the twenty-first century ellinghams

chapter one: sapphire earrings

     "so, thank you," stevie says to herself in the mirror, as she adjusts her earrings, "for your generous donations. with your help, we at ellingham academy can continue to nurture the minds of the nation's best and brightest. just like our founder, albert ellingham, dreamed of so many years ago. so please, enjoy yourselves tonight, and i, along with everyone else at ellingham academy, wish you all a very happy holidays." stevie steps back to see herself in full view. her hair, that was now at almost shoulder length instead of a pixie cut, had been straightened and slicked behind her ears. the navy blue cocktail dress she was wearing complimented well with her sparkling silver heels. though the outfit may not be her first choice, she's pleased with the way it appears. the earrings, dangly ones with tiny sapphires on the ends, she was still not so sure about. suddenly, a figure in a tux appears behind her in the reflection.
"absolutely riveting," says the person. stevie turns. david.
"hey!" she greets. "are they ready for me? how is it down there?" david steps closer to her.
"they're ready for you when you are. and it's absolutely perfect. the orchestra sounds amazing, the champagne is pouring, my mom and the kids are great at home. it's the makings for a very splendid evening. how are you feeling?"
stevie sighs, "nervous. very nervous, actually. why am i giving this speech again? i'm just a teacher, shouldn't you be giving the speech?" "they hear me talk all the time, the board members thought it'd be better to hear from someone who works with the students. and, you're better at this kind of stuff than i am," david says.
"am i actually better at this, or did you just convince me to do it after none of the other teachers wanted to?" stevie asks.
"maybe a bit of both," david admits.
"god," stevie says, "these donors are so intimidating. i'm not even that much younger than them, and they still look at me like i'm a student."
"they won't tonight," david says looking her up and down, grinning, "not in this dress at least." stevie playfully slaps his cheek, and he gasps dramatically, placing a hand on it. "you hurt me! i should call 911, i think it's already swelling!" he says.
"oh hush," she says, removing his hand from his face and kissing where she had hit him, "better?"
"much," he says smiling. she turns back around to look at them in the mirror.
     "oh shit, my lipstick stained your cheek," she says. she licks her thumb and rubs it against his cheek to remove the stain. satisfied, she turns her back to him and takes one last look in the mirror. "i'm not sure about the earrings," she says. "they're gorgeous, of course, and i know they were a favorite of iris, but i just think they might be too much." david hmmms. he takes another step closer, resting his chin on her shoulder, and wrapping his arms around her.
"well, i think they're lovely." he takes her left hand with his and uses his right index finger to point. "though, i must admit this piece of jewelry is my favorite of yours," he says, indicating to the silver wedding ring on her ring finger.
"mine too," she says, smiling at their reflection, and he smiles back.
"ready?" he asks after a moment.
     "as i'll ever be." he offers his right arm, and she hooks her left arm through it. they make their way to the ballroom.

     the last fifteen years of stevie's life had been the most amazing and chaotic of her life. fresh out of college, she joined the fbi as a profiler. the hours were long, and the job was hard. but, the work she did satisfied her greatly, and she was good at it too. david and she lived in a small apartment near quantico. they had decided to break up stevie's junior year of college when the long distance got too hard. stevie claimed that she was over him, but when he showed up at her door a year into her job, she let him in. what began as "come in for a drink, let's talk." turned into "wanna grab dinner on thursday?" and the rest was history. david got a job working for ellingham meeting potential donors and students around the country. it was sturdy and he loved it, but he didn't think he would advance in the career. so when five years ago he went in for a meeting with dr. quinn and the other board members and left with a very interesting offer, he was quite surprised. dr. quinn had begrudgingly admitted how fond she had always been of david, how she was ready to retire, and her job as the head of the school was his if he wanted it. david had told stevie all of this assuming she would ask him to turn it down, saying she wanted to continue working at quantico and it would be impossible to do that from vermont. but, stevie did not say that. she had been growing tired of the constant work, and she had a secret. there was going to be another member of the eastman-bell family soon. so, stevie turned in her badge with the promise they always had her number, and took a job as ellingham's forensics and chemistry teacher. they moved into a small, but family ready home in burlington and got to work. later that year, their first child had been born. a baby girl named diana element eastman-bell. becky, who had now been sober for a few years, was happy and willing to visit often to babysit. same with stevie's now retired parents. two years after that, their second child, a boy named henry lawrence eastman-bell was born. each day was a beautiful mess of chaos, and stevie could never wish for more.