The Family Reunion
Chapter One
The Phone Call
Karlene Cooper came in from work and just sat at the island bar in her kitchen, having a glass of wine to unwind from her day, and she hasn't even checked her answering machine yet. She hates her boss, and the way he's always trying to put her down, when she works harder than anyone else at that diner. She never had any interest in the scientific world like her parents, and although her Mother told her as long as she was happy, then she was happy for her, Sheldon on the other hand, never let it go, and that drove her away from California. She moved all the way across the country, to which she said that wasn't enough of a distance from her Father. Yes she missed her sister and brother, and the whole gang she's grown up to know as her Aunts and Uncles and cousins, but she always makes sure to keep in touch with them all. However, when Sheldon tries to call her, she never answers. She goes outside to the mailbox to check her mail, and she sees a letter from Halley and Samantha.
"Hey Karlene. How are you doing? We miss you like crazy but we understand why you left like you did. If our Dad would have done that to us, we would have left too. We were talking to Daniel and Sarah yesterday, and they suggested that we all have a family reunion. Now, we understand if you don't wanna come, but it sure would be nice to get the whole gang together again. Maybe go to the roller rink or something. I know that you have your job and you're training for General Manager in about two weeks. Maybe you could get some time off and be back in New York in time to start your training. Your Mom asked us to write you and let you know about our reunion and that it's for this Saturday. Hopefully you can get off of work for a few days. Let us know what you decide. We love you, and take care of yourself out there okay. Love always, Halley Chanel and Samantha Dawn." The letter said. Karlene's just headed back inside when her fiance drives up to visit with her.
"Hey baby. I got ya something today. I seen it at work and thought of you instantly." David tells her.
"Thank You so much. What is it?" Karlene replies.
"I guess you'll have to wait until we get inside and I'll show you." David says, and Karlene throws her arms around him and hugs him and kisses him.
"You spoil me. You know that?" Karlene says, while they make their way inside.
"But of course. That's my job. So, what do you have planned for this weekend? Anything special?" David asks, while having her to hop on his back for him to give her a piggy back ride inside.
"Sort of, yeah. My cousins Halley and Samantha sent me a letter, and I'm going to try to get this weekend off from work. I know I have to have at least a week in advance notice, but since I'm training for General Manager in two weeks, it should be okay right?" Karlene explains.
"That depends honey. What's going on? Where are you going?" David asks, setting her down in the kitchen and she pours him some wine.
"They wanted me to know that my Mom and everyone, are putting together a family reunion. It's high time that I go home and see everyone. I'll come back after the reunion though. I mean, I have too. I'm training for General Manager in two weeks, and I'm not going to let that slip past me. Wanna go with me?" Karlene explains farther.
"Whoa babe. No one knows there, that we're engaged, and your Dad pushed you away by trying to force his work on you. Are you sure you want to do this?" David asks.
"It would be nice to see everyone again. I mean, I'm 27 now, I've been away from Dad for nine years now. I'm sure the air's cleared enough to where he won't hound me as soon as I walk through the door. Please say you'll come with me." Karlene replies, and she gives her little pouty look that he just can't say no to.
"Oh no, not that look. Those eyes, and that lip, that face. Oh okay! You've convinced me. Damn it woman, you're good. You play dirty." David says with a smile, and she just grins and pours them some more wine.
"I'll get that." She says, going to answer the phone. It's her boss from Shoney's. She lets him know that she got a letter for a family reunion and he tells her, "Yeah. That's fine. You can take off for that. You're gonna be starting training soon for the General Manager position. Karlene, that's actually why I push you so hard. You're the best damn server I have here. You're gonna be under a lot of pressure and stress when you step up to take GM and I don't want you to crack. Can you see why I push you so hard now?"
"Yes I can. I understand. It's funny. All this time, I thought you hated me. Okay, I'll let you get back to work. Thanks for the time off. I'll be leaving in the morning for California. I only have two days to get everything together before our reunion. Thanks again." Karlene tells him. She gets off the phone and says, "I can't believe it. He and I finally came to an understanding. California or bust baby."
"Oh no." David says, and he lays his forehead up against the counter, with his face down. He starts fearing the worst that no one will like him, but Karlene goes into the bedroom and starts packing, and she hollers to him, "Don't worry honey. Everyone's going to love you."
Chapter Two
Home Again
Karlene and David, pull up outside her child hood home, and it looks as though, only her Mom is home. They get out of the car and hear Neil Diamond in the back yard, and when they walk around to the back patio where the pool is that they just put in three years ago, Karlene sees her Mom in a lawn chair, sunbathing, and singing along to "Coming To America."
"On the boats and on the planes," Amy sings, and Karlene follows and sings, "They're coming to America."
"Karlene? I almost didn't know ya. You've changed so much. What happened to your skirts you used to wear all the time?" Amy asks, while getting out of the lawn chair and going to hug her. Karlene hangs onto her for the longest time and then she sees David coming up to them.
"I left that all behind when I left. If I'm not in my uniform for work, I'm in shorts or jeans, and casual comfortable clothes now. I grew my hair out though, and keep it pulled back all the time. Mom, this is David. He's my fiance. David honey, this is my Mom, Amy." Karlene says, introducing them.
"It's so nice to meet you. She's never mentioned you. We hardly get to talk to her anymore. Where do you work at out there in New York?" Amy asks, and he gives her a quick hug.
"I'm a surgeon. I work at Metropolitan Hospital. You should have seen what I got for her out of the hospital gift shop the other day. A snow globe of Central Park in the winter time. I instantly thought of her when I seen it in the hospital gift shop." David replies, and around that time, Karlene hears, "Hey sis. Oh, I've missed you."
"Hey Danny. Where's Sarah?" Karlene asks as Daniel hugs her, picking her up off the ground. He's younger than her, but strong enough to pick up both his sisters.
"She went to town to get some stuff for Saturday. When did you get Halley and Samantha's letter?" Daniel asks.
"I got it yesterday. Instead of driving from New York, we took the Red Eye, and got a rental car, and we arrived early this morning. I'm beat, and that pool looks so wonderful." Karlene replies, and then she hears her Dad's voice, asking Amy who's car is in the drive way. He steps outside to see Karlene and he holds his arms out to her for a hug. It takes her a couple of minutes, but she finally goes to him.
"I'm so glad you came. You have changed so much. How have you been doing?" Sheldon asks, while still hugging her.
"Great. I'll be training in two weeks at work for the General Manager position. My pay will go up from $9.00 and hour, to $12.00 and hour. Now I know why my boss has been running me down all the time. He said that when I take the GM spot, I'll be under just as much if not, more pressure than what he's putting me under, so he wants to make sure I don't crack on him." Karlene explains when Sarah comes outside and says, "That damn store clerk is so freaking stupid. I gave that ass hole a fifty dollar bill, and he tried to stiff me on the change! The nerve of some people. And what am I doing? Karlene, I didn't know you were here. Oh my God, it's been nine years!" Sarah cries out, and she drops the bags of stuff, and runs to her sister.
"So, the store clerk? What happened now?" Karlene asks, and her, Sarah, and Danny, all go sit on the side of the pool and talk.
"Okay so I went in there to get paper plates, bowls, and utensils okay. After that, I got some vegan products for all of us, assuming you're still vegan like us, and it came to $28.47, but when I gave that guy a fifty, he only wanted to give me a ten dollar bill back. He should have gave me $21.53." Sarah says.
"What the hell man? Doesn't that boy know how to add?" Danny asks, while mixing up his drink.
"Apparently not. I don't know what they're teaching these people in school anymore. He tried to say it has been busy in there today. All I seen was three people throughout that whole store." Sarah replies, and Karlene who's been in New York for nine years and been around all the rough language, lights a cigarette and says, "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Three people in there and he's saying it's busy? Good Lord gravy."
"I know right? So, how's thing's in the big apple going?" Sarah asks, and she asks for one of Karlene's cigarettes. Sheldon and Amy never liked the fact that all three of their kids picked up smoking, but at least they never hid it from their parents. That's the one thing they asked of all of them, was to never do it behind their backs, but in front of them instead.
"Looks like to me that someone missed her brother and sister." David tells Amy.
"Yeah. Me too. This is what they all needed. Sarah and Daniel have been miserable without her since she's been gone. Has she ever said anything about them, that you know of?" Amy replies.
"Oh yeah, all the time. She's always talking about child hood memories and schemes that they all have pulled throughout the years. She is always dusting off pictures of them, almost every day. She said, no dust bunnies are collecting on her brother and sister. So, what happened to make her leave like that? I only know a little bit." David tells her.
"Well. Sheldon kept trying to push her into science, and he never let up on her. All her life he was trying to get her to go into the same career as him, and finally it came to a head. When she was 18, he thought he'd try again, and pardon my language here. I'm sure you've heard worse in New York. She simply cussed him out and said, that's it Dad. I have had it with your constant nagging me, and I told you once that if you didn't fucking stop, I was leaving. You were warned, and you kept at it anyway. Now, your ass has lost me. I'll never forget that conversation. So come on, tell me. How did you two meet?" Amy says, first telling him about how Karlene basically came to hate her Dad.
"She came into the hospital one day with a broken wrist. She had fell at work and I examined her, and looked over her x rays, and from there, I put her wrist back together. She has a metal plate in her left wrist. When she came out of surgery, she was still drugged up from the anesthesia and she said, "Hey, I love you." I thought it was so cute. A week later when she came in for a post op appointment, I told her about what she said, and her face turned as red as a tomato. Instead of allowing it to go any farther with her humiliation, I asked her if she'd like to go for coffee some time, she accepted the offer, and it kind of took off from there." David explains.
"That's so sweet. We never knew about any of that with her wrist but, thank you for taking such good care of her." Amy tells him.
That night, Sheldon and Amy told all the kids they could stay there at the house in their old bed rooms if they wanted to, until after the reunion, and they all jumped at the idea. Karlene and David are in her room, watching a movie when Danny and Sarah knock on the door and they have Monopoly with them.
"What is this guys? Haven't you learned anything about playing with me yet?" Karlene says.
"Yeah, but that was ten years ago, and you said that the next time we all get the chance to do so, we'd pick up where we left off. So, you beat us pretty bad the last few times, and now, it's our time to shine." Sarah replies. David and Karlene share a look and then look back over to Daniel and Sarah, and they both say, "We're in." The game gets started and since everyone is of drinking age, Karlene opens the window and turns the celing fan on so their parents don't smell the smoke, and they have their smokes and mixed drinks, and have a Monopoly party until well after 4:00 the next morning.
Chapter Three
The Blow Up
Friday, the day before the reunion is to take place, Karlene is out in the yard, around the pool, making sure that everything's good to go. Daniel and Sarah are helping her, and David's inside helping Amy and Sheldon get everything ready.
"Excuse me guys. I'm looking for a tall brunette, looks a lot like her Mother, not seen her for nine years. I think her name's Karlene. Know where I can find her?" Penny asks, after pulling up in the driveway and walking around to the back to mess with them all. She knew she was there, but just wanted to have some fun since she hadn't seen here in all that time.
"Aunt Penny? Is that really you?" Karlene asks, and she runs over to her and hugs her.
"Oh my gosh. Your Mom and Dad called last night and said you finally arrived. What have you been doing with yourself since you left?" Penny tells her.
"I'm going to start my training in a couple of weeks for the General Manager position at Shoney's when I get back. You know, that's why I left is because of Dad always trying to push me into doing something I wasn't interested in. Look here what I got." Karlene replies, and she shows her the ring that David got for her. Penny sees it and says, "Oh my God! You're engaged? Oh that's great. Hey, do you guys need any help with anything?"
"We've just about got it. Please tell Uncle Leonard I said hello when you see him again. I gotta get back to work. Are you staying for a bit though?" Karlene asks.
"No. Just dropped by to see ya before tomorrow, and since you all don't need any help, I'll head back home and do some cleaning there. Tell your Mom and Dad I said hi okay." Penny tells her. After Penny leaves, Karlene is back to helping her brother and sister get everything ready outside, and she even checks the chemicals in the pool, making sure they are level when Sheldon comes out to talk to her. They go off to the side of the house and Daniel says, "He better not try anything to make her come back home and go into Science. She's happy, and he needs to leave her alone. All I'm saying, I promise."
"You don't think he will do you?" Sarah replies.
"Who knows? Dad's a whole other monster." Daniel says.
"Hey, I wanted to ask you if you're really happy with the path you've chosen for yourself." Sheldon tells her.
"What do you mean Dad? Yes I'm very happy with my decision. It was because you kept pushing the subject down my throat and I didn't want to hear any more of it, and I still don't. So I left. Can we leave it alone?" Karlene replies, with the sound in her voice that says she's done having this conversation.
"The only thing I want is to leave a lagacy behind in all of my children. Your brother and sister went into scientific studies. I just wanted to make sure you all are financially set for life. Why can't you just understand that?" Sheldon asks.
"Why can't you just understand that I'm happy doing my own thing. I don't like science, I don't care about it, I enjoy my job and the people I work with. I'm going to be doing something that takes a lot of focus and concentration. Being a General Manager at a restaurant, is one step below being a District Manager. I am going to have the power to hire, interview, and if need be, fire people. I don't want to do that but, if it ever comes to it, I'll be in charge of making those decisions. What I need for you to do, is get off of your damn high horse and leave me alone about it." Karlene tells him.
"Get off my high horse? All I wanted was to make sure none of my kids made any poor decisions about their career choices. Where do you think a General Manager at a restaurant is going to get you?" Sheldon sort of snaps.
"It got me away from you damn it! Dad, I'm warning you. Back the hell off of me, or I swear to God, you will never see me again after the reunion. I'll do the same as I've been doing only, I'll have your number blocked on my phone, I'll block you off of Facebook, and I'll put a restraining order against you. Now, if you don't want to lose me forever, I suggest you do as I have said, and leave me alone. Quit acting like what I choose to do is always the wrong thing. So what!? I didn't go into Science. Boo fucking hoo!" Karlene yells at him, and that brings Amy out of the house where she jumps in the middle of them.
"Knock it off both of you. Every time you and her get together Sheldon, you do this. Leave her alone, and let her make her own decisions. She's buying a house in New York with her income, and owns her car, and she's doing just fine. Accept it for what it is, cause ya know something? I do not want to see her turn away from you forever, and if you keep pushing her that's what's going to happen. You think about that." Amy tells him.
"Thank You." Karlene says, and Amy turns to her next.
"And you Karlene Raye, have the respect to listen to him. You don't have to what he says anymore. You're an adult and have the right to live your life the way you see fit. You can however just listen to him, make him think you're interested in what he's saying, then when you get back home, do your own thing. I understand that he can get annoying. He's just so into string theory, he wanted his kids to follow after him. Not everyone is going to do what their parents do. I'm proud of you, and I know he is too. Right Sheldon?" Amy explains, and Sheldon says, "Yes. I am. I'm sorry for hounding you about this. It wasn't right." Karlene just tries to stomp off away from him and Amy hollers after her, using her middle name.
"Raye! Get back here." Amy says. Karlene turns around and with her arms crossed, she sighs, and says, "Look Dad. I'm sorry too but it's just my whole life you've always had a problem with whatever I was doing because it wasn't what you wanted for me. You have to learn to trust your parenting with your children at some point in their lives, and know that you've raised them to be smart enough and strong enough to make the best decisions to fit their lives, and you and Mom have done that with me. I never liked Science in school, but I was good in the other subjects. I took Home Ec in the seventh grade and had a passion for diners and restaurants ever since. Mom's right Dad. I'm doing just fine, and I'm very happy with what I'm doing. Please, be happy for me."
"I am, and I'm so sorry that this has went way too far. I'll do my best in showing an interest in what you do from here on out. I love you Karlene." Sheldon tells her.
"I love you too Dad. I'm sorry for my language by the way. New Yorkers talk that way, and I guess since I've been around it for nine years, it's sort of rubbing off on me. We've got work to do for tomorrow. I gotta go back and help Daniel and Sarah finish." Karlene replies, and she hugs him, and kisses him on the cheek. She heads back to finish her work on the patio and Amy just hangs her head for a second.
"What? What's the matter?" Sheldon asks.
"Next time you pull that crap, I'm just gonna stand back and watch her knock you on your ass. You understand?! I have work to do. I suggest you get back to putting the grill together." Amy replies, and she runs off before he can answer her. Sheldon's left standing there with his hands in his pockets, not being able to really do anything else, and he's left alone with his thoughts.
"Damn it. They're both right. The most important thing is supporting your kids at any age and being happy for them with whatever they choose to do. I've been so stupid about this." Sheldon says to himself, and he goes back to the patio where he finds Karlene, Daniel, and Sarah, all three horse playing while cleaning up everything.
"Hey, you guys remember dirt clod dodge?" Karlene asks.
"You mean, like this?" Sarah replies, picking one up and throwing it at her. She hollers out in laughter, and then Daniel gets one and hits Sarah with it and says, "You're supposed to dodge girl!"
"You creepy little ass hole." Sarah says, making Sheldon laugh and she chases him around the pool, but it's slippery, and when she goes to grab him, they both land in the pool, clothes and all.
"What the heck? Are you two okay?" Amy asks, while coming outside and finding Karlene on her back from laughing so hard.
"I can't, I can't breath. Those two are, oh God. Hang on Mom." Karlene tries to say but she's still laughing so hard that now she can't talk. Sarah and Daniel come up out of the water, and he tells her, "Damn it. You caught me. That was fun. Let's get out of here and finish up." Daniel gets out first, then lifts Sarah out behind him and he looks down and sees blood running down her leg and onto her sock.
Chapter Four
E R Visit
They had to take Sarah to the Emergency Room because when her and Daniel went into the pool, she cut her shin about an inch deep, and five inches long, on the side of the pool where the liner's messed up. Sheldon didn't know apparently, or he would have had someone out to the house to fix it.
"I told ya so. Been telling you guys that your whole lives. You horse play, someone's bound to get hurt." Amy says while they are waiting for an available doctor to take care of Sarah's leg.
"Not now Mom. I'm hurting here." Sarah replies.
"Your Mother's right. It's always all fun and games until someone gets hurt." Sheldon tells them.
"Dad genug already. I feel bad enough for starting this game with them. We invented it when we were kids and we decided to pick up where we left off." Karlene says, and the nurse comes out to get her and take her back.
"Mom, will you go with me? I'm 24 but still want my Mom." Sarah tells her. Amy gets up, gets her a chair so the bleeding won't intensify with her walking on it, and when she gets to the doors of the E R, she turns around and says, "This is going to make the best I told ya so ever on Facebook later!"
"Okay, that doesn't look as bad as I thought it would when they told me about it. So fill me in here. What happened anyway?" Doctor Johnson says, while getting everything ready.
"When we were kids, my brother, sister, and I, all invented a game called dirt clod dodge, and we picked it back up while we were working on getting stuff ready for a family reunion tomorrow. Long story short, my brother threw one at me, and I took off after him, and the pool area was slippery, and we both fell in. Well, I guess that the liner was messed up cause, I got cut." Sarah explains.
"Yeah, I'd say you did. That's gonna need stitches. Let me numb ya up here and we'll get this shin taken care of." Doctor Johnson replies. He gets out the numbing medicine, puts it in the syringe, and says, "Dirt clod dodge. My goodness."
Later that night, everything is ready to go for the reunion the next day, and Sarah's on the couch putting ice on her shin, and trying to keep from hollering. Amy's upstairs putting laundry up and when she comes back, she's asking how Sarah's doing.
"It still hurts. I've taken the tylenol but it's not working." Sarah tells her, while still trying to apply the ice.
"Hate to say it but here goes. Told ya so." Amy replies.
"Ma, enough already. Sound like a broken record." Sarah says, and Amy only replies with, "Okay fine." She goes into the kitchen next, and just as she's getting ready to say it again, Sarah mouths the words, just as Amy says, "Told ya so!"
"Honey, stop picking on her. She's got it." Sheldon tells her.
"Thank You Dad. Finally, someone's on my side." Sarah says.
"Oh I never said I was on your side. You should have known better but, it's over and done with. Your Mom's having way too much fun with this. Can I show you a trick to that?" Sheldon replies, and he sits down beside her on the couch. He lays a thin towel over her stitches, and then lays the ice pack over the towel, and lightly presses so the ice pack will mold to her shin.
"Thanks Dad. That's so much better. Hey, what time is everyone supposed to be here tomorrow anyway?" Sarah asks, while lighting a cigarette and Sheldon glares at her. She asks him, "What? How am I supposed to get outside with this thing when I have an ice pack over my shin, with ten stitches?"
"Oh very well. Let me open the window and turn the fan on. I think your Mom said we're gonna eat around noon. Where's Daniel and Karlene at?" Sheldon replies.
"Daniel is in the shower, or he was. He might be in his old room watching TV by now. Karlene and David are on the back patio talking, and listening to the water run through the pump for the pool. It's really relaxing and calming just listening to that." Sarah tells him. He says that he and her Mom are gonna be headed to bed soon, and that it wouldn't hurt for the rest of them to do the same thing since the reunion's going to go on for awhile.
An hour later, Sarah's still up watching TV in the living room when David and Karlene come in from the back patio. They already have the pool closed up, and David's called the repair people for the liner. The pool can still be used, but all Amy and Sheldon are going to have to do is just let everyone know to avoid that area where the liner's torn.
"Hey, did Mom and Dad go to bed already?" Karlene asks her.
"Yeah, they went about an hour ago. Daniel I imagine is already in bed. I need to get there myself. I'm so excited to see everyone tomorrow. It's gonna be so much fun." Sarah tells her. She gets off of the couch, and slowly makes her way into the kitchen to put the ice pack back. She's already used it twice, and it's starting to get squishy on her.
"Need any help?" David offers.
"Not until I go to climb the stairs. I've been trying to stay off of this, but I still had to get up once in awhile. I didn't want to bother you guys if I needed something to drink or whatever." Sarah replies, and she finally makes it into the kitchen.
"You should asked one of us hon. You don't need to be on that very much. If you needed something to drink, you could have asked us. Let's get you upstairs." Karlene says, and she gets on the left side of her while David gets on the right side, and they both get her up the stairs and into her room with ease.
"Thanks guys. Good night. Love ya Karlene." Sarah tells them.
"Love you too sis. See ya in the morning." Karlene says, and they make their way down the hall to Karlene's old room.
"Boy, what a day huh? You three act like kids again, which don't get me wrong. That was pretty funny. It resulted in your sister having to go to the emergency room. I could have done her stitches here, but I didn't want to do something wrong because I wasn't in my regular hospital where I could be ready if something else would have happened. Are you ready to see everyone tomorrow?" David tells her, while slipping into his shorts and t shirt. Karlene gets into her night gown, and says, "Ya know? I really am looking forward to seeing them all. It's been nine years and I'm interested to know if Aunt Bernadette is a Grandma yet, or Aunt Penny for that matter. I think that my Dad said earlier that my Grandma's flying in from Texas for the reunion. She might just be getting here in the morning sometime."
"You've talked about her often. It'd be great to get to meet her finally. Is she pretty nice?" David asks.
"She is. If you get on her bad side though, watch out." Karlene says, and she starts to laugh.
"Sounds like my Grandma. I lost her two years ago. Remember? We've talked about her." David replies, and Karlene says, "Yeah honey. I remember. You'll like everyone, don't worry. They're going to like you too. We'd better get some sleep. I love you."
"I love you too honey." David tells her, and he gives her a quick kiss, then rolls over to get comfortable.
Chapter Five
Heading Back Home
The next morning, everyone's at the table like so many times before, and Sheldon's going over work notes when Amy catches him in the act.
"Give them here." Amy says, holding out her hand.
"What?" Sheldon asks, so innocently.
"You know what. The work notes Sheldon. Hand them over. No work related stuff today. Thank You. I'll go put these up in the drawer. You can have them later." Amy replies, and he finally hands them to her, to which she puts them in the computer desk drawer, then gets back to breakfast.
"Who all's coming today Mom?" Karlene asks.
"Bernadette and her family, Rajesh and his family, and then I think Stewart's coming, Barry Kripke, and Penny's family. I think that's everyone. Your Grandma called early this morning, and her plane's due to land in an hour." Amy tells her.
"Oh cool. Want me to drive over to the airport and pick her up? Been nine years since she's seen me last so, we can catch up a bit on our way back here." Karlene suggests.
"I think she'd like that. David? About how busy are you with your work son?" Sheldon asks him.
"It just depends really. I'm a surgeon at New York Metropolitan Hospital Center, and mostly they call me when it's severe." David tells him, and Karlene's phone starts going crazy.
"Same thing as when you all were kids. Please, no phones at the table. It interupts family time." Amy says, and Karlene tells her, "I'm sorry Mom. It's my boss from work. I have to take this. Hello Al. What's up?"
"Just checking up on ya kid. Wondering how things are going during your vacation. You're still coming back after the reunion right? You know you're my best server here." Al tells her, and she signals to everyone to keep it quiet, and she puts him on speaker. They're all listening to what he's saying in putting her on a platform, and Sheldon just smiles. He finally gets it that she may not be doing anything Scientifically, but what she is doing, does have some worth.
"So basically, y'all are falling apart without me? That about right?" Karlene asks, and David whispers to Amy and Sheldon, "They screw with each other like that all the time. She's pretty well his, I would say wing man, but in her case, wing woman."
"The main problem we've had since you've been in California is, no one seems to want to come into work. They just do not want to work without you here. They all love ya. They say how sweet you are, and I can't see it. Like the dark side of the moon or something. You're one way with them, but a butt head with me." Al says, and Amy can't help but laugh.
"That's because you annoy me so much. Get to know me, you'll see that in time, I can be really sweet." Karlene replies, and Daniel calls out, "Hey Al! Don't let her lie to ya dude. Sarah and I grew up with her. She was so mean. It's a wonder that when Mom and Dad had her to watch us, there were any walls left in the house, cause she liked to almost throw us through them."
"I believe it. Am I on speaker or something?" Al asks.
"Shut up Danny. That's not true. Yes you are Al. Now, you get to get a dose of what kind of family I come from." Karlene says, and Al tells everyone hello. They all say it back to him as well.
"Well, listen. I know you probably have a lot to do today, so I'll let ya go." Al tells her.
"Yeah, I do. I gotta go to the airport and pick up my Grandma here in a few minutes. Take care." Karlene replies.
"See ya in a few days when you get back. Drive safe my hateful little shrew." Al says, to which Karlene replies, "See ya in a few days ya wrinkled old buzzard." Just by the way Al says that, Amy's thinking back to when Leonard and Penny had their ceremony for the whole family, and she says, "Hateful shrew? Wait a minute. Al, this is going to sound funny but, are you Al Hofstadter by any chance?"
"Yes I am. Why do you ask?" Al replies.
"Oh my God! You're Leonard's Father! You are my Uncle Leonard's Dad? How come you never said anything?" Karlene asks, who is know in shock.
"I never knew who your family was honey. I started working in the office of Shoney's not long after he and Penny had their wedding ceremony for all of us and, I'm guessing that he just doesn't talk about his Mother or I very much, and it's never came up until now. Well, this surely changes everything. You're my Great Niece. We just won't let anyone know that cause you're still training for General Manager when you get back." Al explains, and all Karlene can say is, "Well, in that case. See ya when I get back Uncle Al. Love ya."
"Love you too kiddo. Amy, Sheldon, you guys take care of yourselves alright." Al says, and then they get off the phone, Karlene gets her car keys to the rental car, heads toward the door, and says, "Wow. Who would have thought? Uncle Leonard's gonna flip when he hears about this later. I'm gonna go get Grandma. I'll be back. Love you all."
That same afternoon, everyone's arrived at Sheldon and Amy's, and they're all either in the pool, or playing basketball, when Sheldon and Daniel announce that lunch is ready for all of them.
"Hey, when we all get done eating, how would everyone feel about some volleyball?" Halley asks.
"Sounds good. You're on my team." Karlene tells her.
"Now wait, hold on girls. We have to choose teams, and have team captains and such." Howard says.
"Okay. Uncle Howard, you wanna be a team captain?" Daniel asks him and he just grins for a second.
"Now son. The Wolowitz's are not a volleyball people, but sure. I'll do that today." Howard replies.
"Oh bologna Dad! I played Varsity Volleyball in highschool. I'm a Wolowitz, same as you." Halley says, putting him on the spot. Karlene is over talking to Leonard, and they all hear, "Do what?! My Dad is your boss in New York at Shoney's? When did that happen? He's always been into Science like me."
"Uncle Leonard, I've been gone for nine years, no one ever mentioned your Mom and Dad to me when I was around, so I didn't even know until this morning." Karlene tells him.
"That's not going to hurt your chances of General Manager is it? I sure hope not cause you've worked hard and busted your ass for that position." Penny says.
"Nope. Uncle Al told me this morning that we just have to play it out like we've been doing and never tell anyone about it. When he went into retirement from Science, he wanted to do something with all of his free time, so he went online and applied to Shoney's for an office position, and with him having the computer smarts that he's got, they hired him on." Karlene replies, and even though she was told not to, Sarah even gets in the pool for a while before the volleyball game gets started.
"Hey. I thought they told you last night in the E R that you couldn't get those stitches wet." Amy says.
"Yeah. I know Mom. That's why, I have outsmarted them and done this." Sarah replies, while lifting herself up on the side of the pool and showing her Mom what she did. She took plastic wrap, making sure it was all the way around her leg, and then secured it with duct tape, top to bottom, and all around her leg where her stitches are covered.
"You continue to amaze me how you do things like that. Just like with your shoulder surgery in high school. You were told not to get a shower until two days after it, and you did this same thing with a trash bag and tape. Just be careful. Keep an eye on that." Amy tells her. Sarah grins, hops back in the pool, and tells her, "Don't worry Mom. I will."
"Volleyball in ten minutes everyone!" Raj calls out. They get done with lunch, everyone gets out of the pool, and then they start choosing team captains and choosing people for their teams.
"Okay. Uncle Stewart and Uncle Barry are team captains." Raj's Daughter, Madison tells everyone. Howard, Bernadette, Leonard, Penny, and Karlene, are on Stewart's team and then David, Sarah, Sheldon, Amy, and Raj, are on Barry's team. The rest of them sit on the side in plastic chairs, watching. When that game's over, then the rest of them will jump in and so on and so forth. David tells Karlene, "Honey, I'm sorry. I love you, but it's on." Karlene replies with, "Don't worry about me. You just take of what you've gotta do." She's up to serve first, and Halley calls out from the side lines, "Come on Karlene! You've got this." They get a good volley going for awhile, and Penny panics when it's coming at her head, but Bernadette jumps over there and hollers, "Mine!" She hits it back over where Sheldon says, "Damn it. As tall as I am, I should have had that one.
"You were set up perfectly for it Lurch!" Bernadette says.
"Aunt Bernie. Be nice. It's not life or death here." Sarah replies. It's Karlene's serve again, and when she goes to serve it, Amy tells her, "Right here babe. I want it." Karlene sends it her way, Amy gets it, and just as Stewart sets it for her, Karlene jumps up to spike it, and comes back down, right on her ankle. When she landed, her ankle snapped so bad, that they all heard it.
"Son of a bitch! Karlene! David, get her." Amy says, and she and Sheldon take off over to her. David picks her up, and takes her over to one of the chairs where he checks it out.
"You're gonna have to call your Uncle Al baby. I've got to take you over to the hospital, and hopefully you won't have to have surgery. It's already swollen. Mom, wanna ride along?" David says, and Amy steps back a second.
"You called me Mom? I was wondering when you were gonna come out of your shell. You are going to be my son - in - law soon enough. Let's roll. Guys, we'll be back in a bit." Amy replies, while letting everyone know to go ahead with the reunion.
Later that evening, David's pulling back into the driveway, and they all see that everyone's still there at the house. He gets Karlene's crutches for her, and helps her out of the car.
"Hey. What did they say? Or even you for that matter?" Penny asks, while looking to David.
"The good news is, it's not broken. She's to stay off of it, and Al's already been called. He said he could pull some strings for a couple more days until it heals enough for her to come back to work. However, if she even puts a half ounce of pressure on that ankle, it's going to be broken. She's set up for an MRI tomorrow afternoon, and she may or may not, have to have repairative surgery. Just when things are going good for her, this happens to her." David replies. She rests her hand up against his arm and says, "It'll be okay honey. Uncle Al will take care of everything."
When David and Karlene are heading back to the air port, Amy tries to keep from crying. While they're saying their good buys, here come all of Karlene's cousins.
"We didn't have the chance to see you off when you left nine years ago, and this time, we do." Samantha tells her.
"You know how much we love you." Halley says.
"I love you all too. I'll come back and visit more. I promise." Karlene replies, and then Raj's kids step toward her.
"I almost didn't remember you since I was so young when you left, but I'm glad I got to reconnect with you. I love you." Madison tells her, while hugging her.
"Love you too Maddie." Karlene says, then Amber asks, "You'll keep in touch until you come back right?"
"Of course I will. We both will won't we honey?" Karlene replies, getting David in the conversation.
"You bet we will." David says, and Karlene can't believe how pretty Raj's girls have grown up to be.
"Hey, I wasn't able to make it to the reunion since I had to work. It was so nice getting to see you again." Stewart's son, Jackson tells her, and she hugs him too. Leonard and Penny's two kids hand her a small bag.
"Go ahead and read the card, but don't open that until you board the plane. It's a surprise. We all pitched in a little here and there." Rainbo says, and Derrick tells her, "You'll like it. Trust us on this. We all love you honey."
"I love you guys too. Mom. I promise you here and now, I will not stay away for so long this time. Dad and I have came to an understanding, and we're okay now. I hate to say good bye Mom, cause I'm gonna miss you. I'll miss all of you." Karlene tells her, trying to keep from crying and Amy tells her, "Then don't say good bye honey. Just say, I'll see ya later. That's your two's number. You better get moving or you'll miss plane. Call tonight okay. Let us all know how you're doing. You were limping quite a bit this morning, even with help." Karlene tells her that she will call as soon as she gets home, and when she hugs her again, it's even harder to let go, but they both know that they have to.
Chapter Six
Recovery's A Heartless Bitch
Back in New York, even though Karlene hated leaving her family again seeing as how things are so much better now, it was still good to be back home and be getting ready for work. Her ankle is still giving her a lot of trouble, and she's never told David, who know, lives with her. She's at work after obtaining her General Manager uniform and name tag, and she just winks at Al, hoping no one seen it. It didn't work.
"I saw that." Another manager named Wendy, tells her.
"What?" Karlene asks.
"That wink. What would David say about that?" Wendy says, but she's just messing with her.
"I don't think he'd say anything because long story short, Al's my adopted Great Uncle. When his son, Leonard, met my Dad almost thirty years ago, Dad and Uncle Leonard became like brothers, and when the whole social group started getting married and having kids, Al automatically, being Leonard's Dad, became my adopted Great Uncle. Hey, I never knew until I went back home for a family reunion and he called to see how we were all doing with my vacation time from work. Cool huh?" Karlene explains.
"Very cool indeed. How's the ankle doing today? I can tell it's sore yet." Wendy says.
"It is, but I can't let it stop me either." Karlene tells her.
"Better be careful honey. Ligaments can be very tricky. They take the longest to heal, and heal properly. Just take it easy today okay. Still do your job but, don't try to be in a foot race. It's Monday, we're usually not very busy on Mondays. You're training someone today aren't you?" Wendy replies.
"Yeah. I'm training a new Hostess, as soon as she gets here." Karlene says, and she sees that she has a few minutes of free time, so she tells Wendy that she'll be right back and that she's stepping outside for a couple of minutes.
"I'll come too. It's really slow in here right now. We'd better go while we can." Wendy says and they go out the back.
While Karlene is training her new Hostess, then they start to get busy. She goes to help Angela with gathering the menus all around the dining room, and all it took was her rounding a booth the wrong way and she's on the floor, holding her ankle in pain.
Even though it was minor surgery, it didn't matter to Amy. David called her from his office at the hospital, she hopped a flight on the Concord, and was there by the time Karlene woke up from repairative ligament surgery from her prevous injury to it at the reunion. Karlene's looking around her room, trying to wake up all the way, and she sees her Mom sitting beside her, asleep.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" Karlene asks.
"That's a crazy question don't ya think? You were operated on. Where else am I going to be? David called me last night from his office here at the hospital, said he was repairing the ligament damage in your ankle today after you hurting it all over again at work, and I flew out here on the Concord." Amy tells her.
"Hey beautiful. Glad to see you're awake. How ya feeling?" David asks, while coming into her room and resting his back against the door framing for a second.
"Bad back son?" Amy asks.
"Been a long day Mom. That's all, I promise. How's our girl?" David replies, and he checks a few things like her vitals and making sure her IV looks good still.
"I'm okay. My stomach's bothering me a little bit. I'm sure it's just from the anesthesia though. Plus, I haven't eaten since yesterday at work, which I'm sure this is gonna put me behind for awhile. Can I have something to eat honey?" Karlene replies. David decides to screw with her for a little bit though and tell her, "Not until you start calling me Doctor Brown. You're forgetting Ms. Cooper, I'm your doctor, you're my patient." He starts to smile and that's when Karlene tells him, "Kiss my ass baby."
"Roll over and I will." David says, with a smile.
"Fuck you babe." Karlene replies, while smiling too. Amy's loving the conversation, and just about loses it with laughing.
"Maybe later sweetheart. I have a lot to do today." David tells her, and that's when she sits straight up, in pain or not, and tells him, "David Bentley, fucking Brown! Get me something to eat."
"Yes Maam. I love you baby." David replies, and Amy's in full blown laughter by this point. David goes to kiss Karlene, and she tells him, "I love you too."
Two days later, Amy has decided to stay with Karlene to help her recover while David's at work, and they're ordering them a veggie pizza when Karlene reminds her of the bean and rice burritos they used to get when they were all kids.
"Want that instead? Some of those and vegan cottage cheese?" Amy asks her.
"Oh Lord yes. Don't forget the tomato slices too Mom." Karlene replies, while sliding down into the floor from the couch, and getting on her hands and knees. She's supposed to use her crutches, but they hurt her arms, so she only uses them in front of David, but the rest of the time, she crawls everywhere.
"Bathroom break?" Amy asks.
"Yep. Want anything from the kitchen on my way back?" Karlene tells her. She's mastered how to do that too.
"Diet coke honey. Thanks. I'll pause the movie while you're gone." Amy replies, and she hits the button on the remote and calls the mexican restaurant in town. Karlene is making her way back from the kitchen, and she has a diet coke in her right hand for her Mom, and a regular coke in her left hand.
"How are you doing that?" Amy asks, and Karlene gets up on her knees, sits the cokes on the coffee table, then she pushes herself out of the floor and up onto the couch with her good foot, leaving the bad one on the floor, and using her arms to pull herself the rest of the way up, and into a sitting positing. She then, puts a small pillow on the coffee table, and rests her ankle on top of that.
"I didn't want anyone to make a fuss over me or take the risk of getting a blood clot from being immoble, so I thought I would try this, and it's working for me. Sounds like our burritos might be here. I'll get them." Karlene tells her, and when she tries to get back down in the floor, Amy says, "Ah! You just got comfortable. I'll go. Stay."
A whole two weeks later, Karlene is still having trouble with her ankle healing up from surgery. She's able to walk on it now but, it's inflamed. Finally, she brings herself to call David at the hospital while on her lunch break one day.
"Honey, I'm fine. Don't worry about that. The only problem I'm having is, my ankle's really red. I am no expert here but, I don't think it's supposed to be like that, and it's a tad bit swollen. So, what do I do?" Karlene asks, and he stops writing on his notes for a minute to talk to her.
"For now since you're on your lunch break, apply some ice to it, and I'll take a look when I get home tonight. What all else do you have at work to do?" David tells her.
"When I go back on the floor, I'm in the office the rest of my shift. Ya know, unless they decide they need me to cook tonight or something. Other than that, I've got Jake coming in here in an hour and I gotta get his drawer ready and taken up for him at the register. We're good on cooks so I think I'll be in the office the rest of my shift." Karlene replies. He tells her she should be okay and that he loves her, and he'll see her when he gets home.
That night, Karlene's gotten everything done around the house plus supper fixed when David gets home, and while making her way back into the living room, she says to herself, "Oh recovery is a heartless bitch. This is taking forever. The ligaments feel really good it's just this inflammation now." He comes through the door around five minutes later, and while they're having supper, he tells her what he's probably going to have to do.
"It's healing really well. What's gonna have to be done though, and you're not going to like it. Where I went in to repair the ligament damage, you didn't have but two stitches. Those are out now, but there's a scab where you're healing up. I'm going to have to open that up, burn it clean, to get the inflammation out, which is going to hurt. From there, I'll douse the hell out of it with peroxide, then put some anti bacterial cream on there, and cover it back up. Home remedies usually work pretty good." David explains. Karlene leans back in her chair, sighs, and then says, "Ya know what honey? At this point, I don't care how much it hurts. I have to get back to normal. I've been in slow down mode enough now, and I have things to do." They finish with their meal, where they then relocate to the living room. He gets what he needs out on the coffee table, takes a pair of scissors, a sewing needle, and a pair of clippers, along with the peroxide and anti bacterial cream. He asks if she's ready, and she nods her head yes. He takes the sewing needle, cleans it really good, and goes underneath the scab. It takes a little bit but he finally gets it to come off. He then takes Karlene's cigarette lighter, and takes the flame over the blade of the scissors long enough to where they have a bit of a burned look and tells her, "Here we go." He places the blade right up against her bare skin, which she just about jumped out of her skin.
"Ouch! Are you out of your ever loving freaking mind!?" Karlene cries out in pain. He says sorry for hurting her but then from there, he pours the peroxide over her ankle, and it just bubbles and foams like crazy. After that, she looks at it and just smiles.
"See? It's already looking better. We had to get that opened up because that inflammation was trapped inside there. Here's the anti bacterial cream, and we'll bandage it up. It'll be just fine in the morning. Trust me. I know this recovery process had ya down for awhile but you'll make it." David explains. And make it she did. Within one day of him doing that with burning out the inflammation in her ankle, she was almost running around Shoney's, busting her butt as the new General Manager. Within another week, the ligaments were much stronger and by the end of that same month, it was almost as though she'd never hurt that ankle or ever had any problems with it. After she gets done with training a new cook, she goes back into the office and seeing as how she had some free time, she called home to check on everyone. Sheldon had put her on speaker so everyone could talk to her. They're laughing and cracking jokes just like when she was a kid, and during their conversation, Amy gets the overwhelming pride of knowing that she may not have chosen the same career path as her and Sheldon, Karlene made it just fine. It was a shame that it took her Father driving her away like that, and so far away, but she knows in her mind and in the back of her mind, that no matter where her kids end up, as long as they are happy, that's all that matters. Amy's glad they had that family reunion cause even though she got hurt playing volleyball, the reunion was just what Sheldon and Karlene needed to repair and strengthen the bond that they once shared so long ago.
THE END