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Pete and Gina look a bit thinner than they have on previous pages (remember, this is 18 years ago). Most of us fall victim to "middle-age spread" unless we're diligent. Drawing a web-comic instead of exercising sure doesn't help either.
Gina reads a note from her brother as Pete walks into town, passing by Nora. Even though it's winter (which is why the lawn is brown and there are no leaves on the willow), Pete never really needs a coat. Also, I thought it only fitting that, as Hares, the girls would sleep in bunny sleepers.
It's not in the book, but the note reads:
Gina -
You said some truly hurtful things, but they were also very true. We are not fit to be parents. Therefore we have decided it is in the best interest of Clare & Rachael that you should rear them as your own. In return, I shall release you from your obligation to provide for me. It is a horrible sacrifice for us, but I think it is for the best in the end.
G & A
It sounds callous and hard-hearted but, sadly, this sort of thing happens in real life all of the time. Sometimes (as Gina's brother suggests) it's for the best and sometimes it's not. Maybe Gina was a little too intractable. Maybe her brother and his wife should have . . .
Well, this is fiction and all of the details aren't there anyway, so there's no use agonizing over who's right and who's wrong here.
That will be in another story.
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20 JUNE 2001 Wednesday - 2000
Page 51
Black Kettle Pub
Gina had told the young couple that they were (among other things) incapable of supporting the twins and not fit to be parents. In hindsight, she came to realise that that had, perhaps, not been the wisest course of action. They had taken Gina at her word and disappeared the very next morning leaving a note stating that they agreed with her in principle. They also left the twins, unceremoniously dumping the infants into Gina's miniscule lap, declaring that as Gina owned the Black Kettle, had a steady income and wasn't going anywhere, she could provide them with a stable environment.
Thus it was that Gina was left, quite literally, holding the babies. She was very displeased with this turn of events, but as the alternative was to leave the twins at an orphanage, she reluctantly took them in. This was not to say she did not care for her new charges. She had nothing but unqualified love for the girls, and had since dedicated her life to browbeating and bullying them into healthy, well-adjusted adults.
The very day after the adoption, as if deigned by fate, Pete Dunberr had strolled into town from Trinova for reasons known only to him.
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