was more fair than somebody whose heart was only halfway in it having the position, right?
The taxi driver had given me a shocked look in the rear-view mirror when I told him where I wanted to go, but he didn't argue with me. He probably thought I was crazy, too, but since he was a stranger he didn't voice it as he drove me out of the city. The city. It was a whole other world from the one I had been born and raised in. There were so many people packed into so many places with so many smells, not all of which were good mind you. And everybody was always rushing here and there without so much as a kind greeting to give one another. At heart, though, I always had been and always would be a country girl. Originally from a quaint and beautiful town by the name of Bluebell, I was used to something completely different from the city.
Fresh air. Wide open spaces. A vastly smaller population. People who stopped to say good morning to one another and make pleasant conversation. . .It was something I had sorely missed in the years since I had gone away to college.
I slipped the appropriate amount of money into the cab driver's hand after he helped me take my bags out the trunk.
"Thanks for the ride," I told him, mindful of the manners that my mother had taught me long ago.
"No problem. I figure you must have a pretty good reason for wanting somebody to bring you all the way out in the middle of nowhere," he said as he closed the trunk back up and took the monster suitcase over to the side of the road.
I wheeled the last bag over and smiled. "Yep. I'm going home," I announced as I heard the sound of a horse approaching.
He walked over to the driver's side door and tipped his hat at me. "Well, good luck little lady. Happy homecoming." With that said, he slipped back inside the car and managed to turn around in the narrow space before going back the way he'd come.
I turned around as the distant sound of the horse grew closer and the wheels of the wagon accompanied that sound. I knew what was coming, who was coming, and I started bouncing back and forth on my feet a little as I waited. The wagon finally came into view, along with my parents, and I felt super pumped up as it came to a stop.
My father said nothing as he hopped down from the wagon and scooped me up into his arms, spinning me around in a circle like he did when I was a little girl. I couldn't fight the giggles that escaped me before my feet finally reconnected with the ground.
"Welcome home, baby," my dad said as he kissed the top of my head and squeezed me tight.
"Cam, stop hogging her," my mom admonished as she grew tired of waiting for her turn. He took a step back and let my mom plant herself between us before she proceeded to attempt to squeeze the air and life right out of me. "I've missed you, sweet girl," she told me as I squeezed her back.
I didn't know what made me feel more happy: the scent of flowers that always seemed to cling to my father or the scent of the special perfume my mom had been wearing since before I was born.
"I've missed you guys, too." My voice was kind of muffled since my father had wrapped his arms around the both of us and made it into a group hug. My face was currently in his chest. When we all took a step back I looked around. "Where's Ollie?"
My little brother was currently absent from the little reunion and I didn't see him around anywhere. I hadn't seen him since last winter when they came to visit me and I was eager to get my hands on him.
"He's at home holding down the fort," my mom explained. "Plus, there wasn't enough room for him in the wagon. . ."
I went to the back of the wagon and looked. Sure enough, it was packed full of stuff. In fact, I was starting to wonder if there would be enough room for my luggage back there. Somehow, though, my mom managed to rearrange things enough for my stuff to squeeze in. My dad cast me a curious look when he made it to that monster suitcase of mine and I shrugged my shoulders, trying to be the picture of innocence.
"What do you have in here, Violet? Bricks?" he asked me after he'd hoisted it up and made sure it was securely in place.
"Oh yeah. Bricks. Rocks. Boulders. A ship anchor," I told him as my mom laughed behind me.
He pulled me back toward him and gave me another hug along with another kiss on top of my head. "It's good to have you back. Smart mouth and all. If you don't want to leave ever again then. . ."
My mom elbowed him gently and my dad started tugging at his hat in response. "Cam! She has to pave her own way in life." She turned to me then and shrugged before adding. "Although, if you do want to stay forever and ever, we certainly wouldn't argue with you."
And that was the biggest nudge in any particular direction my mother had ever given me! It was truly a testament to how much they had missed me. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy and super important.
The three of us managed to fit together at the front of the wagon and mom turned around, heading us back the way they'd come from. I felt butterflies floating around in my stomach. I hadn't been home in so long and I wondered what things would be different and what things would be the same. Ugh, maybe I was being a little too dramatic. I mean, Bluebell and Konohana couldn't have changed that much in a few years. They certainly hadn't changed that much throughout all the years I consistently lived here. Feeling more assured and more calm, I sat squished between my parents and enjoyed the ride home.
Seeing that old, familiar gate come into view had me practically bouncing before my mom pulled to the left and started up our driveway. When the farm came into view, it was truly a sight for sore eyes. I saw somebody standing against the front of the house and I hopped out of the wagon before it even came to a stop.
"Ollie!" I said as I launched myself at my little brother. Well, he wasn't so little anymore. I mean, he was sixteen now! And he had long since outgrown me though he wasn't quite as tall as dad was. He was hoping to have one more burst of growth that would get him there, though.
Oliver let out a little "omph" sound as he caught me and managed not to be knocked over. "Geez, Vi. Are you trying to kill me so you can be an only child again?" he joked as he hugged me back and then sat me back on my feet.
"Ha ha, very funny," I said as I stepped back and looked up at him. "Aaaah. Look at you! Stop growing! I need you to go back to being little and small and tiny and itty bitty and. . ."
"I get it," he told me with a flat tone.
"You're not a cute little baby anymore. You're so handsome!" I told him as I pinched his cheeks. "I bet the girls have been lining up, haven't they?"
I watched as a blush crept across his cheeks before he tugged his hat down to hide those emerald eyes of his. He looked so much like dad in that moment that I couldn't suppress my giggle.
"Okay, Violet," my mom cut in. "Stop embarrassing your brother." I could tell that she was thinking the same thing I was, though, since she looked over her shoulder at my dad and flashed him an adoring smile.
"I'm glad you're home. Even if you're a pain," Oliver said before clearing his throat and trying to escape inside.
"I need help with Violet's luggage." My dad's voice stopped him when he was halfway through the door.
Oliver shrugged and finished opening the door, but hurried over to the wagon to help my dad with my suitcases. Mom and I took the last couple and followed them inside.
"Mom, the house looks great!" I told her as I shut the door behind me and glanced around. "When did we get new furniture?"
"Spring of last year. I know I told you when we did it," she replied before slipping through my bedroom door.
Oliver came out my room and swiped at his head, pretending to be exhausted. "What do you have in that bag? Bricks?"
"Bricks. Rocks. Boulders. . ."
"A ship anchor," my dad supplied as he came out. He must have really been in a good mood today! My dad wasn't usually the type to crack jokes. Hearing him do so made me pretty happy.
"Everything but the kitchen sink," my mom threw in as she made her way toward the kitchen where the sink was surely right where it was supposed to be.
I stood there and just let my gaze roam. I couldn't believe I hadn't been home in three years. It wasn't like I was avoiding it or anything. But life just does that to you sometimes. It just gets in the way without you even realizing it and before you know it, time has passed in what can sometimes feel like the blink of an eye. I was here now, though. I was home. And if my life was going to get busy and hectic and interesting again then it would have to happen here because this was where I was going to be.
Disclaimer: This is a disclaimer for the entire story. I do not own Harvest Moon or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I can only lay claim to the original characters and storyline I've created. I am but a humble fan who had a story to tell.