Neena Thurman pours drinks, kicks ass. (fallsinplace) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-08-01 22:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, elaine mallory, neena thurman (domino) |
Who: Elaine Mallory and Neena Thurman
What: chatting
When: 7/24
Where: a park
Rating: pg because they discuss bachelorette party things
Status: complete
The picnic was going really well. Everyone seemed to be having fun, and Neena was glad to see her new extended family under more typical circumstances.
She was also slightly stalking Elaine all day. She had an important question to ask, but she didn’t want to do it in front of Harry, Thomas, or Cora. Her chance came as the afternoon faded into early evening, and the more active members of the picnic group worked off their excess energy by teasing each other.
Neena smiled at Elaine and sat down on a bench next to the other woman. “Hey, I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you."
Elaine smiled back at her, sipping blueberry lemonade. It was nice to be able to relax with the family, to take a mini-vacation in the middle of a rather boring week. It was amazing how quickly they had all bonded in the past few months.
"Of course," she said, giving Neena her full attention for the moment. She was used to people asking her for advice, but wondered what it was that Neena might want to discuss. "Is everything all right?"
“Yeah, it’s nothing like that. Thomas and I are planning our wedding. Or, well, throwing darts at ideas to see which ones stick, but I wanted to ask you if you’d be my matron of honor."
Elaine's smile broadened, and she gave a hearty nod. "I would be happy to, if you'll return the favor for me, in December. I hope we aren't stealing your thunder, if Harry and I are planning ours, too."
“Nah, they’re far enough apart, and it’s kind of funny that they’re both getting married in the same year. I’d love to be part of your wedding party. Especially since that means I’m in charge of your bachelorette party.” She thought back to her shopping trip with Cora and couldn’t restrain a smirk.
"I suppose it does," Elaine said, laughing under her breath. "I never actually had a bachelorette party, the first time I got married. Of course, I was three or four months pregnant at the time--and if Harry has his way, I might be three or four months pregnant again by then."
They weren't necessarily trying, but they weren't trying not to, either. Whatever happened, happened.
Neena laughed. “I’ll be at the end of my second trimester, but being pregnant doesn’t mean being boring.” At least that was never her experience. “We just won’t be able to drink ourselves stupid.”
“Just as well,” Elaine said, “Honestly, I think the last time I drank myself stupid was the night I got pregnant with Cora.” She and Harry had probably both been a little tipsy that night, and a lot emotional. But they finally seemed to have things sorted out at long last. “Is it bad that I’m hoping she waits a while before she decides she wants a fairy-tale wedding of her own?”
Neena shook her head. “I think a girl needs to go slow with that kind of shit. I married the first guy I ever slept with, and in the end I wound up regretting it. He had an easier time hiding his secrets because I wasn’t experienced enough to see the lies. She’s a smart girl, but I hope Nate gives her a chance to breathe without holding what they have together over her.” Neena had done her best to do that with him, when the roles were reversed. She’d failed, but she had tried.
“I probably should have married the first guy I kissed, instead of the first one I slept with,” Elaine said, “But who knows how life would have turned out if Harry and I had married out of high school.” She shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t trust Nate to be careful with her. It’s just that I’m not ready to part with my little girl yet.”
Neena nodded. “Hell, I don’t even have a little girl and I’m freaked out about how fast they grow up.” She made a small face. There were far too many older men urging little girls to grow up too fast, from her perspective. “I don’t know how Nate and Cora actually are together, I’ve mostly figured it’s none of my business as long as nobody gets hurt.”
Elaine gave a wry smile. Neena seemed like the kind of woman who would teach girls to defend themselves, but teach boys to be gentlemen, so that the girls wouldn’t have to. She liked that. “I guess that could be rather awkward territory, couldn’t it?” she mused, shaking her head. “From what I’ve seen, it’s still pretty innocent. It’s just new and scary for me, being a mom of a teenager. I can only hope Nate’s extra lifetime or two of experience has taught him patience.”
“Pfft.” Neena noted. She didn’t think he was overly patient, as a rule. “I’m sure he’ll be patient with her, but it’s not his natural state. I just hope she doesn’t stop looking at other people and decide to be with him because he’s the first boy to really like her.”
“I hope so too,” she said, “But I’m not sure she ever started looking at other people.” Unless her math tutor counted. “She’s lost all her grade-school friends, because she’s outgrown most of them intellectually as well as physically, and hasn’t really had a chance to make any new ones yet. From what I can tell, she’s been pretty exasperated with most of the teenagers posting on the Valarnet--which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because at least I don’t worry much about peer pressure on that front, but at the same time.”
Elaine held up her hands--one holding the glass of lemonade, and the other empty--and weighed them back and forth. “I know she’s been feeling like she’s been left in limbo. Sometimes she’s very grown up, and sometimes she’s still a little girl. And I’m still trying to feel out just how much privilege and responsibility we should trust her with, and where we should set a hard boundary.”
Neena nodded. “Yeah, that’s a pretty tough position to be in for both of you. I don’t know how I’d handle it in your place, but I think you’re doing fine.” Even if Neena was corrupting Cora a little in her own way.
“Thanks,” Elaine said, laughing under her breath. Laughing was good. “I’m treading water, anyway. Maybe one of these days I’ll figure out how to swim. But in the meantime, I guess I have a bachelorette party to play. Is there anything besides getting stupid drunk that is absolutely off limits? Like, oh, I don’t know. Chick flick marathons?”
“From my own experience you’re only doing parenting wrong if you think you’re doing it right.” Neena said with a laugh. “Uh, I’m fine with chick flicks, but the rest of my wedding party is all men, so maybe not that? How about you, I don’t want to hire the wrong kind of stripper or something.”
“Strippers, huh?” Elaine’s brows rose, and she laughed softly under her breath. “Well, I usually prefer men, but that doesn’t mean I can’t admire a pretty pair of breasts.” She shrugged, and nodded toward Cora, who had turned the sprinkler so it would splash her while she lay on the hammock. “I suppose the question is, whether or not I’m going to include my ring-bearer.”
“If you want her involved I can tone it down.” Neena smiled. “It’s not like there’s a law saying we can’t have a pg-13 party for your wedding. Though I was kind of hoping to get Alex drunk and have him strip, since he’s an actual former firefighter and all.”
“We could have two parties,” Elaine suggested, “A family-friendly one, and an adults-only one. Although that would be a lot of parties if we did two for each of us.” She shrugged, and added, conspiratorially. “It’s not as if I haven’t seen Alex strip before.”
Neena snorted. “We’ll see how much energy we have come November. And everyone’s seen Alex’s ass. Apparently he’s made the rounds.” She smirked at Elaine. “Not that I’d know, he was hooked up with Lorna before I got around to deciding I wanted to take my turn.”
Elaine was almost embarrassed to admit it, but better to admit it than to have it come out when she was stupid drunk--if by some chance she wasn’t knocked up by then and was still able to get stupid drunk. Alex had been a very nice distraction from a very lonely Christmas Eve. “Just as well he suddenly decided to settle down, or I might have missed my chance to snatch Harry off the market before somebody else did.”
Neena shook her head. “Nah, I think you two were meant to be a thing. I’ve seen the way you look at each other.” She smiled warmly at Elaine. “I hope Thomas and I are still like that ten years from now.”
Elaine was smiling too, and she couldn't resist stealing a glance at Harry before turning back to Neena. "I hope so too," Elaine said. "It'll be nice to have another woman around who understands the insanity. I'd probably go crazy if it weren't for you and Emma."
Neena laughed at that. “Those are words I don’t think anyone’s ever said before, but I’m glad to help you out. It’s nice to have a woman I can talk to about stuff, I’m used to being surrounded by all men all the time.” Elaine was girly without being cloying, and Neena knew she needed someone like that in her life.
Elaine smiled, reaching over to give Neena’s shoulder a friendly squeeze. They were a diverse little group, but somehow they all seemed to fit. “You can talk to me any time.”