the truth about happily ever after, part 1

November 2082 (part 1 of 2) - Berjes and Hailey Monif are 37, Hazel is 13. (Fiona McCullough is 15, Robbie is 12, Liza Hathe is 13, Angelo Shaw is 12, Isaiah Gavigan is 14.) Last update, December 2081.

She wants to fall in love again, the way she thought she and her husband did once, so long ago she can hardly even remember what kind of girl she was. She wants to fall in love like she writes about in her stories. She knows it's out there, and maybe it's not always perfect, but there are couples out there who are pained to be apart. There are couples who live and breathe to make each other happy.

She isn't too old yet. She isn't even forty. She still has her figure, only slight wrinkles at her eyes, she covers her few gray hairs quite well. She still has some spirit left in her, deep down, maybe tucked safely between her toes. She still has a small bit of hope.

Mariah has done wonders for her anger, but Hailey finds what she's left with after the anger is gone is an empty void. His intentions were good in the beginning, but it was short-lived. He was supposed to take his wandering charm and spend it all on her, but instead, when he stopped flirting, he became spacey and robotic all together. Now he's even more focused on work. It's just one career move after another, after another. This was not what she had in mind at all.

Three months ago, she asked for a trial separation. She asked him to move out. Their therapy sessions were filled with bitterness and angst. Mariah said at this point, the separation couldn't hurt. The quiet might give them the space they need to reconnect. Mariah is even at a loss. She doesn't know what other advice she can offer anymore.

They make angry jokes about it, that they might as well seek advice from that fortune teller who lingers there on the street corner in front of the hospital. At this point, they honestly don't have much left to lose.

***

So for three months, it's been just the two of them here. Hailey is in the habit of pestering her daughter a little too much. She hopes this won't damage her, or her romantic future. They're trying to deal with things in healthy ways for her. Hailey says, "You know, sweetie, no matter what happens to us, you'll always be my best friend."

Hazel says, "I know, Mom."

More than ever, she feels determined to give Hazel a solid and loving home. She got a morning job as a fish chummer, so she'll be home by the time Hazel is back from school. She has to leave for work before the sun is even beginning to rise, and she goes in a wetsuit and bare feet!

The small income she brings in from her first novel is negligent when it comes to raising a teenager.

And any future novel income is negligent as well, since she can't even bring herself to write. How can she write light-hearted romance when her marriage is dying before her eyes? It makes her feel like a fraud. What does she know about romance when the only romance she's experienced is lived through her stories, the romance she wishes she had. She isn't helping herself any with that tropical painting hanging above her head, reminding her of their beach wedding and honeymoon. How did it come to this? They thought they had everything going for them, the compatibility, the attraction?

Maybe redecorating the office would help. She needs to figure something out, because she never liked actually working for a living. She only just started working again and already she wants to stay home.

Though Hailey has been a stay-at-home mom for the bulk of her adult life, she's never been much of a baker. It's worse than that actually, she's never baked anything that didn't come frozen in a Sara Lee box. But she found a recipe online for a strawberry pie, and she figures she'll try it.

Besides that, she'd like to see Hazel eating well still. No reason to let their diets go to waste. So she stocks up on fresh organic produce, and freshly-caught fish. She's stumped. Is a green summer squash the same thing as a zucchini? Which have more antioxidants, the green or the purple grapes? She doesn't even realize that Hazel has found some old friends and run off to greet them.

"Robbie McCullough!" she says.

"Hey, Hazel," he says. He's drumming a tune on his leg, which is a little weird. She doesn't remember him being so weird. Robbie moved to Bluewater a couple years ago and it's been forever since she saw him. His sister is there, and a quiet dark-haired girl who seems to want to burn a hole through Hazel's head with her eyes.

Hazel says, "I thought you moved to China or something! What happened? Why did you guys move out here?" Truthfully, maybe Hazel had a bit of a childhood crush on Robbie, with his friendly smile, baby blonde hair, and big brown eyes.

Fiona and "the dark-haired girl" turn away and start to giggle about something. Hazel never got along with Fiona, and it looks like she's not about to start any time soon.

And now Liza doesn't like her either, not just by association, but because she keeps calling her "that dark-haired girl." And they way she's flirting with him is ridiculous!

Liza's voice turns catty in a way she's never experienced before, and she says, "What, now they're like, in love? They're gonna get married an have a bunch of smelly babies?"

Fiona and Liza have obviously missed the part where Hazel said anything about them going somewhere, until she says over Robbie's shoulder, "You guys know Charlie, don't you? Charlie will be there. You wanna come too?"

Fiona sighs dreamily. "I love Charlie."

Liza says, "You're a traitor!"

Hazel takes hold of Robbie's hand and says, "So what do you say?"

This is shocking to Fiona, and she says, "Oh my, what?"

Robbie is thinking, Whoa, she's holding my hand! She's totally holding my hand!

"You can bring your sister if you want," Hazel says. "And... that girl."

Liza officially hates her, for the record.

But then Robbie takes his hand away. "She's not that girl," he says. "She's my best friend and her name is Liza."

Liza tries not to grin too big. She fails miserably.

"Oh, right," Hazel says. "I didn't know." She backs away and goes to find her mom.

But this isn't over. Not if Fiona has anything to say about it. "You doofus," she says. "I wanted to see Charlie."

So Robbie finds her again. "I'm sorry," Robbie says. "We'll come out with you if you want, you know since we used to be friends and everything." And, he's thinking, because Fiona might kill him if she doesn't get to see Charlie.

A pity non-date, Hazel is thinking, and with two girls who hate her. Oh God, at what point does she get to crawl in a hole and die?

Hailey drives them all out to the Roller Pit in Lakeside Heights. Hazel sits down with her mom, and orders a drink. "Non-alcoholic," Hailey adds for her daughter, and then she feels stupid realizing they don't even serve alcohol here.

Hazel says, "Mom, none of these stupid boys want to date me."

"That's because they're stupid boys," Hailey says. The bitterness is involuntary, and she worries that she'll turn her daughter bitter as well.

Hazel is just at that age now that she wants to know everything about dating. She finds boys mysterious and exciting. She's maybe even too excited about dating, always rattling on about some boy or another. When she grows up, Hailey hopes she'll take her time dating, that she'll be picky, that she won't be rushed or settle. Even then, there are still no promises.

And then trouble strolls in, and his name is Angelo Shaw. Hazel doesn't know that just yet, as she takes a sip of her strawberry-banana smoothie, but he's about to tell her.

He says, "Hey, honey, I'm Angelo, you wanna skate?"

Hailey doesn't get good vibes from this boy. But they're just skating after all, they are chaperoned.

But first, let's get a close-up on Natty-patty in the background there...

LOL, Natty! Man, that's fierce!

Step up, Fiona, that little snap and sway isn't gonna cut it. Fiona says, "What? I don't want to get sweaty."

So while Hazel and Angelo get better acquainted, Robbie and Liza seem to have missed that the party is actually inside. Robbie brushes something from her cheek and says, "Hey, wait, there's something on your cheek."

She giggles. "It's glitter," she says. "It's supposed to be there."

To be honest, he kind of knew that. He just wanted to touch her cheek.

Hazel is enjoying her very first date. They never made it to skating. None of the cool kids actually skate! They just hang out, and drink non-alcoholic frozen beverages, and get to know each other a little better under the watchful eye of their chaperones. Hazel says, "Your dad does what? No way, I don't believe you."

They get their tickle on.

Hailey is still watching. Eyes like a hawk!

Fiona tries to get her tickle on, and gets slapped instead.

A random girl sits down next to Liza and Robbie and says, "So are you guys like, dating then?"

They say in unison, with stars in their eyes, "No, we're not."

Hazel's first date is a nice one, or at least it isn't a total bomb. She didn't do or say anything stupid, and she certainly didn't dance as ridiculously as her friends did. Her mother has informed her that it's time to go soon, and she's waiting at the bar for Angelo to come back from the bathroom so she can say goodbye. A strange boy keeps walking over to her like he's going to say something.

He finally does. "Hi, I'm Isaiah," he says. "I think I live next to you, I mean, our houses are next to each other, I mean, I think you're my neighbor."

She just laughs with him, for a moment. All they have is a moment before Angelo comes back, commanding her attention.

Before she can even finish telling him, "I have to go," he pulls her to his face and plants his lips to hers. She has no idea what she's doing, so she also has no idea he's equally as clueless. He thrusts his tongue into her mouth and swirls it around, so she does the same. So this is kissing then? If it's not, they wouldn't know it, and they don't care. It's strange and sloppier than she thought it would be, but somehow still exhilarating.

"Oh, good Lord," Hailey says, and stands nearby waiting. First she told herself it was just skating, and already they're swapping spit?

Natty says to Charlie, "Oooh, do you see what Hazel's doing?" He does, of course. They're going to tease her about this for weeks!

Hailey is wondering, how or when or even if she should break it to the poor girl that this probably isn't going to work out? Or at least, Hailey hopes it doesn't work out with this one. As happy as Hazel is in this moment, it won't last. She'll only be disappointed, again and again, probably. One small disappointment after another, until finally the disappointment is so great that it breaks her heart. Hailey doesn't know what to teach her, when all she knows is that even when you're sure it's going to work out, not all stories end happily with the storybook wedding.

They have a late dinner when they get home. Hazel cooks for them, and her expertise at the moment is macaroni and cheese.

"That was so much fun," Hazel says. "Do you think I could see him again? He lives out in the city, he was just in town to see his grandma. Maybe a movie or something?"

"Why don't we talk about violin lessons," Hailey says.

Hailey goes to bed early these days, since she has to work so early in the morning. The nights are a little lonely. Hazel calls her dad sometimes. She stays on the phone with Natty until her parents make her hang up because it's too late.

It isn't that late though, not even midnight. Hazel knows this because Lucy Harris lives across the street and she isn't home yet. Everybody who lives on this street knows Lucy Harris comes home at precisely midnight, her curfew, so she won't get in trouble, and then she stays out in the driveway kissing her boyfriend for as many more minutes as she can steal before she goes inside.

It's not that late, but late enough that the world feels completely uninhabited. Lights in the houses are mostly out. You can see the stars so clearly this time of year. The sky is just so cold, cloudless, and clear. The frigid air mutes sound, there are distant dogs barking, and footsteps?

He scares her a little, and she says quite brashly, "What are you doing here?"

"I told you," he says. "I live here. Right next to you."

"Oh," she says. "I guess we could have given you a ride. I forgot." She means, she was busy being kissed for the first time.

"It's okay," he says. "I like walking."

She springs up to her feet, and it startles him. She didn't mean to stand so fast. His smile is nervous and he looks like he might says something, but he doesn't, except, "So, see 'ya then."

And he carries on down the street to his own house. She can't remember his name, but she knows he told her. And now it's going to bother her all night.

So there's a boy next door then. Who knew?

*****

notes: Hailey and Hazel, lol, I bet that gets confusing ;)

Hazel and her friends were so much lighter and fun than Berjes and Hailey's marital troubles that I didn't want Hazel's story to get lost in it (though it ends up complimenting it, in an interesting way), so I split this into two halves. There was just so much. I ended up spending quite a bit of time on this family, since there is an important decision to be made here, and I wanted to be sure.

So it would have been almost a year since their last update, and because they've been in marriage therapy, I had to imagine what kind of progress might have happened in that year. They seemed to be in a worse place than where we left them last, so based on a lot of things (too many to try to list), I decided that they would have separated at some point in that time gap.

Given the separation then, these two updates will become about what do they do with that separation, and of course, what is their final decision? And part 2 will focus much more on that.