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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 4, 2008 20:43:05 GMT
Madeleine couldn't stop biting on her lip nervously as Lee read the letter - only stopping when she felt the tart, rusty taste of blood in her mouth.
"Ow," she muttered, bringing her hand up to wipe away the few drops of scarlet on her lip, and passing the tip of her index finger over the cut, simultaneously cleaning away the blood and closing the slit over.
When Lee had read the letter, he looked up at Madeleine wordlessly, passing her the letter. Frowning anxiously, she took it, and read through it.
And breathed in relief.
Lee's mum sounded... well, lovely, to steal a word from the letter. She was just being so nice about it all! There were no reprimands, no warnings, no shouting - well, of course you couldn't shout in a letter, but Madeleine was sure that Lee's mum was genuinely thrilled about it all.
Madeleine laughed as she glanced up at Lee. "God, whatever happened to the Monster-In-Law? She's so nice!"
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Feb 4, 2008 20:46:09 GMT
"Yeah," Lee said softly. "Yeah, she is..."
He glanced at Maddie, a little embarrassed by his previous apprehension over the letter, then, with a thrill of shock, reached out and touched her lip. He drew back his finger, and upon it, a wet drop of scarlet shone.
"Maddie, you're bleeding."
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 4, 2008 20:50:35 GMT
"Was bleeding," she corrected, raising her fingertip to wipe away the rest of the blood. "Up until just before I read the letter anyway. I was really, really nervous - I know I don't know your parents, but I wasn't expecting a reaction like that at all."
After all, her mum hadn't exactly been thrilled. Madeleine hadn't actually shared that little piece of information with Lee yet, but she supposed that it was time to tell him that.
She met his gaze, her smile fading. "I phoned my parents. Dad's happy about it, but Mum... she's... well, she's a bit mad."
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Feb 4, 2008 20:54:33 GMT
Lee nodded slowly. "Yeah... like mine should've been. Like anyone sane should be."
He watched her lips for a couple of seconds; though they'd stopped bleeding, he kept expecting to see pinpricks of scarlet lining them. Just another excuse to touch them, right?
"And... because of that," he said slowly. "Are... are you okay?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 4, 2008 21:00:02 GMT
Madeleine shrugged. "Yeah, as long as my dad reacted positively, it'll all work out. You know what he's like," she added, with a laugh. "Some of the stuff she said... well, some of it really hurt. And I didn't exactly make it any better, I said some things that I ... probably shouldn't have said. I mentioned Shaun, and of course, that's always going to end in disaster. She just... flipped and went off crying, so I feel a bit guilty. But she wasn't exactly a happy bunny when Shaun got engaged at eighteen..." although, she'd been a d**nsight nicer about it to him - " but she came round, so I know she's going to this time. I just... I can't believe she said some of the things she said."
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Feb 4, 2008 21:02:03 GMT
Lee's arms snaked around her automatically; hugging her closely.
"I'm sorry, Maddie," he said softly, kissing the her curls. "But... she will come round. She will. She'll have to."
He'd make her come round. God knows he wasn't good enough for Maddie; point was, he recognised that, he accepted it. Nobody would ever be good enough for her! But wasn't the fact that he knew that worth something? That he knew how lucky he was? He'd tell her mum that. He'd tell her everything, if she wanted.
He'd tell her about how much he loved her daughter; how much he'd always love her, never stop loving her, and that she couldn't do a goddam thing about it.
He smiled to himself at this. "So... she's not gonna stop us, is she?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 4, 2008 21:55:29 GMT
Madeleine smiled as he hugged her close to him, being careful to keep the umbrella up above their heads.
"Hell no," she chuckled. "Since when did anyone ever listen to their parents? We're doing the right thing, I know we are. She just needs to get used to it, and she will. I just didn't handle the situation very well, is all."
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Feb 4, 2008 22:05:36 GMT
"I'm sure you handled it perfectly well," Lee told her. "Come on. Be reasonable. It's tough whenever your mum starts into you like that..."
He looked to the side now, under the umbrella and over, to the Glass Lake. It was still thawing. Perhaps it'd gotten warmer again. The steady drizzle of rain still pattered on their roof; their umbrella, and Lee reached out, closing his fist over Maddie's and pushing the umbrella up higher.
"Oh, by the way," he said suddenly, looking down at her. "Have you figured out how we're gonna afford this wedding yet?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 4, 2008 22:08:35 GMT
Madeleine frowned as he said this. "You know, I've really no idea. I mean, my dad mentioned to me once that my grandad left a 'Madeleine Wedding Fund', but I'm not sure if that's actually true or not. Shaun left me a bit of money, and I guess we've got a while to save, anyway. What about you, any ideas?"
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Feb 4, 2008 22:11:52 GMT
"I want to tell you I can conjure a whole pile of it up," he laughed. "But... er... I can't. Counter-feit laws and all that. My conjuring teacher hammers it into us all the time- he refuses to be liable for it. It's sort of funny..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "You're not marrying a rich man, Maddie."
Stupid counter-feit laws...
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 5, 2008 11:49:52 GMT
"Good thing I never dreamed of marrying a rich man then," she smiled up at him. "I want to marry you; not a bank account."
The rain was still bouncing off the ground, and falling onto the now liquid parts of the Glass Lake. On the surface of the water, the raindrops landed and jumped up, creating concentric rings around the points of contact.
"I'm not a rich woman either, Lee," she said, still gazing out at the water. "My parents... well, we're comfortable, but because we move around, neither of them have steady jobs. We don't have to pay a mortgage, that helps, but Dad's a freelance writer and Mum does some editorial work, the money isn't what you'd call great."
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Feb 5, 2008 21:12:43 GMT
"Well," Lee reasoned. "I don't think a big wedding's necessary... You just want to marry me, I just want to marry you. Hell, Vegas is good enough, as long as it's not you... although..." He grinned sheepishly. "Not Vegas if we can avoid it."
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 5, 2008 21:19:25 GMT
Madeleine winced. "Please no. I don't mind how or where it happens, but if the name 'Elvis Presley' gets mentioned anywhere along the line..."
Honestly, though, Madeleine didn't care where or how they got married, so long as they did. That was all she wanted, just to make the promise, and spend the rest of her life...
It was the marriage Madeleine was looking forward to, not just the wedding.
Then, something hit her.
"Eugh, I have to wear a white meringue, don't I?"
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Post by Kira & Lee Norris on Feb 6, 2008 20:14:13 GMT
"You have to wear a what now?" Lee frowned at her. "Isn't that some sort of dessert...?"
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Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 6, 2008 20:18:04 GMT
Madeleine laughed at that. "Well, yeah, but I mean a dress. Like... a traditional white wedding dress. It's a metaphor... usually because a lot of wedding dresses look like them," she added, with a wince.
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