"Bear patiently, my heart - for you have suffered heavier things." — Homer, The Iliad
10 June 1942
"You're sure they're alright with me coming and disrupting them?" Alice asked Charlotte as Matthew's mum dished up a hearty breakfast for them.
"Quite sure, and I'll be coming with you so you won't be heading into the lion's den completely alone."
"Charlotte."
The woman laughed and bid Alice eat her breakfast.
"I've always found the Beazleys to be a delight and I think you'll find a lot in common with Jean."
"Really?"
"Yes. Life has not been kind to both of you in different ways, but you've both managed to thrive and find happiness nonetheless."
Alice played with her food a little and hoped Charlotte was right.
"Alright," she finally nodded and smiled when Charlotte gleefully clapped her hands.
The crunch of tires on gravel alerted Jean to their visitors that morning - it was early, but Charlotte wanted Matthew's friend to spend more time around the Beazley farm for some reason; Jean thought it a little excessive just for a few photos of her and the boys, but Charlotte was kind - always had been - and the boys needed someone to spoil them a little. Spending time away from her work to indulge an old woman's wishes (and the wishes of her son and Christopher) was hopefully the break she needed from trying to run the farm.
She expected Charlotte Lawson and a friend of Matthew's that morning, but the woman from Matthew's photo that stepped out from behind the wheel wasn't what Jean had imagined. The way she stepped onto the gravel carefully and looked around the farm screamed townie (which made sense if she was studying in Melbourne), but while her clothes were well-made, they were plain - the same with the very practical way she wore her hair; the only thing that stuck out as odd was the dark brown cardigan she wore - it was much too large for her and the way the woman curled her fingers around the cuffs spoke of a motion of comfort.
Charlotte waved to Jean as she handed the woman a leather case from the backseat; the boys tumbled from the house and ran to hug Matthew's mum as Jean followed them at a more sedate pace.
"Charlotte," she smiled.
"Morning, Jean," Charlotte patted her cheek and held the boys close. "You and the boys doing alright?"
"As one can these days."
Charlotte's smile turned a little sad, a little knowing, but it remained as she motioned for her friend to come closer.
"Jean, this is Matthew's friend Alice, she's studying to be a doctor down in Melbourne and is also a photographer."
"Amatuer," Alice insisted.
"Nonsense, I've seen your work, my girl, it's not amatuer."
Alice shook her head with a smile and offered her hand to Jean after some initial hesitance.
"Alice Harvey."
"Jean Beazley," she took the already chilled hand in her own. "You look just like your picture."
Alice's cheeks burned a bright pink, "He showed you?"
"Mm-hm, Christopher and I were curious. He was very proud you were friends."
Charlotte nudged Alice with her elbow and a smile, getting one from Alice in return. A sudden blast of cool air sent poor Alice shivering and Jean immediately motioned for them to come inside.
"Come in, come in, it's already cold out here - can't have you freezing to death."
"Certainly colder than Melbourne, eh, Alice?"
Alice smiled again with a nod, "Bit balmier down there by the sea."
"I thought girls couldn't be doctors."
"Jack," Jean warned her son - both for his statement and his interruption - as they trooped inside.
"It's an honest question, Mum!"
"One I get all the time," Alice offered with another smile.
Jean didn't let Jack ask again, instead she cut him off with another look and shooed him towards the parlor with his brother while Charlotte and Alice followed her into the kitchen.
"It… It really is alright for him to ask that, Mrs. Beazley."
Alice fiddled with a button on her cardigan - her voice shy to the point that Jean almost didn't hear her over the kettle getting filled; for a studying doctor, she seemed entirely too shy to be one - though she seemed to take strength when Charlotte squeezed her arm.
'Was this really the girl Matthew liked?' She could sort of see it, even if it baffled Jean a little - she just seemed too shy for him.
"Jack can ask questions, but he's not learned when the proper time to ask them - accosting you as soon as you arrive is rude."
"I'm used to accosting questions," Alice stood a little straighter - there was some steel to her spine after all. "Comes with the territory."
"Of studying medicine as a woman?"
"Of studying anything as a woman," the woman drawled even as Charlotte nudged her with her elbow again. "It's true, Charlotte, don't give me that."
"Sit, you silly girl. Jean, dear, do you have any honey? Alice likes it in her tea."
"Certainly, we just got some from the neighbors so you're in luck."
As the kettle boiled and Jean readied things for tea - hoping she wasn't flushed from embarrassment when Alice played with the chip in her mug absentmindedly; Jean wasn't vain in the sense that most associated with the word, but she took pride in how things appeared to look, and judging on Alice's plain, but well-made clothes, Jean's chipped mug paled in comparison.
So far, Alice Harvey hadn't impressed her much. She was quiet like Matthew, shy to the point of painful, but there must be something there for him to have taken notice and blush like a schoolgirl every time she and Christopher had brought up his new friend. The meek - with some bite as Jean had seen earlier - and hopeful doctor didn't quite add up in her head.
"So, how did you meet our Matthew?" Jean asked - breaking the stifling silence over the kitchen.
That got her a blush accompanied by a soft and fond smile.
"He walked into the diner I work at and looked lost."
Charlotte threw her head back with a laugh and Jean hid her smile as she let the tea steep - both of them knew that look all too well.
"Looked like a kicked puppy, didn't he?"
"A little."
"How'd you start writing letters to him?"
Another fond smile, "He can be charming in his own way… Matthew just wanted someone to talk to besides his family, and he'd seen me reading - wanted recommendations on reading material."
"Alice has got him reading Jane Austen if you can believe it, Jean."
"Really."
"He enjoys them," the woman defended him, "even if the boys give him a hard time - a lot of them have picked up on it to help pass the time."
There was a spark of something there, Jean mused. The way Alice stepped up to defend Matthew even when he wasn't here eased some of the worries Jean held in her heart; Matthew was a quiet man - always had been, especially around Christopher's more boisterous personality - and most people tried to take advantage of it. In all their years of friendship Jean tried to keep that from happening romantic or not (Christopher did too, but Matthew usually ended up hustling after them like a mother hen from all their antics), and so maybe she was a tad bit more protective of her friend when it came to potential relationships. But she could start to see why Matthew liked Alice, and if Charlotte had already accepted the woman into the Lawson family fold, Jean supposed she could try a little harder at getting to know Miss Alice Harvey.
Jack - as always - wanted to be the center of attention, and so he took the lead in showing Charlotte and Alice around the farm; Charlotte gave him the attention he wanted, whereas Alice seemed taken aback every time Jack was a bit too boisterous or demanding. Jean noticed that Christopher Junior gravitated towards the quiet doctor-to-be and the longer they spent around each other, the more both of them opened up. Her smile softened her face - Jean noted - and the way Alice interacted with Christopher Junior, Jean could see what drew Matthew to her.
It took her most of the day to get used to Jack's antics, but by lunch, both boys had been allowed to take a few photos with Alice's camera (with Jean hovering over them, making sure nothing got broken), and they both pestered Alice with questions as they went in for lunch; the questions continued throughout the meal - Alice smiling through it all, but Jean worried they were overwhelming her.
"I'm sorry," Jean smiled as Charlotte herded the boys into the front parlor and Alice brought the dishes to the sink. "We don't get a lot of visitors out here."
"It's alright," Alice returned the smile. "Asking questions is good - shows curiosity and I don't mind answering them."
"Still…"
"It's alright, I don't mind, honestly. Matthew's niece asks questions all the time, your Jack reminds me of her."
"You've met Vera then?"
Jean shouldn't have been surprised, the Lawsons (and by extension the Andersons) welcomed any of their family's friends with open arms, but Jean remembered Vera being even more protective of her brother than Jean was - she was slow to trust any romantic partners Matthew brought home (which hadn't been many).
Alice nodded as she picked up a cloth to dry the dishes as Jean washed them, "Matthew and I had dinner with the Andersons a few days before he left for Queensland. Vera now visits occasionally with Rose - she gets a break from keeping Rose entertained and Rose gets to play with kids her age."
"She's welcomed you into the family as Charlotte has. Matthew must be very serious about you then."
That got her another fond smile, "I'd hope so, we're dating after all."
"Really?"
The smile widened and she nodded. "We started dating during his leave… didn't want things left unsaid before he went off to the front again and we might not get the chance."
The smile and sentence were genuine as Alice dried the dishes, and Jean felt the deep, burning (and familiar) feeling of shame wash over her; who was she to have judged Alice and her intentions towards Matthew? Matthew was a grown man - no matter how dear of a friend he was to the Beazleys - and could make his own decisions regarding a partner.
"Your farm is beautiful," Alice offered up in the silence of the kitchen.
"It's not much, but it's home."
"I know the feeling."
Eyeing the well-made clothes of Alice (and the way she'd walked stiffly around the farm - perhaps unused to uneven ground), Jean doubted Alice knew what it was like to live on a farm, but then again she didn't know a lot about her.
"I didn't always live in a nice house."
Alice must have seen the look, or read Jean's silence correctly and Jean felt her face heat - she certainly was observant.
"It's alright, Mrs. Beazley, I'm used to strange looks. I got incredibly lucky to end up where I am now, living at Miss Fisher's home, but it's the first really nice home I have lived in."
Jean cleared her throat (old habits - and judgments - were hard to break) as she handed Alice another plate. "Where are you from?"
"Sydney slums, originally, and then the streets, and then to Melbourne in the foster care system - bouncing from house to house until I turned eighteen and went to university. My mentor knows Miss Fisher and she'd opened up to boarders by then so I moved in there and haven't left."
"What are you going to do once you're done with school?"
Alice shrugged, "Find a job, hopefully in Melbourne so I can save up some money and then… I don't know."
"And… Matthew?"
That got Jean a bright red blush, but a smile crept into the corners of Alice's mouth.
"Um… unsure still… I think we're waiting to see how the war turns out before making big decisions about… us. Charlotte mentioned Ballarat was a nice place."
Snorting, Jean handed Alice another dish, "Depends on who you ask, but it's nice enough."
"Is it… not for you?"
"Ballarat's my home, I've never been anywhere else and… well, when you stay in one place long enough you know the good and the bad."
"Ah," Alice dried the dish and put it down. "She also mentioned gossip."
"Alive and well, but surely you've seen gossip before since you live with Miss Fisher."
Alice laughed, "I didn't realize her adventures had made it to here."
"I think all of Australia knows about her by now. How do you live with it?"
"It helps that I'm not the one in the papers, though occasionally being sent away on 'vacation' does get annoying if I'm in the middle of studying… I usually stay with Mac. And like I said, I'm used to the talk - most people don't take kindly to women studying medicine."
She certainly was dedicated, Jean would give her that; it seemed nothing deterred Alice from her studies and achieving her goals and Jean envied her that. She envied the bravery and stubbornness Alice had to get what she wanted, to be in the kinds of circles that led to staying in an Honourable Lady's house (and be accepted into the household), to be able to travel where she liked - when she liked - and do all the things Jean had dreamed of years ago. It also tugged on her heartstrings. Alice's decisions to be a doctor and go to university had left her somewhat isolated - bouncing around the foster care system certainly hadn't helped her settle - and as much as Jean bucked against the reins of Ballarat, she couldn't imagine not being settled, not knowing where she belonged.
One look at the furrow between Alice's brows, the tight corners of her mouth, and Jean resolved to make Alice feel welcome here with the Beazleys - regardless of what happened between her and Matthew, regardless of the war, regardless of the gossip; Alice Harvey would always have a place at their table as long as Jean was alive.
"Well," she nudged Alice with her elbow, "we take kindly to it here, and I know the boys would enjoy hearing all the gross details of medicine. If you keep answering their questions, you'll always be welcome here."
A shy smile - softer and brighter than the ones before - lit up Alice's face.
AN: many thanks to olafur-neal for helping me get Jean right in this, it's been a long time since I've written from her pov!