Saturday, December 19th, 1964
9:36 a.m.
Rindy strolled into her parents' bedroom, her hair done up in curlers and wearing only a slip and stockings. She flopped onto the unmade bed and stretched out her arms and legs as much as she possibly could. With only two nights under her belt on the skinny, short bed in the guest room where she slept, it clear the bed that was most likely originally designed for one was already taking its toll on poor Rindy who at sixteen was only an inch shorter than her mother and at least seven inches taller than her other mother, and do growing at that. Her feet hung off the bed, even when she tried to angle herself into a corner; even then the uncomfortable position in which she had to sleep made a crick in her neck and her legs sore from trying to keep the entirety of her person on the mattress. In fact, Rindy was fairly certain that her particular room had not been renovated in decades and the most likely last occupant was a small London-dwelling evacuee some twenty years prior who had left stacks of drawings on the desk. So as soon as she spotted the unoccupied bed her mothers shared, Rindy made the most of it and extended her limbs, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Rindy," Carol said as she tapped her daughter's foot, "go get ready. We're heading out in about an hour."
Groaning and curling into one of the pillows, Rindy shook her head. Of all people, she thought that her mother would best understand how she was feeling. "No. Comfortable."
"I know, sweet pea. You're too tall for one of those single beds and there's nothing else in the house."
"Sleepy." Rindy flopped onto her back again and stretched out her arms, making the most of the opportunity to be comfortably horizontal.
"Take it up with the lord and lady of the manor later. Get up, darling, you'll never overcome the travel fatigue if you keep sleeping."
"Carol, it's not that." Therese poked her head out from the bathroom to give her two cents on the matter, shaking her toothbrush in Carol's direction. "She's growing, she's a teenager. Hormones. She needs more sleep."
"Yes, but how much - "
"Carol… remember?"
Without having to say a word to elaborate, Therese stared at Carol; instead, letting her think about it, hoping she could recall how Therese had always been so exhausted when they moved in together years before. After a moment of hemming and hawing, Carol gave in once she remembered the way Therese would collapse after a day at work and uninterruptedly sleep for what seemed like hours on end. Then again, when Carol really stopped to think, she could also equally remember being Rindy's age or a little older, and sleeping for hours on end whenever she didn't have school or someone around to make her wake up by a certain time. When she remembered, Carol smiled and walked over to the opposite side of the bed to pick up the edges of the blanket and get her sleeping mask. "Half an hour more, alright?" She placed her mask over Rindy's head to cover her eyes and wrapped the covers around her, tucking them around her neck and then around her feet so she was completely enveloped in the duvet. Before she finished with Rindy, Carol turned to look back at Therese to wink at her, content to have made both her girls happy.
Rindy mumbled a quick thank you to them both and pulled the blankets up over her eyes to block out the light as her parents got ready. Light was always bothersome to her, not usually the noise that her mothers made as they walked between the bathroom and closet to get a piece of clothing, or to the bed where they would occasionally stop to button or zip a skirt, fasten their stockings, or put on shoes causing the bed to dip slightly from them putting weight on the opposite end of the mattress. The nice dark cocoon Rindy made for herself was calming enough to hopefully put her back to sleep for the extra thirty minutes she so badly craved as Carol and Therese continued to gather their belongings and dress to go out.
"What time are we going over?" whispered Therese, conscientiously trying to speak in a low voice.
Carol looked over at the alarm clock; however couldn't see it with the blankets Rindy had pulled far up over her head and somehow managed to also drape onto the nightstand. Carol walked over and lifted the blanket, noticing they had nearly an hour until they needed to leave. "Around half-past ten. The registrar is booked for eleven, followed by - " Carol stopped speaking mid-sentence as she tried to summarize the itinerary for after the afternoon. She blankly stared at Therese as she thought it through, nervously smiling back at her when she realized she couldn't remember what she had wanted to say. "Sorry, I… drifted off," she dismissed in a frustrated tone.
"That's alright," Therese said. "Why don't you go rest with Rindy for a bit? Maybe you're still tired from the flight?"
"No, no," she softly countered. "I need to finish my makeup and get that suit out for Rindy to wear - "
"She can get herself ready. You, on the other hand… " Therese grabbed Carol's hand to pull her toward the bathroom, most likely the only room in the entire house which had decent lighting. "You're another case altogether." She knew whenever they convened with the rest of the family for any kind of event, Carol could easily work herself into a tizzy, ensuring every detail was exactly as it should be. This was no exception and Therese immediately recognized the way in which Carol could get herself overwhelmed with the minutiae of details.
Entwining her arms around Carol's neck, Therese pulled her even closer to press a series of short, gentle kisses around her neck and chin. Anywhere except for Carol's lips. Carol's hand roamed down to the underside of Therese's thighs and hoisted her onto the flat ledge of the bathroom counter. "Is that so?"
Responding with a muted purr, Therese, angled her head so she could kiss a tender spot on Carol's neck beneath her ear. "Lunch. We're having lunch in town at twelve-thirty." Her voice became slightly louder, echoing in the small cramped confines of the bathroom. Angling her head to the side as she eyed Therese up and down with a playful grin on her face, Carol cleared her throat before impertinently suggesting to Therese that they should just come back to the house and tangle themselves up under the duvet to keep warm.
"Moms!" came a disgruntled, yet muffled voice from the adjacent bedroom. "Trying to sleep!"
7:41 p.m.
Jack loosened his thin black tie and undid the top button of his shirt, inadvertently knocking his hand against the white rose in his boutonnière, nearly dislodging it from his lapel. Once a bit more comfortable, he slouched to rest his head against the back of the booth and shut his eyes. He contentedly drifted off to the sounds of his aunts chatting about taking a drive in the country, and his boyfriend and cousin going on about movies, music, and the days they'd spend in London before Christmas.
The singular table of the snug where they were crammed together was covered with dirty glasses, plates with bits of pie crust sitting off to the side, and by Carol and Therese, the two ashtrays were brimming over with cigarette ends and the occasional mint wrapper. All of them had been sitting together in the secluded enclave eating and drinking, throwing back pint after pint of stout (Carol and the boys) or ginger beer (Rindy and Therese) all the while catching up with Teddy about his final semester of medical school, pestering Rindy about where she wanted to go to college and what she wanted to study, Therese planning her next installation, and Carol thinking out loud about possibly opening another shop. Boston or London: she couldn't make up her mind. Most likely, the entire village probably regarded them as those five desperate Americans who were despondently waiting for the pub to reopen at five-thirty along with a small crowd of eager locals.
The five of them hadn't sat down together for dinner since Thanksgiving, and even then Teddy too rushed to have to get back to school, Rindy too worried about her SAT exam a couple weeks later, and Jack… he was already off in England in November. Jack, however, didn't really care about any upcoming plans, what they were doing for Christmas and New Year's, and in all honesty, couldn't wait to get back to the house to get out of his suit, and finally be able to hear himself think as he fell asleep next to Teddy. Or so he had hoped. Then again, when he thought about it more, he was also just as happy to be sitting in the pub along with most of his family after spending over a month away from them in order to meet a residency requirement for the marriage licence.
He had never been away from Teddy for such a long period of time. Even during vacations from prep school, they would only be apart for a few weeks at most before Carol would intervene by phoning Elaine to invite him up to the city. And as always, Elaine was more than happy to forego any obligation of dealing with her youngest child whenever her own younger sister offered to keep an eye on him. Little did his mother know, Jack would either stopover to see his aunts for a couple days before heading up to Boston on his own, or sometimes they would invite Teddy down to stay until they had to go back to school, then travel up together. Rarely were they ever apart from one another for too long during those years.
They considered themselves beyond lucky. And they knew it.
They knew what Carol and Therese had been through. They knew how difficult separation could be and never wanted it to be like that for them. And with friends and classmates getting drafted, some fortunate enough to avoid service simply because they were married with families, or just up and moved to Canada, others not so fortunate to end up somewhere in Southeast Asia, Jack knew he wanted no part in it. Even though he could get a quick dismissal simply for saying he was homosexual, he knew better than to let any government official add that note to his record. Not when he remembered back to when he was younger and listened to his father and brothers talk about what happened to those who did have that on their record.
The laws could change. Perhaps one day being married wouldn't be enough to receive a deferment, or being in graduate school for that matter. The maximum age could always increase too, and then he'd have to spend another five or ten more years worrying. Even volunteering in the Peace Corps for a couple years wasn't a sure thing either, and Jack was going because Teddy wanted to. Sure, he could be grandfathered in, but who was to say that that was a guarantee? Going to Canada didn't solve anything either because what if he could never come back?
Teddy didn't have to worry about it. Not only was he still in school, but had dual citizenship ever since his mother remarried when he was younger. And even if Jack and Teddy didn't really want to spend an entire evening sitting in a pub, they were having fun and reveling in the company of their aunts and cousin. They were also still waiting on Abby and Nora who seemed to have had other plans when they mistakenly gave their travel agent the wrong dates, forgetting about the lost time in the overnight flight between New York and London. There was only one way around the whole thing, one way Jack could get out of it completely, and as he looked down at the gold ring on his left hand, shaking his head and snickering, he realized for the second time in his life exactly how much his family loved him.
"Any thoughts about your next gallery series?" Without waiting for a reply, Carol casually extended her left arm to grab the glass of ginger beer so she could try it. Therese had been nursing for at least half hour and it had grown to be room temperature. "May I?" Therese nodded her head as Carol took a healthy swig of her drink.
"Every time," Therese said with a smile, "every time we come over here, you take a sip of my ginger beer as though you've never had it before. Then another sip. Finally you admit, 'It's alright,' before returning it to me… mostly empty."
"You do realize I love teasing you?"
Therese nudged Carol with her shoulder. "I know."
"What about your installation then?" Carol said, bringing the conversation back round to her original question.
"That I don't know," Therese replied. "I'm kind of hoping for some inspiration here."
"How about a time lapse sort of thing?"
"I'd need more time to do that."
"You certainly took a lot of photos down at the registrar's office today."
Therese laughed. "That was only to put together a convincing photo album."
They were both quiet for a moment, savoring their drinks and overhearing snippets of the conversation Jack, Teddy, and Rindy were having at the other end of the table. Therese smirked as she heard Jack mention one of Rindy's friends from school and saw him rebut a comment someone made with the wave of his hand. A glimmer caught her eye, a dash of gold on his hand from the wedding ring he now wore. When she noticed it, Therese instinctively reached to the line of throat and toyed with the chain of her necklace, smiling.
Distracted by the movement, Carol turned her head and watched Therese's fingers trace up and down the chain, thinking back to an earlier Christmas when she had given her the necklace. It also reminded her of a night ten years earlier, way up in Vermont, when Therese had given her a ring and how subtly and sweetly she had done it. Therese only took it off when she absolutely had to, most often in the summer when they were at the beach or sitting by the pool. Carol only took off her ring when she had to clean it or bathe.
"You know," Carol began as she broke the silence, "if I recall… I do believe I too was the recipient of a wedding ring. Roughly ten years ago today, actually."
"You were."
"Well, off by a day, but it was a Saturday evening."
"It was."
"And I never did finish reading that book."
"You didn't."
"How could I possibly?"
Therese shook her head. "Impossible."
Carol sipped her drink and stumbled returning the glass to its coaster. "Well, there could be something useful among the photos."
"Aside from a homosexual man awkwardly kissing a lesbian twice his age?"
"Talk about something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime," Carol sighed.
"That's pure love and devotion right there," Therese confidently pointed out, grabbing her drink for another sip and jabbing Carol with her right elbow as she raised the glass to her lips, "and a bit Norma Desmond too, I might add. Not that age is of any relevance."
Carol looked to her left and found herself on the receiving end of a sly wink from Therese. Therese never winked at her; that was something Carol always did. Taking note of their secluded quarters, Therese shifted herself closer so their arms were pressed together and, beneath the table, she could put her hand on Carol's thigh. Her fingers trailed across the tweed of her skirt, from the outer edge of her thigh, to the top, then more mischievously moving toward the center where Carol's thighs were pressed together. Therese stopped moving her hand, keeping it still once it was where it wanted to be and after a moment or two of silence, began to mischievously makes circles with a finger. It was difficult to hear low noises in the pub, even within the fairly small confines of the snug where Teddy, Jack, and Rindy were boisterously engaged in a possible conversation about college, but Therese was fairly certain she had heard Carol purr when she started to trace circles against her thigh.
"Those hands of yours… " Carol noted in a low voice after a moment of comfortable silence between the pair of them.
"What?" asked Therese as she tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. Carol didn't say anything, instead looked straight ahead as she picked up her pint and finished the rest of her stout. "What?" she asked a second time.
Carol coughed, managing to squeak out one word. "Trouble."
"Oh, really?"
Carol smiled in reply and tugged at Therese's arms, dragging her to sit across her lap so that her back rested against the side of the snug and her legs arched across Carol's lap.
"Stop!" Therese laughed. "Someone might see us!"
"No one can see where my hands are, and certainly no one can see us in here. It's not illegal or anything… least not for women." Carol waved her hand dismissively then curled it around Therese's waist, sliding her hand just under the waistband of her skirt. Her fingers repeated a similar circular pattern that Therese had traced earlier along Carol's own thigh, but instead of a layer of tweed and anything else underneath, Carol only felt the silk from her undergarments beneath her palm and the warm cotton from her blouse against her knuckles.
"Mom? May I have another?"
Raising her glass, Rindy looked at her mother who was too busy enjoying stealing sips of Therese's drink and whispering into her ear, readily making her giggle. "Perhaps hands… rings… hands and rings are the theme for your next installation… "
"Hmm… I like that," Therese whispered. "I love you."
"Besides, no one here cares," Carol loudly slurred as she pressed her lips to the side of Therese's neck.
"I care, moms!" Rindy exclaimed then finished off her drink in a huff.
"Do you know where you want to apply?" Jack asked his cousin who he could feel tapping her feet on the floor near his own toes.
"I dunno."
"Oh, come on. You must have a wishlist of sorts, Rin."
"Yeah, but they won't take me." Rindy looked away from Teddy, staring into her pint glass at the little bit of drink still in there.
Lifting her head to look at the boys, she smirked as she chuckled and shook her head. Rindy adored Jack and Teddy; the three of them only growing closer as they got older, the two boys went to college, and RIndy went to boarding school herself. She still hadn't forgiven her aunt for disowning Jack after he graduated from prep school; frankly, she wasn't sure if she ever could. Her loss, Rindy rationalized, because Jack was better off with her mothers and Teddy and his family than anything else.
"Why not? You're smart. You've got the grades. You… oh." Jack stopped speaking and turned away.
"It's alright," she dismissively answered with a wave of her hand.
Teddy growled before speaking. "It's not alright, Rin. Ignorant, sexist, elitist assholes… don't get me started," he added, taking the last swig of his stout. "I'm sorry, but you're smarter and… and pick up new material faster than practically all the guys we ever went to school with and… you're far more qualified - "
"You said you wouldn't get started," Jack warmly noted, "and you sound like your mothers."
Rindy rested her head against Teddy's shoulder, grasping his hand to calm him down from the agitation. She smiled upon hearing Teddy's breathing calm when he clutched her hand firmly in his and squeeze back, wordlessly telling her it was alright.
"You wanna do science? Math? French? Engineering?"
Rindy slyly smiled. "Still thinking about it… "
"Berkeley admits girls," Teddy pointed out, "and so does Michigan. Bates? Middlebury? Oxford or Cambridge too, for that matter."
"MIT?" offered Jack. After taking a sip of his drink, he smiled back at Rindy and pushed his half-filled drink over to Teddy who had just finished his own pint. "I'm sensing some hesitation, cuz."
"I just don't want any restrictions. Any co-ed school - every one of them - seems to have one set of rules for men and another for women. Even the women's colleges still have curfews. You never had to deal with any of that bullshit. I'll be eighteen and that's just - "
"Bollocks?"
Touching Teddy's arm as she repeated what he said, Rindy smirked. "Bollocks, yeah."
"You know there's only one real solution to all of this, right?" Rindy shook her head, not entirely following what her cousin was saying. Jack grinned at Teddy, then leaned forward, resting on his elbows on the table as he started speaking. "What you do is apply to MIT or Radcliffe or wherever and put our Boston address on your paperwork. Be a commuter who lives with your family. No restrictions, more leniency, wicked good food, more space - you'd have the entire third floor to yourself - and you'd be living in the city proper instead of Cambridge. You know we don't care what you get up to."
"You know, that idea's not a half bad."
"Learn to really look after and care of yourself while you're still in college," Jack added. "Besides, you've had the whole dorm experience at Miss Porter's. You wouldn't be missing anything."
"Except curfews. Panty raids."
Rindy shut her eyes. "Fuck that."
Teddy roared and jabbed Jack in the arm before gesturing with his hand to his cousin. "See? Cookie cutter image of your aunt, right down to the Chanel suit and foul mouth. And she looks really really nice. You look nice, Rin," he said with a big smile on his face.
Rindy suddenly became self-conscious of her appearance, tugging at the sleeves of her suit jacket. She crossed her arms, sitting a bit further back on the bench. It wasn't exactly her suit; the suit came from her mother, one of the originals she had picked up in Paris during the first visit she and Therese had taken ten years earlier. Her arms were a bit longer than her mother's, and the three-quarter sleeves felt unreasonably short. It was easily the best-looking fancy dress item she had, especially since anything else Rindy could get her hands on was too short at all angles, no matter where she looked for something. She remembered taking it to school with her that fall, unsure if she'd ever have the occasion to wear it to an event or school gathering. It remained in the closet of her dorm room until her roommate Charlotte asked her to try it on.
The wave of self-consciousness passed, especially when Rindy thought back to what happened once Charlotte caught sight of her in the Chanel suit. Needless to say, it didn't stay on that long.
"This one though," Jack said as he pointed to his partner, "this one would gather up as much underwear from the panty raid as possible, put it in a box - "
"- along with cookies I baked - "
"- with a handwritten apology note, then very politely return everything to the girls. The Cliffies seriously loved you for that."
"You try growing up with two mothers," Teddy sighed, observing Rindy silently nod her head in agreement without having to clarify for her benefit, "going on and on and on about the cost of a bra and underthings or whatever, how to properly wash and care for them… Use of hydrogen peroxide and its properties. I have all this… knowledge."
"You'd have made an excellent husband, Teddy Bear," Jack laughed, shaking his head. "You had such a unique upbringing."
"That's why you love me!"
"The lesbians at least were extraordinarily grateful no pervy frat guy had their mitts on 'em."
"They loved me too! And you, Jack. But, you know, we'll hopefully be in Tunisia, and honestly I think everyone would be just fine with you living there. You should probably ask Jack's wife though… and, I think it's his… sister-in-law?" Teddy tried his best to mask his laughter, but couldn't speak without letting out a chuckle or two.
"You can bring guys back. And go on the Pill too if you want. I know women in our family are exceptionally fertile," Jack reasoned with a sour expression.
"Except for your Great Aunt Alice," Teddy quickly noted.
Rindy rubbed her eye and blinked a few times before responding. She loved the boys, but sometimes the three of them had the strangest of conversations. Then again, little surprised her anymore in regards to her family or the topics of discussion they managed to find themselves in whenever they gathered together. "I don't think Aunt Alice ever wanted to test that theory."
Teddy squinted and looked to his right. "Actually, come to think of it, I don't think our house has seen male-female relations in over forty years. It might shock the foundation."
"Or girls. You know we don't discriminate in our house."
"Guys, I don't… "
"Or like Jack said: 'Or girls…'" Teddy suggested as he trailed off, not even needing to finish what he was saying in order for Rindy's face to turn the brightest shade of red. Rindy looked away, back toward her pint glass and took the last sip without making any comment. "Ohhh, I see. You... and that dancer. Charlotte, yeah?"
"Shhh." Rindy again pushed back at Teddy who couldn't stop wagging his eyebrows and grinning. She looked over toward her mothers, trying to see if they had heard anything Teddy had offhandedly acknowledged, but they were too engrossed in conversation with one another to note the three of them sitting at the other end of the table.
"I knew it!"
"C'mon, Teddy," Jack said, "let her alone about Char."
"Oh, God, does everyone know?" Rindy blushed and hid her eyes with her hands, unable to see Jack and Teddy both grinning and nodding their heads. After taking a deep breath, she lowered her hands and tried to brush it off as best she could, swiping her hair from her eyes and acting as nonchalant as possible about the whole thing. "Yeah, well, it's nothing serious. Only - "
"Snogging?" interrupted Teddy.
"Fooling around?" Jack added.
"Yeah?" she bashfully answered, unsure of her reply.
"Well, whatever it is, make sure you keep your door locked."
"Suit. Swearing. Ladies. Apple. Fall. Tree," sputtered Teddy.
"That's really rich coming from the two of you. Just for that..." Rindy blushed, cleared her throat, "Mom? May I have another?"
Raising her glass, Rindy looked at her mother who was too busy enjoying her own drink and whispering into Therese's ear, readily making her giggle. "Besides, no one here cares," Carol loudly slurred as she pressed her lips to the side of Therese's neck.
"I care, moms!" Rindy exclaimed then finished off her drink in a huff. "I swear, they are more handsy than my classmates sometimes," she muttered under her breath.
Carol pried her lips away from Therese's neck. "How many have you had?" she asked.
As Rindy quickly eyed the glasses in front of her, it was clear her mother couldn't see (or count) the four dirty pint glasses on the table in front of her, behind all the dirty plates and the ashtrays. "Two?"
"Try three… " Jack quickly muttered as he finished off his own drink.
"Oh, come on, it's medicinal."
"So is wine," Therese quipped as she arched her legs over Carol's lap.
"Dr. Barrett, back me up here."
"Soon-to-be-doctor," he corrected.
"Just one more," Carol conceded.
Jack leaned in, "You know she said that two pints ago, Rin. Don't worry, she did the same with me when I was your age."
"It's just ginger beer," Rindy brushed off, "and I did eat a pie and a half, besides - "
The door slid all the way to the left, startling everyone, more specifically Therese who was precariously sitting against the wall with her legs draped over Carol's lap. As she jumped in her place, Carol instinctively tightened her arms around Therese's waist to keep her from tumbling over and pulled her closer as to not fall.
"We made it. Barely," Abby moaned. "I smell… terrible."
"I can't believe you missed the wedding of the century! Your only nephew!" Carol gleefully shouted as Abby and Nora piled into the enclosed space.
They both looked exhausted, disheveled, and cranky; eagerly waiting for Rindy to remove her legs from the seat in order to make room for the two of them. Nora first slid in, then got up just as quickly as she sat down to greet both Therese and Carol with a kiss. "It doesn't look like this one needs anymore kisses," Nora said as she pointed to Therese, noting trace amounts of lipstick on her neck as she finally sat down and slid close to Rindy. "Ciao, tesoro," she said before kissing Rindy on both cheeks and giving her a hug.
Putting her hands on her hips, Abby was still on her feet looking at the five original occupants of the table, all of them moderately soused and chatting amongst themselves. "I'm sorry if I've been traveling to this continent by ocean liner since - 1926, was it? - and am not used to this overnight, lose a day, lose some hours, whatever the hell," Abby exasperatedly explained. "I was traveling like that before all of you were born." She pointed at each person individually and when she got to Carol, she leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek, muttering, "Not you though," and then paused again when she looked at Nora to her right, unsure if her statement held true for her as well.
"I was one of the fortunate few from my corner of this continent traveling in the opposite direction. You knew that," Nora reminded her. Abby slid the door shut to seclude the seven of them into the tiny space together, then raised her fingers to Nora's chin to get her attention, pulling her forward to kiss her on the lips. Nora kissed her back and smiled as she pulled away; the others at the table looked away as they shared a moment. Jack took the opportunity to give Teddy a quick kiss and scoot closer to him along the bench seat.
"Sorry, everyone!" Abby exclaimed as the two of them pulled away from each other. "This one hasn't been kissed since New York."
"Which was sometime yesterday afternoon, mind you." Nora suddenly noticed the empty plates and glasses covering the tabletop. "Say, how many drinks have you had?"
Carol awkwardly moved to pick up Therese's arm to see her watch, angling her neck and tilting Therese's wrist to focus her eyes on the clock hands. "Five after eight."
Abby reached across the table to tap Carol's arm. "How many drinks - not the time - you nitwit."
"Ah." Carol looked at the empty glasses in front of her and picked up a half-filled pint of stout. "Five. Or eight." Carol turned back to check Therese's watch, conveniently forgetting the time that she had mentioned to Abby only moments earlier. " - five minutes."
Nora disapprovingly shook her head. "In that case, Abby… amore, could you please get some dinner? And then bring over five of whatever they've been drinking… and line them up right here." Nora tapped the table indicating exactly where she wanted the drinks placed then took a moment to remove her gloves.
Just before heading to the bar Abby dropped her jacket next to Nora and paused, counting her friends sitting around the table, "Wait, where is the lucky bride?"
Jack finally opened his eyes and sat up straight. "Stayed home to watch Doctor Who," he replied.
"Kildare," Abby corrected.
"No, not Dr. Kildare."
"What? She doesn't know the doctor's name? Don't you people pay attention - "
"Doctor Who. TV program, not a real person. Science-fiction," Teddy clarified. "For children."
Abby rolled her eyes then reached for her purse to take out the cigarette case and lighter to accompany her to the bar. "You're all nerds. Some wedding night. Do you need some pointers for when you get home later?" Abby asked as she tapped her cigarette against the case before lighting it. Barely giving enough time for anyone to say yes or no for accepting her advice, Abby went ahead and offered it anyway. Not that Jack actually need the advice. "For starters, see?" She placed the cigarette between her lips and gestured with the first two fingers of her right hand. "You gotta curl your fingers - "
Carol reached across the table and smacked Abby's arm at the same time Nora did. Therese also tried to reach her arm across the table, but was only able to lightly brush against the elbow of her wool sweater, and Teddy and Rindy merely looked away, shaking their heads.
"Scema, I can't take you out of the country, can I?" Nora muttered, then smacked Abby's arm one more time.
10:35 p.m.
Nora wrapped her scarf around her head, securing it beneath her chin with a loose knot for Abby to untie when they returned to the house. She shook her head as the pub owner held the door open for her and she was the last of their group to file into the street, heading back to the house about half a mile away. "I've never been kicked out of a bar… " she murmured as she ran up toward her friends who were waiting for her. "So embarrassed."
"I have."
"We know!" Carol and Rindy shouted back in unison at Abby, both of them rolling their eyes and sharing a glance.
"And we weren't 'kicked out' in the traditional sense," Jack argued. "Closing time, that's all. Could have done a lock in, I suppose."
"It is ten-fucking-thirty. It's Saturday. There's still ninety minutes more of Saturday," Abby remarked.
"And somehow you still managed to drink the same amount as us," Carol jested.
Carol squinted ahead, looking straight down the road where Therese and Teddy were walking together and joking around. At one point, they stopped in the middle of the walkway when Teddy pointed to his back and Therese hopped on as he then took off, running up and down the path with Therese jovially clinging to him. Carol heard Rindy begin to laugh behind her, watching her mother and cousin horse around yards in front of them.
"Aunt Carol, does it ever bother you?" Jack blurted out.
"What?"
"You know," he bashfully started to say then stopped.
"Hmm?"
"Coming through!" Teddy shouted as he ran past Jack and Carol, carrying Therese on his back and gripping her legs while she laughed and clung around Teddy's neck with her arms. "Beep! Beep!" he shouted as he turned them back around to run down the path.
Jack lifted his hand and pointed directly in front of him. "That. I mean, the fact that they can do that… openly."
"Darling, as fit as he is, I hardly think Teddy there could give you a piggyback and run at that speed while doing an impression of the Road Runner."
Jack smiled and nudged his aunt's shoulder. "No, I mean, they can - even though they aren't a couple - be affectionate in front of everyone or be… silly with one another. And no one bats an eye."
"Oh." Carol looked ahead, trying to steady herself as best she could on the uneven, cobblestoned street in her heels. "I suppose I'm just used to it at this point. One gets used to it in our situation. Over the years, I suppose I don't even second-guess myself when I step outside the front door in regards to how I carry myself."
"I know, but - sometimes - I just want to hold his hand when we go out. When I find something sweet. Or when I'm upset." Jack shuffled his feet as they walked along, scuffing the tips of his oxfords he knew he'd have to polish the next day.
"One finds ways."
It didn't take much for Carol to read how frustrated and fussy Jack was by her lack of a better response. She also knew that there was little else she could do to reassure him, especially since he already knew and understood the status quo. Then again, it was even more frustrating for Jack and Teddy given that, unlike she and Therese, the two boys couldn't go around walking with arms linked or greet each other in public with a peck on the cheek or share a bicycle while one clung to the other. There were certain liberties Carol found she had without recognizing she had them in the first place. Ones that she took for granted every day.
Carol stopped walking and reached an arm out to touch Jack's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."
"For what?"
"I forgot what that felt like. Not to mention I know it's so much harder for you. For men."
"Oh, it's alright, Aunt Carol. I'm just complaining."
"No, it's… " Carol put down her arm and tucked her gloved hands into the pockets of her fur. "When Therese and I first visited Europe - that first big vacation we took together ten years ago - it truly struck me how much I had taken for granted in being with your uncle. That's how I felt after only one year with her. A year! You, on the other hand, you and Ted have been together nearly as long and… and I'm sorry that ten years on for you two, you are truly frustrated by all this, especially now that you're older."
Trying hard to dismiss his aunt's words, Jack shrugged and started walking again. "Sometimes, I forget Teddy grew up with this - turning it off and on - and it's something he has known since he was five. And Rindy. She's had two mothers too. It's second nature to them at this point."
From behind, Rindy tapped her cousin's shoulder to get his attention. "It's okay, Jack, I got this," she assured him, walking closer to her mother and cousin as she brushed her hand against his arm as she got him to stop walking. "Ted!" she shouted, cupping her hands to the sides of her mouth to project her voice.
Spinning around with Therese still clinging to his back, Teddy turned to look back over at his aunt and Jack, making his way back toward them with a big grin on his face. "Yeah?"
"Put mom down, would ya?" Rindy ordered. Therese peered over Teddy's shoulder and dismounted, and moved to stand next to Carol. "You two stubborn knuckleheads?" she said, gesturing to Jack and Teddy as she positioned herself between the two of them. Just as Teddy had pointed out earlier, Rindy always did sound like her mother whenever she was completely exasperated by circumstances thrown at her. "Someday, I really hope I won't have to keep fucking doing this," she sighed then squeezed herself between the two boys, taking Teddy's hand in her left and Jack's in her right. Jack smiled at his cousin and leaned in to give Rindy a kiss on the cheek; Teddy grinned and did the same right before Rindy gave each of them the kiss meant for one another.
11:46 p.m.
As Abby made more Martinis from the saddest excuse for a home bar set she had ever seen, she coughed and pointed over at her friends sitting around a card table playing Monopoly. Specifically, she pointed over at Carol who was counting the stack of fake multi-colored bills in her hand. "You've got Mayfair and all those green-labeled properties… whatever-the-hell they are here."
"You've got all the railway stations, utilities, and have Park Lane," Carol pointed out. She tapped her finger against the edge of the board with the wad of fake bills in her hand. "I could build… "
"No!" shouted Jack and Therese, both of them extending their hands to cover the board.
"Carol the slumlord. You're gonna make your own nephew probably have to pawn that wedding ring of his," Abby joked as she took her seat. She glanced back at Jack, still covering the Monopoly board with his hand as she spied the shiny new ring he was sporting. "That sure is a doozy."
"You like?" Jack said as he held out his hand to show off his gold wedding band.
"I bet it's engraved."
"Of course it is."
He removed the ring and passed it to his aunt who closed her eyes and shook her head as she read it aloud. "'Mad about the boy'? I'm not surprised in the least, but I'll say it again: Nerds," groaned Abby.
"It was like kissing my mother," Jack declared with a frown on his face.
"She did change your diapers," added Carol.
Moaning, Jack slunk even further into the couch as Teddy wrapped his arms around him.
"For Queen and Country?" Teddy offered, giving Jack a kiss on the cheek to reassure him. "And a passport?"
"Far better than getting drafted," Therese bluntly mentioned as the others at the table became quieter than usual.
Breaking the quiet, there was a loud bang or stomp that came from the floor above, stopping everyone in their place as they looked up, almost expecting to see whoever had been making the sound. The chandelier swung a couple times, albeit gently, and stopped moving almost as quickly as it started. Everyone lowered their heads and looked at one another, silently beginning to pack up the board game and books strewn about the drawing room. "We should probably call it a night, yeah?"
"Rindy's already asleep," Therese commented, "and the good radio station is going to off the air in a bit."
"You mean that's one of those offshore pirate stations?" asked Nora as she pointed to the radio sitting on a nearby bookshelf.
"Yup," Teddy replied.
"I've heard of those."
"No wonder the stations here refuse to play that stuff. Look at the names. The Kinks? The Zombies? The Hollies? The Beatles? The Animals?"
"And the 'Duke Ellington Orchestra' or 'Artie Shaw Orchestra' or 'Tommy Dorsey Orchestra' or 'Glenn Miller Orchestra' were groundbreaking names?"
Abby snuffed out her cigarette in the ashtray, admitting to a draw with Carol over the game and a point well-proven by Jack. "You have no appreciation for the classics. Right, Nora? Carol?"
Oblivious to the conversation and only perking up when she heard her name, Carol looked up at Abby who was eagerly awaiting some encouragement, but nothing came.
"Ugh, Abby, you are such a stick-in-the-mud sometimes," Nora sighed.
"Yeah, but you know you love her," Therese said.
Nora lowered her stance so her head was resting on top of Abby's and draped her arms around Abby's neck. "I do," she pleasantly admitted. Abby angled herself to look at her, smiling, and raised her right hand to touch Nora's that were joined somewhere near her throat.
"Eh, nevermind. You kids with your shaggy haircuts and Chelsea boots and those miniskirts… Besides, Jack, the wife's getting antsy. Better get upstairs 'cause she actually might have started without you."
"Abby, I swear to God - " Teddy cringed. "That's my - "
Teddy couldn't finish what he was saying as Jack had pulled him into his lap to dot his face with a series of tiny kisses.
As they approached the staircase, Carol gestured to Therese to walk up first. Still giddy from the drinks and not thinking anything remiss about the situation, Therese began to climb the stairs, turning her head slightly to the right to look at Carol behind her, noting how her hand lightly gripped the banister. As soon as Therese turned her head back forward into the quiet and darkness of the hallway and took a couple steps, she felt a pinch. With an abrupt shriek and doing her best to not disturb the other house guests, Therese jolted forward toward the top of the stairs to regain her composure. Once she reached the top, she turned around to face Carol, watching her climb the remaining few steps toward her.
"What?" Carol asked, trying to act as innocent as possible.
"You did that on purpose," Therese replied with a tone of amusement in her voice.
"Did what, sweetheart?"
Therese angled her head and put her hands on her hips, not that Carol could also see her amused, yet displeased look, on her face in the darkness. "You pinched me."
"I did nothing of the sort," Carol retorted as she tried to maintain a straight face and dismiss what Therese was saying. "This place was built in the 17th century. It's probably haunted."
"No, it's not!" Therese reached for Carol's arm in the darkness and jabbed it with her own. "Don't say that! You'll give me nightmares."
"Alright, alright," Carol reassured her, still laughing to herself, "no ghosts then." Therese fumbled around the the dark for the door handle as Carol kept stumbling into her. "Sorry, darling."
As soon as Therese found the door handle and turned it, she and Carol entered the room, quietly giggling to themselves. Carol felt around for the push button against the wall to turn on the overhead light, mistakenly confusing the buttons as the power flickered on and off. Once the light was actually on, Therese noticed their bed was not empty and that Rindy was asleep, sprawled on her back, in the middle of the double bed, wearing her mother's sleep mask and softly breathing.
Carol made her way toward the bed, but stopped when she felt the tug of Therese's hand on her sweater. "No, don't. She's exhausted. She did have about five drinks."
"Five?!"
"Just the ginger beer. She'll be fine. We had some warm milk just before she went up."
"An, so that's where you two were. The kitchen?"
"Just let her sleep there for tonight."
"But - "
"It's not like we've never doubled up in a bed for one." Therese grabbed her black robe draped over the back of the desk chair and tossed it over her shoulder.
"Not in years… " Carol noted as she made her way to a suitcase by the bathroom door, quietly rifling through to pull out her pajamas and anything else she might need in the other room. "And certainly never with me keeping my hands to myself," she softly muttered.
"Moms… "