Lemon Lime Sorbet #9--"Longing"
Title: Longing
Rating: PG
Challenge: Lemon Lime Sorbet #9 "in your dreams"
Story: Maybe December
Summary: Allyson wonders if she can do marriage.
Word Count: 521
Note: I keep appearing and disappearing and still haven’t finished up this storyline yet. I’ll try to rectify that once again, starting with this piece. The link above has all of the entries for this series if you would like to go back and see what led to this point.
The insecurity began creeping back two hours after she accepted Jamie's invitation to spend Christmas at his ancestral home. All those doubts finally managed to push aside after those first weeks of dating now came rushing back into her head. The seven year age gap, the fact Jamie came from English nobility while she was the product of a typical American suburban household, and the fact she never wanted kids all became huge barriers that made her want to down a bottle of Two Buck Chuck. Jamie was thirty, the stage in life where many people began seriously thinking about the white picket fence lifestyle. In his case, it was the five hundred year old house and inherited title lifestyle, which meant it was even more important for him. A typical aristocratic title required a typical arisocratic male heir to not only wed but to provide future heirs. It sounded ridiculous in the 21st century, but it was somehow a part of reality. She was going to enter a small corner of that peculiar reality in less than a month and meet the rest of Jamie's family.
Allyson stared into the jumbled gathering of paragraphs that formed yet another legal brief that needed to go out before the end of the afternoon. Maybe her fears were stupid; despite the fact Jamie and her hand been together for two years, neither one of them ever discussed marriage. They were careful to avoid any straightforward discussions about getting their little union officially sanctioned.
He was due to become the 16th Earl Nevis one day, even though it was often hard for him to imagine that ever happening. His older half-sister was better suited to the role of grand dame of a great estate, but British inheritance law didn't allow for her to get anywhere near the title. But she had two sons who might help carry the Nevis inheritance into the coming decades if Jamie decided to relinquish all rights to the title. It was a real possibility, yet a rather terrible option considering it wasn't taking the wishes of his young nephews into account. Jamie felt guilty considering the possibility of stepping aside, but it was a very tangible option rather than the ephemeral dream of becoming yet another flagbearer of the ancient elite.
Allyson frowned. Why bother going to visit his family when she knew the inevitable was inevitable? But if she was totally wrong? Maybe his family just accepted their relationship. His mother never gave any impression that she viewed Allyson as threatening. Rachel followed a similar path that led her to Jamie's father. From Chicago to London to Cumbria and Nevis Hall, she became involved with John Kennan and eventually became a member of that strange group called the British aristocracy.
Maybe, perhaps, the Kennans would accept her. She might not be wife material for their son, but that was all right. She couldn't really imagine becoming the next Countess Nevis.
Rating: PG
Challenge: Lemon Lime Sorbet #9 "in your dreams"
Story: Maybe December
Summary: Allyson wonders if she can do marriage.
Word Count: 521
Note: I keep appearing and disappearing and still haven’t finished up this storyline yet. I’ll try to rectify that once again, starting with this piece. The link above has all of the entries for this series if you would like to go back and see what led to this point.
The insecurity began creeping back two hours after she accepted Jamie's invitation to spend Christmas at his ancestral home. All those doubts finally managed to push aside after those first weeks of dating now came rushing back into her head. The seven year age gap, the fact Jamie came from English nobility while she was the product of a typical American suburban household, and the fact she never wanted kids all became huge barriers that made her want to down a bottle of Two Buck Chuck. Jamie was thirty, the stage in life where many people began seriously thinking about the white picket fence lifestyle. In his case, it was the five hundred year old house and inherited title lifestyle, which meant it was even more important for him. A typical aristocratic title required a typical arisocratic male heir to not only wed but to provide future heirs. It sounded ridiculous in the 21st century, but it was somehow a part of reality. She was going to enter a small corner of that peculiar reality in less than a month and meet the rest of Jamie's family.
Allyson stared into the jumbled gathering of paragraphs that formed yet another legal brief that needed to go out before the end of the afternoon. Maybe her fears were stupid; despite the fact Jamie and her hand been together for two years, neither one of them ever discussed marriage. They were careful to avoid any straightforward discussions about getting their little union officially sanctioned.
He was due to become the 16th Earl Nevis one day, even though it was often hard for him to imagine that ever happening. His older half-sister was better suited to the role of grand dame of a great estate, but British inheritance law didn't allow for her to get anywhere near the title. But she had two sons who might help carry the Nevis inheritance into the coming decades if Jamie decided to relinquish all rights to the title. It was a real possibility, yet a rather terrible option considering it wasn't taking the wishes of his young nephews into account. Jamie felt guilty considering the possibility of stepping aside, but it was a very tangible option rather than the ephemeral dream of becoming yet another flagbearer of the ancient elite.
Allyson frowned. Why bother going to visit his family when she knew the inevitable was inevitable? But if she was totally wrong? Maybe his family just accepted their relationship. His mother never gave any impression that she viewed Allyson as threatening. Rachel followed a similar path that led her to Jamie's father. From Chicago to London to Cumbria and Nevis Hall, she became involved with John Kennan and eventually became a member of that strange group called the British aristocracy.
Maybe, perhaps, the Kennans would accept her. She might not be wife material for their son, but that was all right. She couldn't really imagine becoming the next Countess Nevis.