Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Not Ready.....!




Ready Or Not......

The past few weeks have been filled with distractions and disruptions and almost no time for minis, Dear Readers, so I hope you will understand if I feel as though there is nothing new to show you in my mini Worlds! Autumn is already here and I am Not Ready! There are plenty of partially finished projects... but they are not done and I am Not Ready to show them yet! Even the next installment of Daphne's Story feels only partially done... and Not ready to share with you! But nevertheless, I feel compelled to move on, no matter how unready....
And so I must tell you that Daphne, Especially was Not Ready 
to hear her own daughter greet her with a very formal "Bonjour Mademoiselle...."!
But before she could even gather her thoughts...
Raymond suggested to Renee that she show 'Mademoiselle' the Nursery
 and Renee hurried from the room, leading the way up to the top floor of the house.

And Daphne didn't know exactly what she was expecting to see.... 
but she was Not Ready to see the Nursery looking so... Old and .....so Masculine....
As though nothing had been done to make it a room for a girl....
As though nothing had been done to it in fifty years or more!

She was shocked!
But there was no time to think about that now because 
Renee was very politely introducing her to her stuffed owl "Hibou".
Daphne replied that she was "enchanted to meet Hibou!"
And then Renee hurried down the corridor to show her "The Nanny's Room"...

It was clear that the Young Lawyer, Raymond, was the current occupant.....
And it was equally clear that he was Not Ready to have the New Nanny moving in!
All Daphne could see was that it was dark, and tucked under the rafters... 
with the barest minimum of furniture.
But Renee did not notice anything at all.
She ran to the bed and climbed up......
Just as though she was completely familiar with the room.

"Ray Ray," she said excitedly.... "You can read me a story!" 
and she reached for a book that was sitting on a window ledge....

"How about you take it to the Nursery, Poppet" he replied....
"Perhaps 'Mademoiselle' would like to read it to you.." he added.
 
Renee jumped off the bed and looked at Daphne, 
but then she had a moment of shyness.

"I want you to come too" she said to Raymond.
"You go ahead, I'll be right behind you...." he added.
He just wanted a minute to throw his clothes in his bag...
since he would be leaving now....

And I am sorry to have to tell you, Dear Readers, 
that when Daphne reached the Nursery with Renee 
and they were alone together, 
she experienced a moment of Complete Panic!
She stared at Renee, who was looking expectantly at her, 
and realized that she had No Idea at all 
how to be a Nanny.... let alone a Mother!
Aside from the few weeks when Renee had been a newborn.... 
she had no experience of caring for a child!

And as for Raymond, no matter how little sympathy 
he had for the "New Nanny"
He was Not Ready to leave Renee alone with her!
When he reached the Nursery to say goodbye to Renee...
he found them just staring at each other.
Yes, his opinion of "that Woman" sank even lower than before!

"Shall we show her how it's done, Poppet?" he asked....

And he settled onto the bed with Renee tucked under his arm 
and they started to "read" the story.

 Daphne just stood and listened with a lump in her throat.....
She had never felt less needed in her entire life!
But she wanted that close and caring relationship for herself!
She felt so Not Ready to be the Nanny for Renee....
But she knew she was Not Ready to give up without trying!

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, 
but I am sure this is Not Ready!
But Ready or Not.... here it is!


Tuesday, September 22, 2015

More... Or Less....




The New Nanny....

I hope you will be able to forgive Raymond, Dear Readers, for his very unkind opinion of Daphne. As far as he was concerned, she had No right whatsoever to be a part of her child's life! She had given up that right when she had walked... no, run, out of the Lawyer's office, abandoning her child all those years ago. That she had not signed any papers giving up her rights was beside the point. At least this is what he told himself, even though it was a weak point legally. In his heart he was convinced that any woman who would abandon her child to strangers did not deserve the right to share that child's life, did not deserve to be a Mother to that child. Even so, he was not completely surprised to see Renee's ...... no he would not refer to her as Renee's Mother..... ! ... but to see "That woman" again... and in the parlor talking with Yvonne and Guillaume....! No, it did not surprise him, but it made him angry instead! He glared at her, but she was watching Guillaume and Yvonne and seemed to not notice him at all.

He was about to speak to her when Guillaume spoke again.
"Renee ....needs ....her Mother...." he repeated.

Yvonne had been so overcome by hearing Guillaume speak 
after all those months and years of silence, 
that she really had not listened to What he said!
"Ah, my darling," she said, "You are so right!"
"And we need a Nanny...!" she added.

And turning to Raymond, she declared 
"We will hire her to be our new Nanny!"
 
"Provisionally, of course," she added as she looked at Daphne, 
"while we see how everyone gets along."

"The Nanny....?" stammered Daphne, completely taken by surprise!
And at the same moment Raymond spoke up...
"I beg your pardon, Madame, 
but I cannot approve of this action!" he declared.

"My dear Raymond," said Yvonne,
"Guillaume is right...!"
"But it sets a terrible, perhaps irreversible, precedent...!" replied Raymond.


"But I think it is our best option for now...." said Madame.

Raymond looked to Guillaume, 
but Guillaume was watching ..."that woman".
"Please...." he whispered hoarsely as he gazed at Daphne. 


And just at that moment Renee ran into the room.
"Ray-Ray..." she called excitedly... 
"Cook says we are going to have chicken....!" she exclaimed.

"Raymond, you must introduce the new Nanny..." declared Yvonne.
"And show her where everything is..." she added.

Daphne stared at the young Lawyer... Raymond.... 
who seemed to dislike her so...
yet clearly was her child's... Renee's... trusted friend,
and felt an unwelcome stab of jealousy! 
This man clearly had the love of her Daughter...
while she was just a stranger.... 
and was to be hired as the new Nanny!
 
And yet, as she gazed into the eyes of her child... 
she knew that she would do anything...
Anything at all to be able to spend time with her!
"Renee," said Raymond... "Say 'hello' to your new Nanny...."
"Miss....?" and he hesitated, for he didn't know her name.
"O'Malley...Daphne O'Malley" said Daphne.

And leaning down to Renee she said 
"I am so delighted to meet you!"

Well, Dear Readers, I hope you will understand....
More or Less....
That with the hiring of the Nanny....
Daphne's story continues!



 


 
 


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Park Revisited....




Daphne's Story Continues...


Can we Pretend, Dear Readers, that it was only yesterday that we last visited the Park? When Will rescued 'Hibou' from the Fountain waters for Renee, and then Daphne confronted him and told him they were "through"? And Madame deMontaigne fired Gabrielle, the Nanny, on rumors that she was "meeting a man at the Park" thus leaving no-one to look after Renee but the young lawyer, Raymond! And Daphne had decided that rather than confront the deMontaignes about her child with no warning, she would write to them instead. It had been a busy and Dramatic day the last time we visited the Park... could it have only been Yesterday?
Well, it seemed to Will as though Everything had changed overnight.

He returned to the Park the next morning and sat on his favorite bench
 as he had for every morning this week, 
but the Child and her Nanny did not come at their usual time. 
It was a gloomy day, so he was not really surprised that the Park was so empty.

Yesterday there had been rainbows in the fountain mist....
Today there were no rainbows.
The weather had changed too. 
He could feel the Fall in the air, and with it came
 a sense of melancholy he didn't want to admit to.
It was his last day in town. He was heading back to the States tomorrow.
He had too much to do and no excuse at all to be waiting in the Park for....
he wasn't even sure what he was waiting for!
If the Child and her Nanny did come... what would he say?
He had no idea. And he had work to do.

Meanwhile, was it only yesterday that Daphne
 had returned to the Garden of her Hotel 
and tried to compose the Letter to her Child's Grandparents?

It was much more difficult than she had imagined it would be!
Especially now that she had seen her Daughter....
She looked well cared for.... and happy....
Who was Daphne to intrude on their lives?
Was it just selfishness that was driving her 
to try to be a part of her Daughter's life?

She couldn't find the words to express what she wanted them to know.
She started and rejected letter after letter.
She didn't want to threaten them. But she didn't want to beg either.
She just wanted to be a part of her Child's life!
Was that too much to ask?

In the end she settled for being as brief as she could 
without sounding rude.

"My Dear Monsieur and Madame,"
(she wrote)
"I am sure you hoped to never hear from me.
I am sorry to disappoint you, but I can no longer
 accept a life without ever seeing my child.
I have no desire to take her away from you. 
But I want to be a part of her life.
I hope you will be willing to meet with me 
in person to discuss her future.
I will call on you at the end of the week.
Sincerely,
Daphne O'Malley"

And before she could change her mind 
she sealed it in an envelope and mailed it!

And what of Renee?
Well, she could not remember any of the many Nannies
 that had come before Gabrielle. She had been too young when they left.
Gabrielle had been her Nanny for more than a year, 
so Renee was having a difficult time understanding why Gabrielle was gone.
 
She wanted to know who was to take her to the Park?
Raymond, who had always been the one to look after her 
when the Nanny had time off, 
assured her that he would take her to the Park.
But he had other work to do as well, 
so he couldn't take her in the morning.

He sat with his laptop at her little table in the Nursery 
while she played happily around him.
He needed to hire another Nanny as quickly as possible,
but it was not an easy task.
 
 
And he had his regular work to attend to...
as much as he could manage from his laptop and phone!
But eventually, he had to agree with Renee....
 
 
'Hibou" needed to go to the Park!

So they set out every afternoon, rather late...
just before dinner time, for a visit to the Park.

They hardly ever saw anybody there.
But Renee was happy to visit with her "friends" the birds!
 
Sometimes they remembered to bring some bread to feed them.

This kept Renee happy for quite some time!

And it gave Raymond time to think.
He had to admit that Renee was no longer just a baby. 
She was growing so fast!
They couldn't go on forever with just another Nanny....
Renee would need to start school.
She needed children her own age to play with.
He would need to bring it to Madame's attention.
But meanwhile he would have to find another Nanny!

But most of all, I hope you can understand, Dear Readers, 
that Yvonne DeMontaigne was not really to blame for her neglect of Renee.
She had needed to give all her attention to her husband Guillaume 
when he had his stroke shortly after Renee came to live with them as an infant.
Guillaume had not recovered his ability to talk.
So Yvonne had to step into his shoes and learn how to take care of the Family Businesses 
and the Estates that were their heritage. If she did not do it, then who would?
She had no time left over to care for Renee. 
She had hired good Nannies to see to the child's needs.
She was too busy to even admit that she was terrified to love this child...
This child who was Not her son... 
but her son's child instead....
and a complete stranger to her!
And her son, who she had loved with a Mother's 
complete devotion, was gone forever.
It was so much easier to keep busy and not look too closely 
at how quickly time was passing!
 
You can imagine her shock, therefore, 
when she read the letter Daphne had written!
She brought it straight to Guillaume.... 
she shared everything with him in the hopes that it 
would help him regain his ability to speak.
"My Darling," she cried "You will not believe this letter!"
"It is from that woman... she says she wants to be a part of Renee's life!"
"After all this time she thinks she can just come here..." 


"We cannot allow her to do this...!"
"I am calling Raymond this minute...!" she declared.
"He will have to take care of this..!" she cried.
But as Fate would have it, the letter had taken longer to reach them 
than Daphne had imagined it would. So she arrived on their doorstep 
only a short while after the letter... and was shown in by the Steward.
She had thought to give them time to get used to the idea of her visiting....
 
She was not at all prepared to be met with such drama!
 
And she was even less prepared to see Guillaume so frail....
She had not been aware that he was unwell!
She hardly heard what Madame was saying. 
But it only made her more resolved than before.
For some reason she could not explain, she felt ... needed here!
But lest you think that is too much excitement, Dear Readers, 
Renee and Raymond were just returning from their visit to the Park.....

"Ah, there you are Raymond," cried Madame, sounding quite relieved!
"I need you to settle a legal question...." she began...
 
But Guillaume was not listening to his wife.
He was gazing at his Granddaughter 
who he loved more than anything in this world...
And Daphne, too, could not take her eyes off her child!

Renee, who always stopped to see her Grandpere 
when she came home from the Park,
was surprised into silence when she saw all the people in the room.
And then suddenly Grandpere Struggled to stand up!

"My Darling..." he said...
and his voice was only a little more than a whisper...
but it completely caught their attention!

Yvonne looked at him in complete surprise...

Guillaume cleared his throat, as though he were surprised that it made a sound, 
and said quite clearly "Renee needs her Mother..."
 
"Oh, you Can talk...!"Yvonne whispered
"My Darling, you Can talk...!" she cried.
And then she burst into tears.

And at that moment Raymond decided that it was 
time for Renee to leave her Grandparents to their discovery, 
and he suggested that she run down to the kitchen 
to see what cook was making for Dinner.
Renee did not have to be asked twice.... 
it was her next favorite place to visit.... after the Park, of course!
 
Well, Dear Readers, I hope you will understand 
If I leave you here for now....
After such a visit to the Park!
Yes, Daphne's Story will continue....!