Hello, all! How lovely it is to be back with an update. It should have come sooner. I know. I know, but between work and all other hell that's been unleashed upon my household, I haven't had the energy to write anything at all. But, I promised I would be back, and I think that last chapter ended on a juicy enough note to hold you over, right? Either way, here is a sneak peek of the next chapter of, "Little Evie, You're Something Special."

Tell me how you find it!

Fourth of July, 2022

Fitz, Mellie and the children flew out to South Carolina that year to stay at the Pritchard family's old lakehouse for the fourth of July. The place had been kept in excellent condition. Mellie's Grandpa Robbie and Grandma Maybelle had built the place together with their own two hands in 1936. It was a square lakehouse, four stories high, with a creamy eggshell paint job and navy blue shutters. The interior of the house on the lake had a rustic, mahogany colour and smell. The front lawn was thick and a bit overgrown with common weeds. No one had ever bothered to mow it after Grandpa Robbie passed away in 1989. The house was classically furnished with very little upgrades made, except the basement now doubled as both a storage space for canned tomatoes and half-century old Spam and a game room for the kids. Fitz and Mellie's master bedroom was a huge, white space with a four post white bed, flat screen tv and sliding doors that lead to the deck outside overlooking the lake. They still hadn't made the upgrade to a wireless internet connection. The requirements couldn't be met in a place so secluded, so if any of them wanted to use the computer, they they were out of luck. When Mellie informed the younger kids of this, Teddy and Evelyn argued that there would be absolutely nothing for them to do without their laptops and ipads. When Mellie suggested that they leave them at home, ten year old Teddy scoffed. They brought along the ipads tablets anyway.

In the middle of the circular lawn, an immense weeping willow slumped amongst the weeds. Mellie and her sister Harmony used to climb the branches and swing from them in the summers. They'd run around the house playing pretend. There was a big, friendlier breed of magnolia tree growing beside the house, its branches daring so close Mellie could reach out of her window and yank one inside.

The house overlooked the clear water and was totally secluded from the rest of the world. In the summers, everything was slow moving and quiet. The days edged on, still, like the lake.

All three cars pulled up to the driveway. Karen brought along Michael, her newest boyfriend, taller than the last, less pretentious than the one before. They met in Karen's Psych class the year before and were inseparable.

Gerry pulled up with his very serious new girlfriend, Siobhan, who was oddly quiet at times, but nice enough. She rarely complained about anything, really. Plain and normal was written all about her. She wore forest green Chocos and her dirty blonde hair was gathered into one solid french braid down her back. Gerry loved most how smart Siobhan was, and kind.

The ride down had gone smoothly. Fitzgerald, Mellie, Teddy and Evie all rode down together in the same car. Fitz drove while Mellie rode shotgun. Mellie was craning her neck every now and again to make sure her kids were still alive in the back seats. Their heads were tucked so far into their tablets and other devices that each pair of eyes had begun to glaze over.

The house was classically furnished with very little upgrade made, except the basement now doubled as both a storage space for cans of tomatoes and century old spam and a game room for the kids. Fitz and Mellie's master bedroom was huge white space with a four post bed, flat screen TV and sliding doors that lead to the deck outside overlooking the lake.

With eight people and the dog in the lakehouse, it was sure to be a crowded weekend.

"Well, here we are, guys." Karen observed, her eyes squinted in the sun, "What do you think?"

Evie and Teddy rolled their eyes in sync and wheeled their bags to the front porch.

"They don't seem too thrilled to be out here." Michael said, concerned.

"They're just a little wiped out from the drive, I think. Once they get a solid nap in, I'm sure they'll be fine." she said with a smile. She wrapped her arm around Michael's waist, "Come on, I want to show you my old room."