The Cornelius Saga Boxed Set

by Tanya R. Taylor

  "Dad?" Mira interjected.

  Sara simmered down. She nodded and glanced at her most treasured photo of Michael sitting on her nightstand. "Yeah. Strong-willed indeed."

  Mira felt compelled in that moment to give her mother a hug. "I can tell that you still really miss him. It shows sometimes."

  "I do. I miss him terribly." Sara admitted. "He was my…"

  "I know, but it's been nearly four years now, Mom. You haven't done anything fun since the day Dad died. You just go to work, come home, and sit around watching TV all the time. It's so not you — not the woman I've known all my life. Whatever you do outside of work or shopping, you do it for Rosie, but nothing ever for yourself."

  "What do you want me to do, honey? Go to discos like you young folks. But you don't even go!" She laughed.

  "Come with us to parties when we're invited," Mira suggested. "Let's go out and watch a movie on weekends. You and your co-worker Beverley go on dinner dates and other nice outings. She's always inviting you and you're constantly turning her down."

  "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to be at home with my family. Only God knows how much time we have left with one another," Sara replied solemnly.

  "Mom, you can't keep dying at the forefront of your mind; you have to keep living. Dad would want that for you. I know he hates to see you like this, having given up on life now that he's gone."

  A brief silence ensued.

  "Wait a minute!" Sara exclaimed. "How did this conversation ever shift to be about me? We were talking about how you should stop fooling around playing with Bobby's heart and give the guy a chance."

  "Mom!" Rosie yelled from the living room.

  "I'm coming, honey!" Mira readily answered wanting to dodge the topic of Bobby again.

  She arched an eyebrow at Sara. "Mom, you are something else. I'm not finished with you. I'm going to get you away from this house and out with Beverley somewhere having a ball if it's the last thing I do."

  Mira immediately saw her mother's face fall.

  "I mean…" She shook her head quickly. "You know what I mean!" She leaned in and kissed Sara on the cheek. "We'll see you when we get back."

  "Okay, sweetheart. Take your time." Sara followed Mira and Rosie to the door. "Don't hurry back!" She could not resist the urge as they headed for the car.

  3

  _________________

  Bobby's house was nestled between two split-level houses in a quaint neighborhood a few miles from where the Cullens lived.

  Mira and Rosie stood outside of the car looking up at the narrow, two-story edifice with double-hung windows and wood paneling attached to the outside walls. The house was old, yet the beauty within its age seeped through its structure.

  "It's beautiful!" Rosie uttered quietly.

  Mira glanced her way, then gazed up at the house again. "Yes, it is."

  "You two have finally arrived!" Bobby started down the walkway to meet them. I didn't hear when you pulled up. Just happened to look out the window." He wore a huge smile.

  "Hey, Rosie!" He gave her a high five.

  "I love your house! It's so beautiful," Rosie remarked.

  Bobby thanked her. His attention then turned to Mira who was now staring at the house to Bobby's right. "Hi." He sought to intrude upon her thoughts.

  "Hi." Mira shifted her focus. "Your house is…it's…"

  "You don't like it?"

  "It's absolutely gorgeous. You have exquisite taste," she said.

  "Exquisite?" Bobby grimaced. "It's an old house with dirty, old shingles, panels, windows, everything. It's far from exquisite."

  "You're seeing how it is now," Mira replied. "I'm seeing how it used to be all those years ago."

  Bobby was perplexed, but gathered that she was imagining how much better the place must have looked when it was first built.

  Rosie looked at her mother with a sense of affirmation. They were sharing the same thoughts as Rosie saw an image of a woman wearing an elegant, white gown and a classy, pink hat entering the front door.

  "Well, come on in!" Bobby said, excitedly. "I want to show you room by room."

  They followed him and Mira's eyes veered over to the house next door again. It was of similar size as Bobby's, but not as striking in its architecture.

  Bobby allowed the girls to enter first.

  "Wow!" Rosie exclaimed as they stepped into the hallway that led to a rather large living room. The furniture was dated, but the chandelier dangling overhead appeared quite modern.

  "You brought this with you, huh?" Mira noticed the chandelier.

  "Actually, it came with the house," Bobby grinned. "I guess the owners wanted to make an even better impression for the sale."

  "Guess so."

  Mira said very little as they strolled through the house. Rosie found a compliment for each room. They settled upstairs in Bobby's bedroom which had boxes lined neatly against two walls.

  "When are you unpacking this stuff?" Mira asked him. "You have dozens more boxes downstairs."

  Bobby shoved his hands into his pockets. "I guess I could use a little help. Didn't seem like I needed to rush since you said you would come over and help me a week ago."

  "Yeah. I'm sorry about that, Bobby. I've been so busy lately - work and all."

  "I understand." He nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're here now."

  "This place is really nice," Mira remarked. "A far cry from the one bedroom apartment; that's for sure. You've done good."

  The smile plastering Bobby's face could not be broader and his sense of accomplishment at that time could not be greater. After all, Mira's opinion meant the world to him.

  "Okay, well, I'm here now," Mira said. "Let's start opening these boxes and putting things in its proper place."

  "Great! Should we start in here or downstairs?" Bobby asked.

  "Here! We're already here. Why start downstairs first?" Mira responded abruptly.

  Rosie had sauntered over to the back window. Several feet over into the neighbor's yard, she saw a little girl with shoulder-length, dark brown hair swinging on an old, tattered swing. Rosie looked back at her mother.

  "Mom, can I go outside for a while?"

  Mira glanced at Bobby as if expecting the okay.

  "She'll be fine," he quickly indicated. "Nothing ever happens around here. Did my research. That was the icing on the cake when I saw the listing for this house, but we'll keep an eye on her anyway."

  "Okay. You can go," Mira told Rosie. "I don't want you anywhere near the road."

  "Don't worry, Mom. I'll be in the back yard. Besides, there's more space to play in the back than in the front."

  Rosie left the door and sprinted downstairs. Mira heard the door slam behind her.

  "She went through the front to get to the back." Bobby laughed.

  "Kids!" Mira shook her head.

  Bobby's back yard was adjoined to his neighbors', in that there was no fence or gate that served as a divider. The ground was littered with colorful leaves of varied shapes and sizes that had fallen hopelessly from a number of shrubs and trees that spotted the landscape.

  Rosie crossed the invisible boundary line and walked over to the girl on the swing.

  "Hi, my name is Rosie. What's yours?"

  The girl's skin was very pale and she wore a white dress with gold-plated frills encircling it in four even sections from the waist down, and three round, red decorative spots on the upper part of the gown.

  "Hi," the girl answered after what seemed to Rosie like a full minute of hesitance. She didn't offer her name.

  "Do you mind if I join you?"

  The girl shook her head slowly.

  Rosie sat on the swing next to her and pushed off slowly.

  Mira, from the top floor of the house looked out at Rosie, then turned away again.

  "I really hope your neighbors won't mind her playing on their swings," she said to Bobby.

  "I'm sure they won't," he replied. "The Straptopuluses seem like very nice people,"<
br />
  Rosie released a sigh. "Do you live here?" she asked the little girl, who in turn, affirmed with a nod.

  Rosie scanned the yard and the house in front of them; its rusty back door facing the swings. "I'm here with my mom. We're visiting our friend, Bobby. Is your mom at home?"

  The girl shook her head.

  "What's your name?" Rosie was swinging very slowly as was the stranger.

  The little girl's swinging came to an abrupt halt and with a subtle glimpse Rosie's way, she said: "Cara".

  Rosie smiled. "Nice to meet you, Cara. What school do you go to?"

  Without the effort of a response, Cara resumed her swinging.

  "That's okay. You don't have to tell me now. We can always talk about that later."

  Rosie went on to tell Cara about her day and her new school, and all the things that made the experience a horrible one. Then she went on to share with her how encouraging her mother, Mira, was and how she wasn't going to let the kids get to her. She dominated the conversation as Cara did not have much of anything to say, but that was okay with Rosie — at least her new friend did not seem to mind listening.

  An hour and a half had passed since they arrived at Bobby's place. At the back door, Mira cried: "Rosie! It's time to go!"

  By then, the girls had long stopped swinging and were sitting on an old see-saw in a sand pit.

  "Do we really have to go right now?" Rosie asked.

  "Yes, we do!" Mira exclaimed. "Now, let's get a move on, little girl!"

  Cara was watching the exchange between mother and daughter.

  Rosie sighed. "I have to go. I'll come back again soon and we'll play some more, okay?"

  "Okay," Cara replied softly.

  "Aww. Don't look so sad." Bobby placed his hand on Rosie's shoulder. You and your mom can come back anytime. You know that." They were standing in the living room near the front door.

  "Can we come again tomorrow?" Rosie asked her mom eagerly.

  "So soon?" Mira glanced at Bobby, then re-focused her attention on her daughter.

  "Well, we haven’t finished what we started yet," Bobby indicated. "I still have a number of boxes to unpack. How about it? I could really use a woman's touch around here to make the place feel more homely."

  "So, can we, Mom?" Rosie pleaded with hands clenched together tightly as if in prayer.

  "We can come the day after. I have to run some errands tomorrow afternoon," Mira said. "We'll come back on Wednesday if that's okay with you Bobby?"

  "Sounds perfect to me," he replied.

  * * *

  After the better part of an hour, Sara finally slipped away from her granddaughter's bed after the child had fallen asleep. Sara quietly shut the door behind her and walked out into the passageway. Moments later, she peeped into Mira's room.

  "You finally escaped!" Mira smiled, resting the book she was reading face-down on her chest.

  Sara went in and sat down at the foot of the bed. "That child is long-winded. She certainly didn't get that from her grandfather."

  Mira giggled.

  "So she went on and on about this friend she met down at Bobby's."

  "Cara," Mira said.

  "Yes. Everything was Cara this and Cara that and how they had so much fun together."

  "Rosie has a magnetic personality. You never know from day to day who she's going to latch onto or vice-versa."

  "Well I'm just glad that after having a not-so-great day at school today, she's found someone she's happy to be around. You know, that teasing and bullying should be taken very seriously, dear. It's terrible. If Rosie is being taunted by kids at school, you're going to need to step in and speak with the principal."

  "You're right," Mira replied, "but Rosie doesn't want me to right now. She's new there and thinks it's too early to start complaining about anything. I kind of understand that, but will stay on top of things. If the teasing persists, I will speak with her teacher about it."

  "Okay. Good." Sara shifted a little. "By the way, with this new friend of Rosie's in the picture, I guess this means you'll be spending a lot more time with Bobby… at his place." She lowered her head for a moment, hiding her smile and sensing what was coming next.

  "Um… Mom, I think I just need to get some sleep now," Mira quickly replied, fixing the covers. "It's been a long day. Sandra's now on Maternity Leave and Doctor Barns will be needing me to fill in as much as possible."

  "Okay." Sara slowly rose to her feet, aware of Mira's avoidance of the subject. "Would you need me to drop Rosie off to school or do pick up tomorrow?"

  "No. That's okay. I can manage," Mira returned.

  "Are you sure? I can go in to work a little later tomorrow and if need be get off a bit earlier."

  "Really, Mom. It's okay. I've got this." Mira did not want to inconvenience her mother.

  "Okay. Well, when I finally retire, I'll be dropping my granddaughter off to school and picking her up every day."

  "Finally is the key word." Mira said. "You could have retired already — at least two years ago."

  "And do what? Sit around here looking at the four walls?" Sara retorted.

  "No. Going out and enjoying life. That's what retirement's for."

  "Anyway. They still need me at work and as long as I'm needed and my work isn't very stressful, I'll stay on, at least a while longer," Sara replied. "By the way, it's really nice of Doctor Barns to have given you that internship by recommendation of your former boss. In a few short months, you'll be practicing medicine on your own Doctor Mira Cullen."

  "Yes, Mom. It was very nice of him." Mira smiled.

  "Your father would be so proud of you." Sara shook her head sadly. "If only he could see you now."

  "Who says he can't?" Mira posed.

  Sara broke a smile. "Yes, I know. Rosie still talks about him as if he's here — as if he was never put into the grave."

  Mira was quiet.

  "Well, anyway, have a good night, sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning." Sara walked out of the room.

  Mira's heart was full, knowing that her mother would now return to the empty bed where the scent of her father had never left.

  "Good night, Mom." She rested her book on the nightstand and switched off the lamp.

  4

  _________________

  Rosie told her mother goodbye as she exited the car.

  "Hey, you! Come back here," Mira exclaimed as the child started to walk off. She gestured for Rosie to come around to the driver's side door.

  The child reached in and hugged her mother as she received a great, big kiss on her cheek.

  "Have a nice day, okay?" Mira told her.

  "Thanks. I will."

  "Remember what I said."

  "I will!" Rosie repeated as she hurried off toward the school building.

  "Rosie shmosie with the funky tosies!" Went several voices in unison as she walked the long, wide hallway toward her classroom. Rosie did not look to the left nor right, but straight ahead.

  "Hey, spaghetti hair!" Paul's best friend, Harry Pettler shouted out boldly.

  Rosie felt her heart pounding. She needed to relax and remember what her mother had said.

  Don't let kids who have issues of their own infect you with negativity. The words were imprinted in Rosie's mind. Your Pops was a strong man; you got your strength from him.

  The small group of children trailed behind Rosie as she quickly proceeded and the teasing never let up. Rosie suddenly stopped and looked back at all of them who were chuckling, making cruel faces and calling her ill names.

  "What did I do to any one of you?"

  Suddenly, a collective hush befell them.

  "Is it because I'm new here? Is this how you treat everyone who comes to your school?"

  "No. Just you!" Paul barked.

  "That's right!" Nicole agreed. "Can't you see we don't like you, Rosie shmosie?"

  "You think you're so important." Felicia, the girl that introduced herself to Rosie the day before, advanced closer to the
front, along with her friends.

  "No, I don't," Rosie replied. "I didn't feel well yesterday and just wanted to be by myself."

  "Who cares? You think you're better than us, but we look better than you!" Felicia quipped.

  "I don't care what you say or what any of you say. I'm a good person and if you don't like me, I don't care! Just leave me alone." Rosie was now more angry than despondent. You're a strong girl. You're a Cullen. She recalled her mother's words.

  The crowd appeared to be taken aback a bit by Rosie's reaction. Most of the teasing had dwindled as they watched her turn around and proceed to the classroom.

  "Go on, funky tosies!" Paul could not resist. "I'll see you at lunch."

  Rosie entered the classroom with a look of despair scribbled all over her face.

  "Good morning, Rosie," Mrs. Hall said from the front of the room.

  "Good morning, Mrs. Hall," Rosie replied rather softly, walking to her desk.

  "Rosie, can you come here a minute please?"

  The little girl rested her backpack in the tray beneath her desk, then went to her teacher.

  "Are you okay?" Hall asked.

  "Yes, ma'am," Rosie answered as she watched her classmates trail into the room towards their designated seats.

  Nicole was glaring at her from behind those awful spectacles and Paul and Harry were smiling and making faces.

  "Look at me." Mrs. Hall turned Rosie's chin in her direction. "You seem a little sad. Are you sure there isn't anything you'd like to tell me?"

  Suddenly, in the doorway, Rosie spotted a familiar face. She immediately lit up. The young girl wearing the same clothing as she did the day before was looking at Rosie with a finger resting across her lips.

  "Rosie?" Mrs. Hall looked in the direction of Rosie's gaze.

  Rosie saw Cara shake her head slowly.