Morningstar Manor

Phin had fallen asleep, so Bridget took that opportunity to leave the bed and head to the living room. There she could do a little writing alone without various family and/or friends hovering nearby to make sure she didn't have a blackout episode.

She'd only been curled up in the corner of the couch for about five minutes when the already howling wind suddenly worsened and the muffled sound of a crash could be heard from far above. Bridget looked toward the ceiling with a furrow in her brow as the lights flickered.

After a whole day of moving her things into her new small staff apartment on the tenth floor, Robin really started to feel the role of Susan. To actually move into the Manor and start the job as a maid helped to get into character. After a refreshing shower and a change of clothes, Susan - not Robin, she decided - left her apartment and descended down to see the coffeeshop by the lobby.

Dressed in gray jeans and a champagne top she walked through the door of the Mocha, looked around, and joined the queue with her wallet in hand.

It was happening again. One second Bridget was sitting on the floor, building a cardboard brick fortress with the kids, and then the next it was like all the air pushed out of her and that surprisingly familiar feeling of someone else inside her head was back. The fortress didn't last long after that and the kids, now frightened for reasons they couldn't really figure out, were soon forgotten as Bridget found herself abandoning them in favor of the balcony attached to the master bedroom. Her brain said she wanted to feel the wind on her face.

( To be continued in comments. )

( Bridget has a bad dream. )

Bridget knew the Manor's librarian was see-through. She just refused to acknowledge it. That was probably why she hardly ever came down to the library, opting instead to go to the local branch, some blocks away. But the book she wanted wasn't in at the local branch, and instead of going out just to buy it, Bridget decided to go downstairs.

She roamed the stacks for about ten minutes (thankfully she hadn't spotted the librarian yet, but again, she refused to acknowledge why) before spotting a painting up on one of the walls. She hadn't noticed that before. Abandoning her search, she walked down to the end of the aisle to look at it.

There was something strangely compelling about the piece, but she couldn't pinpoint what.

After everything else that had happened in 2009, it was difficult for Bridget to believe that she and Phin were together on Christmas Eve, wrapping presents while the kids at least attempted to sleep in their own rooms. There had been so many reasons to think this little scene would never happen again, but there they were, awash in a sea of gifts--way more than last year as they had so many things to overcompensate for. And despite Phin's request the year previous, hardly any of them had come pre-wrapped. Their work was operated out of the master bedroom this year in order to prevent any sneaky toddler peeking. Once they were all done (and they were about halfway at this point) the presents would be carried out to the tree in the living room. And then, of course, they could eat some of the cookies Penny and Jeth laid out. The cookies were gingerbread that the kids had helped decorate earlier in the evening. They had predictably gone overboard with the frosting, so Bridget was looking forward to taking a bite just as much as Phin was.

( Wrapping presents; continued in comments. )

In the morning, Lara sat at a table right next to the Mocha line, wearing the bracelet she'd received the day before as she scrolled through some songs on her iPod. She dug the gift a lot and was hoping maybe her santa would see her sitting out there wearing it so she could thank her or him personally. But the Manor had a lot of tenants, so she knew it was a long shot.

At about the same time, Bridget was also at a table. She had a few last-minute things to take care of at work before her vacation kicked in, but since there was no rush, she decided to stop for some coffee and a pastry. Her secret santa gift remained at home, set out on the bar that lead into the kitchen. For the time being the candles remained unlit. That was just life with toddlers.

Toddlers weren't a problem in the Kwon-Smith apartment, so Layla had put her gift around the tub in the bathroom, just waiting for a bath when it would be put to good use. She came down to the Mocha in the afternoon, since she was done for the semester and didn't have anything better to do than stand in line, waiting for some holiday-flavored coffee.

Lis showed up in the late afternoon, wearing the grin that had been on her face since she'd gotten her fabulous gift the day before. It was so incredibly perfect; her secret santa must have been a secret angel. And even though it wasn't anywhere near summer, she wore the warmest of those cleavage-framing tops with pride as she sipped her coffee on the cafe's couch. This was going to be a good Christmas.

Kate had moved in to the Manor last week, but she hadn't gotten around to having a day off since until now. Faced with lots of freedom and no one that needed her to account for her actions and no boxes left to unpack, she didn't know quite what to do with herself.
She pulled on a deep green sweater and a pair of jeans and wandered down to the coffee shop that she'd seen but never tried. It was pretty busy and the girl behind the counter could use an attitude adjustment, she decided as she sat down at a corner table and tried not to infringe on anyone's personal space. There was a gossip rag that someone had forgotten laying on her table and she picked it up, reading the headline.

"Tiger Woods takes hiatus from golf," she read out loud to herself, then scoffed. "Right. Because golf was so the problem."

( Lots of Pandarambles! (super long & continued in comments) )

Bridget came home with a few folded sheets of paper that had been left in the family mailbox. She looked through them with a slight smirk on her face as she walked toward the living room, where Phin was sitting on the couch.

Ever since she and Neil had made plans to move into a new apartment, Layla had been looking forward to hosting some family events there. The first one that came up was Thanksgiving, so this year, instead of going up to the Smith family home in New York, everyone came to Morningstar Manor. Because Neil and Layla only lived a few floors above the Pandigaeshik apartment, there really was no excuse for Phin not to go. Even though no one aside from Bridget or the kids particularly wanted him there, having him stay at home just wasn't an option.

Considering this was the first time Phin had seen Bridget's parents and younger brother since his big secret was revealed, the day didn't progress very smoothly. There were some pretty awkward moments before and during dinner. Luckily the twins functioned as a buffer. Bridget noticed that Phin generally had one within arm's length most of the time. She couldn't exactly blame him. For that.

At least the food was good. After the majority of it was eaten, it was time to clear the table. Neil and Layla had plenty of volunteers to help bring plates into the kitchen; Bridget was one of them.

( Phin surprises Bridget with Chinese takeout, flowers, chocolate covered strawberries and an OnDemand movie while Neil & Layla have taken the twins to watch them for a few hours in the evening so Phin & Bridget can celebrate actually reaching their fifth anniversary. )

Phin was nervous. He had listened to Bridget's suggestion and had readily agreed to try the whole...shrink thing. Initially, he'd been shocked when Bridget suggested (insisted even) that he actually spend his recovery after the hospital at the actual Manor Pandigaeshik apartment. He'd told her initially that she didn't need to do that but had given in because it meant being able to see the kids, and not only that but she seemed more receptive. Part of him hadn't wanted to use that to his advantage but a bigger part was desperate enough to do so. Also, he had been sure that he really had nowhere else to go but his own apartment. Obviously Billie only had a dorm, and his parents wouldn't be very receptive to having him invade their space, and his brothers were both in high school, so.

( Couples therapy. To be continued in comments. )

Lara's hands and arms looked like they'd been stuck in a blender. She and Stone had tried to give Slate a bath the night before, and though the kitten was tiny, he sure made up for it with brute force. Lara had tried to cover up all the claw marks with band-aids, but there was only so much she could do and still be able to bend her fingers. She sat at a table near the register, delicately holding a danish as she tried not to pull apart any closed cuts on her knuckles.

--

Phin was upstairs with the kids and Bridget came down to get them both coffee. She'd had their upcoming couples therapy appointment on her her mind, but once she got into the Mocha line and saw the menu board she found herself wondering what the deal was with this Karma Chai stuff. She had been seeing it pop up on menus all around town lately.

--

Layla was in charge of an upcoming Hitchcock mini-film fest at the Square's old movie house/video rental store, the Ivy. Everything was moving along smoothly with the planning except for the poster. She had Photoshop open on her laptop and was trying to assemble something herself, but she was no design expert. It looked like crap. As she sipped her coffee, she wondered if she could rope some Fine Arts undergrads into doing it.

--

Lis sat on one of the Mocha's couches, restringing her bass. Why was she restringing her bass in the Mocha? Well, after picking up the strings after practice, she was too lazy to go upstairs and do it. Also, it was a good way to get attention and she loved that.

Bridget held the door for Phin as they exited the doctor's office. She had a small smile on her face, something that hadn't gone away since the doctor confirmed that Phin's sight was back for good.

( Phin regains his sight thanks to a toddler's misbehavior while on a Post-Halloween sugar high. ((Just about completed, story so far)) )

Phin was quite possibly the most uncomfortable he'd ever been in his entire life. He'd spent weeks in the hospital and had multiple surgeries on his leg, on his neck, on his lower back and on his right elbow. He still had to wear the stupid neck brace for another two weeks. The brace on his leg was probably going to be there for another four to five weeks at least. He had two slipped discs repaired in his back and, oh yeah, he was still blind. All of this and, regardless of what Bridget had said when she thought his death was imminent, he was still probably going to wind up going through a divorce once his injuries were suitably healed. He couldn't see his kids, nor their faces as they watched him and his mangled appearance throughout the past couple months.

( To be finished in comments. )

Neil and Layla were moving their things into the Manor today, and Neil supposed things were going pretty smoothly. He was just finishing carrying in a box full of...he thought they it was Layla's shoes but he could've been wrong, when one of the other elevator bays opened and he heard thundering footsteps and loud cheers that could only belong to Jeth and Penny, heading his way. He'd stopped in front of the doorway and turned to look up the hall in time to try and brace himself before a toddler barreled into each of his legs, each one latching on and babbling a mile a minute. "Whoa..." He said as he tried to keep his balance without spilling the box. He wound up on his ass with the box lading next to him and spilling a couple of shoes out, whoops. He had no choice but to laugh though because once he was on a more even playing field, the kids crawled right up his torso in an effort to be the first to give him a hug. So before he even saw Bridget behind them, he'd already morphed into the tickle monster and was rolling around the hallway floor like the tallest toddler in the world as he tickled his niece and nephew. He was a very mature thing for random neighbors to wind up seeing, should they enter the hallway.

( Read more... )

Phin was slowly recovering, but unfortunately that recovery process wasn't at all smooth sailing. His leg, for example, still required more surgeries, the last of which happened on Tuesday afternoon. Bridget took the day off work and left the kids at the Manor daycare so she could be with Phin before he got wheeled off to an OR.

She waited anxiously for them to bring him back out and when he did, she returned to his now familiar room. He was still unconscious, which Bridget really hated. It never failed to make her worry that he would never wake up. He did look pretty peaceful though, more so than when he was awake or fell asleep on his own lately. She watched him for a while, but after a long night of taking care of Penny who thought there was a monster in her closet, Bridget found herself starting to doze off. So she did the questionably logical thing and climbed carefully onto the side of Phin's bed to lean her head on his shoulder and place her hand on his chest. She could lie like that for a little while, close her eyes, and pretend everything was all right and back to normal. If only the heart monitor wasn't beeping.

Charlie dropped Nia off at his usual time, unleashing her into the middle of the gaggle of children with a request to be good, and since Penny was hastily making a phone call he stayed to help with any other early arrivals.

He was pleased to see the day care going so well, although Penny had mentioned one thing that made him a little apprehensive. But he was sure it would work out.

###

And at the end of the day he was back again and poor Penny was even more frazzled, so he waited to help again.

Really it was the least he could do.