Maxwell informs Fran, his sister will come for a short visit. Fran is not amused. She still remembers that Jocelyn tried her best to ruin their wedding. Maxwell begs his wife, to give Jocelyn a second chance.
Jocelyn's visit!
Fran rushed into her husband's office and was about to start raving about her visit at her mother's when she realized he was on the phone. Maxwell Sheffield had an annoyed look on his face.
"Of course I know that Andrew Lloyd Webber's new show is about to premiere on Broadway. With the tons of billboards everywhere, there exists probably not one soul around New York who hasn't heard it. Of course, I'm also fully aware, how difficult it might be to find a hotel room, but thank you for reminding me of that fact again."
Fran winced, stepping up to her husband as quietly as possible. She tried to calm him down by massaging his shoulders. At the same time, she was dying to know who he was talking to and who had the chutzpah to approach Andrew Lloyd Webber.
"Yes, all right, I will ask Niles to prepare a guest room for you. Yeah that's fine. I'll see you next Friday, bye!"
Visibly stressed and exhausted, Maxwell put the phone down. Fran, even more curious, sat down at her usual spot on the desk and stared at her husband.
"Do you have the grace to tell me who we will hosting next Friday?"
She noticed Maxwell hesitated with his answer. Completely horrified, she cried out.
"Not your mother?"
She was immediately sorry for her violent outburst when she saw the look on her husband's face and hastily added.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to... but you know..."
Maxwell took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Yes I know my mother is a very special woman, but I can reassure you, it's not her who wants to visit us."
Fran sighed in relief, but continued to look at him questioningly. As casually as possible, but without looking at Fran, he replied.
"Our visitor is Jocelyn. She's passing through to visit some friends and couldn't find a hotel room."
Fran looked at her husband with her mouth open.
"You mean your little sister?"
Maxwell could tell from her voice, it was very hard for her to pulling herself together and to keep herself from yelling again. He tried to make a joke.
"As far as I know, I only have one sister named Jocelyn."
He viewed Fran, her eyes were sparkling with anger, he pulled her onto his lap and tried to soothe her. "Darling, I know you don't particularly like my sister since the wedding, but she is family after all and she's only staying for one night."
"What do you mean not particularly liking her?"
Fran yelled now, so she could certainly be heard throughout the house and far away until Queens. "Have you forgotten...she tried to stop our wedding by any means. She tried to ruin all my anticipation with her pep talk before the wedding and tried to convince me our marriage would fail anyway. She rubbed it in both of ours, your and mine face that your mother will never tolerate our wedding and our marriage because she hates me."
As all this gushed out of Fran, she fought back her tears. Tenderly Maxwell hugged her even tighter and stroked her back and hair.
"No I haven't forgotten any of this darling, but she is my sister and for one night we will put up with her.. Besides, I have the suspicion anyway, this whole story is not mostly on Jocelyn's account. But my mother might have forced and instructed her accordingly, after she had realized, with her absence alone she could not prevent the wedding. Jocelyn had always been very submissive to our mother since our childhood. She has never been able to bear the little attention and constant rejection of our mother. Even as a little girl she always tried to please her. The only time she wasn't Mommy's little girl was when she married Lester, and she probably only had the courage to go through with it because they got married here in New York and Mother was far away in England. As soon as the two of them went back to London and Jocelyn was again under the influence of our mother, she changed her step by step over the years and turned her back into her little goody Jocelyn and we have seen the result."
Fran had become very quiet and thoughtful at Maxwell's speech. His honest words touched her deeply and hit her right in her heart. She felt him trembling as he spoke. She snuggled even closer to him and her fingers gently caressed his cheeks and hair. His explanations seemed to make sense and they probably hit the truth.
Her anger gradually melt away and she felt a deep compassion for her husband and his siblings. How bad must it has been for Jocelyn, Maxwell and even Nigel to deal with a mother who never really cared for them and always left the task of raising them to nannies and boarding schools. As much as her mother sometimes annoyed her, she could hardly imagine what it must have been like to go through life without any real mother love. Conciliatorily, she nodded.
"All right, I'll get along with her..somehow..for one night. But I swear to you! One more word that I don't fit with you and our marriage won't last, then I'll scratch her stuck-up eyes out."
Maxwell couldn't help it, he had to grin. He knew his wife's temper as well as her big heart and he loved both. His lips gently brushed hers, lovingly rubbing his nose against hers. Finally he kissed her and their kisses quickly intensified. Jocelyn and her visit were soon forgotten.
Friday came faster than Fran would have preferred and the dreaded night was upon them. Maxwell had just left for the airport to pick up his sister. Everyone in the house couldn't wait to get that evening behind them. Fran had been hard to deal with the last few days. She came up with the idea to present the house, the children, and herself at the very best to prove to Jocelyn what a perfect wife and mother she is.
Even Niles, who was usually sympathetic to all her antics, caught himself more than once getting the idea to secretly giving Fran a sleeping medicine so she would be out of commission. Normally, Fran left the housekeeping entirely in Niles capable hands. But this week she had interfered with every detail and had driven him crazy. She had inspected Jocelyn's guest room several times and was never satisfied. There was still a bouquet of flowers missing, the picture above the dresser should be replaced, the fruit basket was too small, and the bathroom lacked the right soap arrangement. In addition, she did not rest until the house was perfect in her eyes. On all the carpets in the entire mansion you could no longer find even one fusel. Nowhere was even a speck of dust and in every tile you could reflect yourself. She also came up every day with new ideas for the dinner and constantly assailed poor Niles with another suggestion, recommendations and instructions. Meanwhile, Niles got goosebumps all over his body when he heard Fran's nasal voice calling out for him.
Niles was by far not the only victim. However; also the children were not spared. She dragged all three of them to every department store in town until she found the perfect outfit for each of them and she took them to the Chatterbox to restyle them from head to toe. She made Maxwell go on shopping sprees with her. He was constantly wondering why she had brought him along. She didn't listen to his opinion after all, and dare him if he said the wrong thing. She had been mortally offended and had a terrible crying fit at Loehmanns just because he had mentioned that beige didn't suit her as well as red. Back at home, they had made up and Fran solemnly promised to take it down a notch, but this only lasted as long as she slept. After many endless days, Friday night finally was there.
Fran came down the stairs in an elegant dark blue suit. Niles was in the living room preparing everything for the aperitif. On the table were the glasses for the welcome cocktail and the platters with snacks. Fran grabbed one of the appetizers and devoured it with pleasure. Niles grinned.
"Are you volunteering to leave some for the others, or shall I take the platter back to the kitchen?"
Fran fired at him with a slightly venomous expression. "I can pull myself together!"
"Spoken by a woman born with Fine genes!" retorted Niles with a mischievous grin. She slapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't start with me Niles. I'm not in the mood for your British humor right now."
Niles grinned even wider.
"I see, the big meeting with the beloved sister-in-law. Just promise me one thing..." Fran glared at him.
"...if it comes to a wrestling match, let me get the camera first."
Fran rolled her eyes, and snorted. Then she called out in a loud voice so that Niles winced and covered his ears.
"Brighton, Maggie, Gracie get down here. They've got to be there any minute. Go! Go!
The three of them appeared at the top of the stairs and slowly came down, all of them had put on the elegant dresses Fran had picked out for them. Brighton was very uncomfortable in his tuxedo. He never likes wearing suits where you could hardly move in. Besides, the tie was annoying, wasn't it enough that he had to wear such crappy things to school.
Gracie too looked rather glum. She thought her dress was awful. It had similarities with the sailor suit that Nanny Müller had once bought for her. Also in her mind she was really too old by now to wear a bow in her hair.
Maggie still couldn't believe what outfit Fran had chosen for her. Normally Fran was the best fashion consultant in the world, but in this black strap dress with the white blouse underneath, she felt like a nun.
All of their faces showed, everyone was looking forward to the evening as much as Fran. Brighton and Maggie, in particular, were very annoyed that they had to sit at home on a Friday night and play family harmony.
Fran walked up to the three of them and double-checked that the wardrobe fit properly and ran her hands through everyone's hair again. Brighton pulled his head away, annoyed.
"Now stop it Fran, you're acting worse than a bride's mother on her daughter's wedding day."
Fran glared sternly at her son, but finally let them go and paced nervously around the living room. The three Sheffield kids gave each other definite looks. They understood, right now was not the best time to tease Fran any further with any comments. They all sat down on the couch and waited until their father would arrive with their aunt.
The front door opened and Maxwell appeared in the foyer with his sister.
"Sorry for the delay, but the plane was tremendously late."
Fran gave herself a jolt, put on a smile and reached out to her sister-in-law.
"Hello Jocelyn, nice to see you again. How was your journey?"
Jocelyn handed Niles her coat and ignoring Fran's hand, she ran her hand through her hair.
"Oh the flight was an ordeal, what they sometimes pass off as light turbulence and they didn't even have a decent scotch in first class. I must look terrible, you'll excuse me!"
And without greeting anyone she stormed into the bathroom. Fran exchanged glances with Maxwell, who put an arm around her waist, gave her a kiss on the cheek. He led Fran to the couch sat down with her and put an arm around her shoulder.
Jocelyn came out of the bathroom. She now warmly embraced her nephew and nieces, the greeting between her and Fran turned out to be rather cool and stiff on both sides. Jocelyn sat down on the couch back and put her arms around Gracie.
"Oh it's good to be here with all of you!"
Niles, meanwhile, had prepared 3 champagne glasses and orange juice for the kids. Maxwell raised his glass. "Well Jocelyn, cheers!" and everyone clinked their glasses.
Surprisingly, the rest of the conversation was relaxed and friendly. Jocelyn checked with all three kids for news and finally turned to Maxwell and Fran. She gave them greetings from many relatives, all had raved enthusiastically about the wedding.
The mood at dinner was also quite cozy, it seemed that Jocelyn was infected by the happy cheerful mood that always enlightened the Sheffield house and soon she was telling funny anecdotes of various family members. Jocelyn seemed to enjoy the evening with her brother's family more and more and came out of her shell. However, she noticed very well, behind Fran's friendliness and smile something else was hiding. She sometimes felt the stare of her sister-in-law and felt very uncomfortable about it. She realized she missed Fran's warm and livid nature. Irritated she wondered why Fran was so cold and reserved towards her.
When the meal was finished, the family sat together for a long time, until Gracie's eyes began to fall down. Fran and she headed upstairs. Even though Gracie was now 12 and therefore no longer a little girl, she still enjoyed it when Fran tucked her into bed at night. Maggie and Brighton retired to the living room to watch a movie.
Sister and brother remained alone in the dining room and so she approached him.
"May I talk to you in private in your office for a moment?"
"Sure!" he replied.
Leading Jocelyn into his study and gesturing to her to take a seat on the green loveseat.
"All right, what do you want to talk to me about?" Jocelyn rubbed her hands together nervously.
"It's about Fran. I have the impression all evening that she doesn't like my visit at all. She gives me looks all the time that could kill someone. On top of that, she's awfully cold and dismissive."
Maxwell folded his arms and leaned against his desk, looking at his sister seriously.
"Does this surprise you Jocelyn? After the way you behaved toward her at the wedding. Do you even realize how much your words hurt her? You deeply upset her, she cried and was almost ready to cancel the wedding, which was probably your idea with that speech."
Jocelyn was surprised by her brother's honest words. She had rather expected him to deny everything.
She was visibly uncomfortable being asked about her behavior at the wedding.
"You have to believe me, I'm so sorry about this whole story by now. But mother had talked all the time about that this marriage would hurt you and the children. She kept pressuring me until I finally promised her that I would do my utmost to stop this wedding. She lavished me so much with her arguments that I really thought it would be in your best interest to cancel the wedding. After all, the marriage between me and Lester failed because of our differences."
"Jocelyn, your marriage didn't fail because of your differences, but because you hadn't the courage to stand up to Mother. Her wishes ended up being more important to you than your own marriage and happiness."
Jocelyn stared at her brother in horror, but didn't dare to contradict as she secretly knew he was right. He took her by the shoulders.
"When will you finally realize, you are an adult independent woman by now. You no longer depend on our mother's opinion! You have to live your own life and don't ruin your relationship with the people who really care about you. You know as well as I do, Lester has always loved you sincerely and Fran has always been kind and open to you."
"I know you're right, but for you it's easy to say. You're here in New York, thousand miles away from our mother. You're not exposed to her all the time. Nigel and you left her and London, but I sit there and have to listen to mother's worries every day."
"Well isn't it much more like you're doing this to yourself. It's your own choice. But I will repeat myself, you're not a little girl anymore, so take your life in your own hands and judge people according to your own opinion and not according to what mother imposes on you"
Jocelyn glanced at her brother in amazement. So energetic and determined, he had never spoken to her before.
"You are certainly right my dear brother, the marriage certainly seems to suit you. I've never seen you so convincing before."
"Well, I've just learned my lesson. After all, I almost ruined everything with my doubts and hesitation. When Fran didn't show up at the altar and wanted to cancel the wedding, I realized at once how much I love her. I fought with all my words to get her vow and I don't even want to imagine what life would be for me and the children without her. Of course, difficulties can arise when rich and poor fall in love. I won't deny that and Fran and I are so different, you wouldn't believe how often we argue and fight. But one loving smile from her and all this is no longer important."
Jocelyn understood her brother's message.
"Do you think Fran will accept my apology?"
Maxwell grinned.
"For sure and if you want to play it safe, let some tears flow and make a puppy face. She can't stand that."
The two siblings laughed, hugged each other and left the office. They stepped into the living room.
Fran was sitting alone on the couch, flipping through a "People" magazine. Brighton preferred to finish the movie in his room and Maggie had retreated with the phone. Fran looked up as Maxwell and his sister approached. Niles had told her the two had retreated to his study, so she had hoped there had been an honest talk between the siblings.
Jocelyn didn't quite know how to begin. She sat down next to Fran.
"Oh the time here with you all has been so much fun and relaxing. I really regret that I have to leave early tomorrow morning."
Maxwell decided to give the two women a chance to talk alone.
"How about a nightcap? For you darling, a cocoa with lots of whipped cream?"
Fran nodded enthusiastically.
"What can I get you Jocelyn?"
"I'll have a cocoa too please!"
Maxwell gazed at his sister dumbfounded. The last time Jocelyn had drunk cocoa she had been four. He disappeared toward the kitchen.
Awkward silence occurred in the room. Finally, Fran spoke up.
"Where are you going tomorrow?"
"I'm visiting a former boarding school friend. We lost track of each other back then and didn't keep in touch for years. It wasn't until the other day that we ran into each other again at a party."
"Oh that should be fun, I always find it exciting to find out what happened to people from the past."
"Yes certainly!"
Jocelyn got herself a push.
"Mhh Fran, I want to get one important thing off my chest... I want to apologize for my behavior at your wedding. It was out of line the way I tried to make you uncomfortable and spoil your fun. I talked to Maxwell earlier and he opened my eyes on a few points. I know and saw with my own eyes tonight...Maxwell and you; you really love each other and you are obviously happy together. You two and the kids are such a beautiful family. I realized that tonight, you are a gift for Maxwell and the kids, I honestly didn't think they could be that happy again. So I'm truly sorry."
Fran stared at Jocelyn for a long time and could tell by the look on her face, this apology was sincere and came from her heart. For the first time that evening, she truly smiled at her sister-in-law.
"I really appreciate your apology and it means a lot to me what you just said. So let's forget about the bloody thing. I'd really appreciate it if you would stay once for a longer visit. Anyway, you're welcome anytime."
In her exuberant manner, Fran finally took Jocelyn in her arms, who reacted a little reserved at first, but then rejoiced warmly.
At that moment Maxwell returned, carrying two mugs with cocoa and a brandy.
"Ohh looks like I'll have to disappoint Niles, he was just getting his camera in anticipation of the wrestling match."
Jocelyn and Fran looked at him in amusement and accepted their cups. All three sat back, relaxed and took a sip. Maxwell couldn't stop grinning,
"What?" asked Fran and Jocelyn out of one mouth.
Then they saw each other. Both had white whiskers from the whipped cream. Suddenly they both laughed and giggled like silly teenagers.
End
I always wondered that Fran was so friendly to Jocelyn and her behavior before the wedding was never mentioned. So I wrote my own story about it. I hope you will enjoy it and I appreciate any kind of feedback!