1. Family Dinner

"Just tone it down a bit."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Nathan said as he closed the door and took his mother's coat. "Don't be too hard on Meredith. I know you don't like her, you never did, but you're gonna have to try for Claire's sake. She'd really like it if the two of you would get along better."

"You're overreacting, Nathan."

"I am overreacting?"

"I always thought your brother was the emotional one."

"I'm not being emotional about this, Ma. You're just being irrational." Nathan turned his back on his mother and went to hang her coat on the coat rack. "I want us all to sit down and have dinner together without being at each other's throats the entire time."

His mother shrugged and continued further into the house. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "He's here?" she asked as she looked up.

"Yeah, he's staying in the guest room. He's been there for eight days now." Nathan went to stand next to his mother and saw the look on her face. "You know the situation, Ma. He's here because Meredith and I asked him to stay here. It was the least we could do."

"You're making a big mistake, Nathan."

"Why?" Nathan turned around to face his mother and narrowed his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something…?"

"Don't be silly," she said as she kept looking up. "It's bad enough that he's staying at your house. Now he has to join us at dinner as well. Whose idea was that?"

"Claire's," Nathan answered as he scratched a spot on the back of his head. Maybe inviting his mother wasn't such a good idea after all. All she ever did was complain. "You don't have to be there. Dad ain't coming either… Maybe the two of you can go out together or something." He frowned as he thought about something. "When was the last time you actually did something together?"

"That is none of your business," his mother said as she started looking around, probably criticizing the interior of his house. "You may be Senator, but you're also still my son. You don't get to talk to me like that."

Nathan followed his mother as she walked into the kitchen. It was one of those moments he wished that Peter was there to help him out. His brother was so much better at communicating with their mother.

"What you're suggesting isn't possible anyway." His mother greeted the kitchen staff with a nod of her head and sat down at the table. "Your father's got an appointment with Mr Linderman, that's why he couldn't be here."

"He's never here, Ma." Nathan sighed wearily. "Flint will be joining us for dinner, whether you like it or not. Claire asked me to invite him and I did. You're the only one who's being difficult about it." He waited for her response, but she didn't give him one. It was obvious where Peter got his stubbornness from. "If you won't do it for me, then at least do it for Claire. She really wants you to be there too."

"You're not really giving me much of a choice, Nathan."

Nathan took that as a yes. "Thanks, Ma." He smiled his politician smile, walked to his mother and kissed her on the cheek. "You have no idea how much it means to me and Claire." He almost wanted to add Meredith to that sentence, but decided against it. It would probably change her mind again.

"I think I do."

"Dad!"

Nathan left the kitchen and went to the living room. "What is it, Claire?"

Claire was sitting cross-legged on the couch with her phone in one hand and the remote control in the other. "I've got Peter on the phone. He says he probably won't be here in time for dinner."

Nathan placed his hands high on his hips and smiled grimly. "Did he tell you why?"

"It's one of his patients."

"Of course it is." Nathan was losing his mind. After all the trouble he had to go through to get a simple family dinner planned, making sure everybody was going to be there, convincing his mother to put her personal feelings aside... Peter had to screw everything up again. He looked at Claire and the phone she was holding. "You've got him on the phone right now?"

Claire nodded.

"Let me talk to him." She handed him her phone and he held it to his ear. "Pete?"

"I'm really sorry, Nathan. I just can't go anywhere right now."

"Why?"

"Charles died this morning."

"Charles as in… your patient Charles?"

"Yeah, him. It's not like I didn't see it coming, because I did. I just can't leave."

"The guy is dead, Pete. What more can you do?"

"Dad!" Claire looked at him at him in disbelief.

Nathan knew he sounded a bit harsh, but he really wanted Peter to be there and so did Claire. Her birthday had been over a month ago and they hadn't been able to celebrate it yet (mainly due to Nathan's work). They had finally picked a day when everybody was available, then Peter had to cancel again.

"You know what, Nathan? It wouldn't hurt for you to act a bit less like a jerk sometimes."

"I just don't see why it's such a big deal."

"It's his daughter, Simone. I'm not gonna leave her on her own. Not now."

"Doesn't she have anyone else?"

"Yeah, but… that's complicated."

Nathan looked down and saw that Claire was trying to get his attention. She mouthed some words, obviously trying to tell him something, but he had no idea what. He had always been terrible at reading lips. "Hang on a sec, Pete." He held the phone to his chest. "What?"

"He can bring her, if he wants."

"Her father just died, Claire. I don't think she's in the mood for a birthday party."

"It's just dinner. It's not like we're gonna sing and play loud music or anything. We're just gonna eat and talk. Or maybe just eat... That's all. It might distract her a bit."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I don't mind. If that's what it takes to have the whole family together…"

"Alright." Nathan held the phone to his ear again. "Pete? Claire says you can invite her, if you want."

"Oh. Yeah, I think she'd like that."

"Just give us a call when you know, okay?"

"Sure, and Nathan..."

"Yeah?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"What? Now?"

"No, not now. Not over the phone. Can we talk about it tonight?"

Nathan rolled his eyes, but turned around so Claire couldn't see him doing it. He knew what his younger brother wanted to talk to him about. Peter had tried to talk to him about it before. He just really wasn't in the mood for it today. "So, that means you're gonna be here?" he asked, avoiding Peter's question.

"I never said I wasn't gonna be there. I just didn't know at what time."

"Right. Okay, see you tonight then." Nathan hung up before his brother had the chance to say anything else and gave the phone back to his daughter. "The good news is that he's definitely gonna be here. The bad news is that we don't know at what time."

"At least he's gonna be here."

"You're not upset about your grandfather not being there, are you?" Nathan really wanted his daughter to see her grandparents more often, but there were a few problems preventing that from happening. His mother had never really accepted his relationship with Meredith. She only ever came over when Meredith wasn't home and his father… Arthur Petrelli never made time for his family, not even his wife. Nathan couldn't even remember seeing him try.

"Not really..." Claire answered. She looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "What about uncle Flint? Did you ask him?"

"Of course I did." That was a lie. It had been Meredith who had asked Flint, because if anyone knew how to persuade Flint into having dinner with the entire family, it was his big sister.

"And?"

"He's not the type of man that turns down free food," Nathan joked. It turned out that persuading Flint was a very difficult task. He had thrown a tantrum, had yelled at his sister to leave him alone and even threatened to burn the house down. After a good night's sleep, he apologised and accepted their invitation for dinner. But Claire didn't need to know all that.

"Do you think it's a good idea?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Cause he just got out of prison and… I know he's innocent, but he's been in there for a really long time. What if he's… I don't know. Different? What if it changed him?"

"Your mother says he's doing great."

Claire raised an eyebrow at him. "He's been upstairs in his room for over a week now and I haven't seen him once! How is that doing great?"

"Your Mother's words, not mine." Nathan went to his daughter and kissed her on the top of her head. "Your mother knows him like no other. If she says he's doing great, I believe her."

Claire didn't look too certain about that, but smiled at him nonetheless.

"I'm gonna check up on your grandmother." Nathan turned around and left the living room, just when Meredith came down from the stairs. She looked tired. She had been looking tired ever since her brother moved into to the house. "How is he doing?" he whispered.

Meredith shrugged. "He's just blowing off some steam." She walked past her husband and added, "literally."

Nathan laughed and followed her to the kitchen. His mother was sitting at the exact same spot where he had left her earlier. She sat there with her head resting on the table, fast asleep. "Ma?" He shook her shoulder carefully. "Ma, wake up."

She opened her eyes and sat up in one quick motion, breathing in a lot of oxygen as if she had just woken from a nightmare.

"Are you okay? Do you wanna lie down for a bit?"

"No, no." Angela looked up at her son and smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine."

"Are you tired?" Meredith asked as she sat down on the chair next to her mother in law.

"Just because I closed my eyes for one minute doesn't mean that I'm tired," Angela said as she kept looking at Nathan, even though it was obviously meant for Meredith.

Meredith got to her feet immediately and looked at her mother in law with wide eyes, her nostrils flaring madly. "Maybe you should try keeping your head up the next time you close your eyes." She didn't even wait for Angela's response and headed back towards the hallway.

"Wait." Nathan tried to grab her arm, but she was able to twist it away from his grip. "Mere, just wait a second."

"I've tried, Nathan. I really have, but this…" Meredith turned around and gestured to the kitchen with her hand. "Your mother is just so…" she tried to find the right word for Angela's behaviour, but couldn't find it. "I swear, I'm not gonna make it till the end of the day without…"

Nathan's eyes widened when he saw what his wife was about to do. "Oh, no you don't." He placed his hand quickly on hers and lowered it to her side again. "It's just one day. One day and you won't have to see her again for a very long time. Just don't talk to her and she won't talk to you either. Can you do that for me?"

Meredith opened her mouth, but shut it again when she heard her brother yell from upstairs.

Nathan looked up and lifted his brow. "Something is seriously wrong with that guy."

"Shut up," Meredith said as she hit him softly in the chest. "He just needs a bit more time." She shook her head and went upstairs, towards the guest room where Flint was staying, with Nathan on her heels. All the while, Flint kept cussing and swearing as if he had gone completely insane.

"What's going on here?" Nathan asked as he and Meredith entered the room. Flint was there, but so was Claire, holding an empty bucket and looking absolutely terrified.

"What's going on?!" Flint shouted as he held out his steaming hands. "I'll tell you what's going on. Your stupid daughter poured water over me. Water for fuck's sake!"

Meredith looked at Nathan for a moment, before turning to her daughter. "Did you?"

"Of course I did, Mom! His arm was on fire!"

"Come on, Claire." Nathan put his arm around Claire's shoulders and directed her out of the room. "Sort him out, Meredith."

Claire shrugged her father's arm from her shoulders and turned to face him. "Why was his arm on fire?! He's not like…" her eyes darted back and forth, making sure the others couldn't hear her and whispered, "suicidal or something?"

Nathan shook his head and with his arm back on Claire's shoulders he continued towards the stairs. "Your uncle Flint is a complicated man. You were right about him being different. He's been in prison for a very long time and now he has to get used to normal life again."

"That doesn't explain his arm being on fire," Claire hissed. "You know what's even more weird? The fire was blue, how do the hell does fire get blue?"

"Claire..." Nathan warned her, not liking the language she was using. "He's always been a bit of a pyromaniac, even as a little kid according to your mother."

"Okay… So it was an accident?"

"Probably. Yes."

"Don't you think it's better if he stays someplace else? Y'know, in case he burns the house down or something."

"He's not gonna burn the house down, Claire. He's not that dumb." Nathan's eyes widened when he realized what he had just said. "Um… Don't tell your mother I said that."

Claire smiled. "He's kind of dumb, isn't he?"

"Well, you know what your mother always says. God gave him a bigger sister instead of a brain."

"Yeah, and he gave you a little brother instead of a heart," Meredith said as she descended from the stairs.