Chapter 18: A New Resident

I looked at the brand new, small, maroon red, schoolhouse.

I had done a good job.

"Mommy. What's that?" Justin asked curiously.

"That's your new school house. You and sissy will be starting school next year, sweet heart." Ariella explained.

Justin hugged Ariella's leg and cried, "But I don't wanna leave you mommy!"

"No. No. Silly." I said as I knelt down and messed up his hair. "You'll just go during the day time, when mommy and daddy are working. Then you'll come home. And it's only five times a week."

"Five times?!" he exclaimed.

"That's out of seven silly." Danielle laughed.

Even though they were twins, Danielle sure did act older…

"Really? I thought it was outta four, since we'll be four next year." Justin said.

Then we all laughed, that boy was a nut!

"Daddy! Who's that?" Danielle asked as she pointed her finger.

I looked at who she was pointing at, it was a young woman.

She had black hair and brown eyes, she had on a long black skirt, and a white dress shirt, and she wore glasses.

She was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Ariella.

"Oh! Hello there." she said surprisingly. I guess she hadn't seen us.

"Hi!" Ariella said happily. "Are you the new resident everyone's talking about?"

"I guess so." She said. "And who might you be."

"I'm Ariella, I'm a farmer. This is Bo, my husband, he's a carpenter." Ariella said.

"Hey!" I said.

"And these our kids, Danielle and Justin. They'll be in this school next year." Ariella finished.

"Hi!" Danielle and Justin chimed.

"Hello." the lady replied.

" So what's your name?" Ariella asked.

"I'm Tanya. The new teacher." She said. "And may I say, I am honored to be in your presence."

"Huh? Why?" Ariella asked.

"You both stayed on this island form the beginning, and stayed here through thick and thin." she said admiringly. "I wish I could do something that brave in my life."

"Really?" Ariella asked.

Just then, Danielle tugged on my shirt. "Can we go play on the new playground daddy?" she asked.

"Sure sweetie." I answered. "YEAH!" they both said happily, and then they ran off to play.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Twenty-three." she answered.

"Then you still have your whole life ahead of you." I said. "Don't feel down yet."

"You both look very young… How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-four, and Bo's…" Ariella began to say.

"Thirty-eight." I interrupted. I looked at her face, and saw she was shocked by the age difference.

I sighed. "We need to get home." I said. "We're expecting Ariella's parents tomorrow. It was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too." Tanya answered.

Then with the children, we went home.

We sent the kids to their room to play, and Ariella started cooking.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING BO?! You don't ask a woman her age! It's rude!" she exclaimed.

"It was just to make a point." I said as I filled Jack's water bowl. "Please don't get upset about this. I don't like it when you're upset."

She calmed down and smiled. "I guess you're right. Sorry I exploded like that."

I gave her a kiss and said, "It's alright. Asking her age probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to do."

I watched her cook, and then told the kids to wash up and come to dinner when it was done.

After dinner, we went to bed. Ariella stayed up and cleaned for a while though.

But she wasn't as bad as Christmas three years ago.

I was glad we could all get along. And I was excited for Akari and Luke to see their grandkids again.