intheheart (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
intheheart) wrote2012-02-03 03:46 pm
intheheart) wrote2012-02-03 03:46 pm
Watching Clouds
Title: Watching Clouds
Summary: Ivy watches clouds, and Gail and Nathan talk.
Date: Early Fall 1990
Notes: Directly follows Darling. Which is why you get two stories in one day.
They'd planned a picnic, which was a huge relief for Gail: a picnic was precisely the sort of thing you would plan to introduce your young child to the man you were dating, even if it was a little sooner than she would like. Still, she'd been dating Nathan for five months, and the relationship showed no signs of petering out. If anything, it was growing stronger.
Nor did Ivy seem to be changing that at all. She'd insisted that Nathan carry her to this sunny little tree-shadowed hill overlooking the East River, though she'd come back to Gail when it was time to eat, and now she lay on her back between them, staring up at the sky, letting them talk uninterrupted but for an occasional shout when she saw something in the clouds.
"I really am sorry," Gail said to Nathan, who was leaning back on both arms, his legs straight out in front of him. "Ivy's sitter didn't even give me advance notice, she just told me she couldn't take Ivy today and shut the door."
"Ouch," Nathan said. "Sounds like you need a new sitter."
"No," Gail said, and shook her head. "No, it's not that, Pam is very reliable. She had a family emergency today." She looked down at her daughter, the wind ruffling Ivy's curls, and smiled a little rueful smile. "It just happened to be very bad timing for me."
"I wouldn't say that," Nathan said. She looked up, and saw him looking down at Ivy too, with soft, warm eyes and an expression that stole her breath. "She's been very well-behaved. Much better than Aaron at that age."
Which was true-- Ivy was on her best behavior. Suspiciously so, actually, but Gail set that thought aside for the moment. "She's a good kid," she said, looking down at her daughter again.
On cue, Ivy chirped, "Bunny!" and pointed straight up.
Gail looked up, following her finger, and suppressed a giggle when from the corner of her eye she saw Nathan do the same. "I see the bunny," she said. "Do you see the castle?"
Ivy lapsed into thoughtful silence, her breathing soft and even and Nathan laughed. "Nicely done."
She dimpled. "Thank you. Just have to know what interests them."
"And you would," he said, reaching across Ivy to give her hand an affectionate squeeze. "You've had plenty of practice, after all."
The kindergartners, he meant- she nodded. "True enough. Though Ivy's fairly unique."
"All children are," he said, and for a wonder managed to not sound patronizing, just awed.
Gail smiled. "That's the beauty of them," she agreed.
"Castle!" Ivy announced suddenly, lisping a little on the s. "There! There!"
Nathan leaned back again, bringing his head close to Ivy's. "Where?" he asked, pretending obliviousness. "I don't see it."
"There!" Ivy sat up in her eagerness to show him, narrowly missing his nose. "There!"
Gail laughed at them both, at Ivy so happy and Nathan who thought she was adorable, and felt something in her heart begin to ease its way open.
Summary: Ivy watches clouds, and Gail and Nathan talk.
Date: Early Fall 1990
Notes: Directly follows Darling. Which is why you get two stories in one day.
They'd planned a picnic, which was a huge relief for Gail: a picnic was precisely the sort of thing you would plan to introduce your young child to the man you were dating, even if it was a little sooner than she would like. Still, she'd been dating Nathan for five months, and the relationship showed no signs of petering out. If anything, it was growing stronger.
Nor did Ivy seem to be changing that at all. She'd insisted that Nathan carry her to this sunny little tree-shadowed hill overlooking the East River, though she'd come back to Gail when it was time to eat, and now she lay on her back between them, staring up at the sky, letting them talk uninterrupted but for an occasional shout when she saw something in the clouds.
"I really am sorry," Gail said to Nathan, who was leaning back on both arms, his legs straight out in front of him. "Ivy's sitter didn't even give me advance notice, she just told me she couldn't take Ivy today and shut the door."
"Ouch," Nathan said. "Sounds like you need a new sitter."
"No," Gail said, and shook her head. "No, it's not that, Pam is very reliable. She had a family emergency today." She looked down at her daughter, the wind ruffling Ivy's curls, and smiled a little rueful smile. "It just happened to be very bad timing for me."
"I wouldn't say that," Nathan said. She looked up, and saw him looking down at Ivy too, with soft, warm eyes and an expression that stole her breath. "She's been very well-behaved. Much better than Aaron at that age."
Which was true-- Ivy was on her best behavior. Suspiciously so, actually, but Gail set that thought aside for the moment. "She's a good kid," she said, looking down at her daughter again.
On cue, Ivy chirped, "Bunny!" and pointed straight up.
Gail looked up, following her finger, and suppressed a giggle when from the corner of her eye she saw Nathan do the same. "I see the bunny," she said. "Do you see the castle?"
Ivy lapsed into thoughtful silence, her breathing soft and even and Nathan laughed. "Nicely done."
She dimpled. "Thank you. Just have to know what interests them."
"And you would," he said, reaching across Ivy to give her hand an affectionate squeeze. "You've had plenty of practice, after all."
The kindergartners, he meant- she nodded. "True enough. Though Ivy's fairly unique."
"All children are," he said, and for a wonder managed to not sound patronizing, just awed.
Gail smiled. "That's the beauty of them," she agreed.
"Castle!" Ivy announced suddenly, lisping a little on the s. "There! There!"
Nathan leaned back again, bringing his head close to Ivy's. "Where?" he asked, pretending obliviousness. "I don't see it."
"There!" Ivy sat up in her eagerness to show him, narrowly missing his nose. "There!"
Gail laughed at them both, at Ivy so happy and Nathan who thought she was adorable, and felt something in her heart begin to ease its way open.