2. It’s autumn, harvest time for my crops. Also it has been a whole four
years since my oldest kids left home, one will be coming back while
the others will go on to lead their own lives. My heir is Avoine, my
oldest daughter. I only hope that she will carry on caring for my crops
after I pass on.

3. Chapter 2:
Joys and
Regrets
If I have one regret, it’s that I was unable to be there for my other
children as often as I would have liked to be, like I was for my children
with Naenae. I know it was wrong, and I only hope that it will not come
back to haunt me. I can’t help it if I fell in love with two beautiful
women, they were both so different and yet so compelling in their own
ways. Ani-Mei bore me three more children, two daughters and a son.

4. My oldest child with Ani-Mei, Winter,
my middle daughter Blossom and my
youngest Kyle. These three are my
beautiful children. I tried to be there
when they were born, but sadly I was
unable to see Kyle born like I had with
his sisters. Naenae never knew I was
cheating on her, if my children with
Naenae ever meet their half-siblings I
can only pray they get along.

5. This is really the only picture I have of Ash, the child I had. He was my
youngest, until I fell in love with Ani-Mei. It was after Ash’s birth that
my affair with her started, I love all my kids, all nine of them. If you
count the three that Naenae had as a Plantsim, I have nine kids. I found
out a while ago what her condition and mine was called, it’s strange
really but not something I wish to remain as for the rest of my life. As
soon as we found ourselves a cure, Naenae and I took it.

6. Will and Cypress as kids.
I remember this as if it were yesterday, Will and Cypress were finally
old enough to join Kale and Avoine at school. I remember how excited
they were to go to school; that cure I told you about, I bought enough
for all of us who were afflicted with Plantsimism. I thought it only fair
that Magnolia, Will, and Cypress get to experience the joys of being a
child just as if they were born the way their siblings were.

7. Ash’s first birthday.
My son, he looked so much like his mother but he had my skin colour. I
would have liked to add the baby and childhood pictures of my other kids
in this album, but I worry that it might upset Naenae to see them. Of
course, as I write this down, she knows about my affair. She was
understandably hurt and for a time she moved out of the house, Naenae
did come back it was not like we got divorced over it. Though if she had
wanted one, I most certainly would have given it to her. But we stayed
together for the sake of our children and we will work on it.

8. This has to be my favourite picture of Ash, we were posing for a family
photo and the boy thought it would be funny to make faces at the
camera instead of smiling pretty like Naenae wanted him to. Ash is by
far the most playful of my kids, the boy cannot sit still for a moment.

9. At least his brother and sister posed
nicely for the photo. I am so proud of
how they grew up into wonderful
young people. It makes a father feel
as if he’s done his job right if his kids
grow up well.

10. I only heard about the night when Ash went down to the park with
Cypress, but apparently my sons already knew about their half
siblings from school. When Kyle got sick at school, they called me to
come see him. His mother was at work and I was listed as the
secondary contact number. Imagine their surprise when they saw me
leaving the principal’s office with him. It wasn’t how I wanted them to
learn about their siblings, I really wanted to sit the kids all down and
tell them about their half siblings, but the harvest came in and I
forgot. Thankfully, they were not overly upset with me about it.

11. I soon had a house full of
teenagers and there was a lot of
talk about college. I never went
myself and I wanted them to at
least have a chance at it. These
are the best pictures of Magnolia
and her brothers that I found to
add to this journal. I love these
shots the best, it shows how
uniquely pretty they are.

12. With six teenagers in the house, it was clearly too small for everyone.
So I pooled the money I had been saving and purchased a new lot and
built a much bigger house on it. I even had room to build that
greenhouse I had been wanting for a while. It was a good way to
prevent the bugs from destroying the crops and to make sure we still
had fresh vegetables throughout the winter. Naenae and I had no
desire to become Plantsims again so this was a good way to make sure
of that.

13. I also bought some fruit-bearing trees as well. Apples, lemons and
oranges all home grown and pesticide free. Is there any better way to
have the best tasting fruit in all of Pleasantview? My garden is truly my
pride and joy, I pray that it sustains all future generations of my family.

14. Precious moments like this are exactly what a father wants to
remember. My son Ash and his First Kiss, Amy Jones. Of course once he
knew I had a camera on him he gave me an earful about invading his
personal space and privacy. Teenagers huh?

15. Even Magnolia found her First Kiss with another paper carrier, Derek.
I’m glad that my old well can give my kids so much happiness.

16. Cypress found himself a nice girl too. I forget her name but she
seemed to make him happy. I’m glad.

17. Naenae surprised me one day as I was writing in this journal, she said
that if I wanted to include some pictures of my other children in this
that I could ask Ani-Mei to send me some. When I asked what brought
about her change of heart, she simply replied:
“Because I know you’re a good man and want to leave a lasting legacy
for our children.”

22. I am truly grateful that Naenae let me add these precious photos of
Winter, Blossom, and Kyle when they were young. I would hate to
have them think that I was never in any pictures with them as
children.

23. All my children are grown and heading to college as of this entry,
Avoine was kind enough to send me this picture of them at their
kitchen table in their college house. They all pooled their scholarship
money to rent this house and they did very well making it feel like
home.

24. The next pages in this journal will be handed over to my daughter
Avoine for her to fill with all her hopes and dreams of the future and
to leave a legacy for her children to look back upon. It’s kind of sad to
know that I won’t be writing much in here about my grandchildren,
but at the same time I know my daughter will take very good care of
this journal of mine.
Regards for the last time,
Chris.