Chapter 49: Dealing with Loss

Winterfest morning Christmas wakes up with a spring in her step. Her babies are coming home today! Christmas has always loved Winterfest, the lights, the presents, the food... but most of all having her family around her. With Link and Harmony no longer living in town, she doesn't see them as often as she'd like, even if she speaks to them often, but today both will be home for her to spoil. 

The day start with the family decorating the tree. One of Christmas' favorite things about Winterfest. 

When the tree is decorated, the presents are brought out and the food cooked, people finally start arriving. Christmas rush to hug Harmony as she steps through the door. 

And happily watch the family as they sit down to eat. The family is too big to fit around the only table, but they spread to sofas or just stand and eat when possible. 

For Amity the highlight is the presets. 

But for Christmas it's the time she gets to spend with Harmony and Link. 

She had hoped that Harmony would return home for a while now during Christmas, but with Rory's death, she has decided to stay in Oasis Springs with Sandy for a while longer. To keep her company. Her mother cannot really complain about that. 

And Sandy has changed a bit after Rory's death. At work she's started taking part in active space flights, even if she's really too old for those things. When her family try to convince her to slow down, she just shakes her head.
"Why? I'm not getting any younger, and if I want to see what is out there the time is now. And I really have no one to stay safe for. I'll keep going until they carry me off the ships." 

Harmony doesn't say so, but she has to admit that her great aunt is fairly cool as she heads off into space again. 

And she's amazed that Sandy managed to pull some strings to give her access to SpaceY's facilities, at least the library and big telescope. Harmony is getting so many ideas of children's stories being here. 

But as the year is nearing its end, Harmony gets some horrible news. Her grandfather, Lawrence, has passed away! 

She's so upset about it that she misses her deadline. The client isn't at all happy with her.

As the family gathers back home in San Sequoia, she couldn't really care less about a stupid marketing assignment. She's come to the conclusion that freelance writing might not be what she wants to do. Then again, right now she really doesn't want to do anything. 

And so she focus on her family instead as she gather in Hopewell hills, and bury her grandfather there. Somehow the family has been given permission to bury him close to the famous big tree stump, underneath another beautiful tree. 

Jamie tries to convince his mother to come stay with them, but she refuses to leave her home, and so Alice offers to move in with their mother instead, with her fiancé. That their mother can accept, as the thought of the empty house just makes her cry. But it's not the only conversation about living arrangements being had here. Because Link has a suggestion for his sister. Halfway to adulthood, he's grown tired of living in someone else's garage, but he also can't afford a place of his own, not in Brindleton Bay. 

"But perhaps together we can afford a house," he suggests. Harmony isn't sure, it means giving up on her dream of moving from place to place, but she'd have lots of time to work on her writing... 

"I'll think about it," she promises. After all, it's nothing she needs to commit to this early. 

Returning to Brindleton Bay after the funeral feels lonely. The Ritters are wonderful people, but he misses his family and things are a bit too quiet with just the two elderly people around. New Years Eve is spent in front of the TV. It's quite nice, in a quiet sort of way, but far from the life Link wants to live at this point in his life.