The Splashys´new arrival

Dear Readers,

It has been five years since Glenn and Amanda Splashy announced they were expecting a baby.

As far as I know, the gestation period for otters is about eight months so Amanda should be in the "Sylvania Guinness Book of Records". The good news is that , after such a long pregnacy,Glenn and Amanda are finally going to become parents.

So without further ado, here is the story. I hope you like it.

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It was lunch time. Amanda had to make a big effort to stand up from the sofa where she had been lying all morning.She wasn´t really hungry but she knew she should have something to eat. She felt tired and had back pain so she only had enough energy to heat up a canned soup.

She was about to pour the soup into the pot when Glenn got home. As soon as he looked at his wife he knew there was something wrong.

 

"How are you, love? Are you OK?" 

"I´m not feeling my best, Glenn. I hardly got any sleep last night and have a terrible pain in my back.I even got some cramps and I had to lie down.

"Do you mean con... contractions?". Glenn remembered reading about symptons of labor and he couldn´t help feeling excitement mixed with panic and fear. 

"I´m not sure Glenn, but they could be.I´m very close to the baby´s due date."

 

Glenn was a bundle of nerves but he tried to put on a brave face.

"Make yourself comfortable,honey.Put your feet up and I´ll bring you a cup of tea right now.You just relax while I cook your favourite fish recipe.Some comfort food will make you feel better.You´ll see".

Glenn had just put the fish in the oven when Amanda let out a little cry of pain. "Ouch!"

"Glenn, the baby is coming!" We have to go to the hospital right now! OUCH!

"Everything is going to be OK,Mandy" "Let´s go." 

Glenn was terrified but he tried his best to look confident in order to reassure and support his wife.

They left their home straight away. Glenn didn´t even take off his apron. There was no time to waste.

The Splashys had thought ahead and had everything planned for their baby´s arrival .They even had the foresight to rent a car a few weeks ago to drive to the hospital.

"Ouch!Speed up Glenn or our baby will be born in the car!"

Glenn started sweating as he pictured the scene in his mind so he put his foot down.

"We´re nearly there! "There´s nothing to worry about".

Amanda was putting into practice the breathing techniques  she learned at the prenatal lessons to help her calm down. As most first-time mothers she couldn´t help feeling a bit fearful but at the same time she felt confident. She was so excited! At last she was going to be able to hold her baby or babies. You know about the hunch she had a few months ago.

"Just a short ride and we´ll be at the hospital, love!"

All of a sudden,there was a thumping sound from the car and then the steering wheel started shaking but luckily Glenn managed to stop the car without mishaps.

Glenn and Amanda were shaking too! They had a bad scare!

Glenn got off the car to see what was wrong.

"THAT´S THE LAST STRAW!" "A punctured tire! 

"We can´t run the risk of driving to the hospital with a flat tire!".

Glenn didn´t want to leave Amanda on her own but he had to look for help. The sooner the better.

"I´ll be right back,Mandy"."Keep breathing and don´t push!

"You should take some deep breaths too, Glenn! Hurry up and come back soon.I don´t know how much longer the baby can wait to be born!"

After walking for a while, hoping to find someone who could give them a ride to the hospital, Glenn was relieved when he saw The Cottontails who were returning home after selling their produce at the Farmers´Market.

Glenn explained what happened and asked Aaron and Sorrel for help.

Glenn was very nervous and worried about his wife.

Sorrel tried her best to calm him down.

"Everything is going to be OK,Glenn. We´ll arrive at the hospital in a short while."

"Mandy, I´m here, honey! The Cottontails will take us to the hospital!" Glenn shouted when they were approaching the car.

Amanda's lack of response caused both Glenn and the Cottontails to get out of the cart and run to the car as fast as they could.

"AMANDA´S GONE"! Glenn exclaimed in despair. And those shopping bags? What kind of joke is that? Where is my wife?"He cried.

Glenn was about to have a panic attack.

"Calm down, Glenn.This is Sylvania. Nothing bad could have happened to Amanda.You´ll see." Aaron tried to reassure him."

Mildred Mulberry who was riding her motorcycle,stopped when she saw Glenn and The Cottontails.

She got off her motorcycle and, seeing Glenn´s worried face, went straight to talk to him.

"Don´t worry, Glenn! Amanda is fine! She´s already in the hospital"

"Thank goodness! Thanks a million, Mrs. Mulberry" Glenn sighed in relief.

Mildred briefly explained what had happed.

"I was on my way back home after doing the shopping when I saw a car stopped in the middle of the road. I honked the horn several times but the car didn´t pull away."

"I got off the motorcycle and, as soon as I saw Amanda,I knew there was no time to waste." 

"I left the shopping bags in the car and Amanda sat in the sidecar."

"Then we headed to the hospital. I even saw her smile,Glenn."

(A little aside to tell you that Barbara Dale, who was also pregnant, has already had her twins, Sean and Shona,a couple of months ago.)

Glenn thanked Mildred for the umpteenth time for taking Amanda to the hospital

"It was my pleasure, Glenn. I´m glad I was able to help. And now hurry up! Your wife and your little one will want you by their side".

Cinnamon, the Cottontail´s pony, run faster than ever so they made it to the hospital in a few minutes. She was given a treat for galloping so fast.

As soon as they entered the hospital, Glenn, who was a bundle of nerves, asked nurse Brie how Amanda was doing.

Brie told him that everything was under control and that the baby was about to be born.

Glenn got even more anxious and said he wanted to see his wife.

"I don´t think it´s a good idea,Mr.Splashy. You´re pretty stressed out, because of everything you have been through today. I think you'd better wait until the doctor says you can come into the room." Brie advised.

Glenn , instead of following Brie´s advice , walked into the delivery room.

"Mr. Splashy, are you OK?. You don´t look well?" Nurses Brie and Mary realized straight away he was not well when they saw him turning pale.

Luckily, Brie reacted fast and prevented Glenn from falling.

"I feel a bit dizzy" He muttered. 

Meanwhile, in the delivery room, Amanda was so concentrated in breathing and pushing during labor that she was anaware of what happened to his husband. 

"Congratulations!Here is your daughter, Amanda".Mary handed her the baby. She was a lovely and healthy baby girl. Amanda felt like the happiest otter in Sylvania!

Although she was still in pain, her smile lit up her face when she was able to hold her baby in her arms.

Suddenly, she let out a moan of pain. Another little baby was being born.

"Breath in, then out gently and push. You´re doing very well, Amanda" Doctor Murdoch said while he was holding the baby´s  little head.

Amanda´s hunch turned to be true!

 

In the meantime,Brie was taking care of Glenn in the waiting room. She checked his blood pressure.It was low.

Glenn was beginning to regain his colour after the dizziness and felt a bit better but his stomach was rumbling with hunger.

"When was the last time you had something to eat, Mr. Splashy? Brie asked.

"Actually, I just had breakfast quite early in the morning. I was preparing lunch when we had to head to the hospital"

"No wonder you fainted!.Your glucose level must be at an all-time low. Besides, stress, strong emotions and lack of food are not a good combination.

Come on! Take a valerian pill, drink some juice and have something to eat. You need to be back on your feet to meet your new born."

Glenn followed Brie´s advice and felt much better.

Clarise was glad to see he was fine.

"Congratulation on your babies, Mr. Splashy" Clarise exclaimed with joy. Amanda is looking forward to seeing you."

"Ba...ba...babies...did you say babies? Glenn stammered.

"Yes, you heard right .They´re lovely! Ready to meet them?"

"Of course, I am!I can´t wait!"

Glenn took of his apron  and went straight to the room where his wife and the babies were. "I´m a father" he said to himself .These words made him feel thrilled and courageous.

When he entered the room he smiled broadly at his wife.

The nurses stood behind him  in case he fainted again.

This time was different,seeing his wife with their newborn children made him feel like the proudest and happiest sea otter in Sylvania. He had just become a father!

"Congratulations,Glenn" Doctor Murdoch said.

 

"You have a very strong and brave wife and healthy and lovely babies."

The doctor and nurses left the room and let Glen and Amanda enjoy the joy of finally becoming parents after such a long pregnancy.

"Remember my hunch, Glenn?"

"Yes, of course I do".

"I actually thought we were having twins, but we had triplets"

Glenn looked at Amanda tenderly and said:"Triple the joy, my love. triple the joy".

Hearing Glenn´s kind words made Amanda feel luckier and happier than ever.

The adventure of parenthood was off to a great start for the Splashy family.

A special World Book Day

 

Dear Readers:

The challenge prompt for the month of April in the Sylvanian Families Collectors Community was:

Challenge #4: Books, Writing & Poetry


April is a month for literary celebrations! World Book Day will be taking place 23 April and the entire month has been designated as Poetry Month. Help your Sylvanians have enjoy a month of exploring poetry, books and writing!

You are more than welcome to any aspect or form of literature, reading or writing that you like.

Make an item or items, photograph a scene, write a story or do whatever inspires you to create a project around the Books, Writing & Poetry theme!

Here is my contribution for this challenge. Hope you like it.

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Every year on April 23rd, Sylvanians celebrate World Book Day.

In Sweet Berry Valley, this day is a long-standing tradition of gifting books to loved ones and friends.

Newly purchased books, preloved books and even hand-written stories are appreciated gifts on World Book Day.

Besides music and travel, reading is also one of Peter and Peace's hobbies.

The truth is that Peace has always been an avid reader but Peter read only once in a while and never really got hooked on any book. However, last year on World Book Day,following the tradition, Rockie, Peter's brother, gave him a book that changed his attitude towards reading.

It was “The Sighting” by Stephen Keats. Peter had never read thrillers , mystery or horror novels before. Crime, evil and violence don´t exist in Sylvania so at first Peter was a bit shocked but soon after he was hooked.

Peace is a bit sensitive to dark and scary content but she is happy that her boyfriend has taken up reading.

They go to the library together and when they travel they love to go into the bookstores and browse through the books.

Peter has even taken to writing. Lately he spends time in front of a notebook. Who knows, maybe he will end up writing his own novel.

A few days ago, Peter was reading the newspaper when he came across a piece of news that made his day.

“Peace! Stephen Keats has just released a new book!" He said excitedly.

"It's called Molly and the plot is promising. Another page-turner!"

"It says it's available now in the major bookstores in Sylvania but I'm afraid it will take ages to get to the library.” He said resignedly.

Peace was happy. This would be the perfect book to give Peter on World Book Day.

That same afternoon she went to the Country Market, since there is no bookstore in Sweet Berry Valley, it is one of the best places to buy or order books.

During the month of April Carol and Arthur provide a large space  in the store to display books.

Peace figured it would be hard to find but hoped they could at least order it.

"I'm sorry Peace but I'm afraid we won't be able to have it on time for World Book Day”. New releases take time to get to villages and as we don´t own a proper bookshop we aren´t in direct contact with publisher´s”

Peace was a bit disappointed. She wanted to gift Peter with a book he was really looking forward to reading. She could always go back to the Country Market and buy any other thriller but she was determined to try to get Stephen Keat´s new book.

The first thing that she did was phone several bookstores in Sylvania. Some of them hadn´t received the book yet, others only have some copies available and didn´t send books by mail and a couple of bookshops offered to post the book but didn´t guarantee it would arrive on time due to some postal service issues in their area.

On her way home,Peace met Tanya, Peter´s oldest sister. Peace told her about the book she wanted to get for Peter.

“Why don´t you call your sister? She lives in the Big City, doesn´t she? I´m sure she won´t find it hard to buy the book there.She can post it by express delivery and it would be here in a few days.” Tanya said

“You´re right, Tanya!.That´s a great idea! Thanks a million!"

Peace went back to the phone box. She dialed her sister´s number and waited impatiently for her to answer.

“Hi Hope, how are you doing, sis?"

"Not too bad, Peace,How about you?"

Peace talked to her sister for a while before telling her about the main reason for her phonecall.

“Look, Hope, I would love it if you could do me a favour.I´d like to buy a book for Peter but so far I haven´t been able to find it anywhere.I guess bookstores in Town will have new releases”

“What book is it?” Hope asked.

“Molly by Stephen Keats. I´m not a fan of his books but Peter loves them.Have you heard about him?”

“Of course, I have! It´s actually one of my favourite writers!”

“Are you serious?You never told me about it” Peace was thrilled to hear that.

“You´re in luck, sis! Tomorrow he´ll be signing books in the bookshop of the Grand Department Store and I won´t miss the chance to meet him in person and get a signed book.

I´ll buy another one for Peter and I´ll post it as soon as possible”.

"Oh, Hope!You brightened up my day! Thanks a lot!"

After talking to her sister, Peace felt over the moon.She knew Peter was going to be delighted.

As soon as she left the telephone box, Peace met postman Pete.

“Hi Pete! Good to see you! I´ll be getting a parcel from Town in a few days.Please,if I´m not at home don´t hand it to Peter. It´s his gift for World Book Day and I don´t want the surprise to be spoiled.”

“No worries, Peace!I´ll make sure you get the parcel yourself. I´ll deliver it to you as soon as it arrives.”

The parcel arrived even earlier than Peace expected. Peter was upstairs concentrated in his writing so Peace could hide the book easily.

Finally, World Book Day came and Peace couldn´t wait to give Peter the book. She even got up earlier than him. Since he got into the habit of reading and writing, he stays up later than he used to and then he finds it hard to get up early in the morning.

Peace set up the table for breakfast. She got some croissants and fresh bread from the bakery. A nice breakfast is the best way to start a special day in Sweet Berry Valley.

“Good morning, Peter. You look sleepy”

“I am indeed! I went to bed quite late last night but a cup of coffee will wake me up”.

“Let´s have breakfast then” Peace said pointing to the living room table.

After enjoying breakfast, Peace handed Peter the book.

“Happy World Book Day!"

“Thank you, love!” Peter said smiling.

When Peter unwrapped the parcel he couldn´t believe his eyes.

"Stephen Keats´last novel! Peace! You are the best!"

He hugged her, kissed her and even lifted her up in his arms!

He was even more thrilled when he opened the first page of the book and saw it was signed.

“Wow,Peace, how did you manage to get a signed copy? I guess you went through too much trouble to get me this book.” Thanks so much,love” He said hugging her once again.

“Wait a minute. I have something for you. I´ll be right back”.

Peter gave Peace a little package and a rose.

When Peace opened it, she looked astonished.The cover read “Peace of mind” It wasn´t a proper book but a hand-written notebook by Peter.

Peace looked at him but she was stuck for words.

“But…How… I mean… Did…did you write all these poems?”

“Well,I did. I wrote them for you.They´re nothing to write home about but they´re written with love. I wanted to give you something meaningful and personal.

Peace was in awe. She browsed the notebook , chose a page at random and started reading

In your eyes, I find the dreams I keep

In your smile, the beauty of spring

In your arms, a universe in peace

You´re my melody, my symphony.

With every beat my heart does sing

For you my love, my everything

“Peter, this is the most beautiful gift I have ever been given in my life. These poems are a treasure  I´ll cherish forever.

There is always something special about World Book Day but this year was the best so far for Peter and Peace.

Both were delighted with each other´s gifts,they share the love for reading exchanging preloved books with some friends.They also received a handwritten book of recipes from grandma Pearl Babblebrook(she sends a new one every year).They ventured to try one of her new recipes that turned out pretty well.

They spent the rest of the day reading, chatting and enjoying each other´s company surrounded by books.

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The inspiration to write this story comes from different sources.

The main idea of the story was suggested to me by my friend Florence Holiday, from the Sylvanian Forum. I told her that I was a bit stuck for ideas for this month's challenge and she suggested me the following plot:

Peter's birthday will be soon - and there's one particular series of novels he fancies. The author recently presented a new tome on Springtime Book Fair (Peace has read about it in a newspaper report). It would be fab, if she could get her partner this new book adventure, but it's already sold out/or has not yet arrived wherever she is looking for it. The library had ordered it, but did not receive the book yet.  However, that would not do for a birthday surprise - so what's the thing to do? Peace is browsing the online book shop and places an order. Afterwards, she is carefully watching out for the postman to come, in order to prevent Peter from spoiling his own birthday surprise... As birthday comes, Peter is happily unwrapping his gift and starts reading. It's a page-turner he simply cannot put aside (not even for the birthday cake). In the evening, when Peace is already in bed, Peter is still turning pages and finishes his new book short while before midnight. His best birthday gift, ever!

Thanks a million, Florence! You always have great ideas!👏👏👏

With that main idea in mind I have been adapting the story in my own way.

Another source of inspiration was that I came across Stephen King's latest novel, Holly,last time I went to the library. I borrowed it but have only read a few pages so far . It occurred to me to turn Troy Dante into "Stephen Keats". After all, he is related to the Keats Cats family. 

The idea of giving a book and a rose as gifts on Book Day comes from a tradition celebrated in Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain. April 23rd coincides with the feast of Saint George (Sant Jordi), the patron saint of Catalonia and World Book Day.The tradition of giving away roses as a symbol of love on the day of Sant Jordi, dates back to the 15th century. Nowadays, it is the  day of the rose and the book, the day of love and culture.

For this story I have made many little books.Some of them I have found on the internet and printed them. For others, I have designed the covers myself.

(Sorry for the bad light)

(I give credit to Sylvanako for the map of Sylvania)

Do you like reading?

Are you reading any interesting books at the moment?

I love reading but I don´t have much time. Let's see how long it takes me to read "Holly". I think Peter is going to finish the book earlier than I do.

See you soon! Take care!