Reception

[fiery_ring]

The reception takes place in the Big Top, which is more than large enough to accommodate the crowd. Outside, a large hog roast is taking place, with food and drinks aplenty.

It's a good time for Carlotta to catch up with her friends from school, most of whom she hasn't seen since the start of the war. A few of them have married in that time and brought husbands, some are in work or still at university. A petite, pretty woman, Alison, has brought a daughter of about two; finally a distraction from an incessant need to worry what her hair looks like. A tall, strapping woman, Mirabel, is sporting a burn scar on her face; rumour has it, she has been serving in combat.

The circus folk mingle among the guests, bringing food and occasionally breaking out into acrobatics. At the front of the tent, Fred the Bouncer sits with Wolf, his large guard dog.

Comments

[fiery_ring]

Will frowns, mostly to cover the alarm. He passes his beer to the other hand and puts his right hand in his pocket, in order to hide the tremor he's had trouble with since coming home from the war.

"What did she say?"

[52_dropoff]

He thinks about how much to say. Tact is not his strong suit.

"She said there was some difficulty with you time management. And your efforts of parenting."

See, he can do tact. Right?

[fiery_ring]

This time, the frown is to cover the look of humiliation.

"You must have misunderstood. My parenting skills are more than appropriate for a father of my time period, where women do the majority of childcare. The problem is that she insists on continuing to do the full running of the circus rather than handing most of it over to me.

The doctor said Molly is at stranger anxiety age. I've been fighting in the armed forces most of her life, so she isn't used to me yet."

[52_dropoff]

OK. So things aren't so rosy. And Carlotta HAS been talking about the future.

Marriage counseling is outside his skill set. He is going to be really careful what he says.

"So you're still trying to find a level of compromise and accommodation. That's good. For all three of you.

"And I am sure Molly will get used to you."

[fiery_ring]

"Of course." Will nods, and relaxes very slightly.

He still doesn't like that Carlotta has been talking about marital problems.

"Are you married? Kids?"

[52_dropoff]

"No to both. I like kids, but I don't do well with them. And no woman would have me as a husband, anyway." He gives a small smile.

[fiery_ring]

Will smiles back slightly.

"You never know. I knew I loved Carlotta even when we were still at school, but I didn't think we'd be married quite so quickly. She wanted to go on tour for at least a year."

[52_dropoff]

"Wars have a way of changing priorities, that's for sure." Even if the wars he lived through usually involved aliens. "But you're right. I suppose I could marry someday." New chance at life, new dating opportunities?

[fiery_ring]

"Well you can just look at all Carlotta's friends to see a lot of people our age married before the war." Will says, nodding towards the group of girls. "Not all of them brought the kids though."

[52_dropoff]

"That is a big group." He can't imagine women in his own date rushing to marry before a draft. Heck, half of them would follow in Carlotta's footsteps.

[fiery_ring]

"Plus, people tend to marry quite young in my world." Will adds. "My sister Libby got married to an American man."

[52_dropoff]

"What's Carlotta told you about me?" Maybe it's a good idea to ask before talking further.

[fiery_ring]

"You're from the bar, and you're the reason I have to stand at the edge of the camp to smoke?"

[52_dropoff]

"Er, yes." He takes a certain pride in that. But this isn't the time to gloat. "So you understand that how you see things isn't how I see them. Just wanted to be sure about that."

[fiery_ring]

"Well so long as you remember that the future isn't here yet, and some things are the way they are, we should get on fine." Will says.

"Carlotta's got a lot of modern ideas that are causing her a lot of pain. Especially with gender roles. I can't fix them, even if I back her ideas."

[52_dropoff]

This is getting more complicated. Anything Charlie says is only going to make things worse for Carlotta.

"You and she will have to work it out for yourselves."

[fiery_ring]

"I don't mean between the two of us." Will says. "She's been wearing... trousers and a tall hat in public. It's not that I mind, but some of the public have been very harsh. She's being watched and judged. The other day, the greengrocer in a village wouldn't serve her."

[52_dropoff]

Apparently some modern ideas are too modern. But are they too modern for Will as well? Charlie doesn't know.

"And you think such criticism will stop your wife? She's headstrong, as you well know."

[fiery_ring]

"No, but I worry that she expects too much to happen too fast. From what she's told me, women won't get the same rights for decades." Will says.

"I guess what I also meant was, please don't judge me. I'm not trying to hold her back, just things are different here."

[52_dropoff]

That sounds fair. Or self-serving.

"Don't worry. If Carlotta married you, that says something for you."