How Did it Begin?

(This is one of those fiction starts I was talking about. I think I might write about this family, so I am trying to get a feel for who they are. The best way for me to do that is to write an ordinary day scene with them. As you see nobody has a name just yet, nobody has a real distinct anything just yet. It's a frame work, the house might come later. Or not. But this month you get all of the workings. False starts and full stops included.)


"She locked eyes with him, and he with her. Time slowed down. The world faded away. It was just the two of them, slowly making their way towards each other across the crowded room..."

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"That's what you think is going to happen?"

"Yes. That's how it happens. How do you think it's going to happen?"

"Hmm...."

"She was walking down the street distracted by thoughts of a busy afternoon in high powered meetings making important decisions. The sort of decisions that would make or break her company. She had just looked down at her phone to answer a text and promptly tripped over the open guitar case of..."

"A meet cute? Really? You think it will be a meet cute?"

"Of course. Every love story starts with a meet cute."

"No, every love story starts with a big moment."

"MOM!"

Their mother walked in to the room. "What earth shattering emergency are we facing today?"

Being the mother of girls who were only 13 months apart there were often big emergencies. Normally they involved the unauthorized borrowing of clothing or makeup. 

"How did you and Dad meet?"

"This is your emergency?"

"Yes, we need to know."

"Hmm." she paused for quite a while. "I don't remember how we met."

"WHAT?" both girls shouted at the same time.

"Yeah, I don't remember how we actually met. It was a long time ago. It was either in a class, we did have some together, or through a mutual friend. Or something. We just met at some point."

"How can you not remember how you met the love of your life? Your big romance? Your soul mate?"

She smiled, "Because how we met wasn't important."

"Of course it's important! It's the beginning of your love story."

"Not really. The beginning of our love story was later. We had known each other for a long time before we ever realized we were in love. We didn't fall in love so much as we walked in cautiously."

Both girls did the synchronized and really should be patent pending eye roll. One to the left and one to the right. It never failed to make her laugh. 

"Seriously, Mother, you are the worst."

"Yes, I know. I'm a huge disappointment to you both. You could always ask your father if he remembers how we met. Maybe he will be a bigger help."

She had barely finished before her eldest yelled, "DAD!"

He came in the room, "Where's the spider? Who needs a ride? Didn't I just give you money?"

"That's not all we call you for, Daddy..."

"Oh, it's a Daddy emergency, this will be a big one."

"How did you and Mom meet?"

"We met on the way to our first day of school and then had classes together. She was an insufferable know it all. But I needed her help to pass my OWLS so I put up with it...OH wait, no, that's how Ron met Hermione."

"Daaaad." the sister chorus wasn't amused.

"I don't really remember. If I had to guess I would say we met in a class? Maybe a party. Did we know each other freshman year or was it in our sophomore year?"

"I think I remember you at the Sigma Chi Spring Fling, and that was freshman year. My schedule sophomore year was too packed for parties."

"Oh yeah, the one with the...ummm...Tulip Tequilas? Something weird like that, right?"

"Daisy Shooters. But close."

"You remember the theme drink at a party your freshman year in college but you can't remember how you met your husband, really?"

"Well those Daisy Shooters were impressive. I mean, I didn't drink any of them because I wasn't twenty one and that would have been wrong, but the glasses were really cute."

The girls rolled their eyes again.

"Wait, are you saying I wasn't impressive?" He did fake outrage well.

"Was I?"

"Fair point."

"You two are the worst. No meet cute, no big moment. Just drinks at a party that maybe might have been the first time you met but you don't really know."

"I know, right? We are the worst. We cannot remember how we met, 25 years ago. Maybe it's because our brains are full of things like soccer schedules, band practices, birthday parties, parent teacher meetings, favorite colors, foods that will not be touched..." Their mother ticked off each item on her fingers.

"Fine! We get it. You're busy. But still...you need a good story for how it all started."

"Beginnings are overrated, my dears. You will have a lot of beginnings in your lives with a lot of people. Some of them will be meet cutes," his youngest daughter smirked, "and some will be big moments," now it was his oldest's turn, "but the beginnings aren't important. And the endings really aren't that great. But you will still have a lot of those as well. The important part is the middles. Your mother and I are living a great middle right now. And we had our big moment and meet cute when you two were born. And I'll let you decide which was which." And with that their father held out his hand, "Shall we, my dear?"

Their mother placed her hand in his, "We shall." and they skipped out of the room.

The girls rolled their eyes again. But this time they smiled. "They just skipped. What the heck is that?"

"Right? They are crazy."

"Yeah. You know I was the meet cute right?"

"That's fine. I'd rather be a big moment anyway."

And with that a new round of emergency arguing was underway.  Their parents listened at the door for a moment and then wandered off back to what they had been doing. Living their middle. Beginnings are overrated.