| Subject: Re: Family Christmas 2/8 plus |
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fananicfan
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Date Posted: 12:45:05 06/12/07 Tue
In reply to:
fananicfan
's message, "Family Christmas - story after How We Became Us in the series" on 09:10:59 06/11/07 Mon
CHAPTER TWO – In the Air
Mattie and her grandparents boarded a plane on the evening of Thursday Dec 8th in San Diego. In the air on the first leg of their long journey, San Diego to New York, Mattie began to believe that the holiday trip to London wasn't going to be as wonderful as she'd hoped. Mac would've told Harm about her behavior, and she'd better be ready to face him.
Once their flight was in the air, Mattie reclined her seat and tried to sleep, but it was useless. Her mind was too involved with trying to figure out what questions Harm would ask and what her answers would be.
***
The first disagreement with Mac over school, Mattie hadn't meant to be argumentative or rude, but Mac hadn't understood. It had been more than just going to a new school. She'd come a long way, but, in some ways, she hadn't felt whole yet. Her short term memory wasn't always reliable. She might call someone by the wrong name, and then the other kids would think she was dumb! Though she was walking and doing well, fatigue was still an issue after a full day of activity. So much so that her doctor had ordered her to not take any kind of physical education class when she'd started school a month ago. At school in DC, the teachers had treated her differently when she'd started back, and her friends had treated her like someone who was on the mend after an accident. Since Mattie couldn't do everything that she'd done before, they'd been content to just hang out with her. The kids at the new school wouldn't know about Mattie's accident and everything that she'd been through since then, and she'd been afraid that they wouldn't make any allowances for what she'd perceived as her shortcomings.
Mattie had started to make friends with a couple of girls, but they'd wanted to meet her at the mall or the movie theatre, and Mattie didn't have a way to get there. Well, she could take the city transit, but was unsure which bus to take. However, the need to make friends had led her to attempt the bus after school one day. Mattie had called her grandparents with the story that she was staying late at school because of a school project. Mattie had stayed at school until the end of the day, then had boarded the city bus that went by the mall. If she could figure out the bus route, she'd tell her friends that she could meet them this weekend. Trish had told her to call them when she was ready to come home, and one of them would pick her up from school if Mac wasn't home yet. That was one thing that Mattie hadn't been worried about. Mac wouldn't be home because she worked late almost every night. Mattie had found out that she should have been worried about it.
It was near the end of October, and Mac had left the office early to look at a condo. Mattie had walked in the door of the Burnett home, proud of herself for figuring out the bus schedule and the route to take from the Burnett's to the mall on Saturday. She was greeted by Mac with, "Mattie, I've been waiting for your call. How did you get home?" Mattie had been so caught off guard that she'd lied in response. "I rode home with a friend from school. Everyone drives except me," she'd yelled and stormed off upstairs to her room in an attempt to hide her guilty conscience.
During dinner that night, Mattie had been able to tell that Mac wasn't sure what to say about her outburst. Mac had stayed calm and hadn't mentioned it, but she'd blown her Saturday plans to meet her friends just the same. "Mattie, I looked at a condo this afternoon, and I want you to go with me on Saturday to look at the place before I sign a lease." Mattie had liked the condo. Her room was on the ocean side of the building and, though they couldn't see the ocean from their condo, when the window was open, Mattie could smell the sea. By the time they'd met with the agent showing the condo and signed a lease, the day was over, at least as far as getting to the mall to see her friends was concerned. From that day forward, Mattie hadn't missed an opportunity to hint about getting her driver's license. For instance, one night Trish had run out of milk while cooking and had asked Mattie to see if Mac minded going to the store for her. Mattie had gone into the other room and said to Mac, "Trish is out of milk and needs it to finish dinner. She'd like to know if you'd go get it for her. I'd go if I had a driver's license, but since I don't, I guess you'll have to do it, Mac."
The following weekend, the first weekend in November, Mac had talked to Harm, and they'd discussed Mattie getting a driver's license. Mac, being the disciplinarian all the time, had asked Harm to deliver the conditions under which she could get her license. First, she needed to wait until she saw the doctor in January for a check up to see if he found any medical reason why she shouldn't have one. The January appointment also happened to be a few weeks after report cards, and, if her grades were good, she could start the driver's training needed for a license in California when you're under eighteen.
After the conditions had been given, Mattie had tried harder at school. Mattie knew that she was smart, or at least she use to be, but now she had to work harder and harder, and her grades didn't reflect how hard she'd actually been working. She felt that she was never going to get the grades to get her learner's permit.
*****
Their plane landed in New York on time in the in the early morning hours of Friday the 9th. Mattie had been so quiet on the flight from San Diego and hadn't slept at all that Frank and Trish were worried about her. Frank and Trish were assuming that Mattie was upset about flying. If they'd asked Mattie, she might have let them believe that it was the flying, but the truth was, her thoughts had kept her from thinking about being in an airplane.
A delay in take off from New York to London due to weather was a distraction for Mattie. Frank and Trish said that, if they were going to be stuck in the airport for awhile, they wanted to have breakfast at a restaurant before boarding the next plane. Thank goodness New York is a city that doesn't sleep, because, given the early hour of the day, it wasn't difficult to find a nice restaurant that served breakfast on plates and not wrapped in paper. Frank and Trish kept Mattie's mind on the trip itself over breakfast with questions about places she wanted to see and things she wanted to do in London. Mattie had come to Trish's gallery once and seemed to enjoy the art, so Trish asked Frank if she could take Mattie to an art gallery in London on Monday before she and Frank left on Tuesday to visit other parts of Europe. Mattie enjoyed Trish and Frank's company and found that they were adjusting well to having a practically grown grandchild. It was decided that, if Harm didn't have any plans for Mattie on Monday, they'd take her to a gallery or two.
When it was announced that their flight would shortly be boarding for London, Frank called Harm in London to make alternate plans. Originally, they were going to take a taxi to Harm's office and drop off Mattie before proceeding to their hotel. However, the delay in departure from New York would put them in much later than they'd thought, so the plan was changed to meeting Harm at his apartment.
Once in the air again, Mattie's thoughts returned to her problems with Mac.
****
Though Mac had seemed worn out and tired when she'd been home, the few days of unapcking at the condo had been good. The first day they'd unpacked the kitchen together before working alone in their individual rooms. The second day they'd unpacked the living room, and it had been fun to see the things that Mac had and how they differed from Harm's. It was also interesting to see the pictures of the different people that Mac had wanted to display. Mac had made a point to tell Mattie that the open space that she'd left in the picture arrangement was reserved for a wedding picture. They'd ordered the wedding pictures at the end of September, and the photographer had mailed them to Harm's parents' house about six weeks later.
Trish had brought the wedding photos by the Wednesday after they'd moved. Mac and Mattie had looked through the photos that same night to see which one would be put in the empty space. The photo chosen was of Harm and Mac in the garden at the hotel. Having picked the perfect photo to join the others that night, Mac had taken Mattie to dinner the next night before they'd gone shopping for the perfect frame. Mac had bought two or three frames for different pictures. It was when the perfect wedding picture had joined the others that Mattie thought she knew the reason why she hadn't been getting along with Mac. It was because Mac had 'acquired' her because Mac loved Harm, and not because Mac loved her. Harm had explained why she was moving with Mac to California, but why hadn't he taken her to London if he loved her? She would've changed schools again.
Mattie had just pinpointed what she thought was the cause of her recent rebellious streak. It had been the next evening when Mattie had begun to lash out at everything. Even the simpliest things like being asked to set the table for dinner, taking out the trash or moving her packback from in front of the door, Mattie had met with a smart remark or claimed that she had homework to do and had simply disappeared into her room. Mattie hadn't been disrespectful to her grandparents, but the night before Thanksgiving, Mac had asked Mattie why she was so angry with her, and had wanted to talk things through. After making excuses like 'it's school,' 'you won't understand' and the big one, 'I wish I could live with Harm,' Mac had left Mattie alone, but things had been at an all time low, and the tension between them hadn't gone unnoticed by her grandparents.
By the end of Thanksgiving day, a plan had been put in motion for Mattie to see Harm for Christmas. Mattie had assumed that the trip hadn't been planned just so she could see Harm, but so that Mac could get a break from her. Therefore, the tension between them had remained, but Mattie had tried not to be quite so argumentative, especially over little things like setting the table.
Thursday afternoon, Mac had come home early to make sure that Mattie had everything packed and was ready to go. Mac and Mattie were going to pick up the Burnetts and then Mac would drive them all to the airport. Thirty minutes after Mac had arrived at the condo, Jennifer had called to verify an appointment that Mac had with someone. Mac had pulled out her day planner and made sure that the appointment was entered into her book.
Mattie wasn't sure why she'd done it, but when Mac had left the room to go get Mattie's passport out of the locked fire box in her bedroom, Mattie had gone over to look at Mac's calendar. Mattie had secretly hoped that she'd see an entry like 'meet boyfriend for dinner' so that she could tell Harm, and then she'd get to go live with him. When her eyes had scanned the page, her lungs had exhaled all the air that they'd held, leaving her light headed for a moment. Mattie had tried to think rationally as she'd looked at the entry on the 16th of December again: *Dr. Hastings, 1300. Mattie had snorted. 'She's probably pregnant,' she'd thought. An asterisk like the one next to the doctor's name on the date in the margin had changed Mattie's mind about her being pregnant. *If another procedure recommended on 16th, must wait until early January.
Mac had been coming downstairs and calling to her. "Mattie, come on or we'll be caught in traffic and I'll never get you to the airport on time."
Mattie had been by the door before Mac had reached the bottom of the stairs. Mattie had remianed quiet during her ride to her grandparents and to the airport, thinking about the calendar entry. Harm and Mac hadn't seen each other in almost three months. If she were pregnant and there was a problem, they'd have told her by now, wouldn't they? What was wrong with Mac? Why hadn't they told her what was wrong with her? Was the trip to London so that she could see the place before she had to move there because Mac was dying?
After seeing Mac's day planner before they'd left, Mattie had felt pangs of guilt at the airport when Mac had reached out, hugged her and whispered in her ear for her to have a good trip. She'd been a pain, and Mac was sick. What kind of person was she? She knew that Mac had been tired and run down, but she didn't know that it had been because she was sick, and she'd just kept being awful to Mac. What would Harm do without Mac? Did Harm know what was wrong? And if Harm knew, he'd be in no mood to deal with her teenage insecurities and rebellion, and he might not want her anymore.
****
They'd arrived at Harm's less than an hour ago. Harm had had some sliced fruit, vegetables, and sandwiches waiting for them when they'd arrived. His parents had stayed long enough to enjoy a light snack before leaving to check into their hotel.
After his parents had left, she told Harm that she was really tired. Harm carried her bag as he showed her to her room. He said that he'd wake her after his run in the morning, and, over breakfast, they could discuss what she'd like to do while she was here.
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