#elmo greenman

[lasudio]

VeronaHills, Round Twenty Eight: Land (Beach)

The solution to Loren's sun aversion was right in the family backyard.

The theory was simple but not without potential consequences for Loren's mortality, so he asked Virginia and Gabriella to help him test it safely. Gabriella was a naturally strong swimmer and had recently done a lifeguard internship, in which she 'saved' a few swimmers feigning floundering about while training, so she volunteered to retrieve Loren if anything went wrong. Virginia had a fully charged phone in her bum bag ready to call for help, too.

Now for Loren's part to play. He sprinted from the beach house to the waves, his skin smoking as he flew across the sand. The waves were coming in gently today but he hit them with a clumsy crash before finally getting shoulder deep. He turned and gave the girls a thumbs up.

"There he goes. I don't see any smoke. Do you, Gab?"

"No." Gabriella was still watching her uncle bob around, determined to be ready for anything, just in case. But the fact remained: the telltale sign of the sun singing Loren's skin was gone. It was the middle of the day, in the full heat of the middle of summer, and he wasn't holed up under the sunlamp in his shed with the blinds drawn. Whether it was the salt of the sea protecting him, or Virginia's half-joking theory that he was a merman, he could now join his family in the sun.

It was the best birthday gift Loren could ask for.

[lasudio]

VeronaHills, Round Twenty Eight: Lee

Memories made manifest by Emilia's pond. She dreamed of these days.

In addition to Emily becoming an avid fisher, she was quite the catch herself. Emilia took great care to remind her wife of this when she rose early to head down to the village river and set up her tackle in her favourite spot, where the sun slowly caressed her cheeks and the stream sped along, a marine motorway with the morning commute. Meanwhile, Emilia would get her beauty sleep in a little longer. This was a new luxury, now that Elmo was a teenager and happy to make his own breakfast (he liked his cereal with cream and berries, just so).

Where exactly did that time go? Emilia had a Polaroid camera to document Elmo's growth up the doorway and Emily holding up all the fish she'd caught; it would never be enough to capture how all those moments felt in her heart. Pride, joy. All the good ones.

[lasudio]

VeronaHills, Interlude: Lee

Emilia was never going to marry again. Then she met Emily. Now they've been dubbed Em n' Em by the Riverblossom Hills villagers and they're raising Elmo together. Is happily ever after just that easy?

[lasudio]

VeronaHills, Round Twenty Five: Beech

Babies brought brightness for the Beeches.

Venice was up on her feet now, toddling around and being generally charming. She recently formed her first syllable: "Dah." It was hotly debated whether she was trying to say dad or Daisy, like the flower on her head. Maybe she'd heard people say, "Daisy, you look amazing!" at her mum's milestone birthday party (at which natural grey hair was debuted), and became inspired. Whatever the case, it was adorable.

There was a brand new baby, too. Elmo's eyes popped open to reveal they were forest green like his dad's. Basil would've put money on him taking after Emilia's rich, earthy gaze! Of course, either way, the little guy was adorable.

The reality of aging was not so nice. Daisy might've been injured in a fall down the stairs if not for Scot's quick catch - he was being taken on a tour of his brother-in-law's famous greenhouse, and wasn't expecting his tour guide to faint! The family and their guests tried not to let the moment dim the shine of their lives right now, but still... were cute babies enough to save the day?

[lasudio]

VeronaHills, Round Twenty Seven: Lee

Emilia enjoyed the pastoral perfection of her little family.

Her wife Emily was content, pulling weeds from the garden and hammering nails to mend fences and catching fish from the pond for dinner. It was gritty work - Emilia personally couldn't imagine gutting a fish, despite being an executive chef - but Emily took to it like, well, a fish to water. Who ever said being a stay-at-home mum was easy had clearly never walked a day in Emily's slip-ons of steel.

"Elmo will be old enough to be home on his own soon," Emilia said one day. "If you want to get a job, even right now, we'll make it work. He could go to the main house after school." The main house being the Monty mansion, where her brother Benvolio was based, minutes down the road from the little Lee cottage.

Emily set down her garden shears and accepted the cup of green tea that Emilia had brought her. "I'm happy," she replied. Her sweet voice was coated in earthy warmth; that was all Emilia needed to hear to happily go grey and still feel loved in a way she hadn't thought possible.

[lasudio]

VeronaHills, Round Twenty Six: Lee

It was official, Emily thought - Elmo was the sweetest kid on earth.

Becoming a stepmum, or even a mother figure full stop, was never in Emily's life plan. Then Emilia swept by with a swish of her silk skirt, smelling of orange blossom, and Emily recognised the winds of change. There was no Emilia without Elmo, her son from her first marriage to one of the village faeries, so Emily wrote her wedding vows around stepping up and wrapping their kiddo with love. Thankfully Elmo was open to this new person in his life, being nowhere near his sullen too-cool teenage years yet. The very first time he flew out the cottage door to ask Emily to read to him in the garden on a bright spring afternoon, she knew she'd made the right choices to be in that moment.

In another turn of events, Emilia was surprised with a phone call from her ex-husband Basil that Elmo now had a little brother. Single parenthood via seed growth was a norm for faeries, of course - it was just neither Em expected Elmo's family to be expanding again so soon! Good for Basil; there would be many playdates to come.