labor day

August 2087. Madison Riley is 64, Bryson is 65, Keri is 26, Willow is 6, Lily is 5. 

previously: the adoption // which Madison does not support // Keri goes alone // Madison's new house

 

Madison was disappointed in her retirement. She hated the way her body had changed. She hated having all this time and no hobbies to fill it with. She hated that her daughter was gone constantly, and would soon be gone for years. She hated that her husband was still working, because it reminded her that she was not. She hated that her only granddaughter had a new "mother" now. There was a lot to be disappointed in. 

Keri was stationed out in Washington now, deep in the snowy mountain forests on some military base. No cell signal, but she returned Madison's calls a couple times a week. She made a trip back home whenever she could, while she still could. But Madison might as well get used to her being gone. The big mission across the cosmos was always looming out there on the horizon, two or three years away. Like a mother given her child’s terminal diagnosis. 

No, it wasn't that dramatic. Keri would be home alive again some day. Probably—an adventure like that was far from risk-free. She could only hope that she and Bryson were still alive to meet her when she came back. Five years was a long time at their age. 

Madison just received the sad news that Micah Phoenix was dying—they went to high school and college together, they were in each other’s weddings. It was apparently that season of their lives now that their close friends would start to die off. Meanwhile, Madison's doctor told her that she was healthy as a horse—You have the heart and joints of a 25-year-old, you’ll outlive them all. 

Sometimes that felt like a curse. So much time. What would she even do with it all? 

 

Because Madison was bored. So bored. Their house was coming together now. Real estate is what Bryson did, the great legacy of his life. So he got his men to work on something for her. It took them six months of dedicated work, but the results were exquisite. Maybe not Lakeside Heights, but nearby, back up north again, this time at the colder end of Lake Michigan. Oddly enough, she ended up quite nearby her estranged and only granddaughter and Keri’s frivolous ex and that horrible trollop he shacked up with. 

"You should go visit," Bryson said. "I visit all the time." 

"No," she said. "But Lily is welcome here any time she likes."

But Madison was jealous of Bryson’s work. He was still working as much as ever, even starting whole new divisions. She considered involving herself in his company, but they’ve always felt their best with their own separate projects. She wasn't sure they would even work well together. 

What else could she do? She wanted to do something more thoughtful than just a silly hobby. She didn’t want to take up knitting or gardening or baking. How cliché. 

However, she did get a hamster. She wasn't sure she had the patience for a cat or a dog. So for now, it was just her and Hammy all week long while Bryson was at work. It wouldn't be enough, she knew, but it was a start. 

Some things she considered for this next phase of her life: writing a book, or maybe some articles for a newspaper. Painting. Wine-making. Starting a charity, a foundation, or a scholarship. She should probably practice some yoga or meditation, but she also doubted she had the temperament for it. She liked the idea of learning to kayak—she had somehow never learned how, even with all this water around. Travel, maybe. Why doesn’t she travel? She never had the time for it while she was working, but now she has time and they have plenty of money. She would have to convince Bryson to take some time off and take her somewhere.

First, though, it was Labor Day weekend, and Keri had some time off. She thought she'd steal the girls away for a visit, since she knew her mother lamented not being able to see more of Lily. 

Though Keri was only obligated to make visitation with Lily, it might be easier, Keri thought, if Lily brought her sister along. It might help Lily warm up to the unfamiliar surroundings and prickly grandma Madison, whom she hardly knew at all. Keri was auntie to both girls now, even if not legally, and it was difficult to explain why one could go and not the other.  

Everyone worried about how Madison would react to Willow in the house. But how much offense could one take to a spritely and fun child like Willow? 

Madison sulked at the idea from the start of the weekend, and Keri wondered whether they'd made a huge mistake.

It was cool in Wisconsin for Labor Day, but they still spent the day on the shore, fishing, terrorizing the seagulls, and digging in the sand.

Keri took Willow on a little adventure of their own, because she knew Madison wanted to spend some time with just Lily. That wasn't too hard to accomplish. Keri just suggested the idea of fishing, and naturally squeamish Lily wanted no part of it. Willow was easy-going and adventurous, favoring running through the forests, scuffing her knees, and coming home covered in mud and lake water. Keri related to her adventurous spirit. 

Bryson grilled up lunch, and they had a nice picnic on the beach. 

Madison watched the way Keri and Bryson treated Willow as just another one of their own. Perhaps she could pretend that too, if she forgot Stephanie ever existed. She would pretend that Willow was just another child that Keri had accumulated along the way. Which wasn't altogether untrue. 

The girls had a bedroom at the Riley family's new estate that was practically the size of their entire house back at home. They had space for all kinds of new toys they'd never been able to play with before. And if nothing else, Madison hoped that might lure them to come visit more often. Even when Keri was unavailable, she wouldn't mind if Justin brought them over. 

Willow put on a puppet show about what starting kindergarten was like. Lily was excited and nervous to start kindergarten herself next week.

But then the weekend came to a quick end, and Justin arrived to take the girls back home. Madison was still no fan of Justin's, so she kept quietly to herself as he collected the children, leaving this big house empty once again.  

Bryson wasn't concerned—he went to visit the girls all the time. He even brought gifts for little Benji, like he was just another of Bryson's grandchildren, though he was not related by blood in any way. If Madison couldn't do the same, she didn't know when she'd see her granddaughter again next. She couldn't be too demanding. The girls had two other sets of grandparents to be shared with, both of whom had a stronger history with them.

She would consider a change of heart. She would think about it. Because if she could transform her feelings for Willow, perhaps she could bottle up her angst at Stephanie and Justin, too. But that would be the most difficult retirement project she could hope to achieve—forgiveness. Perhaps, if she did indeed live many more years, she might finally get there. 

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