Cory's Family - Part 3

 

September 2030

Cory is 54; Rose is 40; Melissa is 20; Corinne is 13; Noah is 10; Emily is 4

Melissa decided it was best she wasn't around for whatever Cory and Rose were going to say to their kids. She had some thinking to do herself, too. 

When she came home that afternoon, she found Corinne in the yard.

"Were they really mad at you?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"It'll blow over, it always does."

"Yeah..."

"The room sharing thing isn't really working with Emily, is it?' 

"You think?"

"Hey, I'm trying to help here."

"Sorry. But if you're going to give me another talk about being the really special big sister, that's not going to help."

"I wasn't going to do that. I was going to ask if you wanted to move into my room."

"I can have your room?"

"No. You can share my room. Except I won't be there a lot of the time. But it's still my room, my stuff stays in there too. And you can't paint the walls all pink or anything like that."

"Ok, got it, no pink walls..."

"And... if you're not trying to share a room with her, can you at least try to make up with Emily a bit? She's small and the world's scary to her, but that's not her fault. She could do with someone bigger to look out for her."

"I guess... "

"You don't sound very sure..."

"I'll try, ok? I was trying, before she started keeping me awake all night."

"Well, that won't happen any more, so I guess we have a deal?"

"Deal!"

----

That afternoon, Rose had planned some time to herself to work in her garden.

With everyone more or less talking to each other again, Cory and Melissa and the kids went to the pool. 

Every summer, the pool had staff supervising the water play area so that adults could leave their younger children there and enjoy the pool, without having to worry about them.

That is, most adults didn't worry...

"Are you coming in," Melissa asked.

"I'm watching the kids" Cory said.

"They've got a lifeguard for that."

"I know. But they're little and there's a lot going on over there... "

"Do you ever actually relax?" she asked.

"I'm very relaxed," he said.

"Sure you are," she said. "That's why you're not in the pool."

Ok... fine...

"Where did Corinne go?" he asked.

"She saw some of her friends, I think," Melissa said.

"She's standing very close to that boy..." 

Melissa shrugged. "She's a teenager now. Its going to happen."

"She's only thirteen,"

"Sam met Matthew when she was thirteen," Melissa said - and realized almost instantly that this was exactly the wrong thing to say. Cory was out of the pool, pulling on his t-shirt as he headed towards Corinne and her friends.

He was almost there when Jamie Centowski stopped him. 

"Oh, hi Cory! Glad I bumped into you. Its my first day at the shop tomorrow, and I was wondering... you know... do you have any tips or suggestions or anything...?

"Look, I'm in a bit of a hurry and - "

"Just a minute, I'll just get a pen... "

---

The sun was going down earlier now. Summer was definitely over.

"Emily ok?" Cory asked, as Rose came out the door.

"She's fine," Rose said. "Setting up the baby monitor again was a good idea. Tomorrow, we'll find something to store under the bed so there's no room for monsters." She sat down. "What were you saying about Jamie?"

"He just came out of nowhere and started drilling me for info on the shop. By the time I got away from him, the boy had gone and Corinne was back in the pool."

"That's probably a good thing, really," Rose said.

"That's what Melissa said."

"Well, maybe you should listen to her. It's only fair that you pay some attention her opinions a bit, now that she cares about yours."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't get it? The tattoo... "

"... which she knew I would hate. That's a funny way of  caring about my opinion."

"You're missing the point. She tried to hide it. There were other things you didn't like... dyeing her hair... she never hid them."

"It's getting too cold out here," Cory said, getting up. "And she couldn't exactly hide her hair. The only reason she hid her arm was to avoid an argument."

"Exactly!" said Rose. "She never wanted to hide her hair because she wanted an argument. She wanted that reaction."

"You're reading too much into it."

"Maybe. But I think you've got her respect now. That's quite the achievement."

"Well I still think I should have met that boy talking to Corinne... "

"If you're right  about them, I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to talk to him in the future."

Cory sighed. "How long til she's 21?" 

"About eight years. Just in time for Emily to turn 13."

"Great. Thanks. That's just what I wanted to hear...  "

---

Be afraid, Cory - it wouldn't be this household without some kind of drama!  :)

Emily's traits include Diva and Coward, so she really is scared of everything, and she makes a big deal of it. I was well tired of the whole monsters under the bed thing by the time I finished playing the household. And she and Corinne really don't get on very well, although their relationship was starting to improve. 

Most of the pool photos were autonomous, including Cory getting in and out of the water every few minutes and staring at where the kids were playing, and Jamie (who was in the journalism career until I get the shop up and running again) bizarrely turning up out of nowhere and trying to interview Cory. I had to fit that in somehow!