Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
May 02, 2020 10:26 AM
I don't know what to do. [Tag Nathan] by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Returning to Sonora didn't feel at all like coming back. This was a new start and the beginning of a new life, and Mary wasn't sure at all how to go about doing that. She didn't doubt that she'd made the right decision and that she and Tabitha were going to be okay, but how to get from here to "okay" was a little bit less clear. That was particularly true since Mary had gotten the feeling that Tabitha might be less certain of the fact that they'd ever get there.Zeus had gotten on swimmingly with Darius, Evangeline, Louis, and Calliope. Life in Greece was not what life was going to look like most of the time, though, and Mary wasn't sure how to move forward. There was the additional concern that because Zeus was dealing with the trauma of losing his parents, things would be worse. He'd thrown more than one tantrum, demanding to see his parents and wanting to know why he couldn't. Mary had done her best to explain, but death wasn't an easy concept for a toddler, and it wasn't easy for a grieving friend either. For all the progress Tabitha had made towards better health and wellness over the start of summer, she had withdrawn again with the arrival of a little boy, and Mary was feeling very alone. She couldn't see a way to take care of herself, Zeus, and Tabitha. Normally she would prioritise the latter two, but she couldn't exactly do that if she was falling apart herself.
Those were just the icing on the cake when it came to their new life at Sonora. Living quarters, food, care, and a thousand other questions were on Mary's mind, even before the regular questions of how to be a parent, how to discipline, and all the other little things that went into child-rearing. They were questions Mary would have found answers to in meetings with counselors, in books, and in pamphlets at an adoption agency. But now? There was no time.
There was one person in particular that Mary felt certain would be able to help, though, if he was willing. Since everything was about to be turned upside down anyway, Mary figured there was no great loss in getting it all a little off kilter early. Before students arrived for the new year, she left Tabitha to nap or prepare or whatever she needed to do in her alone time, and took Zeus for a walk. It was easy to hang out with him. He was a curious child and the Gardens were his metaphorical candy store.
The two walked hand-in-hand through the paths, winding past the fountain and making their way, unknown to Zeus, to the greenhouses. Nathan was most likely getting ready for the new term himself, and if not, it was easier to start here, on a lovely walk, and then move from there. This was just a lovely walk. That's it. Just a walk.
As she had hoped, Mary could see her colleague through the glass walls of his "classrooms" and she waved a little as she approached. Hedges and plants and her own skirts kept Zeus out of view, she knew, and she took a deep breath before entering the greenhouse proper. Everything, everything was about to change.
"Hi, Nathan," she smiled awkwardly as she came in, Zeus in hand. His perfect blonde curls and blue eyes made it clear that this little boy was not Mary's, biologically. Perhaps he could have been Tabitha's, but that would have been odd for staff not to know about. Besides, this little half-veela hadn't shown any particular signs of genetic powers, but he was just a little cuter, a little more squishable than others. He drew people in. It was about the only thing about him that Mary felt ready to handle. "I hope you had a good summer." Her voice was tight and she tried not to be emotional. "This is Zeus. Due to unexpected tragedy, we've . . . uh we've adopted him." She blinked to keep tears at bay as she quoted the same phrase she'd used in the letter to Selina. But she wasn't so afraid to show that she was a little desperate this time. "I wondered if you might be able to help me."
[OOC - Nathan being working in the greenhouse approved by his author, various comments about Tabitha's behavior approved by hers.]
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
I don't know what to do. [Tag Nathan]
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Nathan Xavier
May 04, 2020 2:52 PM
Wing it. That's the best you can do most of the time. by Nathan Xavier
Isis had Dora while Nathan worked in the greenhouses. Dora loved the greenhouses. Dora loved the greenhouses too much. It was much easier to get things ready for the first week of classes without her digging up everything he had carefully planted. The good news was she stopped trying to eat the dragon dung fertilizer. The bad news was she liked to "go schwimmin!" in it.He had that open right now, and was glad of the opportunity to just leave it open instead of fastening it between every scoop so he didn't turn around to find a three year old hip deep in dung.
Out the glass walls of the greenhouse he saw Mary approaching and he waved back when she did. When it became clear she was walking his toward the greenhouse door instead of just past it, he wiped his hands clean on his legs and summoned over two stools. Then a third when he realized she wasn't alone. And then he pointed his wand at the fertilizer container and locked it closed.
He was more than a little surprised to see another small person out and about on Sonora grounds. He was also delighted to have the boy around, though the manner by which he came into Mary and Tabitha's care was far less than ideal. "Hi, Mary," he greeted her warmly, then knelt down to greet the little boy at his level. Zeus looked a little older than Dora, but still young enough that they'd probably enjoy playing with each other. "Hello, Zeus. I'm Professor Xavier. Do you want to play with some dirt? I love playing with dirt." He summoned over Dora's child sized gardening tools and a planter without anything planted in it yet, and left them close by for the child to play with or not as he chose.
Standing up again, he gave Mary a sympathetic look because the new mom looked exhausted. "It gets easier," he promised. "It never gets easy. But it gets easier." He would have asked the next question even if she hadn't specifically requested it, but since she had, Nathan phrased a little more proactively than he would have if he'd been worried about overstepping bounds. "What can I do to help?"
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Nathan Xavier
Wing it. That's the best you can do most of the time.
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
May 04, 2020 5:43 PM
I think I might be a chicken then. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary smiled gratefully when Nathan offered Zeus some toys. She still wasn't really sure what he enjoyed or not and all this exposure to nice people helped a lot in whittling it down. Except that so far he seemed to like everything. That was the weird part though; Zeus was a kind, sweet, easy child, with terrible screaming nightmares. He was so good and Mary and Tabitha were lucky to have him, circumstances aside. But the circumstances....Zeus plopped down to play happily as Mary plopped down on the stool exhausted by. She rubbed her eye and smiled a little shyly at her colleague. "That's... Good. So far nothing about it is easy."
She took a deep breath. She was so lucky to have so many good things. A kind wife, a kind boss, kind colleagues, a kind ward... So many good things and then just the one bad thing. But it was a very bad thing.
"Selina's been a huge help," she began when Nathan offered help. "She's got our rooms all set up, she did his room for us, and she's been talking to us about what this will look like when we're both teaching. Thanks for setting such a great precedence," she added. "I don't want to assume anything, but if Dora wants to play with him, she's welcome all the time. We don't really know what his life has been like up to now, but it couldn't hurt to socialise with kids his age. And he's a sweet boy."
It turned out she had a lot of different smiles, because now she offered an apologetic one. "I'm sorry, I think I'm just rambling. I'm not sure what help I need, just that I need something, you know? Things are... Tense, with Tabitha and me. Um... His mom was my girlfriend several years ago." She really hated that she kept telling folks that, but it was relevant and she wasn't ashamed. She just knew Tabitha would hate it. Tabitha did hate it. "And we never got to talk about how we want to parent or discipline or anything, but it's harder when we aren't in a great spot either. I know things are a bit different for you and Isis, but I'd love any advice you have. Although the sympathy was great, too," she teased.
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
I think I might be a chicken then.
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