Don't Tell Mama (The Summer Brood & Guests)

[Guinevere]

Guinevere loved all of her children.

She even loved children that were not technically hers, such as Meredith, but she never saw it that way.

There was nothing that she would not do for each of them and in her life they would always come first. Before her Queendom, before any man she was in love and yes, even before tea. They were her greatest joy and yet at the same time her biggest headache. She was looking forward to seeing them all again. The respective castles of Camelot and the Summer Country had been so quiet in their absence and her heart had ached for them ever since they left for Tintagel.

As she walked around the large round table that she had Todd get in to his tea shop for her she checked the place cards and the decorations. Yes, Tristian would sit to her right, and then to his right would sit Jenny, then Gaston Jr, then Meredith, then two empty seats, then Genevieve, then Jesse, then Lorelei would be to her left. Yes, perfect. She sat down in her own seat and pulled out the letter. Her lips pursed as she read it again and her frown increased. She folded it up and put it back in her bag, mulling over the words once more and going over her strategy for the afternoon.

You see she loved her children, but that did not make her soft when it came to ensuring their wellbeing, and it certainly did not stop her from having a firm hand from time to time. She did not enjoy it, but sometimes it was necessary. She had considered meeting them one by one, but that could come later, first of all she would look to see how they were all getting on with each other as one, then she would make her decisions about who she would approach afterwards. There were already three names on her list that were going to receive an individual discussion.

And of course, there were her two special guests. She smiled. Yes, this should go nicely…or tragically…either way it was sure to be interesting.

She had dressed for the occasion, as she always did, relishing in the opportunity to wear modern dress again as she first of all attended her business meeting and then when she attended her children. Dressed formally in a light grey pant suit with a red shirt, she had positioned herself so that she was directly in view of the door. She sat, and she waited.

Mummy was here, and she was not best pleased.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Meredith was not a punctual person, her timekeeping was sketchy at best and she often procrastinated getting ready for things, especially when they involved getting dressed up.
But when Guinevere Summer sent out a summons, you answered and you answered promptly.
So Meredith had put on her best dress (the one that lived, crumpled, in the back of her wardrobe, only taken out for occasions such as this) and actually brushed her hair and shown up exactly on time. Her hair had already got a little wild in the journey over, and her attempt at ironing (read: she'd cast a spell to smooth out the wrinkles in her dress) had not been overly successful, but Gwen knew her well enough to know that this still constituted as making an effort, even if it would pale horribly in comparison to most of her actual children.

It would be nice to see Gwen, to enjoy a pleasant family afternoon (even though most of Gwen's children weren't technically her family) and to not think about Mordred for a bit, because there was no way any of them would bring all that up in front of their mother... right?

"Your majesty," she greeted with a smile as she arrived, showing off her best curtsy. It wasn't that good, but it was an improvement "How are you, Gwen?"

[Genevieve]

Genevieve had been incredibly excited to receive her letter. Even the sight of the Summer livery had excited her, whilst also making her a tad homesick, but seeing that her mother was coming to visit was the most wonderful news she could have received. Genevieve adored her mother, desperate to be like her in every way, and always seeking her approval. She missed her while she had been at Tintagel - while she loved everything about the school and the town, and the independence it gave her, she was still a mummy’s girl at heart.

On the day of the tea party, Genevieve took time and care over dressing; a long, flowing skirt, a smart shirt with perfectly accessorised jewellery, and just a touch of makeup to highlight her features, her hair shiny and straight down her back. She hoped her mother would approve.

As she was getting ready, Genevieve felt a twinge of worry as to what the afternoon may bring - so much had happened in the last few weeks, and she wasn’t entirely certain her mother wouldn’t have ways to find out these sorts of things. She had never been on the receiving end of her mother’s anger, but she had seen it, and it could be terrifying. Genevieve pushed these thoughts away, however, and she put the finishing touches to her outfit and headed out.

She arrived at the tea shop exactly on time, and was surprised and impressed to see Meredith already there - the Guinevere effect, she thought to herself with a smile. She stepped inside and beamed as she saw her mother, dropping into a respectful curtesy before rushing to hug her mother.

“Mama! I’m so pleased to see you!”

[Jenny]

Jenny really had better things to be doing than spending the afternoon at a tea party with her family, but when her mother summoned you even Jenny knew that refusal was not an option. And so here she was, dressed in a skirt that was far too short for the daughter of the Queen of Camelot and the Summer Country, in a tight fitting top that showed off far too many curves, with her make up and highlighting flawless and heels that very few people would have been able to walk in.

She stood outside the teashop, and checking her phone saw that she was a few minutes late. With a shrug she popped a piece of gum into her mouth and pushed open the door, heading for the largest table where she saw her mother, Genevieve and Meredith already gathered.

Jenny was, of course, entirely oblivious to absolutely everything that had gone on recently - not spending much time with her siblings she had completely missed all the drama and didn’t even know about Lorelei’s incident.

She wandered up to her mother, and without a curtsey smiled. “Hey Mum. How long is this going to take?”

[Gaston Jr]

Gaston Jr was not long after his sister and was out of breathe when he ran in the door.

He had planned to leave on time however he had been paralysed with fear in front of his mirror as the he believed the sixth outfit he had tried on that morning was just not going to cut it. Eventually had settled on the outfit that she had picked out for him the last time he had come back to Tintagel, jeans, white shirt and a navy blue suit jacket and white converse. It was simple, but smart. He hoped it was going to be ok.

He had got halfway down the street when he realised that in all the rush to get his clothes right he had forgotten about his hair. Standing in front of a shop window he had down his best to smooth it out a little, pleading with his reflection to just make that one hair stay in place. The woman in the bookstore had stared at him with an odd expression. He smiled, waved, saw the time on his watch and ran.

Coming in the door he spotted her immediately. And Meredith…and Jenny…and Genevieve…wait. Meredith had made it hear before him?! Oh boy.

He put on his most charming smile and walked over to his mother, “hello mum, you look lovely.”

He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before looking for his name card (because of course she would have a seating plan) and with delight found he was sitting beside Meredith. As he sat he leaned over and said, “quick…tell me…has that hair at the front started sticking out again…I can’t tell…”

[Jesse]

Jesse was late, but it wasn’t because he was picking out an outfit, he had already picked that out when he had been given his summons, it was because he was preparing a gift for his mother. One did not turn up for afternoon tea without a gift for one’s mother and he was reminded of a discussion with her just before he had left for Tintagel with Genevieve. It was going to be perfect; she was going to love it.

As he walked down the street whistling his little tune, the two heavy packages carefully held under each arm, he wondered why she had decided to visit now. Maybe it was because of that fight he saw in the park, or maybe it was whatever everyone was whispering about Meredith and Mordred. He did not know any of the details because no one had told him but he gathered that Mordred had somehow annoyed Meredith and now everyone was mad at Mordred. Then again, Jesse thought he would be pretty mad at Mordred if the older boy had stabbed him, maybe that’s why Meredith was mad at him, maybe he stabbed her too. Mordred should probably stop stabbing people. He resolved to tell Mordred this the next time he saw him.

He walked in the door to see the table filled with most of his other siblings. He nodded to them and then crossed to his mother gently placing the two large packages on the table in front of her before leaning in to kiss her cheek.

“Hello mother,” he said cheerily, before looking for his seat at the table, “I brought you a present, I hope you like them.”

He had spent ages arranging those heads for her.

[Tristian]

Tristian understood what ‘arriving promptly’ meant. It meant, arrive fashionably later than all of his other siblings.

However there was a certain reluctance to his stride as he approached the tea shop. In fact there had been a certain anxiety that had been present ever since the Summer Country Messenger had delivered the summons. Tristian was very close to his mother, he always had been and he always would be. He had never had a reason to lie to her; he had never lied to her. He told her everything because he always had. She knew about his particular preferences, she knew about his other hobby that he had when he was in Tintagel, she even knew about Mordred.

Which was one of the reasons why for the first time in his life he was considering lying to his mother.

His mother was not someone you wanted to cross, he had seen it first hand with others, and if she found out about what had actually happened…there’s no telling what she might do to Mordred…

There was also a part of him that did not want Lorelei to get in to any trouble either, she had already gone through enough pain and he really was not sure if his mother was going to hug her and tell her how proud she was or chastise her for being so unladylike and improper. It could go either way.

But Mordred…if she found out about that…about any of it.

He would do what he could to protect him…or at least have his phone ready to warn him in advance…at least he would get a head start on running away…

He walked into the tea shop and headed to the table, and seeing her sitting there surrounded by her children…the anxiety from before just melted away a bit…he was home…he smiled warmly and genuinely at her as he walked towards the seat that was his, the seat to her right hand side, the seat that was always his. He hugged her and kissed her cheek, “Hello mother.”

He took his seat beside her and watched the door, waiting for Lorelei, ready to pounce if she was not properly dressed.

[Guinevere]

Surprisingly, Meredith was the first to arrive, and not only was she on time but she had at least made an effort to dress appropriately. There were a few creases but then dresses like that tended to crease rather easily and she had at least run a brush through those lovely brown locks. Yes, she had done very well and to Gwen smiled approvingly, it only diminished slightly at the curtsey. She had clearly been practicing as it was a step up from her normal bob.

“I am very well sweetie,” said Guinevere warmly, “and please, none of that your majesty stuff here, we’re all family, now come over here and give me a proper hug. You are looking very well, that colour suits you.”

The door to the shop bell rang again and once more her face lit up with an approving smile as little Genevieve came towards her. She looked wonderful, then again she never expected her to look any other way, and smiled delightedly at the perfect curtsy, before enveloping her daughter in a tight warm hug.

“Oh my baby, I’m pleased to see you too,” she said warmly, and then pulling away looked at her and said, “very nice, oh that necklace is beautiful. You’ll have to tell me where you got it, perhaps we can go after tea?”

Another tinkle of the shop bell, another daughter.

Gwen sighed in a frustrated but fond way as she took in the outfit of her eldest daughter as she approached the table. Jenny always did things her own way, and she admired that, she really did, she just wished her own way involved a little more covering up. “Lovely to see you too my darling, and this will take as long as it needs too,” she said with a smile before motioning to her place at the table, “I was just talking to Genevieve and we are thinking of maybe doing a little shopping afterwards. Meredith would you like to join us?”

The door opened and shut again and in came one of her sons. Oh it was so good to see them all again, and she was especially pleased with the outfit he had chosen although really, he could have put a comb through that hair. “And you look very handsome,” she said and hugged him as he kissed her cheek.

She reached up and fixed his hair before he took his seat beside Meredith, just as Jesse approached with two large packages under his arms. She loved her baby boy…but sometimes…she really did not understand him and with some hesitancy she looked at the packages he placed in front of her.

“Thank you Jesse,” she said as she pulled the brown paper of the package away and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw what was inside, “a sculpture…of Genevieve…is the other one you?”

Before he could answer they were joined by her oldest son. She looked up and smiled at him warmly. Guinevere did not have favourites, but he was her first. She hugged him tightly, “hello trouble, we’re going shopping after tea,” she leaned in and whispered, “I brought something for you, in the chest under the table, I think you’ll like it, I hope it fits.”

Still no sign of Lorelei, or indeed her other guests. That was ok, one of them she was not expecting until later anyway…but really…Lorelei ought to be here, given that she was one of the reasons that she had come she started to grow concerned. She looked to her left, at the empty seat and frowned. However she then turned to the rest of the table and said, “So…what have you all been up too? Tell me all about it, I want to know every single detail.”

And she thought, ‘Now let’s see who is going to be the first to lie to me…’

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Meredith gave Gwen the requested hug gladly, hugging her maybe just a little bit tighter than she might normally. Gwen gave the best hugs, and her warm and motherly charms were just what Meredith needed after such a stressful couple of weeks. Of course, she didn't intend on telling Gwen anything, but it was still nice.

"It does? Thank you," she grinned, pleased that she'd made the right decision. Of course it was probably the only dress she owned and she'd chosen the colour based on dresses Gwen herself had picked out for her, but still, it was nice to get a compliment on her clothes from Gwen.

She took her seat at the table while Gwen set about greeting her other guests, exchanging her own waves and hellos where necessary, until her phone called her attention away and she realised she had a text from Lorelei. Pulling a concerned face, she texted back, the conversation developing in between the arrival of everybody else. She stood up at one point to give the table settings a quick scan before texting them to Lorelei, just in time for a question to be addressed to her.

"Oh, thank you for the invite, but that's okay," she returned with a smile. As much as she liked both Gwen and Genevieve, she did not like shopping.

Back to the phone, until Gaston sat next to her, and she looked up at him with a grin.

"Almost, one second..." she lifted a hand to run it carefully through his hair until it was just messy enough to cover up the sticking up bit, but not so much that it didn't look deliberate. It was nowhere near as artfully done as, say, Tristian would manage, but she was pretty confident it looked good.

She looked down at her phone and then back up at Gwen "Lorelei said she'll be late, she's having a little trouble getting dressed." that was probably not too appropriate a way to phrase it, but as Gwen had said, they were all family here.

[Genevieve]

Genevieve beamed at her mother’s compliment, putting her hand to her necklace proudly and nodding enthusiastically at the suggestion of shopping. Genevieve was not as avid a shopper as her sister or eldest brother, but she never passed up an opportunity to shop with her mother, and she was thrilled at the thought of being able to show her mother the little boutique jewellery shop she had bought her necklace from.

She glanced around the table and quickly found her place, pleased to see she would be next to her twin, and intrigued by the empty space on her other side. For a moment she considered asking her mother who the empty space was for, but she knew she wouldn’t receive an answer, deciding to just wait and see.

She watched quietly as her siblings arrived one by one, smiling warmly at each of them as they took their seats. As Jesse arrived and handed Gwen two boxes, Genevieve felt a flurry of panic - what on earth was he presenting her with?! - which quickly dissipated as Gwen opened them. She smiled encouragingly at Jesse as he sat beside her, reaching over to squeeze his hand. “Good job on the gifts, I think she really likes them.” She said quietly, pleased to have her brother beside her again. She always felt like there was a part of her missing when they weren’t together, like she’d left a limb behind somewhere.

Eventually most of them had arrived, and their mother asked the million dollar question. Genevieve had never lied to her mother before, but she did not want to be the one to reveal the secrets they were all keeping. She looked around the table, hoping against hope that someone else would speak up first.

[Jenny]

Rolling her eyes at her mother’s response, Jenny took her seat between Tristian and Gaston’s seats and pulled out her phone, scanning through various social media networks and pulling odd, contorted faces that mostly involved a heavy pout as she took numerous selfies. She registered the word shopping and nodded her consent. “I still have Daddy’s credit card and I so need some new boots, so I’m in.”

She didn’t notice any of her siblings arrive, and it wasn't until their mother addressed them that she began to pay any attention - although her eyes were still fixed on her phone screen. 

“Well Lorelei is still a weirdo and Gaston is still a loser.” She immediately responded to her mother’s question, before pouting again and taking another quick selfie. “Oh that one is so fetch. Profile pic!” She said, to no one in particular. “You should take Lorelei shopping, she desperately needs it. You know I caught her wearing cartoon leggings and a tutu the other day?” Jenny finally looked up from her phone, to give her mother a pained look. Finally aware of the rest of the table, she frowned for a second. “Where is the little weirdo, anyway?” She asked, looking around. “And who are those seats for?” She indicated the two empty seats between Meredith and Genevieve

[Gaston Jr]

He tried not to grin like an idiot when Meredith started running her fingers through his hair. It just felt so nice, and it was her and…he really needed to stop thinking this way. Ever since he had got that text explaining why Meredith was so mad at Mordred…well…

He pulled back slightly and smiling a little sheepishly said, “thanks, appreciated.”

Gaston Jr wanted to be a good friend to her, he really did, he knew she needed it now more than ever but…that touch had just been too nice, too intimate…and now he knew…well…clearly he was not the kind of guy she was in too. Knowing that this recoiling might make her feel bad he gave her a little playful nudge and said, “Hey, a compliment from mum on your clothes…go you!”

He held his hand out under the table for her to high five, turning around just in time to catch Jenny calling him a loser, “I’m not a loser,” he protested, “I’m just differently popular.”

[Jesse]

Jesse grinned happily when it appeared that his mother had enjoyed the gifts that he had brought her, he leaned in and said, “Yes the other one is me. I remembered you said that you would miss us when we left for school, so I thought that they might be able to keep you company whilst we are here.”

With the gifts successfully delivered and explained he sat down beside his sister and nodded at her praise. “Thank you,” he whispered quietly, “don’t worry, I made another set for dad as well…and another statue of him. In this one he is heroically standing atop the dead carcass of a hippopotamus.”

It appeared that the air started to get a little tense when mother asked what they had all been up too, although Jenny managed to quickly fill her in on most things. When she appeared to have stopped Jesse turned to his mother and said, “I framed one of my frog dissections…it was a great success.”

[Tristian]

When his mother told him that there was something for him in the chest under the table he grinned happily, reaching down to look inside it. The fact that she had not brought it out in front of the entire table meant that it was clearly something that was to be kept between them, which mean he had a good idea of what it might be even before he undid the latch and opened it. He gasped a little as he saw the gold sparkles and then quickly shut the lid again. When he sat up again he reached over and gave her another brief half hug and whispered, “you shouldn’t have, thank you.”

He looked at the rest of them and said, “and shopping sounds great. I know I’m in desperate need of a few new pairs of shoes.”

Which is when of course his mother had asked the question that the majority of people at that table had been dreading…

Thankfully Jenny had jumped in with her summary of what had been going on and backing her up and making sure the conversation shifted in the right direction Tristian said, “I’m afraid I have to confirm Jenny’s statement, Lorelei is in need of some desperate fashion advice. I wasn’t aware it was as bad as cartoon leggings and a tutu, but from what I have seen mother, she really could use your guiding hand, so shopping definitely sounds like an excellent idea.”

He looked over at the other seats and said, “I echo Jenny’s sentiment, who else is coming to tea?”

[Guinevere]

Gwen could not help but smile as Meredith also reached in to fix Gaston Jr’s hair, it had always pleased her how well the two of them had got along. Although it was tinged with a little bit of sadness when she realised how heartbroken her little boy must be, never mind, she would find him a wonderful wife, for they would have to be wonderful to marry one of her boys. She nodded to Meredith and said, “thank you, yes I thought she might be, do tell her that if she is not here within the next ten minutes I shall have to personally come and find her.”

However her heart lifted again to see Genevieve and Jesse sat together and getting along so well. She had always wished for such a relationship between Gaston Jr and Jenny but you had never met two more different people, so she was happy she could see it in her two youngest twins. Genevieve really had outdone herself and Gwen smiled approvingly at her daughter once more.

The silence that prevailed after she asked her question was very brief, but it was enough to notice the slight tension in the air. She saw Genevieve cast her eyes down to the table, looking uncomfortable, she saw Gaston Jr’s eyes flick to Meredith and then the table, and most interestingly she felt Tristian shift a little in the seat beside her.

Jenny however…was just Jenny.

She wasn’t necessarily surprised when Jenny was the first to jump in although she was surprised that the first topic of conversation was to do with Lorelei. “Really?” she said raising an eyebrow, looking even more concerned when Tristian backed his sister up.

He was steering the conversation, or at least keeping it on the track it was. She had taught him that trick. Interesting. Et Tu Brute?

“well, we shall have to do something about it then, won’t we? Jenny darling, do put your phone down at the table it is most-”

Which was when Jesse spoke. She blinked. “Well that’s wonderful,” she said with a warm but confused smile, “I’m…very happy for you.”

Jenny and Tristian asked about the extra seats and Gwen smiled and said, “you shall just have to wait and see…so tell me more about Lorelei, what has she been up too?”