Last time, Beezus had eloped with her boyfriend and moved out of the Catchick household, leaving Allie, Issac, Bradley and (soon-to-be born) new baby Brenna in the small house.
As Beezus predicted in her complaints, having another baby has sapped Allie of a lot of her health and strength. And, she’s still working, so when she is home, it looks kind of like this -naps, meals, bedtime. Issac is also working hard as a writer, and bringing in a little bit of money on the side in the form of his published books.
But life happens, things keep breaking down. No one told either of them that own a home was going to be like this.
Somewhere in between, Brenna became school aged. But it was totally eclipsed by the badness soon to come.
It started with a broken refrigerator that the Catchicks could not afford to replace outright.
The whole family is devastated. Bradley and Brenna have just lost their father.
They struggle to go to school, keep up their grades and find peace.
But even the underground crypt didn’t help. Allie was miserable, too, and she walked around bemoaning the loss of her husband, until one day…
… he returned. His spirit, really.
They talked all day, laughing and hugging. He came back day after day, promising to never leave her again.
Whether Allie realized it or not, she was ‘dating’ her dead husband.
Event 5 was, as mentioned before, to redecorate the outside of the house… so the Catchick’s got new siding and a bigger porch, and fresh flowers. It’s not much, but what they can afford right now.
Event 6 was to “call someone you haven’t called before” which was easy enough to do.