Scene12 - May2017 Married 6 years
CJ(CooperJunior) five
Ella(Charlotte Elizabeth) four
Carter King Freedman sixteen months old.
Setting: Australia
Charlotte took the passing of her momma much worse than Cooper ever expected. Charlotte and her mother never had what he would consider a close mother/daughter relationship. He knew she would grieve because no matter what she was Charlotte's mother but he was surprised to see Charlotte shrink into a depression. She went to work, took care of the kids and that was about it. She was existing but not living. The sparkle in her eyes was gone and Cooper felt sad for their three young children.
Her smile was a rare sight these days. He hardly ever saw her smile over the past six months unless one of the children did something special to warrant it. She wasn't interested in taking a vacation with him. She said she would go only if he really wanted her to. She told him to pick the destination because she didn't care. When they went out for dinner or a movie he always had to pick the restaurant and movie because she said she didn't care. She didn't care about anything since her momma died.
Cooper tried to get her to talk to Sheldon or Violet but she wouldn't open up to either one of them.
For their sixth year wedding anniversary he decided to take her away and he was going to talk to her. He was going to get to the root of what was wrong with her. His parents came from Ohio to take care of the kids for two weeks so they could go.
He decided they would go to Australia for their anniversary. They'd never been there before which was a plus and friends showed him pictures of the beautiful beaches. He decided it would be the perfect spot. He didn't tell her where they were going. He told her just to pack as she would if they were going to Hawaii where they went for their anniversary a previous year.
When they arrived at the airport, he finally told her they were headed to the Outback. He saw his first glimpse of the sparkle return to her eyes that had been missing so long.
They spent the first week taking a journey of the rainforest. He considered picking up and moving here when he saw her genuine smile and then watched her laugh at the thousands of little pengins making their nightly pilgrimage. "I've never seen anything like it." She told Cooper. "Thanks for taking me here."
Charlotte hadn't been in the mood for intimacy since her momma died but here she was different. They spent every night intimate and laughing in their hotel room. He watched her eyes go bright watching the cascading waterfalls out of their hotle room window. They had a great time snorkeling with the dolphins and looking at Koala's all day.
The second week they spent on the coast. Cooper was starting to feel nervous since there were now only two days left in Australia before returning home to LA and reality. He knew this was an escape for Charlotte. He was afraid once they returned home she would slip back into her depression. He decided he was going to get it out of her at the beach today. He had the concierge at the hotel pack them up a picnic basket complete with fried chicken and fries. Cooper brought the martini mix and glasses in a seperate cooler. Once they settled themselves on the beach he opened up the picnic basket and watched her eyes light up. "Fried chicken. You did this for me?"
"That's not all." He got out the chilled martini glasses and handed her a bottle of gin, vermouth, some olives and a bottle of champagne. "Your better at making them," he tells her as he passes her the ingredients.
She laughs "Right, but when did you ever see me put champagne in my martini's?"
"I thought these would be special martini's with champagne for our anniversary."
"Couldn't hurt to try it." Charlotte shakes up the ingredients while Cooper sets out the food. They sit on the white beach sand admiring the view of pink and grey mountain peaks against the turquoise ocean.
"I wish we could stay here forever." Cooper says as he eats his chicken.
"Me too," Charlotte agrees.
"Do you miss the kids?" Cooper asks.
Charlotte drinks her second martini, "I do, but I feel like I haven't been a good mother to them this year." Charlotte's been taking care of them the best she could but even she knows there's was an emotional distance or disconnection with them since her momma died.
Cooper thinks this is good. The martini's and the relaxing beach air are letting her talk. "Why do you say that?"
"I know since momma died things haven't been right with me." She sips her martini.
Hmm... Cooper thinks, she is aware of her behavior. "Charlotte, why don't you get into therapy to help you deal with your grief."
"They're gonna say I'm depressed and want to put me on meds or tell me that it wasn't my fault. I know the truth and nothing's going to change it."
"What do you mean you know the truth?" Cooper's curious.
"I treated my momma badly and no doctor is going to be able to make me feel better about it." Charlotte confesses to Cooper.
"You and your mother weren't close but that's because she was addicted to pills and alcohol most of your childhood, nobody can blame you for resenting her for that." Cooper comforts.
"Cooper, I was addicted to pills at one point in my life too. I blamed my mother for that. I figured she set the bar and made it easy for me to get addicted and that's what I blamed her for. I thought she was the worst example of a mother to do that to her kids. That's why I didn't want to be a mother. But I was wrong about my mother. It wasn't her fault."
"What do you mean?" Cooper's not following.
"I was an adult when I got addicted. I shouldn't have blamed my problem on my mother. I understand now how she got addicted because it happened to me too. I spent most of my adult life blaming and resenting her for my problems and she's gone now. I can't tell her I forgive her or it wasn't her fault anymore. She tried to get close to me and the kids when she found out she had a bad liver but I wouldn't let her."
Cooper starts to feel a little guilty himself. Charlotte's momma had given them an open invitation to come home to Alabama anytime they wanted. She asked them to come each holiday and they always said no. They never even invited her to come see them in LA. She hardly knew her grandchildren. He feels like he should have pushed Charlotte more to take her mother up on her offer.
Charlotte continues to tell Cooper, "I should have seen it coming. She told me she had a bad liver from the pills and drinking after big daddy died. I should have known she wouldn't be around much longer and made the effort to see her and let her know her grandkids. She died thinking I blamed her and resented her and no shrink is going to be able to tell me that's not my fault. My momma made the effort to get closer to me and I turned her down and then she died." Charlotteeyes are filled with tears. She guzzles down her next martini.
Cooper tells her straight. "I'm not going to tell you that's not true. I'll tell you that you didn't know she was going to die that soon. I believe if you knew she was going to die six months ago you would have made the effort to see your mother."
"That's the whole problem. It's too late. I can't make her rise from the dead so I can apologize for being an awful daughter." She pours another maritni.
"Do you believe your mother loved you?" Cooper asks.
"Of course she did. I know she did."
"How do you think your mother would feel if she knew this was tearing you apart? How would she feel if she knew her death was keeping you from being emotionally available to her grandkids?"
"It would make her sad." Charlotte tells him.
"Work at that. You couldn't fix things with your mother when she was alive but try to make her proud now. Will you at least try to forgive yourself and allow yourself to be happy?"
"I can try. I don't know if it will work."
"Try hard." Cooper grabs her hand and they say the serenity prayer together. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference..." They look at each other and smile before going for a swim in the turqouise sea of tranquility.
END OF SCENE 12
