limerence ☂ a sequel ☂ mary poppins returns

l a g o m

"Mama, can you hear what Gwen's saying?"

Mary looked up from her reading with Vivian, turned to her and smiled as she let Oscar onto her lap.

"Of course I can. She's got some wonderful things to say."

Vivian smiled at the two of them and put the book aside as she dog-eared the page.

On the side lay her newspaper, the date marked April 14th, 1950. Time had gone by, she thought.

Mary glanced at her and saw how she had the very familiar distant look in her eye, which meant she shouldn't be disturbed. Vivian twitched a little and Oscar giggled.

Vivian frowned mockingly.

"What's so funny?" She pouted.

Oscar giggled again and Vivian began to tickle him. Mary laughed and joined in.

He begged them to stop and they did.

As he scurried off to play somewhere else with the cat, Vivian leaned over to Mary and whispered a joke in her ear, to which she laughed loudly at. Despite how proper she was, she could always find some sort of nonsense to make her laugh, no matter the situation.

With no particular reason in mind, Mary kissed her, long and fondly, until they heard Oscar nearby and pulled away. He ran back to them and nearly knocked the table over, but Mary stopped it. As she looked down, she realised he had removed his shoes, which she wasn't very pleased about.

Oscar closed his eyes and hummed a little.

Vivian's ears perked a little when she realised what it was he was humming- the very song Mary had first sung to the night Vivian had came by her room. Perhaps she'd put on the record and he'd overheard, but she had no idea.

"What are you listening to, angel?"

He opened one eye and smiled. Sometimes, he reminded Mary of Vivian with his antics and mannerisms. "I'm listening to the trees."

Vivian turned to Mary with an inexplicably joyful smile on her lips that made her laugh.

"What do they say, then?" She asked.

"They say that I'm a nice boy."

Mary chuckled.

"Indeed you are," She said with another smile, then touched his arm as she got up. "But this nice boy-" She hoisted him up onto her hip with a spin that made him giggle, "Needs to go have some sandwiches for lunch."

"Yay!"

And off the pair of them went, down the stairs and out of sight.

Vivian watched them go for a second, then turned towards the city of London. It was beautiful, she thought, but she slowly realised the feeling of comfort came not from the beauty of London but the beauty of these very moments. She'd become so set in her ways of being, doing, seeing, moving. Oscar was already such a big part of her life she felt as if she didn't know a time without him. But it did not mean her bad memories had vanished all of a sudden. She heard footsteps and saw Mary sit by her side.

She dusted off her hands and gave Vivian a nice smile.

"Are you alright, love?" She asked.

And, for one, Vivian knew she was.

"Yes, I think I am."

Mary smiled.

It had taken quite some time for her to truly be that way.

You are likely wondering what has happened in the past five years, which, granted, is understandable. But, more particularly, you are likely wondering what happened at Vivian and Mary's wedding.