One Fine Day part 4
(Field Trip Fiasco…)
It was just an average evening at 1215, Magnolia Crescent. Six-year-old Heero, sitting at the dinner table, was finishing his homework. To keep himself entertained during those boring letter-tracing drills, he would rhythmically kick the chair with his left foot, or gnaw on the pencil, or (his very favourite) complain out loud on how school sucked big-time.
In the large, open-plan kitchen, Heero’s mother was intent on cooking dinner.
“I know, kiddo… you really want to be done for the day, huh?” she would empathize, still implying that there would be no TV until then.
“Awwww, why? Why, why, why?” came the muffled protest from Heero. She shook her head and smiled as the child continued on grumbling to himself,
“Why, Y, Y, Y, Y, Z! Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, hmph, this really bites… Z, Z, Z… Done!!! Mom, can I watch The Simpsons? Pleeeeease? Duo’s parents let him watch it all the time…”
Giving the stir-fry one last flip in the wok, Lucrezia rolled her eyes.
“Hmm, gee, I wonder why the kid has a mouth that would put a trucker to shame,” she thought to herself, barely suppressing a giggle. That Maxwell kid sure was a handful… he and Heero had a bit of a rough start, true, but had soon become best buddies. And now, he was over to their place to play every couple of days at least, usually joined by his neighbour Hilde, little Relena Peacecraft and, occasionally, the Winner and Barton kids.
She did not mind having the most popular backyard in the neighbourhood, although pretty soon she had to come up with a set of rules to keep the stampeding little demons from destroying the house and all its contents every other day. She figured that it was a very good thing that her usually shy son had made new friends so quickly, and that her teaching job allowed her to indulge him in that. Especially because he had been quite disgruntled about the move. Away from Nana and Gramps, and his little preschool pals. Never mind the headaches she got from trying to design lesson plans with four or more kids on a sugar high, literally bouncing off the walls…
She glanced outside the French doors, where toy Gundams (or pieces of them) lay strewn all over the patio, carelessly getting rained on.
“Heero, you left Wing Zero outside again,” she warned, “You know what happens if the raccoons find it…”
“Aww, man… I know, I know,” Heero sulked as he climbed off the chair to go put away his toy, “They’ll think it’s food, so they’ll wash it in the cat’s water bowl, and munch its head off.” Then, he scuttled off to the patio under the pouring rain, and rushed back inside with the wet prize.
“Dumb raccoons,” he grumbled, “We never had those at our old place… And it didn’t rain all the time, either.”
“True enough,” Lucrezia mused, trying not to cringe at the wet paw prints that her son was leaving all over the kitchen floor. “Going out in the rain in your fuzzy socks again, are you?” Then, just as she caught a glimpse of the patio door with the corner of her eyes, she slid herself square in front of it, hands on her hips.
“Oh, no, you’re not, mister,” she scolded the cat, who was just then returning home after spending the entire day out in the muddy trails. Picking up the squirming reddish-white tabby, she turned to Heero, who promptly handed her a rag to wipe the cat’s mucky paws clean.
“Mom, you’re funny,” the child snickered.
“Oh, am I? And why is that?” she echoed with a mischievous smile, releasing the cleaned-up cat and closing the patio door.
“Well, you freak out at Romeow for making a mess, but you’re making one too, right about now,” Heero explained, then proceeded to point at the saucer where the rice was cooking, which was happily boiling over, spilling all over the stove.
“Yikes! Awwww, shucks! Making a mess, making a mess!” she chanted as she raced over to ride damage control.
Just then, the phone rang. Suppressing a curse through her teeth, Lucrezia tried a weird balancing act between the stove, the sink, and the phone, that happened to be sitting right across the kitchen island, flat against the wall. Just as her right hand managed to grip the phone, she lost sight of her left arm, outstretched in the other direction, at just the right angle to cause the lid to fall off the saucer with a loud metallic thud, and the sticky, watery rice mixture to spill all over the counter.
“Whoupsie daisy,” Heero chuckled, ducking and running for cover.
“Awwwww, JEEZ! HELLO!!!” Lucrezia growled into the phone. From the living room, Heero could swear there were little clouds of black smoke puffing out of his mother’s ears.
“Uh… Miss Noin? I’m sorry, am I catching you at a bad time?” a remotely-familiar masculine voice stumbled at the other end. Just then realizing that she must have sounded like a complete lunatic, Lucrezia gulped hard. A few seconds of silence followed, then the voice at the other end called out hesitantly again,
“Miss Noin? Is everything alright? I can call back, if this is bad timing…uh, Re, you sure this is the number?” From the couch, a very perplexed Heero observed his mother’s cheeks turn pale as a bleached bed sheet, as though she had just seen, or more to the point, heard a ghost.
“Zechs…” The urge to utter that name had been too strong, and even though she knew full well that her dear friend had died four years earlier, the word had flied out of her lips just the same. Cringing inside at her utter foolishness, she regained control of herself.
“Hello, this is Lucrezia Noin,” she spoke calmly into the phone, her heart still making up for the skipped beats.
“Hi, Lucrezia, this is Mirialdo Peacecraft. Your son and my sister Relena are in the same class,” he greeted awkwardly. Heero’s confusion grew at the sight of his mother’s cheeks suddenly taking on a fiery, purplish-red tinge.
“Oh, crap,” she panicked inside, just as her mind formed a vivid picture of the attractive young man looking at her as though she were a total nutjob.
“Oh… Mirialdo… Hi!” she nervously chirped into the phone, “gosh, I did not recognize you at all, over the phone… How was your trip to Japan?”
Small talk about jetlag and crummy weather followed, as both young adults attempted to break the ice. Finally, Mirialdo announced the reason why he was calling in the first place.
“Sorry to bug you guys, you’re probably in the middle of dinner or something…” Lucrezia quickly denied that he was any nuisance at all, but the young man was already on a roll, and kept rambling a mile a minute. “I was wondering… about the kids’ school trip to Sunshine Island next Wednesday… would you be able to maybe swing by my place and pick up Relena on the way? The reason is that I am scheduled for a very early flight that morning, and Pargan, who would usually take care of it, cannot, so…”
He would have kept going at that for another good five minutes, giving all sorts of explanations for having to inconvenience her, had she not interrupted him.
“Mirialdo… Mi… Ok, I understand… Mirialdo… Yes, of course I can pick up Relena on the way. Look, it’s no big deal, really. We’re, like… four blocks apart. Don’t sweat it.”
Minutes after the conversation was over, the slight blush and silly grin were still painted all over the young woman’s face, even as she proceeded to clean up the awful mess in the kitchen. Heero sauntered over, having understood from the bits and pieces of conversation that he and Relena would be riding to the ferry together.
“Mom?” he asked with a funny frown on his face just as she filled up his bowl with soggy rice and stir-fry, “Do you have a crush on Re’s brother?”
Then, just as her eyes bugged out and her jaw dropped to the floor, he scuttled off to the dinner table, giggling, “Just kidding… Aw, dude, do you have to put all these vegetables in here? Icky, there’s dead eggplant!”
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On Field Trip Day…
Lucrezia woke up to a body free-falling on her bed at 5:25 in the morning.
“Get up, get up, get up off of it,” the six-year-old bundle of energy belted it out as he played air guitar and hopped on the tall, bouncy bed. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, vowing to herself never to listen to Alanis Morissette CD’s right before Heero’s bedtime, and glanced at the alarm clock.
“I could have had a full five more minutes of sleep” she grunted softly, wondering how on earth that kid of hers always managed to wake up five minutes sharp before the alarm went off. Not one minute sooner, not one minute later, no matter what time she set it for. Not satisfied until his mother actually dragged her sleepy butt out of bed, Heero proceeded to land another free-fall, this time right across Lucrezia’s upper body.
“Owie,” she protested, “Alright, alright, I’m up already… Gee, if I didn’t know you better I’d almost say you liked school…”
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“Ok, we’re right on time, kiddo,” she reassured the little boy about an hour later as they both hopped in the car, “I’m not gonna make you miss the ferry…” For all answer, Heero grunted and buckled up in the back seat, commenting that they would be even more on time if she hadn’t made him change clothes at the last minute.
“Aw, for the love of Pete…” she sighed, wishing that Gundam Pilots on TV did not always wear the same absurd spandex bike shorts and raggedy green tanktops.
Quite a different story was the kind of morning that Mirialdo and Relena Peacecraft were having, just four blocks uphill. The young man’s alarm clock had decided to take a coffee break until 6:25, about five minutes before Lucrezia and Heero were supposed to come by. Consequently, he and Relena were still in their pajamas, scrambling to get ready, when the dreaded doorbell rang. Both Heero’s and Lucrezia’s eyes bugged out at the very much unexpected sight.
About twenty minutes, a couple of stifled curses, and a few million apologies later, Mirialdo, still in the process of trying to get ready for work, had Relena in a clean, presentable state, and ready to bolt out the door with little Heero and his mother. Lucrezia buckled both kids in the car, then hopped in herself, and sped down the hill, hoping that there would be no speeder-meters along the way to the ferry. She was positive that they had already missed the school bus that was supposed to leave in front of their elementary school. Mr. Chang especially wasn’t one to wait around for tardy parents to drop off their offspring. But at least, she was confident enough that they could catch up at the ferry terminal, before the school bus boarded. Besides, Heero would not talk to her for an entire week if she made him miss the field trip with all his new friends. And it was at times like those that her MS pilot training and quick reflexes came in real handy…
“Um… Heero… your mom has a wee bit of a lead foot, huh?” Relena leaned over and whispered in the boy’s ear, not wanting the young woman to hear, for fear of being rude. The little girl was holding on to the seat for dear life, and Heero could tell that she was not used to that. Her brother probably drove like a sissy, he thought to himself, quite enjoying the speed-induced adrenaline. Instead, he opted for a more polite, but just as cheeky reply:
“Yeah… she says it’s cuz my Nana’s maiden name is Ferrari. Like the race cars… cool, huh?”
At hearing that comment, Lucrezia yelped and remembered that she had passengers other than her own child. She resolved to slow down at once, cringing at the thought of little Relena recounting to her brother how Miss Noin drives like a professional stunt driver.
Only 5 kilometres from the ferry terminal, and 10 minutes before boarding time, Relena spoke again.
“Uh-oh… Mirialdo’s gonna kill me…” she said softly, her hand slapping her forehead emphatically.
“Is there something wrong, Relena?” Lucrezia prompted the little girl. Oh, she had a bad feeling about what was to come…
“Uh… I think I forgot my inhaler… but that’s ok, I haven’t really had an asthma attack in three whole weeks,” she explained, blushing and shrinking in her seat.
“Oh, brother… Well… that doesn’t matter,” Lucrezia sentenced at once as she steered into the first exit, “We’re going back to get it right now. It’s not a good idea to go off on a trip in the middle of nowhere without it!” Heero grimaced in pain and exasperation. He had been keeping count of the time, minute after minute, and he knew the deal was signed now… Besides, his mom was no longer driving like she was under the effect of the Zero system… that could only mean one thing: bye-bye ferry, bye-bye trip. Duo would never let him live that one down...
When they pulled into Relena’s driveway, they were both quite surprised to find that Mirialdo was actually still there. In fact, he was standing outside, talking into his cell phone and gesturing like mad, as though he was having a heated argument with someone. Occasionally, he would vent off his visible frustration by kicking one of the tires of his black Passat, which, coincidentally, happened to have the hood propped open. And, to top it all off, it was starting to rain… Again!
“Aw, for the love of Betsy! Howard… Come on, man, give me a hand here… Now, you said, look for the carburetor… what does it look like? Black and round is not very gun-damned specific, now, is it?” the young man growled into the phone as he once more hunched over to examine the engine. He then proceeded to turn around to see who was pulling into his driveway at such an inappropriate moment. Upon recognizing the familiar green SUV and the attractive dark-haired woman at the wheel, he let out a yelp and tried to straighten himself up, but only succeeded to ram his head against the hood cover instead. A loud metallic clang, caused by the hood slamming shut from the impact, was followed by a string of muttered curses as he rubbed the painful bump with his right hand. His left hand ran down his face in an exasperated gesture.
“This can’t possibly get any more embarrassing,” he decided right that moment. Only, it just had, since he had just managed to smear engine gunk all over the left half of his face, and was now grinning sheepishly at the approaching Miss Noin.
“Um… car trouble?” she hinted, a soft smile on her lips as their gazes met for a brief second. Then she once again looked away, awkward, as she proceeded to let Relena out of the back seat. The two children were giggling inside the car, no doubt finding Mirialdo’s “makeup” quite hilarious. Their chuckles were promptly silenced by Heero’s mother casting them a disapproving glance and mouthing a silent “Come on, guys… It’s not nice.” But, admittedly, she was having a hard time keeping a straight face herself.
“Um… we’re just swinging back to grab Relena’s inhaler,” she fumbled for a quick explanation of why the children were not on the ferry right that moment. He just made a sweeping gesture to the front door, left conveniently ajar, and kept trying to get the muck off his hands with a rug, while at the same time keeping up his cell phone conversation. It still hadn’t quite dawned on him that it was all over his face, too…
“Gods, does he have any idea how completely goofy… utterly, breathtakingly cute he looks right this moment?” she could not help remarking, her cheeks feeling flustered all of a sudden.
“Silly. I am way too silly for my own good,” she once more scolded herself into composure, “What am I, a freaking love-struck teenager?”
A mere few minutes later, Relena had finally located her inhaler. Which, by the way, happened to be sitting in the secret pocket of her rain jacket, which she had been wearing in the first place… But no matter. The fact remained that they had missed the trip, and would have to figure out something to do to pass the day. Lucrezia paced the floor for a while, running her options in her head. She had a class right at 8:30, which was a bit of a problem, because it didn’t leave much time for making last-minute childcare arrangements. But then after 10:30 she would be free right up until 2:30, and could look after the munchkins herself… And maybe the college would make an exception and let her place Heero in the daycare for just a couple of hours. Although last time he was there, he had managed to scare all the smaller children, inadvertently ram his gundam’s buster rifle into a caregiver’s shin (she limped about the college for a week, poor girl…) as well as smear finger paint all over himself, AND wreck the jungle gym… Not a happy experience, overall.
Heero and Relena had meanwhile settled down on the couch, and were squabbling for the remote control until they encountered the local cartoon channel, which was airing reruns of Pokemon. That seemed to settle the dispute, as both children crooned,
“Pikapikapika!!!”
So Lucrezia resolved to step outside and see what childcare options Mirialdo may have access to. Although, by the looks of it, it appeared as though his car was giving him enough grief as it was, even without the added complication of the missed school trip.
And, sure enough, he was at it again, his back lowered under the hood in the pouring rain, seething curses through his teeth as he ended the phone conversation.
“Ok… Howard… Yes, I’ll definitely make it for the 11:00 flight, even if I have to bus there. Thank you. I know, it won’t happen again. No, I’m not going to try and fix this piece of junk myself, I promise. Alright, thanks, man. Later.”
“Um… Looks like you could use a hand,” she uttered timidly, inadvertently sneaking up behind him with an umbrella. Startled, he gulped, and would have hit his head again for sure, had she not laid a hand on his shoulder to prevent just that. He turned to her and smiled sheepishly, mortified for her having to witness his unexpected trucker mouth… not to mention, his utter mechanical incompetence.
“No… uh… It’s ok, I think I’m just going to have to get it towed to the shop,” he fumbled, getting out of the weird position and straightening up to face her. He noticed that she was glancing at the engine, a glint of curiosity in her dark blue eyes.
“Mind if I take a look?” she asked, suggestively yet matter-of factly.
“By all means,” he surrendered with a half-smile. She was an engineering instructor, after all… probably knew her way around a car engine better than he did. With that, he stepped aside, and took the umbrella that she was offering. He watched her smile grow into an outright grin of delight, as she pulled her sleeves up and bent over the engine.
“Ah… there you go,” she muttered as her hands confidently felt their way around the nooks and crannies of the engine, even without any visual cues,
“You have a couple of loose connections around the IPX… and the SPX kind of got twisted off and is dangling half-way. No wonder the X-complicator wasn’t getting any current…”
“Right… but of course,” he scoffed gently at her gobbledygook, glancing sideways.
“Sorry… My very first car was a Volkswagen,” she explained, seeing as he was quite mystified by her aptitude, “My father taught me how to tinker around with it…” Yet, for some reason, that last sentence had burned inside her, the familiar feeling of gut-wrenching guilt taking over and forcing her gaze away from him and back into the recesses of the greasy engine.
“Of course not, you liar,” the voice of her own conscience protested inside her head, “Dad’s an accountant… Taught you how to do your taxes, but as far as cars are concerned, he knows less than squat. Why couldn’t you just say it, that you worked on mobile suits for a while? I’ll tell you why. It’s because you’re scared witless of him finding out that you fought in the war… killed people for a living… Do you think he would judge you for that? Oh, you bet he would…”
He was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. Glancing nervously inside the house, he broached the subject of childcare, adding that he would be more than willing to pitch in as much as his schedule allowed. She did not answer right away, quite taken by the task at hand.
“Mind giving it a try?” she finally uttered, straightening up. Obediently, he relinquished the umbrella in her hand, then made a dash for the door to get in the car, and turned the key. He was greeted by a healthy roar of the engine, at which Lucrezia could not help an elated cheer and a thumbs-up. He smiled inwardly, long-repressed memories suddenly washing over him. Memories of his one and only friend, the smile that made life worthwhile, her face and uniform streaked with gunk from his Tallgeese suit. So long ago…
Reality soon caught up to him with a vengeance as he caught a glimpse of his mucky face in the rear-view mirror.
“Well,” he forced upon himself his customary confident stance as he exited the car, “Miss Noin, thanks to you I don’t have to bus to the airport any more.” He saw her glance at her watch nervously, just as they entered his house to get cleaned up.
“I’m sorry, I never even bothered to ask you if my car troubles were making you late for class,” he stated, just as he motioned for her to go ahead and use the sink first.
“No, it’s quite alright,” she blurted out, quickly dismissing his apology, “I still have plenty of time to make it to my 8:30 class. Besides, I need to figure out what to do about Heero first…”
“Ah… yes… Guess I should start figuring out what to do about Relena, too,” he muttered. Then it occurred to him…
“Wait… I don’t have to be at the airport until 10:30… and you have class right away. Why don’t you leave Heero with me, since I have more time to make childcare arrangements for the both of them?” She was a little taken aback by the suggestion. She really did not feel comfortable with that… After all, Heero could be quite the handful. And he tended to start acting up whenever he felt “shuffled around”. And for all she knew about this guy… well, what did she really know about Mirialdo Peacecraft, anyway? Other than he was too charming for her own good, and that she was developing the silliest crush on him…
“Lucrezia… it’s the least I can do, after you fixed my car,” he pleaded convincingly, cerulean eyes pinned tenaciously on hers.
“Um… well… if you’re sure it’s not too much trouble,” she hesitated, “But I want you to call me if it becomes a problem, so I can get out of class a bit early and take over… at least until the afternoon. Ok?”
And so it was agreed, much to the children’s relief, since they would at least be partners in misery. Relena knew a thing or two about the icky, old, boring airport daycare where they would most likely end up…
Both young adults grabbed their respective cell phones from their children, who had been playing with them for the past few minutes, and Lucrezia headed off to the college for her class, while Mirialdo stayed behind with the munchkins.
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(to be continued…)
