Private Finished Chasing Rainbows

When Ebviony jumped off the bed and raced to the door doing a very elegant twirl for her age, Celeste knew that she had chosen correctly, and perhaps, read the situation correctly - or at least she hoped she had.

"Of course you can pick the flowers," Celeste said as she followed closely behind Ebviony as they scampered down the stairs energetically and hurried through the house to the backyard.

"And you know why?" she asked with a serious, but kind look, "Because I know you'll always pick the best and prettiest flowers for the wreath," she said with a smile, deciding to try to make Ebvion feel important and that Celeste valued her and her opinion - which she did, and loved her too, but sometimes, getting that across could be hard. Especially when it was a child, and one who might not understand things as easily as an adult might.

"I am going to grab a basket You can run ahead if you like, I'll just be a minute," Celeste said to them as she grabbed a wicker basket she kept on a shelf in the kitchen, and followed Ebvion outside into the backyard.

"That's a wonderful idea, Ebviony," Celeste remarked happily as she stepped out of the house with a colourful wicker basket, which was, oddly enough, the same Easter basket that Ebvion had decorated a few months earlier for the family Easter egg hunt.

"Here you go, my little princess, a basket fit for collecting beautiful flowers," she said as she held out the basket to Ebviony when she saw them.

"And maybe, we can have some balloons, or music for the tea party?" Celeste suggested, trying to think what else they could do to make a tea party more fun as the two of them walked towards the forest and the small clearing within to find some wildflowers.

Watching Ebviony looking for flowers, swinging her Easter basket made Celeste happy, she was glad to see her little ray of sunshine shining brightly again. Ebviony was that tiny addition to the family that made days brighter. Their imagination and excitement for things was often boundless and made everyone - or almost everyone - smile at their innocent enthusiasm for life.

"We can ask them if you'd like? I am sure they'd both like to join if they aren't busy with school or homework," Celeste told them as she spied some pinecones and picked them up. She could use them in the wreath, and if not, there were other crafts she could use them for. "And I´d love to meet your friends," Celeste added, not sure who Ebvion was referring to yet, if they were real or imaginary friends.

Celeste tried not to laugh at the serious look on Ebviony face when they insisted that Shale and Azure would be having a homework party and wearing flowers in hair. She wasn't quite sure how'd they'd react to their Ebviony's demands, but she knew that both brothers were known to indulge Ebviony.

"Most certainly, we can have a homework party for everybody, me included. You and I can make daisy chains too, and a wreath," she said picking up some sprigs of holly from a holly tree growing wild in the woods behind the house.

"I can make some french meringues if you like?" Celeste said, "and maybe some sponge toffee too." she offered trying to think what other homemade sugar confections she could make for them.

"In fact, would you like to help me make something, or go shopping with me to get the ingredients?" Celeste asked

And as Ebviony became increasingly animated about all the ideas, especially about shopping and making something unique to them, Celeste became happier and more convinced that this was exactly what Ebviony needed.

"I like that idea. You could, if you wanted, make a special candy. Name it. And maybe, we can have it for my birthday too if you want?" Celeste suggested as she regarded Ebviony with a warm but questioning look. Hoping they would like the idea.

"Okay... Let's take all this into the house," Celeste said referring to the flowers and pinecones, "And then we can go off to the store and get what we need," she said as they made their way through the woods back to the house.