Another Love

[Lucinda Cavanaugh]

I wanna take you somewhere so you know I care
But it's so cold and I don't know where

Lucinda had been so trapped in her own problems for so long that perhaps there was some deep sickening part of her that was glad to have something else to think about. She was beating that back, and had spent nearly as much time in Ruth's house as her own since The Incident. Poppy surely missed her, and Wesley may have as well, but Lucinda was dutifully showing up at the Lockhart house whenever she had even the vaguest inkling that Lock had to work. Because Ruth shouldn't have to be alone.

The thing was - Lucinda couldn't even imagine. She couldn't. She had never lost a sibling, let alone her own child, and to lose a pregnancy so traumatically... She couldn't imagine. She didn't know how.

So instead of imagining, Lucinda kept showing up. Today she had a basket of sympathy cookies tucked under her arm, and she knocked neatly on the front door. 

@'Ruth Lockhart' @'Elsie Beauregard'
(yes I changed my mind on song How to Save a Life is up my sleeve for Luceley now >.>;)

The following 2 users Like Lucinda Cavanaugh's post:2 users Like Lucinda Cavanaugh's post
   Elsie Beauregard, Magnus Lockhart

[Ruth Lockhart]

Lock had gone off to practice rather reluctantly and Rue sat at the kitchen table with a fresh pot of tea on the stove awaiting the knock at the door. It would either be Luce, or Immie, maybe Amelia, but somebody was bound to come knocking as soon as she finally got a moment's peace.

The kids were napping. Calvin tucked into a makeshift bed in the master bedroom, a little nest on the floor while Margie coughed through a little extra sleep herself. Almost two weeks and the poor thing had only improved a little. This weighed more heavily on Rue during the daylight hours than the loss of Silas. She worried that Margie might not pull through, but she had to have some kind of hope. If she didn't everything would simply eat her alive.

She tensed as Margie coughed, and almost ran in, but her daughter settled after a moment. The kettle was ready and Rue added the tea to steep while she waited. In the quiet she contemplated joining Calvin in a nap, but also had laundry to do and a living room to pick up. Just as she was about to give in and take the nap and inevitable knock at the door sounded. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate everybody looking out for her, she really did. Most of the time she enjoyed having the company of her friends to fill the quiet. Sometimes though, when she did get that rare moment to herself, she just wanted to have a solitary breakdown. If she didn't have another soon, she'd probably explode from keeping it all inside.

Opening the door revealed Lucinda, cookies in a basket under her arm. "Tea's almost ready." Rue smiled and held open the door for her friend to come in.

  

[Lucinda Cavanaugh]

"I brought a basket," Lucinda said with a cheerful smile, "And I even cooked some of them." She had never been nearly as good of a cook as Ruth, or as her sister Phoebe, but with instruction from cook she had managed to help.  They might not taste as good, but there was love in them. Or something.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Where's Lock?" Luce asked. This was, perhaps, the longest Luce had ever gone without cheerfully yelling at Lock for whatever - he just looked so miserable, and she didn't think that gentle scolding would make it any better. Hm.

  

[Ruth Lockhart]

"Oh my, color me impressed." Rue laughed as she let Lucinda in. Of all the people she could be completely candid with, Luce was the person she felt the most comfortable with. She was of course very much herself with her husband, but she could literally say anything to Luce whereas sometimes she had to watch what she said to Lock, who, though she would never say as much aloud, was much more emotionally fragile than her best friend.

Lucinda was in no way any kind of fragile.

"Practice." She moved to the kitchen, checking the kettle and pulling two cups from the cupboard. "Where's Wesley?" She countered easily enough, teasing of course, though she only knew a little of what was happening with Mr. Cavanaugh.

"So which ones did you make? I may steer clear." She added, casting a bit of a smirk in Lucinda's direction as she moved to sink into a chair at the kitchen table.

  

[Lucinda Cavanaugh]

Lucinda shrugged. She found her husband's situation less irritating when she wasn't looking at it, and said, "Work, I think." She actually thought that he was drinking in his study - or worse, drinking at work - but it wouldn't do to mention this now. Today was about Ruth, who was her best friend, and who was really and actually suffering instead of frustrated.

Ruth was Ruth, though - cracking jokes as much as ever.

"They are not burnt," Lucinda said, settling into the chair across from Ruth. "And I was - er - heavily supervised."

  

[Ruth Lockhart]

Rue eyed the cookies conspicuously. She knew that Lucinda's cook was very skilled in the art of baking- Rue had benefited more that once that respect... while pregnant... more than once. Her smile faltered every so slightly at the thought, but she quickly pushed away and turned her leery eye on her best friend.

"I said nothing about them being burnt, did you burn them?" She said knowingly, picking up a cookie to inspect it. Oh, just a little on the edge, nothing too bad. Rue had, though nobody was around at the time to see, burnt a batch beyond recognition when she'd been learning to cook once up on a time. "Ginger snaps?" She asked curiously. They were her favorite and since everybody seemed intent on trying to keep her some kind of happy lately, she supposed she couldn't refuse simply because of a little char.

Taking a hesitant bite, Rue tasted no glaring errors in flavor or consistency, so  perhaps they were indeed safe to eat. "Look at you, budding little baker." Teasing Luce about a new hobby was much easier than acknowledging that she was not as happy as everybody kept trying to make her. Of course their efforts were not wasted, most of the day Rue could count on being distracted in some manner, which was a blessing in and of itself.

  

[Lucinda Cavanaugh]

"Of course they're ginger snaps," Lucinda said, "Who do you take me for?" She was a terrible chef, but she had an excellent memory, and was not going to come to Ruth with sub-par cookies. Especially not when she was trying to force Ruth to be happy, or at least not unhappy, or at least distracted.

She had been so far along, was the thing. Lucinda could not even imagine, and was trying very hard not to think about it. 

"Don't taunt me," she said, "Or I'll start turning up here with all kinds of experiments." (At least it would give her something to do that was not 'glowering at Wesley' or 'thinking about glowering at Wesley.' Ugh.)

The following 1 user Likes Lucinda Cavanaugh's post:1 user Likes Lucinda Cavanaugh's post
   Elsie Beauregard

[Ruth Lockhart]

Rue let out a light laugh. It felt foreign and breathless, but welcome nevertheless. "I fear for your poor husband." If Rue was to be on the receiving end of these treats, she suspected that Wesley was the first one to try them. "That is not reassuring. Though I think a hobby would do you some good." Lucinda had the luxury of being a housewife by choice, she had plenty of leisure time (and a nanny to provide childcare) to pursue a hobby if she chose. Rue on the other hand, stayed home out of necessity. It was too hard for her to go back to work and pay someone to watch the children.

About to tease Luce further, she was interrupted by the kettle and she stood to take care of it by hand rather than magically. It was good for her to keep her hands busy. Balancing the kettle and cups, she brought them to the table to go along with the cookies. They were both coffee girls, but tea seemed appropriate, especially considering the cookies. Leaving Luce to fix her tea how she liked it, Rue poured herself a cup and added a couple of sugar cubes to the amber liquid before stirring. "How's my darling Tulip, and Mr. Cavanaugh of course?" It would be good to hear about things going on outside of the house.

  

[Lucinda Cavanaugh]

"Tulip's lovely," Lucinda said with a bright smile, "Such a stubborn girl - no idea where she got that from." She wrinkled her nose at Ruth; both of the Cavanaugh parents were endlessly stubborn, so it would have been odd if Tulip wasn't.

She poured a dash of milk into her tea, and added one sugar cube. "Wesley's good, too - work keeps him awfully busy, though." Things had been Not Great in her marriage for months now... but she couldn't tell Ruth this.

  

[Ruth Lockhart]

Rue snorted in the most unladylike of fashions. "Stubborn? I would have never guessed!" It was a miracle neither of her children were as such, though Calvin could have a wicked side to him when he wanted. Rue swore he had no fear either, which he could have gotten from either of his parents. Margie would be under much closer scrutiny from here on out, but she had never typically been the kind to run off...

"Ah the dreaded work." Rue's smile was only half a smirk; she  missed working, more often than she would ever care to admit. She was of course, very busy at home, with two toddlers running around, but she missed having another purpose. Raising children was thankfully, much more fun than she'd ever anticipated at least. "Something I suspect you don't miss." She teased her friend easily, smiling more properly over her tea as she took a sip.

@'Cassius Lestrange'

  

[Lucinda Cavanaugh]

"Me? Miss the Post Office?' Lucinda said. She snorted, an entirely unattractive sound that she usually refrained from making. But this was Rue. Rue had been her friend through puberty, she couldn't judge her horrible snorts. 

"Not in the slightest," Lucinda admitted, "But we've always been different that way. Do you want to go back?"

She rather suspected that Ruth did.

  

[Ruth Lockhart]

Rue sighed, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She couldn't hide that from Lucinda. Of course Rue had worked since she was old enough, far more years of her life were spent working than not. It felt incredibly odd to be home all day. Of course it was hard to justify working when it would cost too much. She couldn't exactly afford a nanny like Luce could and though she would never begrudge her friend that luxury. Lucinda was very much made to live the life she had and while Rue had never envisioned her life now, she was not complaining.

"I'd like to, it's just not really an option right now." She wasn't sure it would be an option until all of her kids were in school, but they'd make it work until then. She didn't even know what she'd do at this point anyway! Right now she was thankful they were keeping their heads above water and recent events aside, were quite happy.

@'Cassius Lestrange'

  

[Lucinda Cavanaugh]

"Maybe when the kids are old enough for the Irvingly school?" Lucinda suggested. She didn't like the idea of Rue being cooped up here all day; there wasn't infinite money in everyone's household, and Lucinda knew this well, but there had to be something to be done eventually. If only Rue's brother was still young enough to watch the Lockhart children on summer breaks!

  

[Ruth Lockhart]

"Yes, that's an idea." Rue had already considered the school, but hadn't investigated much into it. She had no idea how old the children would be before they could start and if they had another it would take even longer. She had hoped maybe she could find something that was part time and her mum could take the kids on her days off. It wasn't perfect, but it would work somehow. She had every intention of approaching Lock about her finding something to bring in extra money during the quidditch off season, but wasn't sure anyone would survive Lock being a stay-at-home-dad.

Taking a sip of her tea, Rue could only hope that some day they'd figure it out. They were by no means starving or anything, but they were not as comfortable as she would like. "It'll all even out sometime, I'm sure." Thinking about the future was still a little painful, considering she'd fully anticipated having another child in the picture. Still, she couldn't let it overwhelm her completely. She still had to consider the children she did have and everything else that was a constant thought in her mind.

@'cassius lestrange'