Morningstar Manor

It wasn't hard to admit she had cabin fever, and rather than go outside, even though it appeared spring might actually be coming in, Ang had opted to take her new daughter down to the Mocha. Alec had taken Gavin and Faith outside, but Ang was not going out there with her ten day old baby girl, not for anything. So here she sat, the baby in one arm, and sipping tea with the other. She knew Alec might not be long, but she'd got juice for Gavin and some cookies and muffins, and of course her tea, a bottle of water for Faith and Alec's coffee was on order for when he came in. In the meantime, she was feeling very sociable, and rather pleased with herself.

Ang had been feeling fine all day, and now, settled happily in the bath was soaking away another of those annoyingly niggly back aches she’d been having for over a week. It really did work, the warm to almost hot water soothed, the lavender oil calmed, and the soft strains of Vivaldi’s four seasons kept the baby from kicking too much. Perfectly relaxing and she sighed happily as she sank a little deeper into the water. The only downside was needing help to get out of the bath, in case she slipped of course, but even then, nothing compared to a sleepy Ang waddling to bed with a sleepy baby not kicking her crazy and actually getting some sleep!!! Now there was a thing.

She was just starting to sit up again when her back twinged a little, and she stopped to ease it again, closing her eyes and slowly sliding back downwards. Holding on to the sides of the bath she was definitely feeling sleepy when something else happened. Her womb clenched, almost like, no, just like a contraction. But Ang didn’t worry, she’d been having Braxton Hicks for over a week, and the midwife had told her just this morning that the baby wasn’t ready to come out yet and to stop worrying... she still had several weeks to go and to go home and rest. A few minutes later she had another contraction, stronger, and longer lasting, but she put that down to Braxtons too.... she even added more hot water to the bath, because the water looked funny and was getting cooler. It never even dawned on her that her waters had broken, and that this was it. She was too relaxed, and too comfortable to move just yet.

Leaving Gavin sleepy-eyed and moments away from sleep after reading through the story book for the third time, Alec knocked gently on the bathroom door and poked his head in. “Pruney yet?” he teased.

( Then something good happened. )

Ang had been shopping, very briefly, she felt increasingly like she was not just going to have a baby, but a baby elephant, and it was most uncomfortable to walk far, but, she had wanted some new things for the baby, and for herself. A taxi to Michael's Bros and back, easy, but she'd been a little too energetic and now sat, at least half asleep, in the Mocha, stirring a cup of tea, while contemplating the possibilities of getting help up to the apartment... for her, never mind the bags!

She was happy though, the baby was kicking well but not on anything particularly tender, and it felt strange, but she thought the head might have dropped down, which would explain that lumbering waddle much better... of course that had other implications too... She looked up as people came and went, half hoping to see Emma, or Alec, or well, anybody who might lend her a hand, or at least some conversation!

Ang waddled (literally these days) into the Mocha, grabbing a paper from the rack as she did so, in search of a cup of tea and some light snack-age. Preferably of the muffin or cookie variety, nothing too healthy! She felt in the need of a bit of company, but no way was she going outside, too cold and besides, there were usually more people in here!

She got a pot of tea, and a plate of muffins, and settled down at a table where she could be comfy and still accommodate 'the bump', and started idly browsing through the City News. The japanese earthquake and tsunamis featured heavily of course, and she sighed a little, the world seemed to be in complete flux right now. A thought that made her exclaim out loud as she read the next article, "The north pole is moving to where?"

Ang was stuck, not major stuck stuck, but, having finished her crossword puzzle, and needing to get up and move around, she suddenly found herself stuck in her favourite armchair. Worse, with Gavin down for a nap, and Alec in his office down the hall, she was on her own. Which wouldn't have been too bad, except the baby was busy tap dancing on her her internal organs, doing somersaults and generally making Ang feel rather nauseous. After a few minutes of struggling, and it was a struggle, she was due in about six weeks so was the size of the average small house now, she had to give in. Please god she didn't wake Gavin up...

"Alec?" Even to her own ears it sounded plaintive and whiny, "I need a bit of help here?"

Ang was settled in the pool, drifting and lapping alternately, an exercise that Alec had agreed to, and which she was making the most of having left Gavin with his father for a bath and bedtime routine they mostly had down pat. Her mind was racing though, through the essay due next week that she had almost finished, but was indefinably unhappy with. She'd missed something, something, "Conditioning!" She suddenly sat up in the water, unaware that someone else was in the pool house, "I forgot about the damn conditioning!"

----

Emma was in the Gym, the phys ed component of her year was not going well, and she was doing her best to improve that with a few miles on the treadmill, and some light weights, but, really, could she have known less about what she was doing? Just then, she was sat on a mat, supposedly stretching, but in reality, mostly in a dream about opening an exhibition in a gallery, her exhibition, a brilliant success...... strangely enough she was smiling, despite the hunched posture and oddly extended leg that she was bent over.

----

Icene had finished emptying her apartment. The last of her belongings had gone, either to Adams, or the local good will. She'd advised her parents of the apartment number change, but only her father knew what was going on. He'd confessed her mother was slipping still further, and Icene was now worrying over a black coffee, that thankfully remained such, whilst shredding a muffin into crumbs.... should she go home? Could she do anything? Would she just make it worse? And if her mother was as far gone as her father said, would she even realise who Icene was? She sat, without realising she was crying, as a single solitary tear drifted down her face, slowly freezing until a small bead of ice fell from her chin into the mess of crumbs on the plate.

----

Gregori was cheerfully stuffing mailroom boxes with small samples of chocolates, he'd left a box that first time for Ashlynn, and that had given him the idea, now he dropped half a dozen chocs, in bags, into each box in the apartment, complete with a business card, and a small copy of the 'menu'. He was humming a Christmas Carol, because there were no good halloween songs.

----

Cleo browsed the library shelves, wondering, not for the first time, why she'd picked the courses she had. All this studying was not helping her find a date, and with halloween coming up, surely a costume for the rumoured ball was far more important than an essay. She found the book she was looking for, and turned, only to drop the book as someone else was right there, "Oh madre de dios! You made me jump!"

----

Spencer had been in meetings, and was feeling tired and drained. But there were chores to be done, so tonight he was staring blankly at the washing machine as it revolved rhythmically before him, the towels tumbling in and out of the soapy water, his mind seeking only rest and respite from worry and stress. Christmas was coming, the store was gearing up, and yet, he just couldn't find any enthusiasm for any of it. It worried him.

----

Jane was quietly clearing up the daycare centre, slowly cleaning up the spilled paint, the ground in clays, and setting things to rights. Alongside her were a couple of the last remaining children, who's parents hadn't yet arrived to collect them, even though officially the daycare part of their work was over. She was happy though, because the children were helping, and it was all good, however imperfectly they did it, they really were helping! "That's it, one more brush into the pan, and yes! You've got it! Well done," she smiled at the young boy, "Now, can you get it to the bin without spilling it?"

She looked up to see another parent arriving, "Evening! We've had a lovely day, everything all right?"

Bundled up against the early morning chill, Ang was in the gardens with Faith, and an equally well wrapped up Gavin. She'd woken early, and unable to get back to sleep had snuck out of bed and gone about her morning routine. Luckily this pregnancy was seeming to be easier, less nausea for one, so she was doing much better so far.

Faith had done her business, and was now busy letting Gavin chase her about the lawns, entertaining both of them while Ang wandered more slowly around the paths, contemplating life and the essay she had to finish for tomorrow, lunch and how happy Alec had been last night when the Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins to get a place in the next stage of the so called World Series. She snorted a little with laughter, drawing Faith's attention, again amused by the fact that with only American teams in the competition they called it the "World Series". As Faith drew closer, Gavin in hot pursuit, Ang fished a tennis ball from her pocket and lobbed it out onto the lawn, sending Faith barrelling after it. But it wasn't Faith who got to it first....


(OOC: Sal, moved this for you, hadn't noticed it was in the wrong place. Sorry hun!)

After long day in court, Joe was looking to unwind and for him that was best served one of two ways: either at home with a miniature or down in the library with a book.

The newest model he'd ordered hadn't arrived yet, but his favorite squashy chair was, per usual, empty and the shelves were stocked with plenty of books.

Sunday afternoon, and with no household chores to be done, and Alec on edge over the baseball, Ang had taken the chance to slip away with an assignment to the library. That had taken a while, but with that done, she'd headed for the Mocha, intending to just have a cup of tea. Of course, then she'd seen the cookies and muffins, decided she was hungry and succumbed to the temptation of not only a sandwich, but a plate of treats too. Now though, she was settled with her tray and her tea, and a textbook, on one of the couches, to study and relax at the same time. She looked up often though, smiling at people and generally feeling very relaxed, despite how busy things were just now.

She'd just set the book down when something drew her attention, and she looked up to see someone heading her way....

Ang had done one of her favourite dinners, good old fashioned Sunday Roast. A beef joint, potatoes, Yorkshire Puddings, vegetables, gravy, horseradish sauce, and of course, for dessert an apple pie of her own bake, with ice cream and custard. She couldn't eat like this much longer though, and it was probably not something Alec hadn't already worked out, but, she did wait until dishing up dessert, even giving Gavin a little piece of pie with ice cream.

"So, er, you know you said about when Gavin was walking? We could, oh, do you want custard with that Gavin?" Ang poured a spoonful into his bowl. "Alec? Custard?"

It was a sunny Saturday morning in the City, and around eleven, you found several of the Manor population in the garden, with beverages from the Mocha, enjoying one of the last sunny mornings this summer might afford them. Among them were:

• Maude Temminck, who was sitting on a bench with a small latte, watching her two-year-old granddaughter Morgan carefully stack pebbles nearby. Occasionally, she made a note in a little Moleskine notebook she took from her purse every time a thought struck her.
• Chandika Malhotra, who was talking on the phone to a friend in an excited mix of Hindi and English while walking up and down with a large mocha with all the extras, cream and sprinkles. It was her day off, Rahul was with his dad, Bethan was working, and Chandika felt like being all young and irresponsible again for one day, so she'd called Anjali, and they were planning and afternoon and evening of spending money and causing very mild outrage. Hanu had lost himself somewhere in the undergrowth, but would of course come when whistled for, so she wasn't worried.
• Cindy Papadopoulos was sitting and drinking straight coffee in her wheelchair by the entrance to the conservatory because WLAN signal strength tended to be especially good around there; she was going through her email on her laptop and throwing a ball for Axminster every time he came bouncing up with it, which however hadn't happened for a few minutes now. Cindy had seen Hanu and his missus earlier, so guessed that the dogs were probably chasing mucklas or wrackspurts in the undergrowth together.
• Sibyl Grey was in the maze, with a chai latte, and carefully explored the rather awe-inspiring passages. This wasn't her first time in here, but it was different each time, somehow. She'd just met two stray greyhounds, one smaller and brindled, one larger and a lovely silvery grey, who were very friendly, so she'd put her cup on a bench and was bending down to pat them both as the looked up at her and lashed their whip-like tails.

Alec was upstairs with Gavin, but Ang had been down to the laundry with a full week's laundry to do. For now, while the machines worked their magic, she sat in the Mocha, a pot of tea and the contents of two mailboxes on the table in front of her. Mostly it was for her, but there were two bags beside her, one for Emma, and one for Alec, into which she put the occasional piece. A far larger bag contained junk mail that she would simply dump into the recycling on her way back up.

Pulling another envelope from the top of the pile she put a hand out, but not fast enough to stop several pieces of paper from sliding off onto the floor. "Drat," she muttered, both hands now busy holding the pile stable, "not quite what I expected to happen. But I suppose I should have planned for it too, something usually manages to go wrong just lately." She'd have to pick up the others in a second.

"No, sweetheart, it's honestly quite alright," Celeste stood outside Antique Apparel, cigarette in hand, on her mobile.

"You just concentrate on getting better, we'll cope just fine. I know Luci and Regan will be glad for the extra hours." She smiled, though she was still looking a little worried and distracted.

"Let me know when the cast comes off, and we can see about getting you back to work on a lighter schedule. You take care now. Bye!" She hung up, sighing in frustration. Not anyone's fault, of course, but having a member of staff off work for weeks with a broken leg wasn't exactly the easiest thing to deal with.

Sitting down on the edge of the window, Celeste lifted her cigarette to her lips, shivering a little in the breeze as she looked across the Square.

(might be sporadic, a bit headachey, but I'm bored and cranky so in need of distraction. :))

The night before Ang had packed the suitcases, all three of them, and two flight bags. This morning she'd taken Gavin to the park to wear him out, then this afternoon while Alec had Gavin she'd napped briefly before they had to leave. Now though they were loading the taxi with the cases, and heading for their evening flight. A tactical decision on Ang's part, she felt they'd arrive feeling better if they'd slept on the night flight.

It had been a little tense, Ang being convinced she'd forgotten something important, but Alec had all the paperwork, so in the end she'd had to give up looking for whatever it was (and it was truly nothing, since she'd ticked everything off on her checklist) and get in the lift with Gavin and his stroller, her flight bag and a suitcase, while Alec brought the other cases and his flight bag. Seriously, travelling with small children was a nightmare! However, the taxi ride had excited Gavin, and seeing the airplanes had pepped him up again, until they boarded and settled down, Ang's indulgence in Business Class doing them a favour and giving them a row to themselves.

It wasn't until the plane actually took off though that Gavin fell asleep, and only then did Ang begin to really relax, only to worry about Julie and everything else, until she too dozed off. Alec made sure they were both covered up with blankets, and then went back to staring out of the window into the darkness, and kept his worries to himself.

It had been a good practice, the team was looking the best it ever had, thanks in large part to young Devon. It was still early in the season, but Alec was certain the scouts would be out to see that boy. Perhaps even, if they were lucky, the Yankees.

Smirking happily, Alec dropped his gear in his office and headed into the kitchen to start something for dinner - he wasn't sure where Ang was, but no doubt she'd be about soon - making a mental note as he studied the contents of the freezer to check just who the Yankees would be sending out scouting this year.
( Read more... )

The phone had rung early this morning, horrendously early US Time, but in all fairness it had been nine am UK time, and Ang was still contemplating, wondering, and trying to plan. So far, in her head she'd packed three suitcases, several times, route mapped and accommodated, and even worked out an itinerary for sightseeing in amongst the business. Trouble was, she was waiting on another call to confirm if she would have to go, or whether she could deal with things from the City.

She was worried, and tense, and it didn't help that she couldn't just take Gavin up to the pool and relax for a bit, even if it had been open, she was tied to the phone. So instead she checked him into the crèche, sorted her mail, grabbed a pot of tea and a couple of cookies in the Mocha and waited. Of course the phone rang as she was pouring tea, her second cup, and made her jump enough that she spilled some of the tea. The call was more important though, so she answered that while grabbing some napkins from the counter. Mobiles were so handy really. It wasn't good news. She finished the call, sat back, and sipped at the tea, there was no getting away from it, she had to go back to the UK, several weeks, if not a couple of months worth, of work were waiting for her, and besides, she had to go, someone had to be the boss. All she had to do now was talk to Alec, see if he would mind being uprooted for a while, or whether he and Gavin should stay here. Personally? Ang wanted to keep her family together, and this would be the perfect chance for Alec to see her history, her landmarks. If he'd just say yes.

However uncertain or uncomfortable things could be between them, one thing Alec and Ang could agree on was the importance of family. This would be Gavin's first Christmas, and Emma was expecting the big family meal, they couldn't disappoint.

And, honestly, he had to admit, by the time they were all seated around the big table and the food was being dished out he could almost imagine that it wasn't all for show. It felt, truthfully, the way it should have, the way it had before.

Ang had worked hard to keep everything under control, while feeling fairly stressed and miserable at the same time. Now of course with the meat and Yorkshire Puddings plated up, and a very small plate done for Gavin, all cut up of course, she was quietly hopeful that today would go off without a hitch. Well, at least until she pulled out the Apple Pie anyway. She'd kind of decided to tell Alec and Emma the er, news over dessert. It seemed kinder that way, to not spoil the meal?

( Read more... )

Ang had been settling Gavin down to sleep, rocking him gently in the nursery, crooning a lullaby a she half dozed herself, mind wandering from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and on through the future she would love to see come to pass.

Alec appeared in the doorway, face tense. "Ang? That was Andy on the phone, something happened at the gallery. We need to get down to Saint Martin's, Emma's there.

"What?" Ang looked up, still half lost in her daydreams, "But, she was at work, surely Emma should be safe there? How on earth did she manage that?"

( Read more... )

Ang had indeed come home early, and bought basic food supplies with her, adding her own special flair to the presentation of the finger nibbles, seasoning the steaks with a light marinade, and even making fat free chips to go with dinner.

There was even an apple pie, because really, what family celebration did they have that didn't have apple pie. With dinner eaten, and both herself and Alec done with the cleaning up, they were able to relax on the sofa and snuggle together while the game was on. Which was really good, because it was a resounding win for the Yankees. "There, they won, um, one more right? And then it's the oh so inappropriately named World Series?"

She was teasing, her fingers tickling at his ribs as she spoke, smiling up at him with her hair loose around her shoulders.

The baseball game on TV was going well, and although Ang was pleased and enthusiastic, she was also exhausted. She'd seen her doctor again and handed back all her medications, telling him there was no way she could function as a mother, never mind a highly paid PA, while feeling like she had the entire global population of miners banging away in her head. He'd just blinked at her and then started talking about changing doses, and Ang had told him flat out she was changing the doses permanently and coming off all the damn pills. Just a few days later and already she felt heaps better.

She was snuggled up to Alec on the sofa, the throw across their legs, but now she moved, sitting up and folding the throw back neatly, "Do you need anything? I thought I might get another cup of tea, maybe some biscuits?"