Title: Pretend
Author: Lauren (
kasumi_grl)
Pairing: Mary Anne/Kristy
Rating: G
Summary: preseries - soon after her father leaves, Kristy and Mary Anne play together.
Author’s notes: This is my first BSC fic. It’s for
wisdomeagle, who requested Kristy and Mary Anne as little girls. I hope this lives up to what she imagined and that it’s all right that I’m posting extremely early. Also, this is unbeta’d.
Disclaimer: The characters with in are the property of scholastic.
“Thank you, Richard,” says Kristy’s mommy as she stands at our front door. My daddy just nods and Kristy’s mommy urges her forward. “Go play with Mary Anne while I take Sammy to the doctor.”
Kristy doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t move either. I wave from where me and my doll Lily are watching TV. I get to watch one TV show every day, and sometimes, when I have friends play, daddy lets me watch two. Maybe with how mad Kristy looks, today will be a two TV show day.
“Bye, Honey,” Kristy’s mommy says. Kristy gives her a not happy look. Lily and I feel bad for her.
“Girls, I’m going to be working in the other room. Mary Anne, not too much TV.” Lily and I forget about not being happy, because our eyes are too busy being huge. Not too much TV? That meant maybe more than two shows!
I don’t say that though, just nod real fast instead. Daddy leaves and Kristy stands by the door for a few seconds, before coming to sit by me and Lily.
“Hi,” I say. Kristy still doesn’t look happy and I don’t like when people are mad.
“This is a stupid show,” Kristy says, even though it’s not. It’s Josie and the Pussycats, which I know she likes just as much as me.
“You like this show,” I say quietly.
Kristy doesn’t say anything, just stares at the TV.
“Want to play dolls?” I ask when it’s been quiet for a real long time.
“No.” Kristy’s not usually mean to me. Sometimes to Claudie, but only when Claudie won’t do what Kristy says.
“Okay. Want to… color pictures?”
“No.” That was a dumb thing for me to say anyway, Claudie is the only one good at making pictures.
“What do you wanna do?” I say, even though I’m not s’posed to say ‘wanna.’
“I dunno.” Kristy isn’t even looking at me, just staring at Lily’s bottle lying on the table.
“Wanna play house?” I love house.
“Kay,” Kristy finally says, looking at me. I smile and get up to get Lily’s stuff, so she can be our baby.
“Who do you want me to be?” Kristy’s still on the couch, playing with the TV changer. She always says who everyone plays.
“Not a daddy,” she says loudly. I jump and almost drop Lily.
“I don’t wanna be a daddy,” I say quietly, kinda scared. “I n-never want to be a daddy.”
“Good. Daddy’s are stupid.”
My daddy’s not stupid. I want to tell her so, but my voice won’t work, so I just stand there.
No one says stuff for a real long time, just Josie and her friends on the TV Kristy forgot to turn off.
“Kay,” Kristy says after a minute. “I’m the mommy and you’re my kid.”
“Is Lily my sister?”
“Okay, fine.”
We play and Kristy’s sending me to school but I take Lily with me. When I’m about to get on the pretend bus, I stop.
“How come you don’t like daddy’s?” I don’t say stupid, it’s not a good word. Only mean people say stupid. But Kristy’s not mean, not lots anyway.
“’Cause mine went somewheres.” Kristy says after a minute. She forgets about the bus and goes back to the couch and sits down.
“Where?” I ask finally, putting Lily in her bed.
“I don’t know. Charlie and Sammy don’t know. Davys too stupid to know.”
“D-Does your mommy?” Kristy has a mommy and a daddy, like Claudie. I only have a daddy, ‘cause my mommy went up to heaven already.
“She won’t tell me so,” Kristy says quietly. She hits one of the pillows and I hope daddy doesn’t come in and see. He likes to keep our stuff nice and clean. I should tell her to stop, but she kinda looks like she’s going to cry and it scares me when Kristy cries ‘cause she never does. I always do, when Claudie’s mean or if Sammy takes Lily. Kristy’s always brave and hits Sam. I’m not brave. I don’t hit good, either.
“M-maybe your daddy went up to heaven,” I say after a minute. That’s a good thing, so Kristy might not be so sad.
“No, people would have said so if he did that,” she decides.
“Maybe he hadda do something ‘portant.”
“Maybe. I’m ‘portant. Sammy and Charlie are ‘portant too. I know! It’s Davey’s fault. He’s stupid and only cries. I knowed he shouldn’t have come!”
“Daddy’s don’t go away from babies.” Mine didn’t. My mommy only did because the angels needed her, so that’s different.
“Mine did.” Kristy puts her face in the pillow she was hitting and starts crying, a little bit. I get Lily and we go sit by her. I hold Lily out to Kristy, but she doesn’t take her. I put Lily down and hug Kristy instead, ‘cause that’s what daddy does when I’m crying.
Kristy doesn’t sit up from the pillow but she lets me hug her for a sec. Then she gets up and that makes me let go. She sniffs and rubs her face.
“Let’s play house s’more,” she says.
“O-Okay.”
“But this time? Let’s be mommy’s together. Lily can be our baby.”
“You and me, be mommy’s?”
“Uh-huh.”
“But… but mommy’s can’t have babies together, can they?”
“I say they can.” She gets up and picks up Lily. “We’d be good mommy’s, dontcha think?”
“Maybe,” I say, thinking hard bout it. “What ‘bout Claudie?”
“Who cares? She only likes making pictures. I don’t want to be a mommy with someone who only likes doing that. You like playing house and reading books and stuff. You’re funnner than Claudie.”
I’ve never been called funner than nobody before. I smile at Kristy and she smiles back.
“So will you be mommy’s with me?”
“Yes, I’ll be mommy’s with you, Kristy.”
“You think I’m fun right Mommy?”
“Yes - but do Mommy’s call each other Mommy?”
“We do,” Kristy decides.
“Okay, Mommy.”
“Mary Anne-Mommy?” Kristy starts feeding Lily her bottle and I start making our pretend dinner.
“Yes, Kristy-Mommy?”
“Am I funner than Claudie?”
I think for a sec, ‘cause I like Claudie lots. But I do like Kristy lots, too. “Sometimes.”
Kristy smiles. I smile.
“It’s dinner time!” I say, bringing two pretend plates over to Kristy and Lily.
“I’m glad we’re Mommy’s,” Kristy says as we eat.
I nod and grab her hand. “Mommy’s and daddy’s hold hands,” I say when she looks at me funny. “Maybe mommy’s do too?”
She looks at our hands for a long sec and then smiles big. “Yeah, I bet they do! Good idea, Mary Anne-mommy.”
“Thank you, Kristy-mommy.”
We hold hands for the rest of the day, even after we’re not pretend mommy’s anymore.
Author’s notes: I just want to say that the Claudia comments weren’t meant as bashing, because I love her. But I just figured there might be some conflict between the three at this age. Plus, I have this wonderfully sad image of Claudia unintentionally isolating herself as a little girl, but that’s totally off topic. I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t trying to show any Claud hate.