Chapter Three: The Talk
I wake to my dark room full of cobwebs and old books. Turning to my gelatin cuckoo clock I take note that it reads sometime around midnight. You have most likely gone home by now and my mother and siblings are probably down stairs talking about me still. I figure that I should try to explain my behavior to them, so I get out of bed and start heading down stairs.
The closer to the family room that I get the better I can hear what the family is saying. "I still can't believe it!" I hear Gomez's booming and exaggerated voice exclaim. "Calm down Gomez it's not that shocking. I've known it for years now." Mama confesses. "The way the two of you swoon over that girl is impossible not to take not of." She continues.
"I take it Morticia told you." I mumble from half way down the stairs. Everyone in the room turns to me. Mama smiles at me, Gomez still looks shocked, and Fester looks as though he couldn't care less.
"Genevieve darling, you're awake." Mama greets me. "How are you feeling?"
"Completely miserable." I mumble with my head held low. Everyone seems relieved to hear that. "I was being sarcastic." I confirm, and the room lets out a collective 'ooohhh'. I finish my decent down the stairs with a sigh.
"Boys, why don't you run off to bed and give your sister and I some time to talk alone." Mama instructs.
"Yes Mother" Gomez and Fester mumble in unison. The two of them shuffle up the stairs and off to their rooms.
Mama waits to hear the creek of their doors before speaking. "Come sit with me dear." She pats the couch next to her and I do as I'm told. "Let me start by letting you know that your feelings for Morticia are totally natural, and they do not change my feelings for you as a mother at all. So there is no need to feel insecure or unwelcome in this family."
I was kind of already expecting Mama to say something like that; she always knows what to say to make me feel at home. It's nice to know that she understands my feelings and does not hold them against me. I didn't really know what to say though, so I just nodded.
"Now on to more pressing matters…" Mama continues. "The matter of what you're going to do about those feelings. What, with Morticia's feelings for your brother and all." She explains.
"So you've knottiest that too?" I ask.
"How could I not? Those two make goo-goo eyes at each other more than Fester to dynamite." She kids and I laugh.
"Then why have you been trying to set Gomez up with Ophelia all this time?" I wonder out loud.
"The truth?" Mama's eyebrows lift in question, and I nod. I was hoping that I could distract Gomez from Morticia to give you time to swoop in and snatch her up." She winks at me and I smile. "But no such luck." She sighs.
My smile fades. "So now what do I do?" I drop my head in sorrow.
"The only thing you can do." Mama states. "You move on." She instructs. "I know it won't be easy, in fact it will be near impossible, but it's what you have to do." She presses. "If you continue to pursue Morticia romantically, even after she has made it clear that she is not interested, it could end up destroying the beautiful friendship that you have." She explains. The best thing you can do is look for another girl to pine over." She says.
"I see what you're saying Mama. Really I do, but I just don't think that I could ever find someone to replace Tish. I mean- Hay! I don't PINE over her!" I protest, and Mama chuckles.
"I already told you that it's not gonna be easy didn't I?" she points out. "It's gonna be a slow and painful process. Too bad it's the kind of pain that hurts your heart though huh?" she nudges me with her elbow.
I give her a little smile and cast my eyes at the floor. I was not looking forward to this slow and painful process.
"I know its tuff, but you can always come to talk to me if you need to." She comforts. "And if I'm busy you can always talk to Lurch. Right Lurch?" She looks over at the towering butler who groans a reply. Surprisingly that was the first time I knottiest that he was even in the room despite his size.
"Thank you Mama … and you Lurch." I smile at them both. "I think I should go back to bed now. I still have school tomorrow." I was not looking forward to school. I hated the place to begin with, but now I have a haul new set of problems to put up with. Even so I bid my goodnights and headed up the stairs again. It's gonna be a long night.