FOTD, Butter Pecan 16, Rocky Road 19: Elegy
Title: Elegy
Main Story: In the Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: FOTD (cloud or atmosphere (as of romance or glamour) that surrounds a person or thing, a rain cloud), butter pecan 16 (wet), rocky road 19 (the breakfast table), malt (PFAH: Ivy: I will follow you into the dark), caramel (the first and last two), whipped cream (Ivy spends half of these as a child), cookie crumbs (see notes), fresh peaches ( you and an important person in your life talk easily about feelings and love), cherry (tense shenanigans), pocky chain.
Word Count: 1200
Rating: PG-13 for swearing.
Summary: Remembering.
Notes: Cookie crumbs of, in order, First Impressions/ Impressing, I Am A Scientist, Getting It, What I Need, Very Simple, Here Kitty Kitty, Missed Connections/ Keep The Old, Trucker Hat, and Never Seen A Sight So Fine.
It is raining when Gina wakes up, a fine fuzzy rain that sounds like white noise static on the radio outside her window. The other half of the bed is empty.
She gets up (slowly, so slowly these days, her bones ache so), rubs her eyes. Her wife is not in the bedroom, but there is a light on in the kitchen and Ivy is there, sitting at the table, her hands folded and her head bowed.
She looks up when Gina comes in. Her face is... blank.
"What's wrong?" Gina asks, frightened suddenly.
"Clara called," Ivy says, and crumbles.
--
"So my mom is going to marry your dad," Ivy told him, after The Little Mermaid ended.
He shrugged, playing with his tie. He'd taken it off. Ivy wished she could do the same with her stupid itchy ugly dress. "Yeah, I guess so."
"That means we're going to be sister and brother," she said.
He wrinkled his nose, and said, "Well, only if we want to be."
She looked at him for a moment, then said, "I want you to be my brother. If you want to. You're cool."
"You're cool too," he said, and grinned. "Fine by me."
--
"I'm bored," Ivy said for the millionth time.
Having a sister was really not all it was cracked up to be. "Why don't you go outside and play in traffic?" he asked.
Ivy rolled her eyes. "Funny," she said. "It's raining."
He wasn't sure whether to be amused or worried that she objected to that. "Fine," he said. "Figure out something to do inside."
"You're so stupid," Ivy said, and kicked the kitchen table. "Get me a cookie."
He saved his drink from capsizing (barely) and glared at her. "Get your own cookie."
He regretted those words. But not much.
--
He was helping Ivy with her own homework one day when she got up the courage to ask him. "So... do you think the baby'll be smart like me?"
He lifted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Here's your problem, you forgot the dividend. What was that about smart?"
That hurt, unexpectedly, and Ivy flinched.
"Oh," he said, and, "Shit," and then, "I was teasing, Ivy. You're brilliant."
"Obviously not," she said, a little reassured all the same.
"The baby might be as smart as you," he said, and hugged her shoulders. "But you'll always be my only little sister."
--
"So... Ivy's gay," his father said, one otherwise silent morning over breakfast.
He was reading the comics, barely paying attention, so he only shrugged. "Yeah. So?"
There was a pause, then his father asked, "That doesn't bother you?"
Now he looked up, frowning. "It bothers you?"
His father didn't answer immediately. "A little," he said, at last. "I'm not... I wasn't raised... this is new."
"That's no kind of excuse."
His father didn't respond, because Ivy shuffled in just then. "Morning, everyone."
"Good morning, sweetheart," his father said, and hugged her and kissed her like he always did.
He relaxed.
--
He couldn't believe that he'd been worried about Ivy's reaction.
If her initial insistence on using the biological definition had been more than a little irritating, that was less deliberate misunderstanding and more Ivy being... well, Ivy. Once she really understood what he was getting at, she'd been surprisingly blasé about it, which was also just like her. He'd had no reason to be worried at all.
But he had worried, because it was Ivy, and Ivy was important. Good thing it was unnecessary.
Although he really could have done without his little sister knowing details of his sex life.
--
Until she actually found herself sitting there, watching mostly-naked women doing incredible things, Ivy didn't actually believe that her brother would take her to a strip club. He lent her money, too.
But he didn't earn the title of Best Big Brother Ever until the card.
"They all signed this?" she asked, clutching it to her chest.
He nodded, and grinned at her. "They did. They seem to like me."
"'Cause you're the best," Ivy said, and hugged him tight.
She withdrew that five minutes later when she realized he'd come out with a date, but she didn't mean it.
--
"So I met a girl," Ivy said one day, while they companionably washed dishes after dinner with their parents.
"A girl, or a girl girl?" he asked, rinsing one plate and passing it to her to be dried.
"The second," Ivy said. "Actually... you remember that time a couple months ago when you wouldn't buy me a drink?"
"Those times are so many," he deadpanned, and laughed when she flicked water at him.
"Really," she said. "The time with the blonde girl?"
"Oh, yeah," he said. "The knockout. ...Wait, that girl?"
"That girl," Ivy said, and smiled a silly smile.
--
"I'm going to ask Clara to marry me," he said, with no preamble.
Ivy displayed as much surprise as she felt, which was absolutely none. "Congratulations," she said. "You want help with that?"
He gave her a Look, and when that had no effect on her so-helpful smile, sighed. "Absolutely not. Gina told me about how you proposed to her."
"It wasn't that bad," she said. "I didn't manage half my plans. What were you thinking?"
"I don't need your help," he replied, emphatically. "I just... need your approval, I guess."
"Sure you do," Ivy said, "but you have it."
--
"Guess what!" Ivy screamed into the phone, as soon as he answered.
There was a long silence. "You decided on your revenge for my enthusiasm when we found out we got pregnant?"
Ivy rolled her eyes, momentarily distracted. "I wish you'd stop saying that. You're not pregnant, Clara is."
"Forgive me for wanting to participate."
"Ew," she said, succinctly, and then, "I'm getting married!"
Another brief silence. "Oh my God," he said, almost prayerfully. "It passed?"
"It will! And you'll be my best man, right?"
"Forget best man, Vee," he said, laughing, "I will be your damn maid of honor."
--
They didn't say anything to each other at the funeral, but then they didn't really need to. His mother had died a couple of years ago; hers was still there, stiff and white-faced beside them, but everyone knew not for much longer. And now their father... it was almost too much to comprehend.
It wasn't like they were alone. They had Summer, Gina and Clara, their respective children. Even Summer's boys. But it wasn't quite the same.
"You're all I have," Ivy told him afterwards, in the kitchen, when neither could sleep.
He didn't speak, but she knew he agreed.
--
"Oh God," Gina says, and sits down.
Ivy is crying now, silently-- Gina doesn't think she even notices. "She said... she woke up, and he wasn't breathing... she called 911 and they said... they said..." She crumbles further, puts her face in her hands. "He had a stroke. He never woke up."
Gina reaches across the table, touches her hair. "I'm so sorry," she says. It seems so inadequate.
"He's my brother," Ivy says, sobbing now. "Oh, God. He's my brother. I don't even know what I am without him."
Gina doesn't know what to say.
She just holds on.
Main Story: In the Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: FOTD (cloud or atmosphere (as of romance or glamour) that surrounds a person or thing, a rain cloud), butter pecan 16 (wet), rocky road 19 (the breakfast table), malt (PFAH: Ivy: I will follow you into the dark), caramel (the first and last two), whipped cream (Ivy spends half of these as a child), cookie crumbs (see notes), fresh peaches ( you and an important person in your life talk easily about feelings and love), cherry (tense shenanigans), pocky chain.
Word Count: 1200
Rating: PG-13 for swearing.
Summary: Remembering.
Notes: Cookie crumbs of, in order, First Impressions/ Impressing, I Am A Scientist, Getting It, What I Need, Very Simple, Here Kitty Kitty, Missed Connections/ Keep The Old, Trucker Hat, and Never Seen A Sight So Fine.
It is raining when Gina wakes up, a fine fuzzy rain that sounds like white noise static on the radio outside her window. The other half of the bed is empty.
She gets up (slowly, so slowly these days, her bones ache so), rubs her eyes. Her wife is not in the bedroom, but there is a light on in the kitchen and Ivy is there, sitting at the table, her hands folded and her head bowed.
She looks up when Gina comes in. Her face is... blank.
"What's wrong?" Gina asks, frightened suddenly.
"Clara called," Ivy says, and crumbles.
--
"So my mom is going to marry your dad," Ivy told him, after The Little Mermaid ended.
He shrugged, playing with his tie. He'd taken it off. Ivy wished she could do the same with her stupid itchy ugly dress. "Yeah, I guess so."
"That means we're going to be sister and brother," she said.
He wrinkled his nose, and said, "Well, only if we want to be."
She looked at him for a moment, then said, "I want you to be my brother. If you want to. You're cool."
"You're cool too," he said, and grinned. "Fine by me."
--
"I'm bored," Ivy said for the millionth time.
Having a sister was really not all it was cracked up to be. "Why don't you go outside and play in traffic?" he asked.
Ivy rolled her eyes. "Funny," she said. "It's raining."
He wasn't sure whether to be amused or worried that she objected to that. "Fine," he said. "Figure out something to do inside."
"You're so stupid," Ivy said, and kicked the kitchen table. "Get me a cookie."
He saved his drink from capsizing (barely) and glared at her. "Get your own cookie."
He regretted those words. But not much.
--
He was helping Ivy with her own homework one day when she got up the courage to ask him. "So... do you think the baby'll be smart like me?"
He lifted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Here's your problem, you forgot the dividend. What was that about smart?"
That hurt, unexpectedly, and Ivy flinched.
"Oh," he said, and, "Shit," and then, "I was teasing, Ivy. You're brilliant."
"Obviously not," she said, a little reassured all the same.
"The baby might be as smart as you," he said, and hugged her shoulders. "But you'll always be my only little sister."
--
"So... Ivy's gay," his father said, one otherwise silent morning over breakfast.
He was reading the comics, barely paying attention, so he only shrugged. "Yeah. So?"
There was a pause, then his father asked, "That doesn't bother you?"
Now he looked up, frowning. "It bothers you?"
His father didn't answer immediately. "A little," he said, at last. "I'm not... I wasn't raised... this is new."
"That's no kind of excuse."
His father didn't respond, because Ivy shuffled in just then. "Morning, everyone."
"Good morning, sweetheart," his father said, and hugged her and kissed her like he always did.
He relaxed.
--
He couldn't believe that he'd been worried about Ivy's reaction.
If her initial insistence on using the biological definition had been more than a little irritating, that was less deliberate misunderstanding and more Ivy being... well, Ivy. Once she really understood what he was getting at, she'd been surprisingly blasé about it, which was also just like her. He'd had no reason to be worried at all.
But he had worried, because it was Ivy, and Ivy was important. Good thing it was unnecessary.
Although he really could have done without his little sister knowing details of his sex life.
--
Until she actually found herself sitting there, watching mostly-naked women doing incredible things, Ivy didn't actually believe that her brother would take her to a strip club. He lent her money, too.
But he didn't earn the title of Best Big Brother Ever until the card.
"They all signed this?" she asked, clutching it to her chest.
He nodded, and grinned at her. "They did. They seem to like me."
"'Cause you're the best," Ivy said, and hugged him tight.
She withdrew that five minutes later when she realized he'd come out with a date, but she didn't mean it.
--
"So I met a girl," Ivy said one day, while they companionably washed dishes after dinner with their parents.
"A girl, or a girl girl?" he asked, rinsing one plate and passing it to her to be dried.
"The second," Ivy said. "Actually... you remember that time a couple months ago when you wouldn't buy me a drink?"
"Those times are so many," he deadpanned, and laughed when she flicked water at him.
"Really," she said. "The time with the blonde girl?"
"Oh, yeah," he said. "The knockout. ...Wait, that girl?"
"That girl," Ivy said, and smiled a silly smile.
--
"I'm going to ask Clara to marry me," he said, with no preamble.
Ivy displayed as much surprise as she felt, which was absolutely none. "Congratulations," she said. "You want help with that?"
He gave her a Look, and when that had no effect on her so-helpful smile, sighed. "Absolutely not. Gina told me about how you proposed to her."
"It wasn't that bad," she said. "I didn't manage half my plans. What were you thinking?"
"I don't need your help," he replied, emphatically. "I just... need your approval, I guess."
"Sure you do," Ivy said, "but you have it."
--
"Guess what!" Ivy screamed into the phone, as soon as he answered.
There was a long silence. "You decided on your revenge for my enthusiasm when we found out we got pregnant?"
Ivy rolled her eyes, momentarily distracted. "I wish you'd stop saying that. You're not pregnant, Clara is."
"Forgive me for wanting to participate."
"Ew," she said, succinctly, and then, "I'm getting married!"
Another brief silence. "Oh my God," he said, almost prayerfully. "It passed?"
"It will! And you'll be my best man, right?"
"Forget best man, Vee," he said, laughing, "I will be your damn maid of honor."
--
They didn't say anything to each other at the funeral, but then they didn't really need to. His mother had died a couple of years ago; hers was still there, stiff and white-faced beside them, but everyone knew not for much longer. And now their father... it was almost too much to comprehend.
It wasn't like they were alone. They had Summer, Gina and Clara, their respective children. Even Summer's boys. But it wasn't quite the same.
"You're all I have," Ivy told him afterwards, in the kitchen, when neither could sleep.
He didn't speak, but she knew he agreed.
--
"Oh God," Gina says, and sits down.
Ivy is crying now, silently-- Gina doesn't think she even notices. "She said... she woke up, and he wasn't breathing... she called 911 and they said... they said..." She crumbles further, puts her face in her hands. "He had a stroke. He never woke up."
Gina reaches across the table, touches her hair. "I'm so sorry," she says. It seems so inadequate.
"He's my brother," Ivy says, sobbing now. "Oh, God. He's my brother. I don't even know what I am without him."
Gina doesn't know what to say.
She just holds on.