The next day the kids woke early to the sound of thunder and lightning. As Melora later told Bonnie Candeloro, “The sky just opened up and ‘the rains came’.”
Their beautiful cerulean blue sky became gray and the ocean became a darker, grayer blue.
Although they all would have preferred to be out on the beach or going somewhere, they managed to keep busy inside. Trey practiced darts in his bedroom.
Lori, of course, played the piano, although this time she made sure first, that her parents were both awake and moving about.
When Trey and Lori got dressed they put on new pirate clothes (Melora had bought each of them three in various colors). They were very enamored of these costumes. Then they played SSX for a while, shouting threats and encouragements at each other.
Thank goodness Melora had brought her painting in. It was nearly finished and John set it up for her near the bank of windows in the “rec room”. She thought with the overhead lights and the windows it would be enough to do her finishing touches.
John broke down and finally got on the kids’ computer to do a little work, he gave financial advice on line and he needed to check with his publisher as well. He’d forgotten his laptop with the latest novel he was working on, but he did some fact checking online that he’d been meaning to do for the book.
They ate an early supper as the rain began to dissipate. They decided to chance it after their meal and head out to Whitesands Hot Springs.
After the dreary rainy day, the hot springs looked welcoming. Melora and Lori jumped in immediately while Trey played on the hammock nearby. John headed over to the hot stone massage therapist whom he paid for a lesson. Afterward he went into the sauna and Melora went over to learn the hot stone massage. By then both the kids had been in and out of the hot springs and then back in again.
Lori looking pert...(Trey is still in there)
Trey, too young to realize there are beautiful women on either side. Although he IS smiling
Lori getting her hot stone massage lesson...
John in the sauna
This would be their last night sleeping in the chateau. They had all day tomorrow, but had to leave to go home in the evening. How did the time go so fast? The twins listened to the waves on the beach as the lay in their beds and whispered,
“Trey, don’t you wonder if Daddy and Mommy would ever like--let us live here?” Lori asked.
“No! But I wish they would, I love it here with the ocean and the beach right outside our house,” Trey replied, “But we can’t live here really, I mean what about school and the house? They just fixed our rooms up.”
“Yeah, but, it wouldn’t matter to Daddy; he works at home, he could work here just the same.”
Trey was dubious, “I don’t know. Think about it Lor’. I mean, who would want to live with tourists around all the time? And what would we do about the house back home? I really love our house; it’s got everything except this beach. I mean, the pond, our basketball court and soccer field? Nope, it’s like Dad said, ' All vacations end and you must go back to reality, but you feel rested and ready to start all over.' Trey didn't really understand the adult concept of "rested". Couldn't you just take a nap? But he knew his father was very intelligent and he trusted his advice. This was because he was not yet a teenager.
Lori sighed, “I guess.”
“Anyway,” Trey reminded her, “Dad said this place is ours and we can come here whenever we want. Practically. So we’ll come back for sure.”
Lori felt comforted at that statement, so she murmured “okay” and turning over, fell fast asleep.
Melora and John decided the family would spend this last day "at home" just enjoying all the things the Chateau had to offer. In the morning John wanted to practice his technique so he offered to give the hot stone massage to Melora using the table in their room. That was fine by her and she said she would reciprocate. The kids were eating cereal downstairs and John had asked them to refrain from using the TV while he gave their mother her massage, so after the ate they played with the activity center in their room, drawing.
Melora said John was so good at this they should definitely buy a massage table for home and put it where the nursery used to be.
When the adults were finally done they all went outside to enjoy the sun and sea.
A restful day in paradise...
The whole family went swimming together. It was wonderful to have this private beach! Unfortunately, John did have an unpleasant encounter with a crab. No, it was not a magical golden crab, either.
Finally they could deny it no longer, the sun was dipping low in the sky. They had packed most of their clothes the night before, but now they went in to shower and pack the last items. The real estate office had a maid service that would check in once a week on the house, but Melora still wanted to make sure everything was in its place. They did not want to leave food in the fridge so they ordered a pizza and Melora checked to make sure they had not left anything in the closets or drawers. It was time to go.
They were headed home. Lori had such bereft look on her little face as they left the chateau. John and Melora knew they had babied her, but they couldn't help it. She was only 2 minutes younger than Trey but he was more mature (except when it came to fountains and waterfalls...). She was such a tenderhearted little girl and, anyway, as Melora told John many times, her youngest sister, Jillian, had been babied by her whole family of five siblings and two parents and she still turned out pretty wonderful. So they kept on eye on her on the way home and reminded her that she had many things to look forward to this winter. They knew Trey hated to leave, too, but he already had his mind on things like sledding, hockey and ice skating. The problem for Lori was compounded by the fact that she still missed her older brother and sister.
"Wonder if we should buy a piano again. What do you say, Melora?" John said quite clearly, as they rode to the airport, "Maybe just an upright, but we could get it in the dining room at one end if we worked it right."
Next update on the Lassiter Family is Grace's story HERE
But if you just want to head straight to the next update on the John Lassiter family (the twins) go HERE
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