"Good afternoon, Mr. O'Blen!" Said the brunette woman with ash grey eyes as she opened the door.
"Hello, Anne!" Lars greeted the artichoke green woman, "Please call me Lars." He smiled.
"My apologies," said the woman. She looked down at the little girl and bent over as Anne placed her hands on her knees, "Hi, sweetie!"
"Hello!" Aphiya waved at the woman and gave her a big, toothy smile.
"Are you excited to see Della again?" Asked the woman, still keeping her hands on her knees.
The little girl, wearing a long, taffy pink dress with white socks and charcoal grey flats, nodded her head. Her short hair was tied back into a low braid with a couple of floral, orchid purple hair pins on her head, one on each side.
"She's been like this since yesterday after I told her about the play date." Lars chuckled.
Anne straightened her posture as she faced him, "My Della has been the same way. She gets so sad whenever she has to go home and be away from her best friend." She led the two of them into the living room of the house. The walls were cloud grey and the two pieces of furniture were both merlot red. The large area rug in the middle of the room was spruce blue with a thick, redwood colored outline and a floral pattern that was various shades of beige. Every wall in the room had a large tapestry depicting scenes of Apollo from different Greek stories while the ceiling had a large, crystal chandelier.
The man was wearing a white, button down shirt with a lava grey vest on top. Along with that, he wore a pair of matching grey trousers, charcoal grey dress shoes, and a small bow tie that matched his shoes. Anne was wearing a pearl grey dress with long sleeves and a bright floral pattern that contained different shades of blue. Along with that, she wore a pair of fog grey slippers, a golden chain necklace that contained a large, sapphire pendant, and dangly, pearl earrings. Once the three of them were in the living room, Aphiya handed the woman a large basket that was covered with a red and white checkered cloth on top.
"Is this for me?" Asked Anne as she accepted the gift.
"Mhm!" Aphiya nodded.
"What's in it?" Asked the woman curiously as she noticed a fragrant scent coming from the basket.
"Aphiya helped me make some pickled beets, apricot jam, and apple pie." Said Lars as he sat down on the large couch and leaned back, resting one arm on top of the couch.
"Pickled beets and apricot jam are my favorite. Della loves your apple pie," the woman smiled at Aphiya, "Thank you so much, dear!"
The little girl just smiled and clapped her hands in joy.
"Sweetie," said Lars as he raised an eyebrow, "What do we say?"
"You're welcome!" Said Aphiya before she walked over to her father and sat down next to him.
"Good girl!" Lars patted her on the head.
"I'll let Della know that you two have arrived." The woman walked out of the room and approached the stairs that lead to the second floor, "Della!" Called the woman, "Aphiya is here!" The second she had announced their presence, loud footsteps could be heard rushing down the stairs. A little girl, around Aphiya's age, ran into the room. She had tea green skin and long, cinnamon brown hair that was tied back into a low, braided bun. Her hazel eyes widened in excitement as she saw Aphiya before the two girls ran towards each other and hugged each other tightly. The two of them giggled for a moment before they took a step back and looked at each other. Della was wearing a dress that was nearly identical to Aphiya's, except her dress was raspberry red instead of taffy pink.
"I missed you." Said Della, smiling.
"I missed you too." Said Aphiya as she reciprocated her smile.
"What do you wanna do?"
"I don't know," Aphiya shrugged, "What do *you* wanna do?"
"Uh…" Della looked down for a moment and put her index finger on her chin. She then looked at her friend, "Wanna play outside?"
"No outdoor games," said Anne, sternly, "It looks like it's going to rain soon."
"But mom." Della whined as she stomped her feet.
"No buts, little missy! That dress is brand new and I can't have you getting it dirty so quickly."
"Hmph!" The little girl crossed her arms, "Fine!"
"Don't give me that kind of attitude, young lady!" Said Anne, sounding very frustrated.
Aphiya looked at her father awkwardly as he looked at her with the same feeling.
"Aphiya," said Lars, attempting to change the subject, "Why don't you and your friend play some of your board games?"
"Oh yeah," the girl took her bag off of her back and placed it onto the floor. She opened it and pulled out a beige box with colorful designs on the front. She presented the item to Della, "Wanna play Snakes and Ladders?"
The other girl gasped as she looked at the pretty designs on the front of the box, "Sure! That looks fun!" The two girls then left the room and ran upstairs in excitement.
The woman walked over to Lars, "Would you like anything to drink?" Asked Anne.
The man shook his head, "No thank you."
"Alright," she sat down next to him, "It's been so long since they had a play date."
"I know, right?" Lars sat up and turned his body to face her, "It's been such a long time since we got to chat."
The woman smiled, "As much as I enjoy spending quality time with my daughter, I also need to spend time with other adults."
"Precisely!" The man nodded.
"Bringing that Snakes and Ladders game was a smart move."
"To be honest, it wasn't my idea," said Lars with a chuckle, "Mairey was the one who told Aphiya to bring it."
"Mairey?" The woman raised an eyebrow, "Who's she?"
"She's my daughter's babysitter," he rubbed the back of his head and looked to the side as he smiled sheepishly, "Sorry I forgot to mention that earlier."
"That's alright!" Said the woman. She carefully scratched her head, trying not to mess up her neatly done braids, "A babysitter, huh?" Anne looked down for a moment as she placed her index finger and thumb on her chin, "Maybe I should get one of those."
"Oh really?" Lars raised an eyebrow, "Are you usually very busy?"
"I mean," she looked up at him, "When I'm not taking care of the home and my family, I spend my free time going out to volunteer at my local church. The soup kitchens could always use more helpers. However," her face made a stern expression, "Frank's father has recently cut him off until he apologizes to his sister for insulting her. He is currently working and is not getting as much money as he used to. Therefore, I was thinking that maybe I should take on a part time job in order to help with paying the bills. I would definitely need a babysitter or a nanny then."
"That sounds like a great idea! I know plenty of places that are hiring right now."
"Yes, but there's one problem," the woman began, "My husband does not like the idea of me working outside of the home."
"Oh?" Lars raised an eyebrow, "You volunteer at the church and he seems to be perfectly fine with that. Isn't that similar to working outside the home?"
"I brought that up with him and Frank said that church is a safer environment for a woman compared to the average workplace."
"Average workplace?" The man scratched his head, "Most of the jobs here for women are in clothing factories. Has Frank ever worked in one before?"
Anne shook her head, "He hasn't but he said that he doesn't need to work in one to understand what the people there are like."
"Interesting." The man scratched his chin as he looked down for a moment.
"What's wrong?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Well," he faced her, "It feels like he doesn't want you to work simply because he's worried that you'll gain a lot of independence since you'll be spending lots of time away from him."
"Huh?" She scratched her head, "What made you come to that conclusion?"
"Maybe not exactly that," said Lars as he stroked his chin, "Many of my male customers tend to discuss those sorts of things. From what I have noticed, the single ones talk about how they want a wife who likes to stay at home and the married ones talk about how letting their wives work is wrong."
"Wrong in what way?"
"The married men at my pub seem to believe that if their wives work then they'll end up neglecting to take care of their children and the house which are more important for women to focus on. Along with that, they seem to think that paying the bills is the man's job and working women are considered to be undesirable."
"Oh my!" said Anne as she put her hand on her heart, seeming a bit shocked.
"Yeah," Lars sighed as he looked down and shook his head, "It's ridiculous."