Chapter 10: Old Enough (part 1)
Mary and Robert got two separate rooms. This was not the way they had planned things, but it was going to be the way it had to be. Three kids were in each room, and they just couldn't trust to leave any of them alone without any fighting occurring. Lisey and Johnny got along, it was Cassie and Jessica that they were worried about, and if they had to watch those two the entire time, they might as well have two separate rooms anyways.
Mary got Lisey and Jessica while Robert took Johnny and Cassie. Mary was currently standing in front of the bathroom mirror as she began to get ready for the dinner that they were going to tonight. Ted had invited Mary, Rhoda, Phyllis, Lou, Murray, Sue Anne and their families to dinner so that he and Georgette could see them aside from everyone else that was going to be there.
"Mom?" Lisey called from the bed where she was going through her clothes.
"Yes dear?" Mary responded.
"Who all is going to be there?" the young girl questioned.
Mary set her hair brush down and stepped out of the bathroom and stood so that she could see her daughter. "Well, Rhoda with Josi and Annabelle. Then of course you have Ted and Georgette with Marylou and Davy and Karen. Phyllis with her new psychiatrist fiancee and Bess came along with Amelia and Henry. I believe that Mr. Grant came alone. Murray and Marie came. Sue Anne probably brought a boyfriend with her," Mary explained as she rolled her eyes to the mention of Sue Anne.
"I don't know half of those people," Lisey complained.
"Of course you do," Mary argued as she went and sat down next to her. "Who is it that you don't remember?"
"Well, Ted, Georgette, Marylou, Davy, Karen, Murray, Marie, and Sue Anne," she answered.
"Ted? The arrogant one? Thinks everyone loves him? Silver hair, talks like he's constantly reporting the news?" Mary questioned.
"Oh," Lisey responded. "Yeah, I think I remember him," she said.
"Then Georgette, his wife, the one who has the soft little voice. Davy is their older son, the one that they adopted and he is getting married to Karen. Davy's little sister, their actual daughter is Marylou, she's real soft spoken too. Murray and Marie are married, Murray is the bald one, sort of sarcastic at times, the one that cuts on Ted all the time and his wife is real nice," Mary explained. She then let out a sigh. "Then there's Sue Anne, she can be a bit different. She likes to think that she can have any man that she wants in the room. You'll know her when you see her," Mary stated.
Lisey just nodded her head. "Some of them sound familiar to me," she replied.
"I thought they would," Mary said.
There was a knock at the door. "Mommy! Mommy! There's someone at the door!" Jessica called out.
Mary laughed as she stood up. "Thank you for telling me Jessie," she said as she walked over to the door. Upon opening it, she saw Rhoda, Josi and Annabelle standing on the other side. "Mare, I got a problem," Rhoda stated as she walked passed Mary into the room.
Mary waited for the two girls to follow Rhoda in before closing the door and joining Rhoda on the bed. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Rhoda sighed. "You know how its been a while since I've seen everyone here?" she questioned, hoping that Mary might just pick up on what she was saying.
"Yeah," Mary answered.
"Well, think, its been six years since I have seen everyone. What happened to me within those past six years that no one knows about?" she questioned. Rhoda felt bad that no one knew about Annabelle and didn't want her to know that no one knew about her. It most likely made no difference to Annabelle what so ever, but she still felt bad.
"I see," Mary said putting the pieces together. "Does anyone know?" she asked.
Josi shrugged. "I think Aunt Phyllis might. I know that Amelia knows, so Bess probably does," she interjected, getting both Mary and Rhoda's attention.
"The judgmental one knows," Rhoda remarked looking back to Mary.
"Well, its not like everyone is going to be whispering about you or anything. I mean, they're all there to see Davy get married," Mary explained.
Rhoda sighed as she stood up. "I just don't want to be answering twenty thousand questions," she stated.
"Who cares?" Josi asked. "They ask a few questions and the whole thing is dropped. Good," Josi said.
Rhoda desperately looked to Josi. "I don't think you understand, I don't want to talk about it," she explained.
Josi nodded and then leaned back against the wall.
"What are you three talking about?" Lisey asked.
All three looked back to Lisey. "Nothing," Mary answered.
Josi kept eye contact with Lisey and silently apologized. She could see that Lisey was upset that everyone knew something that she didn't and they were all talking about it in front of her.
Lisey right now felt that she was on the same level as Jessica and Annabelle were at right now. The only difference between her and those two was that they didn't care. It was hard for her to grasp the concept of having to act like an adult at times and then being treated like a kid at others.
She did understand that some things were personal, and at the same time she respected that. All she wanted though was for those things not to be talked about in front of her. It made her feel left out and like a little kid again. It reminded her of the time that her mother had miscarried. Back then she didn't know what had happened, but she eventually found out not too long ago when one of Mary's friends mentioned something about it. She could remember her mother crying and her dad trying to calm her down.
Lisey shrugged to Josi. It wasn't like there was anything that she could do about it.
There was another knock at the door. "How many people know which room we're in?" Lisey asked.
"I don't know," Mary replied as she got up to answer the door.
Josi looked back to Annabelle and Jessica playing a game on the other bed. "You two having fun over there? I haven't heard either of you talk in a while," Josi said.
"Yeah," Annabelle answered for the both of them.
"Hi hi!"
"Oh God," Rhoda breathed out. She recognized that voice.
Mary lead Phyllis into the room. "How have you been?" Mary questioned.
"Oh Mary, you wouldn't believe how my life has been going for me. You see, I had this little period of time in which I was a little stressed out and it was suggested that I go see a psychiatrist," Phyllis started.
"So they finally figured out that you were nuts?" Rhoda interrupted.
Phyllis turned and glared to Rhoda. "Oh, hi Rhoda. You haven't changed a bit have you?" she asked.
"Neither have you," Rhoda said.
"Anyways," Phyllis said turning her attention back to Mary. "I was seeing this man, the one that I told you about on the phone, Dr. Jerry Robbins. Well, after I had had what he felt were enough sessions, we decided to start going out," she explained. "And now I have this," Phyllis stated as she held out her hand to show off her engagement ring.
"Phyllis," Mary gasped as she took a look at the ring. "That's beautiful."
Rhoda stood up and walked over. "Lemme take a look at that will ya?" she asked. "Wow Phyl, I think you hooked a good one," she said examining the ring.
"Congrats Aunt Phyllis," Josi commented from the background.
Phyllis looked over to her. "Josi?" she asked.
"The one and only," Josi announced as she threw up her hands.
"My you've grown," Phyllis observed.
"I'm only a year older than Amelia," Josi responded as leaned back against the wall.
"Yeah, I know," Phyllis said with an undertone of bitterness that caused Mary and Rhoda to exchange looks of surprise.
"Hi Aunt Phyllis," Lisey greeted, pulling the attention towards her.
Phyllis stepped to the side and looked over to Lisey and smiled. "You know, you look just like your mother," she stated.
Lisey forced a smile. "Thank you," she said, hoping that no one else could tell how much she hated to hear that phrase. It wasn't anything against her mother, it was just that no one wanted to hear how much like someone else they were when they were trying to be their own person.
"And how are you two doing? Cassie and Jessica right?" Phyllis asked.
Jessica looked up and waved while Annabelle quickly looked up and shook her head. "I'm Annabelle," she said, causing Rhoda to turn and watch Annabelle. "Annabelle Corrine Morgenstern."
Rhoda's face dropped the second that Annabelle used her full name. Just the fact that her last name was Morgenstern would give everything away to Phyllis. Mentally, she was bracing herself for the look that she was about to see when she turned and looked to Phyllis.
"I didn't know you had another one," Phyllis remarked.
Rhoda turned her attention to Phyllis and nodded. "Well I do," she responded.
"I see that," Phyllis replied, sounding a bit hurt. "I guess I'm not the one you tell though when you have a boyfriend and a daughter," she pouted. "I guess that boyfriend must be pretty good to be helping you out with the second kid," she then remarked, trying to see if Rhoda would tell her more about him.
Rhoda sighed. "Phyl, I dunno how to tell you this, but that assumed boyfriend doesn't exist," she explained.
Phyllis's eyes widened in sympathy. "Did he leave you?" she asked.
"Yeah, it was one of those wham bam thank you ma'am type of things," she uncomfortably joked.
Mary questionably looked to her. She knew that Rhoda didn't want to talk about it, but she didn't expect that.
"Yeah, I remember that weekend you kept asking me if he had called while you were gone. It was kind of pathetic really," Josi said, going along with Rhoda's story.
"You didn't think it was so pathetic when you found out that you were gonna be a big sister," Rhoda remarked.
Lisey sat there and listened to the four talking. She could figure out what was going on now, but she didn't want to say anything. The only thing she didn't understand was the story behind Annabelle. She knew that Rhoda was not married when she had her, but that was about it. Other than that, all she had to go off of was what she was hearing now.
"Well, it wasn't all that bad. She is doing good with raising them both," Mary quickly defended Rhoda.
Phyllis let out a sigh. "I guess Rhoda would be the one to get in that situation," she remarked.
Josi stood back against the wall and rolled her eyes. She had to keep all her thoughts to herself at the moment and it was becoming harder.
"At least I didn't have to go nuts to meet a man," Rhoda shot back.
"Alright!" Mary interjected. "Who wants to go and see who else has shown up?" Mary offered.
There was a brief silence. Phyllis consoled her ego by telling herself that at least she could keep a man while Rhoda thought about whether she should just come out and tell everyone or wait for the questions later on.
"Has Bess and Amelia arrived yet?" Josi asked, breaking the silence.
Phyllis nodded. "Yeah, three doors down to your left," Phyllis answered as she motioned in the direction.
"Thank you," Josi said and then looked in the general direction of Lisey, Annabelle and Jessica. "Come on, lets go say hi," she suggested.
Lisey went and grabbed Jessica as Annabelle went and stood by Josi. As a group, they left the room and walked down the hall, leaving the other three to themselves.
"So, Mary, not to ignore your request or anything, but how about you tell me how things have been going with you before we leave?" Phyllis requested.
"Pretty good. Lisey is getting into writing, Johnny's still with his little science projects. The only thing now is that Cassie and Jessica have started arguing a lot. Cassie seems to think that Jessica is the favorite. Now Robert and I have to constantly be breaking them up. They don't get physical or anything, just yell at each other," Mary said.
"That's your kids Mary. What about you?" Phyllis asked.
"Well," Mary started to think. There wasn't much going on in her life right now besides her kids. "I've just been busy taking care of the kids. It's four of them, they tend to take up most of my time," she explained.
Phyllis laughed. "Don't you think I know that Mare? I mean come on, I'm a mom too. Its just that you had such a promising career, and here you are now letting Robert go out and earn all the money while you stay home with the kids. I just thought that you wouldn't go for that type of situation, that's all," Phyllis explained.
Phyllis was right, there was a time where Mary never thought that she could settle for the life that she had now. She did try to balance out working and raising the kids, it just became too much for her though. She was able to keep a job working as an editor for the paper up until Johnny was born. Right before Johnny started school, she tried to get a job at the local news station, but it only lasted until Cassie was born. Shortly after that, Jessica was born and she just gave up on trying to work.
"Somethings are just a little bit more important," Mary replied.
"Hey, if I could've, I would've stayed home with my kids," Rhoda said, trying to defend Mary. She knew that this was a little bit different though. What she should have mentioned though was the fact that Phyllis didn't have a steady job when Bess was younger.
Phyllis just nodded. There was something about her that had changed over the years. There was something missing. She was still a little pushy, but she seemed to have toned it down a bit. "Well, anyways, now lets go see who else is here," she announced.
Mary and Rhoda both agreed and followed her out of the room.
O o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
The four girls arrived at the door and Josi knocked. "Bess? Amelia?" she called out.
The door opened and Amelia stood at the other side. "Hey!" she greeted. "How have you been?" she asked, inviting the group into the room.
"I've been good," Josi responded as she walked passed her. "Last time I talked to you, I was sixteen, now I'm seventeen. Still have the same boyfriend, and I'm going to be a senior with a lot of money saved up. How about you?"
Amelia closed the door after everyone was in the room and smiled. "Well, I just got my license, but, I lost a boyfriend," Amelia said.
"Well, now ya can go drivin around and find a new one," Josi stated.
"Exactly," Amelia responded and then looked over to Lisey. "How about you there? Haven't seen or heard from you in a while," she said.
Lisey shrugged. "I'm starting high school next year. That's about it," she said.
"That's cool. High school's fun," Amelia said.
"I hope so," Lisey responded.
Josi gave Lisey a reassuring smile. "It will, trust me," she said.
Amelia turned her attention over to the two small children in the room. "How would you two like to go play with Henry?" she offered.
Jessica was about to answer, but looked over to Annabelle to see what she was going to say first. As soon as she heard Annabelle say yes, she nodded in agreement. Amelia then took the two and lead them into the bedroom section of the room to where Henry had a couple of toys had out in front of him.
While the three were walking in, Bess passed them. "Hey Josi, Lisey. Who are you two doing?" she asked while putting a few bottles of juice for Henry in the fridge,
"Good," Josi answered. "You?"
"I'm good. Just waiting until the after party of the wedding," she answered.
"That's right," Lisey said. "Johnny mentioned something about watching Henry for you that night."
"Yeah," Bess said as she closed the door. "I need a break every once in a while, and this seemed to be the perfect chance," she stated.
Amelia came back out to join the three. "Hey mother, you mind if I go out with these two for a little bit? Jessica and Annabelle are over with Henry," Amelia requested as she motioned back to Henry.
"That's fine. Just make sure that you're ready for dinner tonight. I promised Mr. Baxter that we would all be there," Bess informed her.
"I'll be there," Amelia promised before leading Josi and Lisey out the door. It was as soon as she closed it behind her that a huge smile came across her face. "I have something that I want to do with you two in a couple nights," she stated.
"And just what would that be?" Josi asked, slightly amused.
"Well," Amelia started as they began to walk down the hall towards the elevator. "I want to have a little contest," she explained.
"What kind of contest?" Lisey nervously questioned as they stopped before the elevator.
Amelia sighed as she briefly looked down with her hands on her hips. "A dating contest," she announced, raising her head back up. "I want to see who can get the most guys to agree to meet up with them that night after the reception and then for the second round, pick the one that you think is best and see who picked the best guy," she explained.
Josi nodded as she considered the idea. "I think I'm in. Just one thing though. Ya mind if I get my ma in on this? She's somewhat desperate for a date, and I think that she could use this more than any of us," she inquired.
"Okay," Amelia agreed. She then turned to Lisey. "How about you? Are you in?" she questioned.
Lisey shrugged. She really didn't think that it was a good idea. There was also the chance that her mother would tell her no. The elevator doors opened, and the three stepped inside. "I guess," she replied, watching the doors close.
Josi glanced over to Lisey and then turned back to Amelia. "I don't think she should. I mean look at her. She's only fourteen. I mean, I don't even know if she's kissed a guy yet," Josi argued.
Lisey knew that Josi was only looking out for her, but still, did not like the idea of someone speaking for her. "It's okay Josi, I think I can do this. I mean, what's the harm in it?" she asked, trying to act casual.
"All right then, everyone's in," Amelia announced.
Josi sighed and turned to Lisey, looking to her as if she were crazy. "I really don't think this is a good idea," she whispered.
Lisey shrugged. "I gotta try some time. Right?" she asked.
Josi just rolled her eyes and went back to facing forward.