| Subject: Re: Love is in the Air C2/3 |
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fananicfan
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Date Posted: 15:20:54 07/28/07 Sat
In reply to:
fananicfan
's message, "Love is in the Air" on 21:51:59 07/27/07 Fri
Chapter Two – Day of the Dance
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2006
SAN DIEGO
The teenage drama started when Mattie came down for breakfast. Last weekend, when we’d gone shopping, my thought had been that her low heeled, black shoes would work with the dress that she'd picked out.
This morning, Mattie informed me that she needed new shoes to wear because the black shoes that I'd suggested don't look right with her dress. It wasn’t until Mattie tried on the dress and shoes together and modeled them for me that I agreed that the shoes just didn’t fit the look of the dress. I have the perfect shoes to go with her dress, unfortunately, they’re my shoes, and she and I don’t wear the same size.
We have to wait for the stores to open, but as soon as it's ten o'clock, we're on our way to the mall.
Upon our return, Mattie rushes through the door and up the stairs. A few minutes later, she yells down, “The new shoes are much better.”
I haven't heard another word or seen her in thirty-seven minutes. I've looked through the mail. I found several sale ads and other junk mail along with the electric bill, but nothing from Tyler or Harm, so I moved on to some house work. I'm trying not to pay attention to the time because I'm trying not to think about Mattie's date.
My house cleaning has made me hungry for lunch or at least a snack. I go to the kitchen to make a couple of sandwiches. After I make the sandwiches, I head upstairs to Mattie’s room to check on her and get her to eat something.
After we finish our sandwiches, Mattie asks me to help her make her final selection of accessories. She's excited, and nothing is looking right to her. I offer her my small gold hoop earrings and a clutch of mine to go with her outfit. She has an appointment to get her hair done in forty five minutes, so it's time for her to shower.
I come down from Mattie’s room, having left her to shower. After taking our lunch plates to the kitchen, I come out and collapse on the couch. It's early afternoon, but I feel ready for bed. I’ve just gotten comfortable when the phone rings. I manage to get myself up and to the phone by the third ring.
“Hello.”
Harm was glad that Mac had answered. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to say to Mattie. “Hey, how are things there?”
I was feeling tired, but the sound of his voice brings my energy level up. “Not bad, but Mattie's in the shower, so you’ll have to talk to me first.”
“Isn’t it around 1400 there? Why is she in the shower?”
“You’ve got a lot to learn about girls. You shower before you get your hair done so the steam doesn’t cause your hair to frizz.” As I speak, I realize that he might not want to hear the details of Mattie’s date preparations and then it dawns on me that, if he hasn’t been sending email, perhaps he hasn't been reading any either and might not know about her date. “Have you been able to read your email?” I ask, hoping that I’m not going to be the one who has to fill him in.
“I know about the dance tonight, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“How are you handling the news?”
“Caught me my surprise, but I’m better today. It helped that I had to put in a day at the office today and haven't had time to really think about it in depth."
“She is seventeen. You had to know that this was coming. Why were you working on a Saturday?”
If Mac was going to say any more, she didn’t get the chance. “But I haven’t had her for seventeen years.” He let out a heavy sigh. “I'm still trying to catch up on work that I'm behind in because I've been gone so much. I've also had to start on things having to do with the relocation, because I can't afford to get behind on that."
“If it helps, Tyler won’t be old enough to date for a long time.”
“That’s if we get Tyler soon. Did you hear anything?”
“I got some papers in the mail yesterday. We've passed through the application process. Among the papers is a request for the names of friends and family who might be able to speak to our suitability as parents. There's also a letter of notification that Virginia has requested the assistance of the local agency in inspecting the home where Tyler will be living."
“I guess that, when I get off the phone with you, it's time for me to call my parents and tell them what we’re up to."
“You sure that you want to tell them? Adopting him was more my idea. I can tell them on Wednesday when we go to dinner this week.”
“I’m sure that you’ll get your share of questions on Wednesday, but if I tell them first, they’ll understand from the start that I want him, too.”
Harm and I discuss the names of people who we want to list as our references. Harm agrees that Harriet and Bud will be excellent references and asks if he should call them, too. I have to tell him that they already know. When he asks, how? I have to tell him about my phone call to Harriet a few days ago after I'd finished making arrangements for our trip.
******FLASHBACK*******
"Roberts Residence."
"Harriet, it's Mac. I'm calling to let you know that Mattie and I will be in town over the President's Day weekend and I wanted to ask if you might be able to meet us for lunch one day."
"Of course, I'll meet you for lunch. Call me when you get into town and we'll set a definite time. Saturday might be best for me, but I don't know if that works with your schedule. It's funny that Bud didn't mention that you were coming to town."
"Bud doesn't know, Harriet. I'm not coming in for business. Mattie and I are coming to spend some time with the little boy that Harm and I hope to adopt."
****** END FLASHBACK*******
I tell Harm that Harriet had been speechless for a few seconds and then she'd been happy for us and asked all kinds of questions about Tyler.
I call up to Mattie to tell her that Harm's on the phone, but get no answer. I tell Harm about getting Tyler’s letter and getting his sweet note and pictures as I climb the stairs to tell Mattie that Harm's on the phone. After I confirm that Mattie's out of the shower and in her room, Harm and I say our goodbyes, and I turn the phone over to Mattie.
As I listen to Mattie speak so excitedly about her date, I wonder, if reading emails about it affected him, is he going to have a meltdown at hearing the details? Mattie stays on the phone long enough to give him all the details of her new dress, shoes, and date before telling him that she has to go get her hair done and needs to get off the phone. I’m thankful that she ends the call the way she does. “I need to go. I love you. Bye, Harm.”
With the phone call ended, we leave for the salon and her hair appointment. We get to the salon, and she opts to have her long locks of hair put up. We return to the condo ninety-seven minutes later, and Mattie flees to her room, saying as she goes, “Paul's picking me up at six so we can go to dinner first.”
I go plop myself down on the couch. I note the time. If he's on time, he’ll be here in fifty-four minutes. With forty-nine minutes to go, I hear, “Mac, I need your help. Come up here, please.”
Mattie's gotten out of her comfy clothes that she wore to get her hair done and has on a robe. She wants to know how to get dressed right. I’m slightly confused, and she’s frustrated that I don’t know what she’s talking about at first. What she wants to know is, should she put on her dress and then do her makeup or vice a versa? After I dispense my advice on the order to get dressed for a formal occasion, I leave her to get ready.
My decent down the stairs is called off about halfway down by the call of my teenager in distress. This time, she asks me to help her put on her makeup. I’m curious as to why the normally very independent young woman in front of me is suddenly so needy, but, as she reaches for her makeup bag, I see that her hand is shaking.
I take the bag from her and get temporarily lost in thought. When I was her age, I wasn't sober enough to feel nervous or feel anything else, for that matter. I’m able to snap myself out of my thoughts, but the memories of that time of my life prompt me to talk to her about the possibility of the punch being spiked. Should I give her the sex talk, too? I stop to consider that this is only the first time that they've gone out, but I want her to know that it's okay for her to say no.
The talk about drinking and spiked punch goes easily while I’m applying her makeup. It's hard for me to bring up the ‘sex talk,’ but after her makeup is done, she and I sit on the edge of the bed. I begin with, “There's another reason why you should call me to come to get you, not just if he drinks and wants to drive or if he’s pressuring you to drink.”
Mattie sees the topic coming and helps me get to the point. “Mac, if he pressures me for sex, I’ll call you, too.”
I’m relieved that I don’t have to go into detail for her to know that I’m here for her if she needs me. With her makeup done and the drinking and sex talks out of the way, it's time for me to leave her to get dressed.
I descend the stairs slowly, wondering if I’ll be summoned back. I reach the couch without hearing anything. I’ve just gotten comfortable on the couch when I once again hear her call my name. I begin to climb the stairs. After a quick time check, I smile. If he’s on time, there's only nineteen more minutes to go.
I reach Mattie’s door and look in to see that she’s dressed. The soft green, but not mint, goes well with the cream colored shoes. “Mattie, you look beautiful.”
“Thank you. And could you help me with one more thing?”
I look at her in question, and she holds up her charm bracelet. “Put this on me, please?”
I’m feeling a little emotional all of a sudden. She’s never taken off the ring that Harm and I gave her, but she hasn’t worn the bracelet that I bought her in England since our fight at Thanksgiving. The fact that she wants to wear it again and on a night that's so important to her touches me deeply.
I’m unaware that a tear has escaped and is rolling down my cheek as I fasten the bracelet around her wrist until Mattie says, “If it's going to upset you, I won’t wear the bracelet.”
“No, it isn’t that. I’m glad that you’re wearing it.” I pull her into a hug, “It's that you look so grown up, and I’m sad that we haven’t been close longer.”
Our hug comes to an end with the ding dong of the doorbell. I make note that he’s fifteen minutes early.
Sooner than I’d like, I’m opening the door, revealing a male with broad shoulders and a nice smile. He stands right at the six foot mark with blonde hair and blue eyes, and is a handsome young man.
I extend my hand. “Hi, I’m Mac…Mattie’s…” I hadn’t thought of how I should introduce myself and I’m surprised when he finishes my sentence as he reaches to shake my hand.
“Mom, Mattie told me about you, but she didn’t say that you were so pretty.”
“Thank you. Mattie didn’t tell me much about you. Is there anything that you’d like to tell me?”
“He plays on the school’s soccer team and he has a 3.7 GPA.” We hear from the direction of the stairs, neither one of us sure how long Mattie’s been standing there.
Mattie’s reluctant to let me take pictures until I mention that it's so that Harm can see how pretty she looks tonight. As I take pictures, I get a few more tidbits from Paul about himself. I take at least a dozen pictures of Mattie, Paul, and Paul giving Mattie a corsage. After I’ve communicated Mattie’s curfew, I’ve run out of reasonable excuses to keep them here.
Mattie must be sensing my hesitation, because she has Paul walk out first. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’ll call if I need you.” Then she gives me a quick hug and she’s out the door, too.
With our daughter out on a date, I turn my attention to the little boy that I hope to call our son.
I think filling out the papers that I received yesterday is a constructive way to fill my time as I wait up for Mattie. I work on the papers for awhile before I stop to fix myself something to eat. Then I finish the paperwork on Tyler and prepare it for mailing on Monday.
With my primary list of tasks completed, I reach for the TV remote and tap the ‘on’ button. I *push the channel button until I stumble onto a movie with an actress who I like in it, but I quickly change the channel when it becomes obvious * that the movie is about her daughter who went out on a date and something happens to her. I don’t watch any longer to find out what happened to her daughter with Mattie out on a date at this very moment. A few more clicks later and I give up on my search of something fun to watch. This is one of those times that the slapstick antics of the Three Stooges would be useful. I turn off the TV and go get my briefcase. I can use this time to work on my presentation for the JAG conference.
I manage to scribble down a few lines between checks of the time. I find it odd that, after every three or four checks of my internal clock, I've found it necessary to look at my watch to make sure that I’m right. My last check of the time has me feeling a little more at ease. There's only an hour left until her curfew is up. I’ve almost made it through this.
I’ve managed to write down a few more sentences before my mind drifts to a few hours ago when Mattie was getting ready for her date. I know that my smile must be a mile wide on my face, if anyone were here to see it, as I think about how much I’d have been like her if I were getting ready for a date with Harm. I’d have wanted the dress, shoes and makeup to be perfect. The more I think about it, maybe it was for the best that Harm and I didn’t really date. I might not have survived getting ready.
A noise outside the door pulls me from my reverie. I go to the door and look out the peep hole. It's Mattie and Paul. They're back twenty-two minutes before curfew. I hope it's because he wants to make a good impression so he can take her out again and not because they didn't have a good time. I take another peek out. He's putting his arms around her. I think he’s going to kiss her goodnight. If I were Harm, I’d open the door right now and interrupt, but I’m going to go back to the couch and wait for her to come in. I see his face moving closer to hers. I don’t want to interrupt, but I don’t want to watch either, so I go to the couch.
Three minutes and seventeen seconds later, Mattie comes through the door. “I’m home, Mac.”
“Did you have a good time?”
“The night was wonderful.”
She has the unmistakable look of a girl who's on her way to falling in love. “Are you going to tell me about it?”
Mattie sighs and steps onto the first step of the staircase. “Tomorrow...tonight, I just want to dream about it.”
After I’ve waited so patiently, now I have to wait 'til tomorrow. I don’t like it, but I understand. I’ll work on my presentation a little bit longer before I turn in and dream of a certain sailor I know.
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