Chapter 8: The End of an Era
Though Nikolas had never been very loud, the house was so much quieter without him.
All the time Larisa spent inventing was beginning to pay off. The new shelves in her room were beginning to fill up.
Tara spent as much time hunting as she did gardening,
Larisa dragged herself away from her workbench long enough to learn a few tricks of the trade.
Tara burned time by helping her daughter with homework. Larisa didn't need it but her friend sure did!
She even let loose and played in the sprinklers.
Nikolas called his mother one day while Larisa was at school and while Luke wrote. Tara headed over, overjoyed to see her son again.
She bonded with her daughter-in-law and unborn grandchild. Nikolas and Haley didn't have much in the way of material possessions, as Nikolas refused to accept money from his parents. It didn't matter to either of them, just as long as they had enough.
The little gnome Larisa made moved around all the time. Every day Tara saw it in a new place. Larisa swore up and down it wasn't programmed to do that, but Tara didn't believe her. What other explanation was there?
Larisa still scorched herself from time to time. Thanks to her mother's training, Larisa was able to keep from turning most of the time.
She came up with her biggest invention yet, a miner that was able to drill into the Earth.
Larisa explored the hole on her own. Curiosity killed the cat, but it didn't kill the werewolf.
Luke was in town when Tara found his certificate for his accomplishments in writing. She hung it on the wall next to hers. Tara's life had not turned out how she thought it would, but she was happy. She had her husband and her children and her garden. She could control her curse. Tara was satisfied. She finally felt fulfilled.
It was time for someone else to take the reins.