<div class="floatleft">(https://i.redd.it/cln9fe2n5v421.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong><br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>June 1, 9 pm.<br/><strong>Location:</strong>By the Pool<br/><strong>Mood:</strong>Relaxed, sleepy<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Mar<br/><hr/><hr/><br/>Like she'd done each of the past few days since her arrival in her new home with her new family, Celeste awoke in a tangle of limbs and hair. Erin's. And her own. Mar, she discovered, was the early riser of the family. Not that Celeste ever actually saw Daddy get up, despite having spent decidedly little time in her bedroom and even less in her own bed since arriving. She suspected that would change sooner or later, at the very latest with the start of the school year. But she didn't concern herself with that. Such was the freedom of being the family's little girl - the only things she had to worry about were doing what she was told to do and accepting the consequences when she didn't. And except for a small hiccup on their first night, sweet Celeste had given her Mommy and Daddy no reason to show her what those consequences might be.<br/><br/>Still half-asleep, Celeste dragged herself out of bed and down into the kitchen where her Erin and Mar were already waiting. They ate slowly, chatted some, though Celeste mostly limited herself to one- or two-word answers. Such a departure from her normal, chatty self! But mornings were not her friend. Besides, she liked to savour Daddy's cooking as much as she could. Mar was, in Celeste's opinion, the best chef in the entire world; though they'd only been together a few short days,<em>this</em>little girl was already supremely proud of her Daddy!<br/><br/>After the meal, Celeste was grateful to put her dishes in the sink without needing to wash them. She did not like cleaning dishes, especially not in the morning. After hugging Mommy goodbye and wishing her a good day, Celeste rubbed her eyes and was just about to announce her intention to go to the living where she planned to watch TV for a good few hours while her sleepy brain got ready for the day. But Daddy spoke before she could and was guiding them over toward a window that looked out onto the yard. Celeste didn't resist. She was too tired. And, well, Daddy was Daddy.<br/><br/>"But . . .," the girl spoke, once her groggy mind had put the pieces together of what Mar was instructing her to do. She stared out at the flower bed - it did look pretty - then turned and craned her neck to peer up at the older woman. "Don't we have a gardener?" She asked. Already it was<em>we.</em>It had not taken them long to become a family. Not, of course, that they still didn't all three of them have some growing to do. And learning. But Celeste felt at home with Mar and Erin, at home like she had never felt before. As such, she didn't feel out of place stamping her foot and complaining about the order. She was not, after all, a guest in this house. She was in her<em>home.</em>Still, arguing with Daddy didn't some like the smartest thing to do. Instead, she just frowned, turned her gaze back out the window and muttered. "Fine."<br/><br/>They discussed the details, and Celeste grumpily nodded along to Mar's instructions, then after making sure to remind Daddy about the promised treat if she finished first, Celeste turned to head upstairs, hurried along by the smack to her butt, where she could change and get this over with. Pulling weeds did not sound like a thing she wanted to do.<br/><br/>As it turned out, she was right. A few weeds in, Celeste realized that<em>this</em>was so much worse than doing dishes. For 10 or 15 minutes, she baked beneath the sun until her skin glistened with sweat; her knees ached, too, and even her fingers were starting to complain. Worst of all, she wasn't even half done. "This is stupid." She grumbled, throwing her gloves and the weeding tool on the ground in front of her and standing up. Arching her back, she stretched out the kinks in her muscles, rubbed her aching knees, and she looked up into the cloudless sky where a blazing sun mocked her with its heat. And then she remembered they had a pool.<br/><br/>It only took her a minute or so of internal deliberation to conclude that she was fully within her rights to take a break, maybe stop for the day entirely. Daddy hadn't said she had to finish. Had she? Yes. Well, Celeste reasoned, that was only because Mar didn't realize how hot it was outside. If she'd known, she certainly wouldn't have made her little girl slave away outdoors beneath that merciless sun! Knowing that wasn't true, Celeste decided to believe it anyway, and bounded back inside, changed into a bathing suit, and found her way down into the pool room a few minutes later. She lay out a towel next to the pool, sat down upon it, and let her feet dangle in the cool water. She knew, of course, she wasn't supposed to be down here without letting someone know. But, Celeste reasoned, that really only applied if she actually for a swim or sat in the hot tub or sauna. Nothing could happen to her just dangling her feet in the water. So, she wasn't really disobeying.<br/><br/>"Ten minutes." She told herself. Then she'd go back outside. She pulled her feet out of the water and lay back on her towel, closed her eyes, and within moments sleep had taken her.