Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Fifty-Five

Maisie arrived at Mary Poppins's the next morning ten minutes early, but Fisher was already sitting on the front steps waiting for her.  He blew a steady stream of bubbles at her as she walked up the driveway.  "Morning, Fish," she said.

"Hey, Aunt Maze.  Do you like my wand."  He held up his red, white, and blue bubble wand.  "It's Captain America."

"Oh really?"  She took the wand from him and looked it over.  Other than the colors, there was nothing to indicate the toy had anything to do with the nation's favorite superhero.  It must have been on the packaging.  She inwardly cringed at what the branding must have raised the price to.

"Sailor got Beauty and the Beast."  He indicated a yellow stick that had fallen on the grass.  Maisie picked it up to return to the toy chest hidden in the porch's built-in bench.

"Where's your mom, kiddo?"

Fisher shrugged and blew a round of bubbles in her face.

"How about your dad?"

He shrugged again.

Maisie opened the front door and called out, "Anabeth? Sean?" No adults answered, but toe-headed Sailor came running around the corner, chased by a teenage girl Maisie didn't know.

"Auntie Maze!" Sailor threw her body at Maisie, who luckily had fast enough reflexes to catch her.

"Oh, good," the teen said.  "You're taking the twins for the day, right?"

"It's just supposed to be Fisher."

"Dr. Frampton had an emergency patient last night.  I'm Sadie - I live a couple of houses down and she asked me to come over."

"Where's Sean?"

Sadie shrugged.  "No idea.  Dr. Frampton said she;d pay me $100 an hour to watch them until you got here.  Can you take both?  I don't think I can keep up with her."  She nodded toward Sailor, who, after dislodging from Maisie's grasp had gone into the next room and apparently begun breaking everything in it.  Sadie winced as another crash sounded.

"Don't worry about that," Maisie reassured her.  "There's nothing in the playroom she can do serious damage to."

Sadie nodded, but didn't look completely convinced.  Maisie stuck her head out the front door.  "Hey buddy, it looks like your sister is coming to the museum with us."

"No!" Fisher shouted.  He flung his bubble wand down and stood, fists clenched at his sides.  "You promised no Sailor!"

"I know, but your mom needs me to watch her, too, which she takes care of an emergency."

"That's what she's for."  He jabbed a finger in Sadie's direction.

"Sadie has to go home."

"NO!" Fisher screamed and stomped his feet on the steps, his pitch getting higher and higher.

"Stop it right now, young man," Maisie said.  "Get in here."  She held the door open and after another moment's protest, he marched inside.

*CRASH*

Sadie grabbed her jacket and purse from the front hall and breezed past Maisie to the door.  "Thanks.  Tell Dr. Frampton to bring my payment over when she gets home." Then she was gone.

"It's not fair," Fisher wailed.  Sailor, still in the playroom, began singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at the top of her lungs.  Maisie put her hands on her hips and made eye contact with her nephew.

"Buddy, I know this isn't how you've been taught to deal with disappointment."

He huffed and turned away from her - she moved so she could reestablish eye contact.  "Is it?"

"No," he whispered.

"What do you do?"

*TWINKLE TWINKLE*

"One... two... three..."

*LITTLE STAR*

"four... five... six..."

*HOW I WONDER*

"seven... eight... nine..."

*WHAT YOU ARE*

"ten..." Fisher took a deep breath and let the tension in his jaw and shoulders slacken.

*TWINKLE*

"Sailor!" Maisie called.

*TWINKLE* 

"Sailor! Come in here, please."

*LITTLE*

Maisie went into the playroom and tapped on Sailor's shoulder.  The little girl startled and turned.  She stopped singing.  Finally.  "Hi," Maisie said.  "Will you please join your brother and myself in the living room?"

"Okay!" Sailor dropped the toy in her hand and skipped into the living room.  She hopped onto the couch, where Fisher was finding comfort in a fuzzy Iron Man blanket.

"Well, kiddos, today was supposed to be Fisher and Aunt Maisie day, but now we get to add to the fun, right?"

"Right!" Sailor echoed.  Fisher didn't say anything, which was preferable to another tantrum, so Maisie didn't press him.

"Did you already have breakfast?" she asked.  They hadn't, so she turned on a cartoon for them and went into the kitchen to find something suitable.  The fridge was nearly empty - a lone apple and quarter-full carton of milk the only suitable items.  She tried the pantry next, but the only thing stocked for the kids were juice pouches.  An unopened box of Sean's protein bars sat beside Anabeth's Special K bars.

"Geez, when's the last time they went shopping?"  She figured the special K bars were better than nothing and grabbed two.  She cut them in half, then sliced the apple in eighths and fixed two plates and two cups of milk.  "More like a morning snack," she said, sitting the kids at the kitchen table.  "We'll have an early lunch when we go out."

"I don't like apples," Sailor said, testing the fruit with the tip of her tongue.

"I don't like these," Fisher said, pushing the Special K bar pieces off his plate and onto the floor.

"Fine."  Maisie tipped Sailor's apple slices onto Fisher's plate and got a new cereal bar from the pantry to give to Sailor.  "Happy?"