SERIES: The Rainbows of Her Reason
PART: 4 of 5
RATING: R (Adult thematic material, adult content)
PAIRING(s): L/L; S/C; S/R; F/E; S/W
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CATEGORY: Romance/AU/Sci-Fi
FEEDBACK: PLEASE?!
SETTING IN TIMELINE: Post-Show, but Dark and AU.
SPOILLER/SUMMARY: Laverne is given a rare opportunity - to
go back and re-imagine her life. Is this
new chance a blessing or a curse?
NOTES: This is occasionally wildly AU and may be dark at
times. I have, however, tried to keep
everyone IC. You have been warned!
And remember: Laverne's thoughts are in italics.
***
Laverne forced herself to remain calm, feeling the uneven
thudding of the baby within her. Frank
passed her a strong cup of coffee, then sat down
opposite her - she did not lift the cup to her mouth, wanting to keep a strong,
clear mind for whatever news Frank wanted to deliver.
"I know you got a lot of questions," Frank said.
"Yeah," Laverne leaned over her cup of coffee. "How the he'll'd
you end up in purgatory, Pop? I
understand about me, but..."
"I ain't in purgatory," Frank admitted. "Like I said, They
told me to go look over you - make sure you don't do nothin'
stupid, like drink. 'Sides, they won't
give me my wings 'til you get on the wagon."
The old temptations raced back to haunt Laverne, but she
pushed away the memories. "I
wouldn't do somethin' like that. This ain't even my body."
"It is...kind of.
It's the body you woulda had if you married
Lenny when he asked you to when you thought you was pregnant."
Laverne's cheeks could still color with shame from that old
memory. "I coulda
turned into Betty Crocker?"
Frank gave her a sharp look.
"Better a housewife than a drunk."
He knew, and she felt an even keener shame. "So you're sayin'
that if I married Lenny, everyone woulda had perfect,
swell lives?"
Frank heaved an exasperated sigh. "That ain't even close. Of course you got problems! Your daughter's brat, the business ain't doin' so good, and Carmine and Shirley are barely speakin' to each other!"
"Still sounds better than where I was before," she
stirred her coffee with the tip of her index finger.
"The grass always looks greener when you're in
trouble. People make choices, and all
the ones you didn't make aren't your fault."
"I coulda stopped Shirl from..."
"She made a choice.
She wanted to have the Mummy's kids," Frank smiled. "They're good ones, I've seen 'em - sweet, sharp like tacks. She made a good choice bringing 'em into the world."
"Whenever he sends me pictures, I think that it should
be Shirl's writing on the envelope. I think that I should have told her that you
don't marry a guy you barely know." Laverne wiped her eyes and concluded,
"I think it's my fault for not landin' that
balloon."
"It was her balloon," said Frank. "You been cryin' too long about this."
"Don't I got a right to
grieve? She was my best friend!"
"You've been grieving for five years!" Frank said
sharply.
"You grieved Mama every day of your life!"
"I sure as hell did!
But after the first year, no matter how much it hurt, I picked myself up
and I got on with living."
"You had to! You
had to take care of me!"
"So I did. And
maybe you don't got a lot left in your life right now to make you wanna
live. But the girl I raised don't give up on life this easy!"
"Maybe I ain't as strong as you think."
"You are," Frank said, in a tone he normally used
to settle arguments.
But he understood her - perhaps too deeply. She had given up on life because it had dared
to change without her permission.
"You gotta choose to
live," he said. "If you don't,
you die. Either way,
this world ain't real, and the people in it will disappear when you
do."
They both heard the front door open, and he drew her
close. "You gotta
be strong," he requested.
At that point, Lenny burst into the room, the children right
behind, faces covered in chocolate.
"Hey, Frank!"
"Lenny!"
The two men embraced like old friends, while Laverne began to mop away
the chocolate coating Kenny and Allegra's faces with
her sleeve. She heard Lenny whispering
to Frank about the "surprise" and it being "ready", but she
was absorbed in Kenny's wiggling protests that he LIKED to be dirty.
"You may like it, but I don't!" Laverne said
firmly. "There - nice, clean faces
for everyone!"
"You look nice and clean yourself," Lenny
grinned. "So I guess you're ready
for your SURPRISE!"
At the word surprise, the kids began to jump up and down in
delight.
"Yep," smirked
Laverne.
"Yay," Lenny said,
taking a bandana from his back pocket.
"First you put this on over your eyes." Laverne did as was requested - she felt Lenny
tie it tightly behind her head.
"Now you hold onto me," he put his hand on her shoulder,
"and walk."
She walked on, through the front door - she heard several of
them click. "Go on inside,"
Lenny said, and Laverne crawled into the front seat and groped for the safety
belt - she remembered Lenny's driving skills and was willing to bet that even
in this reality they were pretty awful.
He helped her strap in, and then she heard him helping the kids in the
back seat. She felt the temperature in
the car change slightly, and felt Lenny sitting down beside her. The car jerked into gear, and they peeled out
of the driveway, swerved to the left, and began driving.
"Daddy! Are we goin' to
Chucky Cheese?"
"Nah, honey - that's not mommy's favorite place."
Laverne knew, somehow, that something gross had happened to her there that
Lenny wasn't willing to talk about.
"We'll go there for your birthday," Laverne said
automatically.
"But that's two weeks away!" he whined, and she
heard him sniffling.
"Sometimes," Laverne said. "It's good to wait, 'cause it makes
whatever you're waiting for extra-special." Lenny squeezed her wrist
gently, confirming her emotions, finding his own resonance in them.
She felt the car stop, then heard
her father unbuckling his belt behind her and the dinging of the car's
door. A slight draft crept over her lap
as Lenny opened his own door - then came over to her side and let the kids
out. Finally, he unbuckled her belt and
helped her out of the car, leading her gently down what felt like a steep
incline.
"Len, we're you taking me?"
"Someplace with lots of rocks," he joshed. "Ow! Watch out for that one."
He guided her down and down, before stopping her with gentle
pressure on her shoulders. "Here we
go..." He untied the bandana, and the world appeared before Laverne in
bright greens and blues.
They stood in a park, lights strung up in the trees. She smelled something delicious in the
distance, and heard a band playing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" in
the distance. And standing before her
were her friends - so many good friends, and they all smiled sweetly at her.
"Good anniversary present?" Lenny asked.
She nodded, suddenly feeling awful that she hadn't gotten
anything for him. He grinned and looked
down.
"You already gave me a present," he smirked, but
became slightly more serious. The band
struck up a tune, and he took her by the hand and led her to the center of the
open field.
"It's so pretty here," Laverne whispered, awed by
the atmosphere.
"I knew you'd like it," he grinned. "It's kinda
cheap, I know - but it's our park."
"It's not cheap - it means something to me," she
squeezed him. "Thank you so much,
Len."
The words flooded from him.
"I know you didn't wanna have another baby - that I begged you to
have this one - but I promise it won't cost us too much more."
"Len," she said, quite naturally, "you're a
good dad. The money don't
matter to me. I love you, no matter how
much we have." She realized,
suddenly, that it was truthful - she did love him - love the person she had
driven away years ago.
"I love you, too," he said, and dipped her low.
Deep within, Laverne felt something pop,
and an alarming wetness pour down her thighs.
"Oh no," she croaked.
Lenny looked down between them. He surmised the situation quickly for them
both. "Oh no - it's too
early."
"Early or not, it's time." This she said with a
womanly instinct she felt deeply.
"It's time, Len. I'm gonna
have my baby."