No Time to Waste
by TheRealXenocide
`
Note: In this story, the trio are 16, and Matt is 13. You can do the math for the rest.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, settings, or anything else you recognize from the show Lizzie McGuire. The plot, at it's base, has been around since Homer, and this variant since Henry Ford. However, this is the first I've seen it applied to Lizzie.
`
A/N: I'm going to write these epilogs primarily in a narrative format. This is for many reasons, but a big one is because otherwise, I might never finish this thing.
A/N: The dates in this story are based on the assumption that, because "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" premiered in late spring of 2003, that's when Lizzie and her classmates left 8th grade, went to Rome, etcetera. That places the beginning of this story in 2005. The crash happened on Friday, May 27
A/N: A picture of Kate's dress is now in my Yahoo Group.
`
Epilog One
The remains of the summer
`
That night, July 9th, marked the turning point for Matt and Miranda. Having gone through that night trouble free proved to them that they could, which would make it all the easier for them from then on. There were still some rough nights ahead, including one more occasion of them waking together. However, they improved enough that on Monday, August 1st, they were each in there own home.
When that happened, some rules of conduct, similar to those in place with most teenage couples, were put into effect. It was not the parents that initiated them, however. At the meeting the six of them had the day it was agreed that they would each be sleeping in their own rooms, the youngsters opened the subject. Miranda first, then Matt. While not as restrictive as most young couples deal with, their parents agreed that with the . . . unique situation they had just been thought, and the existing agreement still in place, what the young couple outlined was a reasonable arrangement. The parents did, of course, reserve a parent's right to change things if they saw a problem. As could be expected, both Jo and Edward were still uncomfortable, and perhaps watched the couple closer than they had agreed to. But in general, all four gave them the space that had been agreed to.
Despite both rules and good intentions, however, they found themselves with an empty house for most of a day on a couple different occasions. On the last of these, the Friday before they returned to school, they finally gave in to the longing, and did what they were going to do when Lizzie interrupted them. To their surprise, they found that this left them physically . . . content. Of course that may have been do to the fact that they knew they had ample time, and used it to bring each other to climax multiple times. But whatever the reason, they found that this relieved enough of the desires of the flesh to allow them to resist the urge to go further. For the time being.
~
Lizzie's casts both came off as scheduled, as did Gordo's arm cast. His hip needed a week more than had been first estimated, but he was finally released from it on August 4th.
Although he had read up on it, he was more than a little surprised at a reality of the soreness of his hip, as well as how weak it had become. When he looked at himself in the mirror the first time after the cast's removal, he was uncomfortable with what he saw. While they did the best they could, there was a thin scar, from the top of his hip to about three-quarter of the way down his thigh. Add that to the uneven look of the hip that had been stuck in place for nearly two months when compared to its well-used partner, and he felt a pang of dislike at his appearance that broke through his usual barriers.
Lizzie made short work of that, however. It happened when she showed up to go with him to his second physical therapy session in the pool. He didn't want her to come, but felt bad at the disappointment on her face. Finally, he cracked, and admitted the problem to her. Once Lizzie got over her surprise at hearing Gordo, of all people, talking about looks, she asked his mother to excuse them for a moment.
Understanding, Mrs. Gordon went to the kitchen. She didn't want her son embarrassed by having mom hear what Lizzie said to him, and she didn't want Lizzie to feel like she needed to hold back.
Left alone, Gordo tried to keep control of the situation. "Listen, Lizzie . . ."
No chance. "Who is she?"
That puzzled him. "What?"
"Who's the other girl?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The girl who gives a damn what you look like?!?"
He visibly deflated, finally catching on. "I'm sorry, Lizzie, I should know better."
"Yes, you should." She softened, both in voice and manner. "You've always been the one to remind Miranda and me that looks aren't what's important. It's time for you to take your own advise. So what if your legs don't look exactly the same? Mine didn't, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"As for the scar," Lizzie draped her arms upon his shoulders, "I can't wait to see it. Or," she leaned into his ear, "run my fingers on it." Her smiled broadened at the look on his face. "And while we're on the subject, while I don't care much about how you look, I can think of at least one good reason for you to improve your hip strength, can't you?"
It never failed to amaze him to her Lizzie talk like that, especially because she almost never did unless they were alone. "Keep talking like that, and you'll make me miss my appointment." He gave him words just the right inflection to let Lizzie know that he intended for her to be there with him, as well as letting her know what kind of activities he had in mind.
She swatted him playfully. "We can't have you missing appointments." She smiled that smile that melted him. "We have time to play later."
Interestingly, Lizzie and Gordo found themselves under rules similar to the not-quite-as-strict-as-normal rules Matt and Miranda were under, but for different reasons. For them, their life-long friendship, along with their parents having been expecting this for so long, gave them a level of trust from their parents that other teenage couples would be hard-pressed to find. For them, it was Sam who watched them closer than may have been agreed. Roberta Gordon was inclined to be more sympathetic, and tended to turn a blind eye to her son's room being closed. While tempted, Lizzie and Gordo rarely took advantage of this beyond the topless making out they had already grown accustomed to. Rarely is not never, however. While most of the parents were concerned about Matt and Miranda's physical relationship, Lizzie and Gordo not only went as far as Matt and Miranda had by summer vacation's end, but had done so nearly two weeks earlier.
~
Gordo's hip was deemed strong enough for a stress test about three weeks after the cast was removed. This, along with all the other tests he had gone through since the operation, gave both good and bad news.
The good news was that his heart, lungs, and his entire circulatory system, were in fantastic shape. Whatever had happened left no sign of long-term effects.
The bad news was that, despite Dr. Benoit's best efforts, they could find no explanation for what happened. There was a theory that it could have been a reaction to the combination of anesthetic used. However, there was no more proof to support that theory than for any other. In the end, it was classified as "Unexplained Cardiac Arrest", a fact that put Dr. Benoit in a foul temper for some time. It also meant that Gordo was put on the same kind of diet and exercise plan as any other cardiac patient, a fact that annoyed him no end.
~
July 12th, the Tuesday after that first night in separate rooms, Reggie and Matt surprised Lily and Miranda with a 9-month-old female dog. Although she was a mixed breed, she took most of her appearance from her beagle mother. Thankfully for the neighbors, she took her voice from whatever her father was.
The dog got along great with both girls, but it became quickly apparent that she and Lily would be nearly inseparable. Lily was thus given the task of naming the pup. At first, she wanted to name it 'Regina', a fact that gave Matt ribbing material on Reggie for long after. After being talked out of that, she settled on 'Lady'.
~
Coach Kowalski, the football coach at Hillridge Junior High, had his doubts when Matt came to tryouts. But he'd had a call from Coach Park about this kid, and since it was unusual to have somebody actually try out for punter, he'd agreed to give the kid a fair shake.
Matt's performance, along with the lack of many other options, won him the job.
~
The Friday after Lady's arrival, Matt and Miranda received a letter signed by both Melina and Lanny. In the envelope with the letter was a pamphlet about hyperthyroidism. It took a bit of reading for them to understand why it was there, however. While the letter was co-authored to such an extent that it was difficult to tell for certain who was responsible for which parts, its overall style reflected Lanny's sense for the dramatic, taking the reader for an emotional roller-coaster ride similar to the one he and Melina had just been through. By the time he got to the good news about Melina's condition (Chapter 53), Matt was happy for her, but he also wanted to throttle Lanny for putting he and Miranda through that.
What followed in the letter was bad news, although not as bad as they'd expected. Two days after Melina's condition was figured out, their parents had a talk with them. It seems that their parents were impressed with how the two teens had handled the situation. So, after long debate, the parents agreed to a slight change of plans. While the pair were still going to spend a year in military school, they would not be separated, but sent to the same school. This concession had a catch. If they failed to obey the school's tough rules about fraternizing just ONCE, Lanny would find himself in a different school on the other side of the country, AND they'd each be in those schools for an additional year.
"Wow." Miranda said in a low, almost awed voice when she finished that part.
"It's a test." Matt guessed. "Letting them stay close to each other looks nice, but that also makes it so much more tempting to . . ." He just shook his head, not wanting to finish the sentence.
"Do you think they'll be able to do it?"
"I don't know. A couple of months ago, I'd have bet almost anything that putting Melina under those kind of limits about anything was begging for trouble."
"But not now?"
He paused for a moment, then answered. "When she called me after the park, I heard things from her, and in her voice, I didn't think were possible. And from what you told me about the call she gave you . . . I don't know if she'll be able to follow those kind of rules for a whole year. But for this, I think she'll try."
~
As was expected, Mr. and Mrs. Saunders quickly signed the forms necessary for Kate to marry Ethan. Once that was out of the way, the real planning began.
One surprise came early, when Kate insisted that she wanted a small wedding. This puzzled everyone until she explained. "My parents are always judging events like weddings by how big and fancy they are. They don't care if the people getting married don't love each other, as long as they have the right champagne and important guests. I don't want there to be a chance of our wedding being used like that."
Mention of her parents was all it took for Ethan. "It won't be. It'll be too small for that."
`
The date was set for Saturday, August 20, nine days before school in Hillridge resumed. With a short guest list of 30 names, it would easily fit within the Craft's back yard. Another major advantage of a short guest list is that there is a better chance of getting everyone together on short notice. With just a 30 name list, a month and a half warning ended up being plenty of time. Among the 30 were 4 McGuires, 4 Sanchezes, and 3 Gordons.
`
The selections for the wedding party included a couple of surprises.
While Ethan asking Gordo and Matt to be groom's men surprised nobody, his choice for Best Man raised some questions, which Ethan would only answer with the cryptic phrase "he's a good man, and it's an old debt." He's Best Man was Larry Tudgeman.
Kate had been improving relations with Lizzie and Miranda steadily, and asked them to join her. Miranda had to stomp on Lizzie's foot to stop her sputtering in reaction to being asked to be Maid-of-Honor. Once Lizzie regained herself, she accepted. This left the bride's party one short of the groom's, however. A solution came when Larry suggested that Parker might be willing, but only if she and Kate had a long talk first. Lizzie, who was there when the suggestion was made, had no idea what that meant. As far as she knew, Kate and Parker had barely known of each others existence, and there had been no signs of a problem at the picnic. Yet something about the way Larry said it suggested that there had been some trouble between them. When Lizzie spoke to Miranda and Gordo about it, neither of them knew anything, either. Whatever it was, they must have worked it out, because Parker became the third bridesmaid.
`
The wedding was beautiful. Ethan looked good, yet out of place in his black suit. Kate, on the other hand, looked the picture of elegance in her dress. It was an ivory and pink, satin and silk, ankle length dress in an A-line silhouette with an off-the shoulder neckline. The only relative of Kate's there was a bachelor uncle who didn't agree with his sister's ideas on proper parenting, and he gave Kate away. The vows were said in front of a 15-foot tall chaste tree, which was still in full bloom. While neither Kate nor Ethan were gifted with eloquence, the obvious emotions in the words had most of the women, as well as Sam, wiping their eyes before they were done.
At the reception, the first dance was lead, of course, by the new bride and groom. They were to be followed, in order, by the members of the wedding party, then by the other guests. This had Maid-of-Honor Lizzie dancing with Best Man Larry, followed by Miranda and Gordo, then Parker with Matt. After the first dance, those six rejoined their regular partners, which would be the only person any of them would dance with for the rest of the night.
When it was time to toss the bouquet and garter, the bouquet went first. Much to Edward's annoyance, Miranda caught it. When Larry caught the garter, he quickly tossed it to Matt, which caused a round of laughter from most of the guests.
~~~~~~~~
By the time school resumed on Monday, August 29th, everyone realized that it would be an interesting year.
They weren't to be disappointed.
~~~~~~~~
A/N: More to come.
by TheRealXenocide
`
Note: In this story, the trio are 16, and Matt is 13. You can do the math for the rest.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, settings, or anything else you recognize from the show Lizzie McGuire. The plot, at it's base, has been around since Homer, and this variant since Henry Ford. However, this is the first I've seen it applied to Lizzie.
`
A/N: I'm going to write these epilogs primarily in a narrative format. This is for many reasons, but a big one is because otherwise, I might never finish this thing.
A/N: The dates in this story are based on the assumption that, because "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" premiered in late spring of 2003, that's when Lizzie and her classmates left 8th grade, went to Rome, etcetera. That places the beginning of this story in 2005. The crash happened on Friday, May 27
A/N: A picture of Kate's dress is now in my Yahoo Group.
`
Epilog One
The remains of the summer
`
That night, July 9th, marked the turning point for Matt and Miranda. Having gone through that night trouble free proved to them that they could, which would make it all the easier for them from then on. There were still some rough nights ahead, including one more occasion of them waking together. However, they improved enough that on Monday, August 1st, they were each in there own home.
When that happened, some rules of conduct, similar to those in place with most teenage couples, were put into effect. It was not the parents that initiated them, however. At the meeting the six of them had the day it was agreed that they would each be sleeping in their own rooms, the youngsters opened the subject. Miranda first, then Matt. While not as restrictive as most young couples deal with, their parents agreed that with the . . . unique situation they had just been thought, and the existing agreement still in place, what the young couple outlined was a reasonable arrangement. The parents did, of course, reserve a parent's right to change things if they saw a problem. As could be expected, both Jo and Edward were still uncomfortable, and perhaps watched the couple closer than they had agreed to. But in general, all four gave them the space that had been agreed to.
Despite both rules and good intentions, however, they found themselves with an empty house for most of a day on a couple different occasions. On the last of these, the Friday before they returned to school, they finally gave in to the longing, and did what they were going to do when Lizzie interrupted them. To their surprise, they found that this left them physically . . . content. Of course that may have been do to the fact that they knew they had ample time, and used it to bring each other to climax multiple times. But whatever the reason, they found that this relieved enough of the desires of the flesh to allow them to resist the urge to go further. For the time being.
~
Lizzie's casts both came off as scheduled, as did Gordo's arm cast. His hip needed a week more than had been first estimated, but he was finally released from it on August 4th.
Although he had read up on it, he was more than a little surprised at a reality of the soreness of his hip, as well as how weak it had become. When he looked at himself in the mirror the first time after the cast's removal, he was uncomfortable with what he saw. While they did the best they could, there was a thin scar, from the top of his hip to about three-quarter of the way down his thigh. Add that to the uneven look of the hip that had been stuck in place for nearly two months when compared to its well-used partner, and he felt a pang of dislike at his appearance that broke through his usual barriers.
Lizzie made short work of that, however. It happened when she showed up to go with him to his second physical therapy session in the pool. He didn't want her to come, but felt bad at the disappointment on her face. Finally, he cracked, and admitted the problem to her. Once Lizzie got over her surprise at hearing Gordo, of all people, talking about looks, she asked his mother to excuse them for a moment.
Understanding, Mrs. Gordon went to the kitchen. She didn't want her son embarrassed by having mom hear what Lizzie said to him, and she didn't want Lizzie to feel like she needed to hold back.
Left alone, Gordo tried to keep control of the situation. "Listen, Lizzie . . ."
No chance. "Who is she?"
That puzzled him. "What?"
"Who's the other girl?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The girl who gives a damn what you look like?!?"
He visibly deflated, finally catching on. "I'm sorry, Lizzie, I should know better."
"Yes, you should." She softened, both in voice and manner. "You've always been the one to remind Miranda and me that looks aren't what's important. It's time for you to take your own advise. So what if your legs don't look exactly the same? Mine didn't, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"As for the scar," Lizzie draped her arms upon his shoulders, "I can't wait to see it. Or," she leaned into his ear, "run my fingers on it." Her smiled broadened at the look on his face. "And while we're on the subject, while I don't care much about how you look, I can think of at least one good reason for you to improve your hip strength, can't you?"
It never failed to amaze him to her Lizzie talk like that, especially because she almost never did unless they were alone. "Keep talking like that, and you'll make me miss my appointment." He gave him words just the right inflection to let Lizzie know that he intended for her to be there with him, as well as letting her know what kind of activities he had in mind.
She swatted him playfully. "We can't have you missing appointments." She smiled that smile that melted him. "We have time to play later."
Interestingly, Lizzie and Gordo found themselves under rules similar to the not-quite-as-strict-as-normal rules Matt and Miranda were under, but for different reasons. For them, their life-long friendship, along with their parents having been expecting this for so long, gave them a level of trust from their parents that other teenage couples would be hard-pressed to find. For them, it was Sam who watched them closer than may have been agreed. Roberta Gordon was inclined to be more sympathetic, and tended to turn a blind eye to her son's room being closed. While tempted, Lizzie and Gordo rarely took advantage of this beyond the topless making out they had already grown accustomed to. Rarely is not never, however. While most of the parents were concerned about Matt and Miranda's physical relationship, Lizzie and Gordo not only went as far as Matt and Miranda had by summer vacation's end, but had done so nearly two weeks earlier.
~
Gordo's hip was deemed strong enough for a stress test about three weeks after the cast was removed. This, along with all the other tests he had gone through since the operation, gave both good and bad news.
The good news was that his heart, lungs, and his entire circulatory system, were in fantastic shape. Whatever had happened left no sign of long-term effects.
The bad news was that, despite Dr. Benoit's best efforts, they could find no explanation for what happened. There was a theory that it could have been a reaction to the combination of anesthetic used. However, there was no more proof to support that theory than for any other. In the end, it was classified as "Unexplained Cardiac Arrest", a fact that put Dr. Benoit in a foul temper for some time. It also meant that Gordo was put on the same kind of diet and exercise plan as any other cardiac patient, a fact that annoyed him no end.
~
July 12th, the Tuesday after that first night in separate rooms, Reggie and Matt surprised Lily and Miranda with a 9-month-old female dog. Although she was a mixed breed, she took most of her appearance from her beagle mother. Thankfully for the neighbors, she took her voice from whatever her father was.
The dog got along great with both girls, but it became quickly apparent that she and Lily would be nearly inseparable. Lily was thus given the task of naming the pup. At first, she wanted to name it 'Regina', a fact that gave Matt ribbing material on Reggie for long after. After being talked out of that, she settled on 'Lady'.
~
Coach Kowalski, the football coach at Hillridge Junior High, had his doubts when Matt came to tryouts. But he'd had a call from Coach Park about this kid, and since it was unusual to have somebody actually try out for punter, he'd agreed to give the kid a fair shake.
Matt's performance, along with the lack of many other options, won him the job.
~
The Friday after Lady's arrival, Matt and Miranda received a letter signed by both Melina and Lanny. In the envelope with the letter was a pamphlet about hyperthyroidism. It took a bit of reading for them to understand why it was there, however. While the letter was co-authored to such an extent that it was difficult to tell for certain who was responsible for which parts, its overall style reflected Lanny's sense for the dramatic, taking the reader for an emotional roller-coaster ride similar to the one he and Melina had just been through. By the time he got to the good news about Melina's condition (Chapter 53), Matt was happy for her, but he also wanted to throttle Lanny for putting he and Miranda through that.
What followed in the letter was bad news, although not as bad as they'd expected. Two days after Melina's condition was figured out, their parents had a talk with them. It seems that their parents were impressed with how the two teens had handled the situation. So, after long debate, the parents agreed to a slight change of plans. While the pair were still going to spend a year in military school, they would not be separated, but sent to the same school. This concession had a catch. If they failed to obey the school's tough rules about fraternizing just ONCE, Lanny would find himself in a different school on the other side of the country, AND they'd each be in those schools for an additional year.
"Wow." Miranda said in a low, almost awed voice when she finished that part.
"It's a test." Matt guessed. "Letting them stay close to each other looks nice, but that also makes it so much more tempting to . . ." He just shook his head, not wanting to finish the sentence.
"Do you think they'll be able to do it?"
"I don't know. A couple of months ago, I'd have bet almost anything that putting Melina under those kind of limits about anything was begging for trouble."
"But not now?"
He paused for a moment, then answered. "When she called me after the park, I heard things from her, and in her voice, I didn't think were possible. And from what you told me about the call she gave you . . . I don't know if she'll be able to follow those kind of rules for a whole year. But for this, I think she'll try."
~
As was expected, Mr. and Mrs. Saunders quickly signed the forms necessary for Kate to marry Ethan. Once that was out of the way, the real planning began.
One surprise came early, when Kate insisted that she wanted a small wedding. This puzzled everyone until she explained. "My parents are always judging events like weddings by how big and fancy they are. They don't care if the people getting married don't love each other, as long as they have the right champagne and important guests. I don't want there to be a chance of our wedding being used like that."
Mention of her parents was all it took for Ethan. "It won't be. It'll be too small for that."
`
The date was set for Saturday, August 20, nine days before school in Hillridge resumed. With a short guest list of 30 names, it would easily fit within the Craft's back yard. Another major advantage of a short guest list is that there is a better chance of getting everyone together on short notice. With just a 30 name list, a month and a half warning ended up being plenty of time. Among the 30 were 4 McGuires, 4 Sanchezes, and 3 Gordons.
`
The selections for the wedding party included a couple of surprises.
While Ethan asking Gordo and Matt to be groom's men surprised nobody, his choice for Best Man raised some questions, which Ethan would only answer with the cryptic phrase "he's a good man, and it's an old debt." He's Best Man was Larry Tudgeman.
Kate had been improving relations with Lizzie and Miranda steadily, and asked them to join her. Miranda had to stomp on Lizzie's foot to stop her sputtering in reaction to being asked to be Maid-of-Honor. Once Lizzie regained herself, she accepted. This left the bride's party one short of the groom's, however. A solution came when Larry suggested that Parker might be willing, but only if she and Kate had a long talk first. Lizzie, who was there when the suggestion was made, had no idea what that meant. As far as she knew, Kate and Parker had barely known of each others existence, and there had been no signs of a problem at the picnic. Yet something about the way Larry said it suggested that there had been some trouble between them. When Lizzie spoke to Miranda and Gordo about it, neither of them knew anything, either. Whatever it was, they must have worked it out, because Parker became the third bridesmaid.
`
The wedding was beautiful. Ethan looked good, yet out of place in his black suit. Kate, on the other hand, looked the picture of elegance in her dress. It was an ivory and pink, satin and silk, ankle length dress in an A-line silhouette with an off-the shoulder neckline. The only relative of Kate's there was a bachelor uncle who didn't agree with his sister's ideas on proper parenting, and he gave Kate away. The vows were said in front of a 15-foot tall chaste tree, which was still in full bloom. While neither Kate nor Ethan were gifted with eloquence, the obvious emotions in the words had most of the women, as well as Sam, wiping their eyes before they were done.
At the reception, the first dance was lead, of course, by the new bride and groom. They were to be followed, in order, by the members of the wedding party, then by the other guests. This had Maid-of-Honor Lizzie dancing with Best Man Larry, followed by Miranda and Gordo, then Parker with Matt. After the first dance, those six rejoined their regular partners, which would be the only person any of them would dance with for the rest of the night.
When it was time to toss the bouquet and garter, the bouquet went first. Much to Edward's annoyance, Miranda caught it. When Larry caught the garter, he quickly tossed it to Matt, which caused a round of laughter from most of the guests.
~~~~~~~~
By the time school resumed on Monday, August 29th, everyone realized that it would be an interesting year.
They weren't to be disappointed.
~~~~~~~~
A/N: More to come.