From The Ashes 7/15

[suburban_boho]

Title: From The Ashes

Pairing: Ultimately: Maureen/Cynthia.

Summary: After an unspeakable tragedy leaves her a young widow, Maureen works to re-build her life out of the shadow of her late husband, with the help of friends, family, and especially Cynthia.

Warnings: Major character death,  self-harm and suicide, addiction, depictions of blood (

Comments

[jonesingjay]

It's easy for me me to forget just what can and will set Maureen off. The bit with Ringo's beans is bittersweet. It's a fond remembrance of his being unable to eat spicy food. A rather innocent observation on the child and hard for Maureen to her from her soon. Another reminder that Ringo is gone and he isn't coming back. It's a difficult concept for a child to get and even though Maureen has no choice by to try and make sense of his actions because she knows he can't come back and explain it to her all the same it's still difficult on her.

Also, that scene with the red hair dye came as a surprise for me. Once again, just something so simple but it's not because it knocks her right back into that moment that she found her husband. It's got to be difficult to try and navigate through her life at times.

So, it's a wonderful thing that she has Cynthia in her corner to help her. I think they are each other's rocks but it seems like maybe Cynthia more so than Maureen has to be the stronger of the two emotionally. Maureen needs her to lean on it. What they have going as friends seems to be working well. There families are blending together and sure there are hiccups from time to time like Julian pointing out that Cynthia is his mum but other than that they are a good unit.

What I'm curious about and I've said it before is I wonder who will make the first move to move this beyond friendship. I can easily see it being either one of them. The halfway point means that the story might shift into a romantic relationship, right? At least that's what I'm hoping because you've established their world and relationship well and now I'm looking forward to it evolving into more.

[suburban_boho]

That's the thing: Maureen can be set off by so many unrelated things. She'll eventually learn to handle them better but it's still a very fresh memory and very new circumstance. It's a little thing that her son remembers but to him it's 'different'. And Maureen not only has to process that it's different for her, she has to process that it's different for her nearly 5 year old by this point son who may not really grasp death as permanent yet.Not to mention Jason who totally isn't old enough to get it. So Maureen has to remind them both and thus remind herself.

The hair dye thing: When I've dyed my hair red, especially a brilliant bright red, I've often joked that it looks like a murder scene when it's rinsed out (mixing it up won't trigger that same response cause it's a purplish-pink color and goes on that color too...the more you know, LOL) It's hard to say if that same response would have been so intense had she not already been thinking of Ringo and lost in her own remembrances already. Maybe it would have been.

Again, she finds herself trying to move on but having a set back. Time will ease those moments as will need to advance her career for the betterment of her children, but that soon after (not a year gone yet) it's all still very fresh.

It's very important to have support and Cynthia is an excellent support system. She knows when to push and when to back off but is always right there. Cynthia has to be stronger right now but the time will certainly come that Maureen will have to be the stronger half.

It's important that I show their family unit blending well and working well already because when they do get romantic - which is coming, I promise- it'll be easier. They've established for the boys already that they are combined a family because they care for each other.

There is a shift coming, but I needed to make it believable and slow. And without spoiling much, while one does have to ask the question outright there is something to be said for a mutual shift from friends to more than.It's just a matter of who does act on that impulse to directly ask the 'yes or no' question that both want to ask. Evolution is a slow process, it really is.

Thanks for reading and commenting!