ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES

CHAPTER 97 – EDNA, REVISTED
July 23, 2008
Wednesday
2:00pm
"I thought you had something in mind. I don't really care, whatever you want, Elizabeth."
William saw The Rittenhouse Restaurant as they turned the corner, "How about here?" he asked.
"Um…I don’t know," Buffy faltered, "maybe I should call Edna first," she said, but slowed down the car to a stop, because there was a truck in front of her, unloading a street-cleaning machine.
"Uh-oh," Buffy said, motioning to the front of the building. Edna had taken this moment to come outside was now looking at the car intently.
"Is that her?" William asked, pointing rather obviously.
"Yes, that’s her. Are you sure you want to do this right now?" Buffy asked, hoping for some reason that he didn’t. She wanted to have him be prepared for Edna, to have Edna know he was coming.
Edna waved hesitantly, until William waved back, then she started down the steps, really waving now.
Buffy had no choice but to pull the car over.
She looked over at William once and nodded, "She’s quite old, so don’t be surprised if…"
William only nods in return, opening the door.
Buffy quickly came around to his side, lacing her fingers in his, and they walk up the sidewalk to where Edna has stopped.
"William?" Edna whispers.
His kind eyes smile as he nods his head.
She walks up to him and looks at him closely for a moment. Tears come to her eyes, "William," she says, her voice choked up, as she holds out her arms, "you’ve come back to us!"
William has no choice, but to let himself be smothered by Edna’s embrace, but he does so with a gentle acceptance that brings tears to Buffy’s eyes, as well.
Edna looks up at Elizabeth and nods, still patting William on the back. She holds out her other arm for her to join, and soon the three of them are standing on the sidewalk hugging and crying.
After another few moments, the embrace ends. Edna is still looking at William in wonder, hanging onto him with one arm, the other she wipes at her eyes with.
She shakes her head, to clear it, "Where are my manners?" Come inside you two! Let me get you something to eat!"
They walked into the restaurant. There were only three tables still occupied by late lunch diners.
"Sit anywhere you like, unless you want the room in the back that you had that time, perhaps?" Edna suggests.
"Where we had dinner for Valentine’s Day?" William asks.
"You remember," Edna said, brightening.
"Afraid not,” William said, smiling apologetically, “just from what Elizabeth told me."
"Oh," Edna says.
Buffy shakes her head, "That’s not necessary. This will be fine," she says, as she stops at a table toward the rear of the restaurant, away from the other diners.
Edna stands at the table for a minute, just staring at them both, especially William. She stares at him sitting in the sunlight streaming in from a nearby window, at the light suntanned glow of his skin, at his eyes.
Buffy gently clears her throat, as she notices William beginning to fidget under Edna’s scrutiny.
"Oh, there I go again, off in my own world. Let me get you some menus and some water. I’ll be right back," she says with a smile and a nod to Elizabeth and hurries off.
"You okay?" she asks William, who seems to be breathing easier now.
"Sure."
"Good. Sorry about that, I should’ve warned you that Edna might be a bit intense at first."
He shook his head; "It’s alright. I figure she’s just doing what everyone else wanted to do when they first saw me again, only were too polite to do so."
"Probably," Buffy admits.
"If I recall correctly, you almost fainted when you first saw me."
"Yeah, that’s right. I almost forgot," she says quietly.
"I didn’t. Had to catch you."
She nods, looking at him.
"And Clem, he didn’t know what to say to me, so he got us drunk," he says, with a sheepish smile. "So, kind of used to people doing strange things around me. Guess I’m a shock to them, huh?"
"A bit," she says. "Oh, sorry about the other room Edna mentioned. I just didn’t want her to have to clean it out just for us."
"That’s okay, this is lovely," William said, just as Edna came back to the table with the menus. A young waiter came over with two glasses of water. Buffy looked up and recognized him.
"Wally? I mean Wallace?"
The tall, young man with an easy smile and warm brown eyes grinned at Buffy, "Yeah, it’s me."
"What are you doing here? No, wait, you’re in town for the summer again, aren’t you?"
He nodded, "Well, a little more than that, I’ve moved here, I’m going to start college in the fall."
"That’s great! Where at? What are you planning on studying?"
"I’m going to San Diego State, as for what I’m studying," he said, shrugging.
"I haven’t decided yet."
"Well, the important thing is that you’re starting college. And here!"
"Wallace," Edna said, "this is William. Do you remember him? I think the last time you saw him you were only about 7 years old.”
"I know, but I do remember. I remember coming downstairs late one night for some water and you and William were talking in the kitchen.”
He pointed toward William. “You lifted me up and put me up on the counter so I could reach the glasses myself and I suddenly got scared. I don’t know why, maybe because your hands felt cold or because you were dressed all in black; I remember staring up at your white hair and wondering why grandma had a friend who looked like a rock star,” he said grinning.
"Well, you remember more than me then, seeing as I don’t remember anything."
"Yeah, heard about that man. Bummer. Hey, is that your DeSoto outside? That’s an awesome car!"
"Thanks."
"William and Clem have been fixing it up," Buffy said to Edna and Wallace.
"Mind if I have a look under the hood?"
"No, not at all."
"Wallace!" Edna cautioned, "don’t be pestering Master William now!"
"No, really, it’s no bother at all."
"William just got his permit today and I’ve been giving him driving lns,\ns," Buffy said.
"You don’t know how to drive?"
"Don’t remember how."
"Oh, that’s right. Sorry about that, man. Listen, when you’re ready to learn to parallel park, come and see me. I’ve got the best method of learning ever. I’ll have you doing it perfectly in less than an hour!"
"Really?"
"Guaranteed! My old driving instructor taught it to me, and it’s fail-proof."
"Well, thanks. I might just look you up on that."
"Yeah, thanks, Wallace. I was going to have Clem teach William that, since I’m not so great at it myself!"
"Okay, okay, enough of cars for now. Why don’t we let William and Elizabeth look at their menus."
"Oh, sorry about that," Wallace said.
"No problem. It was nice talking to you again," Buffy said.
William nodded, "You, too."
Wallace smiled at them, as he left the table.
"Nice kid," William said.
"Yes he is. A bit on the talky side, though," Edna said, fondly. "Well, I’ll let you two decide what you want. I’ll be back in a few minutes."
"So, what do you think?" Buffy asked a few moments after Edna had left.
“About having scared a little kid by looking like a rock star?”
Buffy giggled a bit nervously. She had cringed when Wallace was relating the story and didn’t know how William would react to it.
“Actually, I was talking about what’s on the menu."
"Oh, of course," William said, looking at it some more.
"Um, Elizabeth?" he said, after about a minute.
"What?"
"Do you happen to have your pair of reading glasses? Or those ones I first got at Walmart on you? I forgot my prescription ones at home."
She snickered a little, comparing her present dining companion to Spike’s rock-star image that Wallace had remembered; that she did, also.
He looked at her, annoyed; "It’s not funny!"
"I suppose not," she said, trying to bite her lip to keep from laughing anymore.
"I don’t see why my needing reading glasses is a cause of amusement for you, I really don’t, " he said in a huff.
"I’m sorry, it’s not. It’s just…when you were…younger, you didn’t need them," she said. She couldn’t very well tell him that as a vampire for over 100 years, he didn’t need them, now could she?
"You even said you use them sometimes."
"Yeah, I need them, too, sometimes. And this print is pretty small and rather light. Let me see if I have mine in my purse. I know I don’t have yours."
She dug down to the bottom, she didn’t think she had them, but then her fingers felt something underneath the torn liner. "Ooh, wait…ah…there they are," she said, bringing out a little skinny tube, which she opened, taking out an even smaller, skinnier pair of glasses. She wiped them on a napkin and handed them to him.
He hesitated; "Maybe I shouldn’t borrow these; it might send you into another fit of laughter, Elizabeth."
"No, I promise," she said, trying to look very serious, "here, take them!"
"Very well," he said, putting them on and looking at her. She looked back at him with a straight face and he looked down. She brought the menu up in front of her face and smiled as wide as she could, laughing silently. Finally, she drank some ice water, concentrating on her freezing throat now, instead of the silly glasses.
"Decide?" she asked him.
*"Think I’ll have the Prime Rib," he said. She nodded, mouthing the very words behind her menu. Should have known. "What about you?"
*"Fettuccini Alfredo," she said. Might as well go with it, and not tempt fate.
"Have you decided on what you’ll be having?" Edna asked.
"I’ll have the Prime Rib and Elizabeth will have the Fettuccini Alfredo."
"Alright, have that for you in a little while then."
A few minutes later, Wallace came over with a bottle of Champagne, "This is from grandma," he said, pouring it into the accompanying glasses.
"That wasn’t necessary, but please thank her for us," Buffy said.
Wallace nodded, "Will do," he said, disappearing into the kitchen.
Next, they were brought a warm loaf of bread and a thick soup.
Their meal arrived about 10 minutes later. They thanked Wallace and started to eat.
"What’s wrong?" Buffy asked, looking at William, who had suddenly taken on a slightly green color.
"This steak, it’s practically raw," he said, as he looked down at the blood juices on his plate with revulsion.
She motioned for Wallace who came over, "Could I bother you? I think William would like this cooked a little more. Right?"
William nodded, "I’m sorry, it’s just a little too rare."
"Oh, sure. How would you like it then? Medium rare, medium, medium well, or well done?"
"I’d think medium well would be fine."
"Okay, I’ll be back with it in about 5 minutes."
"Take your time," William said.
He shook his head with a shudder when Wallace was out of sight; "Did you see that? It was barely cooked, I should say!"
"I’m sure it was a mistake."
"I don’t even think Edna asked how I wanted it. I didn’t know I had all those choices, but I would have never ordered it this way!"
"She probably just forgot to ask you. She’s getting on in years, you know. Why don’t you have some of mine, while you wait; I’ll never finish it all and it’s really good."
"I’ll wait."
Buffy took his fork and put some of her Fettuccini Alfredo on it, "Taste it."
"Umm, it is good," he said, "thanks."
"More?"
He shook his head.
Wallace came back a couple of minutes later with the steak, now on a clean, bloodless plate, "Sorry about that. See how you like this."
William cut into it. It wasn’t pink at all. He let out his breath; "This is fine, thank you."
After their meal, Buffy told Wallace to ask Edna if she would please join them for coffee.
Edna came out of the back; she had two pieces of chocolate cake in her hands, which she placed in front of them as she sat down. Wallace brought the coffee.
"Umm, this is good," Buffy said, a piece of cake in her mouth.
Edna looked at William expectantly. He picked up his fork and tasted it.
"Very good," he agreed.
Edna smiled.
"Master William, I’m so sorry about the steak, I just thought you’d want it like you always had."
William practically gagged on the cake. Elizabeth quickly glanced over at Edna, who just caught her eye and was luckily astute enough to know what her glance was meant to convey.
"Aye, but I’m an old woman, it was someone else I was thinking of who liked their steaks very rare."
William nodded, "Most definitely! But please don’t worry. It turned out quite delicious, best I ever tasted."
Edna beamed and Buffy relaxed.
They had their coffees and cake, and talked about the restaurant, the present, and the future. Edna made good on her promise to not speak of the past.
When William and Elizabeth finally got up to leave, it was almost time for the restaurant to get ready for the dinner hour.
Edna had Wallace bring them a care package of all the cooked, left over food from earlier that day.
"That’s food that never left the stove, not diner’s leftovers," Edna said.
"Oh, I know. You didn’t have to, though."
"I would have just had to throw it out, better it go home with you and Master William," Edna said, smiling at him.
He bowed his head, shyly.
"Come back and visit me soon," Edna said, as they were walking towards the car.
"We will, I promise," Elizabeth said.
They were at the car. Edna reached up and put her hand on William’s face, as she looked at him with a mixture of fondness and love, "It’s so good to see you again, William," she said.
William took her hand and gave it a kiss, "You, too, dear," he said.
Edna smiled broadly; this is what he always had called her!
William went around to the passenger’s side. Buffy looked at Edna and smiled.
"He looks marvelous!" Edna said, hugging her, "it’s so wonderful that he’s home…so wonderful," she said, sniffling.
Buffy hugged her back, "Yes, it is. We have to go, but I’ll call you next week, I wanted to talk to you about something. And tell Wallace, William will definitely be giving him a call, too."
"Alright dear," she said, stepping back. "I’ll talk to you next week then. Thank you for making an old woman so happy today."
"You’re not old, Edna. You’re timeless," Buffy said, smiling as she got into the driver’s seat.
Edna stood on the sidewalk waving, until the car was out of sight. She sighed happily and walked back into the restaurant to prepare for the dinner crowd.

10:00pm

It had been a good day, a very busy day and Buffy was glad it was over. She didn’t want William pushing himself too much. He wouldn’t admit to it, but she could feel when things were getting to be too much for him.

She looked over at him. They’d watched a documentary on the Pyramids early in the evening, then just had been relaxing with books and a couple of glasses of wine in front of the fireplace. She’d seen him wince once and hadn’t said anything, but now he was doing it again.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just a bit of a headache, I guess.”

She took the glass from him, “Maybe you’d better stop drinking the wine, it can cause headaches, because of the tanic acid, you know. I’ll get you some aspirin, okay?”

He nodded and she got up to get them. She brought back a bottle of water and 2 aspirin. He dutifully took them.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Come ‘ere,” she said, pointing to her lap. He lay down on it, and she massaged his head. “Better?”

“Umm-hmm.”

“You don’t need to push yourself too hard. Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say, and you don’t need to learn all about cars, driving, home repair, lawn mower maintenance, etc. all in a week, either.”

“There’s lawn mower maintenance?”

She looked at him. His eyes were shut, but a smile played at the corners of his mouth.

“Ha-ha,” she said, “but I mean it.”

“I know. I won’t. Push myself too hard, okay? I just feel like I’ve got so much catching up to do…stuff that every adult and most children know about, besides me, that is.”

“You’ll catch up just fine. Just don’t burn yourself out. Please?”

“Alright,” he said, nodding, eyes still closed.

“Good,” she said, still massaging his temples.

They went to bed shortly after that. His headache still bothered him, but he told her it had gotten better. She pulled him to her, and nestled in her arms, he finally found sleep.
END CHAPTER 97

*Refers to what Spike and Buffy (Master William & Elizabeth) had at The Rittenhouse on Valentine’s Day 2003, when he first brought her to Julian in ONE NORMAL DAY Chapter 8
I named this chapter Edna, Revisted, because there was already a chapter (10) in ONE NORMAL DAY called EDNA.