Dear Ginny (Peter, Louise's Letters)
Nov. 17th, 2008 08:23 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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darker_londonWith Aly away taking care of David, Peter was left to care for Christina and sundry. They were staying in what was technically Thomas and Mary's new room, though Peter knew Thomas and Mary would never be upset that Christina was using the room to seek refuge from her shattered marriage. Peter felt terribly guilty even though he hadn't done anything, because David was his best friend outside of Thomas, and he hadn't known. David had been self-destructing and cheating on his wife, apparently for a long time, and Peter had been completely oblivious. And it had started before the tumour. Peter had no excuse. Christina didn't look like she blamed any of it on him, thankfully. Peter probably would have crumbled, had she said anything like 'how did you not know about this!?'
Lavannah was staying with them too, and Peter felt a little strange that he was reading letters that had been written by his mother while her spirit was in the house. He just had to be careful to look at them when she wasn't around. He didn't actually think Louise would mind. Louise didn't mind much these days, beyond someone hurting the people she loved. But Peter still didn't want to go into it with her. Not yet. He feared she would start describing some romantic evening she had had with Klaus and that would just put Peter off of romance for the rest of his life.
It was simple enough to wait until everyone else was either in bed or otherwise occupied. Peter had always been an insomniac, and it was harder to sleep now that he had his own mortality to worry about anyway. Even if he was exhausted, his mind had trouble shutting down. He still felt slightly dizzy and ill, but sitting propped up in his bed with the letters was better than racing around like a headless chicken, trying to arrange things for people. Though he had enjoyed watching Buffy with Stephie and Kat while high and giggly...
Peter pulled out the next letter in the sequence and he settled down to read.
Dear Ginny,
The most marvelous thing has happened! Klaus asked my father for permission to marry me! Daddy wasn't so sure, but Klaus promised again that he wouldn't make me move to Germany. I told Daddy flat out that I had no intention of moving either. Then Daddy asked about Klaus' plans for the future and Klaus said he wants to set up a private firm! He certainly has enough money! All he needs is the experience. Anyway, Klaus told Daddy I could work at his firm which means I won't even have to search for jobs, isn't that wonderful?! Klaus is finished this year, and he's going to see what he can do. We want to be married in the summer after we visit you in France!!! It's so EXCITING! I'm going to go live with Klaus in his house after we're married. Oh you should see the house, Ginny! It's absolutely breathtaking! It has a conservatory and these beautiful gardens. It's perfect for raising a family.
I have a secret to tell you, but you have to promise not to make fun! I want to have children right away! I know I shouldn't and that I should finish my University degree first. I think I will, because if I don't I'll just prove Daddy right. But now that I'm getting married I want all of that stuff right now!! I'm so impatient! Klaus says he finds it charming. That's a good thing!!
And now you really must tell me how you are getting on? How are you feeling? Is the morning sickness very bad? Please feel free to lie to me!!
Love forever, Lou
Peter quickly did the maths in his head and he realised that his mother had not had children right away. He knew she had worked at his father's firm for a little while, though what she did there, he had no idea. He had never thought to ask and it had been when he was very young. By the time he was older, she was staying at home and managing the household, looking like she would rather be anywhere else... Peter fished another letter out of the box and he unfolded it carefully.
Ginny,
The most DREADFUL thing has happened, Ginny. Klaus' family have said he can't marry me!! They even came here to stop him! His father is the most horrid man! I can't even possibly describe the terror he instills. His name is Florian and he says that Klaus can't marry me because I am beneath them.
I have never been so insulted in my life, Ginny! I'm a Whitney! My family goes back generations and we have money! Perhaps not as much as the Kempfs, but we are certainly not paupers! Florian met with Daddy and they ended up having a SCREAMING match! I was so mortified!! Florian insists that Klaus return home with him but Klaus is fighting him with everything he has. He really does love me, Ginny. He's fighting so hard, and I can tell that it hurts him deeply that his father doesn't approve of the choices he has made. They make him happy, what else could Florian want?
All of this makes me so grateful I have Daddy. When Mother died, I was heartbroken that I was left with a parent who was so prone to disapproval. Even the woman Daddy married was no better, as you well know. But Daddy is nothing like Florian. He says he knows what's best for me, but he doesn't yell and scream when I disagree and I know he loves me anyway. I don't think Florian Kempf would know a thing about love if it slapped him in the face. And I rather hope it DOES!
Klaus' younger brother is here too. His name is Wolfgang and I don't like the way he looks at me. He's still a teenager, but it's like he thinks he's above me too. I have never been made to feel like trash before, Ginny. I'm so embarrassed. Klaus says he'll work it out, but I don't know how much I should allow myself to hope. It all seems so utterly hopeless.
Please, my oldest friend, tell me something good.
Lou
Peter folded up the letter, a feeling of disgust in his belly. That sounded like his family, alright. And his mother's descriptions of Florian sounded eerily similar to Klaus himself. Clearly the man had learned nothing from his experience with his disapproving father. Peter remembered Grandfather Whitney as a kind and cheerful man. He hadn't seen him as a disapproving man at all, but then he again he wasn't the man's daughter, choosing to pursue what was then considered an un-ladylike path. Grandfather Whitney had always been fun and he had sent fantastic presents for birthdays until his death when Peter was nine. Florian Kempf had terrified Peter to his very soul the one time he had seen him. Peter had been too afraid to speak a word to the man, and Florian had labelled him as 'feeble minded' and he told Klaus he should have had Peter 'put down'. He suggested that feeble minded children were what happened when you bred with someone below your station. Considering the Kempf family made it's money from organised crime, Peter now wondered how people who had come by money as honestly as people ever did were considered below them. He hadn't known that at the time, however, and he remembered feeling constantly inadequate. A feeling Klaus did nothing to remedy.
With his head full of thoughts, both pleasant and unpleasant, Peter put away the letters and he settled down to attempt to sleep. Oddly enough, being preoccupied by thoughts he actually wanted to ponder, sleep found him easily just as the sun began to touch the sky.
Lavannah was staying with them too, and Peter felt a little strange that he was reading letters that had been written by his mother while her spirit was in the house. He just had to be careful to look at them when she wasn't around. He didn't actually think Louise would mind. Louise didn't mind much these days, beyond someone hurting the people she loved. But Peter still didn't want to go into it with her. Not yet. He feared she would start describing some romantic evening she had had with Klaus and that would just put Peter off of romance for the rest of his life.
It was simple enough to wait until everyone else was either in bed or otherwise occupied. Peter had always been an insomniac, and it was harder to sleep now that he had his own mortality to worry about anyway. Even if he was exhausted, his mind had trouble shutting down. He still felt slightly dizzy and ill, but sitting propped up in his bed with the letters was better than racing around like a headless chicken, trying to arrange things for people. Though he had enjoyed watching Buffy with Stephie and Kat while high and giggly...
Peter pulled out the next letter in the sequence and he settled down to read.
Dear Ginny,
The most marvelous thing has happened! Klaus asked my father for permission to marry me! Daddy wasn't so sure, but Klaus promised again that he wouldn't make me move to Germany. I told Daddy flat out that I had no intention of moving either. Then Daddy asked about Klaus' plans for the future and Klaus said he wants to set up a private firm! He certainly has enough money! All he needs is the experience. Anyway, Klaus told Daddy I could work at his firm which means I won't even have to search for jobs, isn't that wonderful?! Klaus is finished this year, and he's going to see what he can do. We want to be married in the summer after we visit you in France!!! It's so EXCITING! I'm going to go live with Klaus in his house after we're married. Oh you should see the house, Ginny! It's absolutely breathtaking! It has a conservatory and these beautiful gardens. It's perfect for raising a family.
I have a secret to tell you, but you have to promise not to make fun! I want to have children right away! I know I shouldn't and that I should finish my University degree first. I think I will, because if I don't I'll just prove Daddy right. But now that I'm getting married I want all of that stuff right now!! I'm so impatient! Klaus says he finds it charming. That's a good thing!!
And now you really must tell me how you are getting on? How are you feeling? Is the morning sickness very bad? Please feel free to lie to me!!
Love forever, Lou
Peter quickly did the maths in his head and he realised that his mother had not had children right away. He knew she had worked at his father's firm for a little while, though what she did there, he had no idea. He had never thought to ask and it had been when he was very young. By the time he was older, she was staying at home and managing the household, looking like she would rather be anywhere else... Peter fished another letter out of the box and he unfolded it carefully.
Ginny,
The most DREADFUL thing has happened, Ginny. Klaus' family have said he can't marry me!! They even came here to stop him! His father is the most horrid man! I can't even possibly describe the terror he instills. His name is Florian and he says that Klaus can't marry me because I am beneath them.
I have never been so insulted in my life, Ginny! I'm a Whitney! My family goes back generations and we have money! Perhaps not as much as the Kempfs, but we are certainly not paupers! Florian met with Daddy and they ended up having a SCREAMING match! I was so mortified!! Florian insists that Klaus return home with him but Klaus is fighting him with everything he has. He really does love me, Ginny. He's fighting so hard, and I can tell that it hurts him deeply that his father doesn't approve of the choices he has made. They make him happy, what else could Florian want?
All of this makes me so grateful I have Daddy. When Mother died, I was heartbroken that I was left with a parent who was so prone to disapproval. Even the woman Daddy married was no better, as you well know. But Daddy is nothing like Florian. He says he knows what's best for me, but he doesn't yell and scream when I disagree and I know he loves me anyway. I don't think Florian Kempf would know a thing about love if it slapped him in the face. And I rather hope it DOES!
Klaus' younger brother is here too. His name is Wolfgang and I don't like the way he looks at me. He's still a teenager, but it's like he thinks he's above me too. I have never been made to feel like trash before, Ginny. I'm so embarrassed. Klaus says he'll work it out, but I don't know how much I should allow myself to hope. It all seems so utterly hopeless.
Please, my oldest friend, tell me something good.
Lou
Peter folded up the letter, a feeling of disgust in his belly. That sounded like his family, alright. And his mother's descriptions of Florian sounded eerily similar to Klaus himself. Clearly the man had learned nothing from his experience with his disapproving father. Peter remembered Grandfather Whitney as a kind and cheerful man. He hadn't seen him as a disapproving man at all, but then he again he wasn't the man's daughter, choosing to pursue what was then considered an un-ladylike path. Grandfather Whitney had always been fun and he had sent fantastic presents for birthdays until his death when Peter was nine. Florian Kempf had terrified Peter to his very soul the one time he had seen him. Peter had been too afraid to speak a word to the man, and Florian had labelled him as 'feeble minded' and he told Klaus he should have had Peter 'put down'. He suggested that feeble minded children were what happened when you bred with someone below your station. Considering the Kempf family made it's money from organised crime, Peter now wondered how people who had come by money as honestly as people ever did were considered below them. He hadn't known that at the time, however, and he remembered feeling constantly inadequate. A feeling Klaus did nothing to remedy.
With his head full of thoughts, both pleasant and unpleasant, Peter put away the letters and he settled down to attempt to sleep. Oddly enough, being preoccupied by thoughts he actually wanted to ponder, sleep found him easily just as the sun began to touch the sky.
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