Hey, guys!
I know, an update! Isn't it amazing?
Sorry, school's a bitch.
If you didn't already know, I've edited the first chapter of this fic. All of your lovely reviews go away, much to my disdain, but I thought it needed to be edited. Your thoughts on this would be wonderful. And I'm likely to do this with a few other chapters.
Anyway, enjoy this next chapter. There's only two (I think) left…with the possibility of an epilogue.
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Two days later, the day before the wedding, dawned cold and dreary, an unfortunate break in the unseasonably warm weather they had been experiencing. The heat didn't seem to working that morning either, something they'd have to get fixed sooner or later. Max's grandmother, Julia, Uncle Teddy, Ellie's brothers and sisters, and Sadie and Jo were all due to roll into the Village sometime today, with the Carrigans supposedly arriving sometime early that morning. After a lot of discussion, Mr. and Mrs. Carrigan convinced the hippies to have breakfast out at the same little deli they had eaten at around 9:00 with the whole family.
Ellie managed to drag herself out of bed sometime around 8:30, meeting the bare minimum of making herself presentable by doing the necessities and throwing on an old pair of jeans and, after realizing she was in desperate need of fresh laundry, an old shirt of Max's, which originally must have been old shirt of Jude's due to the way it fit her and the paint splotches all over it.
She stumbled groggily into the living room around 8:45, finding Jude sitting on the couch, a sketchbook in his lap and a steaming mug in his hands. Michelle slept peacefully in her cradle at the end of the couch. He looked up at the sound of her entrance and smiled at her warmly.
"Top of the morning to yeh," he said cheerfully, tipping an imaginary hat towards her. "I see you're looking bright-tailed and bushy-eyed this morning."
Despite her sleepy state, she couldn't help but snort. "Judey, it's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. But what makes you so happy this morning?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. I passed out sometime early last night and Michelle made it through the night with no crying, so I guess I'm refreshed."
"Yeah, well, you'd be alone in that department, even if I did get eight hours of sleep last night…" The Englishman reached over to the table at the end of the couch, where another steaming mug was resting and picked it up.
"Maybe this'll help. I needed to get my brain off of this month's cover, so I made some coffee. I figured you'd want it, anyway."
"Did we convert you to coffee or something?" she asked, gesturing to his mug.
He scoffed. "Hell no. This is tea. I'm English, remember? I don't want any of your American shite, but I made some of you, anyway." He held out the other cup to her.
She smiled dazedly at him and took it, taking a sip. "Thank you. You're such a sweetheart."
He shrugged again. "'s not a big deal."
"Maybe I should've married you…" she murmured audibly to him.
"Eh, I wouldn't be any fun. Eventually you wouldn't find it so endearing."
"Fair enough. And you're cute and all and I'm sure you're fantastic in the bedroom, but…uh, you're not Max."
He threw his head back and laughed, pretending to wince. "Ouch. I would've liked to have thought that I'd beat out my mate in that category."
She took another thoughtful sip. "You did in Lucy's opinion."
"I suppose her's is all that matters."
Ellie looked around the living room, still nice and tidy, and furrowed her brows. "Where are they anyway? Aren't we getting up at this ungodly hour to meet their family?"
Jude shook his head in agreement. "I got up pretty early this morning, so I didn't wake Luce. But I figured she'd be up by now."
She glanced down at her piping hot mug of coffee and a wicked grin passed over her lips. He caught on to her train of thought, and shook his head again.
"He really had warped your mind, you know. There are times when I can't tell whose idea was whose."
She sighed and headed towards her bedroom, setting her cup down on the stand next to the couch. "The difference between me and him is that he actually follows through on those crazy ideas of his. I just think of them and wish I had the balls to do it."
Ellie opened the door to her room, rummaged through their chest of drawers, and pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Once they were in her hands, she walked over to the bed and with one sharp heave, cruelly shed a sleeping Max of the blankets that had been wrapped around him.
Sure enough, a drowsy moan came the newly-awakened Max, his voice muffled by the pillow buried in his face.
"Your family's here in fifteen minutes or so. At least get dressed."
He sighed, turned his head around so he could face Ellie, and was instead met by an airborne pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Mumbling various profanities under his breath, he got of bed and tugged on his jeans.
"Jude was gracious enough to make coffee, so I suggest you thank him once you are functioning again."
"Wait, how did he…never mind…" he grumbled as he pulled his shirt over his head. Once it was on, he looked at Ellie, who had a grin playing at her lips.
"What?"
"Are you regretting our marriage yet?"
He rolled his eyes, walked over to her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Not a bit. Well, not yet, anyways. We'll see if you turn into Bridezilla tomorrow."
She nudged him lightly with her hip. Ellie was glad he seemed to be in a decent mood. He had still been a little temperamental yesterday due to the Purple Heart ordeal. Things had gone from bad to worse when Mrs. Carrigan found it in the trashcan when they had come over.
"Sweetheart, is this…?"she had asked, holding it in her hands.
Max didn't answer, his eyes downcast and his arms crossed.
"Why is this in the trashcan? You should be proud of it."
"Proud of what?" he spat in response. "That I got the living shit beat out of me and got a fancy bullet hole in my stomach?"
"It's honoring your sacrifice," Mr. Carrigan said in the most condescending tone imaginable. "They wouldn't have given it to you if you didn't deserve it."
"Well, no shiny, purple medal is going make up for the five months of hell."
The conversation had been firmly ended there, but it was clear the Carrigan parents wanted to continue arguing with him. Ellie wisely decided to not bring it up at all. She had no idea what to do to make the situation better, so she just left it as is. She knew the medal and the certificate were no longer in the apartment, but she had the feeling Mrs. Carrigan had taken it.
A knock on the front door interrupted their little moment and Max glanced over at her. "I thought you said I had fifteen minutes." She shrugged.
The two of them scurried out of their bedroom and into the living room, where an exhausted Lucy was sitting on the couch, her head resting on Jude's shoulder and her eyes closed. Ellie ran to get the door, pushed her bangs out of her face, and opened it.
Max's grandmother was the first to greet her, a woman who was surprisingly spry for her age. She beamed brightly and shook Ellie's hand vigorously.
"You must be the lucky bride," she said. "It's so great to finally meet you."
"Thank you, Ms. Carrigan, I…I appreciate it," Ellie replied with bewilderment.
As she walked in the door, she caught her grandson's eye, pointed back to Ellie and mouthed "Nice catch!" giving him a thumbs-up in approval. He grinned, walking over to her to greet her.
Uncle Teddy seemed determined to ignore Ellie and Jude until they were introduced. Ellie briefly greeted Julia and led her in. Once her fiancé noticed his youngest sister had arrived, a big smile spread across his face.
"What? You're too cool to hug your big brother?"
She rushed over to him and just about tackled him to the ground. Max embraced her in a big, bone-crushing hug.
"Mmph…Jules, man, it's been too long…look at you!" He let her go and glanced at her up and down. "Shit…you're like…tall…and not a scrawny little girl anymore…"
"You did see me like a year and half ago, you know…"
"Well, Miss Matter-O-Fact, the past two years have kind of been blur, honestly. So I really only remember sixth-grade, flat-chested Julia."
"Max!" Julia, Lucy, Ellie, and Mrs. Carrigan, who had come into the room with her husband, simultaneously exclaimed with exasperation.
"Okay, okay, that was just wrong, I agree with you on that one…but anyway, you should come visit when you're not burying your nose into a book."
"I'll try to remember," she said, smiling and embracing him again.
"Maxwell, aren't you going to introduce your young lady?" Uncle Teddy swiftly interrupted. Julia scooted out of the way, while Max glanced at Ellie and put an arm around her waist.
"Uh…yeah, um, this is Ellie."
She did an awkward, little wave. Uncle Teddy walked up to her, smiled politely, and held out his hand. She shook it uncomfortably.
"Excuse my nephew for his atrocious introduction, it's a pleasure to meet you…Eleanor, right?"
"Ellie."
"Eleanor, got it."
She looked over at her fiancé bemusedly, to which he just rolled his eyes and shrugged a little. Ellie had heard many stories about their uncle, and she agreed that at the very least, he certainly was a peculiar man.
"And did I hear that I'm a new great-grandmother?" Max's grandmother asked, a smile spreading on her face as she began to wander over to Michelle, still in her crib, but now awake.
"Yes, you are! Max was sleeping when I checked on him last, but I'll see."
Ellie headed into her bedroom while Grandmother Carrigan began to coo over her new great-granddaughter. Uncle Teddy began to converse lightly with Jude.
"So, I take it you and Lucy are engaged?"
The Englishman turned bright red. "Well, erm…not exactly…we're not engaged yet."
"Oh," he replied, his lips pursing together in what seemed like disapproval.
"But I'm sure we will be soon," Lucy jumped in, slipping her hand into Jude's and interlocking fingers.
"Yes, one would hope so…" he muttered, turning his attention away from the couple. Lucy squeezed her boyfriend's hand. Despite her not wanting to jump the gun, she knew Jude was going to propose to her. He wouldn't have stayed this long and had a child with her if he wasn't going to. She had the feeling he was scared, which she could not wrap her head around, and was trying her hardest to be patient.
Ellie returned with Max Jr. in her arms, and Grandmother Carrigan gasped. She sprinted over to her and looked down on her great-grandson.
"Oh, he looks just like him, doesn't he! Hopefully, he'll go out and find a beautiful girl just like his father did."
After the adults continued to fuss over the babies, Max finally sighed, looked at the clock, and said "I hate to interrupt the love fest, but can we possibly move it to the deli? I'm starved."
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Despite breakfast being at such an ungodly hour of the morning, it was quite pleasant. Grandmother Carrigan was completely infatuated with Ellie, which made her feel a million times better. Yes, Max's parents had "approved" her, but Uncle Teddy still seemed very skeptical and even the Carrigan parents did, also. To have at least one of the adults on her side made some of that tension ease.
"Tell me, Eleanor, have you always lived in New York?" Uncle Teddy asked as he ate a forkful of his omelet.
"No, I hail from a suburb outside of Boston."
For the first time that day, his eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh! You are no doubt a fellow UMass grad, then? I'm a proud member of the Class of 1947. Great campus, isn't it?"
Oh, how she hated to burst his bubble. "No, I…I didn't go to college."
His face fell back into its previous look of seriousness and slight disdain. "Oh." He turned back to his omelet and started muttering something about "kids these days…" and "having no prospects…"
Had the comments he was muttering been said two years ago, Ellie would've felt guilty or apologetic that she wasn't "good" enough. But at this stage, she was done trying to impress her in-laws, or anyone in general. What they saw was what they were going to get.
Jude's right…she thought to herself. I am turning into Max…
"Hey, El..." Lucy started, putting a hand on her arm. "Isn't the rest of your family coming around eleven?"
She glanced at the clock. "Shit…" she muttered. "Yeah, they are. I'd better head back so they aren't greeted by an empty apartment."
"I'll go with you," Max piped up immediately. "And we'll take Max, too."
"Maxwell, it's been years since your uncle and grandmother have seen you," Mrs. Carrigan stated. "Isn't a bit impolite to leave so abruptly?"
"It's alright, Pam," Grandmother Carrigan assured his mother. "I'm sure the Rigby's want to meet the new fiancé and son." She slipped a wink to Max.
He shot her a grateful look as Ellie scooped Max Jr. into her arms, said a quick goodbye, and headed out the door.
Once they were well down the sidewalk, the blonde gave a heavy sigh of relief. "I now love and care deeply for your family."
"Oh?"
"Because they exist, I do not have to sit through another hour of mindless and pompous babble."
"Hey, your grandmother helped a lot with that. I like her."
He smiled. "Yeah, she's pretty cool. Don't know how my dad turned into the goody-goody lawyer he is; honestly, he could've been a trash man and my grandma wouldn't have cared."
They got to the entrance to their tenant building. She turned to him and sighed a little.
"Well, you may have escaped your family, but I'm afraid you're going to have to do the same thing over again."
"If I'm going to make an ass of myself in front of one family, why not do it for another?"
Yay for analysis. :D
"…an old shirt of Max's, which originally must have been old shirt of Jude's due to the way it fit her and the paint splotches all over it." – This is a very subtle foreshadowing to a Max/Jude fic that has yet to be written. My sister and girlfriend consistently wear each other's clothes, so I was thinking a Max/Jude fic that had something to do with the fact that they wear each other's clothes would be cute. :D
"I see you're looking bright-tailed and bushy-eyed this morning." – No, Jude is not stupid. He's just a little misinformed about American sayings. Still. :D
"Maybe I should've married you…" she murmured audibly to him." – This is in no way shape or form meant to be a foreshadowing of a Jude/Ellie affair. I consider Jude and Ellie's relationship to be similar to Max and Lucy's. Very close, but you know, not like that.
"Well, Miss Matter-O-Fact, the past two years have kind of been blur, honestly. So I really only remember sixth-grade, flat-chested Julia." – Heh. Max may be fucked up from the war, but he can still be a little pervert.
"The Englishman turned bright red. "Well, erm…not exactly…we're not engaged yet." – I'm not going to tell you when or where or any details, but I will tell you it will happen in this fic. :D
"Grandmother Carrigan was completely infatuated with Ellie, which made her feel a million times better…" – I thought one of the adults just had to think the whole thing was awesome. And I thought it would be kind of interesting to make Grandmother Carrigan so different from her son and her daughter-in-law (Mr. and Mrs. Carrigan). Possibly more with her later in this fic.
"Oh! You are no doubt a fellow UMass grad, then?" – In case you didn't know, I'm referring to the University of Massachusetts.
Reviews would be lovely as always. Expect an edited version of Chapter Two up soon. :D
Much love,
TMOLM2010