Marriage is bliss

16.3 Mae Schnautz

Summer 1997, Schnautz house

Mariella was chatting excitedly at the breakfast table about the upcoming sports event at her school. It was the first time she would join in Junior High, and she would run the sprint races with her track and trace team. 

"…it will be so great when you come watch me win the race!", she exclaimed.

Mae was looking forward to it, and to cheer for her.

"You will do very well!", Herbert said.

Marriage so far has been exactly how Mae always had imagined. Something like in "Bewitched", just that she didn't had any magic powers like Samantha, and Herbert usually wasn't angry like Darrin.

Mae was happy.

Someone knocked on the door, and Mae got up.

Mariella was still busy telling her father how great the next school year would start.

 Linda smiled at Mae when she opened the door. "How's the happy family?", she asked.

"Linda! Come in!"

Mae was also happy to see her sister.

"Want some coffee?", she offered her sister, when she sat down on the small table.

"Sure! Oh, you changed some things here, Mae!", Linda replied, looking at the new wall paint and curtains.

"It sure is nicer here than before... but so much pink...", Mariella said.

The kitchen got a paint job too. It was colorful and bright.

"Mae did a good job redecorating", Herbert said.

Mae smiled proudly. She hadn't liked the dull and simple interior Herbert had before, and was glad he agreed to trust her on improving the house.

"What made you come here so early?", she asked her sister.

"Oh - Brian invited me to his family's vacation house in granite falls this summer", Linda said. "He asked if you three would like to come too?"

"A vacation house? Are they rich?!", Mariella blurted, looking excited and curious.

"Don't ask things like this, Marie! It's impolite!", Herbert scolded her, looking embarrassed again.

Linda chuckled. "I guess you could say so."

Mae looked amused at her husband. Embarrassement seemed to be his most common facial expression.

Still better than angry.

She turned to her sister. "This actually sounds nice, I'm in!"

"If it is not a bother, I'd love to go to a cooler place", Herbert agreed. The summer in Oasis Springs were really hot, and it only had started now.

"Great!", Linda said.