"You know what I think?" Elijah told Selina one morning after they'd both woken up.
"What do you think?" Selina asked. "Please tell me."
"I think we should have a yard sale or a garage sale or something," Elijah replied. "Get rid of some of the clutter in this house."
"You think?" Selina asked. "I don't. I think there's enough space for everything so there's no need for a yard sale."
"You just don't want to sort things," Elijah smiled.
"Well, duh," Selina replied. "Of course."
"What if I help you?" Elijah asked. "You won't have to do it by yourself."
"Oh, fine," Selina replied. "We can have a damn yard sale or whatever."
"It'll be good," Elijah told her. "You'll see."
A short while later, they had had their coffees and a waffle or two and were in the attic sorting through stuff. Elijah had hold of a box that was labeled as having Selina's things in it. He was rooting around for something to pull out, and when he finally picked something and brought it out, he gasped. "This is a medal," he said. "For bravery in war. What's it doing in your box?"
"I fought in World War I," Selina replied simply. "Cause I'm a Warren, and that's what Warrens do. The fact that I got a Distinguished Service Cross…well that was just something that happened. I didn't fight for glory. I fought cause it needed to be done. No matter how stupid the reasons for the war were."
"Have you shown this to your father?" Elijah asked. "I think he'd like to see it."
"I haven't actually seen my father in months," Selina replied. "I mean, we talk on the phone every week, but…I don't go see him."
"Why not?" Elijah asked. "Is it because you're mad at him?"
"Well, no," Selina shook her head. "It's just that…I rarely think of anything that has to do with my human life anymore, since so much of it was terrible. And my dad is included in that. And he did do a bad thing by taking away all my memories of him when I was a child so Mama wouldn't be scarred for life, but I can understand why he did it. Or had Doctor Stensrund do it. And he did finally get around to killing my abusive stepfather when I was fourteen. My point is, I don't hate my father. He's the closest thing to a good biological parent I had."
"Good," Elijah nodded. "So go see him and tell him about your medal. If you haven't done it yet, he might like to hear."
"Maybe," Selina replied. "He might hate me for going. But I'm gonna tell him anyway. You think you can handle things here?"
"Yes," Elijah nodded with a smile. "Just go."
"All right," Selina replied. "I'm off. Like lightning." She zipped down the stairs and to her car, driving to her father's house and parking in the driveway. Or at least she hoped her father still lived here. Not knowing where else he might have gone, she exited the car and walked to the front door, knocking cautiously, then stepping back and bouncing on the balls of her feet until the door opened and revealed a young man with brown hair and green eyes. When he saw her, he smiled, hugged her, and pulled her inside, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"I wondered if you were ever gonna show up here!" He cried. "Next phone call, I was gonna demand you come visit me!"
"Sorry I haven't been around," Selina apologized. "I'm just not used to thinking so much about my family, you know?"
"Did your mama make things that bad for you?" He asked. "That you never think about her or me or anyone else?"
"Yes," Selina nodded. "For a lot of reasons, it's always just been easier that way. I'm sorry. But like I said, I'm gonna try to do better."
"All right," Mathew nodded, tousling his dark hair. "So…what brought you here today?"
"Well," Selina grabbed her medal and came to sit next to her father on the sofa. "My husband and I were going through all our stuff in the attic and he found this in one of the boxes…it's my medal. It's for, you know, risking my life and going beyond the call of duty in battle and all that. Of course they didn't know that when I was saving people, it wasn't all that much of a risk, but whatever. I still went off to war, just like you and Granddaddy Warren."
It took her father so long to speak that Selina was prepared for a lecture, but the words that came out of his mouth were words of praise, not judgment. "I'm proud of you," he told her and gave her a hug. "I'm so, so proud of you for doing that."
"Really?" Selina asked, trying not to cry. "You're not mad at me for overstepping my boundaries as a woman and all that?"
"Your mother would be," he said. "But I'm not. You did what was right for you, and you came back okay. What do I have to be mad about?" He asked.
"I didn't fight in World War II, though," Selina said.
"I know," Matthew replied with a wink. "I came to several of your baseball games. You have a very good arm."
"Thanks," Selina replied. "I mean it."
"How are things at home?" Matthew continued. "How's your husband and all those grandkids I have that I know much less about than I should?"
"Oh, they're all good," Selina replied. "Our youngest, Ethan, just got an after school job at one of Elijah's companies, Colin is off somewhere playing professional baseball, Tristan just got into med school, Laura cuts hair, Roxie owns a bar, Lucy has a gallery, Gregory runs shelters for abused women…" She took a deep breath, and was ready to continue the list, but her father interrupted her.
"My goodness," Matthew smiled. "How many grandchildren do I have?"
"A lot," Selina replied. "Just…a lot."
Matthew smiled. "This is the life your mother and I always wanted for you, you know. Of course, your mother would have preferred things to be more placid, but, whatever makes you happy."
"Yeah, I bet Mama's gloating somewhere because for all my rebellion, I ended up with a stable guy who has a good job, lots of kids, a nice house. I sew I cook, I have no job outside home anymore…I bet she's eating it up."
"But does that matter if you're happy?" Matthew replied. "I know you and she had opposing views on so many things, but just because she believed something, doesn't mean it's wrong."
"If you carry it to the extreme level that she did, it is," Selina replied.
Matthew sighed. It was about time he realized that he was never going to achieve peace between his wife and his daughter and that he should just give up. Even though it was hard cause the Amelia that he knew was so much better than the one his daughter had been saddled with and thus he felt like Selina was doing her mother a terrible injustice. Then he stopped. It was that sort of talk that had made his daughter be deprived of her memories of him in her darkest hours. And no matter how much he loved Amelia, he didn't want Selina to go through that again.
"I suppose you're right," he said. Then he shook his head. "I'm sorry," he told her. "I forgot to ask if I could get you a drink or something. Have you fed today?"
"I have," Selina nodded. "But I wouldn't mind a Coke."
"What kind?" Her father asked.
"What do you have?" Selina asked.
"Just the standards," Matthew replied. "Pepsi, Coca-cola, Dr. Pepper…"
"Dr. Pepper, please," Selina replied.
Matthew smiled. "Coming right up," he replied.
When he returned with her drink, they talked a little while longer, and then she left with a promise that he would come by for dinner the following Sunday as long as she promised to bring in as many of her kids as she could.
"So, what do you think of this peace between your mom and Grandma?" Charlie asked Elizabeth. "Do you think it will stick?"
"Oh, I hope so," Elizabeth replied. "I mean, we just got over having to watch our mothers every second of the day. Can you imagine how rotten our married life would be if we had to spend it all walking on eggshells around Mom and Grandma?"
"You have a very good point," Charlie replied. "Now, why are we talking about them again?"
"Cause if we weren't, we've have to talk about how we're gonna redecorate our houses and you don't seem willing to have that discussion," Elizabeth replied.
"I just don't see why we need to redecorate!" Charlie said. "What's wrong with the way our houses are now?"
"What's wrong is at present they give no indication that we're a married couple. They're still the same houses we lived in when we were single. Don't you think there's something wrong with that?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, no," Charlie said. "But it surprises me that you're the one pushing so hard to redecorate, seeing as how when I brought my plastic singing mounted fish to put on your wall, I found it in the trash a day later."
"Well, I'm sure not all of your stuff is as tacky as that, right?" Elizabeth asked hopefully.
"Even if it is, I'm still putting it in our house," Charlie said firmly. "Cause now that we're married, we should both be able to call the place home by having our stuff there regardless of whether or not the other person thinks it's horrible. I mean, look at Grandma and Grandpa's house: Grandpa has all that slick modern leather furniture, and Grandma has that ugly pink chair in the same space. If Grandpa can tolerate that, I think you could."
"Fine," Elizabeth replied. "I guess you have a point. The houses belong to both of us now and I'm sorry I threw away your singing fish."
"Well, thank you," Charlie replied. "I'll make you a deal: If there's anything that you absolutely cannot stand to have out, I can pick a room and just have that be my special spot, and that's where the stuff will go. You don't have to look at it, and it won't even have to be out in public."
"Okay," Elizabeth replied. "That sounds all right. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Charlie replied. "Now about that ugly green vase you have on top of the fireplace…"
"What about it?" Elizabeth asked. "And it's not ugly. It's antique."
"I don't want it out," Charlie replied. "I think it's hideous."
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth's spine straightened.
"If I have to hide all the stuff you think is awful, I think you could at least put away one vase for me," Charlie replied.
"Oh, I don't think so!" Elizabeth cried. "No way." Then, she watched in horror as Charlie sped over and 'accidentally' knocked the vase on the floor so that it smashed into a lot of pieces. "Look at that," he said as Elizabeth's jaw dropped. "Now it's not a problem."
Elizabeth growled at him as, whistling happily, he strode off in search of the room that would be his, and that Elizabeth would never enter, and she grabbed a broom, dust pan, and wastebasket, and cleaned up the pieces of vase.
Eli was driving home from school when he saw a woman parked on the shoulder and struggling with her tires. He parked behind her and got out. "Hey," he said. "Can I-can I help you?"
The woman turned and gasped as Eli realized it was Rebecca. "Eli," she said as he came closer. "That's so sweet to offer, but I've called someone else to come and help me. He'll be here soon."
"Oh, all right," Eli replied. He was about to go back to his car when he changed his mind. "I don't have anywhere to be, so if you don't wanna be alone and would like me to sit with you until your friend comes…I'd be glad to."
"Well, thank you," Rebecca replied. "Come have a seat." And Eli sat next to her, inhaling the smell of her perfume and noting how her golden hair blew freely in the wind until a car drove up, and two people got out: King, and Vivi.
"Thanks for coming to help me with my tires," Rebecca told him. "But I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"
"No," King said irritably. "She's only here because refuses to give me my car keys. Now where's your tire?"
"In the back," Rebecca replied as Eli sat there being ignored. "It shouldn't be hard to change, I don't think. Will it?"
"No," King shook his head as he got in the backseat and retrieved the tire from the trunk. While King got Rebecca's tire on and she shamelessly stared at his bulging muscles and his butt, while letting out little giggles even when he said things that weren't supposed to be funny, Vivi sat next to Eli and glowered. "What are you doing here?" She asked him.
"I was attempting to be chivalrous, but it seems like your boyfriend there beat me to the punch," Eli replied. "And that's probably a good thing: I'm not so skilled at changing tires."
"I'm just wondering where he learned to do it by hand," Vivi said, trying not to look at the same things as Rebecca cause King deserved to drive her home while she was in a bad mood. "He doesn't come from a family that's particularly hands on with stuff like this."
"Neither are my parents really," Eli replied. Then, he held out his hand. "I'm sorry. I'm Eli. What's your name?"
"Vivian," Vivi replied, shaking it with hers. "But you can call me Vivi. And that's King fixing the tire. He's kind of a dork sometimes. But I like him anyway, even though I don't know why."
Eli nodded. "I feel the same about Rebecca, even though I know she's not enough for me and doesn't need me and I should just go find someone else."
"Maybe you should," Vivi replied. "Maybe you deserve better than watching the woman you love openly ogle someone right in front of you."
"Yeah, but where am I gonna find anyone like that?" Eli asked. "You ask any of the girls at school about me and they'll just tell you I'm not interesting enough."
"What school do you go to?" Vivi asked. He told her and she said, "That's where King and I go too. I wonder why I've never seen you before?" Suddenly, her eyes widened. "I just got an idea!" She said.
"What is it?" Eli asked.
"Well, you and I both are suffering from being under-appreciated by the idiots we feel attached to, right?"
"Yeah," Eli nodded.
"Well, what if I pretended to be your girlfriend?" Vivi said. "It wouldn't have to be forever. Just long enough for the other girls to wonder what they've been missing."
Eli looked her over. She was very pretty. This could really lead to something. "Why would you do that for me?" He asked.
Vivi shrugged. "You seem like someone who doesn't deserve to be screwed over. And I know I don't. So what do you think?"
"Sure," Eli said. "Wanna start on Monday?"
"Okay," Vivi replied. "As of Monday, it looks like you got yourself a girlfriend, Eli."