Part 18: Flying Lessons
October 26th 2003
Mac had quite fast realized that what a teenager sometimes says, and really means and intends to do, don't always work out that way. Today was Sunday and Mac was going to spend a couple of hours together with Sturgis and Elena. The two of them had planned to have these family-outings once a week on Sundays, but real-life had made it hard to make them a reality. They were down to about once every three weeks, but they had decided that they weren't going too be so upset about it. It was better that they could be together having a nice time seldom than being together more often, but thinking about everything else they had to do.
The plan for the day had been for Mattie to go flying with Harm. The condition Mac had put up was that she would already be finished with her homework before leaving with Harm. That wasn't the case Mac had found out a minute ago, so now she was forced to not let her go flying.
Any minute now Harm would get there to pick her up. Mac was silently praying that he would support her on this one. Mattie was a great girl. She was friendly most of the time, honest and very independent, but she still had to get used to having rules and limits for her behavior. Otherwise she wouldn't survive in this world.
"She isn't letting me go flying," Mattie had run to the door as soon as Harm entered the apartment.
"Why not?" He asked Mac, who came out of the kitchen.
"It's just this stupid homework for history. I'll get it done tonight. Can't we go, Harm?" Mattie answered before Mac had a chance to say anything. She had from the start realized that Harm would let her do a lot more things than Mac did and she wasn't going to miss out on her flying lesson without a fight.
"And you were supposed to have done it yesterday and you didn't," Mac clarified for Harm's sake and looked at Mattie.
"Then I guess instead of going flying, we are going to do history homework today," Harm said without properly hiding his own disappointment at this.
"I have to leave to meet Sturgis and Elena now."
"Have a nice time, Mac," Harm said.
"You, too..." Mac said. "Bye."
"Goodbye."
Mattie didn't say anything.
Mac and Sturgis had agreed to meet at Sturgis apartment. They were going to put all of the photos they had of Elena in an album. It was just a couple of days until she would be six months. A very important date.
"Did everything go well with her?" Mac said and took Elena from her father's arms.
"She was a bit hesitant to go to sleep, but once she did she slept the whole night through. I think she'll be ready for a nap soon though," Sturgis replied. This was the third night Elena had spent in his apartment. Before that he had been alone with her over night in Mac's apartment, but never in his own apartment. They had decided to start it off with one night a week and then increase it. Sturgis still came by Mac's apartment during the weeks to visit her though.
"Good."
"Maybe I could have her twice a week?" Sturgis asked. "I'd pick her up on Fridays and we'd meet up on Sundays, do something together and you could take her home with you."
"It could work," Mac said. She knew she couldn't handle it all alone, but she also didn't like it when her baby was out of reach. Sturgis wanted to be a part of her life and Mac was so happy and pleased with that, but she also wanted Elena with her all the time.
They continued with the album and played with Elena for a while until Mac realized she had to get home if she was going to get all the things done that she had to do.
Mattie continued the silent treatment towards Mac the rest of the day and the following morning. Harm came to drive her to school and in the car he asked why she was doing that.
"It's like she's trying to run my life. Flying is everything and soon it will be too cold. Who cares about school anyway?"
"I do."
"You would still have let me go flying. I mean you're still OK. Mac's just so much... a mother."
"If I had let you go flying even when you hadn't done what you were supposed to. It would have been the wrong decision. I was totally behind Mac on that decision, I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear." Harm was trying to adjust to this. Mac was doing much better with her, he felt, and therefore he often let her take the lead. She had more experience from being a parent and of kids Mattie's age.
When Mac entered her apartment together with Elena the same night, she was greeted by the smell of food. Pizza to be more exact. She noticed that the whole apartment had been cleaned.
"Hey Mac," Mattie came towards her and held her arms out to take Elena. She had learnt a lot about taking care of babies since that night three weeks ago. She liked having Elena around, even if it was also very nice when she was at Sturgis' once a week and she didn't have to worry about waking her up in the evenings or being woken up in the middle of the night.
Mac put down her briefcase and the bag with Elena's stuff beside the door.
"If you want to change I'll take care of Elena. The pizzas will be ready in just a minute."
"OK, I guess I'll do that," Mac was quite astonished by the change in Mattie from this morning before going off to school and work. She had known she wasn't going to be angry with her forever, but she hadn't quite expected this turnaround. She wondered what had caused it all.
"I heated some food for Elena too," Mattie told her when she a few minutes later entered the kitchen. Elena was sitting in her chair ready for dinner and two pizzas were on the table.
"I didn't know you knew how to cook," Mac started inquiring.
"I don't. These are just those frozen pizzas that you buy already-made I just had to put them in the oven. I'm going to ask Harm to teach me to cook something..."
"I'm impressed. What happened today?" Mac asked and looked at Mattie in a way that made it impossible for her to avoid answering.
"Well, first I talked to Harm a bit and then in history we got a test and I would never have known any of it if I hadn't studied with Harm yesterday, so I kind of want to apologize for how I behaved. I was wrong and I want to thank you for forcing me to study too."
"Apology accepted. Sometimes I think I'm putting too much responsibility on you. I want you to be able to be a child at the same time as I want you to be prepared for the world out there... Maybe I should have checked earlier that you had done you homework."
"Mac, I like that you let me make my own mistakes too. I wouldn't want you to treat me like a first grader. In the future I'll do better, I promise."
"Good. Now I want to have some of this pizza," Mac said and grabbed the biggest piece she could find.
'Elena is pretty lucky,' Mattie thought 'to have Mac as a mother.'
TBC
October 26th 2003
Mac had quite fast realized that what a teenager sometimes says, and really means and intends to do, don't always work out that way. Today was Sunday and Mac was going to spend a couple of hours together with Sturgis and Elena. The two of them had planned to have these family-outings once a week on Sundays, but real-life had made it hard to make them a reality. They were down to about once every three weeks, but they had decided that they weren't going too be so upset about it. It was better that they could be together having a nice time seldom than being together more often, but thinking about everything else they had to do.
The plan for the day had been for Mattie to go flying with Harm. The condition Mac had put up was that she would already be finished with her homework before leaving with Harm. That wasn't the case Mac had found out a minute ago, so now she was forced to not let her go flying.
Any minute now Harm would get there to pick her up. Mac was silently praying that he would support her on this one. Mattie was a great girl. She was friendly most of the time, honest and very independent, but she still had to get used to having rules and limits for her behavior. Otherwise she wouldn't survive in this world.
"She isn't letting me go flying," Mattie had run to the door as soon as Harm entered the apartment.
"Why not?" He asked Mac, who came out of the kitchen.
"It's just this stupid homework for history. I'll get it done tonight. Can't we go, Harm?" Mattie answered before Mac had a chance to say anything. She had from the start realized that Harm would let her do a lot more things than Mac did and she wasn't going to miss out on her flying lesson without a fight.
"And you were supposed to have done it yesterday and you didn't," Mac clarified for Harm's sake and looked at Mattie.
"Then I guess instead of going flying, we are going to do history homework today," Harm said without properly hiding his own disappointment at this.
"I have to leave to meet Sturgis and Elena now."
"Have a nice time, Mac," Harm said.
"You, too..." Mac said. "Bye."
"Goodbye."
Mattie didn't say anything.
Mac and Sturgis had agreed to meet at Sturgis apartment. They were going to put all of the photos they had of Elena in an album. It was just a couple of days until she would be six months. A very important date.
"Did everything go well with her?" Mac said and took Elena from her father's arms.
"She was a bit hesitant to go to sleep, but once she did she slept the whole night through. I think she'll be ready for a nap soon though," Sturgis replied. This was the third night Elena had spent in his apartment. Before that he had been alone with her over night in Mac's apartment, but never in his own apartment. They had decided to start it off with one night a week and then increase it. Sturgis still came by Mac's apartment during the weeks to visit her though.
"Good."
"Maybe I could have her twice a week?" Sturgis asked. "I'd pick her up on Fridays and we'd meet up on Sundays, do something together and you could take her home with you."
"It could work," Mac said. She knew she couldn't handle it all alone, but she also didn't like it when her baby was out of reach. Sturgis wanted to be a part of her life and Mac was so happy and pleased with that, but she also wanted Elena with her all the time.
They continued with the album and played with Elena for a while until Mac realized she had to get home if she was going to get all the things done that she had to do.
Mattie continued the silent treatment towards Mac the rest of the day and the following morning. Harm came to drive her to school and in the car he asked why she was doing that.
"It's like she's trying to run my life. Flying is everything and soon it will be too cold. Who cares about school anyway?"
"I do."
"You would still have let me go flying. I mean you're still OK. Mac's just so much... a mother."
"If I had let you go flying even when you hadn't done what you were supposed to. It would have been the wrong decision. I was totally behind Mac on that decision, I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear." Harm was trying to adjust to this. Mac was doing much better with her, he felt, and therefore he often let her take the lead. She had more experience from being a parent and of kids Mattie's age.
When Mac entered her apartment together with Elena the same night, she was greeted by the smell of food. Pizza to be more exact. She noticed that the whole apartment had been cleaned.
"Hey Mac," Mattie came towards her and held her arms out to take Elena. She had learnt a lot about taking care of babies since that night three weeks ago. She liked having Elena around, even if it was also very nice when she was at Sturgis' once a week and she didn't have to worry about waking her up in the evenings or being woken up in the middle of the night.
Mac put down her briefcase and the bag with Elena's stuff beside the door.
"If you want to change I'll take care of Elena. The pizzas will be ready in just a minute."
"OK, I guess I'll do that," Mac was quite astonished by the change in Mattie from this morning before going off to school and work. She had known she wasn't going to be angry with her forever, but she hadn't quite expected this turnaround. She wondered what had caused it all.
"I heated some food for Elena too," Mattie told her when she a few minutes later entered the kitchen. Elena was sitting in her chair ready for dinner and two pizzas were on the table.
"I didn't know you knew how to cook," Mac started inquiring.
"I don't. These are just those frozen pizzas that you buy already-made I just had to put them in the oven. I'm going to ask Harm to teach me to cook something..."
"I'm impressed. What happened today?" Mac asked and looked at Mattie in a way that made it impossible for her to avoid answering.
"Well, first I talked to Harm a bit and then in history we got a test and I would never have known any of it if I hadn't studied with Harm yesterday, so I kind of want to apologize for how I behaved. I was wrong and I want to thank you for forcing me to study too."
"Apology accepted. Sometimes I think I'm putting too much responsibility on you. I want you to be able to be a child at the same time as I want you to be prepared for the world out there... Maybe I should have checked earlier that you had done you homework."
"Mac, I like that you let me make my own mistakes too. I wouldn't want you to treat me like a first grader. In the future I'll do better, I promise."
"Good. Now I want to have some of this pizza," Mac said and grabbed the biggest piece she could find.
'Elena is pretty lucky,' Mattie thought 'to have Mac as a mother.'
TBC