Chapter 113

Despite trying to keep my mind on work, all the thoughts Wendy had implanted nagged at my brain. A family with Charles? While he had mentioned this possibility, hearing it from someone else’s mouth made the expectation seem real in a whole different way.

I shrugged this off and headed for my first target. I’d use my people-watching to zero in on a few that I wanted to interview. For my first interview, I chose a family with children who looked like they were in primary school and a mother just a little older than me. I figured this might be one of the best families I could relate to since I didn’t have any of my own children yet.

“Pardon me,” I interjected myself into their conversation.

She was having a discussion with her oldest child about which field to play on first.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Yes, my name is Elena Laurentia, and I am with the Palace Press. We’re doing a story about the opening of the playfields. Would you have a moment for an interview?”

One of her children tugged at her hands, and she looked at them and then at me. “I can give you just a moment because the kids need to get going, or they’re going to start climbing all over me instead.”

I chuckled at this because it did seem like the children might substitute her for playground equipment.

“What would you like to know?” she asked.

“I’m curious what you think of what the city has done for the community here at the municipal park,” I said.

“Well, I think it’s excellent. My family and I live in a townhouse not too far from here. There’s a playground for my younger children, but there’s no place for my older children to really run and stretch their legs. Now that we have this park, and it’s only a few blocks to walk. I even heard there’s going to be a soccer team starting up in the fall, and my oldest wants to join.”

“Are activities outside of school big here?” I asked. I was honestly curious because, in Lustrum, most of the sports were run in connection with the school.

“It depends on what the kids want to do,” she answered. “If they’re just playing for exercise, then the school has plenty to offer. But in the case of my son, the school’s coach says he has lots of talent, and that can’t be polished on the school’s team. The coach recommended something a little bit more competitive with a more professional coach. Especially if we want him to be on one of the nationally competitive teams in high school.”

“Do you enjoy living in the city with your family?” I asked. “Do you find it supportive?”

She nodded. “I really do. I hear people talk of cities that just make raising a family difficult, mostly because everything is too far apart. Or there isn’t a community support system there. But that’s not the case in Packhaven at all.”

She put a loving hand on the boy’s head. “Ever since I had my son, I’ve stayed at home to see to raising him and then my other children. And the community has been a big help while I do that.”

“Then you don’t have a job outside the home?” I clarified.

She shook her head. “No.” After a pause, she asked, “You must not be from around here, are you?”

This time, I was the one who shook my head. “No. I grew up on the other side of Orlune. I’m actually trying to get a feel for what life is like here, in addition to how the community feels about the services being provided to them.”

She nodded, smiling encouragingly. “I don’t know how it works where you grew up, but here in Packhaven, we pride ourselves on our children. They are our legacy, after all. And so, it’s encouraged to put as much focus as possible on raising the best and most productive children you can.”

She gave an exaggerated wave of her hands. “Don’t get me wrong. Some women still work, either by choice or necessity. Some women even manage to be single mothers. But personally, I didn’t feel like I could properly raise the next generation and split my attention with a job.”

“My husband makes plenty, so we don’t need the money of a second income. And if I’m not working to put food on the table, then what’s the point of not spending that time on my kids?”

“Oh,” I said. “I guess I can see that. I don’t have any of my own yet. But I think it’s admirable that you want to ensure that you’re bringing up your children in the best possible way.”

She smiled and nodded and put a hand on two of their shoulders. “Now, if you’ll pardon me. They would really like to go play and try out the field. “

Her son shoved a ball in my direction. “I’ve been waiting to play for a long time. All summer,” he said.

“Will you enjoy playing?” I asked. “Actually, would you like me to quote you in the newspaper? With your mom’s permission, of course.”

He nodded at me with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Of course,” his mother agreed.

“Okay, then,” I said. “All I need to know is your name, how old you are, and what you are most excited about for this park.”

He gave me all the information, and then his mother gave me her name as well. She eyed her children while they scampered off in the direction of one of the small pitches where a group of children was playing a makeshift game of football. Then she hurried after them.

With that interview over, I sent the recording into my personal notes folder and then started scanning around for my next interview. My gaze kept landing on families with children. Fine. It was a park with playing fields, after all.

So, I interviewed several other families with kids of varying ages. All of them said pretty much the same thing as the first family. The parents all thought it was excellent that the city had provided the municipal fields for them to play. They all talked about how their kids had been anticipating the opportunities it would provide.

A couple of the parents had adult younger siblings who were still without children of their own. Those young adults were looking forward to the leagues that were forming. Some of the women had husbands who were planning on joining community teams to play there, as well.

The weirdest part was I found myself asking the mothers about what life was like for families in Packhaven. Not that such information really had a place in my article. Contrary to Wedy’s belief, I fully planned to go back to Lustrum, assuming Charles and I even started a family.

And one after another, the local mothers told me with pride how they focused one hundred percent of their energy on their children. All of them claimed that careers weren’t really a thing for moms in Packhaven.

Women held jobs if their husbands didn’t make enough to cover the costs of living in the city. Otherwise, it would be assumed that they would put their focus on their children.

This made me wonder about Wendy, who said she had just come back to work after her child started full-time in primary school. Did that mean that her husband didn’t have a job that provided enough income for her to stay home? Or did she value her career for personal reasons?

I’m sure she would have talked to me about this if I wanted to ask. In fact, she’d probably give me a novel’s worth of information about her thoughts and opinions on it and her personal motivations for everything. She’d probably have outlined a timeline since her birth of all the events in her life that led to her going back to work. But for once, I couldn’t find her anywhere. Even though I finally wanted to hear her talk.