#plpc: zera poche

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No story here, just a look at Zera's childhood bedroom at Teddy's house

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Fifty-Seven: Smuggler and Alien

It was Spirits Night and it was Teddy’s turn with Zera for this holiday in which you were encouraged to dress up in costumes and tell ghost stories. Teddy had them do a themed costume this year, he was a smuggler and Zera was the alien had found on his adventures! Zera loved holidays with her dad because they always made it so much fun! They ate too much candy, watched movies that were maybe too scary for Zera, and giggled all night long!

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Fifty: Threenager

Perhaps giving a three-year-old everything she asks for immediately and not letting her ever experience boredom or rejection has its drawbacks. Zera was dancing with Samson, but when he left before she was done, she had an emotional meltdown. Maybe it was time for Teddy to reign it in a little and teach her about patience, he just felt bad because he knew that the weeks she was with her mom she probably didn’t get any attention at all. Violet didn’t actually want a relationship with her, she just wanted to have some petty control over something Teddy loved out of revenge.

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Sixty-One: Hello, Childhood!

Not long after the Winter Solstice Festival, it was time for Zera’s fifth birthday! Zera watched as Teddy sang songs while making her cake. Her birthday party was another small one, just close family like Uncle Stan and Aunt Lilli, but she didn’t mind. She blew out the candles and felt inexplicably taller!

Now that she was a child she was properly outgoing, gone was the caution of her infant days, she had learned more about the world and in that learning, she had discovered that she wanted to be friends with everyone! She was already planning her birthday party for her sixth birthday, she would make friends with everyone at school and invite them over for a slumber party! She couldn’t wait to have bigger and better parties, and she suspected the parties would only grow in size and creativity as she got older.

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Sixty: Gifts!

It was the Winter Solstice Festival and Zera was with her father that year, which meant the gifts would be small but the joy would be big! At her mother’s house, she would get plenty of pretty gifts and pose for the camera (which she was rather starting to enjoy now that she was older and understood what “likes” were), but there was hardly any laughter.

Early in the morning, they awoke to find that Father Winter had left two gifts under the tree, one for Teddy and one for Zera. She was too young to wonder why Father Winter could bring more gifts to her mother’s house and bring only one gift to her father’s. Teddy got a set of very nice notebooks, one moleskin, one spiral, and one composition, perfect for all the notes he loved to take! Zera didn’t understand why he was so excited about paper and quickly tore into the wrapping of her own gift.

Inside the box, she found a doctor playset with a tiny medical bag and a teddy bear to practice on. She loved it! She hugged her daddy around the neck and the two of them spent the rest of the morning playing with their new toys.

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Fifty-Nine: Overachiever Zera

Zera was barely four and she had already mastered all of her toddler skills, she was way ahead of everyone else in her daycare class and it was all thanks to the undivided attention of her father. It was really something when he considered that every other week she was barely able to work on those skills at her mother’s house. Sometimes he worried that he was being too harsh on Violet, but then he remembered the way he acted when Zera was a baby and he got angry again. Luckily, the way he calmed his anger was to snuggle peacefully with Zera. Now that she was finished with her skills they could simply play and have fun!

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Fifty-Six: Doll Drama

One weekend when Zera was supposed to be with her mother, Violet called Teddy and said that something had come up at work and she needed him to “babysit” Zera for a couple of hours. He didn’t like her use of the term “babysit” and he doubted something had come up at work, she was probably meeting some guy. However, this was just more to add to the pile of evidence he was mounting against her, and he would never turn down a chance to hang out with his daughter. He took her to the Newcrest Recreation Center not far from Violet’s house.

They had a ton of fun. They played dolls, although Teddy’s doll playing became a little too much like an episode of a drama that Zera was too young to watch or understand. So instead, she directed his attention to the small library and had him read her some books. She loved books and she loved the way her dad read, with many different voices, and asking her questions now and then about what she thought of the story.

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Fifty-Five: A Different Kind of Late-Night

Staying out every other week to ridiculous hours was throwing off Teddy’s schedule, but it always got corrected when it was Zera’s week with him. While she had slept just fine as an infant, she had entered a phase where she was having nightmares almost every night. They were always varied and didn’t have any kind of logic to them of course, but it was getting to be hard on Teddy’s rhythms to have his sleep interrupted so often.

He never let on to his daughter though, since he was sure that when she was at her mother’s she probably didn’t get comfort. He was always happy - although dead tired - to let her crawl into his bed to feel safe, and she usually stayed there until it was time to get up in the morning.

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Fifty-Two: Plumbing Apocalypse

One morning Teddy awoke to a plumbing disaster, every sink and faucet was spewing water everywhere and he couldn’t get his landlord on the phone! He called into work to let them know the situation and tried to fix everything by himself. Zera, meanwhile, was in heaven. She loved water! And having water all over the house was like living in your own personal water park! Why was Daddy trying to stop it??

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Fifty-One: Everybody Wants to Be a Cat

Zera doesn’t have any human siblings, but she does have three animal siblings. Her favorite is Samson, she loves imitating him and talking to him, she learns so many new things from him! Like how to throw litter around the house, how to make her hair wet by licking her hand and dragging it through her hair, and how if the middle of your plate is empty that means all the food is gone! Samson has so much wisdom to bestow upon her and she soaks it up!

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Forty-Nine: I Love Everything!

Zera loves growing up! Zera loves being carried! Zera loves water! Zera loves food! Zera loves everything! And everyone loves Zera, especially her daddy. She loves water? Extra bath time! She loves food? Healthy snacks! She loves being carried? Guess who never has to walk anywhere! Is she spoiled? Yes. Does he care? No.

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Forty-Eight: Zera In Her Toddler Era

Zera’s second birthday didn’t sneak up on Teddy, but between his new responsibilities at work and his new relationship with Jolene, he hadn’t had enough time to put the effort into Zera’s party that he knew she deserved. Violet had apparently had her own party during the week which had been extravagant. Despite the social bunny posts, Teddy knew that it was all just about publicity with Violet, it wasn’t about Zera’s birthday, it was about the likes and comments she could get.

Zera’s party at her dad’s house was definitely more low-key, but as always Zera had way more fun at her dad’s house than with her mom. Uncle Stan and Aunt Lilli were there, plus Jolene, but she felt a bit awkward, so she stayed outside for most of the party. While her infanthood had been filled with caution, Zera aged into a very inquisitive toddler, always asking “why” and “what’s that?” The party was a lot of fun, perhaps too much fun, seeing as after everyone had left and Zera was in bed, he immediately passed out on the ground. His first energy failure, cute.

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Forty-Four: Zera Loves Dad’s House

During the weeks that she was with her dad, Zera was much happier. When she was at her Mom’s house, Zera was mostly left alone. Violet would come to hang out with her sometimes, but only on a whim, leaving Zera wondering what it was she could do to get her mother’s attention and always coming up short. However, when she was with her dad, everything was always about her! They played games, reached milestones, dressed up in silly outfits, went to the park, and more! She never wanted to leave!

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Forty-Two: Day in the Life of Zera

6:00 AM: Wake up

6:30 AM: Breakfast

7:00 AM: Get dressed and changed

7:30 AM: Get dropped off at daycare

8:00 AM: Work on grab milestone

9:00 AM: Snack

10:00 AM: Nap

11:00 AM: Diaper Change

12:00 PM: Lunch

1:00 PM: Reading Time

2:00 PM: Diaper Change

3:00 PM: Nap

4:00 PM: Get picked up and go home

5:00 PM: Playtime with Daddy

6:00 PM: Dinner

7:00 PM: Diaper Change

7:30 PM: Bedtime stories

8:00 PM: Sleepy Time

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Forty-One: Morning Person

Zera was growing up to be a little morning person, which Teddy knew must have been driving her mom nuts since she usually didn’t go to work or wake up until at least noon. Teddy, on the other hand, had to be up early for work so they didn’t have any issues. Zera loved to wake up early and loved waking up, she was never grumpy or upset when she woke up, Teddy would walk into her room and find her giggly and practicing her grabbing motions. When she saw him, she would reach for him and he would gladly hold her close to his heart. It was the best way to start the morning.

Or it usually was until she started peeing on him in the middle of her morning diaper change.

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Book 1: Normal Type | Chapter Forty: Single Dad Life

Teddy was used to being a single dad, he had raised his three siblings on his own, and then after Zera had been born Violet had let him pretty much raise her on his own as well. He often worried about what was going on during the weeks when she was at her mom’s house, but Violet also knew that she could call Teddy anytime during her weeks to get him to pick up his daughter, and he always did. He kept very clear documentation of these requests too, as he intended to eventually gain full custody of Zera, not trusting Violet at all.

Until then, he worked dedicatedly with her while he had her to make sure she was meeting her milestones on time. They practiced tummy time, played peek-a-boo, played with the animals, walked around the neighborhood, and much more. Zera loved it (except for the tummy time).