living_history (living_history) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-10-24 17:36:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 21, bridget mackenzie, meghan callahan, | bridget and meg |
Week 21: Monday
Characters: Bridget and Meg
Location: The farmhouse, Bridget's Room.
Summary: Two friends make up.
Rating: PG
“Ugh.” Bridget hauled herself up and out of the bathtub with more difficulty than she’d anticipated. She normally confined herself to cold showers or sponge baths since they’d arrived at their new home, but this evening she’d managed to indulge in a rare warm bath and let herself soak a while. It had felt so good to just lie there in the tub that Bridget almost fell asleep, but once the water started to cool to lukewarm it was time to get out. That hadn’t been as easy as she’d thought it would be, as her belly had expanded exponentially since Las Vegas, and it took a few attempts to leverage herself onto her feet. Probably better to stick to showers or get someone to help you out of the tub from now on Bridge, not worth slipping and falling.
The young woman toweled herself off and into a bathrobe and slippers for the trek back to her bedroom. For the moment she still had the room to herself, but she suspected that would change if their group got any larger. She reached her room and pushed the door open, only to stop short at the sight of Meghan sitting on her bed, Sarge at the blind woman’s feet.
“Meg? Something wrong?” Not that she necessarily minded the other woman being there, she knew things had been a bit awkward the last week or so and had meant to talk to her about it. The time had just never seemed right though.
Meg glanced up at the sound of Bridget’s footsteps, smiling a little when the other woman spoke. “Was thinkin’ you got stuck.” There was nothing but good natured humor in her voice, except for the distinct tightness in her voice: the reason why she was waiting for Bridget in the first place.
Then a momentary pang of regret crossed her features. “You didn’t get stuck, right?”
“It was a near thing,” Bridget admitted, a bit sheepishly. “If I hadn’t made it on the last try you probably would have heard me calling for a little help.”
Meg winced a little, though it was hard to keep the humor away from that proposed scenario. “Well, who best to help you out than the blind chick, eh?” She smiled crookedly, canting her head. “You got a bit?”
Bridget’s smile turned a bit cautious as she moved to sit next to the other woman on the bed, giving Sarge a scratch behind the ears as she sat. “Nobody else seems to be asking for a minute of my time, I guess I’m all yours. Everything ok?”
Meg scooted over a little, making room. Sarge greeted the other woman’s touch with a happy nudge and a sleepy sigh before putting his head back on the floor. “Well... I’m not really sure.” That was totally honest... Meg’s brows furrowed a little in her show of muted frustration.
“How so?” Bridget had a feeling she knew exactly what Meghan was talking about, and it took effort to keep the guilt out of her voice. She shouldn’t have been taking her own issues out on the other woman, it wasn’t right. Especially since some of the others had been doing the same.
The blind woman’s lips pressed thin, and she sighed. There was an uncomfortable warmth settling in her stomach, built on by the strange isolation she’d been put into over the last week. For a woman who seriously relied on the compassion of those around her to survive, it was a rather terrifying thing. Not consciously, of course, but Meg knew something was wrong--her conversation with Tom had helped a little in regards to Mike’s silence. Now she just had to see if she could rectify the rest.
“Do I really have to explain it?”
“No, not really.” Bridget sighed as well, and hung her head to avoid looking at her friend. “I’ve been a rotten friend to you lately Meg, and I’m sorry. I have issues to try and work through after I saw Mike show up whole and healthy.” Relatively speaking anyway, the man had looked half starved. “I have to admit, I was very jealous of you for a few days. That Mike had survived to find you but Jake was nowhere to be seen.”
The words twisted that heat in her gut like a knife. Meg had had a feeling that’s what the case was, but for some reason she just didn’t let herself dwell on it. She was focusing on a lot of other things--and in truth, she felt she hadn’t been the best friend either. She played with her hands a little in her lap.
“Don’t--I mean, don’t be sorry. No reason for it.” It hurt, yes, but Meg didn’t blame the other women. The thought popped in her head that she’d been avoiding really dissecting why Bridget had been standoffish because she didn’t want to put herself in the widow’s shoes. She sighed.. again. “I-- I don’t really know what to say to fix it, though.”
“There’s nothing to say to fix it other than me saying I’m sorry, that’s all I really can say Meg.” Bridget sighed and took one of the other woman’s hands in hers. “I miss my husband, and I know it wasn’t right of me to take my feelings out on you. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it, but...” She shrugged, not really able to put into words that she’d been avoiding this talk, too.
Meg sighed quietly and chewed on the inside of her cheek. She felt bad that other people felt bad, and by god, she sympathized with Bridget’s position in all this. Meg really wished the teacher wouldn’t beat herself up about it--she just wanted the whole tension to somehow just be over with.
In the end, Meghan squeezed Briget’s hand and nudged her shoulder to shoulder. She also turned a small, but genuinely hopeful smile in her direction.
“Forgive and forget? We got enough things to think about these next few months than worryin’ about shit like this.” Meg was offering the clean slate. For both of them. She just wanted her friend back.
“I’ll try if you will,” Bridget forced a smile and squeezed her friend’s hand back. “I won’t promise I won’’t have moments, but I’ll try not to let it get in the way again.”
“Done deal.” Meg smiled a bit easier, and turned her head to give her friend a quick peck on the cheek. Some heavier stuff was, of course, harder to get over, but mundane things like two-way irrational tension easily dropped right off of the blind woman’s back.
“Good. Then I can tell you all about my doctor’s appointment.” Bridget grinned. She was under no illusions that things would be completely smooth sailing, but at least she could admit to herself it wasn’t right taking out her sorrows on Meg or her husband and try to work through them.
Meg’s brows lifted sharply. “Oh yeah? Spill.”
“Well, first off she wanted me to work less and eat more,” this statement was accompanied by a sigh. “She thinks I’m five pounds under what I should be, so I’m trying to fix that. But the big thing was she had an ultrasound machine there!”
The well, duh face was pretty evident on Meg, hearing the new doctor they’d come across told her to gain weight, but it dissolved quickly into something more excited and expectant. “And...?”
“Well, part of it was just confirming something we already knew.” The young woman put her hands on her stomach. “I’m definitely having twins, the ultrasound showed two babies pretty clearly. And I know whether I’m having boys or girls.” Part of her wanted to draw it out and make Meg guess, but she was excited to share the news and couldn’t wait to tell. “I saw my daughter and my son, Meghan!” She beamed ear to ear, remembering what the monitor revealed. “They were so beautiful, perfect!”
The news spread like light across Meghan’s smile, growing exponentially as her friend gushed like--well, a proud mother. “Ohgod, that’s awesome!” Baby fever? Meg will take a double helping please. “Now you have names to think about! Y’know, ‘Meghan’ is very popular these days.”
Bridget laughed and elbowed her friend lightly in the ribs. “We’ll see about that, I’m sure I’ll be getting suggestions from everyone over the next several months.” She already had the names narrowed down, but would have to think long and hard about which ones she wanted to stick on the little parasites.
“With everybody shacking up I’m sure my two won’t be the only ones running around in two years time.”
Meg suppressed the twinge of discomfort that came with that statement--an old reaction that she had had a long time to deal with. It was nothing: the blind woman was smiling, very genuinely, laughing a bit in the direction of her lap.
“Christ, and we think it’s crazy now.”