strawberry tart

July 2081 - Carly Cook is 28, Piper Wilson is 26, Jodie Larson is 25. // Jason Larson is 30, Amelia Bradshaw is 25. // George McCarthy is 26, Blossom Moonshine is 22. Last update, May 2080.

*** eeek, this is long ***

"Those are pretty," Amelia says. "Did Hayden send them?"

"Yeah, we're on fire, I'm telling you."

"Oh, I suck," Piper says. "You just had a fight with Jason, didn't you. That's why you're here."

"Oh, it wasn't a fight, not really," Amelia says. "A discussion, I guess. A decision. It's been coming a while now. I'm moving back to the city. I actually really miss my mom. And he's leaving."

It was a good thing, Amelia explains, and they aren't mad about it, but they just want different things. Amelia wants to talk through it, so Piper listens. That it's a positive thing doesn't make it any less sad. Or maybe it's the summer rain, making things feel heavy.

Piper pretends anyway. She does this for Amelia, until she leaves. Really, secretly, Piper loves the rain!

***

Hayden invites Piper out one night after work. He takes her to the Summer Stage Festival to see his cousin, Patrick play. And he'd like her to finally meet his parents, even if maybe it isn't the best time. His parents are worried over that little stunt Summer pulled after prom, and she's being lectured about it still. Hayden is even being lectured about it still. His parents say that the girls need more discipline than he's giving, and he's acting more like an older brother than their father.

"I actually kind of like Tyler," Hayden says. "I think he's a good kid, you know, on the inside. And Summer's a smart girl. I mean, she's just being seventeen - who didn't break curfew once or twice when they were a kid?"

Piper doesn't really have much experience with children, but she knows those girls adore him. "Well, I think you're great with them," she says.

But his mother has yet another lecture for him. "You have to know where they are at all times, where is Ryanne right now?"

"She's right there," Hayden says.

"Do you know that boy?"

"No, maybe she just met him?"

"Hayden, you have to know her friends, and know their families - you have to meet their parents! You don't know who that boy is, his family could be criminals or something!"

"Ryanne, who's your friend, honey?"

"His name is Angelo, and he's not my friend. He doesn't even go to my school."

That's good enough for Hayden! "Hey," he says. "You want to come make a clay plate with me? To take home and hang on the wall?"

"No, Dad, that's for little kids. I'm not a little kid."

They all have gyros after Patrick's show is over. They're a very close family, but also big and welcoming. She thinks maybe they like her, it's hard to tell sometimes. She didn't speak much with his dad, but his mom was friendly. She took Ryanne home early, but made a point to say, as she headed for the car, "It's nice to meet you, Piper."

Hayden couldn't get Ryanne to make a plate, and Summer wouldn't either - though she did consider buying one - so Hayden made one himself. It was late, and there weren't any kids in line at the pottery wheel, and since Hayden is kind of a child at heart, maybe that's okay.

He even dragged her to get their picture taken - no funny business in the photo booth though, even if they both wanted to. His whole family was there, after all.

She knows he likes her a lot, but he feels partly absent sometimes, and she'd love to know what he's thinking. She's never dated a man with children before, and maybe it's just that. It is different. It feels like a job interview sometimes, and the position to be filled is important.

As the night ends, he says, "I'd love to come back with you, but you know, the girls."

Yes, the girls. Piper knows. She could choose to let that matter, but you know, they're on fire and all. There's really no choice about it.

***

It appears George McCarthy has found a new roommate. Jodie says, "Who is this little hippie tart?"

"Oh hi, Jodie," he says, not even pulling away from Blossom's lips. "I can't see you anymore."

"What the hell?" Jodie says. "She looks just like me. She's identical!"

"Except with warm blood in her veins," he says. "Very warm."

"It's a circulation problem," Jodie says. "I'm seeking treatment for it!"

George wonders sometimes if she's actually human.

Jodie walks over to her brother's apartment. She says, "Ugh, this place smells like crap. You look like crap. What's wrong with you?"

Jason says, "Amelia left me."

"Oh God, not another one."

"What do you care? You didn't even like Amelia."

"Well I liked her as much as I like anybody. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," he says.

Jodie sits down and just stares at him.

"Okay," he says. "I kind of asked her to marry me."

"Why do you even want to get married so stinking bad?"

Jason doesn't feel the need to answer that. She wouldn't understand marriage, having no soul and all.

"So what now?" she asks.

"Nothing. It's okay, I'll get over it. But I'm leaving. I'm going to try somewhere new, far away, where there aren't any Bradshaw women maybe. You'll be okay here though, I mean, on your own, right?"

"Well, yeah. And hey, who knows, maybe you'll be less of a fuckup there."

Jason is not amused.

"I was kidding," she says. "Man, lighten up a little."

***

Late one night, there was a mysterious figure creeping around in the dark outside their apartment. But let's hold that thought for just a minute...

Piper wakes up that morning to the whir of Carly's sewing machine. It's seven in the morning and she's frantic. Piper says, "Hey, Carls, what'cha doing?"

Carly says, "I have to get this dress done. I'm supposed to have my gold certification by now. It's the only reason she hired me. She's going to think I'm a fraud." She finishes a stitch. "Hey, could you try this on for me?"

Piper says, "I feel naked. My whole boob is like, literally falling out of this thing."

"It's supposed to be that way," Carly says.

"You made a dress where the boob is supposed to fall out?"

"Yeah."

Piper says, "It's not bad. I mean, you could call it avant garde maybe? You could say it's art."

"No, Piper, it's not art, it's a dress. You look good in it."

"I look like a little tart."

"Oh my God, I didn't tell you what Aurora said the other day!"

"What?"

"And Hayden's mom was there. You know their kids are dating?"

"I know that! What did she say?"

"She called you that little strawberry tart. Oh my God, it was hilarious!"

"How is that hilarious?"

"Because she just doesn't like you. Still! Ever since that time you tried to hit on her man! That's hilarious!"

"That's not hilarious," Piper says.

Carly gives Piper the dress anyway, not that Piper would ever wear it out of the house. She offers to add a little more material to the chest area if she wants. It was only her first attempt and all. She quickly changes the subject and says, "Hey, what the hell is that?"

The girls go downstairs to find a hot tub installed, even more flowers, and a card, from Hayden, saying that he had a ridiculously good time the other night, and that he rented her this hot tub until the end of the month.

Carly says, "I bet you do some kinky thing in bed, don't you? Man, you redheads are freaky!"

Piper supposes there are worse reputations to have than being ridiculously good in bed.

"So, what are we going to do with it? I don't think we're allowed to keep stuff out here."

Piper says, "We're going to use it, duh."

Carly says, "I've been dating Joseph for twelve years and I can't get him to put on a show like this. Not a tart, my ass!"

***

Jodie has five women pregnant this summer. Five! She's not a patient and chipper kind of woman, and pregnant women NEED a patient and chipper doctor, because they're annoying as hell with their arguments over lead paint in baby toys, and should you buy the wooden blocks or the plastic ones made in China?

And then here's Bella Bradshaw saying, "Yes, I know who the father is. It could have been a close call though, but I turned the guy down. Man, if I didn't though, just think about what kind of drama that would have been!"

Jodie doesn't even know why she does this job - oh, wait, no, she remembers. Berjes!

Berjes Monif! Oh how he warms her cold cold blood!

The thing is, she wanted to sleep with him. It was supposed to be a deal - he needed someone to head up the obstetrics department, and she wanted to get him into bed. But the sex part fell through, since he was married and all. And Jodie ended up stuck delivering babies. But this is a man who shouldn't be married, who doesn't really want to be married. And if he does, then she'll convince him otherwise.

But that isn't her only scheme right now. She's just waiting to train her replacement, to be honest. She's working on moving up the ranks to surgeon, or chief of staff, and she thinks she might like to snatch up Berjes's job come next election.

You might wonder, why does she even want to be a doctor, saving lives and all that crap? Well, it's a power trip, to be honest. You know the God-complex?

Jodie comes home from work and finds Piper and Carly in the hot tub. She says, "Have you guys been in here all day? You seen George's new little hippie tart yet?"

Piper says, "It's not nice to call people tarts. She's probably not a tart."

"What's crawled up your kootch?" Jodie says.

"Nothing," Piper says. "It's just that she might not be one."

Carly says, "Aurora called her a tart in front of Hayden's mom."

Jodie laughs.

Carly tells Piper, "Don't worry, honey, you're not a tart. But that Blossom is kind of a tart."

"Amen to that," Jodie says.

Piper sighs. She really wants Hayden's mom to like her. She never had a relationship with her own mother, and she's jealous of the closeness some people have, like Hayden with his mom, Amelia with hers.

Carly says, "I've never even met Joseph's mom."

Jodie says, "Moms, children, wives - it's all baggage."

***

Piper gives Amelia the dress. She's tall, and athletic, and has that knock-out kind of body confidence. Amelia is 110% woman, and by right of feminism, could care less how many men she'd been with or who called her a tart. Amelia was born to wear dresses like that.

"I think you can pull it off," Piper says. "Maybe go find yourself a new man in it."

"That's the last thing I'm looking for right now, but thanks, Piper. And wow, the boob really just hangs right out of this thing, doesn't it?"

"This was fun. Almost like being in college again. You'll have to come out and visit. I'm going to have so many parties."

Piper promises, "Of course I will."

"You know," Amelia says. "The thing is, I really do love him. Do you think this is selfish of me?"

"No," Piper says. "When it's right, you'll know it. When it's right, it'll feel like fire."

Maybe Amelia would find a new man in that dress some day, and maybe not, but for now, she's turning twenty-six next week. She's not in college anymore and she needs a shirt that covers her belly. She needs to retire her Docs for a nice sensible pair of heels.

And she needs to meet Jason at the Market Square to say goodbye properly.

When she sees him, he doesn't look disheveled like she thought he would be, and he doesn't look sad. He bought himself a new suit, and shaved, and she even likes his hair long and scraggly like that. He looks like he's ready to start fresh, just like she is. He says, "You've got time for lunch, don't you?"

It's hard to hold herself firm to what she's trying to accomplish here, which is breaking things off with him. He's kind and gracious and such a good catch. But he doesn't beg her to reconsider, and he isn't desperate or clingy. It would be so easy to cave in and marry him, because she does love him, and he would be good to her. And she doesn't even know for sure if there's someone perfect out there for her. What if there isn't? But she thinks if this was right, she would know it. And she just doesn't know.

She says to him, "You're going to make some lucky girl very happy."

He says to her, "Whoever you find out there, he better treat you well." And he also says, "God, whatever you do, please don't get back with Alon."

She promises him she won't.

And now it's time to start over, and everybody knows a fresh start requires a fresh haircut.

She goes into Jolie, Jolie. She says, "I want something different."

Aurora says, "Really different?"

"Unrecognizable," Amelia says. "I'm starting over."

And as she leaves the salon, Amelia Bradshaw is so Zen, even the butterflies flock to adore her. She's happy, and this feels like something like renewal.

It's the bravest thing she ever had to do, throw away a perfectly good man just because it didn't feel right, knowing that he wouldn't be waiting around for her if she wanted to change her mind.

She's the oldest of all of her cousins. Bella is having a baby with her long-time boyfriend. Mariah just moved in with the love of her life. Keri is getting married in October. And here is Amelia, buying real estate, with her OWN money, and doing it alone.

She is the proud owner of a corner townhouse in the West Washington neighborhood of Lake City, just a block from her parents. She bought it all by herself. She's a stock broker now, and she knows a thing or two about saving her money. She tells herself, she is going to be okay. She's young. She's smart and sturdy. She's a strong, proud, independent woman. She's going to do just fine.

*******

notes: Those butterflies were not planned, but what a fun surprise! The last time Amelia was swarmed with butterflies was just after she broke up with Alon. They're kind of a good luck blessing for her, I think.

About the hot tub! There will be a stop to all this huge crazy gifting in Lakeside Heights!!! LOL! I don't usually see couples dating for very long who don't live together, so I haven't really run into this problem before. (Yes, though it may seem otherwise, huge gifts from ether are a problem!)

It kind of made sense when Mariah was doing it, and I could just imagine she charged it to her dad's credit card. It makes sense with townies, I guess, because you can imagine whatever kind of lifestyle you want based on the gift. But it doesn't work with Hayden. He does NOT have that kind of money, and neither does his family, and he shouldn't be buying hottubs for his girlfriend when he has two girls to put through college - so I'll consider it a rental, and I'll be taking it away from Piper at the end of the month. And from now on, I will be deducting the gifts from the family's funds, or taking them away at the end of the month.

And maybe I'll even send a bill to Bryson for all those gifts Mariah bought for Micah. That could make a funny story :)

I wanted to show off a little bit of Amelia's house, that she bought with her OWN money! I'm decorating her house in green and gold, and I love it! I've done the kitchen and bathrooms so far. It's zen and modern and spunky, just like Amelia!

In her kitchen, with her mommy...

And her master bathroom.

Barely even moved in, and she's already got them lining up for her! This one is called Andrew (same as her dad, lol!), Lake City's Mr. Big (the 2nd).

He says, "You know who I am, don't you? I have like, lots of money, and stuff?"

Amelia doesn't even look impressed. She's always been a fend-for-herself kind of girl! ;)