Here, Darling.
I'll Be Better When I'm Older
The meal with Zack’s parents went okay, or so she thought. With Deb she was on edge, wondering if the woman was being sincere or sarcastic, choosing not to choose to respond unless she had to in case she came across wrong.
Steven on the other hand seemed lovely, people said chivalry was dead but that man was living proof that it wasn’t. All Alaska hoped was that when she grew up she would end up with someone like that, a kind of man that was always trying to keep the romance in the relationship.
Lucy didn’t turn up, giving her parents a last minute call about how she was meeting some friends that might know of a job opening for her, Alaska and Zack didnt believe the girl one bit but they would get all the gossip out of her later.
Ava was as good as gold, making it impossible for Deb to find a fault with her, which was Alaska was dreading. The little girl remembered to always say please and thank you and gave her most heart melting smile whenever she talked.
This made Alaska slightly worried that she wasn’t conveying herself in a good light, unlike her daughter who was pulling out all the stops; Alaska was dreading when Ava was a teenager, using all her talents to break the hearts of the young men who stumbled across her.
The constant ringing of the telephone from the love sick fools begging for Ava to talk to them which she would simply shrug at Alaska being sweet to the boys but forcefully telling them that was no future for the two of them but they could still be friends. Alaska could picture it now and she was definitely not looking forward to it, wishing that she could keep her daughter this age forever.
Deb immediately warmed up after she had a drink inside her, the slightly cold exterior that she had earlier in the day completely evaporated, instead she left Steven washing the dishes while she collapsed on the sofa, pulling Alaska down beside her as she reached into the draws in the living room table, pulling out numerous photo albums.
Groans erupted from Zack’s lips followed by pleas to his mama begging her to leave the photo albums until another time, her cheeks turning crimson as his mother merely waved him off, opening one of the numerous folders open and beginning to point out different pictures to the girl reeling off the stories what accompanied them.
Zack immediately left the room, taking Ava with him to play out in the garden instead of facing the embarrassing stories that he had hoped had been long forgotten but mothers, like elephants, never forget.
Alaska began to relax, feeling at home and wishing her parents were more like Zack’s and Lucy’s, especially when she was younger and Max and herself used to have company over.
Her mother was the most embarrassing out of the two parents, never warm and welcoming like the other parents she was cold and disapproving making everyone else uncomfortable around her.
Her hair was always perfect as where her clothes, looking like she should of been living on the upper west side instead of a house in suburban Arizona. She was very strict, not allowing her children to do certain things in fear that they would look common.
Growing up Max and Alaska weren’t allowed to drink soda, chew gum, bite their nails, play out in the street, shorten their words, eat biscuits, watch television unless it was an educational programme, read certain books in case it gave the children idea to rebel, also for Alaska wearing her hair in a pony tail or wearing any make up or nail polish was a definite no go as was wearing trousers.
And that was only a few of the mountain of things they weren’t allowed to do. When their friends came over she would give them her well known disgusted look, her eyes narrowing, nose scrunching as she pressed her lip in a thin line.
Her dad on the other hand was never at home, always constantly at work and when he wasn’t he was too busy banging his secretary to actually pay attention to his so called family.
When their mother got wind of what was happening behind her back she became even stricter, telling the pair that they weren’t allowed relationships until in their twenties and taking even more care in their appearance.
Throwing out all the clothes that Alaska owned that wasn’t slacks, sensible shoes and nice conservative blouses, making her a laughing stock at school. Max on the other hand managed to salvage some of his clothing, keeping it in the boot of his car and changing before he got to school.
The fact that all the girls wanted to date her brother and the boys wanted to be their friends cooled off some off their bad attention she got for her clothes when people became to smarten up, realising that if they were nice to Alaska they would probably end up in Max’s good books.
She hated her childhood growing up, having to have everything approved before she was able to do them, or eat them; she had vowed that when she had a child she would never treat them the way she had, never allowing them to resent them in the way she had resented her parents.
But she had to say that if her parent did not treat her and Max the way they did then they wouldn’t have grown up being so close, only having each other as their closest allies against the war of Mom and Dad.
Steven on the other hand seemed lovely, people said chivalry was dead but that man was living proof that it wasn’t. All Alaska hoped was that when she grew up she would end up with someone like that, a kind of man that was always trying to keep the romance in the relationship.
Lucy didn’t turn up, giving her parents a last minute call about how she was meeting some friends that might know of a job opening for her, Alaska and Zack didnt believe the girl one bit but they would get all the gossip out of her later.
Ava was as good as gold, making it impossible for Deb to find a fault with her, which was Alaska was dreading. The little girl remembered to always say please and thank you and gave her most heart melting smile whenever she talked.
This made Alaska slightly worried that she wasn’t conveying herself in a good light, unlike her daughter who was pulling out all the stops; Alaska was dreading when Ava was a teenager, using all her talents to break the hearts of the young men who stumbled across her.
The constant ringing of the telephone from the love sick fools begging for Ava to talk to them which she would simply shrug at Alaska being sweet to the boys but forcefully telling them that was no future for the two of them but they could still be friends. Alaska could picture it now and she was definitely not looking forward to it, wishing that she could keep her daughter this age forever.
Deb immediately warmed up after she had a drink inside her, the slightly cold exterior that she had earlier in the day completely evaporated, instead she left Steven washing the dishes while she collapsed on the sofa, pulling Alaska down beside her as she reached into the draws in the living room table, pulling out numerous photo albums.
Groans erupted from Zack’s lips followed by pleas to his mama begging her to leave the photo albums until another time, her cheeks turning crimson as his mother merely waved him off, opening one of the numerous folders open and beginning to point out different pictures to the girl reeling off the stories what accompanied them.
Zack immediately left the room, taking Ava with him to play out in the garden instead of facing the embarrassing stories that he had hoped had been long forgotten but mothers, like elephants, never forget.
Alaska began to relax, feeling at home and wishing her parents were more like Zack’s and Lucy’s, especially when she was younger and Max and herself used to have company over.
Her mother was the most embarrassing out of the two parents, never warm and welcoming like the other parents she was cold and disapproving making everyone else uncomfortable around her.
Her hair was always perfect as where her clothes, looking like she should of been living on the upper west side instead of a house in suburban Arizona. She was very strict, not allowing her children to do certain things in fear that they would look common.
Growing up Max and Alaska weren’t allowed to drink soda, chew gum, bite their nails, play out in the street, shorten their words, eat biscuits, watch television unless it was an educational programme, read certain books in case it gave the children idea to rebel, also for Alaska wearing her hair in a pony tail or wearing any make up or nail polish was a definite no go as was wearing trousers.
And that was only a few of the mountain of things they weren’t allowed to do. When their friends came over she would give them her well known disgusted look, her eyes narrowing, nose scrunching as she pressed her lip in a thin line.
Her dad on the other hand was never at home, always constantly at work and when he wasn’t he was too busy banging his secretary to actually pay attention to his so called family.
When their mother got wind of what was happening behind her back she became even stricter, telling the pair that they weren’t allowed relationships until in their twenties and taking even more care in their appearance.
Throwing out all the clothes that Alaska owned that wasn’t slacks, sensible shoes and nice conservative blouses, making her a laughing stock at school. Max on the other hand managed to salvage some of his clothing, keeping it in the boot of his car and changing before he got to school.
The fact that all the girls wanted to date her brother and the boys wanted to be their friends cooled off some off their bad attention she got for her clothes when people became to smarten up, realising that if they were nice to Alaska they would probably end up in Max’s good books.
She hated her childhood growing up, having to have everything approved before she was able to do them, or eat them; she had vowed that when she had a child she would never treat them the way she had, never allowing them to resent them in the way she had resented her parents.
But she had to say that if her parent did not treat her and Max the way they did then they wouldn’t have grown up being so close, only having each other as their closest allies against the war of Mom and Dad.