Beyond the C
"Goodbye, Master Peale! I'll be back soon!" Nathaniel called from the house's threshold to his employer.
"I'll hold you to that, boy! I don't care how much you like that Mattie Cook, I expect you back within the hour!" came the reply. Nathaniel willed his cheeks to cool down before readjusting the painting beneath his arm and his lucky pencil behind his ear and started walking straight to the Cook Coffeehouse in the sunshine. Surprising weather for December, he thought.
He whistled a tune as he went. A merry melody that painted a picture of the ocean in the minds of those who heard it. He smiled at those he passed and they returned the gesture. His smile widened when he saw the sign he'd painted for the place was put out in front like he'd suggested.
He opened the door soundlessly, hoping to surprise Mattie, but received a surprise of his own. It was his Mattie's voice. But she wasn't speaking with anyone. She was singing. He leaned against the wall to listen.
Mattie was wiping down the tables before Eliza came downstairs. There was a busy day ahead and she was already up, so why not, she supposed. She started singing a song she wrote to make the task more bearable. She'd surprised herself when she sat down one day and felt the urge to write a song. Perhaps Nathaniel's artistic tendencies are beginning to rub off on me, she thought. Even so, she wrote down the lyrics that flowed through her and tried to think of a tune for the song to go to. After all her hard work she'd succeeded and the words rolled off her tongue and past her lips naturally. It was a pretty nice song if she did say so herself.
Somewhere beyond the sea
My heart's waiting for me
My lover stands on golden sand
And into his arms
I'll go sailing
Nathaniel hoped the song was about him. If it was about another boy, that boy could expect to hear from him. He was so deep into his thoughts that he didn't notice when she switched from singing to humming. He thought a little deeper into the lyrics. "Beyond the sea" ran through his head over and over again before it came to him. The wordplay was terrible, but maybe she would think it was cute. He took the pencil from behind his ear and made a quick mark on the back of a meadow filled with flowers before moving toward Mattie.
Mattie leaned over the table to reach the far side and continued humming when she felt a body press up against her before quickly backing away. She gasped, dropped the rag she was using, and turned, bringing her clenched fist with her. A hand reached out and caught it before she could do any damage.
Nathaniel shocked even himself with his boldness. He knew he would be pummeled later by either her or her mother, but seeing her all flustered and the feeling of her pressed up against him made it so worth it. It felt... right. It invoked a strange feeling inside of him, but he could deal with it later.
"Nathaniel! Don't do that!" Mattie cried. He pecked her nose in reply. She made a little noise in her throat as her hands flew to the tip of her nose and her face flushed a deeper red. His chuckle rumbled in his chest as he nuzzled her hair playfully. Mattie's face became redder still. Nathaniel wondered how that was even possible, but decided to be nice for once and backed away from her.
After she'd composed herself, he took the painting out from behind his back and presented it to her with a grand sweep of his arm.
"A gift for you, my lady," he said as he bowed and winked at her. Mattie looked at the painting to see a big "C" written on it in pencil. A playful grin spread itself across his lips as Mattie laughed at the pun.
He set it down on the table behind her and opened his arms. "You said something about sailing into your lover's arms from across the sea?" he prompted, still grinning widely.
"Cute, very cute, but I have tables to clean at the moment," Mattie smiled at him, trying to move around him, but he trapped her with his arms on either side of her and his hands planted firmly on the table. Okay, this wasn't fun anymore. She had half a mind to slap that grin right off his face at this point.
"I'm not leaving until you give me my hug," he spoke softly into her ear, causing a strange feeling to pool in the bottom of her stomach. Odd, but not entirely unpleasant.
"Cheeky one, aren't you?" she teased, wrapping her arms around his waist despite her earlier frustration. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders even tighter, nearly crushing her to his chest.
After they'd pulled away, he showed her the correct side of the painting, feeling rather proud of himself as she held it up and smiled. He loved it when she smiled, especially if he was the cause.
"Oh, it's lovely. Thank you." She stood on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Has he gotten even taller? She couldn't tell.
Nathaniel, feeling bold once again, leaned down to press his lips to hers.
Mattie gasped against his mouth. This wasn't right! This was highly inappropriate! This was brazen! This was... nice. She carefully maneuvered the painting between their bodies and placed it back on the table before leaning upwards to kiss him more deeply. Nathaniel, feeling this, wrapped his arms around her once again. After what seemed to be an eternity they pulled away, but didn't go too far.
Nathaniel couldn't help the smile on his face as he leaned his forehead against hers, breathing heavily.
"Happy birthday, my little Mattie," he panted, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. Mattie, breathing just as heavily, lightly slapped his arm.
"As of today, I am fifteen years old. Hardly little if you ask me," she replied. Nathaniel laughed and kissed her again. They couldn't tell you how long they'd spent wrapped up in each other's arms and kissing the morning away until Eliza's voice sounded from the staircase.
"Matilda Cook! You'll have time to kiss that Benson boy later, but right now those tables need settin'! Hop to it, girl!"
Mattie quickly untangled herself and immediately set to work, blushing all the while. Nathaniel excused himself, mumbling about paintbrushes that needed to be cleaned. During all the activity, Eliza chuckled to herself.
"I wonder when the wedding is."
Hi! Me again! Did you miss me? *Crickets chirping*... I see. Well, I put a lot of effort into making this fanfiction as canon as possible, so I hope you appreciate that. You know, with Mattie's birthday being in December, the end of the book taking place in December, Nathaniel's painting being a meadow full of flowers, and Eliza staying with the Cooks.
This came to mind after I read Fever 1793 for the first time in I don't know how many years. You guys have no clue how happy I was when I bought the book. If you haven't read the book, I apologize for spoiling everything.
Another thing I want to discuss is the amount of stories for this fandom. Really, people? Four other stories? One of them being complete bullshit? Really? I am disappoint.
You know what? Whatever, no need to dwell on that. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! This was half headcanon, half songfic with a sprinkle of fangirl mind. This was how I think the Cooks got the painting which is now hanging in the coffeehouse. Again, hope you liked it!
~Music