Continued from here, where I realized the child arriving come May could be my great-grandchild (Ack! all over again!) ...

Okay, that little freak-out session will be going on for a while, but while it does I'll shift focus back to the saga at hand ...

So, I have an unhelpful helper who costs us a lot (like many expats, we pay over the normal scale) who will soon need to be paid for doing nothing at all while I kill myself trying to get everything done that I already don't have enough time to do.

And ... there's an eighteen-year-old pregnant girl who needs a break.

After about 30 seconds of deliberation and a quick conversation with Mark, I face the fact that here's only one thing I have it in me to do.

I'll let Catherina and Richard move into our guest house in February when our long-planned guests finish their visit, we'll call it a condition of employment -- a part of her package. We lived in the house for six years while waiting for this one to be finished enough to allow habitation (construction, like much else, happens on island time, and we're still years away from being "done"), and it's cozy and cute, and has plenty of room for a couple and a baby. I know this because I lived it. We'll move the new little fridge we've bought for drinks over and replace the stove that's gone a bit yucky.

I'll go online to see if I can find Lamaze lessons I can help her with, as there's no such thing here (Any ideas, Holly?), and teach Richard how to participate. I'll show her pictures of what her developing baby looks like right now. I'll take her to doctor appointments and sit with her through scans. I'll talk to her about her health, about motherhood, about the future. I'll keep her from climbing on ladders and counters and will clean the high bits myself. I will be excited and happy for her and her baby and hope that fills some gaps left where her family members step out.

You could say that our family is about to foster an eighteen-year-old pregnant girl and her boyfriend.

There's no middle ground in how this will play out. It may happen that they take total advantage of the situation and leave us regretting ever even thinking of helping. OR, we could all get on like a house afire and function like a bigger happy family down here in our little valley, live happily ever after and be so glad that circumstances brought us all together.

I'll keep you posted.

Continued as information becomes available ...