Myshuno! 2012 - piece 16
Title: Bond
Prompt: Making a crazy quilt (penguingirl03)
Rating: U.
Spoiler rating: 0/10.
Summary: Rosie spends some time with her mother.
Notes: First of three drabbles I have ready to post. Sorry in advance for the f-list spam.
Word Count: 612.
Rosie gratefully shut the door on the biting wind and shrugged off her snow caked coat before exchanging her sodden boots for cosy slippers. It was then that she realised her daughter hadn’t come barrelling down the stairs or out of a room to greet her. Although Leonora was now getting the age when she would soon be too big for such antics, Rosie had hoped it would continue for a little while longer. With a sigh, she headed to the morning room to see if she was in there.
She wasn’t, instead Rosie found her mother, sitting on her favourite settee, her sewing box opened besides her and a mound of fabric on her lap. Rosie recognised it as the quilt Cecilia had been working on for most of her life. It was an extraordinarily complex piece of needlework: each lozenge of material had been painstakingly arranged to form a dizzyingly beautiful design of geometric perfection. Rosie had often wondered how her mother had the patience for such a task, especially since she still seemed nowhere near finishing it. Now Cecilia looked up and smiled at her daughter. “You are home early. Has the snow gotten worse?”
Rosie nodded. “Yes, the streets of Simdon are fair covered, so I decided to come home early, while the trains were still running smoothly. We have no pressing cases after all. Have you seen Leonora?”
Cecilia nodded and returned her attention to her needlework. “Yes, your father took her sledging over near Pyke’s Wood about an hour and a half ago. I expect it will not be long before they are home, cold, hungry and dripping icy water everywhere.” Cecelia smiled as she spoke, and Rosie knew that even though she would berate Robert for any mess he made, her mother loved him and would forgive him anything.
Rosie nodded and sat down in the armchair nearest the fire, eager to rid her bones of the chill from her journey. “Would you like any help with the quilt?”
Cecilia tried to conceal her surprise, but failed. It was the first time since she was a teenager that Rosie had shown any interest in needlework. “Of course. You can sew some of the lozenges together if you so wish, and I can then add them to the body of the quilt.”
Rosie reached across to take a handful of the scraps of fabric Cecilia had already cut, as well as a needle and some thread from the sewing box. Face screwed up in concentration, she threaded the needle and carefully laid to of the pieces together, fronts touching so that she could sew one side together. Cecilia allowed her to work in silence for a while before asking “how is Vicky?”
Rosie stopped for a moment. “She is well, very well.”
“That is good to hear, I have not seen her for so long. We must ask her to dine with us one evening.”
Rosie nodded and turned her attention back to her sewing. “I believe she will like that. I know she finds it difficult to get back to Regalton as often as she would like, despite the relatively short distance from Simdon. She finds herself so busy.”
“Then it is settled, I will ask her to dine with us next week sometime.”
The two women continued with their sewing until Leonora and Robert got home, chatting all the while. It wasn’t until later that Rosie realised that it was the longest time she and her mother had spent just talking and bonding since before she had left for the Acadamie. She vowed to spend more time working with her mother on the quilt.
Prompt: Making a crazy quilt (penguingirl03)
Rating: U.
Spoiler rating: 0/10.
Summary: Rosie spends some time with her mother.
Notes: First of three drabbles I have ready to post. Sorry in advance for the f-list spam.
Word Count: 612.
Rosie gratefully shut the door on the biting wind and shrugged off her snow caked coat before exchanging her sodden boots for cosy slippers. It was then that she realised her daughter hadn’t come barrelling down the stairs or out of a room to greet her. Although Leonora was now getting the age when she would soon be too big for such antics, Rosie had hoped it would continue for a little while longer. With a sigh, she headed to the morning room to see if she was in there.
She wasn’t, instead Rosie found her mother, sitting on her favourite settee, her sewing box opened besides her and a mound of fabric on her lap. Rosie recognised it as the quilt Cecilia had been working on for most of her life. It was an extraordinarily complex piece of needlework: each lozenge of material had been painstakingly arranged to form a dizzyingly beautiful design of geometric perfection. Rosie had often wondered how her mother had the patience for such a task, especially since she still seemed nowhere near finishing it. Now Cecilia looked up and smiled at her daughter. “You are home early. Has the snow gotten worse?”
Rosie nodded. “Yes, the streets of Simdon are fair covered, so I decided to come home early, while the trains were still running smoothly. We have no pressing cases after all. Have you seen Leonora?”
Cecilia nodded and returned her attention to her needlework. “Yes, your father took her sledging over near Pyke’s Wood about an hour and a half ago. I expect it will not be long before they are home, cold, hungry and dripping icy water everywhere.” Cecelia smiled as she spoke, and Rosie knew that even though she would berate Robert for any mess he made, her mother loved him and would forgive him anything.
Rosie nodded and sat down in the armchair nearest the fire, eager to rid her bones of the chill from her journey. “Would you like any help with the quilt?”
Cecilia tried to conceal her surprise, but failed. It was the first time since she was a teenager that Rosie had shown any interest in needlework. “Of course. You can sew some of the lozenges together if you so wish, and I can then add them to the body of the quilt.”
Rosie reached across to take a handful of the scraps of fabric Cecilia had already cut, as well as a needle and some thread from the sewing box. Face screwed up in concentration, she threaded the needle and carefully laid to of the pieces together, fronts touching so that she could sew one side together. Cecilia allowed her to work in silence for a while before asking “how is Vicky?”
Rosie stopped for a moment. “She is well, very well.”
“That is good to hear, I have not seen her for so long. We must ask her to dine with us one evening.”
Rosie nodded and turned her attention back to her sewing. “I believe she will like that. I know she finds it difficult to get back to Regalton as often as she would like, despite the relatively short distance from Simdon. She finds herself so busy.”
“Then it is settled, I will ask her to dine with us next week sometime.”
The two women continued with their sewing until Leonora and Robert got home, chatting all the while. It wasn’t until later that Rosie realised that it was the longest time she and her mother had spent just talking and bonding since before she had left for the Acadamie. She vowed to spend more time working with her mother on the quilt.