Five Years On, Part 3
Author: Emily
L.
Email:
lavennyfic@gmail.com
Category:
Drama
Rating: PG (very little adult
content, some thematic elements)
Het/Gen/Bi: Het
Parts: 3/4
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: None of these characters
belong to me, they belong to Paramount. Don’t sue me - I might cry.
Pairing: LDF/LK, past SF/WM, past SF/CR
Distribution:
I’m keeping my fic on here for now. E-mail me if you have any requests.
Authors Notes: Note the not-so-quiet salute
to the Laverne & Shirley Sing album (and MMK!) in the title.
Setting: California
Summary: The long separation between Laverne and Shirley
will either make or break their friendship, and it is up to Shirley to decide
her own fate.
The next day was solely devoted to
Laverne and Shirley catching up on all the years they had missed. They sat on
the floor gabbing like teenagers while Shirley told plenty of interesting,
adventurous tales about how she, Walter, and the boys dealt with living in so
many different countries - stories that fascinated Laverne who had never been
to a country other than Canada. But not wanting to dwell on her jumbled and
unhappy life, Shirley mostly opted for listening to what Laverne had to say.
Now totally accepting of Laverne and Lenny's marriage, she cried over missing
her best friend's wedding and not being able to see Josie from birth.
“Shirl, it's okay! We got married
almost four and a half years ago! Don't cry about it!”
“Oh, Laverne, I wanted so badly to
be there! To think that I've missed so much... I mean... Josie's four years
old! Todd's only a little bit older than she is! We could have been pregnant
together!”
At that, Laverne began to tear up. “I
know Shirl... but we can't change none of that now.”
Shirley nodded sadly. Suddenly, she
looked up at Laverne. “Wait... if Josie's birthday is August 12th and you got
married in January...”
Laverne blushed and grinned. “Yeah,
Shirl... we did it before we got married.”
Shirley was shocked. “Why did I
never notice that before? I thought you were waiting until your wedding night!
We promised each other!”
“Yeah, well... you weren't around no
more, and we almost made it until our wedding
night. Why does that even matter to you now?” she asked, laughing.
“I don't know, Laverne. I just
thought you would have waited like I did.”
“When you're thirty years old, I
think you have the right to do it before you're married, Shirl. And to tell you
the truth, Shirl, I hadn't been planning on saving myself for a while before
you even left. I just wanted to wait until I was ready, and with Len, I knew I
was ready. ”
Shirley smiled at her, grabbing her
hand. “I suppose you're right. I'm just... I'm so glad you're happy, Laverne. I
know it didn't seem like it, but I was really worried about you while I was
gone. I didn't know what you'd do without me there to keep you in line.”
“Well, I did make a few bad choices.
But Lenny and I got together right after you left, and I always had Carmine
whenever I needed him.”
Shirley froze. “About Carmine...
what time did you say he was coming again?”
“He said he'd be here around 5:30
for dinner.”
It was 4:00. Only an hour and a half
to go. An hour and a half of being nauseous and wishing she were dead.
It was now 5:45 and Carmine still
hadn't arrived. Lenny was on the back porch trying not to scorch the chicken on
the grill, Laverne was cleaning up Josie, and Shirley was pacing nervously in
the kitchen. She noticed the bottle of cooking sherry that sat on the counter
by the stove. Maybe if she got sloshed, her time with Carmine wouldn't be so
bad. As she guiltily reached for the bottle, the doorbell rang. She was stuck
between answering it and crawling into a hole.
“I'll get the door!” Laverne
hollered.
Good. Laverne answering the door
gave her time to climb into a hole. But that was useless now, because the
minute she heard his voice, she promptly threw up in the sink.
Completely embarrassed and disgusted
with herself, she hurriedly rinsed out the sink and gargled.
“Len's outside, Carmine, but why
don't you come into the kitchen - I'll get you something to drink.”
Laverne and Carmine strolled into
the kitchen together, and upon seeing Carmine, Shirley stopped in mid gargle.
Carmine blankly stared at her as if he hadn't believed Laverne when she told
him Shirley was staying for the week.
“Angel - I mean... Shirley...”
Shirley quickly turned around and
spat out the water into the sink. “Carmine.”
Laverne stood between the two of
them, awkwardly shifting from one foot to another. “Well - I can see this is
one hell of a party, so I'm gonna go see what Len's doin'...”
As Laverne tried to scurry away,
Shirley grabbed her by the wrist. “Don't leave me Laverne!” she whispered.
“Quit grabbin' me Shirl! You stay
here with him... I'll be right back.” With that, she darted out the back door.
“So, Shirl... how ya been?”
“I've been better,” she sternly
muttered.
“I see. Look Shirl, to make this
less traumatic for the both of us, why don't we just own up to the fact that we
both made mistakes. We both screwed up in life, and we both deserve the right
to forget about everything for today,” he said, flashing that charming Ragusa
smile of his.
“I screwed up? I screwed
up? Carmine Ragusa, if I recall correctly, I'm the one with two perfect
sons. I'm the one who's traveled around the world with money up to my elbows,
and experienced things that I had only dreamed of. I wasn't sitting in a cheap
apartment in New York City with a cheap floozy name Samantha...”
“Sarah.”
“What?”
“Her name was Sarah.”
“Oh - whoever! The point is, yes, I
didn't make the best choices for my self, but I sure as hell didn't screw up!”
“I see your point there, Shirley. I
guess marrying some guy you only knew for a few weeks because he was a doctor
and could make you a rich, oh-so-happy wife was very noble of you. If only I
had been able to experience the same privileges.”
“Oh Carmine, shove it,” Shirley
screamed.
A long silence came between the two
of them, and it was then that Laverne and Lenny walked into the kitchen
carrying the food from the grill.
“Dinner's ready... guys...” Laverne
announced, looking at Shirley in an all too knowing way.
“Spectacular.” Shirley said, full of
sarcasm. “Eating dinner with Carmine Ragusa again. It will be like we're all
one big, happy family.”
Lenny looked at Laverne, licking a
large glob of barbecue sauce off of his thumb. “Well, this oughta be fun.”