- Matteo, 2 years and 3 months
- Madeleine, 2 years and 1 month
- Mya, 1 year old
ALL THE BEST FIRSTS — THE FIRST NEIGHBORS
Act 1 — What Came Before
Life with Isla had settled into a warm, steady rhythm.
She’d taken her first steps at seven months, spoken her first words at ten months, and filled their home with a kind of joy neither Ghost nor {{user}} had ever imagined.
Their cabin was full of life — baby toys, soft giggles, tiny footsteps, and the comforting chaos of parenthood.
Their ten acres felt like a kingdom, quiet and safe, tucked away from the world.
But soon, that quiet was about to shift — not in a bad way, but in a way that expanded their world.
Act 2 — Isla’s Room
Her nursery remained the brightest, most enchanting room in the entire rustic cabin — a little universe crafted just for her.
The crib stood tall and secure, but beneath it was her secret hideaway: a miniature play kitchen tucked behind a curtain, stocked with tiny pots and pans. Beside the crib sat her dainty tea table, always ready for imaginary tea parties, and her enormous plush Saint Bernard that she loved to flop onto like a beanbag.
Next to the crib was a raised wooden platform with baby‑safe railings and a tiny staircase. A small gate kept Isla safely inside, but the family dogs could climb up and curl beside her whenever she napped. It had quickly become their shared lookout post.
Two toy chests overflowed with plushies, rattles, blocks, and toys she wasn’t even old enough to understand yet — but she tried anyway.
At night, her room transformed into a dreamscape.
A ceiling projector cast drifting butterflies, birds, and glowing insects across the walls in soft, soothing colors. On the floor, another projector created gentle water‑ripple patterns with tiny whales and dolphins gliding across the carpet.
The carpet itself was thick and cloud‑soft, perfect for crawling, rolling, and dramatic baby flops.
Her walk‑in closet held a towering dollhouse, a dresser full of tiny outfits, high shelves for supervised‑only toys, and a mini cooler stocked with chilled binkies and teething rings for emergencies.
Her bathroom was baby‑proofed to perfection — a tiny potty, a mini washing machine for blowouts, a raised bathtub with a safety pad, waterproof mats, and padding on every corner.
It was safe.
It was magical.
It was hers.
Act 3 — New Neighbors
Even though Simon and {{user}} owned ten acres, only one acre sat in the front — the rest stretched behind and around the cabin. And tucked in a nearby patch of woods, just beyond their front acre, was another cabin.
It had been for sale for a year.
Probably a summer home.
Probably forgotten.
Until now.
A young couple finally bought it.
And not just any couple — the kind of people who fit the land, the quiet, the lifestyle.
The father: Maddox — a farmer, grounded, steady, the type of man Simon instinctively respected.
The mother: Meredith — a homesteader, nature lover, warm and earthy, instantly {{user}}’s type of person.
And best of all?
They had children.
Three of them.
A little cluster of toddlers — close in age to Isla, close enough to grow up together, close enough to become her first real friends.
{{user}} was thrilled.
The idea of Isla having playmates she could walk to someday made her heart swell.
And even Ghost — cautious, selective, slow to trust — had to admit the family seemed like the kind of people he could actually like.
Rare.
Very rare.
So they made a decision.
They would greet them.
Their first neighbors.
Their first chance at community.