AN: trace619 - re: "I think a farm would be perfect"... I think so too ;-). LBM/Y - re: "I would like to see how they handle more electronics... technology or home /cooking apparatus"... Let's see how they go with the television this chapter ;-) LMB - re: "The microwave thing was just too funny"... Another interaction with the microwave will follow this chapter ;-) And maybe the telephone ;-) Y - re: "They have car, how about motorcycle?"... That'll be interesting to write seeing I've never ridden one myself ;-) I'll see what I can do :-) "Adult store, it could be interesting to find them inside"... I'm sure they'll have their eyes opened to many different things inside that particularly interesting store that doesn't sell adults or people ;-)
AN2: A sweet Lena and Liz interaction this chapter, and... well I'll let you read what happens when our Maedels and Jungs drink alcohol for the first time. Let me know what you think :-)
"Darling, what are you thinking?" Elizabeth took a small sip of the homemade blackberry wine that Eileen Switzer had made. The blonde looked at the dark haired woman bathed in flickering candlelight, sitting across from her at the small round dining table within the house of Pertrovsky farm.
"Apart from what excuse we need to think of for not returning to the Village today when we said we would?"
"We don't need to explain ourselves to anyone, Lena. We're Elders. Besides, Miriam will be the only nosy one that will ask when we return tomorrow and we use the excuse that always work... we would have been travelling in the dark by the time we were ready to leave, so we had to stay overnight... again. Now, what else are you thinking?"
"I'm just wondering if our Maedels and Jungs are being sensible with the wines we sent them... a bottle to share for each of their birthdays, or if they're rolling on the floor drunk having each drunk a bottle right away?" Lena swirled the remains of the dark plum-red liquid before draining her glass. She didn't know how Eileen made the alcohol content of her homemade fruit wines so high, but Lena admired the woman's oenology skills, which went hand in hand with those preserving skills.
Elizabeth took their dinner plates to the kitchen sink, "I would hope the former, but would anticipate the latter. Do you remember the first time we got drunk at Rumspringa House?"
"I vaguely recall that we both drove the porcelain bus that night and learnt our lesson very quickly after we each chugged a bottle."
"At least we didn't have to hold each other's hair out of the way!"
Lena barked out a laugh and purposely combed her hand through her short hair, "I knew there was a reason for cutting it."
"I'll say!" The blonde tucked a newly cropped lock behind her ear as she returned to the table. She reached her hand across and took Lena's hand in her own and smiled wistfully.
"What are you thinking?"
"Just remembering all the things we did and had at Rumspringa House... what we don't have now... what we could have again when we eventually live here."
"Excluding the privacy we had for a whole year... what do you miss most, my love?"
"Besides electricity? Not that I don't find candlelight and kerosene lamps romantic... what I miss the most is music. You know that as well as I do."
A smile slowly appeared on Lena's mouth, "We have music now."
Elizabeth was stunned silent but recovered quickly, "We do?! How?!"
"Come with me," Lena passed a large kerosene lamp to Elizabeth before she took a large lamp for herself from the carved sideboard her own great grandfather had made when he and Lena's great grandmother were betrothed, and led Elizabeth to another room of the large house. They approached the corner of the room and placed their lamps down on an elongated table. "I bought the wind up phonograph and all of the phonograph records that used to be in Rumspringa House from the secondhand shop a few weeks ago. I even got a whole heap more phonograph records in the deal because the English don't want them anymore. They want those cassette tape machines these days."
"These weren't here yesterday, Lena! I dusted this room from top to bottom!"
"I know."
"How did you get all this to the farm? How did you buy it all without me knowing?"
"John Munch for both questions. He delivered everything this afternoon while you were having a well deserved nap after I tired you out this morning," Lena smirked.
"You tired me out on purpose?"
"I don't recall you complaining, Liz. I do recall you calling my name several times though," Lena said nonchalantly. "I gave John the money to buy it and he's been storing all this for me until I knew we'd be here again for a few days. I made arrangements with him last week to deliver it when we saw him again. He also said that Trevor and Rafael went to his café for lunch today, but no sign of Olivia or Alexandra."
"Alexandra and Olivia didn't go?! I'm surprised. I was sure they'd go to Main Town as soon as they could." Elizabeth indicated the new additions, "What do we have to listen to?"
"All your favourite composers. Vivaldi... Strauss... Rossini... Bach... Tchaikovsky... Brahms... Mozart... Beethoven... and there's some Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington for me. So... what would you like to listen first?"
"Surprise me!"
Lena picked the first phonograph record off the pile. She placed the record on the turntable, wound the handle of the phonograph all the way until it stopped, and let the turntable start spinning before placing the needle on the record.
"An der schönen blauen Donau!" Elizabeth recognised the opening notes immediately as they filtered through the large brass horn, petaled like a morning glory flower.
"Johann Strauss II's The Blue Danube," Lena confirmed, smoothing the front of her charcoal grey dress, thankful she had taken her apron off after serving dinner. Even though they were alone at Petrovsky farm, both women still kept some 'Village ways of life' just in case anyone decided to call, but now it was night and the chances of that occurring was highly unlikely. However, Lena and Elizabeth knew those 'Village ways of life' would change in the years to come. She held out her hand of Elizabeth to take, "Would the lady like to waltz with me, like she did many times during our Rumspringa?"
"The lady would love to!" Elizabeth placed her hand in Lena's.
Almost pressing their bodies together, Lena snaked her arm around Elizabeth's waist as Elizabeth placed her hand on Lena's shoulder, both extending their free arms to lock their dancing frame. They began to slowly step, sway and spin around the lamp lit room with the orchestral music guiding them, neither taking their eyes off each other.
During their own Rumspringa, they had gone to a little Art Deco movie theatre in Main Town that showed old time movies from the 1930's every weekend. Both young women easily fell in love with the dance duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, having been denied the wonderous joys of music and dance all their lives in the Village. They would return to Rumspringa House, put on a phonograph record and dance with each other without a care in the world. They never had any professional dance lessons, nor were they anywhere near as good as the movie stars, but Elizabeth and Lena had perfected their own personal waltz over the years. Each knowing exactly where the other would be, and who's move was next. The little Art Deco movie theatre no longer existed in Main Town, having been torn down and replaced with a modern multiple movie theatre only a few years ago. Lena and Elizabeth rarely got to do something like this, dance in each other's arms, in the Village since their Maedels came into their lives. In the early years, they could when Alexandra and Olivia were still too young to remember, but not when the Maedels grew older. Lena and Elizabeth were only able to quietly hum the music from memory when they could in private, or when Elizabeth stayed overnight under the guise of 'caring for an unwell' Lena... which happened once a month.
Now when they visited the Petrovsky farm, they could throw of the shackles of the Village lives and be their true selves.
This time next year, Lena and Elizabeth would finally live here permanently once their Maedels had informed the Village Elders that they were going to live in the English world. There was more than enough room for the Maedels and Jungs to live there as well... should they want to live there until they found their own places to live in.
As the music ended, Elizabeth softly brushed her lips against Lena. "Just how I remember, darling."
"Think you can handle another couple of songs?"
"I think so,"
"You choose this time, my love."
"I still don't understand how they get the music on to these records," Elizabeth stated as she removed the large black disc and placed it back in its protective sleeve.
Lena began winding the phonograph handle again, "I don't either. I've just learnt to accept that there's things about the English world we'll never understand... How do you think the Maedels and Jungs will handle the television?"
"Probably like we did when we first turned it on."
They exchanged knowing looks before bursting out laughing at their Village naïvety of English technology. Once Lena had finished winding the handle, Elizabeth indicated for her to move away and wait for the music to begin. The dark haired woman easily identified the musical introduction as the blonde rejoined her.
"Glenn Miller's 'Moonlight Serenade'!" gasped Lena with a hint of glee, pressing their bodies and cheeks together while resuming their dancing frame. "That means the next song's-"
"The next song on the record is 'In the Mood'... and I thought it might put you... in the mood."
"And you always admonish my attempt at innuendo, Liz!"
"You and I both know we love our innuendos, Lena. And we both know those innuendos lead towards the bedroom."
"We could go to the bedroom after that song, but..."
"But?"
"We've never done it in this room before, and I think that needs to be rectified before we live here permanently... like tonight!" Lena replied, claiming Elizabeth's mouth in a long, passionate kiss.
Sitting around the glowing embers and small flickering flames of the bonfire pit after their barbecue dinner were 4 inebriated young adult Villagers.
Olivia and Alexandra, each with their hair in French braids, were sitting side by side on a split log bench, lazily kissing each other. Olivia's left hand was under the back hem of Alexandra's shirt, caressing the blonde's left side and hip while Alexandra's right hand resting high on Olivia's thigh, inching closer to her intended destination but not daring to go too high with a nearby audience. Their free hand were clutching their respective half empty bottles of strawberry wine.
Trevor was perched on a nearby low log stump, his shirt completely unbuttoned and parted open, his bottle of peach wine drained of its contents. A similarly dressed Rafael was sitting on the ground between Trevor's legs, resting his head and back against Trevor's torso, his own bottle of peach wine almost empty. The disco music from the cassette tape was blaring from the open window of the kitchen overlooking the barbecue and bonfire area of Rumspringa House. It took several attempts to get the cassette into the machine the correct way and playing, but in the end Alexandra was the one to figure it out. None of them could understand how the music or singing got on to the cassette to make the noises they were currently listening to, but right now they didn't care either because they were on Rumspringa... and very drunk.
"Shh! Shh! I have a 'noucment to make..." Olivia took another mouthful from her wine bottle before slurring her words, "Daett... Maemm... Vill'gers... Len' me your ears!... I'm in lurve wif a girrrrrrl! Th' most beaut'ful girl in th' Vill'ge! Nooooo, a womaaaaaan! I'M IN LURVE WIF A WOMAAAAAAN!... I'M IN LURVE WIF ALEX CABOT!"
Rafael struggled to channel a certain Village Lore teacher in his current state, "That's f'bidden, 'Livia Benson! A hun'red lines at th' end of th' lore lesson... 'I MUS' NOT lay wif a woman... like a man lays wif woman!'
"Why no', Miri-am? It's R'mspringa... f'bidden is a-llowed!" Olivia narrowed her eyes in challenge.
Even in his drunken state, Trevor had the mimic down pat, although a little slurred. "Coz it's... d'bauchery! De-bauchery! Th' thought of layin' wif your own gend'r disgusts me! Some lores shou'd ne'er change!"
Alexandra pointed an unsteady finger at Trevor, "Scrrrrrrew you, Moth'r! She wuvs meeeeee! AN' I WUV MY O-LIVI-A BENSON! Seeeee, I'm in luw wif a woman too!" She kissed Olivia's cheek soundly to prove the point.
"Waaaaaait a minut'... my Maemm's in lurve wif a woman! Lena 'Trovsky lurves Lizzy Don'ly! Woooooo!" Olivia raised her bottle in delayed triumph.
"Aun' Liz'bef's in wuv wif Lena 'Trovsky!" Alexandra raised her bottle and clinked it with Olivia's before gulping another mouthful, licking her lips the sweet taste.
Olivia added, "An' Daett's fallin' in lurve wif Eileen Sssssswi'zer, but don' tell anyyyyyyone... it's a secr't, SHHHHHH!"
Rafael tried to stand up but plopped back down on his backside, "M'name's Raf'l Barba, an'... ... Owww! Why's th' ground gots t'be so hard?... ... Now I f'rgot wha' I was gonna say... ...Wha' was I gonna say?... no wait... ...Ooooooh yeah! M'name's Raf'l Barba... an' I been in lurve wif Trev since I mov'd to th' Vill'ge!"
"I've lov'd Raf since he mov'd to th' Vill'ge too!... Make us be b'trothed to som'one who we don' love... PFFFFFFT!" Trevor blew a loud, wet raspberry in protest. "Take that Ar'fur Tree Branch! I luv a man...an' a man wuvs me... an' I'm gonna tell yoooooou to y'face! Whatcha gonna do 'bout it, huh? HUUUUUUH?"
Alexandra giggled slowly, "That's f'bidden! Y'gonna get banish'd... SHUNN'D from th' Vill'ge!"
"You'se gotta leave NOW! GO! GET! GOOOOOO!" Olivia pointed with the wine bottle, splashing a little of the liquid on the ground.
"That's th' plan! Bye bye Vill'ge! Bye byeeeeee!" Rafael chuckled, waving his hand in farewell. All 4 young adults broke down into fits of laughter, knowing that their plan to leave the Village and live in the English world was utterly foolproof.
The lyrics of the next song by 'The Trampps' were loud and clear in their ears as their laughter faded away and the disco intro was complete, "Burn, baby, burn! Burn, baby, burn! Burn, baby, burn! Burn, baby, burn! Burnin'!"
"OOOOOOH! R'minds me!" Alexandra got up, swaying her way the short distance back to the house.
"Where ya goin'?" Trevor called out.
"Somethin' I promis'd Aun' Liz'bef I'd do! I'll be back... don' go anyyyyyywhere!"
"Hey Raf'l," Olivia called out before she took another large swig from her bottle. "Did y'know tha' Trev'r used t'like Elli'tt b'fore you mov'd to th' Vill'ge?"
Rafael looked back and up at Trevor in curiosity, "Elli'tt Stabl'r?! Really?! Wha' were yoooooou thinkin'?!"
"I did NOT, 'Livia!" Trevor shook his head vigorously but immediately regretted doing so. He groaned his discomfort as his hand travelled to his forehead, silently willing the world to stop spinning.
"Liar! Elli'tt saw you starin' at him at sc'ool once when we were kids... an' asked me why... an' I told Elli'tt it was b'coz there was a big ol' booger on his face... an' there was! Elli'tt kept wipin' his face e'ery time he saw you lookin' at him af'er that! Soooooo funny!"
"I r'member that! Well, maybe I lik'd Elli'tt jus' a lil' bit... but I was still tryin' to un'erstand why I didn't like Alex'ndra th'way Mom an' Dad said I was gonna when I was old'r. Thank goo'ness my Raf came 'long!"
"I used t'like a boy nam'd Eddie Garcia in m'old Vill'ge, bu' then we mov'd to th' Vill'ge here... an' I met my Trev!" Rafael patted Trevor's knee before downing the last of his wine and burping. "I soooooo glad I meet'd Trev... b'coz he's a han'some Jung... an' he's mine!"
Alexandra reappeared just as the chorus of the song began, "Burn, baby, burn! Disco inferno! Burn, baby, burn! Burn that mama down! Burn, baby, burn! Disco inferno! Burn, baby, burn! Burn that mama down! Burnin'!"
The blonde held a aloft a shaped piece of grotesque fabric in triumph as she spoke, "Th' go'awful dress I got fo' m'birfday is wha'... Moth'r... want'd me to wear to 'nouncements! Wha's worse... she wore thi' dress at her 'nouncement to Fath'r!"
Olivia, Rafael and Trevor all screwed up their faces and 'EWW'ed in unison at the admission.
"E'en worser still, Moth'r gave this go'awful dress back t' me fo' m'birfday af'er Aun' Liz'bef toss'd it out af'er our 'nouncements! Well Mom, this's wha' I fink of you an' your ugly dress!" Alexandra lobbed the puce coloured dress directly on the bonfire, the material quickly catching alight. All of them whooped and cheered as the fire quickly reduced the material to ashes. "Tha's wh' eve'yone finks of you... Miri-am! WOOOOO!... An' y'know who else?... Y'too, Daddy!... Leave me 'coz your dis'point'd... prolly jus' tired of bitchy, gossipy Mom!"
A sudden wave of sadness washed over Alexandra as she back down next to Olivia and rested her head on the brunette's shoulder, "Liv, I miss m'Daddy... Why'd he go an' leave me when I was a lil' girl?"
"Don' kno', sweetie. Wha' I do kno' is tha' I'll ne'er leave you, Alex. You an' me..." Olivia waved her wine bottle back and forth to indicate the both of them, "... we're for-ever."
"For-ever," Alexandra confirmed, lifting her head to look at Olivia. Her eyes darted down to the parted lips of the brunette before watching the tip of Olivia's tongue swipe along them. "Y'wanna go ins'de an'... y'know... hav' some 'lone time?"
A lazy smile curled on Olivia's mouth, "I lurve th' way y'think, jus' like I lurve you."
"You wuv me?"
Olivia slowly got to her feet, "Uh-huh."
"I wuv y'too!" Alexandra took Olivia's outstretched hand as she stood.
"Where ya goin' now?" Trevor called out.
Alexandra turned around, "Weeeeee... we... ahhhhh..."
Olivia looked at the wine bottles in their other hands after seeing the look of desperation on Alexandra's features for an explanation for them departing, "We... gonna go see... if th' peoples... in th' tele-box are hun'ry!"
"Yeeeeeeah! We haven' feed'd 'em yet... or see'd if they thirs'y," Alexandra nodded slowly, following Olivia's lead.
Trevor watched as the girls entered the house before turning his attention to Rafael, "I don' feel so goo'."
"M'too. Maybe it was th' steak? Maybe we shoulda cook'd 'em more than medi'm rare?" Rafael offered weakly.
The thought of those thick, juicy porterhouse steaks eaten a little earlier made Trevor's stomach lurch, "Bathroom... gonna b'sick."
He struggled to his feet with Rafael's assistance and made a wobbly beeline for the downstairs bathroom. Passing by Olivia and Alexandra in the lounge area, who were in front of the television, Trevor managed to make it to the toilet before emptying the contents of his stomach into the bowl. The guttural sounds of Trevor retching and heaving made Rafael's stomach suddenly churn as well. There was no way Trevor was moving from the toilet any time soon, nor would Rafael have time to make it to their upstairs bathroom. Rafael could only manage to take a few steps to the double bath before vomiting as well.
Rafael struggled to focus his eyes on what was once the entire contents of his stomach after vomiting more several times, "Trev... I don' r'member eatin' carrots... di' we eat carrots t'day?"
Trevor's only response was to dry heave again.
"Where we goin'?" Alexandra asked as Olivia headed towards the lounge area and not the stairs. "I though' we were gonna... y'know?"
"Bett'r check th' tele-box peoples... an' then we can... y'know!"
"A'right."
Both girls sat in front of the large, bulky television set with speakers on each side of the screen, resting on little splayed legs and pressed the button to turn the television on. It took a few moments for the screen to show a man talking as his name displayed to indicate he was a newsreader.
Alexandra waved her hand in front of the man to get his attention, "Mist'r Cron-kite?... ...Ssssssirrrrrr?... ...'Scuse me, Walt'r?... ...Hey!... ...Are y' hun'ry?... ...He's ignorin' me, Liv!"
"Maybe he can't hear us through the tele-box?"
The blonde leant closer and yelled near one of the speakers, "MIST'R CRON-KITE! YOU HUN'RY?... OR THIRS'Y?... ...WE'S GOT SOME WINE IF Y'WANT!... ...WALT'R... ...'SCUSE ME!... ... Liv, he's still talkin' ov'r th' top of me! "
"Wait 'ntil he stops talkin'?" Olivia suggested as Trevor and Rafael scurried past before the door to the bathroom slammed closed.
"He don' stop though! He jus' keeps talkin'!"
"Lemme try!" Olivia tapped the screen with her fingers, "HEY!... ...MIST'R WALT'R?... ...WALT'R CRON-KITE!... ...YOU HUN'RY?... ...MIST'R CRON-KITE!... ...Soooooo rude!"
"Liv? Wha' if y'sposed t'ask him b'fore we turn'd it on? Turn it off an' ask an' then turn it back on."
Olivia pressed the button and waited for the image to fade away before she tapped the screen and spoke into the speaker, "Mist'r Cron-kite, y' hun'ry or thirs'y? Coz we gots food an' wine if y'want it. I gonna turn th' tele-box back on an' y'let us know wha' y'want, a'right?"
"Waaaaaait..." Alexandra grabbed Olivia's wrist before she could press the 'On' button. "Mist'r Cron-kite? D'you live in th' tele-box ALL th' time or d'you visit oth'r peoples tele-boxes, an' they feeds you? Y'tell us when we turns th' tele-box back on."
Alexandra and Olivia were disappointed when the newsreader just continued talking about the current world events.
"Wha' if we jus' leave th' wine near th' tele-box... an' some cookies? If he's hun'ry or thirs'y af'er he stops talkin', he can hop out the tele-box an' hav' it!"
"Goo' idea!" Olivia got up and wobbled her way to the kitchen, eventually returning with a small plate and a couple of choc chip cookies Lena had made. "I jus' leave 'em here fo' Mist'r Cron-kite... Alex... how's 'bout we stay d'wn here in 'nother be'room t'night? I don' think I can get all th' way up t' our room."
"A'right."
The blonde held up her hand for Olivia's assistance but the end result was Alexandra pulling an unsteady Olivia down on top of her.
"Wha' 'bout my goo'night kiss?" Alexandra mumbled as her eyelids began drooping.
Olivia pressed a soft kiss to Alexandra's lips like she always did, "Goo'night."
End Note: Don't forget about reader participation! Suggestions for what Alex, Liv, Trevor and Rafael could do during Rumspringa are welcome :-)