Bookends
By Shotzette and Missy

1986
By Shotzette

Laverne Kosnowski swore for the umpteenth time that afternoon as she found yet another dirty pile of clothes in Skye's room.

I'm going to strangle that girl one day, she thought to herself. There are drawers, clothes hampers, and the closet. The next time she found Skye's clothes elsewhere, they would go into a new place. The Salvation Army box in the basement.

Laverne sorted through the jumble of blue jeans and tee shirts before tossing them in to the dirty clothes hamper in the corner. Wouldn't do to have a repeat of the purple magic marker in the pocket incident again, she thought grimly.

A slow smile pushed its way past her crankiness as she looked at her stepdaughter's tee shirts. Skye had definitely inherited Lenny's love for music, and she was a young woman of very diverse tastes. Springsteen, The Bangles, The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, and Prince all battled for dominance in the pile in front of her. She was glad that there were no new Culture Club shirts in the mix. That Boy George fellow just gave her the heebie jeebies.

Glancing around at the many posters, stuffed animals, cassette tapes, clothes, books, and art supplies, Laverne was astounded at how empty and barren the room actually was with its main component gone. Skye.

Laverne sat down on the corner of the My Pretty Pony bedspread, as a sharp pang of loneliness overtook her momentarily. She never would have believed it possible for her to become so attached to another woman's child.

It hadn't been easy to earn the little girl's acceptance at first. Four year old Skye couldn't remember her own mother, and to allow another person into that magical world she shared with her daddy had not been an idea that the little girl had been in a hurry to embrace. Still, patience and respect had worked wonders in the end. That and the fact that Skye realized that while she and her daddy were a package deal, Laverne was bringing something special to the table as well, a doting Frank DeFazio, who couldn't wait to start spoiling his new granddaughter. Laverne smiled wryly at the bittersweet memory. Seeing his Muffin happily married and enjoying his new granddaughter had given her Pop's last three years additional joy.

As hard as it was for Laverne to accept her father's death, Lenny and Skye were concrete reminders that she wasn't alone in the world. A fear that had terrifed her more than she had ever acknowledged, even to herself. Her newfound confidence and security had also given Laverne the strength to reach out and forgive others for past wrongs, perceived and actual. While Laverne doubted she'd ever become fast and furious friends with Big Rosie Greenbaum, she was able to reach out to someone from her past that still mattered to her.

Edna. A chance encounter at the supermarket, led to the exchange of phone numbers and a lunch date. During those two hours, Laverne was able to forgive and most importantly, understand why Edna left her father. Laverne had always known about her father's unceasing devotion to her late mother. She just never realized how big the shoes were that Edna had been expected to fill.

Laverne rolled her eyes as she realized that was never a problem she'd have to endure. It was all she could do to prevent Lenny from canonizing her when he compared her to Karen. Two years ago, Karen had tracked Lenny down to reestablish a relationship with him and her daughter. Learning about Laverne's existence had put the damper on part of that goal, but Karen still insisted on being part of her daughter's
life.

It resulted in the worst fight of their married life, and frightened Skye horribly. Lenny had taken Laverne's surprising support of Karen insinuating herself back into his daughter's life as the ultimate betrayal, akin to his own mother's desertion forty years earlier. When he walked out of their small house in Escondido that awful day, Laverne thought she'd never see him again. Instead, it turned out to only the most miserably long week of her life.

Laverne was proud of herself though, for sticking to her guns. It was at that very moment when she realized how much Skye meant to her. Laverne would be damned if she would let that little girl grow up without her mother, as borderline functional as Karen was, the way she and Lenny had to grow up without their mothers.

Lenny still wasn't thrilled with Karen's involvement in Skye's life, but he had learned to accept it.

Karen and Skye phoned one another once a month, and their relationship started to blossom. Much to Laverne's relief, Skye tended to think of Karen as an older sister or an eccentric baby sitter, instead of a maternal role model. As they became closer, Karen broached the idea of Skye spending some time with her. While Laverne and Lenny immediately kiboshed Karen's idea of taking her thirteen-year-old daughter and following the Dead for the summer, they did compromise on Skye spending two weeks in Sedona with Karen.

Two extraordinarily long weeks. The first few days weren't bad. It was easy to pretend that Skye was at a sleepover with her friends, or visiting Edna. Laverne's job at the NASA facility had become more intense and required more hours due to the recent Challenger tragedy, thus fully occupying her mind for ten or more hours a day. Unfortunately, Lenny's days at "Lenny's Ice Cream Parlor", formerly Lou's Paradise Lounge, was a constant reminder of Skye's absence. Almost daily he saw Skye's ever growing cadre of friends and soccer teamates. Laverne knew his eyes would always drift to the section of the booth where his daughter should have been sitting.

They had distracted themselves with going out everynight, then experimentally making love in every room in the house. Still, they were both counting the days until Skye returned.

The neon phone on Skye's nightstand rang shrilly, interrupting Laverne's reverie.

Clearing her suddenly congested throat, Laverne answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey there," a youthfully chipper voice replied.

"Skye?"

"Non other than. 'Sup?"

"Oh, nothing much. The same old same old." Suspicion suddenly gripped Laverne. "Are you OK? Is anything wrong? Is Karen--"

"Relax. Everything's cool." There was a brief pause before Skye continued in a much more serious tone. "I know you and Dad weren't exactly happy that I came out here for two weeks, but would it be OK if I came home a few days early?"

Laverne's heart leapt into her mouth. "It would be fine! It would be great! Your dad will be thrilled! Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

Laverne once again was treated to the exasperated sigh of a thirteen-year-old who knew everything. "Nothing is wrong. I've had a wonderful time, and Karen's been great. I just...miss you guys, that's all. Is that so weird?"

"Weird by normal people standards, or DeFazio-Kosnowski standards?"

Skye's giggles broke the tension for both of them. "Karen said she can drive me back tomorrow, if that's okay with you and Dad."

"It's definitely okay with me, and I think we both know what your Dad's answer would be. Does Karen need to speak to me?"

"Nope. She's outside trying to figure out the optimum alignment in the magnetic field for her crystals."

"Well, don't bother her then," Laverne said as she rolled her eyes, "I hate when people bother me when I'm doing that. Just two more questions, then I'll let you go. Will you be back in time for dinner tomorrow night, and do you want lasagna?"

"You have to ask? Yes to both!"

Laverne grinned. "I love you Skye, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you to, Mom. Later!"

Laverne replaced the phone in it's cradle as her grin spread from ear to ear. Leaping to her feet, she started to dance around the room in joy. Until she collided with a naked Lenny.

"Vernie," he said with amusement warring with concern on his face, "are you OK?"

"I am fine," she said gleefully as she took his hands and pulled him into her gracelessly insane dance, "you are fine. We are both fine because," she said as she paused for effect, "Skye's coming home tomorrow!"

Lenny's eyes bugged out in surprised delight as he picked Laverne up and spun her around joyfully. Abruptly he stopped, pushing her away slightly and furrowing his brow. "Is she OK? Did Karen--"

"Everything's fine," Laverne replied as she looked into his concerned blue eyes. "She missed us."

"You're kidding me."

"Would I kid about that?"

"No," he replied sheepishly, as he looked at the floor. He met her gaze again, shock still etched into his Nordic features. "She really missed us?"

"Go fig." Laverne's smile grew wider as she became very aware that she was being held aloft by a naked man. "Lenny," she whispered throatily, "where are your clothes?"

Confusion crossed his face, until he looked down between their bodies. "Oh," he said as a small flush crept up his face. "New idea. Laundry room, on top of the washing machine this time."

"Lenny, I've got a load going in that machine," she began.

"And," he said as he suggestively raised his left eyebrow.

"And, nothing," she replied as she leaned in and kissed him fully.

FIN


FIN




To 1979

To 1987













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