Due to
circumstances (possibly foreseen but unavoidable!), there will not be a new
Virtual Moonlighting episode tonight.
Please check back, it will be posted sometime this week.
Meanwhile…..hope
this little peek into Maddie’s infanticipating will keep you happy till then…….
The
Hayes/Addison Residence
The doorbell rings.
A few moments pass, and we get a glimpse of Maddie Hayes,
struggling down the stairs from the second floor. She is dressed casually in a pastel maternity
overblouse and jeans. The doorbell peals
again. She grumbles as she plods towards
the door.
Maddie: He sure picked a great time to go get a
haircut. Haircut….Ha!
She finally reaches the door and pulls it open. She catches the
Maddie: Just take me a little longer to get places
these days. You have a package for me?
He looks rather pointedly at her stomach.
Maddie: Don’t mess with me, buddy. I’ve been known to bite the heads off of live
chickens when I am this cranky.
He fairly tosses the box at her, and bolts from the door, yelling
as he sprints towards his truck.
Maddie slams the door after him.
Maddie: Guess he no longer believes that all fat
people are jolly.
She looks down at the package, recognizing the familiar
It contains a card and a tissue wrapped gift. She open the card first……and smiles at the
picture of the pretty baby being borne through the sky by a stork. She opens the card and reads.
Dear Maddie,
How are you today, my
darling girl? I had the most wonderful
day today, and I wanted to share. I had
lunch with the ladies of my bridge club, and they had a little party for
me. They gave me a beautiful little
necklace with a “Nana” charm. It was
very sweet of them. They also gave me a
couple of astrology books, so that I can be prepared for my little
Grand-Saggitarius.
I thought I would send them off to you. I can almost hear you now….thinking I am
losing my mind…but I thought you could have fun with them. I know you will scoff, but some of the
chapters are very interesting.
Give my love to David, and let him take care of you. We’re so excited…can’t wait to get on that
plane! See you in a few weeks.
Love,
Mom
Maddie smiles, but shakes her head, speaking to herself.
Maddie: Ok, this time she might just be going over
the edge. Astrology…..what nonsense!
She tosses the package to the end of the sofa. She looks around the room, seeking some sort
of distraction that will not require her to move. With a grimace, she looks again to the
package, scoots over and picks it up.
She unwraps it and finds two books “Linda
Goodman’s Sun Signs” and “Linda Goodman’s Star Signs”. She starts to leaf through the first one.
Maddie: What a gimmick. This stuff is so generic, anybody can find
themselves in it…..choose your best traits, ignore your worst.
She looks at the list of signs:
she knows her birthday, February 4, makes her an Aquarius, but she finds
out that David, born on March 27, is an Aries.
She flips to the chapter called “Love Sign Compatibility” and begins to
read the page entitled “Aquarius Woman and Aries Man.”
As the elements of Fire and Air react with one
another they have a spontaneous reaction towards each other. Aquarius love is
detached but unselfish which an Aries can enjoy if the demanding characteristic
is given up by it. At the same time, Aries can fill the emptiness of Aquarius
with the passion of affection.
An Aries man has the exciting enthusiasm which
never sweeps away and is always fresh as a dew drop. He is strong and
courageous and always ready to take up the first step without any trace of fear
in his nature. When it comes to love, the Aries man can be quite natural and
fall in love almost instantly, especially for an Aquarius woman. But at the
same time he also expects a positive response from his lover.
An Aquarius woman is quite enigmatic; she may
even seem to be absentminded at times and living in her own imaginary world.
The instinct of an Aquarius woman is very strong and it helps her and her
partner to achieve new heights and success in their careers. Aquarius woman
becomes friend with an Aries man very quickly but it takes her a bit of more
time to plumb that she has fallen in love with him. She gives love generously
to her Aries man and always proves to be a great partner in all his activities.
The problem usually comes when the Aquarius
woman thinks of herself to be mature enough and also thinks that her Aries man
needs to grow up. Whereas, Aries man may at times find his Aquarius woman
detached and aloof with no expression of love. But the tender inspiration and
boundless love of the typical Aquarius woman always brings back her Aries man
to her, who knows that no other woman can be so smart and yet simple at the
same time.
An Aries man makes an Aquarius woman feel
special and ladylike, which she generally misses in her life. He does not have
any qualms about spending money on her and wants her to be always in her best
of form and spirit. An Aries man always pushes up the Aquarius spirit and
brings more comfort together with security and excitement to her life. At times
an Aries man can show bossy attitude which may hurt the individuality of a free
willed Aquarius woman but then he is always ready to apologize and make up for
the damage done. Both the Aquarius woman and the Aries man have the risk taking
ability, which brings them a lot of excitement and success with each others
support.
The sweetness of their love helps them to
agree to the differences, bringing to their relationship all kinds of beautiful
bonuses and boosters to happiness and harmony. Once the Aries man and Aquarius
woman overcome their differences, the problems that crop up in their relationship
are solved just by having a mature conversation enhancing their emotional as
well as physical intimacy. The days are generally much enthusiastic and
inspiring for this couple as both of them are fond of passion and freshness in
their life. A golden and glorious future always stands in front of this lovely
pair with all the brightness and affection to be cherished for the life time.
The most complicated facet of this
relationship is the physical aspect of it. Once the Aquarius woman makes up her
mind to dedicate herself to the relationship there is a great scope of
discovering a very good sexual compatibility between the couple. In any case,
both of them should make efforts to develop an everlasting physical intimacy.
There are times when Aquarius woman is taken aback by the amount of passion
showcased by the Aries man during the time of lovemaking. One of the simplest
ways to treat the Aquarius woman is to treat her differently every time while
making love so that the element of surprise always exists in the physical
relationship. The Aquarius woman should realize the fact that the Aries man can
easily get hurt especially when she shows signs of detachment and in order to
maintain his ego, Aries man never display his displeasure or emotions in front
of her. She should never respond to his sexual overtures with anything but a
sincere and all-consuming enthusiasm, always welcome his embraces with
unmistakable joy and anticipation.
Maddie lays the book on her stomach with an skeptical look on her face.
Maddie: I am sure it is
just coincidental, but there is a lot of truth in that. No wonder Mom thought it might intrigue me.
She flips through the book again and finds a
section entitled “The Saggitarius Child.”
She again becomes engrossed.
In the building where I live, there's a dark-haired Irish girl who
was born in December. She plays a guitar and sometimes writes songs. Once she
wrote a line I thought was pretty fabulous, but she was having trouble with the
rest of the lyric. She really didn't need to worry, with that opener. It was:
"There you were, waving your heart at me. . . ."
Her quaint phrase sums up every Sagittarian from age one week to
one hundred years. The calendar doesn't matter. They never grow up, anyway.
Take a good look at your little Sagittarius girl. There she is, waving her
heart at you, like a friendly sheepdog. Your little Sagittarius son waves his
heart just as enthusiastically, needing desperately to be liked for his own
honest self. When people don't say "hello" back to them, their tiny
hearts droop in disappointment. Sagittarians are happy, playful, miniature
clowns, who laugh with tears in their eyes when they're rejected.
Even the infants show their sunny natures and desire for comradeship. The
Jupiter baby will cry when he's left alone, but wheel his bassinet into the
living room where the grownups are laughing and talking, and he’ll sleep
contentedly, with the warm, reassuring sound of human voices in his tiny ears.
His dreams will be all the sweeter for being wrapped in the cozy, familiar
atmosphere of loving and happy people. Later, he may grow more removed from
family ties, but when he's little, he needs the security of human smells and
sights and sounds, exactly as a newborn puppy needs one of your old sweaters in
his basket to snuggle up to cozily. If such close, human contact is denied the
Jupiter youngster, he'll withdraw and maybe become a little sarcastic. Then he’ll
adopt a substitute, like the dirty, torn blanket of Linus in "Peanuts." It can be a soft
pinch pillow or a cuddly teddy bear, with its ears twisted off and its nose
missing, but it represents security. He'd much prefer you.
The Sagittarius boy shows his happy-go-lucky nature by wandering
into the woods with a makeshift fishing pole and a can of worms, barefoot,
cheerfully whistling, talking to everyone he meets, his faithful dog trotting
behind him. Sagittarians are informal as youngsters, and they never, outgrow it. The little Jupiter girl may go through a tomboy
stage, and you'll always be reminding her to "act like a lady" as she
grows up. But these girls and boys have their own ideas of what makes "a
little lady" and "a little gentleman." It starts out with
honesty. Naked, unadorned, brutal honesty. They have
it refined to an art and they will expect it from you-or else. Or else what? Or else they will refuse to be docile little
slaves, meekly obeying every 'parental whim.
Your authority is fair game for the Sagittarian child's frank,
curious investigation. He'll give in graciously if he's convinced there is
logic behind your command. Parental orders must first pass the scrutiny of his
inquisitive, reasonable mental processes, and if you don't come out with a good
grade in his test, you will get left back. There you'll stand, waving your
authority or a switch at him, and there he'll stand, waving his honesty and
defiance right back at you. If you're fair and you try to be as honest as he
is, the Jupiter youngster will leam to respect your rules. You'll have to be
firm when you know you're right and give him a good, solid reason. When you're
wrong, you'll have to admit your mistake and come right out with a
straightforward confession of stupidity. Let's face it, many times parents
insist on obedience to rules they make up for their own convenience, rather than
for the well-being of the child. A Sagittarius moppet can smell that kind of
dishonesty a mile away as his nostrils quiver like a bird dog's and his muscles
quiver with anger, backed by righteous indignation. Better plan to explain all
your orders and commands to him calmly, or be prepared to use up a lot of
switches before the Jupiter obstinacy in the face of unjustified punishment
will show any signs of weakening.
A phrase often used by mothers with late November/December-born
children is "curiosity killed the cat." Sagittarian curiosity never
ends. The day begins with a question and they fall asleep with a question on
their lips. When they're very young, just learning to talk and to explore the
huge world, the questions will be, "Why is it naughty to touch the
stove?" "Why does candy make my teeth fall out?" "Why do
carrots make my hair curly?" "Why does Santa Claus need a letter if
he's so magic?" "Why did Daddy wink at you when you were talking
about a second honeymoon, and why do you call a Moon honey?" "Why do
you talk like there are two Moons when Billy says there's just One?" All through lunch, nap time and supper, the
questions drone on. "Why did you and Daddy say Grandpa was henpecked? Is
he a chicken?" "Why did my teddy bear tell you I ate the cookies? Why
doesn't he ever talk to me like he talks to you?"
You can see that most of the Jupiter youngster's questions are
aimed at puncturing adult hypocrisy or grownup smugness and downright
deception. It won't do you much good to get all worked up and yell, "Be
still! If you say “ why” once more, I’ll paddle you.
Don't ever say that word again." Then you'll hear the archer's clear
little voice giving it to you right between the eyes: "Why not?"
Later, when he or she is older, it will be "Why do I have to
come in at a certain time when you say you trust me?" (and
you will trust this child, or you should). "Why does it matter what people
think? Do you care more about people than you do about me?" That's a tough
one. Better practice an answer to it while he's still in diapers. The
Sagittarian teenager will never swallow your rules if they're based on social
mores rather than on concern for his welfare. There are some good, sound,
logical answers to your insistence on his observing certain social customs, of
course. They involve a reputation and its precious value, but be sure you have them well-rehearsed and see that they ring
true.
The ancient warning, "when children
are little, they step on your feet-when they're bigger, they step on your
heart," might have been written about a Sagittarian. There's no getting
around it. This child is awkward, if not downright clumsy. Keep the medicine
chest well stocked with iodine and band aids. Tiny Sagittarians clomp on your
feet and get in the way of your dust mop, your vacuum and all your good
intentions. You may have a constantly sore toe and a sore ego. But those are
nothing compared to the sore heart you may have someday when the Jupiter boy or
girl plants a foot on it firmly. His or her strong need for freedom includes
freedom from family ties, and these children will strike out on their own
extraordinarily early, sometimes neglecting to phone or write for long periods.
It can cause some mighty painful stabs in the chest region. The best cure for
such parental heartburn is to make sure when your Sagittarian child is little
that he's learned to respect you for your sense of honor and tolerance. If
you're narrow and prejudiced, you may only see him on holidays, if then. But if
you refrain from judging his friends by any yardstick other than their true
value-and if you've proved you have faith in his decency and in his dreams,
he'll come home to renew his love and trip over your feet to your heart's
content. Otherwise, he'll stay out there somewhere with his blanket or pillow
or teddy bear in the form of new friends who accept him for what he is and
believe in him.
Expect romance to rear its lacy head quite early. The girls will
probably not be serious; they're just trying out their femininity, if the right
parental attitude precludes using dates as that security blanket. The boys may
need a little special tutoring in the subject of birds and bees. An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Teach these children economy. They'll spend money like it's made of
paper, which they've already discovered it is. They have to leam that when they
spend their allowance, it's spent. Don't plug up the holes for them. If they
waste their lunch money on comic books or Mad Magazine- let them take peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
to school for the rest of the week. That may sound a little harsh, but it's
necessary. Someday the Diners' Club will thank you.
Both sexes will probably enjoy school. Their multiple-faceted
intelligence and great curiosity will make learning a fascinating game, if
their bright interest isn't squelched by too much dull, boring routine and too
much insistence on strict regulations and rigid study habits. The more
progressive education becomes, the better and happier
students these children will be. They're restless, and making them sit still
constantly or stifling their fanciful imagination will soon kill their
incentive, sadly, sometimes permanently. Sagittarian children with severe,
intolerant teachers or who are victims of unimaginative teaching methods tend to
want to drop out of school and go to work.
The honor system works very well with young archers. A Jupiter
child will never cheat in any way, if he's trusted not to do so. Otherwise, he
may figure it doesn't matter. If no one believes in him, then why try?
There may be a deep and very serious interest in religion. These
are the boys and girls who decide at a tender age to become a priest or a nun,
minister, rabbi or missionary in a foreign country. As they grow older, they'll
question dogmas, perhaps change faith and church membership, searching
eternally for truth. The Peace Corps invariably attracts Jupiter youngsters.
They like the idea of seeing the world and the chance to put their idealism to
work. A Sagittarian without a cause is like a dog without a bone to chew on.
Fighting for causes develops their strength. Without a bone, the puppy may tear
the couch or chair to shreds. Without a cause, the Sagittarian youngster may
tear into ideas with such fervor and fanaticism that he can shred his future
irreparably.
His eyes are fastened trustingly on the stars, and he may take a
few spills as he trudges along, not noticing the rocks in his path. He's an
independent, honest little archer. Give him lots of room to shoot and to
practice drawing his bow. He needs to feel the grass under his bare feet, feel
the rain on his face and bake his dreams in the strong, warm sunlight until
they're well-done. There he is, waving his happy, optimistic young heart at
you. Wave back at him with cheerful faith.
Maddie drops the book onto the coffee table. She puts her hands on her stomach, and grins
a little.
Maddie: Oh my God……just
like your father. I’m doomed. It’s gonna be two
against one!
Her eyes widen as she feels movement, almost
as if in response. She whispers.
Maddie: Is that you,
Bunny……waving your heart?
FREEZE FRAME