Chapter Two: Age 6
Hello! Thanks for reading and reviewing my fanfic! Please excuse my tenses. I am deaf, and grammar is not my language.
Spring Break 1984-
On the Nolans' farm, David and Mary Margaret were playing hide n' seek with their friends, Lance, Roger, and Ruby. David and Mary Margaret always somehow find each other right away, even if they picked the perfect hiding spot.
David covered his eyes with an arm against a tree, counting,
"...7... 8… 9 … 10! And here I come!"
He looked up and saw that all of his friends out of sight. But then he saw a little bit of a raven-haired head through the branches of a bush, just a few feet away.
He smiled slyly, and he quietly tiptoed toward it. When he got near, he looked behind it and cried, "I found you!"
His best friend pouted lightheartedly, "Aww, you always find me!" Mary Margaret stood up.
"And you always find me!" He replied.
"Yep!" Mary Margaret smugly responded. David smiled at her, amused, and with loving eyes. He had wanted to ask her a particular question for a long time. He pulled a ring pop out of his pocket, unwrapped it and got down on one knee, and held out the ring pop to her.
"Mary Margaret, Would you marry me!?" he asked cheerfully.
Mary Margaret smiled broadly, "What do you think!?" David eagerly put the ring pop on her finger and stood up. They embraced and gave each other a peck on the lips. They started a bit when they heard cheers and saw their friends jumping out of their hiding places. The two young love birds forgot they were there.
"Can I be the bridesmaid!?" Ruby asked Mary Margaret readily.
"Of course you are!" She confirmed, and Ruby hugged her tight.
"And I better be the best man!" Roger demanded, pointing at David.
David grinned at him, "Of course you are!"
"My daddy is a minister. I have been to a lot of weddings. I can marry you!" Lance offered excitedly.
"Yea!" David and Mary Margaret agreed enthusiastically.
Several minutes later…
The five children had found some snowbells and spread them everywhere around a small part of the backyard, under a canopy of two trees next to each other. They stood around the small area, where you would expect their roles would be positioned at weddings.
"David, do you take Mary Margaret, as your wife?"
"I do!" David placed the ring pop, which he proposed with, back on her finger.
"Mary Margaret, Do you take David, as your husband?"
"I do!" She placed another ring pop on his finger.
"And now you are husband and wife! You may kiss the bride!"
Mary Margaret and David gave each other a peck on the lips as their friends' cheered.
"Kids! The chocolate chip cookies are ready!" Ruth called from the backdoor. All five kids cheered, eager for some yummy treats, and ran inside after her. Mary Margaret and David held hands as they ran in and sat by each other at the kitchen table.
"Mama, Mary and I are married!" David grinned proudly. Both of them showed off their ring pops.
Ruth played along and humored him, "And you didn't invite me!?" She placed plastic cups and some napkins in front of each kid.
"Don't worry, mom. You will be invited to our next wedding. When we are older." David promised with a serious look. Ruth stifled a chuckle.
"You will, Ruth!" Mary Margaret gave her a look identical to David's, putting her fists on her hips.
Ruth smiled adoringly at them, "Of course I will." Ruth saw something special between those two. A bond, unlike any other. She brought over the cookie sheet, filled with the yummy pastries, and gave one cookie to each excited child. Lance, Roger, and Ruby started to greedily eat up their cookies, the way that only kids eat. But, David and Mary Margaret generously shared each other's treats and sometimes even fed each other. Ruth looked on and tried to stifle her giggles. She wondered if they would get married for real one day.
Summer 1984-
Leopold and Eva Blanchard went on a week-long business trip to Seattle. Mary Margaret and David had been begging for a sleepover for quite a while. Both Ruth and Eva discussed and decided to let Mary Margaret stay at the Nolans' for the week. Eva also decided to give Johanna a week off. She worried about David's father, Robert, who tended to get drunk a lot and didn't want her little daughter to be exposed to that. Ruth understood and gave him strict orders not to drink while Mary Margaret stayed there. Fortunately, he followed through, except for one night, the last night.
The Blanchards dropped off Mary Margaret at the Nolans', and it was a Monday morning. There were no tears for the girl. Right away, after saying goodbye to her parents, she and David went outside. They played in David's treehouse that Robert built on his fifth birthday. They also pretended to be warriors that fought trolls and dragons for hours. For dinner, Ruth decided to make pizza, and they helped her. Mary Margaret brought over one of her -and David's- favorite books, a collection of fairy tales, and one of her personal favorites, a Beverly Cleary book. Ruth would either read one story from the collection of fairy tales or a chapter from Beezus and Ramona every night. She also read one of David's books, Wind in the Willows, which was one of David's favorites.
Every morning both of them helped Ruth or Robert with feeding the animals or watering the gardens. The rest of the time, they just played or colored. On Wednesday morning, Robert taught Mary Margaret how to milk a cow. David had already done it before. On Thursday, Ruth took them to a zoo in a bigger town nearby. On Friday night, they watched two Disney movies, The Jungle Book and Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. The next day, they made up a game called Snow White and the Prince. Sunday was the last day. Mary Margaret and David tried to make the most of it. That night Robert said he had to do errands, and Ruth decided to teach them how to make playdough. Both children wore old t-shirts from Robert or Ruth, which were way too big. The floor and the parchment-covered kitchen table was a mess with flour and little chunks of forgotten or dropped playdough.
"I am making a snake!" David started to roll some of his green dough into a long strand.
"I am making a hamburger!" Mary Margaret responded, trying to make her blue dough resemble a hamburger. "For your snake to eat."
"Okay! Thanks. My snake is very hungry." David smiled graciously. Ruth quietly giggled as she washed the dinner dishes. All three of them were startled when there was a bump at the back door. Robert clumsy entered the door with a smile, attempting to hide the fact that he was drunk. But Ruth knew anyway and quietly sighed. David looked at him, suspiciously. Mary Margaret looked a little concerned with his clumsy behavior but remained clueless.
"Hi, Robert! We made playdough. David is making a snake, and I am making a hamburger. Because it's hungry." Mary Margaret excitedly explained. Robert hazily smiled at the little girl.
"That's… nice." He laughed obnoxiously. And David noticed his eyes, which were hazy. Robert bumped into the table and fell over. David knew it only meant one thing, and he looked down, embarrassed.
Mary Margaret yelled, "Are you okay!?" worried as Ruth rushed over and helped him up to his feet. She dragged him to their bedroom. Mary Margaret looked on, confused and concerned, while David just looked down, tears starting to form.
"What's going on?" Mary Margaret turned to her best friend and became even more concerned, "David, are you okay!?" She embraced him from behind. She saw that he was crying, she started to cry too. "Why is your papa acting weird?"
"He drank too much, like always." David sighed sadly. Mary Margaret was confused, not quite understanding what he meant, but knew that it was serious from his reaction. So she didn't ask any more questions.
Ruth came out of the bedroom, looking weary, and she sighed heavily when she saw the children huddled together, crying. She was especially sad for her son. Knowing how much he had to endure in his short six years.
"I am so sorry, kids." She rubbed both of their backs and kissed their heads. "It's an early bedtime today." She gently led them to the bathroom for a bath.
Later after taking a bath, brushing their teeth, and putting on pajamas, Ruth read them a bedtime story. David and Mary Margaret laid in David's bed, and the room only glowed by David's nightlight.
"He drank too much beer." He quietly stated without Mary Margaret saying anything. David knew that she was still confused even after his mother tried to explain to her, trying not to reveal too much. "Beers are bad. Please don't drink beer when you grow up, okay?"
"I promise." She promised, Even though she only vaguely understood what beer was before tonight, because of David's reaction, she never wants to drink. "You too!"
"I won't ever drink."
Fall 1984-
For almost two weeks, Robert decided to man up for his family, and he stayed sober, but on the fourteenth day, he passed a bar on the way home and get tempted for one drink. But of course, he had too many. That night Robert drove home drunk and crashed into a semi-truck. He died from the impact.
Two Weeks Later…
At recess, David, Mary Margaret, Lance, Roger, Ruby, and their new friend, Lacey, who was a new girl that year, were climbing on the dome climber. Roger, who didn't even know that David's father was an alcoholic, decided to declare that he drank beer jokingly.
"I drank beer!"
David's fists tightened around a bar as his whole body stiffened. Mary Margaret turned to him in concern. Lacey, Lance, and Ruby looked at him with disbelief.
"No, you did not!" Ruby scoffed.
"Yes, I did!" Roger jumped off the dome and stood under it.
"Nu-uh! You're too little!"
"Yes, I did, My daddy fell asleep in his chair, and I took a sip-" Roger was interrupted when David got off the dome and pushed him.
"SHUT UP!" David ran off and sat at the edge of the school's playground.
"You shouldn't have said that, Roger." Mary Margaret followed after him.
David started crying as Mary Margaret embraced him. "He promised to change." Mary Margaret knew he meant his father, not Roger.
Thank you for reading! I would appreciate it if you review it. Thank you.
