Gen 3 Ch 8: Moving On

Almost every night Darwin went to seek out the herd of wild horses, hoping to find the unicorn again.

He was so frustrated and tired from another almost sleepless night.

Clover knew that something was up, and Darwin had no intention to keep secrets from her. Still, it was difficult to tell his wife about the encounter with the unicorn without sounding like a lunatic. Clover was kind, of course, but he could tell that she couldn't quite believe his story. And why would she? Darwin barely believed it himself.

"It's alright, Darwin, love. Try and relax. You know we have a big day planned today. And maybe this will make things better, don't you think?"
"Maybe..."

And indeed, big changes were happening that day. Darwin had made so much money with his collecting that they had been able to afford a larger house.

So they packed up their most treasured belongings and left the lakeside house.

Their new home was a mansion with a large garden, surrounded by nature.

The dogs quickly took a liking to it.

It was very spacious and sported a view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.

For now, there were barely any furnishings besides the essentials, but Clover had taken it upon herself to put up some seasonal decorations. Summer had come.

"This is your bedroom, Dolores," Darwin explained, somewhat nervous. "We picked out a bed we thought you'd like, but you can redecorate any way you want."

They had even put up Dolores' favorite old toys and for once, there was no snide comment.
"Thanks, I guess. But I'm so getting rid of that flowery rug."

Clover and Darwin's room had plenty of large windows that showed a breathtaking view of the lake.

Bloom and Matilda's bedroom was spacious, with plenty of space to display photos and paintings of their family.

They spent their days painting happily side by side.

And their nights playing video games.

Darwin's collecting had really been more than lucrative - they even bought a place for Bloom to start the museum he had been talking about. Finally he had a place to stash all those extra family photos and paintings that he couldn't fit in at home.

For some reason, Dolores let herself be persuaded to join her parents in one of their many outdoors adventures - perhaps it was because they had been so thoughtful about the decorations in her new room. Maybe she really was going to start quieting down!

Darwin's new obsession was bringing the large vegetable garden back to life.

It really was a wonderful new home for everyone.