Chapter 2: New Life
Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does.
Thanks for the reviews, I didn't expect that many at all. They say to write what you know so this next part is set in Austin Texas and in Houston Texas because I live in Austin and I know enough about Houston, so that's why Lizzie has ended up in Texas. I'm also going to try to keep the chapters from being too long, but I tend to be wordy so we'll see!
6 years later…
"Yeah mom… sure."
Lizzie wandered around her office with the phone balanced on her shoulder picking up a few last minute things, and tried to pay attention to her mothers' speech about flight safety.
" I know mom, don't talk to terrorists," Lizzie looked up at her secretary Nina who had just walked in to help her get ready to leave and mouthed
"My mom," before rolling her eyes.
Nina grinned and whispered
"Do you want me to run up to daycare and get Emily?"
Lizzie nodded her head in relief and tried to pay attention to her mom.
"What, no I'm listening mom, but Emily's on the way up from daycare so I'll need to go soon so that we can get on the road.......mom she's in daycare because my sitter.....she's is in Europe for the summer…mom the daycare is in the building, its fine and anyways I'm on vacation for the next three weeks so its not like I'll need one."
Lizzie groaned as she flopped in her chair, she had been having this same argument with her mother for the last two weeks, ever since Rachel, her babysitter of two years had graduated from college and gone to Europe for the summer and she had put Emily in the companys daycare until she could hire another one.
Nina returned with the curly blonde haired, big blue eyed, five-and-a-half year old girl.
"Mommy!" the little girl squealed while showing off her beautiful bright smile. Lizzie could never quite get over just how much Emily looked like Gordo when she smiled.
"Hi baby," Lizzie whispered leaning down for a hug .
"Grandma," she said pointing to the phone. Emily jumped up and down.
"I wanna talk, please, please," Lizzie nodded, grateful to pass the phone on for a few minutes.
"Hey mom, someone wants to say hi," Lizzie passed the phone to Emily.
"She's all yours Em," Emily giggled as she took the phone
"Hi Grandma, I miss you."
Lizzie sighed and turned to face Nina.
"Okay, just a few reminders, make sure all the articles are in by next Wednesday, I emailed mine to you so you'll have it. I okayed the photo layout for affordable summer wear, just make sure it gets with the others to go to the printer. Oh, and when you go on vacation next week, make sure that any calls get forwarded to my voice mail and leave my cell number and my parents fax number for emergencies."
Nina nodded and smiled reassuringly
"It'll be okay Lizzie, they'll survive. Go see your family, go to your reunion, and most importantly spend some quality time with Emily!"
Lizzie smiled.
"You're right, I'm just a little nervous I've never been gone this long before."
"I know, but it'll be okay. I'm going to go return some phone calls, let me know when you leave, I'll help you out."
Lizzie nodded and then went to straighten up a little bit before they left. Her mind began to wander as she found herself staring out the window at the rolling hills of Austin Texas. This was where she and Emily had lived for the past three years.
Through Miranda, Lizzie had met the managing editor of a parenting magazine based in Austin who was looking for someone to head up the single parenting section of the magazine; Lizzie and Emily packed up and moved to Austin. A year later her section was so popular that Lizzie became was now the proud editor of her own magazine; "Single Parenting and You" or as people referred to it, "SPY". "SPY" was filled with helpful articles, stories from other single parents, as well as fashion tips on a budget, vacation ideas and dating tips. The magazine kept her very busy, but she was careful to keep enough time free to spend with Emily. Emily had recently begun ballet classes and gymnastics which was making it harder and harder to be everywhere at once. Lizzie sometimes wished that she could be cloned and one of her could be with Emily and the other could do everything else.
"MOMMY!"
Emily's voice brought Lizzie back to reality.
"Hmm, what Em?" Lizzie asked turning around to see Emily holding the phone out to her.
"Grandma wants to talk to you."
"Thanks sweetie, can you go put our bags by the door please, we'll leave when I get off the phone, and go to the bathroom, we're not stopping until we're past Bastrop."
Emily gave her a 'you've told me that a million times' look but went off in the direction of the bathroom.
"Okay mom, we're driving to Miranda's in Houston tonight and our flight leaves at nine tomorrow morning, we stop and change planes in Denver. We should be in LA by 3:30, hopefully we'll make to Hilldridge before traffic gets too bad… yeah mom, Miranda will be with us… no he won't come until next week he has to work… no mom they're not married yet… I don't know mom I guess when they're ready… yeah twelve years...yes Larry has a good job...it's at NASA... well mom they… look mom I need to go I told them we'd be there by nine… about three hours but I told Emily that we'd stop and eat…McDonalds… no mom not every night, we usually eat at home, look mom I've got to go love you bye… okay love you… right no terrorists… love you too bye."
click
"Finally!"
Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone. Had her mother always talked that much?
"Mommy, I'm ready," Emily called as she skipped in with a huge grin on her face, Nina following close behind.
"Need some help Liz?" Nina asked looking at the mess of backpacks, briefcases, a laptop and a few stray toys in a heap near the door.
"Please," Lizzie said as she picked up a couple and a teddy bear from her desk.
"I'm going to go change, just help Emily get her stuff in her backpack, I'll get the rest."
Lizzie ran to the bathroom and quickly changed out of her skirt and blouse and into her favorite pair of worn in jeans and a pick t-shirt. Most importantly she got out of the pantyhose and heels and into a pair of flip flops.
When she got to the door of her office she paused, Emily was showing Nina her collection of photos she kept in her backpack.
"…and Aunt Miranda was the first person to hold me, mommy and Grandma were crying, but only cause they were happy. Uncle Tudge is my godfather, but not my real father, I can't see my real father, mommy says he lives far, far away...and I dont know who that boy is but that is mommy when she was my age."
Lizzie, who had been listening from behind the door, finally spoke up.
"Okay who's ready to go?" Lizzie asked sounding a little too cheerful as she came in the room. Nina sensed that Lizzie had overheard and she looked guilty. Lizzie was always very vague when asked about Emilys dad, usually she simply said he wasn't a part of her life and left it at that, but Lizzie had said a few things in the past to suggest that there was a definitely more to the story.
"Sorry Liz, I asked her about the trip and…" her voice trailed off
"Its okay" Lizzie assured her, as she grabbed her briefcase and a garment bag
"Ready to go munchkin, we have a long drive ahead of us. Nina can you help us downstairs?"
Five minutes later the trio was loading up Lizzies already very full Jeep Cherokee and Lizzie was starting to sound nervous about leaving for so long.
"So you have my cell phone number, and my parents number, and their fax number, and I'll check my email and my voice mail several times a day and…"
HONK
The sound of the cars' horn made Lizzie jump a mile and Nina scream.
"MOMMY, if you aren't in this car in 10 seconds I am leaving without you! 1…2…4…"
"I think I'm being paged," Lizzie grinned at Nina. "...I'll see you in a few weeks, enjoy your vacation."
Nina leaned over and gave her a hug.
"I will, have fun at your reunion, bye Miss Emily."
"Bye Nina," she called happily "come on mom."
"Bye," Lizzie said as she climbed in. She sat there for a second while wondering to herself what would become of the next few days. Superficially she wondered how everyone had changed over the past few years, was Ethan still charmingly clueless; was Kate still....Kate? Her thoughts went to Gordo and she couldn't help feeling nervous. It had been 6 years, how had he changed? Was his hair still an unruly mess of dark curls? Did he still wear that directors eyepiece around his neck? Would his smile still make her heart skip a beat; and his eyes......most importantly how would he react when she told him......
"MOMMY, WHILE I'M YOUNG!"
Lizzie smiled.
"Next stop, Aunt Miranda's house!"
A/N: I know this chapter is a little slow, but its building, the next two or so may be a little slow, but hopefully it'll start to pick up.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does.
Thanks for the reviews, I didn't expect that many at all. They say to write what you know so this next part is set in Austin Texas and in Houston Texas because I live in Austin and I know enough about Houston, so that's why Lizzie has ended up in Texas. I'm also going to try to keep the chapters from being too long, but I tend to be wordy so we'll see!
6 years later…
"Yeah mom… sure."
Lizzie wandered around her office with the phone balanced on her shoulder picking up a few last minute things, and tried to pay attention to her mothers' speech about flight safety.
" I know mom, don't talk to terrorists," Lizzie looked up at her secretary Nina who had just walked in to help her get ready to leave and mouthed
"My mom," before rolling her eyes.
Nina grinned and whispered
"Do you want me to run up to daycare and get Emily?"
Lizzie nodded her head in relief and tried to pay attention to her mom.
"What, no I'm listening mom, but Emily's on the way up from daycare so I'll need to go soon so that we can get on the road.......mom she's in daycare because my sitter.....she's is in Europe for the summer…mom the daycare is in the building, its fine and anyways I'm on vacation for the next three weeks so its not like I'll need one."
Lizzie groaned as she flopped in her chair, she had been having this same argument with her mother for the last two weeks, ever since Rachel, her babysitter of two years had graduated from college and gone to Europe for the summer and she had put Emily in the companys daycare until she could hire another one.
Nina returned with the curly blonde haired, big blue eyed, five-and-a-half year old girl.
"Mommy!" the little girl squealed while showing off her beautiful bright smile. Lizzie could never quite get over just how much Emily looked like Gordo when she smiled.
"Hi baby," Lizzie whispered leaning down for a hug .
"Grandma," she said pointing to the phone. Emily jumped up and down.
"I wanna talk, please, please," Lizzie nodded, grateful to pass the phone on for a few minutes.
"Hey mom, someone wants to say hi," Lizzie passed the phone to Emily.
"She's all yours Em," Emily giggled as she took the phone
"Hi Grandma, I miss you."
Lizzie sighed and turned to face Nina.
"Okay, just a few reminders, make sure all the articles are in by next Wednesday, I emailed mine to you so you'll have it. I okayed the photo layout for affordable summer wear, just make sure it gets with the others to go to the printer. Oh, and when you go on vacation next week, make sure that any calls get forwarded to my voice mail and leave my cell number and my parents fax number for emergencies."
Nina nodded and smiled reassuringly
"It'll be okay Lizzie, they'll survive. Go see your family, go to your reunion, and most importantly spend some quality time with Emily!"
Lizzie smiled.
"You're right, I'm just a little nervous I've never been gone this long before."
"I know, but it'll be okay. I'm going to go return some phone calls, let me know when you leave, I'll help you out."
Lizzie nodded and then went to straighten up a little bit before they left. Her mind began to wander as she found herself staring out the window at the rolling hills of Austin Texas. This was where she and Emily had lived for the past three years.
Through Miranda, Lizzie had met the managing editor of a parenting magazine based in Austin who was looking for someone to head up the single parenting section of the magazine; Lizzie and Emily packed up and moved to Austin. A year later her section was so popular that Lizzie became was now the proud editor of her own magazine; "Single Parenting and You" or as people referred to it, "SPY". "SPY" was filled with helpful articles, stories from other single parents, as well as fashion tips on a budget, vacation ideas and dating tips. The magazine kept her very busy, but she was careful to keep enough time free to spend with Emily. Emily had recently begun ballet classes and gymnastics which was making it harder and harder to be everywhere at once. Lizzie sometimes wished that she could be cloned and one of her could be with Emily and the other could do everything else.
"MOMMY!"
Emily's voice brought Lizzie back to reality.
"Hmm, what Em?" Lizzie asked turning around to see Emily holding the phone out to her.
"Grandma wants to talk to you."
"Thanks sweetie, can you go put our bags by the door please, we'll leave when I get off the phone, and go to the bathroom, we're not stopping until we're past Bastrop."
Emily gave her a 'you've told me that a million times' look but went off in the direction of the bathroom.
"Okay mom, we're driving to Miranda's in Houston tonight and our flight leaves at nine tomorrow morning, we stop and change planes in Denver. We should be in LA by 3:30, hopefully we'll make to Hilldridge before traffic gets too bad… yeah mom, Miranda will be with us… no he won't come until next week he has to work… no mom they're not married yet… I don't know mom I guess when they're ready… yeah twelve years...yes Larry has a good job...it's at NASA... well mom they… look mom I need to go I told them we'd be there by nine… about three hours but I told Emily that we'd stop and eat…McDonalds… no mom not every night, we usually eat at home, look mom I've got to go love you bye… okay love you… right no terrorists… love you too bye."
click
"Finally!"
Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief as she hung up the phone. Had her mother always talked that much?
"Mommy, I'm ready," Emily called as she skipped in with a huge grin on her face, Nina following close behind.
"Need some help Liz?" Nina asked looking at the mess of backpacks, briefcases, a laptop and a few stray toys in a heap near the door.
"Please," Lizzie said as she picked up a couple and a teddy bear from her desk.
"I'm going to go change, just help Emily get her stuff in her backpack, I'll get the rest."
Lizzie ran to the bathroom and quickly changed out of her skirt and blouse and into her favorite pair of worn in jeans and a pick t-shirt. Most importantly she got out of the pantyhose and heels and into a pair of flip flops.
When she got to the door of her office she paused, Emily was showing Nina her collection of photos she kept in her backpack.
"…and Aunt Miranda was the first person to hold me, mommy and Grandma were crying, but only cause they were happy. Uncle Tudge is my godfather, but not my real father, I can't see my real father, mommy says he lives far, far away...and I dont know who that boy is but that is mommy when she was my age."
Lizzie, who had been listening from behind the door, finally spoke up.
"Okay who's ready to go?" Lizzie asked sounding a little too cheerful as she came in the room. Nina sensed that Lizzie had overheard and she looked guilty. Lizzie was always very vague when asked about Emilys dad, usually she simply said he wasn't a part of her life and left it at that, but Lizzie had said a few things in the past to suggest that there was a definitely more to the story.
"Sorry Liz, I asked her about the trip and…" her voice trailed off
"Its okay" Lizzie assured her, as she grabbed her briefcase and a garment bag
"Ready to go munchkin, we have a long drive ahead of us. Nina can you help us downstairs?"
Five minutes later the trio was loading up Lizzies already very full Jeep Cherokee and Lizzie was starting to sound nervous about leaving for so long.
"So you have my cell phone number, and my parents number, and their fax number, and I'll check my email and my voice mail several times a day and…"
HONK
The sound of the cars' horn made Lizzie jump a mile and Nina scream.
"MOMMY, if you aren't in this car in 10 seconds I am leaving without you! 1…2…4…"
"I think I'm being paged," Lizzie grinned at Nina. "...I'll see you in a few weeks, enjoy your vacation."
Nina leaned over and gave her a hug.
"I will, have fun at your reunion, bye Miss Emily."
"Bye Nina," she called happily "come on mom."
"Bye," Lizzie said as she climbed in. She sat there for a second while wondering to herself what would become of the next few days. Superficially she wondered how everyone had changed over the past few years, was Ethan still charmingly clueless; was Kate still....Kate? Her thoughts went to Gordo and she couldn't help feeling nervous. It had been 6 years, how had he changed? Was his hair still an unruly mess of dark curls? Did he still wear that directors eyepiece around his neck? Would his smile still make her heart skip a beat; and his eyes......most importantly how would he react when she told him......
"MOMMY, WHILE I'M YOUNG!"
Lizzie smiled.
"Next stop, Aunt Miranda's house!"
A/N: I know this chapter is a little slow, but its building, the next two or so may be a little slow, but hopefully it'll start to pick up.