Hello everyone! The delay was due to my busy week, I attended a concert and started a new writing gig and just got wrapped up in my work. Thank you for the messages and follows! You are all so sweet. This chapter is kind of interesting and will be back on track in the next one to the present! Enjoy!
[and p.s I'm not British so I may not get the dialogue correct, sorry!]
6
Jemma Simmons was enjoying a breezy summer day by rocking back and forth lazily on the swing her father had put up on the willow tree overlooking the pond. Their yard was lovely, the typical bucolic English countryside oasis everyone outside of England pictured when they thought of England's rural areas.
Akin to the house was their small farm and livestock paddock. Jemma had spent all morning assisting the veterinarian checking up on the animals. The veterinarian was new, as the previous veterinarian who looked after her family's stock had just passed away. This new veterinarian, Dr. Provost, was around the same age as her parents and had just moved to town with his young family. He was vastly intrigued by Jemma's intelligence, that such a young girl was diagnosing the animals alongside him.
"I may have to bring my Roman around here, she may be a good influence for him," Dr. Provost joked to Jemma's father.
Jemma's father smiled, beaming at his daughter who was looking deep into the ears of a cow with an ear infection.
"She's gets it all from her Mum. Say, Jemma could use a playmate, bring your boy around anytime," her father replied. The two men made plans to have tea later and introduce their children.
Jemma was now on the swing waiting for the doctor and his son to arrive. She was homeschooled and at this point hadn't met many children her age. She was nervous, but confident, she had never known any difference.
Soon her mother's voice rang out into the air, calling her in for tea and biscuits. Jemma kicked her feet back and forth gaining momentum on the swing until at the optimal point she jumped off. She rang into the house, her pigtails flying behind her.
"Hello, Mum!" Jemma said cheerfully. She immediately went to wash her hands in the kitchen sink. Jemma's mother was setting pastries on the table. There were voices coming from the front of the house, Dr. Provost and his son has just arrived it seemed.
Jemma assisted her mother with the last few touches to the table and sat down just as her father entered with their guests. Mrs. Simmons gushed over the little boy standing at Dr. Provost's heels. He had unruly blonde hair and a kind of smile that Jemma could only describe much later in her life as devilish.
After being introduced and having their teas, the parents ushered the children outside to play while they talk shop.
Roman and Jemma raced to the swing, Jemma getting their first having known the way of the land better.
Roman, bitter, shoved her off the swing and jumped on top of it.
"You'll never win against me!" he proudly touted as Jemma looked up from the ground. Jemma didn't cry. She got back on to her two feet, brushed herself off and realized Roman would be a good friend for her to have.
"Do you like gross things, Roman?" Jemma asked.
"What do you know about gross things?" he huffed, a tinge of arrogance in his voice.
"I've been dissecting a squirrel in my mum's lab, would you like to see it Roman?"
Roman followed her back to the garage-like building close to the house. Computers and all sorts of machinery and science instruments lined every tabletop and shelf.
Jemma brought him into a smaller side room; they were greeted by the smell of decomposition and embalming liquids. Roman gagged.
From that point on, and many years to come, Roman would be by her side, fascinated by the little girl who had a firm grip on a scalpel and a thirst for adventure.