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There was a knock on the door fifteen minutes later. Somehow the apartment had morphed from a disaster area to an organized mess. It would have to do. About five minutes before that knock, it dawned on Lucy she had never told her parents about Michelle. When she had tried to, her distressed mother had informed her about Max and the baby news had to be pushed aside. They didn't know about Max Jr., either. And on top of that, Ellie's parents were due any time now. This was certainly going to be an experience they wouldn't forget.
Lucy gave a little sigh, pushed herself out of her chair and answered the door. Her parents were standing patiently in the hall, with Mrs. Carrigan bearing a bright smile that had a hint of nervousness about it and with Mr. Carrigan looking around at the dilapidated state of the tenant building.
"Mom," she started, smiling warmly at her. "Great to see you."
She embraced her mother and she couldn't help but notice that she felt and looked a little on the thin side. Her mother, always a healthy woman, had lost her pleasantly plump look and the worry lines on her face seemed to have deepened. But even with these observations, her mother seemed content, maybe a little anxious due to their surroundings, but otherwise normal.
Mrs. Carrigan pulled away from her daughter and held her face in her hands, smiling proudly.
"Oh, honey, you've grown to be such a beautiful woman," she commented, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Lucy moved aside to let her mother in. She patiently waited for her father to cease his investigating, and when he did, a small smile came to his lips. She noticed that he looked much more tired than he used to, also.
"Hey, hon," he said, giving her a small embrace and kissing the top of her head. Despite how much she and her elder sibling complained about their parents, she really had missed them. Yes, her mother could be prude, but she would also be willing to accept and understand actions that weren't in the least prudent. And yes, her father could be demanding, but she knew he only wanted the best for his children.
"Where's Julia?" she asked him.
"She has midterms this week. She'll come up with your grandmother and your uncle for the wedding."
"Good." It was hard to imagine that her sister was sixteen years old now; some part of her had expected her family to be exactly the same the next time she saw them.
As they walked into the apartment, Mrs. Carrigan was conversing lightly with Jude, who had little Michelle in his arms and Ellie stood behind, watching with a smile. By the way her mother was becoming infatuated with the little one, Lucy had the feeling she didn't know it was her granddaughter. Jude looked up and gave a brief wave to Mr. Carrigan, as did Ellie.
"Jude. Eleanor," acknowledged her father, nodding a little.
"Jim, you have to meet this little one," Mrs. Carrigan cooed as she stroked the hair on top of Michelle's head. "She's just a pocketful of sunshine."
"Are you babysitting?" he asked.
Lucy and Jude exchanged glances. She silently thanked him for not telling Mrs. Carrigan while she wasn't in the room, but almost wished he had done so, so that she didn't have to.
"Er…not exactly."
She came to Jude and he immediately wrapped his free arm around her waist.
"Mom…Dad…this is Michelle. She's our daughter."
The smile faded on her mother's face. Her eyebrows rose skeptically.
"…daughter, did you say?" questioned Mr. Carrigan dubiously. Lucy nodded. Mrs. Carrigan pursed her lips in disapproval.
"I was going to tell you…that's why I called you that one time, but then you told me about Max and-"
"That's no excuse for not calling us later."
"I know and I'm sorry. But things got busy with the two newborns-"
"Two newborns?" repeated Mr. Carrigan.
"Oh…uh…right…" All eyes landed on Ellie, who wished she could disappear. The look on her face gave it away to the visiting parents, and the room fell silent for a moment. Finally, Mrs. Carrigan stated as calmly as she possibly could: "So we have two new grandchildren and we weren't told until now?"
Lucy sighed, not able to come up with a better excuse. To her relief, Jude jumped in for her. "It was pretty insane around here for a while. El probably would've let you know but without Max to help her she was pretty swamped with work and Max Jr…" A trace of a smile twitched at Mrs. Carrigan's lips at the mention of her grandson's name. "…then Max came home and well, that was about two weeks ago, so… yeah."
Mrs. Carrigan let out a little sigh and shared an exasperated look with her husband.
"What's her name again?" she asked, trying to lift the mood.
"Michelle."
She grasped the little one's tiny hand and couldn't help but smile. "Well, she's a beautiful little girl. You'll have to go get Max Jr. for me, Eleanor."
Lucy grinned. "Oh, you'll love him, Mom. He looks just like Max."
"Hopefully he won't act just like Max," grumbled her father.
The three women in the room simultaneously smirked before Ellie scampered off to her room.
"Where is your brother?" asked Mrs. Carrigan impatiently.
Jude frowned with concern. "He's here, maybe he didn't hear you come in…" He glanced over at his girlfriend, who shrugged.
"I'm sure he heard us come in, I think the issue is whether or not he wanted to hear us come in."
Lucy opened her mouth to defend her brother, but closed it, realizing that now would not be the best time to start up an argument. It was bound to happen sooner or later, she wasn't that naïve, but she wanted to keep the banter to a minimum at least for the time being.
Ellie returned, Max Jr. in her arms, and she was trailed by Max, who had come out of hiding with much coaxing from his wife and the fact that he couldn't conceal himself forever.
Not to anyone's surprise, the Carrigans turned their attention to their eldest child first, since they hadn't seen him since he had returned from Vietnam. Tears sprung to Mrs. Carrigan's eyes, and Max braced himself for the oncoming sob-fest and incessant blubbering.
But to his astonishment, she merely walked up to him and took his face in her hands. She managed to only let a few tears fall as she gently ran her thumbs over his cheeks. A loving smile came to her lips as she stretched to her toes to give him a kiss on the forehead (he stood a good foot above her).
"You look good, sweetheart," she murmured.
"Uh…thanks, Mom," he replied, not sure how to react to this unprecedented act of warmth, considering he hadn't:
Called when he was back in the States.
Called about Max Jr.
Called in general.
He supposed that now he had "prisoner of war" added to his list of descriptions about himself, there was a certain something that made it worthwhile just to see him for his parents. It was still weird, nonetheless. What would his father do? Break down into tears and beg forgiveness for being an asshole all these years?
"Son, you need a haircut."
No such luck. Oh well. At least one thing, or person, rather, hadn't changed.
"It's not that bad, Dad. Things have been a little…crazy around here, so I haven't exactly had time for a haircut," Max responded with an eye roll. Despite his previous statement, his father walked over to him and gave him a clap on the back.
"But you do look good, Max. It's good that you're home."
Max nodded. Their little "bonding" time was interrupted by a squeal of delight from Mrs. Carrigan.
"Jim, isn't he adorable?" fussed his mother, giving one of Max Jr.'s cheeks a pinch. Little Max, though he may have been young, was old enough to make his own decisions, and he definitely decided right then that he did not want his cheeks pinched. He let out an angry howl at Mrs. Carrigan's gesture, causing both Ellie and Max Sr. to share an amused smirk.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart, come here," she said, taking Max Jr. out of his mother's arms and into her own. This further perturbed the younger Max, as he continued to wail and writhe violently in his grandmother's arms.
The elder Max couldn't help but snort at his mother's failed attempts to warm up to his son. Lucy shot him a stern look, but when he caught her eye, they were both biting back a laugh.
"Ma, you're scaring the shit out of him," Max said, trying to mask his amusement.
"Oh, I am not, he's just being irritable," she said, continuing to bounce him on her hip as he continued to sob. "Is he always like this?"
Ellie faked ignorance. "No, not at all. He's a generally happy baby." Maybe it's just you, she wanted to add, but for understandable reasons, didn't.
"Well…he probably hasn't gotten used to not being around his mother and father." Mrs. Carrigan gingerly handed him back to her. Unfortunately, his cries didn't stop, even when Ellie attempted to shush him. Maybe it wasn't just Mrs. Carrigan after all.
"He hasn't had his nap today. I'll go put him down," she said, leaving the room for a moment. An uncomfortable silence followed. Finally, Mr. Carrigan spoke.
"How are things going with the little ones? Busy, obviously…"
"Yeah, but I think we're doing a good job. Nothing disastrous has happened yet, though these two can be quite a handful sometimes," Jude said, smiling down at Michelle and kissing the top of her head.
"Well, they're both beautiful children…are you planning on living here the rest of your lives? I mean, this is probably isn't the best place to raise a young child," inquired Mrs. Carrigan casually, although it was obvious the content of that question was not casual at all.
Jude, Lucy, and Max exchanged glances and all shrugged. "I don't think we've thought that far ahead, Mom. We're still kind of going on a day-to-day basis."
Again, the Carrigan's mother pursed her lips in disapproval. "…I'm sure you'll find a nice place in somewhere like Jersey, then…" she muttered.
"Jersey?!" Max mouthed silently, raising his eyebrows and looking incredulously at his sister, who merely shrugged.
Ellie returned a moment later. "My parents should be here any minute, and I thought maybe we could go out to lunch…there's some good places around."
The Carrigans nodded in agreement
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Once the Rigbys arrived, they all headed off to lunch. Not wanting to wake Max from his nap, she got Pru to watch him while they brought Michelle along with them. Ellie led the group, her arm comfortably wrapped around her husband's waist, while Lucy, Jude, and Michelle were not far behind them, and the parents taking the back. She honestly didn't have a particular place in mind; anywhere but Katz's was fine with her, but she figured her family and friends wouldn't mind wandering around a little. While her father had become disgruntled when he was run into by some 20something hippies dancing gaily down the street on this unseasonably warm November afternoon, probably high out of their minds, her mother seemed to like all the bright colors in the windows and the good, upbeat music of the latest pop sensation coming from an unknown source.
They finally found a cute, little deli not too far from their apartment that didn't look too wacky or avant-garde for her or Max's conventional parents. They all sat down and ordered.
To Ellie's relief, her parents seemed to be getting along just fine with the Carrigans. Their mothers were chatting away, talking about who knows what, while their fathers also conversed comfortably. It dawned on her how similar their parents were, so it was only natural that they would get along.
She turned to Max, resting her elbow against the table and putting her head in her palm. "Sorry about earlier…I was kind of insane, I know."
He shrugged a little. "It's alright. You're always kind of insane."
She gave him a light kick underneath the table. "Yeah, well, you can get up and help me tomorrow morning, and maybe I won't be so insane."
He smiled uncomfortably and quickly changed the subject. "Are you planning on telling your parents that technically we're already married?" he asked, dropping his voice a little.
She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know. Would it be awful of us not to tell them?"
"Nah, I don't think so, except they're bound to find out about it anyways. I mean, come on, have we even thought about who's going to marry us at this ceremony?"
"Shit." She hadn't thought about that. "Um…good question. Rocky, maybe?" she suggested, speaking of one of their former roommates in Sadie's haven. "Wasn't he a spiritualist for a while or something?"
Max snorted. "Two weeks, I think. And sure we can use him, if you can get him at a time when he's not high off his ass."
"I'll be sure to inform he needs to be sober that day, or at least for two hours."
The eldest Carrigan turned his attention to his niece sitting in Jude's lap, who wanted to grab each and every thing that lay on the table, with Jude or Lucy prying it out of her hands after she did so. Every time this happened she would make a little noise of annoyance and try again, only to be stopped by her parents.
"For God's sake, man, let her touch the freaking salt shaker," Max said.
Jude sighed. "Mate, she puts anything in her hands into her mouth. She tried eating my charcoal the other day."
His best friend paid him no mind. He took the salt and pepper shakers and placed one of them in front of her, balancing the other on top of it. Once she grasped the top shaker, the little tower came toppling down, causing salt and pepper to spill all down her shirt. She giggled with glee and clapped her hands together.
"Max…" Lucy groaned, glaring at her brother as she began to clean up the mess.
"Babies are funny," he commented with amusement, ignoring his sister's scolding. "I wonder what she'd do with the creamer things…"
"Don't encourage her," the Englishman interrupted, putting the salt and pepper shakers back on his side and wiping salt off of his daughter.
"You're going to have to keep an eye on that one," Max continued, smiling at Michelle. "One of these days those shakers she's going after are going to turn into horny, teenage boys."
"You're one to talk. If the little bugger is anything like you when he gets older, which is likely at this point, we'll be seeing Max Carrigan the 3rd's popping out everywhere."
"Let's not even think about this yet," Ellie cut in firmly, before the conversation went any further or the parents overheard.
"Eleanor, Pam and I were just talking," Mrs. Rigby started, leaning towards her daughter. "Have you picked out a dress yet?"
"Shit!" she exclaimed, dropping her head to the table. She hadn't realized how many things she had forgotten when she had made her little checklist. Max couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"El, honestly, you could be in ripped jeans and a t-shirt, and I would still marry you. Wasting our money and time on petty things is stupid."
"A dress isn't a petty thing, Maxwell!" cut in his mother. "And I couldn't help but overhear you telling your fiancé that you wanted at least three cases of beer!"
"Yeah…and your point?"
Mrs. Carrigan sighed and glared at him. "We'll find something for you, Eleanor. Unless you end up changing your mind about this one …"
"Ma…"
"I was only half-joking, Max."
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After lunch, they headed back to their apartment. Both Mrs. Carrigan and Mrs. Rigby ended up being a lot of help in the long run, help them clean up their apartment a little and get things organized. Prudence would every so often catch Lucy's or Ellie's eye and share a small smile of bewilderment as they watched their apartment, which had been unkempt the moment they had moved into it, slowly start to become neat and tidy. The men eventually left, supposedly to get tuxes, though not to anyone's surprise Max grumbled about he'd almost rather wear his Army uniform than a tux. No set decision was made, but it seemed the men were more trying to get out of the way of the bustling women.
At one point during the late afternoon, when Ellie was straightening out the living room, Mrs. Carrigan came up to her, smiling. She had what looked like photos in her hand.
"I just thought you might want to see what your son will look like in a few years…these are some old pictures of Max."
She took them out of her hand and sat down on the couch. The first one had aged substantially, but it clearly showed a very weary-looking, but content Mr. Carrigan standing over an equally weary-looking Mrs. Carrigan, newborn Max in her arms. The next one made her gasp and an unmistakable grin grew on her face. It was a baby picture of her fiancé, and the resemblance between him and her son was uncanny.
The next made her throw her head back and laugh. It was a family Christmas picture, all of the Carrigans minus Julia, Uncle Teddy, and both grandparents posing in front of the picture. Everyone was smiling or at least looked pleasant except none other than a six-year old Max. He had his arms crossed over his chest and a thoroughly disgusted scowl on his face, most likely due to the gaudy, bright red sweater he had on. Mrs. Carrigan sat down next to her and grinned.
"He despised that sweater. It took both me and my husband to get it on him."
"No offense, but I don't blame him," Ellie replied with a chuckle.
"It is awful, isn't it. Oh well, I thought it looked good on him then."
In the next picture, he must have been ten-years old or so. A school gym served as the background, and young Max proudly held up a navy blue ribbon, a big, toothy grin spread on his face.
"He won the school's geography contest…he used to love school so much," his mother explained.
"It's a pity he didn't stay in school," she mused, mostly to herself. "He was so smart; he did so well on his college entrance exams. But he just wasted all of that on things that just didn't matter."
Ellie didn't respond and thought for moment. She had never thought as Max as being particularly intelligent, but she supposed he was. Assuming his grades were less than admirable, she guessed he got into Princeton with his good test grades and his parents' money. She couldn't help but think what if Max had stayed in college and become a doctor or something? The thought of her fiancé sitting behind some big, oak desk, dressed to a T and fancy glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose, with a shiny, gold plaque reading Maxwell Carrigan, M.D. made her giggle.
The last picture was taken the day he was dropped off at Princeton. Although everyone in the picture was smiling, tear streaks and red cheeks were apparent on both Mrs. Carrigan and Lucy. He obviously looked much more similar to what his current appearance was, but it was still clear to Ellie how much he had changed.
Max's lean, almost runner-like build hadn't changed much, but in the picture he looked so much healthier. Yes, a good five or six years of cigarettes, weed, and booze could do that to you, but Ellie noticed that her fiancé always looked tired these days, even before he had left for Vietnam for the second time.
And in all of the pictures, albeit the Christmas one, he looked happy. Max had definitely been a generally content person when she had met him, and she knew he was happy being with her, but he didn't smile as much as he used to, nor did he laugh or say those stupid jokes that drove her crazy and made her grin at the same time. Ellie wasn't thinking about breaking off the marriage, dear Lord, no, but she definitely felt that during the past couple years, she had lost part of the Max she had fallen in love with.
Ellie, of course, didn't make her thoughts known to Mrs. Carrigan, and thanked her for letting her see the pictures.
"You're welcome, dear…listen," she started, lowering her voice. "If we ever seemed…discouraged about you, I hope you understand that we, or at least I, have changed my mind. I was convinced for a while that you two would be through sooner or later, but that obviously didn't happen."
"Just promise me you'll take good care of him, alright?"
"Of course, Mrs. Carrigan."
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Once the men returned (no tuxes were bought or rented), the parents decided to go home for the day, and promised to be there the next morning around 10. When they were gone, Ellie came up behind Max, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder. A thought came to her, and she couldn't help but ask him:
"What's the capital of Spain?"
"Mm?"
"The capital of Spain?"
"…what about the capital of Spain? You want to go there on a honeymoon or something? Sorry, babe, but-"
"No, no." She chuckled a little. "What is the capital of Spain?"
"Um…shit, I don't know…it starts with an M…Marid, or something like that." He stopped his mumbling for a moment and turned to face her, looking at her quizzically. "Any particular reason why you're asking me this?"
"First of all, it's Madrid, but you were pretty close. I wanted to see if you remembered anything from your peak geography days fifteen or sixteen years ago…"
He thought for a moment, then laughed when he realized what she was talking about. "How do you know about that?"
"Your mom. She brought some old pictures of you and showed them to me."
"Hopefully none of them were from senior prom…God, did I look awful in those. Yeah, the only thing I ever won in school was that stupid blue ribbon."
"Mm, that's okay. I won a medal once for perfect attendance or something like that, but that's it, so you're better off than me. And you at least attempted college."
"Yeah, well…" he trailed off, leaving the rest to the imagination. "Enough about the 'good ol' days', I'm starved."
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Late that night, there was a firm knock on the door. Max, sighing, slid a sleeping Ellie out of his lap and got up from the couch. He shuffled over to the door and opened it.
The person, or rather, the people at the door made his blood run cold.
Ellie overheard the low voices in her state of unconsciousness and fluttered her eyes open, rubbing them groggily. She glanced over in the direction of the door, but couldn't make out who was at the door and what the conversation consisted of. Whoever it was finally left, and Max quietly shut the door.
When her vision and mind were finally clear, Max was still standing at the door, barely moving at all. A piece of paper and something else were in his hands. She could see him heave a shaky sigh.
"What's wrong, Max?" she asked tiredly, but sincerely.
He made some sort of noise, it almost sounded like a bitter chuckle, and he shook his head.
"Goddamn it, Ellie," he started, still not facing her. "How the hell am I supposed to forget about this when I keep getting these blatant reminders?"
Confused out of her mind, she didn't answer, not knowing what to say. Max knew this, and didn't expect an answer. He crumpled the piece of paper into a ball and violently threw that and the other object into the nearby trashcan. It was obvious that the other object was something decently heavy, as it banged loudly against the metal can.
He stormed off to their bedroom and slammed the door behind him. After waiting a moment in bemused concern, Ellie got up from the couch and scurried over to the trashcan and pulled the two items out of the trashcan, un-crumpling the paper.
It was a certificate. The other item was a Purple Heart.
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Here are the "in-depth" explanations. Okay, actually, I just wanted to talk about it xD.
"She embraced her mother and she couldn't help but notice that she felt and looked a little on the thin side…" – Yeah, I felt the need to show that even Mr. and Mrs. Carrigan were affected by Max's deployment and POW time.
"Yes, her mother could be prude, but she would also be willing to accept and understand actions that weren't in the least prudent. And yes, her father could be demanding, but she knew he only wanted the best for his children." – As much as we all hate the Carrigan parents and their conventional ways, I've tried lately to show that they really aren't all that awful. I feel that they just want the best for their children, maybe something wasn't right in their childhoods, and that sometimes they just take that too far.
"Shit." She hadn't thought about that. "Um…good question. Rocky, maybe?" she suggested, speaking of one of their former roommates in Sadie's haven. "Wasn't he a spiritualist for a while or something?" – Yeah, them actually getting married by a priest? Not a very Ellie/Max thing to do. :D
"It's such a pity he didn't stay in school," she mused, mostly to herself. "He was so smart; he did so well on his college entrance exams. But he just wasted all of that on things that just didn't matter." – I always got the impression that Max was actually a pretty smart kid, just too smart for his own good. I have the feeling had he stayed in Princeton and actually tried, he could've gotten his degree in medicine (-wink, wink-) or something and been the successful child his parents always wanted. But he obviously didn't, so…yeah.
REVIEWING WOULD AMAZING, AND I'D LOVE YOU ALL FOREVER!! :D