Southern Belle

Ok, so the last chapter was a bit odd. I originally included more explanation, but decided to omit that information. If you re-read the chapter before that's ending, you might be able to figure out some of it. A few important things occurred in there, some more significant than others. Just how and why they are significant should become apparent later. I hope you all don't find this part here boring. This is just some important back story on Summer's mom and Neil. On another note, I didn't get many reviews on the last chapter. I appreciate those who did review. I have the next part done, once I get 7 reviews I'll post. Much lovegabby.

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Louisa-May Michelle Porter was part of an aristocratic class in Birmingham, Alabama. She was the crown jewel of her wealthy family. Her deep chestnut hair fell in beautiful waves around her petite waist. Her deep brown eyes were known for their But it was her wit and humor that kept even stuffy businessmen in rapture; watching her every move. Louisa-May Michelle Porter, better known as Michelle, caught the eyes many of those businessman. If she got a dime for every man whose fancy she caught, she'd have been a wealthy lady. But there was one that definitely stood out. A man named Neil Roberts. It was the summer of 1986. Michelle was 16 years old. Neil Roberts was 27.

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"Well hello there sir," Michelle called as she swung on a swing on the edge of her property. He nodded curtly without looking at her. "Hey now, that's not polite. Why don't you come over here and talk to me," she sang sweetly.

"Maybe some other time," Neil said shortly. Michelle frowned, got out of her swing and ran along side Neil. Her vivacious persona indicated the fact that though she looked like a lady, she was truly a child at heart.

"C'mon now, you're a University man, ain't you? You got time. School's not even in session," Michelle smiled widely. Neil looked Michelle head on for the first time in their brief conversation. She smiled wide and her olive skin glowed in the after-noon sun. How could he possibly refuse her? Neil was damned before he ever began, as was innocent sweet 16 year old Michelle.

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Neil Roberts attended medical school in Nashville, Tennessee, which is north of Birmingham, Alabama. He was spending the summer at a University in Birmingham interning. His attention, however, was captured by Michelle, who waited for him faithfully each day outside of the hospital at the University.

"I don't know what it is, Carl. She's just special," Neil shrugged.

"Come on. She's 16 years old. She's not even legal...or a high school graduate," Carl said, trying to rationalize the situation for his friend. But it was no use. Neil was hopelessly infatuated with a southern belle. Not that he blamed him, but weren't all girls the same? Pretty, stunning even, but all the same? What difference did it make if it was some common girl or Louisa-May Porter?

There were parts of Carl's advice that Neil did take to heart. After the summer, Neil broke most correspondence with Michelle, to her parents' liking. Neil followed Carl back to Vanderbilt University in Nashville in the Fall. Michelle's parents wanted her to marry a "respectable Southern man," not a loony plastic surgeon from the West. A year later, he came back, and Michelle was not the same person he'd left behind. She was dating a respectable young Southern man, as her parents had always wished. 17 year old Michelle wore her hair in long plaits and adorned herself in conservative dresses that looked old and boring compared to her former vibrant attire. The clothes she wore reflected her new personal appearance and increasingly cynical attitude. She was slowly turning into a younger version of May Porter, her brilliant but sadistic and harsh mother.

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Neil visited the Porter family mansion one hot August day to see Michelle. One of the many maids, Susannah, answered Neil's incessant knocking.

"You here to see Miss Louisa-May," Susannah inquired.

"I am indeed. The name's Neil Roberts ma'am," said he.

"Missy Louisa, there's a Mr. Neil here to see you," the maid called up the stairs. Michelle gathered her decorum as she walked down the ridiculously lavish white stair case.

"Hello Mr. Roberts," said Michelle with pointedly detached civility. He arched his eyebrows.

"Why the formality," he inquired as he offered her his arm. She took it, with reservation and hesitation fitting for someone of her class. The two walked off toward a nearby field, adjacent to the swings Michelle had swung on in what she now referred to as her "youth."

"Well Sir, we are but acquaintances, and you are ten years my senior," replied she in her charming Southern drawl.

"'But acquaintances,'" Neil laughed. "I would hardly use that phrase to describe our relationship dearest Michelle," said Neil softly. Michelle looked away and her eyes hardened.

"Any relationship we could've had ended last summer when you stopped writing," Michelle said coldly.

"You know I had to do that," Neil protested.

"Stop, sir. I haven't got time for this. I am meeting up with my beaux in an hour," said Michelle briskly.

"Boyfriend, you mean," asked Neil in an incredulous tone, etched with a firm disbelief. Michelle nodded slowly, hitched up her ridiculous skirts and marched off. "Michelle," Neil called. Michelle sighed dramatically.

"What do you want from me, Roberts," Michelle said in defeat.

"I just want you," Neil said. Michelle shook her head, but walked to him. Neil kissed her there in the field while the birds sang in the park.

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And the rest is history. Summer Louisa Roberts was born about a year later after Neil and Michelle ran away, first to London where Neil studied at Oxford and then to California. The two stayed married for fourteen years, but eventually Michelle got sick of Neil's constant working and lack of time for her and their daughter, Summer. Her vivacious personality was suffocated by the airs and conservatism of Newport Beach, an aspect of her own home life she'd aimed at escaping when she ran to California with Neil. Michelle gave up and returned to Alabama, abandoning both husband and daughter in the process. Who's Louisa-May Michelle Porter, and why do we care? Among other things, Michelle was a lady, learned in the dignified ways of respectable women. An excellent mother attuned to her daughter's needs. A faithful wife who waited for Neil as long as her patience would allow. She was an impetuous dreamer who acted on her thoughts. But mostly Michelle was a hopeless romantic sitting on a swing waiting for the right man. She was a southern belle.