-----* belle of the boulevard

[Channing Whitaker]

ROWAN VIDA ABERNATHY-MCALLISTER
VALKYRIE PARK, MID-MORNING/AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 2007

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-----"oh i so don't think so old man!" rowan said excitedly as she skated her queen across the board. "and that, m'dear pops, would be checkmate." she said with a smile as she looked up at the old, familiar, wrinkly face of her grandfather, a proud smile on his lips. "the day i get spanked by someone a third my age. you're going to put me in my grave early!" rowan smiled as she watched her grandfather sit back in his chair, his hands ruffling his gray hair which today, was shaggy and bed ridden. rowan hadn't ever remembered seeing her grandfather so light hearted and down to earth. the grandfather she was used to seeing was done up in a suit and tie, arguing on the phone with the chair of the board of one of the companies of his. it was so nice to see him relaxed and laid back. he definitely needed more days off like this. it was so unexpected too. rowan wondered if there was a bowl of something out back that she hadn't found, her grandfather's secret escape or something. who knew. but she didn't mind it. "well we can't have you keelin' over now can we. i think we best call it quits then." she laughed, un-tucking her legs from the indian-style position she'd been stuck in for the past thirty minutes. "know of anywhere good to go? i'd love to see something besides these fiinely decorated walls." she asked with a winced as she stretched out her legs, rubbing them down to get rid of the tingly feeling. "well you could try the park. the fresh air will do you good and the park's about as close to georgia as you're going to see around here." she cocked her head to the side in confusion, her expression saying everything to her grandfather. "you look homesick ro'. go take a walk. maybe it'll help."

-----rowan popped to her feet and offered her grandfather and hand, hugging him once he'd gotten to his feet. "a walk sounds perfect. i should be back by dark." she said with a smile as she turned away from her grandfather and headed toward the lobby. looking up the staircase, rowan caught sight of dante. "wanna walk?" she asked up the stairs, her voice loudly bouncing off the walls. rowan had to clamp her hands over her ears. she so hadn't gotten used to this house yet. back in georgia she was used to having to holler after her brother but here everything seemed so cramped as opposed to the rolling savannah hills. "ehh" was all she got as dante meandered into his room and closed the door. she took that as a no. she shook her head smiling as she slid her feet into a pair of flip flops and walked out the front door. rowan didn't mind the decent bit of walk to the park. it was nice to just kind of get out and do just as her grandfather had said, take a breather. the air wasn't as humid here, not what she was used to. rowan was definitely accustomed to the hot, humid, heavy air that took work to breathe into your lungs. here everything came so easy. the air was easier to breathe, the houses were easily accessible, the country club served everything to you on a silver platter. it was enough to make a girl turn into a couch potato like her brother. honestly rowan was used to at least working for something. california, though it suited her, really did take some getting used to.

-----the afternoon heat beat down on her back just like it would have back in savannah. if she closed her eyes she could almost picture it, though rowan never did close her eyes for long. knowing her she'd walk into the middle of the street or run into a fence. no, she wasn't usually a clutz, but with her eyes closed rowan tended to wander. it made for an experience, but not something to try when you were walking parallel to a street. that was just plain silly. after about an hours walk, one that would have taken her less time had she not taken a wrong road and had to back track, rowan walked through the entrance to the park, following the walkway inside. her grandfather was right, the big patch of green reminded her of savannah. not tremendously mind you, but enough to relax her. she kicked off her flip flops and hooked them over her index finger, letting them dangle by her side and she wandered around. in the distance, seated by a big tree, was a man with foghat playing from his battery operated radio. she smiled but turned instead to the playground seated in a square of white sand. she saw a slew of kids playing, the kind of crowd she loved to hang out with, and all in a non-pervy kind of way. rowan planted herself on the wooden rim to the massive sandbox, laying her flip flops on the grass behind her. she dug her feet into the warm sand and smiled, slowly pushing sand over her feet. within minutes three girls came over and started helping her. "you like playing in the sand?" rowan asked randomly, striking up a conversation that the girls took and ran with. soon enough she had five or so kids with her, all building and drawing pictures in the sand, happily chatting away.

-----the song changed to teenage wasteland by the who and rowan couldn't help but to sing along. she watched one of the girls stand up and start dancing to the song as rowan sang, making her laugh. after a while one of the mothers came over, sitting beside rowan. a wave of nerves swept her as she looked over at the woman, her song stopping mid-word. "you're good with kids." the woman said, giving a small smile. rowan shrugged her shoulders as she looked around at the crowd of kids who had abandoned the playset and were dancing and drawing around her. "i had no idea." she said in her familiar southern twang. "i can go if i'm makin' you nervous." rowan reassured her, wiggling her toes in the sand and making one of the kids laugh, grabbing at her toes. "don't be silly. i'm watching. i just though i'd come over here and point it out. it seems to come so naturally to you." rowan laughed as a pair of fingers latched onto her big toe, tickling her. "thanks. that means a lot." she said, extending a sandy hand to the woman. she blushed as she realized her hand was dirty and brushed it off as best she could before making a second attempt. "i'm rowan." "call me lizzy." after a few minutes chatting mrs. lizzy the woman got up and returned to the group of women, huddling in the shade. she saw their halfway nervous looks turn to surprise then admiration. jeez, was hanging out with children really that much of a stretch? "anyone wanna swing?" she said as she retracted her feet from the sand. after helping a few kids get started, rowan snagged a swing and slowly rocked back and forth.

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status • finished
words • 1514
tagged • rowic !
clothes • southern charm.
listening to • time - hootie and the blowfish.
notes • wicked rambly and a little strange if you ask me but hopefully you can work with it.

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[eric]

ERIC RHETT HARTWELL,


IN MY DAUGHTER'S EYES I AM A HERO
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
but the truth is plain to see
SHE WAS SENT TO RESCUE ME*

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Ugh, grading papers. He hated that most of these fools didn’t know proper grammar even in the times of spell check. Seriously, it isn’t that fucking hard to press ‘F7’ every once and a while; if they had a newer version, average grammar mistakes were cured too. Of course Eric knew that with his job he had to grade papers, but did the grade elevens really have to make him go through so many red pens? He was a high school teacher, not made of money. But alas, it was like he was reliving his high school days, but this time as the teacher, he had more control over what was going on. Eric liked high school; it wasn’t the soul sucking, angsty, ‘my life is a black abyss because of this place’ kind of time. Yeah it could have helped that he was on the soccer team, the best goalie in the district, he was a popular guy, but somehow, at the end of the four year popularity contest known as high school, he didn’t wind up with a career at Appleby’s. He actually got out of Chicago, travelled around the world, did things that people dream about until their graves. He got an amazing internship, went to school, got a couple degrees, and had a house and a kid. Overall, he was a success at twenty four years old.

And along the way of his success, he had managed to attain the most amazing daughter. Of course every parent thought their child was a gem, but believe him, he has seen a lot of children, and some of them weren’t very gem-like at all. Hell, he’ has even written ‘you’re child should not reproduce’ as a comment on this one kid’s report card; he got a dirty look from the mother and a high-five from the father; so much for unconditional love. But back to his baby girl; she was the most beautiful little girl he had ever set his eyes upon. From the moment Lacey was placed in his arms by the nurse, he loved her, and wasn’t scared anymore that he was a twenty year old father in college. She had the ability to place a smile on his face regardless of the stupidity he faced at Valkyrie Academy, or how the soccer team was being unbelievable untalented, or anything else that irked him. He didn’t know how the four year old did it, but she did. And now, while he was stuck in his study grading papers he could hear Lacey and Jesse, his kid-brother in the living room, just playing or another. “Uncle Jesse, that isn’t how you do it!” His daughter huffed as he could hear Jesse mumble something. “Don’t get lippy with me, boy.” Lacey spoke with her humorously dark voice, obviously in tune with Jesse’s mumble. Eric chuckled to himself as he threw the last paper marked in his hands to the basket labelled ‘done’, stretching in his chair briefly before grasping the bridge of his nose with his thumb and fore finger. He should get out of the house; the sun was flooding the impeccably decorated study, just begging to be frolicked in.

Cracking his neck by turning his head from side to side, Eric stood, pushing his chair back with his foot as he left the room. He walked down the hall into the large, sunken living room. The entire room was full of light, part of the reason he chose the house, with floor to very high ceiling windows and thick soft carpeting. It was a nice house, with a big backyard and all the fixings, he actually liked it’s homely quality. As he came closer to his brother and his daughter, he evidently saw what Jesse was doing wrong. That was so not how to make an origami swan, no wonder Lacey was getting annoyed with the boy. “Dude, pull the neck and tail out slowly, duh.” Eric said, reaching out in front of Jesse, doing it for him. Of course Jesse mumbled something demeaning his manliness under his breath, as Eric lightly his brother on the arm, “Watch yourself, Jesse Isaiah… Might just get your…” He looked up at Lacey, minding his language. He didn’t want her to be raised with a questionable vocabulary; he was a good father, goddamn it. “… Swan handed to you,” He nodded, throwing the paper crane onto the coffee table. Jesse huffed, “Oh yeah, totally, Eric-ah…” as he grabbed onto the remote control, flicking through the channels so fast that only a figment of images flashed over the screen. Lacey laughed at this comment, her nose scrunching up as her golden curls bounced with every intake of breath. “Uncle Jesse, you’re silly.” She giggled. Eric smiled, walking towards his little girl, lifting her up in his arms as she tried to noodle away from him. Her body falsely limped as she laughed and giggled as Eric held onto her throwing her over his shoulder. The accredited high school teacher snarled like any sea leg pirate, “The park, the park, I’m taking my prisoner to the park!” As he ran from the living room, almost feeling the eye roll Jesse gave the duo. Whatever, if it wasn’t for Lacey, the seventeen year old would still be horribly awkward around children. At least with Lacey he wasn’t as socially awkward as he normally was; what a freak.

“But Captain! The prisoner needs shoes! What if her feet get dirty?” Lacey asked, shrugging whilst over her father’s shoulder, her hair falling over her eyes. Gently lowering her to the cold tiled floor of the foyer, in front of the rack of shoes, “Well, I suppose that is an acceptable excuse… ” He nodded, as he himself pulled converse shoes onto his feet as Lacey slipped her flip flops over her feet. Oh shoes, how you’ve foiled another pirate plan. “Okay, I’m ready!” Lacey said, trying to brush her blonde hair from her bright blue eyes. Eric kneeled down, combing the pink butterfly head band from her head and pulled the elastic from his wrist, tying Lacey’s hair back in a ponytail. Cautiously, he pushed the headband back atop her head and lightly tapped her nose, grabbing onto her hand as he opened the front door. The sun infested the foyer, the shark on Lacey’s shirt shone brightly. She loved sharks, despite that that was a boy’s shirt, but Lacey wasn’t one that really cared much. His daughter loved the ocean, but somehow wasn’t in love with dolphins as she was with sharks, which made his little girl even more awesome. How cool was that?

They eventually made their way to the park, the soft grass crushing underneath their feet as Lacey ran to the group of children on the playground. He knew most of the kids here, a lot of them were Lacey’s age, and most of the mothers knew him as well. They often smiled more and touched their hair, brushing it behind their ears far more often than necessary, they were undressing the young father with their eyes and he knew it. “Good afternoon, ladies,” He smiled his signature crooked smile at the mothers, nearly feeling their flustered composure. As the women made small talk, he casually scanned the playground, always keeping an eye on Lacey. Huh, there was someone who wasn’t exactly ‘child-like’ just playing on the playground. A closer look and…Wow, The teenager was very beautiful, and obviously nice, the kids radiated towards her, and Lacey being one of them. She ran towards the woman, sitting on a swing right beside her as Lacey began to push herself, pumping her legs and the swing began to move high and higher. “Hi, I’m Lacey, what’s your name?” She asked her voice full of curiosity as she began to soar higher. Before Lacey could wait for an answer from the woman, she yelled over the playground to Eric, “Daddy, Daddy, look how high I’m going!” Eric waved as he yelled back, “I see you, angel, I see you. Don’t fly away on me!” He smiled as he saw how much fun Lacey was having at the park, wondering if she would introduce him to her new found friend. It wasn’t like he was pimping out his baby, and it seemed like Lacey genuinely liked the woman.

It couldn’t hurt, right?

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STATUS complete
TAGGED rowic, bby
ATTIRE eric & lacey
CREDITS format and graphics to yours truly.
LYRICS "in my daughter's eyes" by martina mcbride
NOTES did I mention my love for rowic? I don't think I did, lol.

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[Channing Whitaker]

ROWAN VIDA ABERNATHY-MCALLISTER
VALKYRIE PARK, MID-MORNING/AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 2007

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-----rowan was good with kids, i guess you could say. she'd never been anything like a nanny or a babysitter, in fact quite opposite. she'd had nannies and babysitters. yes rowan may have been the little princess in her mother's eyes but that didn't mean that lorraine abernathy-mcallister's social life when down the drain when she had children. she'd gotten used to a slew of new people in her house, especially when her father was in washington d.c. while he was away not only did lorraine pretty much go right back to ignoring dante, but she wasn't too shy about getting away from just everything in general. she'd take a trip to the spa somewhere halfway across georgia leaving her kids with a nanny. thinking back on it, rowan wasn't sure she'd minded. she'd had her fair share of great nannies to offset the bad ones. she'd had exotic women who introduced her to new languages or women that showed her tricks of the trade. she learned more from those women that she ever had doing pageants with her mother. suffice it to say, she didn't really mind it when lorraine went away. not only was there the chance of getting an awesome nanny, but her brother was treated like the equal he was supposed to be treated as. it made her smile really. how sad was it that a little girl would look forward to her mother's getaway vacation just because it better suited her brother? not many kids at that age could have understood what was going on in their lives, and though at such a young age rowan hadn't known everything, she'd known that what her mother was doing was wrong. as it always had been.

-----lorraine wasn't a completely bad mother. i mean it could have been much worse right? she could have treated dante like crap as opposed to just choosing to ignore him. she could have shut him away in the closet under the stairwell but she didn't. she let the boy live his life and as long as it didn't include much of her participation she didn't really care. not to say that treating her son like a blemish on the wall that needed to be taken care of was wonderful parenting. lorraine treated her son as if he didn't exist. she fed him, clothed him, and bathed him all until he could pretty much do it on his own, but she never even spent time getting to know him. as a child he would hold his hands out to her just asking to be held and she'd do nothing more than pat him on the head as she passed him by. how horrible was that? it drove rowan mad to see her mother treat her brother like that when there was nothing wrong with him. nothing had been wrong with him from the beginning, just a little whoopsie with his heart but nothing that hadn't been fixed. it wasn't like he was defective. it wasn't like dante had a speech impediment or had something wrong with him that made him any different from the rest of the world. he was absolutely fine now, perfect if you asked rowan. there was no justifiable cause for the way she treated her son. hell she should have treated him better than she had rowan just because she'd almost lost him as a child. his battle to live should have inspired her as opposed to turning her away. thankfully he'd inspired one of their parents, hector, their father. hector was always by dante's side, supporting him at every turn in his life. though he was gone a lot of the time, leaving them with the wife he'd thought was cured from this "one-sided postpartum depression" when he came back he'd made sure to make up for lost time with dante.

-----rowan's parental influence, well it kind of sucked. a mother who showed tremendous preference toward one child and a father who tried to fix things but was oblivious to the way things were while he was gone. it wasn't something she could ever find herself hoping to be like as a hopeful future mother. she wanted to say that she would do the absolute opposite of her mother and be more astute than her father, but she could make every promise under the sun until the day came when she had her first child. rowan was a little clueless about the whole thing. she'd seen women around their children, other women, and saw that blind love and faith in their child. she didn't know how something like that could exist, because she'd never been raised around it. still she liked to think that maybe, just maybe, she could turn out to be a good mother. it was rather obvious that she was good with children. she supposed that was about right. rowan had the kind of bright and shining personality that could "turn every frown upside down," or at least she tried. maybe it was also because she was such a kid at heart. rowan had the kind of outlook on life that wasn't glass half full. it was glass overflowing. the world had potential. it wasn't all doom and gloom like people made it out to be. so she chose not to see a lot of the bad, she still acknowledged it when she had to, dealt with it when it confronted her. it didn't mean that she was going to be all dreary. especially not on a day like this. seriously, how could you be angry or sad when the sun was shining as big and as brightly as it was today? you'd have to be some kind of year-round scrooge or some busybody too preoccupied with the little things in life to not enjoy a day like this.

-----needless to say she was all smiles today. she just couldn't help herself. as she swung, slowly as to make sure she didn't hit any passing child who hadn't been taught about keeping a far radius away from people on swings, rowan watched as some more children joined them at the swing. a particular little curly-haired blond caught her attention, mostly because she reminded rowan so much of herself as a child. a little spitfire, taking life by the horns as opposed to being prodded along. you had to admire that in a small child and if you couldn't, well you didn't deserved children. she smiled at the little girl, watching as she worked her swing higher and higher. hi, i'm lacey... what a cute name. it seemed to fit as well. rowan opened her mouth to speak but lacey was too busy talking to her father. rowan looked off in the distance to see where the voice had come from. well hello daddy. she had to blink a few times, making sure she'd seen right. wow. he was gorgeous, he had a very nice smile, he was..looking at her. oh. that was unexpected. rowan blushed for a moment and turned her attention back to lacey, "hi, i'm rowan." she said with a big smile, happy that her blush had dissipated. rowan didn't blush all that often. she had a lot more confidence in herself than to let one man's compliment or whatever make her blush. it was strange that she would blush now, before ever even meeting the man. but whatever. she was on the swings and she was having a good time. out of the corner of her eye, rowan saw a little boy running head on for the swing, aiming directly toward the swing of other little kid's feet, as well as her own. rowan skidding to a stop and swooped up the boy, sitting him down in her swing. "let's not get you kicked in the head okay? you can take my swing." rowan's heart skipped a beat as she patted the little boy on the back of the head, looking up to see if his mother had noticed...nope. too busy talking. least she assumed the mother hadn't noticed. no one had gotten up to run out here, no one had called out when the boy had started running toward the swings. disaster averted. thank you, thank you. "you want a push or are you all set?" rowan gave the boy a small starting push and walked over to the poles that held up the swing set, leaning up against them and giving herself a chance to breathe.

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status • finished
words • 1676
tagged • rowic !
clothes • southern charm.
listening to • these are days - maniacs 1000.
notes • so cute already. i love that he made her blush and hasn't even spoken to her yet, xD.

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[eric]

ERIC RHETT HARTWELL,


IN MY DAUGHTER'S EYES I AM A HERO
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
but the truth is plain to see
SHE WAS SENT TO RESCUE ME*

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You know when people say that their unexpected pregnancy was a surprise? Well, Eric hated those people, they annoyed him. They made it seem like it was a simple, happy surprise, that getting pregnant, though unnecessary, was just another miracle, like finding brownies on the counter magically accompanied by vanilla ice cream. What they fail to include in that family fun is the anxious anticipation, the nights that turned sleepless thinking over and over again on how to provide for the said foetus developing in some stranger’s womb that they fertilized, or hell, if being a good parent was intuitive or written down in a book somewhere. That was how Mr. Hartwell spent those nine months in which Lacey, his future daughter was developing. He wondered time and time again what good parenting was, you know, besides providing the kid with clothes, food, water and a roof over its head. He wondered if this was the right decision, if having a baby now was opportune, but really that wasn’t his decision. It wasn’t as though the foetus was developing within him, but moreover, within some girl he met a couple times before she showed him the plus sign of the pregnancy test. To say the least, Eric Rhett Hartwell was terrified.

However, what was a good father? His own wasn’t much of a guideline to follow, I mean, the man worked a menial factory job until his death, ignored his younger children and seemingly ruled the household with a strong hand. However, he wasn’t a bad father, by no means, but Eric Sr. had been influenced early on with his little sister becoming pregnant herself at the mere age of seventeen. Eric knew that his father despised the child growing within his younger sister, often times bringing Katerina up when he was plain old drunk. He would ramble on and on about how he should have protected her, protected her innocence, so that bastard and the bastard child never entered the world. It was harsh, pinning the entire fault on a baby, hell, his nephew for God sakes, rather than perhaps the condom that broke or the douche bag father who skipped town shortly after…Well, that was how Aunt Katerina put it when she would come to visit them, of course when Eric Sr. wasn’t home, bringing little Jasper along. Jasper was a good kid, quiet but good, he got along with the twins and Jesse the best, considering their age difference wasn’t as large as Eric’s. But Jasper’s and Aunt Katerina’s visits became less frequent and then they stopped all together and it wasn’t until the nine o’clock news that the entire Hartwell house hold knew that there was a terrible accident on the freeway, and the occupants of the vehicle being Kat and Jasper. Eric senior heard the news of course, but he never discussed it, never went to the funeral. It was as if Katerina never existed, I guess it was a means of coping this way.

But Eric never let his father influence his parenting. It was illogical, to alter one’s way of life just because their sibling made a mistake or two. He didn’t want Lacey to grow up thinking that whatever she wanted to do in life was wrong, because it wasn’t by no means, if it made her happy, it made Eric happy. To this day, Eric is still new at this whole ‘being a father’ business, not a lot of twenty four year olds are single parents, especially single fathers. And with being a single father, trying to be a good father, Eric hasn’t really been on a date in, well, a very long time. First, Eric sure as hell doesn’t have the time, and second, being with child is somehow a turn off for most women his age; which is weird because he knew if half the women interested in him took one look at Lacey, they would fall in love with her curly blonde hair, her bright blue eyes and her innocent curiosity. But the truth was the high school teacher was scared of ‘playing the field.’ Lacey came first, always, so when he even had the figment of thought about dating, he had to made damn sure whomever he would put the time and effort into was good to Lacey, and if Lacey liked the said person. And so, to save himself the hassle, he doesn’t go for the long term dating scene. Sure he has asked Charlotte or Kate to babysit for him once in a while, he would go on a date or two, but those would just wind up as one night stands, no strings, simple. What? He was a guy after all, and somehow, his gender justified his rare but still lewd behaviour.

However, he couldn’t imagine life without Lacey, and he was damn well glad that he was a father to her. It was funny, he was supposed to be the teacher, but somehow, everyday Lacey taught him something instead. Like how to blow bubbles so you can get the biggest and fattest or that sharing is caring. Just those little things his cynicism blurred out, the innocence of the world still twinkling in her eye gave him hope. He didn’t believe in God or anything of that sort; he believed in Lacey. She was the one defining thing he cared for in this world, sure he loved his siblings, but Lacey meant more. It was as simple as that. He didn’t know when that changed, but perhaps just the thought of losing someone so close to him terrified him. He finally understood those movies in which the Sylvester Stallone-esque father went ape-shit crazy, killing random people just to find his daughter; he could relate to those psychotic ‘roid raging actors.

As the sun shined brighter, Eric closed his eyes for a moment, just basking in the sun. He could still hear Lacey playing on the swing set, he could hear the small birds flying within the branches of some trees a few feet away, everything was just falling into place, calmness within the calamity of the playground and the gossip that spread through the other group of parents. However on the playground, there was a different story with Lacey. She had slowed her swing, skidding her feet into the soft, warm sand, coming to a stop. Careful of where she was running, she stood beside Rowan, looking up at her. Wow, she was tall, and pretty… She was just her Barbie doll. “Rowan…” Lacey repeated the pretty lady’s name, nodding slightly, memorizing it along with Rowan’s face. She liked her, she was nice. ”Like you’re rowin’ along the river? I like rowing,” Lacey complimented with a smile, squinting her eyes in the bright sunlight. “I like slides and the ocean and sharks…Did you know more people are squished by soda machines than shark attacks each year?” Lacey said in her most knowledgeable voice. She did really adore sharks, but dolphins, they were tricky. Dolphins were conniving, taking all the credit for being endangered and helpless, leaving the sharks to protect themselves. How rude. “Dolphins get all the love, but it’s okay, I’ll save the sharks all by myself when I’m a grown up.” She said, leaning into Rowan’s leg a bit before she took off running. Ooooh, oooh, oooh, the slide was finally free of all of those meddling kids. Haha, she sounded like one of those villains on that Scooby Doo show.

But her excitement was short-lived, as she rounded the corner around the slide too sharply, her foot slipping. Eric saw it all; in near slow motion as he immediately got up, in six strides arriving to the slide just as Lacey fell over, her heat hitting the edge. However, she stood up immediately, fighting back her tears, turning to see Eric kneel down right in front of her. “Aw Lacey, it’s okay, you walked it off like a champ.” He smiled, keeping a smile, trying to counteract his daughter’s watery eyes. But he could hear it in her voice, the panic that there may be blood. It was funny, to think that children can survive anything, anything but the sight of blood. “Daddy, is…is it bleeding?” Lacey asked, her breathing getting faster, tears on the verge spilling over her rosy cheeks as she sat on the edge of the metal slide, her torso rising and sinking faster and faster at the thought of the crimson life supplying substance. “It’s okay Honey, take dragon breaths,” Eric said, beginning to roar along with Lacey. She took big intakes of air, releasing them with mighty roars as Eric patted down his pockets for a band aid, something he carried with him just for these moments. “Roar!”

[/b] The father took a ‘dragon breath’ along with Lacey as he smoothed the shark band aid over top of the small cut on her forehead. ”There, wasn’t so bad, Angel Wings,”[/b] He kissed Lacey’s wound as he held her hand, taking her to the swing set, a little swinging and perhaps then Lacey could run back to the slide and the rest of the playground. As he got Lacey settled in the swing, he casually smiled at the woman Lacey was talking to, ”Daddy, that’s my new friend Rowan…Like rowing a canoe! I like canoes.” She said, her voice rising to a playful shrill as she began soaring higher and higher. Oh…Rowan? That was a nice name, a pretty name for a pretty face. Stepping back from the swing as Lacey took over by pumping her legs in order to go higher, Eric turned to Rowan, ”Hi, I’m Eric Hartwell, Lacey’s father… I hope she’s not bothering you too much with her questions and shark trivia…” He smiled, putting forward his hand for a shake.
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STATUS complete
TAGGED rowic, bby
ATTIRE eric & lacey
CREDITS format and graphics to yours truly.
LYRICS "in my daughter's eyes" by martina mcbride
NOTES awkward rowic meet up, anyone? lol.

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[Channing Whitaker]

ROWAN VIDA ABERNATHY-MCALLISTER
VALKYRIE PARK, MID-MORNING/AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 2007

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-----how could you not love a day like today? seriously. the skies were blue and flaked with wispy, white clouds. the grass was luscious and green. the weather was moderate if not a little warmer then usual. all of it reminded her so much of home, even if she was used to a little hotter of a temperature. rowan wasn't a hugely outdoor kind of girl but she did love to hang out outside when the weather just begged for it. back home in georgia when there wasn't much else to do, rowan would spend her time outside, usually under the shade of a big oak tree. she would listen to music or just putt out a notebook and write something. she wasn't a hugely creative person, but on occasion rowan liked to write. she took a crack at writing poems when she felt inspired. writing wasn't really her thing. she liked it, sure. she could make up stories like the best of them but she didn't have a great way of getting the message across. often times she would write something, tuck it away in her room, stumble upon in months later and re-read what she'd written, and she would confuse herself. why had she said it that way? what had she meant? in most cases rowan assumed that she wrote just to hear the lead rubbing against fresh pieces of paper, or to see the heavy grey line that emerged as she wrote, it wasn't necessarily to get some huge point across, or to write something worthy of an award. she wrote simply because she liked t, even if it had no point at all.

-----rowan had a mix of likes and dislikes, but she'd yet to really find a niche that fit her. she hadn't really gotten much of an opportunity to do so had she? rowan had been first the daughter of a senator, then she was the sister of a brother forgotten by her mother, then she was a pageant girl. it was only now after having been out of the pageant world for almost a year and a half that rowan could finally breathe. if she wanted to she could go out and find a job doing something she loved or hated, just to see what it felt like. she could go to the beach and lounge around in the sun and sand to see what her preferences were. did she like old cars or new ones? did she like flats or heels? there were so many things that rowan hadn't gotten the chance to make her own decisions on, just decisions that had been imposed on her from her mother. but now, oh now she could go out and do things because she wanted to. if she wanted to go to another state it didn't have to be because she was going to be sucked into an evening gown and paraded around like a show dog. it was nice to know that she had that kind of freedom now. after all, she was nineteen years old. one would think that a woman would start taking matters into her own hands and living like an adult. one would think. well rowan was on her way to that. so far she was pretty much on her own. true, she was living with her grandfather on his grand estate, but that didn't feel much like she was mooching off of him. after all he was a now single man, his wife long deceased, living in a massive house by himself. he needed the sound of footsteps in the marble hallway or laughter and rock music coming from the bedrooms of his grandchildren. it was all to benefit her grandfather. it wasn't like he made her feel like she owed him anything. they were family and the elderly man loved both of his grandchildren the way an aging old man should.

-----boy that was a big house. people in california really did seem to outdo themselves at times. the house that she'd living in back in savannah had been big, oh yes it had been big, but it no where near rivaled the monstrosity she lived in now. the abernathy mansion was seated atop a hill and had been for almost one hundred and fifty years. with it's marble first floor and grand colors and decorations, the place really was a statement in california. it was beautiful. a little more than what rowan was used to though. her home in savannah had been two stories, in a wealthy neighborhood where homes didn't encroach on one another. the ranch-style home had indeed had a barn with a horse or two in it at one time. back in georgia it was more about the beauty of the landscape than the square footage of your home. he house was nice, yes, but if you had little land to put it on, it was hardly worth it. they'd had a lakefront home where the kids could play during the sweltering summer months. honestly it was like heaven in her backyard, minus the water snakes. so living around valkyrie was going to take some getting used to. people here were nice, but no where near as hospitable as the folks down south. you didn't find old grandmothers sitting in white, rickety rocking chairs, waving to people as they walked down the side walk, but hey, it was home now. though it may take getting used to, living in valkyrie was no where near as tense and living with her mother in savannah had been. this was like an extended vacation to the abernathy-mcallister kids.

-----still this park really did remind her of home, or what used to be home. she really needed to stop doing that. valkyrie was going to be her home now. savannah was the part of a shady past and needed to be forgotten. the faster the better. her heartbeat still fluttered in her chest at the thought of that little boy running in front of the swings. taking a deep sigh, she let herself calm down a bit, noticing that her swing buddy was hopping off to join her as well. she looked down at lacey as she said her name aloud, brushing her hand over the top of her beautiful blond curls. "yep that's 'bout right." she said with a big smile, listening as lacey prattled on about what she liked. she was a big talker and she reminded rowan a lot of what she'd been like as a child, boisterous with way of attacking life instead of letting it pass her by. definitely reminded rowan of herself. "i didn't know that! i'll certainly have to remember that and pass it on to other people." she watched as lacey darted off in the direction of the slide. she smiled as she watched her, her smile fading as she saw her tilt to one side, crashing down to the ground. immediately rowan perked up a bit. she was about to hurry to her side when she blinked and saw lacey's father by her side the next moment. holy crow that was fast! she could barely hear what was said but her father managed to avoid tears. that took some skill and rowan found herself admiring that. she stayed where she was, leaning against one of the poles that held up the swing set, as lacey and her father walked back to the swings. she couldn't help but smile as he seated lacey back on the swing. then he was facing her, his hand outstretched, oh. rowan pushed herself off the pole and outstretched her hand, sliding it into his. "very nice to meet you," she said in her southern twang, hoping that these californian folks could understand her when her nice sounded like "nace" and such. "it's no bother at all. she's beautiful." she said with a bright smile. offhandedly, rowan scanned the park, noticing the evil glares coming from the pack of park mothers. "oh darn. i don't think your fan club likes me anymore." she said with a giggle.

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status • finished
words • 1576
tagged • rowic !
clothes • southern charm.
listening to • take it off - the donnas.
notes • so cute! i love them.

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[eric]

ERIC RHETT HARTWELL,


IN MY DAUGHTER'S EYES I AM A HERO
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
but the truth is plain to see
SHE WAS SENT TO RESCUE ME
• • • • • • •

Often times in the nine months that Eric waited for his daughter to be born, awful thoughts clouded his mind. They were irrational things but enough to keep him up at night, he didn’t really sleep much in those nine months. He thought of war, famine, natural disasters. The boy thought of every worst possible scenario regarding his soon to be born child. He wondered how he would provide for the said child, if he could still keeping going to school, if his child might hate him for not being with its mommy. All these things kept him up, ultimately it was the question of the child resenting him that drove sleep away from his fatigued eyes, no matter how much he tried to shut his eyes for a moment. He was now worried about people who snatch kids for a living, and all round psychos who prey on children. Who would have thought that Eric, a man who had no worries to his name was now losing sleep over a person who he hadn’t even met yet? And then, just when he thought that he had wrapped his head around, the small impulses of thought bounced back to the beginning starting this horrid circle of awful thoughts all over again.

He should be honest, when he first found out that he was going to become a father, he was stumped. Eric didn’t know what to do, and total regret washed over him. Though it wasn’t really his fault that the condom didn’t do its job or that Lacey’s mother’s birth control crapped out, but still, He was just a newly minted twenty year old. At least he was twenty, and sort of had a plan about what in the hell he was going to do, Eric could not possibly comprehend how teenagers handled this shit. That just boggled his mind. But truth also be told, he never persuaded Lacey’s mother to do anything she didn’t want to. If she wanted to abort, good for her, Eric would have supported her regardless. If she wanted to put her growing foetus up for adoption, well that was different. If she didn’t want to be a mother, that was fine, but Eric, he was here, he was going to step up to his responsibility because he actually had the funding for the child, he would rearrange his life, because if he could have sex, he could take care of the consequences. And the boy did. He was there for those awkward Lamaze classes, despite the fact that he wasn’t with the mother of his unborn child anymore. He went to all the doctor appointments, he was there for the three ultrasound appointments, and even kept the pictures the technician printed out for them. Hell, near the end of the pregnancy, he came around to be excited for this baby. Eric had managed to get a decent paying job, alongside his freelance work, and also managed to rent a comfortable apartment which was all set for the baby. It was during the second ultrasound appointment that he had found out he was going to be a father to a baby girl; this unleashed a new box of fears. Now Eric never meant to be one of those fathers who had a double standard, but it was something that just happened. Baby girls were far more precious than baby boys, and being the first born boy of his family, he knew.

However, when he was standing at the side of the hospital bed, trying to tone down or just ignore the screaming and yelling due to labour, he sort of became okay with the idea that a baby girl was going to come into the world any minute. His baby girl would be different, and somehow saying this to him was calming, until he heard the screaming cry of an infant pushing air into their lungs for the first time ever. Eric Hartwell, twenty, was now a father. Huh. That little known fact didn’t really settle in until the nurse, a sweet lady named Eliza, gently placed a soft clothe swaddled baby into his arms. It was awkward to look at his baby girl for the first time; she had a squished meatball of a face, crumpled and odd looking. Lacey’s second middle name was because of this nurse, and Eliza was elated with this fact, hell, if it weren’t for Eliza, there would have been far more complications with the delivery. But somehow, Eric’s new born child, as odd looking to him as she was, she was beautiful. God, it was so cliché, but I suppose they’re clichés for a reason. But now, four years and some months after the fact, he was standing in play ground sand, watching his baby girl run back to the slide, but this time, not head butting the edge. Well, that was good. He nodded at the woman’s introduction of sorts, the southern twang getting in his ear. Huh, a newbie in town, “Nice to meet you too, Miss…Rowan, is it?”

[/b] Eric spoke politely as he turned around spotting a bench not too far from the swing set, sitting down immediately.

The high school teacher had to laugh at her remark. He casually glanced over towards the mothers on the far side of the play ground, coming across glares that quickly changed to flustered smiles as he was looking at that general direction. Wow, she wasn’t kidding. It was like Eric was on some sort of soap opera; it was almost too crazy to be true. He chuckled a little before he spoke, looking back at the leggy blonde, ”Oh shucks, what I will ever do without the undying love of the housewives of Valkyrie.”[/b] He said, theatrically snapping his fingers in a playful manner. She had a pleasant accent, somewhere in the southern states he presumed. Eric wasn’t very familiar with the subtleties of state accents… He knew the obvious ones, like the New England accent, or the New Yorker… Hell, even the Californian accent… but there were plenty of states with similar accents in the south, he couldn’t pick out Rowan’s location. No harm in asking, right? “So what part of the southern states are you from? I don’t mean to be nosy but your accent made me a little curious…”[/b] He asked lightly, viewing Lacey through the peripherals of his eye. He could never lose sight of the most important person to him. But Rowan, she didn’t seem like one of those creepy people who would go to little league softball games just to watch the kids play… without having a child of their own. Now that was awkward. But this woman, she seemed little young, late teens, early twenties, and just not the type he was so prone to seeing around these parts, which was refreshing he supposed.
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• • • • • • •

NOTES late, late, so late.
STATUS complete!
TAGGED rowan, bby.
ATTIRE eric & lacey
CREDITS format and graphics to yours truly.
LYRICS "in my daughter's eyes" by martina mcbride

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