"Paula, don't you dare."
"I wasn't. I was just gonna take 'em out to gran'ma."
"So Mom, why're you wearing that outfit?"
"Paula, when you say it that way it sounds rude."
"Sorry. It's just you look silly."
"Keep it up and I'm going to make you wear that dress. I just wanted us to look good for Grandma."
"Oh. Is that why you baked the cookies?"
"Yes. So she doesn't worry. Now here, take that plate out there. I'll grab the tea."
"Be proud Mom. She carried the plate all the way from the kitchen and didn't lick one."
"Paula wouldn't do that, would you dear? She's a good girl, and she understands the meaning of patience."
"You're nothing like your mother was at your age, you know. She probably would have already eaten a cookie or two by now."
"What? Hey, this isn't about me."
"Did I ever tell you the story about the morning after I worked hard to perfectly wrap all our presents?"
"Oh god, Mom. Not that story. Can we just let it go now?"
"What story? I wanna know."
"No. Here- have a cookie."
"She's right. I probably shouldn't tell you about the morning one week before the holiday when I came downstairs to find all my perfectly wrapped presents unwrapped and your mother sitting in the middle."
"Oooo! She opened her presents early? Ooooo!"
"Mom, I hope you know you're just giving her ideas."
"You know what she said when I asked her why she opened all my carefully wrapped presents so early? She said, 'Why wait?' Can you believe that? Why wait? Haha!"
"Funny Mom."
"Patience is a virtue dear. And it seems like it skips a generation."
"Ha, Mom's impatient."
"Why do I always feel like you two are ganging up on me?"
"It's probably 'cause you're impatient."
"Out of the mouths of babes, my dear."
I just realized this morning that Christmas is this Saturday. Well I couldn't post one of my normally dark and semi-depressing chapters. So I give you one of Paula's happy memories. It isn't complete fluff. You get to meet Cheryl's mom and learn a very important fact about Cheryl, lol.
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Awww, this was a sweet post! :)
ReplyDeleteSo Cheryl's impatient--interesting. She certainly is quite different from Paula. Is her mom still alive? The woman who raised Cheryl has got to be fascinating.
Great work, Lunar :)
OMG that apron!! Now that is a grandma apron if I ever saw one LOL!
ReplyDeleteDarling chapter, and absolutely Cheryl. Impatient yes, and also formidable and in charge. Instead of laughing about the silly present story, she got a little huffy about it.
I guess she is teaching Paula patience, isn't she? Along with submissiveness.
Wonderful holiday chapter, and I love grandma!
*lol* ... loved this little interlude. Knowing what we do of Paula's upbringing I shouldn't have been so surprised at the normality of life in her household, but I was.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the "so she doesn't worry" comment makes me think this is all an act so that Cheryl's mother doesn't learn the truth about what her daughter gets up to. Somehow I don't think she'd understand :)
This is really sweet. :) 3 generations, sharing memories... Very simple, but very moving.
ReplyDeleteThis about somes up how I feel about Christmas, myself -- reminiscing, sharing time with family, eating cookies. :) Glad to see the spirit is showing up everywhere this week! I can't believe it's Christmas on Saturday, myself.
Very lovely, Lunar -- and, of course, Happy Holidays. :)
Awww, this was adorable! I love Cheryl! She's amazing! I would totally want her to be my BFF if I lived in Ruin, lol!
ReplyDeleteThis was a neat idea for a holiday post. I've been trying to wrap my brain around an idea for my own blog, since I'm running into the same problem with tragic stories at Christmas time. Lucky for me, I guess, my normal posting day falls the day after Christmas? ;)
Oh my gosh, how adorable! I often wonder about Paula's childhood and I'm glad Christmas was such a good excuse to share some of it.
ReplyDeleteCheryl is so gorgeous! She looks like some kind of 1940s movie star in that last picture...minus the apron, anyway!
I feel kind of lazy now! I haven't prepared a damn thing for Christmas and it doesn't look like I'll have the time for it either, seeing I have zero ideas!
Like some of the others, I immediately zeroed in on the "so she won't worry" comment. Hmm...
ReplyDeleteImpatience and a lack of self-control in Paula's mother really doesn't surprise me, given some of what we know about her. She probably got better with the self-control later, but I can definitely see the impatience.
"Why wait?" That statement alone gives us so much insight into why she ever became er...involved with Henri that first time. "Why not?" was probably what she thought.
Perfect, wonderful interlude! :)
Van, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteNo, Cheryl's mom isn't alive still. I do find her to be an interesting character. It gets dangerous. This is how it starts. Before I know it, I'm looking back at Cheryl's childhood and her mother as a young woman, lol.
SB, lol! A grandma apron. So true. I don't believe Cheryl would ever be caught dead in an outfit like that again. (At least not when Paula was old enough to work a camera.)
Chery does get a little huffy about it. I think that, in some way, she wants to be like her mother. I think this is at a point in her life when she thought she'd try and be a little more traditional. (It does not take, but she did try it.)
Actually, Cheryl's incapable of teaching patience to anyone. If anything, Paula's teaching her. And there's no way Cheryl would be able to teach her to be submissive. It's just not in her nature. Even if she were able to pretend to be the perfect housewife, I'm sure the true Cheryl would come out and offer advice. Whether Paula absorbs it is on her.
Thank you. Grandma will probably end up getting a profile. I found the character that popped into my head interesting.
Illandrya, probably you're surprised to see normality at all in this story. It does exist in some places, but normal is rather dull to me when faced with the Wildlands, lol.
It is a clue. The phrase surprised me too. I think that Cheryl is trying to be the person she thinks her mother would want her to be. Whether her mother would understand what Cheryl actually gets up to is another matter. That I don't even know. I do doubt that Cheryl ever tells her.
Kaleeko, thank you! Oh yes, exactly how I feel about Christmas too. And cookies are a must, lol.
Happy Holidays to you too!
Laura, I had to do something for the holiday. This was very spur of the moment for me.
Also, you and Cheryl as BFFs? Somehow I think I might worry for the men, lol.
Carla, haha, thanks. Yeah, I was sort of going for that classic look with Cheryl. The apron just made me laugh.
Don't feel lazy. I really had to do something! I half thought of firing up TS2 even just for fun, lol.
Rachel, Oh yeah. You're seeing all the stuff I found when I wrote over this. isn't it funny how even in a bit of fluff there are some consistent clues?
I definitely see Cheryl trying to be the person she thinks she should be. I think she looks up to her mother, and she wants to be for Paula what her mother was for her. This probably isn't a phase that'll last very long.
Aww, what a cute chapter :)
ReplyDeleteLate to the party...again...but this was adorable. It is fascinating to see both Cheryl and Paula in a different time and setting.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it just like a mother to embarrass us in front of our own with stories of our own youth...
Thanks, poida.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you, Gayl. I imagine to keep Cheryl humble, she needs to be embarrassed by stories of her youth, lol.
I am so sorry, somehow I missed this in the holiday shuffle! Really enjoyed this Xmas interlude. Heartwarming, complete with Christmas baking, what else can we want?
ReplyDeleteOk, the romantic in me would have liked to see Henri show up, armful of presents.
Naw, LOL!
Adorable! A really neat way to incorporate a festive treat but have it still feel part of the story. I adore Cheryl but I think she'd be intimidating as a friend. I have really enjoyed seeing all these flashbacks lately though.
ReplyDeleteHey Drew! It's okay, I figured. It was just a silly little holiday piece, lol.
ReplyDeleteThat image definitely makes me laugh. Henri-- with presents? lmao!
Rad, thanks! I agree, I think she'd be intimidating too. I'd feel really boring next to her.