Chapter 10
The loud screech of the chair leg grinding against the hard wood flooring of Miriam Hathwell's bedroom echoed through the house sending chills down Michaela's spin and forcing her to stop tugging at the chair. Standing straight in order to stretch her aching back, Michaela turned to judge the distance of how far she had left to get the chair from where it was now to the little space under the window where their 'house' was going to sit. It was quite a ways. Grumbling her frustration, she jerked at the chair once again; the same screech filled the room.
"Ah!" Michaela cried at the irritating screech.
"Oh wait until I can help you. Mother will be so angry if we scratch my floor up." Miriam entered the room and dropped her toy tea set off on the foot of the bed.
"Ok, you take the back I'll take the front." As the two girl maneuvered around the piece of furniture they remained unaware of the two older figures that stopped in the doorway watching them intently. "Ok on my count. Ready? One. Two. Three." As Michaela spoke the last time, she grunted as she lifted the heavy chair into her arms. Slowly the girls began to move in one motion toward the designated space, but barely three steps later Miriam lost her grip on the back section of the chair. Unaware of Miriam's problems, Michaela continued to move backwards, throwing the chair off balance and causing it to pitch toward her. Unprepared to catch the entire weight of the chair, Michaela fell backwards and the chair quickly followed.
"Oof." She landed with a thud.
"Michaela, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Michaela harrumphed from under the chair. Sticking her head out from under the space between where the back of the chair and the seat meat the floor, Michaela batted at the hair that had fallen in front of her face. Only then did she become aware of the laughing from the doorway. "What are you two doing there?" She mumbled in dismay, her cheeks reddening at the thought of having been seen.
"I think we could say the same thing about you." Robert chuckled from where he leaned against the doorway. He looked so smug, so haughty as he stood there, grinning from ear to ear and looking down at her. He only served to flare Michaela's temper even more. "Well?" Robert reasked his question and waited for a response.
"Come on Robert. Let's leave them alone." David chuckled, shaking his head. He caught his friend by the forearm as he turned from the room.
"No, Dave. Let's hear it. What could my little sister and her friend possibly be doing with that attempt at moving a chair?"
Michaela crawled hands and knees out from under the chair, her skirt bunching around her ankle and impeding her movements. Unglamorously clamoring to her feet she batted at the wrinkles in her dress and tried to pull herself as tall as possible. She hadn't been physically hurt in her tumble, but just knowing that Robert was there to see it all had severely bruised her ego.
"I don't believe it's any of your business." She replied matter of factly with hands on hips and staring at the older boy through lowered brows.
"We were just going to make a house with the chairs." Miriam replied from her place behind the fallen obstacle. Michaela rolled her eyes and blushed mortified at her friend's admittance and the way the older boys laughed.
"Miriam!" Michaela cried.
"I'm sorry. It's the truth."
"A house huh?" Robert chuckled. His eyes were sparkling and condescending. "Aren't you two a little too old to be playing house?"
"Come on Robert." David tried once again to avert his friend's attention. In all honesty, he felt sorry for Michaela and Miriam. Robert never seemed to let up.
"We're ten, Robert." Michaela answered through gritted teeth. "It's perfectly fine for us to play whatever we want."
"Oh right." Robert let in, nodding his head. "I forgot you two are still babies."
Babies? Where on earth did he get off calling them babies? Michaela felt heat rise through her body and tinge the tops of her ears as she clutched her hands to her side. She was embarrassed, mortified really. She hated the feeling that someone was laughing at her, that someone thought she was a child. She wasn't a baby. She was growing up. She went to the theater and the ballet and she got to watch some of her father's surgeries. Heaving a deep breath Michaela let out a frustrated sigh.
"For your information…"
"Yea, yea, we know. You're going to be a doctor." Robert waved her off as he turned to where David had relocated himself. "Go on and play with your little fantasies. Don't forget that Dr. Quinn's coming to pick you up for lunch in an hour."
"They are not fantasies!" Michaela cried in frustration. To this, she got no reply; Robert merely turned from his place at the end of the steps and laughed. Even David couldn't fight his amusement this time. Humiliated, Michaela didn't know what to do. Reaching for the door, she slammed it shut with all her strength. Leaning against it, she could still hear the laughter echo down the hallway. Michaela fought not to cry.
Michaela stared down at her tea glass as she listened to the clicking of silverware against dishes radiating from each table of diners at the outside café.
"The surgery was ultimately a success, even with the complications present." Joseph's voice faded away as he watched his daughter intently. She hadn't spoke for nearly fifteen minutes. Realizing the absence of her father's gentle voice at the other end of the table, Michaela looked up and shot him a quick little smile before reaching for the thoroughly examined tea glass and taking a sip.
"That's good that the surgery went well."
"It did. I'm sorry that you couldn't see it but with emergencies such as those it would have been difficult to get to you quickly."
Michaela sighed, "That's alright, I understand." She took a bite of her salad.
"All right Mike, what's the matter?" Joseph laid down his fork in frustration and looked up at his daughter. Half an hour ago, when he had picked Michaela up from the Hathwell residence to spend lunch with her before he had to return to work she had been less than excited. When he had asked her if she was feeling all right, she merely nodded her head. Now, she seemed uninterested about his morning surgery and what the afternoon held in store for him and that was the final straw. Something was wrong.
"I'm fine Father, really."
"No you're not. Are you feeling ill? Perhaps I need to ask Dr. Stevens to take my shift at the hospital this weekend so you can be at home."
"No really. You're suppose to work this weekend and Miriam and I have already planned tons of activities to play. I'm feeling well. It's just…" Michaela trailed off, hesitant to speak what it was she had been thinking all afternoon.
"Just what Mike?" Joseph sat his glass down on the table as he turned his direct attention to his little girl, observing the way she seemed to debate whether or not to speak.
Taking a deep breath, Michaela's words came out in a jumble. "Do you think I'm a baby?" As she spoke, her eyebrows drew together the way any child's did when they truly concerned with a question.
Joseph, misunderstanding the question and therefore why it seemed to bother Mike so much merely chuckled and covered her hand with his own. "My dear, you will always be my baby girl not matter what. There's no need to worry about that." He winked at her, the same way he often did when he tried to make her feel better, but this time his words had little effect on her. Michaela merely tried to force a smile against her disappointment.
"Well, that's good to know." She said lightly, stabbing at a lettuce leaf with her fork.
"Come now, enough of this nonsense. I must be getting you back to the Hathwell's before long. Would you like dessert?" Michaela thought for just a moment as she chewed on the last of her salad. Chocolate cake did sound good, but…
"Why don't we take a walk instead? Through the park?"
Joseph smiled to know that she was feeling a little better. Quite satisfied that he had put all her fears to ease, he laid some money on the table and rose from his seat. "A walk you shall have my dear, but we must be quick. I must be back to work in twenty minutes or so."
Michaela's afternoon with her father came to an eventual end and she inevitably returned to Miriam's house for the weekend. Toward the end of lunch, she had managed to lighten her mood just a bit, feeling bad for being so unresponsive to her father, but as hard as she tried she simply couldn't deny the gnawing worry at the back of her mind. Of all the people out there, certainly her father truly didn't see her as a child, and yet he himself said he did. Bothered by this fact, Michaela tried to reexamine herself. Perhaps she was acting like a child. After a long afternoon of thinking while she half-heartedly played whatever game Miriam chose for them she ultimately came to one conclusion. She was not a child and what's more is that she had to find a way to make everyone around her see her as the young lady she was. That included Robert.
"Michaela? Michaela!" A lacy pillow launched itself across the room and hit Michaela in the head. Startled from her thoughts, she realized that she had been staring out the window.
"Wha…? Miriam why are you throwing things at me?"
"Because I'm trying to tell you about Cara's birthday party." Miriam sighed in frustration, not missing the way Michaela seemed to stare back at her blankly. "Where are you this afternoon?"
Michaela sighed, and, taking one last glance out the window, stood and made her way over to where her friend was sitting on the bed. She paced back and forth at the foot before stopping mid motion and turning to look at Miriam, arms crossed and eyes blazing. "I've given it a lot of thought Miriam."
"What?" Miriam was slightly confused by her friend's sudden seriousness.
"We're not babies." Michaela was dead serious as if stating a fact known to all, a grand revelation.
"Are you still stuck on that?"
"It's the truth. We're just as adult as Robert and David."
"Please, Mike. It's not as if Robert meant anything by it. He calls me a baby all the time." Miriam rolled her eyes. Why did this bother her so much?
"And you just let him?" Michaela was appalled.
"What can I do?"
"You can prove to him that you're not a baby. That you're just like everyone else."
Miriam sighed and tilted her head to one side. "How exactly do I do that?" For once, she caught her friend without an answer. She watched as Michaela's mouth opened, and shut again before she sat down in frustration.
"Ok so I don't know yet, but I'll figure something out."
"Mike this really isn't that important."
"Yes, it is!" Michaela exclaimed getting excited once more. "Do you think George Washington just let the king of England call him a baby? No. He fought back and others helped him and in the end they formed their own country, and I bet the king thought twice about making America mad after that."
Miriam just stared at her friend. She loved Michaela, she really did, but sometimes she could be so weird. The strangest things bothered her and she rarely let them go until she fixed the problem. Oh, and if anybody ever asked her why she was bothered so much, she always talked about all of these people that no one had ever heard about before and what they did. Most of the time Miriam just ignored her, or better yet tried to distract her, it was the latter course of action she attempted now.
"Can we wait until after tea to take on the world? I'm ready for a snack." Sliding off the edge of the bed, Miriam made her way to the door and paused for a split second. Watching the disappointment spread across Michaela's face, Miriam got an idea. In an instant, her eyes lit up and she grinned slyly. "First one down stairs has to take tea to the boys." Dashing out of the room, Miriam heard Michaela's groan of frustration as she ran to catch up.
Robert bent over the chess set, eyes scanning intently over the pieces. He simply couldn't believe it would be this easy. Hesitantly, he moved his queen, gracefully sliding it up to where the white king lay trapped. "Check mate." He finally said looking up rather satisfied with himself. "Really, David, you didn't even try." David sighed and just shook his head, staring at his defeat. He simply wasn't on his game this afternoon.
"I'm sorry, Robert. My mind must be somewhere else." Standing to stretch his legs, David made his way over to the window.
"I'll say. Beating you was like playing with my sister."
Turning to sit in the windowsill, David crossed his arms across his chest as he enjoyed the warm sunlight filter through and dance across his back. "Don't you think you were a little hard on them this afternoon?"
"Me?" Robert shook his head. "I tease Miriam all the time. She knows I don't mean it."
"I'm talking about Michaela."
"Oh, come on. Tell me it isn't fun to watch her temper flare." Robert laughed. "She's something; she's got spirit and it's amusing."
David merely frowned. "I have a feeling this is going to come back to bite you, Robert."
"What can she do? She's only ten." Robert laughed once more, reclining back in his chair.
Almost as if on cue, a small, thin frame turned the corner into the drawing room carrying a silver tray. Michaela made little motion to smile at the boys as she made her way across the room and sat the tray on the table across from Robert.
"Your tea, sir." She said, eyes narrowing at the older boy.
"Oh and what's this? You've come with a peace offering?" Robert smirked.
"I have not."
"It's more like she lost a race." Miriam giggled from the doorway. Michaela merely shot her friend a distasteful look. You're not helping.
Robert laughed aloud. "Well, then if my dear sister won the race I believe it is up to me to allow her to enjoy her victory. Would you be so kind, Miss Quinn, to pour us our tea?"
Michaela met Robert's stare eye for eye. She would not back down, nor would she let him know he was getting to her. She wasn't a baby.
"You don't have to Michaela." David spoke up from the window, finding something uncomfortable in the fact of Robert asking the girl to serve them. When she turned to him, however, he was taken aback by the determination in her eyes and the sweet smile that played on her lips.
"No, David that's all right. I don't mind. Do you take your tea with one or two sugars?" David merely fell silent, and Michaela felt her anger at the two boys dissipate slightly. She wasn't mad at David. He hadn't done anything to her. In fact, hadn't done anything but try to get Robert to let up. Tilting her head to one side, she repeated her offer, this time with true sincerity. "Really, I don't mind."
David's eyes shifted from the young girl standing in front of him to his friend and back. "Just a little milk please." He mumbled under his breath and watched as Michaela happily complied.
"You see David? She's learning." He smiled condescendingly. "I'd like a little cream and sugar please."
Not speaking a word, Michaela merely complied with his wishes as well. When she turned to him, holding out the teacup, she simply smiled. Robert took the false sense of security and chuckled back.
"You know Michaela, I believe I was wrong. You're not going to be a baby for much longer if you keep learning tasks like these." He smiled broadly, hoping to see the next words hit their mark. "I think one of these day you're going to make someone a wonderful wife."
In a split second, Michaela's eyes darkened, and she pulled back on the teacup in her hand. Had he just implied…? Michaela felt her anger flare again, heating her from the tips of her toes all the way to the top of her ears. She did simply the first thing she could think of; the first thing she knew would make her feel better. Taking a step to where Robert sat, she offered the tea glass once more, but just as he reached out to take it, she pitched forward, spilling the hot tea into his lap.
A burst of laughter from David accompanied Robert's yelp of surprise. Jumping to his feet, he turned on Michaela.
"Look what you did, you squirt!"
Michaela merely stared back at him and frowned. Feigning a sigh of disappointment, she shook her head. "Maybe I am still a baby. Huh, better not let babies fix your tea the next time." It took every ounce of strength in her body not to smile.
"Oh, you… you…" completely at a loss of words, and in slight discomfort from the hot liquid running down the front of his trousers, Robert could find only the strength to shake his finger in her face. "This is war!" He yelled at her, but she wasn't taken back.
"You're on!" She cried, finally letting herself have the pleasure of smiling before turning and racing out of the room.
"Oh, you'll be sorry for this!" Robert cried after her, watching his wide-eyed sister disappear in the doorway as well. Still hearing the bellowed of laughter coming from his right, Robert looked to his friend and scowled. "What are you laughing at?" David managed to catch his breath long enough to answer the question.
"You, being duped by a ten year old girl." He had to give it to her. Michaela was a spitfire, and nothing short of entertaining.
Wow, the drama. Haha, ok guys there's ten. These next few weekends are going to be really busy, so I'm not sure how many promises I can make on the updates for the next few weeks. I'll see you at the end!