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Author Topic: All in the family  (Read 5048 times)

Offline r1r1r12000

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All in the family
« on: 24. September 2024, 01:32:46 AM »
This story was inspired by one of Duncombec's ideas in the "Brainstorming" thread started by Boheme.

-----------------------------


“Damn it, Morgan,” Jeff shook his head, exasperated, at his daughter.  He was leaning  forward on the worn couch, his elbows resting on the knees of his work jeans.  Morgan smiled sweetly at him, nestled with her legs pulled up under her in Jeff’s LaZBoy.

“I think it’s so nice that you and Mom want to get me braces,” she said.  “You always take such good care of me, Daddy.  But no, I’m not going to.”

“You know Dr. Zepeda always said you needed them,” Jeff reminded her.

“I remember,” she nodded.  “Dad,” she looked at him seriously, “I’m not going to start pharmacy school with braces.”  Jeff shrugged, yielding the argument.  Morgan stood up.  “I love you, Daddy,” she bent down, kissed him on the cheek and left out the back door to her Kia parked in the grass adjacent to the driveway.

–---

“Your daughter is as stubborn as you are,” Jeff said with mock-grumpiness, pulling Carrie in for a hug when she returned from work.  He kissed her, then looked down at her, smiling.  His wife, short, chubby, with dark curly hair, large brown eyes, and dimples when she smiled, looked like Morgan as well.

“In general? Or are you thinking of something in particular?” Carrie asked, putting her purse on the kitchen counter.

“Both!” Jeff laughed.  “But yes, in particular, I told her what you found out about your new dental insurance and that we’d decided to get her braces, since the car loan is paid off.  She’s not having it.”  It was Jeff’s night to cook.  He pulled a reheated lasagna from the oven and set two cans of Coors on the kitchen table.

“Well, she’ll come around,” Carrie said, confidently.

“Mmm mmm,” Jeff shook his head.  “She smiled at me like this and called me ‘Daddy,’” he imitated his daughter’s expression from an hour ago.

“Oh!” Carrie’s eyes widened.  “She is serious.  Did she say why?”

“Doesn’t want to wear braces in pharmacy school,” Jeff said, cutting his lasagna.

“I get it,” Carrie nodded.  “I’m sure she wants to feel confident starting out in her career.  I think she’s a little insecure about being older than most of her classmates, since she worked her way through undergrad.  She probably doesn’t want to add braces to the mix.”

“But Dr. Zepeda always told us she needed braces and she’d damage her teeth without them, probably like mine,” Jeff said, plaintively.

“You’re preaching to the choir, Jeff,” Carrie took his hand across the table.  “I showed you my insurance booklet, remember?  I’ll talk to her about it.”

–-----

Two weeks later, Carrie and Morgan were chopping vegetables at the kitchen counter as Jeff laced up his work boots by the back door.

“Didn’t figure I’d see you up so early on your day off, honey,” he smiled at Morgan.

“Mom said we have to start the slow cooker by 8 to have the beans ready to go over to Tia’s this afternoon,” Morgan explained.  “And I want to start learning some real Mexican cooking while I’m still living at home; it’s not like you’re going to teach me, Dad,” she gave him a teasing smile.

Jeff kissed Morgan’s cheek and gave Carrie a close embrace.

“I’m sorry you got called in this morning,” Carrie said.

“Me, too,” Jeff agreed.  “Evidently one of the baseball coaches backed an activity bus into the gate at the bus lot and now the gate won’t work.  All the busses are stuck until somebody can fix the fence.” He shrugged.  “I’ll meet you at your sister’s.”

Later that afternoon, Carrie drove her car while Morgan sat in the passenger seat, holding a crockpot on her lap.

“Morgan, honey,” Carrie said, looking at her daughter in her peripheral vision.  “Your Dad and I both really think you should get braces.  It just makes sense right now; Dr. Zepeda always said you needed them, and now with my insurance through work...I know your father talked to you about it, but I wanted to make sure you know how I felt, too.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Morgan turned to smile at her.  “That’s really sweet of you to offer.  But no, I’m not going to get braces.”

“But you can only be on my insurance until you turn 26,” Carrie protested.  “I checked if you would get all the orthodontic benefits even if your treatment isn’t finished by then, since it’s less than a year away and they said you do!  It’s really the perfect time for you.”

“Except it’s not,” Morgan shook her head in calm disagreement.  “I’m starting my pharmacy program in August.  I’m not going to be showing up with braces to grad school.”

“Honey, nobody is going to think less of you if you have braces,” Carrie said.  “Besides, it’s a healthcare program; how could anybody possibly judge you for taking care of your dental health?”

“You’re a good Mom,” Morgan smiled at Carrie sweetly.  “I know you want the best for me.  But right now, that’s not braces.”

Carrie pulled up to the curb in front of her sister’s large house.  She turned to look directly at her daughter.

“Your Dad feels so guilty we couldn’t afford to get you braces back when Dr. Zepeda first recommended it...” her voice trailed off.

“Dad doesn’t need to feel guilty,” Morgan said.  “Or you either, Mom.  You both always worked hard and took great care of me.  Not having braces doesn’t change that.” 

Carrie felt her frustration rising.  Morgan’s calm, polite stubbornness always drove her up the wall.

“Ahh! I can’t believe you!” Carrie vented.  “I would have loved to get braces!  You know how embarrassed I am about my teeth!  This is such a great opportunity for you!”

“Why don’t you get braces, then, Mom?” Morgan asked, giving her a curious smile.  “You’re on the insurance too,” she pointed out.

Carrie’s mouth opened to respond, then closed.  She started to say something again, glaring at Morgan, then she closed her mouth again.  Her expression softened.  “I don’t know, I guess,” she said, her voice rising almost as if it was a question.  “It never occurred to me I could,” she said, sounding surprised.  “Huh!” she thought about it again.  She looked back at Morgan.  “I’m sorry I raised my voice, Mor.”

“I know it’s something you feel strongly about, Mom,” Morgan shrugged.  “Maybe think about it for yourself?” she offered, climbing out of the car.

They carried the crockpot across the well-kept lawn, past a balloon display reading “Feliz Cumpleanos Gracie!”  Carrie opened the unlocked front door and held it for Morgan.

“Tia Carrie!” Morgan heard her young cousin squeal happily.  Then, “Morgan!” as she entered the kitchen.  Gracie happily bounded across the expansive tile floor and gave them both an enthusiastic hug.

“Happy birthday, Gracie!” Morgan said.  Her cousin, tall, thin, and gawky with an awkward, puppy-like enthusiasm that made her seem younger than 16, had always been especially close to her.

“Happy birthday, sweetie,” Carrie said.  “Where should we put the beans?”

“Over there,” Gracie gestured to the granite island in the middle of the kitchen.  “There’s an outlet if you need to plug it in.  Everyone’s outside,” she pointed to the floor-length windows looking out on the brick patio shaded by live oaks.

“Thanks!  I’ll go say hi to your Mom.” Carrie went out.

“I love your hair,” Morgan smiled at Gracie.  “How’d you convince Tio to let you do it?”

“Thanks!” Gracie beamed, reaching up to wrap her hand with her glossy dark hair that cascaded past her shoulder with new hot-pink streaks.  “We agreed that I had to wait until school ended for the summer.  And I have to go back to my normal hair color when school starts in the fall,” she gave a silly mock-pout.  “And it was also a little bit of a bribe,” Gracie admitted.

“Oh?” Morgan asked.

“For getting braces,” Gracie said, awkwardly grimacing to show her cousin the new metal brackets glued to each of her teeth, with hot-pink ligatures matching her hair.  “Thanks for not making a big deal about them,” she went on. “I’m still self-conscious.”

“Well, I think you look cute with them, for what it’s worth,” Morgan said encouragingly.

Out on the patio, Morgan and Gracie circulated through a crowd of cousins, aunts and uncles and family friends, giving hugs and high-pitched greetings.  Morgan found Carrie with Carrie’s sister, leaning against the railing farthest from the house.

“Hi Tia Vanessa,” Morgan waved to Gracie’s mother, walking over to them.

“Morgan! Come tell me about pharmacy school!” her aunt called back.  Vanessa, Carrie’s younger sister, was tall like Gracie, but unlike her daughter, Vanessa had grown confidently into her looks.  On the patio in the Houston humidity, Vanessa still looked cool and fresh in a sundress, her dark hair pulled over one shoulder and a flower above her ear.  And, Morgan was surprised to discover, large, shiny metal braces that dominated her smile, with hot-pink ligatures that matched Gracie’s.

Morgan gave Vanessa a hug.  “I’ll start at the end of August,” Morgan said with an excited smile.  “I’m going to get an upperclassman assigned as a “big sister” later this summer to help me get oriented.  I’ll be commuting over to the Medical Center, so I’m a little worried about having enough study time,” Morgan said, her brow wrinkling.

“I know you’ll do great,” Vanessa said, her lips hesitantly finding their way around the metalwork as she spoke.  Morgan noticed that, unlike her cousin, her aunt’s braces had hot-pink rubberbands stretching in triangle shapes near the front of her mouth and large globs of wax smashed over several of the brackets to protect her lips.

Morgan made eye contact with Carrie and lifted an eyebrow significantly at her mother, almost imperceptibly inclining her head toward Vanessa’s braces.

Carrie mouthed, “I know, I know,” and rolled her eyes at her daughter.

“Tia,” Morgan said, giving Carrie a mischevious look that only her mother caught, “you’re so cute with your braces! I love the pink color.  When did you get them?”

“The day before yesterday,” Vanessa said with an appreciative metal smile.  Wrapping her lips delicately back over the braces, as if she had “fish lips,” Vanessa went on, “And thanks.  I’ve always wanted to straighten my teeth, so I’m thrilled to finally start,” she said excitedly.

“Do they hurt?” Carrie asked, surprising Morgan with the genuine interest in her voice.

“No!” Vanessa said, wriggling her lips again.  “I was surprised, honestly.  I feel a little pressure, but it’s not even uncomfortable.  My lips haven’t figured out where to go,” she said, shaking her head to herself as her upper lip snagged on a hook for her elastic just then, “but I’m assured that’s something that goes away quickly.”

“And we got matching colors, Tia!” Gracie exclaimed as she walked up.  She stood next to Vanessa and grinned at Carrie.

“So cute!” Carrie laughed.  “So, you two both decided to get braces together; what a great mother-daughter thing!” She looked archly at Morgan and raised an eyebrow, mimicking Morgan’s earlier expression.  Morgan smiled at Carrie and rolled her eyes.

–---

“Thanks for seeing me first thing this morning, Doc,” Jeff said appreciatively, rubbing his left cheek.

“I’m glad we could take care of you quickly,” Dr. Zepeda said, leaning the dental chair back.  “Miranda said the back tooth on your bottom left is hurting?”

“Yeah.  I heard it crack when I bit down on fajitas this weekend – my brother in law must have overcooked them,” he said wryly.

Dr. Zepeda looked carefully in Jeff’s mouth and touched the back tooth with an instrument.  Jeff winced.

“Well, I don’t think you can blame it on your brother-in-law’s cooking,” Dr. Zepeda said.  “You’re right about the crack, though.  That back tooth has split down the middle.  It’s not fixable,” he shook his head.

“Any chance you could pull it today?” Jeff asked.

“I can,” Dr. Zepeda nodded.  “And I owe it to you to explain why it happened, because it’s something that can be prevented in the future.  You know how your front teeth don’t touch when you bite down?”  Jeff nodded.  “That’s called an open bite.  It means you’re only biting on back teeth.  In your case, only the very back tooth in each corner.  That overloads the tooth, they wear down, and break like this one did.  Unfortunately, that process is now going to start on the next tooth forward when we pull out the broken one.

“So,” he continued.  “The way to fix it is to move your teeth to bite together properly so they can all share the load.”

“Braces?” Jeff clarified.  Dr. Zepeda nodded.  “Well, I remember you recommending that before years ago,” Jeff acknowledged.  He exhaled.  “I guess I ought to find out more about that; I don’t want more teeth to break.”

“I’ll give you Dr. Carter’s card on your way out,” Dr. Zepeda said.

-----

Carrie sat in her dark skirt and blazer in the busy waiting room.  She’d slipped out of work early and hit the after-school crowd.  The large room was divided by a tall aquarium filled with brightly-colored fish.  The younger kids were mostly on the far side of the aquarium, where bean bag chairs and video game consoles attracted them.  Carrie sat with the older teens and adults in the quieter area by the reception desk.

Carrie looked around, feeling a bit embarrassed, and feeling silly about feeling embarrassed.  Of the dozen or so people in the soft chairs around her, about half were teenage patients.  There were two women who were clearly mothers of patients – Carrie had seen them come in and seen the kids immediately swarm the video game area.  The other three people seemed to be adult patients.  A young man sitting by himself, listening to music on his ear pods with his eyes closed.  A young woman about Morgan’s age had slipped clear aligners into her mouth when she entered the office.  The other woman, wearing pink scrubs, seemed to be forty-something, like Carrie, and was trying to discretely dislodge something stuck between her metal braces with a small brush.

“Carrie? Hi!” a perky, petite young woman with a blindingly-perfect smile greeted her.  “Thank you so much for coming over!  I’m Annette and I’ll get some xrays and digital records for Dr. Carter, who you’ll meet in a few minutes.”

Annette, with reassuring encouragement and practiced hands, took a 3D xray of Carrie’s head, scanned her teeth with a digital scanner, and took a series of photographs while Carrie held lip retractors and mirrors in her mouth.  10 minutes later, she deposited Carrie in a small consultation room with two comfortable chairs and a large monitor on the wall showing blown-up pictures of Carrie’s teeth.

“Carrie, good to meet you.  I’m Amanda Carter,” the doctor said as she slipped through the door of the room and shut it behind her.  Carrie’s first impression was that Dr. Carter’s style was “nerd meets confident businesswoman.”  She was thin, not especially tall, wearing a white coat over scrubs that fit well enough they were likely tailored, and fluorescent orange running shoes.  She had straight brown hair pulled back in a messy ponytail and large black-rimmed glasses with lenses thick enough to magnify her eyes and the prominent crow’s feet at their corners that gave away her age.  She flashed Carrie a welcoming smile.  To Carrie’s surprise, Dr. Carter had a full set of metal braces on her large, white teeth, complete with orange ligatures that matched her shoes, and orange rubber bands on each side of her mouth that stretched colorfully when she spoke.  To Carrie’s even greater surprise, Dr. Carter’s teeth weren’t even especially straight.

“Thanks for coming over today,” Dr. Carter went on.  “So you mentioned you know Vanessa and Gracie Trevino?”

“Vanessa is my little sister,” Carrie said.

“Ahh!  Yes!  I totally see it!” Dr. Carter realized, her mouth opening as far as her elastics allowed.  “I’ve enjoyed meeting them; it’s always fun for us when family members do treatment together.  I like seeing them support each other.

“So...you came for a consultation today for yourself,” Dr. Carter said.  “What concerns do you have?”

“I have always been embarrassed about my teeth,” Carrie admitted.  “Because they’re so crowded and overlapping,” she pointed to her smile.  “It’s never been possible to pay for braces until now, so,” she shrugged.

“Okay,” Dr. Carter nodded, thoughtfully.  “Well, thank you for getting all the records with Annette. I have everything I need to come up with a  treatment plan for you.  It is possible to align your teeth and fix the crowding and overlapping,” she said encouragingly.  “The way to do it is braces – like your sister has -along with rubber bands to connect your top and bottom jaws to help pull things to the right alignment.  The entire treatment should take about 18 months.”  Dr. Carter looked down at the table and found a brochure she passed to Carrie.  “And you actually have really good insurance, so your insurance company will pay for most of the treatment.  Where do you work, just out of curiosity?”

“ConocoPhillips,” Carrie said.  “I started working there this spring. I’m just a secretary, but we have great benefits.”

“Good for you!” Dr. Carter said with a genuine metallic smile.  “What questions can I answer for you?”

“None, really,” Carrie shook her head.  “I saw Vanessa and Gracie this weekend, so I asked them all the questions I had about having braces.  They set my mind at ease.  And, if it’s not too personal, you seem to be doing well with your braces, so that helps, too.”  Dr. Carter grinned.

“Yeah, I finally had to put my money where my mouth is.  Or, I guess in my case, put my mouth where my money is?” she laughed.  “I’m glad it helped; braces really don’t have to be a big deal.”

“How long have you had yours?” Carrie asked.

“About six months.  This is actually my second time.  I had my first set in dental school – my family couldn’t afford braces when I was growing up, either – and back then, orthodontists extracted teeth routinely.  So I had several teeth extracted and everything retracted to line up my teeth.  Now we know better when to extract teeth and when not to.  For the inappropriate cases – like me – it shrinks the airway, leads to jaw pain, abnormal tooth wear.  I was never really happy with my results and I was never good about wearing my retainers, so things shifted.  Twenty-five years later, here we are!” she gestured to her mouth.  “Right now, I’m lining my teeth up again.  Eventually, we’ll re-open all the extraction spaces and correct my bite.  Then replace the missing teeth with implants.  So you’ll beat me to the finish line by quite a bit!” she said, not sounding upset at all.

–----

That night, Jeff sat on the bed in his boxer shorts, waiting for Carrie to finish in the bathroom.  She came out in a pair of Jeff’s shorts and a bra.  He admired her, enjoying the way her short wavy dark hair framed the dimples in her cheeks, how the light from the bedside table reflected on her soft olive skin, and smiling at the jiggle in her soft tummy as she walked.

“What?” she asked him, amused.

“You’re lovely,” Jeff said, kissing Carrie when she slipped into bed next to him.

“You’re silly, but thanks,” she kissed him back.

They looked at each other a bit awkwardly.

“Hey,” Jeff began, “I have something I wanted to show you...ask you about,” he blushed.

“Me too, actually,” Carrie said.  She turned and reached into the drawer of her nightstand.

“This may be an easier conversation than I thought,” Jeff laughed.  He held up a brochure identical to Carrie’s, with “Carter Orthodontics” printed on the cover.

“When did you see her?” Carrie asked, smiling.

“This morning, on my way to work.”

“I went this afternoon!” Carrie laughed.

“Great minds think alike.  So, I guess you’d be okay with it if I got braces?” Jeff asked.

“As long as you’re okay with me doing the same,” Carrie giggled, suddenly feeling both amused and relieved.  “I was worried you wouldn’t want me to get braces; wouldn’t want to see me with braces.”  she blushed.

“Hey,” Jeff took her hand.  “I love to see you.  I’m sure I’ll love seeing you with braces.  And we’ll be a matching pair,” he chuckled.

“I like that idea,” Carrie said. She leaned her head against Jeff’s shoulder.

---

Morgan waved to the young woman who walked into the Starbucks wearing a “Houston Pharmacy” school t-shirt and jean shorts.

“Morgan?  Hi!” the woman said, shaking Morgan’s hand.  She was a blonde about Morgan’s height with unstyled hair pulled back in a scrunchie, thick-rimmed glasses sitting on a nose that was disproportionately large for her face, and cheeks that were bumpy with acne.  She gave Morgan a friendly smile.  “I’m Elise, I’ll be your pharmacy ‘big sister’!”

“Great to meet you!” Morgan said, enthusiastically.  “I have so many questions!”

“Go for it,” Elise settled back in the chair next to Morgan.

“Do you like pharmacy school?” Morgan asked, nervously.

“Yes, but in a weird way?” Elise shrugged, carefully considering.  “I really like learning pharmacy, we have great classmates and professors, but it’s also super-stressful.  There’s so much to learn.  I’m starting my second year in the fall, so right now, I’m studying for our summer electives,” she gestured toward the backpack she’d dropped on the floor next to her chair, “and working full-time in a research lab.  And that feels like a relaxing summer vacation compared to first year,” she grinned.

----

“So great you are doing this together!” Dr. Carter said enthusiastically, rolling on her stool between the dental chairs where Jeff and Carrie sat side-by-side.  “Are you going to get matching colors for your braces?” she grinned, showing off her own orange ligatures.

“Oh!” Carrie was surprised.  “I hadn’t thought about colors.  What do you recommend?”

“Well, now that it’s June, a lot of our patients get Fourth of July colors, alternating red, white, and blue,” Dr. Carter said.  “How about that?”

“That sounds good,” Carrie nodded.  Jeff shrugged agreement.

“I’ll numb the areas where we’ll place those TADs we talked about, Jeff, then install Carrie’s braces while your anesthesia takes effect,” Dr. Carter explained.  She and Annette leaned Carrie’s and Jeff’s chairs back.


–---

An hour later, Annette raised Jeff’s chair back up.  His lips felt gingerly around the scratchy, bulky braces glued to his teeth.  Carrie, sitting sideways on the dental chair next to him, blushed and gave him a shy smile.  Her mouth seemed filled with metal.  The large brackets and zigzagging wire connected her jumbled teeth and the red, white, and blue ligature elastics were quite noticeable.

“You look good, babe,” Jeff said, resting his hand on her knee.  He could see her relax.

“Thanks, you too,” her lip snagged on one of the brackets as she gave a relieved smile.

“So we’re almost done,” Annettte said.  “I’ll give you guys some wax and get you both started on your rubber bands.  I know Dr. Carter explained how important the rubber bands are for your treatment.  Jeff, yours are Impala elastics.  Carrie, you’ll have Gorilla elastics,” she said, handing small plastic pouches to each of them.

“Jeff, watch how I put yours on,” Annette said, handing him a small mirror.  She picked one of the rubberbands out of the pouch with an instrument and quickly connected it to hooks on Jeff’s left canine teeth and his central incisors.  Then, she did the same on his right. The result was two rectangles stretching vertically at the front of his mouth.  He flexed his jaw, feeling the elastics tug his mouth shut again.
“And Carrie, here are yours,” Annette explained.  She deftly connected triangles at the sides of Carrie’s mouth from her canines to the next tooth back on the bottom.

“And the wax,” Annette said, holding up a small plastic package.  “There’s absolutely no need to have sore lips, guys, okay?” She looked at each of them.  “Just use the wax.  It may look kind of silly, but it will keep you so much more comfortable. A week from now, your lips will be adjusted and you won’t need it.  But this week?  Just keep everything covered in wax.”  She rolled a ball of wax between her fingers. “You put it on like this,” she said, demonstrating with Carrie.  “Roll it up, squish the ball of wax on every top front bracket and any other bracket that is rubbing your lips.  Pick it off with a fingernail before you eat and reapply after you brush.”

“Oh! That did make a difference!” Carrie slid her lips around the newly-waxed braces.

“And Dr. Carter said the rubberbands should just stay in all the time?” Jeff clarified.  He flexed his jaw, feeling the elastics stretch.

“That’s right,” Annette confirmed.  “Wear them 24/7. Take them out only for brushing, then put in a new pair.”



Jeff and Carrie grinned at each other – awkwardly, metallically – in their kitchen.  Jeff pulled Carrie close.

“So, you ever kissed a braceface?” he asked her.

“No,” Carrie chuckled. “How about you?”

“I guess we’d better practice,” Jeff shrugged, with mock-helplessness.

“I guess you’re right,” Carrie kept the joking mood going.  She looked up at him.

Gently, they kissed, touching their lips together.  It felt good.  Jeff pressed against Carrie.  Their top brackets made a clicking sound as they collided.  Jeff tasted the wax on Carrie’s brackets.  His tongue reached around the elastics at the front of his mouth, feeling for Carrie. Her braces were rough against his tongue.  He felt the rubberbands at the corners of her mouth stretch tight against his tongue.  Jeff slid his hand down the waistband of Carrie’s jeans, grabbing a handful of her soft butt.

“Get a room, you guys!” Morgan said, laughing, as she walked in the back door in her work clothes.  “You’re acting like teenagers,” she grinned at them, as Jeff and Carrie quickly stood up, blushing.

“Well, funny you should say that,” Carrie said, her eyes crinkling as she looked up at Jeff.  “Look what we just did,” she said, giving Morgan an exaggerated smile.

Morgan looked at both her parents, grinning metallically – and a bit self-consciously – at her, and smiled at them.  “Good for you!” she said.  “I know you wanted to get braces, Mom.  I’m glad you guys did it together.”

“Thanks,” Carrie said.  She looked at Jeff, then back to Morgan.  “You know, all three of us could do this together...”

“No,” Morgan shook her head decisively.  “You know how I feel.  I’m not going to show up at pharmacy school in braces.  Not that you two don’t look cute with your braces,” she added quickly, “but no.”

–----

The summer went by quickly for Morgan. She’d picked up extra shifts at a pharmacy across town and found herself working some 7 day weeks.  She justified it to herself because Elise had been very clear that there’d be no time for a job once school started.  Morgan hoped she’d be able to work the occasional weekend shift during the school year, but if not, at least she’d built up a nest egg this summer.

At Vanessa’s 4th of July party, Vanessa squealed when she saw Carrie’s new braces.  Gracie and Vanessa were also sporting red, white, and blue ligatures for the holiday, so Jeff, Carrie, Vanessa, and Gracie all took a set of metallic group pictures.

“Does this mean you’re getting braces, too, Morgan?” Gracie asked, excitedly.  She tried to hide her disappointment when Morgan firmly said no.

In early August, Elise sent Morgan a text.

Hey, I have a first-year study guide my big sister gave me last year.  When can you meet up so I can give it to you?

Morgan waved across the Starbucks to Elise, who pulled a fat 3-ring binder out of her backpack as she walked over to the table Morgan had commandeered in the back and stocked with snacks for a study session.  Elise dropped the heavy binder on the table with a thud, and leaned on her elbows toward Morgan, her eyes crinkling with a smile behind her thick glasses.

“Tho, are you feeling nervouth or exthited?” she asked, surprising Morgan with a thick lisp that sprayed saliva across Morgan’s face as Elise spoke.  Elise gave Morgan a wide smile and Morgan saw that since they’d met earlier in the summer, Elise had gotten full metal braces with hot-pink ligatures, and some sort of large, hot-pink plastic appliances that seemed to force her lower jaw forward and take up the space her tongue needed.

“How about both?” Morgan shrugged, laughing. 

“Thoundth familiar,” Elise nodded.  “Hopefully, thith will help,” she patted her hand on the binder.

“Thanks for bringing it,” Morgan said, gratefully.  “Would you mind going over it with me – we don’t have to look at everything, just kind of orient me?”  She pointed at the plate in the middle of the table.  “I ordered cookies!”

“Ooh! Thankth!” Elise said, cheerfully picking up a chocalate-chip cookie.  She opened the binder.  “Tho, the binder hath a thtudy guide for every firtht-year clath,” she paused to take an awkward bite of her cookie.  Morgan realized Elise’s pink appliances had plastic blocks that seemed to partially cover the biting surfaces of her upper and her lower teeth and kept her jaws far from closing completely. Elise was slowly mashing the cookie between the plastic blocks.  Morgan waited patiently.    “And a copy of examth from previouth yearth.”

“Wow!”

“Yeah, it’th pretty helpful,” Elise agreed.  She walked Morgan through the materials, course by course.  Morgan realized that Elise must be an excellent student as she obviously understood the information thoroughly, but could also explain it clearly to Morgan.  They worked for almost two hours, Elise lisping and spitting as she spoke and taking prolonged pauses to laboriously mash the cookies between the blocks of her appliance.

“Oh my goodness, Elise,” Morgan gushed as they reached the end of the study guide.  “You have no idea how much better I feel.  Thank you!”  Elise grinned at her, jaw thrust forward by the pink appliance and cookie debris mashed in her braces.

“Aww, I’m glad!” she said.  “What other quethtionth do you have?”  She pushed the binder across the table to Morgan and picked up her backpack.

“Well, it’s more of a personal question,” Morgan admitted, “but when did you get braces?”

“About two month ago,” Elise said.  “Right after we met the other time.”

“Umm,” Morgan was hesitant, “how are you doing with them?”

“Oh!” Elise smiled broadly, “I’m glad I got them.  Thethe twin blockth are thuper annoying,” she gestured to the pink appliances, “but my teeth were all crooked and it’th the perfect time to have bratheth.”

“Why’s that?” Morgan was surprised.

“Everybody in our program ith interethted in healthcare, tho it’th a thupportive group.  There’th alwayth a lot of people in each clath with bratheth.  Probably trying to do treatment before we apply for jobth,” Elise said, lightly.

“A lot of people have braces?” Morgan repeated.

“Oh, yeah,” Elise looked up, mentally tallying.  “Probably five or ten people in every year.  Why do you athk?”

“Well, because I’m going to be getting braces,” Morgan surprised herself as the words came out.

----

“It’s so nice to meet you, Morgan,” Dr. Carter said, giving Morgan a brightly-metallic smile as she slipped into the consult room.  “I feel like I’m taking care of your whole extended family,” she grinned.

“I guess you almost are,” Morgan smiled back.  “So, what’s the verdict?”

“Right to the point!” Dr. Carter nodded.  “Okay.  You have severe crowding, an overjet,” she gestured on the screen to the picture that showed Morgan’s top front teeth extending out ahead of the lowers, “and a deep bite.  That can all be corrected.  There are a few options to do it, but I’ll recommend one plan in particular.

“So, crowding.  We can fix it by extracting teeth or making space by moving teeth.  I’d prefer to treat you without extractions.  The overjet can also be treated by extracting top teeth to camoflague it or by moving your top teeth back to correct it.  Again, I’d recommend non-extraction.”

“I guess I’d prefer no extractions, too,” Morgan agreed.

“Great minds think alike,” Dr. Carter grinned.  “You should know what we’ll do to correct everything so you can be fully informed.  First, to create space, we’ll expand your jaws with appliances called expanders,” she placed two devices that looked to Morgan like metal spiders on the table.  “You’re done growing, so it won’t change the size of your jaws, but will expand the teeth within the bone enough for our needs.  To fix your deep bite, the top expander will have a bite plate built in to keep you from biting off your lower braces and position your jaw at the correct distance.  Imagine this connected to that,” she pointed to the expander as she dropped an appliance with a U-shaped arch attached to a large, clear acrylic rectangle at the front of the U.  “Last, to create more space and correct your overjet at the same time, we move your upper teeth back – thank you to Dr. Zepeda for having you get your wisdom teeth out – and the lower teeth forward.  Headgear like this one,” she placed a metal facebow attached to a network of straps on the table, “will pull your top teeth back.  And rubber bands will move your lower teeth forward and keep your bite from opening too much.”

“Oh!” Morgan was taken aback.  This seemed like a lot of stuff to go in her mouth.  She had envisioned simple braces like Gracie’s.  “How long would my treatment be?”

“24-36 months, depending on how quickly your jaws line up,” Dr. Carter said.  “Which of course depends on how well you wear the rubber bands and the headgear.”

“How much would I have to wear all of that?” Morgan gestured at the armamentarium on the table.

“The expanders and bite plate would be cemented on your teeth.  They’d stay in place for probably half or a little more of your treatment time.  The rubber bands would be 24/7 for the entire treatment.  Just plan for that from day 1.  Headgear would be most or all of your treatment depending on how fast your top teeth move back.  You’re an adult, so I understand you’d need to do part-time headgear wear.  12 hours per day would work, especially if you were willing to wear it any more than that whenever you could, like on weekends.”

Morgan nodded.  She breathed deeply, then exhaled decisively.

“Can I start today?”

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #1 on: 24. September 2024, 02:07:57 AM »
Wow!  This is great.  Thank you.  I can't wait until Morgan gets her appliances and maybe we can meet some of the other people in the program who have braces too?

Offline napacaster

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #2 on: 24. September 2024, 03:04:51 AM »
Great story! Can't wait for Morgan's appliances to be placed in her mouth.

Offline anton08

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #3 on: 24. September 2024, 09:42:21 AM »
Congratulations! A very well written beginning of a very nice phantasy! :)

Offline duncombec

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #4 on: 24. September 2024, 10:52:59 AM »
Honoured to be the source of inspiration!

Not sure if that's all, as a one parter, or if there's more to come, but an enjoyable read regardless!

Offline Orio

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #5 on: 24. September 2024, 13:03:16 PM »
Wow! Can't wait for the next chapter  :)

Offline bracessd

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #6 on: 24. September 2024, 17:26:25 PM »
Awesome job! Looking forward to the next chapter!

Offline r1r1r12000

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #7 on: 29. September 2024, 18:19:43 PM »
Thanks for the encouragement.  I had intended the first part to be the entire story, but turns out there's more to tell

Offline r1r1r12000

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #8 on: 29. September 2024, 18:21:41 PM »
“We can start whenever you’re ready,” Dr. Carter said, nodding to Morgan.

“Now is good,” Morgan said, sounding more confident than she felt.  “I start pharmacy school on Monday, so I don’t know when else I’ll have time for a long appointment.”

“Okay,” Dr. Carter gave Morgan an encouraging metal smile.  “We can install your braces now.  Your other appliances are 3D printed on our metal printer here in the office.  We’ll start working on those while we bond on your braces.  If you don’t mind waiting around for an hour or so, we’ll have the appliances ready for you as well, so you can start your treatment in earnest.”  She opened the folder Annette had given Morgan earlier.  “May I have your signature on this paperwork?”

A few minutes later, Annette leaned Morgan’s chair back in the treatment room and gave Morgan a dazzling perfect smile before she put on her mask. 

“Good for you!” Annette beamed.  “Are you excited?”

“I guess?” Morgan said, without much conviction.

Annette worked quickly, inserting lip retractors and suction tubing in Morgan’s propped-open mouth.  She rinsed and dried Morgan’s teeth, applied adhesive and shined a blue light.  Her brow furrowing with concentration, she carefully positioned brackets on most of the teeth.

Dr. Carter leaned into Morgan’s field of view, wearing a mask.

“Great work, Annette!”  She picked up a metal instrument and nudged some of the brackets slightly, looking from several directions with a mirror.

“All right!” she said, enthusiastically.  “Annette has your braces positioned perfectly.  She’ll shine the curing light to set things in place.  I just checked in our lab and your lower expander is mostly printed.  The upper expander will print in 20 or 30 minutes and our technician will install the expansion screws and attach your bite plate.  When that’s all ready, Annette will call you back and complete installing everything!”

Morgan sat in the quiet side of the waiting room, legs drawn up under her on the cushy chair, and felt her new braces with her lips.  They felt bulky and scratchy.  She seemed to just have brackets glued to her teeth with no wire or any of the colors she’d seen on other people’s braces.  Morgan figured that would all happen when her appliances were finished.

“New braces?” a kind voice asked.  Morgan looked up to see a tired-looking woman with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail settling into the seat across from her.  The woman was a little older than Morgan, maybe 30, and had a sleeping baby in a sling across her torso.  She smiled at Morgan.  She had metal braces with pink ligatures on well-aligned teeth.

“Yes,” Morgan gave her an embarrassed smile.  “How could you tell?”

“You were doing this,” the woman said, mimicking the awkward lip movements Morgan had been making to feel her braces.  “Everyone does it at first.  A week from now, your braces will feel totally natural to you, believe it or not.”

“Thanks.  How long have you had yours?” Morgan asked.

“Two years,” the woman smiled.  “She’s never seen me without them,” she inclined her head at the sleeping baby. 

Annette appeared at the woman’s elbow and silently gestured for her to come to the treatment area, trying not to wake the baby.  The woman stood up.  “It’s totally worth it!  Good luck!”

Morgan’s phone vibrated in the back pocket of her scrubs.  She stood up to fish it out and saw an email notification from the pharmacy school.

Welcome, Pharm. D 1st year class!

The faculty and upperclassmen of the Pharm. D program are excited to welcome you as part of the incoming class of future pharmacists.  Your cohort of 100 students is embarking on a strenuous 4-year journey that begins Monday...


Morgan read on, smiling to herself.  She exhaled, releasing some tension she hadn’t realized she was carrying.  Part of her – sometimes a big part – hadn’t really believed she’d get in to pharmacy school.  She sent a text message to Carrie.

Hey Mom, just got an email from the Dean of Students about orientation stuff for next week.  I guess it’s finally real.  Thank you for always supporting me.

Annette, smiling broadly as usual, waved to Morgan as she crossed the waiting room.

“Your appliances are ready!  Come on back!”  Morgan, still feeling the warm glow of her orientation email, gave Annette a happy smile.

“All right,” Annette grinned as she put on her mask and gloves.  “Important decisions first...what color do you want for your braces?”  She held up a laminated chart with two dozen bright colors.

“School colors, definitely,” Morgan said, upbeat.  She pointed at the University of Houston bright red on Annette’s chart.

“Yay!” Annette cheered her decision.  “You got it.  I’ll cement your expanders first.  They have some of the brackets I need before I can put the wires and colors on your braces.  Then I’ll show you how to turn your expanders and how to wear your rubberbands and your headgear.”

“It’s such cool technology Dr. Carter uses now,” Annette explained as she tucked the lip retractors and several cotton triangles in Morgan’s mouth.  “She designs your expanders digitally and we have a metal 3d printer in the office.  It’s all custom designed just for you and the bands that hold the appliances on your teeth don’t need separators anymore.  Just be glad about that!” she chuckled knowingly.

Annette carefully brushed adhesive on several of Morgan’s lower teeth, shined the blue light on them, then turned to work for a bit at something on the table out of Morgan’s view.  With a smooth motion, she turned back, holding a shiny metal appliance that resembled one of the metal spiders Dr. Carter had shown Morgan earlier, and seated it firmly on Morgan’s lower teeth.  Holding the appliance in place with one hand, Annette used a tiny brush to clean excess adhesive, then shined the blue light carefully in several places.

She replaced the cotton triangles, shifted the suction tubing, and repeated the same process for Morgan’s upper appliance.  Morgan’s impression as the shiny metal appliance moved through her field of view was that the upper appliance seemed much bigger than the lower.

Rapidly, Annette slipped thin U-shaped wires into Morgan’s braces. Morgan felt a tiny tug on each tooth as Annette stretched the bright-red ligature colors onto each bracket.  Annette wiggled the lip retractors out of Morgan’s mouth and, timing her reassuring smile to the instant Morgan’s lips and tongue felt her new mouth for the first time, said, “Yay! You’ve got braces!  Let me show you how to make everything work!”

“It all feels so new, right?” Annette asked.  “It’s crazy to think you’ll be fully adjusted in just a few days.”  Morgan nodded, wanting to believe her.  Her lips and tongue weren’t so sure yet.  “Yeah,” Annette went on, with a well-practiced and heartfelt pep talk, “adult patients are the best.  You guys always have such positive attitudes since you’re doing treatment on your own initiative.  And my adults get the best results, too, since you always follow Dr. Carter’s instructions to the letter.  I’ll show you how to turn your expanders.”

Annette held up a small bent metal rod attached to a plastic handle and passed Morgan a mirror.

“This is the expander key.  It’s basically like an Allen wrench,” Annette said.  “I’ll turn your top expander, you’ll watch me and turn the bottom; that one’s a bit easier to reach.  You put the tip of the key into the slot in the middle of the expander,” Annette reached into Morgan’s mouth.  Morgan watched, too engrossed in Annette’s demonstration to look at the overall effect of her braces in the mirror.  “Then rotate the key toward the back of your mouth until it won’t go farther,” she demonstrated, gently pushing the plastic handle down to Morgan’s chin.  Morgan felt very mild pressure in the roof of her mouth.

“Now you do the bottom one,” Annette passed Morgan the key.

Morgan tilted her head down to see the metal appliance behind her bottom teeth.  She spotted the slot in the middle of the appliance and, fumbling with the key, inserted the tip into a tiny hole in the screw that crossed the slot and connected the right and left halves.  She lowered the key handle until it sat against her bottom teeth.  She felt the same mild pressure against her bottom teeth.

“Perfect!” Annette enthused.  “You’ll do that once a week until Dr. Carter tells you to stop.  You should never feel pain when you turn the expander.  Maybe some pressure, okay?” Morgan nodded.

“Now, rubber bands,” Annette held up a baggie with a picture of a leaping Impala.  “For your treatment, the rubber bands are super important,” she looked at Morgan seriously.  Morgan nodded.  “They should be in absolutely – absolutely-” she looked again at Morgan, “all the time.  Take them out only when you brush your teeth, then immediately put in a new set from the bag.  You’ll probably have different shapes that you wear from time to time, but you’ll have some kind of rubber bands full-time from start to finish.  Right now, you’ll wear Class II triangles,” Annette hooked a yellowish elastic to Morgan’s upper left canine, her lower left canine, and her lower left molar, forming an isosceles triangle.  “You do the right side,” Annette handed Morgan the bag.  Morgan struggled less than she thought she would to attach the rubber band.  Maybe she’d picked up some tips from her parents this summer, she thought.

“Well done!  Those will stay in until you brush, then switch to a new set.  Now, your headgear,” Annette said, unfolding a set of straps from a pouch.  “I got red for your school colors?” she held it up.  Morgan nodded, smiling awkwardly.

“The facebow fits in these tubes on your back top teeth,” Annette demonstrated in the mirror, smoothly sliding the facebow in to place.  “The straps wrap behind your neck and over the top of your head,” she slid the bright red nylon straps around the back of Morgan’s head and snugged them in to place.  “Clip this ring at each side to the hook on the end of the facebow,” Annette said as she attached the right side.  She held out the strap and let Morgan attach the left.

“That’s it!” Annette said, encouragingly.  “Sometimes people think headgear’s a big deal, but it’s actually comfortable, right?”  Morgan shrugged her agreement.  She could feel a very gentle tug on her top teeth and feel light tension on the strap behind her neck and the straps at the crown of her head, but certainly no pain.
“Dr. Carter has prescribed your headgear to be worn 12 hours per day, seven days a week.  Consistency is super important to move your top teeth back, so it really needs to be every single day and it should be twelve consecutive hours.  You can eat and sleep with it.  Once you put it on, it should only come off for toothbrushing and showering.  And, the more hours you wear it, the faster it works, so whenever you can get more weartime – like on a weekend – try your best to get more than 12 hours, okay?”

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #9 on: 29. September 2024, 23:58:31 PM »
If there are more chapters to the story, could you please label them with a chapter or part number? It makes it much easier to keep track of the chapters when I add them to TheArchive. Even just reading them is easier if they are labelled. It would be a shame to miss a part of any story.

I like what you have written so far and eagerly await the next part.

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #10 on: 30. September 2024, 06:43:22 AM »
The writer can do whatever the hell they want to, it is their story.

I think this story is great and I am so appreciative that the writer has taken the time and effort to provide it for us to enjoy.

I am going to quit labeling or numbering my chapters now.

Offline duncombec

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #11 on: 30. September 2024, 16:03:54 PM »
It makes it much easier to keep track of the chapters when I add them to TheArchive. Even just reading them is easier if they are labelled. It would be a shame to miss a part of any story.

Clicking the orange 'new' button takes you to the first unread post in any thread, much as it's the case with any forum software.

I've never missed a post in a story yet using that function, whether the author chooses to number their chapters or not. 

Offline TonyBracesandSpecs

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #12 on: 03. October 2024, 21:04:16 PM »
Great story. Happy braces-wearing people everywhere  ;D

There are so many directions this story could take.

I'm looking forward to what happens when Morgan tries to speak. Will her enthusiasm turn to exasperation? Conversations with Elise should be fun, too. It'll also be interesting to see how Morgan deals with her headgear. I think Annette expects Morgan to leave the office wearing it, having effectively nudged her towards wearing it all the time. I'm not sure if Morgan has realised it yet. Twelve hours of continuous wear means she'll have to wear it in public at some point or else have no social life. Life at pharmacy school may be so hectic that Morgan decides it is easier to wear it full time...or maybe she'll try to hide it and end up on the naughty step with a timer attached to her headgear straps. How will Morgan's recently braced parents react? Delight that their daughter has taken the plunge or guilt that she is facing up to 3 years in headgear? What turns will their treatment take? Surely someone needs a tongue crib?  ;)

Offline Braces1234

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #13 on: 04. October 2024, 04:04:06 AM »
Great story, lots of people in it have and love their braces

Offline r1r1r12000

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #14 on: 04. October 2024, 20:20:52 PM »
Thank you for the kind comments!
This story could go so many directions, TonyBracesAndSpecs

Offline r1r1r12000

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #15 on: 04. October 2024, 20:25:06 PM »
“And that’s it!” Annette gave Morgan a dazzling smile.  “Congratulations!  I’m so excited for you!”  Annette’s enthusiasm was infectious.  Morgan smiled back.

“Thankth!” she said, the lisp surprising her.  “Oh! I gueth I’ve got to get uthed to thpeaking with all of thith,” Morgan gave an embarrassed laugh.

“It’s an adjustment,” Annette agreed.  “You look like you’re dressed for work?  I can help you take your headgear off.”

Holding the pouch stuffed with her headgear and all its straps, Morgan stepped out into the lobby.  She checked her phone.  She had just enough time to make it to work, at least if there were no traffic delays.

And of course, in Houston, there were.  Morgan jogged up to the back entrance of the pharmacy, typed the security code in the door, and hurriedly clocked in for her shift.  She was only a couple of minutes late.  Traffic had been nuts, so she’d had to concentrate on the road, and now the afternoon rush at the pharmacy was in full swing, so there was still no chance to check out her new braces in a mirror. 

Morgan had been feeling all around them with her lips and tongue while she drove, but there’d be no chance to slip away to the bathroom and see what it looked like.

“There you are,” said Mariana, the lead pharmacy tech, “go work a register,” she ordered, bustling away.  Mariana, when she wasn’t harried by customers, was Morgan’s friend.

Morgan logged in to the register, pulled the “Closed” placard from the counter, and, awkwardly smiling at her first customer, said “How can I help you?”

The four hours of her shift went by in a blink.  When she had time to think about it, Morgan was glad the pharmacy had been slammed.  She’d never really had a chance to be self-conscious, since she was so focused on work.  Even though she was aware of her lisp, none of the customers had seemed to care.  The only time her braces had been mentioned at all was by a young woman in a University of Houston t-shirt who smiled to show off her own metallic braces to Morgan and gave a thumbs-up as Morgan handed over her prescription, saying “Love the colors!”

Morgan walked in the kitchen door of her house feeling confident again.  Jeff was in the kitchen, pulling more of his frozen lasagna out of the oven.  Carrie was leaning against the counter, sipping from a canned beer.  Her eyes lit up, her round cheeks dimpled, and she gave Morgan a heavy metal smile of genuine pleasure.

“Hey sweetie!” Carrie’s elastics stretched at the corners of her mouth as she smiled.  “Your text message made my day.  I’m so proud of you.”  She put the beer on the counter and stepped across the kitchen to give Morgan a hug.

“Aww, thankth Mom,” Morgan said, giving Carrie a broad  smile.  Carrie’s eyes registered surprise before she smiled again at Morgan.

“I’m really proud of you,” she said again, hugging her daughter.

“U of H colors,” Jeff nodded, placing plates of lasagna on the table.  “Nice.”

“Do you mind me asking what changed your mind about getting braces?” Carrie asked, gently.

“Elithe thaid loth of people in the pharmathy program get bratheth,” Morgan explained, “tho I don’t need to worry about being the only one.  And Elithe got bratheth, too.  Thorry,” she put her hand over her mouth, blushing, “I have a big lithp.”

“I’m not having trouble understanding you, sweetie,” Carrie said, reassuringly.

They ate dinner, chatting about their days; Jeff and Carrie expertly weaving forks past their elastics.  Morgan struggled, realizing for the first time all day that the large acrylic bite block behind her front teeth was the only thing that made contact with her bottom teeth, forcing her to chew by mashing food between the bite block and her lower front teeth.  She snagged her elastics a few times with the tines of her fork, slingshotting lasagna and meat sauce across the table.

After a while, Jeff and Carrie having cleared their dishes and tidied the kitchen as Morgan laboriously chewed, she put her fork down.

“I am thuppothed to wear headgear,” Morgan announced to her parents.  “Twelve hourth a day minimum, but ath many hourth ath pothible when I can.  I’m going to put it on now, and if you thee me without it, can you help remind me to wear it?”

“Sure, honey,” Jeff said.  Carrie nodded her assent.

In the bathroom, Morgan leaned toward her mirror, grimacing at herself as she saw her orthodontia for the first time.  The bright red ligatures were definitely eye-catching and the shiny metal brackets and wires were impossible not to notice, but Morgan realized she didn’t hate how her smile looked with braces.  It was different, metallic and obvious, but not bad.  She opened and closed her mouth, seeing the rubberbands on the sides stretch.  The bite block hung down, visible below and behind her top front teeth, the translucent acrylic making it look a bit like an ice cube stuck in the roof of her mouth.  She bit down, seeing how only her bottom four front teeth could touch it, the rest of her teeth half an inch apart.  The expanders in the roof and floor of her mouth made a hard, irregular surface for her tongue.  Morgan’s tongue had been tracing the arms and expansion screws of the appliances all day, trying to get used to its new home.

She unpacked the headgear pouch Annette had given her and, after several missed attempts, aimed the ends of the facebow into the tubes on her top molars, then strapped the bright red combination straps around her head.



Monday morning, Morgan used the parking permit she’d received in the mail to open the gate across from the pharmacy building.  She pulled her battered Kia into the student parking area and carefully double-checked the backpack she’d packed last night.  Brand-new laptop with the school’s required specs, Elise’s binder of study materials, large water bottle, lunch-bag with soft foods, a toothbrush and baggie of elastics.

Smiling, excited, Morgan locked her car and walked with a bouncy step toward the building and the door with a placard reading “Pharmacy 1st Year Class.”

Offline napacaster

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #16 on: 05. October 2024, 16:55:52 PM »
Great story!

Offline r1r1r12000

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Re: All in the family
« Reply #17 on: 01. November 2024, 22:13:30 PM »
The lobby of the pharmacy school was crowded with excited men and women – mostly a few years younger than Morgan – who milled about a bit nervously.  Morgan followed signs with arrows directing her to a series of folding tables set up along the wall.  At the first table, she signed in, then moved down the wall to a table piled with tote bags with the school logo.  At the third table, Morgan smiled, surprised to see Elise manning the station next to a computer and a camera on a tripod.
“Hey Elithe!” Morgan greeted her mentor.  “I’m tho exthited!” she gave Elise a nervous metallic grin.

“Yay! You’re here!” Elise smiled back at her, the pink twin block appliances holding her lower jaw in its awkward propped-open and thrust-forward position.  Elise tilted her head, noticing Morgan’s smile.  “And you got your bratheth!  Great color thoithe!” she nodded approvingly.  “I’m doing ID phototh for all the new thtudenth,” Elise explained, gesturing to the wall by the camera. 

“Ok!”  Morgan placed her backpack on Elise’s table and turned to face the camera.  Elise clicked on the mouse.

“Big thmile!” Elise instructed.  The camera flashed.  The card printer on the table next to Elise hummed and dropped Elise’s new ID card in its tray.

Elise handed Morgan her ID card and a pharmacy school lanyard.  “Go to room 116, the big lecthure hall over there,” she pointed.  “Have fun today!  Congratulationth!”

Morgan clipped her ID card to the lanyard and looked at the picture Elise had just taken.  It was an extreme close-up of Morgan’s head, with surprising clarity and lighting.  Morgan recognized her curly, dark hair and dimpled cheeks.  Her broad smile showed the metallic braces, bright red ligatures, clear plastic bite plate, and elastics in detail.  As Morgan slipped the lanyard over her head and followed the crowd of new students into the lecture hall, she realized she wasn’t embarassed by her ID picture.  It seemed somehow appropriate.  A new school year, a new career, a new look.

The lecture hall was a wide room with long tables running in a semicircle around the podium at the front.  Each row was up several steps from the one before it.  The earlier-arriving students had mostly filled the back rows.  Morgan saw a friendly-looking face in the middle of the front row opposite the podium and headed to the neighboring empty seat.

“Mind if I thit here?” She asked, slipping into the cushioned lecture-hall seats attached by swinging arms to the tables.

“Go ahead!” the strikingly-pretty blonde young woman gestured toward the empty desktop next to her.  “What’s your name?” she asked as Morgan unpacked her laptop computer.

“Morgan!”

“I’m Sarah,” the blonde woman said.

“Good to meet you, Tharah...thorry...Tharah,” Morgan tried again, doing her best to enunciate, the bulky bite plate and expanders blocking her tongue.  “New bratheth,” she explained, gesturing lamely toward her mouth.

“No worries!” Sarah brushed off Morgan’s apology.  She smiled at Morgan with bright white, healthy, crooked teeth.  “Are you as nervous about this year as I am?” she asked, her voice lowered as if confessing something embarrassing to Morgan.

“Good morning, first year class!” a woman spoke into the microphone at the podium directly in front of Sarah.  Morgan looked up to see a middle-aged woman in a business suit whom she recognized from her interview.

“Welcome to the beginning of your pharmacy career!  I’m Dr. Segura, the Dean of Students.  Most of us met during your interviews last spring.  It is truly a pleasure to have you all here to begin a challenging, but rewarding program.”

Morgan felt the table jostle slightly under her elbows and turned to her right to see a tall, dark-haired man in jeans and boots trying to quietly take the seat next to her.  When she made eye contact, he gave her an embarrased shrug.

Dr. Segura continued on with her speech, introducing several other administrators and staff members. Then, at 9 o’clock, said “That is really it for our formal orientation.  You’ll find information about the white coat ceremony this week in your welcome tote bags.  And, now it’s time to get to work!  Dr. Miyazaki will have your first lecture in Pharmacology.”  Dr. Segura smiled self-consciously at the scattered applause as she left the room.  Dr. Miyazaki turned out to be a muscular, fast-moving man who plugged a flash drive into the podium computer and immediately began the first lecture.

By 12:30 when the morning lectures finished, Morgan’s brain and typing fingers were tired.  She yawned, feeling the rubber bands stretch tight between her jaws, and pushed her arms against the edge of the table, twisting her back from side to side.

“I guess we eat on campus, huh?” Sarah asked, looking at the time on her phone.  “The next lecture starts in 30 minutes.”

“There were thome tableth in the lobby out there,” Morgan pointed.  “Want to eat with me?”  she stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.  The man who had slipped in late stood up to let them pass.  Morgan realized he was older than the other students, with faint traces of gray in the stubble on his face.  “I’m Morgan,” she said, extending her hand and smiling at him.

“Ian,” he said, shaking her hand and nodding, still looking slightly embarrased.

“Do you want to eat with uth?” Morgan gestured to Sarah.

“Sure, ok,” Ian nodded, stuffing a notebook in his backpack.  He looked back at Morgan, finally smiling.  “Thanks.”  Morgan was surprised that Ian had full metal braces on extremely crowded teeth, globs of wax caked on several brackets, and elastics that looked similar to Morgan’s.

“So, what’s your story?” Sarah asked Morgan as the three of them settled around a small circular table on the edge of the lobby.  Sarah unwrapped a protein bar.

“I’ve been a pharmathy tech for eight yearth,” Morgan said, “while I worked my way through undergrad.  I’m tho exthited to be here!  How about you, Ian?” she asked, catching him struggling to remove his rubberbands with his index finger.  Ian blushed.

“Um, this is a career change for me,” he explained, his lips moving awkwardly over his metal brackets.  “I was a high school teacher most recently.  Some sales jobs before that.  My wife says pharmacy had better stick,” he gave a genuine smile.  “We have two little kids, so it’s time for me to have a career.”  He shrugged.  “What about you, Sarah?” he asked.

“No interesting backstory like you guys,” Sarah said.  “I just graduated from UT and I got in to pharmacy school, so here I am!”

Morgan ate the pudding she’d packed, careful to avoid her rubber bands as she inserted the spoon in her mouth.  She pursed her lips, licking pudding off of her brackets.

“Are you both coming to the white coat theremony on Friday?” she asked, pointing to the announcement she’d found in her tote bag.

“Oh, definitely!” Sarah said.

“Yeah,” Ian said.  “My wife wants to bring the kids.  It’s after their bedtime, so sorry in advance if they’re fussy,” he gave another shrug and a metallic grin.  “Um, Morgan...weird question for somebody I just met, but if those are Impala rubber bands you have, can I have two of them?  I forgot to bring the little baggie with more.”

“Oh! Thure!” Morgan reached in her backpack for her tiny package of elastics.

“Aww!” Sarah smiled at them as she stood up from the table.  “You’re rubber band buddies now!”