Work Text:
November 2nd 1901
It wasn’t like Calpurnia Tate was surprised by how insistent her mother had been on trying to turn her into a proper lady. It had first started over two years ago when Callie was still only eleven years old and ever since she had turned fourteen on October 14th(ha!), her mother had increased her efforts tenfold. She barely had any time to actually enjoy her birthday or the new Scientific Encyclopedia gifted to her by Walter Tate-her grandfather or the only adult in the family who really understood her. No, the day after her birthday, Margaret Tate decided that it was more necessary than ever to teach Calpurnia how to be a proper lady. So far, Callie had been forced to help make meals three times a week, work on her knitting more often(she had made it up to gloves again after the awful attempt from last year), and spend more time practicing the piano. Callie could sometimes reluctantly admit that those skills could be useful to an extent-Granddaddy had once told her how much the men came to value the art of knitting during the War Between the States- but it didn't stop her from finding the whole thing unbearably boring.
Her real interests and passions lay in Science and exploring the Natural World with Granddaddy. She and Walter Tate shared a mutual love for the natural world around them and the two of them would often work together in his laboratory or explore the land outside the Tate’s home for something new and exciting to observe. In fact if it were up to Callie, she'd do nothing but study Science with him all day and every day. Most of the times the two of them just stumbled across a leaf or insect they had seen plenty of times before, but it was always an experience that Callie enjoyed nonetheless. Besides, only a couple years ago they had managed to find a whole new species of vetch. Who said she couldn’t find another species in her lifetime?
At the moment however, Callie was working(rather slowly) on another one of the gloves for her many, many brothers as she sat in the Tate’s parlor room.. “Why do I have six of them?” She muttered under her breath as she drew another yarn loop through her needle stitch. She had(finally!) made it through her little brothers’ gloves and now she was moving onto gloves for her older brothers. It was just her luck that her first older brother was probably also her least favorite brother. Lamar Tate was really only two years older than Callie, but he had an annoying superiority about him and had acted like a pill for the last few years. He was also the one who had made the most crude comments about her knitting whereas her other brothers were usually polite enough to keep their mouths shut.
The worst part was that Callie’s knitting skills were one of the few(very few) times where the pill actually had a bit of a point. Knitting(and sewing) were far from Callie’s strong suit and her final results could often only be described as average at best. Nobody in her family ever wore any of her knitting projects(not that Callie could really blame them) and she highly suspected everyone would be happier if she had just ordered all her male relatives gloves from Sears. She had even suggested that to her mother one day while they were out shopping with her cousin Aggie Finch(who was now married to Lafayette Lumpkin), but she had been shut down rather quickly.
It was true however that her skills did start improving as she kept working on her knitting and that(even if he never wore them) Lamar(as well as Sam Houston and Harry) would at least have passable gloves. Father and Granddaddy would likely have the best gloves however(and Callie would privately admit to putting more effort into Granddaddy’s gloves than anyone else’s), but most everyone else would have to deal with meager gloves at best.
Callie looked out the window after casting yet another endless stitch(what was the likelihood of getting her brothers to knit their own gloves?) and really felt how monotone it all seemed at the moment. Harry was out visiting Fern Spitty(someone whom Callie highly suspected was going to end up being her brother’s wife); Sam Houston and Lamar had been roped into helping their father out at the cotton gin(something about teaching them the ways of the business); Travis was outside with his coydog Scruffy and Sully and J.B were having an impromptu game of wrestling according to her window side view.
She almost wished one of her brothers would come inside and provide a distraction. She’d even be a little bit grateful if Lamar decided to come in, because at least arguing with him would be more eventful than knitting. Her mother wasn’t even in the room at the moment(she had needed to ask their cook Viola about something) and the longer she was gone, the more tempted Calpurnia was to just throw her needles aside and rush outside to meet Granddaddy.
Before she could actually do anything about that however, Margaret Tate came back into the parlor. “I was just speaking to Viola about the dessert you’ll be making for after dinner tonight. You’re going to make a chocolate cheesecake.”
Now Calpurnia loved cheesecake and desserts as much as anyone else, but she could never make them as well as her Mother and Viola did. Furthermore it didn’t help that everyone in her family devoured the whole thing in fifteen seconds flat, so Callie rarely got any time to enjoy the products of her labor. This was the third time this week she would have made dessert- Monday she made blueberry cobbler and Tuesday she had made a peach pie which really turned out to be a peach cobbler. At least she got a break yesterday, but now not only had she been knitting for the last few hours, she would have also to bake yet another dessert for her family members who would barely appreciate her work.
“Mother-“ Calpurnia began, but one look from Margaret Tate made her fall silent. She was the only daughter in the Tate family however and as such that meant the housework lessons were mostly(actually completely) delegated to her.
“And then I thought perhaps we’d look into some ballroom lessons,” Mother said. “For your debutante.”
A debutante or a coming out was when a young lady was officially ready to be a “part of society” by going to plenty of balls, social events, and meeting young gentlemen. It was expected that by the end they would have a husband and a few of Callie’s classmates-like the interminable Dovie Medlin- had already been talking about it. Callie however was nowhere near as excited about that future possibility.
“Mother, that’s not even until I’m eighteen!” Callie protested as she put down her half finished glove. Her voice must have been louder than necessary because Mother shot her another warning look. Stronger this time.
“Yes, well it never hurts to get an early start,” Mrs. Tate said.
Callie sighed and picked up the knitting needle once again. The only boys she really knew(outside of her too many brothers) were the ones from school and she couldn’t imagine marrying any of them at the moment. She knew Mother meant the best for her, but why couldn’t she understand that she really just wanted to be with Granddaddy learning about science? At least, whenever she was outside she truly felt like she was doing something worthwhile.
It took another forty minutes of nearly unbearable monotony, but at last she finished one of Lamar’s gloves. She didn't exactly see her older brother as being especially grateful for these gloves(nor could she any of her other brothers or Father or Granddaddy making much of a fuss either), and this combined with her already growing weariness made her want to be done for today. Anyway, she had already knitted a pair for Travis that day and she felt that three gloves was enough to warrant a break.
“Mother,” She began. “Could I please have a break now? I think I’m getting a headache.”
“Let me see what you did,” Mother said and Callie handed over the pair of gloves and the one extra glove. “Well, it’s passable,” Mother said after a few moments. “Alright, you may go.”
Normally Callie would have rushed out to meet Granddaddy, but she felt too exhausted at the moment and instead she crept up to her bedroom.
She was lying on her bed with her door slightly propped open. She hadn’t been able to muster the energy to close it and that likely made her younger brother Travis stick his head through the door. She and Travis were only a year apart(Travis would be turning thirteen in just a few months), and Callie probably got along with him the most. Harry was still her favorite, but Travis really cared a lot about animals(even if he had a very soft heart and stomach) and that was pretty similar to Callie’s love for nature.
He was also one of the nicest of Callie’s brothers and this prompted her to say, “You can come in.”
Travis walked in and perched on the edge of her bed. “Are you alright Callie?” Callie sat up further in her bed, but only managed to shrug.
“I’m just tired,” Callie admitted. “I was knitting basically all morning and I have to make dessert tonight.”
Travis nodded sympathetically. He was well aware of how much Callie detested cooking, sewing, and knitting as he often had to listen to her complaints about them. “What are you making tonight?”
“A chocolate cheesecake,” Callie said. “Which will probably be eaten in fifteen seconds flat.”
“Well that just means it’s good doesn’t it?” Travis asked her.
“I guess,” Callie said. “But you try spending hours making something only to have all your work disappear in a flash. I don’t know how Viola does it.”
“It does seem pretty hard,” Travis agreed. “You know, Scruffy and I were going to go on another walk. You could come with us.”
Callie tried to smile at her brother, but she wasn’t sure if it reached her eyes or if it even looked like a smile at all. “Maybe. I’m just really tired. I think I’m going to have to start dancing soon.”
“Dancing with whom?” Travis asked her.
“I have no idea,” Callie said. “But Mother’s been really onto me about all this being a proper lady stuff. I barely have any time to do what I want to do.”
“You still want to be a Scientist right or an animal doctor?” Travis asked her.
“I’d like to,” Callie admitted. “But it’ll be hard. I’ll have to work extra to convince Mother and Father to let me go to college for it and I would need help from other people to make it happen.”
“I’d help you,” Travis declared.
“That’s nice Travis,” Callie said as if Travis was throwing her a bone and both of them knew it.
“No really,” Travis said. “I mean at one point I’ll be out of the house. And so if you ever need any help becoming a real scientist or animal doctor, I’d help you out however I could.”
It was such a sweet(if a little naive) gesture from her little brother that Callie couldn’t help but quickly embrace him. Travis returned the hug a moment later and Callie pulled back after a few seconds.
“Thanks Travis,” She said.
Travis shrugged and smiled. “What are brothers for?” He asked her.
Callie smiled slightly and said, “Do you still want to go on that walk?”
“Yup,” Travis said, looking even more cheerful. “Let’s go.”
The two siblings plus one coydog walked among the acres of the Tate house. Callie had grabbed her Scientific Notebook before they left and was using it to jot down anything interesting she found outdoors. Granddaddy had taught her that one of the most important lessons regarding Science was to observe the world carefully and she kept that lesson close to her heart.
At one point the three of them stopped near the river. Travis immediately grabbed a stick and began playing fetch with Scruffy. Callie sat down near the river’s edge and began to observe the creatures she found near it. She worked on drawing and labeling them in her notebook with the intent of showing them to Granddaddy later on. Hopefully, the two of them would be able to spend more time together soon.
Her gaze wandered again to her younger brother and she smiled a bit. It was true that today had been a little frustrating for her. All that knitting and then having to bake yet another dessert made her more than a little tired. And she knew that Margaret Tate probably just wanted what was best for her, which almost made everything all the harder. But, at the same time it was also true that she had people who believed in her own dreams as well. Callie was well aware that she was smart and knew that she was passionate about Science. Her grandfather could see that passion and it it looked Travis could see it as well. She knew that their encouragement was something quite special and she would hold onto it for the years to come.