Granger Family Saga - PG13
Mostly focused on Brandon
Thanks to firechild for the plot bunny. She also wrote most of the part in the cathedral.
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"They're not going to miss me," Brandon thought, as he shifted his backpack more comfortably on his shoulders as he got off the plane in London. He was headed for his godmother's. Well, the triplet's godmother, Eleanor Hill. Or did she go by Carter? Brandon couldn't remember. But he knew she wouldn't turn him away.
His dad had just hauled Cameron home again, from some stunt or other, and his mother was now fussing over Cameron. Tyler had spent the whole week fussing over his mother, while the girls fussed over his dad. Their parents each had their favorite child, which mostly left him out in the cold. They wouldn't notice or care that he was gone. At sixteen, Brandon didn't have much to his name, just an open ticket to visit his godmother whenever he wanted to and some savings he could get by on when he got there. And he felt the need to get away right now.
Brandon got on the underground train to London. On the ride to London, his mind raced over the times he'd spent sketching with his mother, especially when they'd come over to the UK as a family. It had been three, no, four years ago, when Eleanor married Adam Carter. His father had laughed uproariously over it, while his mother had thought it was about time. He shrugged, he didn't know what all that meant, but he'd really enjoyed the trip. They rarely vacationed far as a family. Too many of them, and not enough funds, that's what his parents always said. But somehow they did it that time.
He felt closest to his mother when they were sketching. Usually jewelry, and sometimes people, but they'd had a ball sketching old buildings on that trip. But she rarely had the time anymore. The girls took up most of her time these days, especially Keeley. Brandon rolled his eyes, if it wasn't clothing, it was makeup, or boys she was dating. He laughed to himself, remembering the last boy Keeley had gone out with. The guy had been terrified out of his mind when Colby demanded that Keeley be home by 10pm. It was definitely a laugh a minute at the Granger household.
Brandon squirmed as he started to feel homesick. He squared his shoulders and moved purposefully for the train to Weybridge. Before long he was at Eleanor's house. He knocked on the door a little nervously.
Adam opened the door and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Eleanor, Brandon's here."
Eleanor was equally surprised, but welcomed Brandon warmly and settled him in for the night.
"Did you mention that Brandon would be here?" Adam asked, eying Eleanor curiously. He knew Eleanor was very fond of the triplets, but it was unlike her not to tell him if they were going to be here.
She shook her head, "I don't know what's going on. I'm calling Hannah now, she's probably out of her mind with worry."
Colby sounded distracted when he answered the phone, "Eleanor! This is a surprise! How are you and Adam?"
"He's here, Colby," Eleanor said quickly. "Brandon just showed up at our doorstep. He's in bed now, I think asleep."
She heard Colby hiss out a breath, whether it was relief or anger, she couldn't quite tell.
"Thanks, Eleanor," Colby said curtly. "I'll tell Hannah. We'll call you later." He struggled with his emotions as his grip tightened on the telephone. Fury ripped through him as he thought of the fear and worry Hannah had gone through since they'd found out Brandon was missing. She'd been through so much as it was. He was going to kill Brandon when he got his hands on him, for doing this to Hannah. Then relief flooded through him, that his son was alright, not kidnapped as he'd originally feared. Colby pulled himself together, and went looking for Hannah.
Hannah cried. Colby sighed as he cradled her close and soothed her the best he could. He wished he could take the pain and worry away. The heartrending sobs were tearing him apart. He saw Tyler hovering anxiously close by. The girls looked frightened, and even Cameron looked upset. "Hannah," he murmured gently, "Eleanor says he's okay. Please don't cry anymore, you're tearing me up." He was relieved when the sobs slowly subsided, and she sniffled a few more times before she quieted.
"Don't hurt him, Colby," Hannah said softly when she finally stopped sobbing.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to hurt my son," he replied indignantly, squirming uncomfortably at how well Hannah knew him. He hugged her close when he saw her smile through her tears, relieved that the storm had passed. A relief that was reflected on the faces of all the kids. They all knew that making their mother cry resulted in the worst punishments. He sighed a little when he looked at Keeley. Not a kid anymore, at eighteen she was a woman now, and a beautiful one at that.
Colby barely kept himself from snarling when Eleanor told him Brandon had gone to Salisbury Cathedral. He was grateful that Adam hadn't said a word, had seemed sympathetic, in fact.
He stalked into Salisbury Cathedral, pausing to deal with the memories that threatened to overwhelm him. Hannah loved this place, and he wondered at Brandon's choice of it.
Colby's sharp eyes pierced the haze of sunlight filtering at an angle into the shadows as he tried to get a visual fix on a familiar figure. His gaze sharpened as he saw Brandon as he lay flat on his back on the floor, pointing his camera straight up and snapping rapid shots of the ceiling and the architecture of the cathedral's pinnacle. Even through the equally hazy web of whispers in the hall of reverence, Colby's hearing latched on to the voice of his son. Brandon was apparently conversing in low tones with a young man who lay nearby, in a similar position, who was nodding sympathetically.
Colby rolled his eyes at that, but the relief that flooded him when he realized his boy was hale and hearty, nearly knocked the seasoned agent to his knees. He took a moment to pull himself back together before treading quietly towards his son.
The other young man, also obviously a tourist, mumbled something, and Brandon let out a short, quiet laugh. "Yeah, well, you know what Worf on Star Trek always said--"
"'Today is a good day to die'?" The tone was casual; the presence was anything but. Colby positioned himself directly over his son's prone form. His arms were folded across his chest, emphasizing the power of the arms and shoulders, and his jaw was tight, his eyes narrowed dangerously. All relief had been banished, replaced by the fury that filled and sharpened every inch of his impressive frame.
Brandon at least had the good sense to swallow hard before letting his mask of indifference drop into place. "Well, I certainly didn't expect to see you here, Dad."
"And I certainly didn't expect to have to be here," Colby snarled. "Do you realize what you've put your mother through these last few days?" Colby was gratified to see Brandon flinch. "You'd better be glad she made me promise not to hurt you."
"I didn't think she cared what happened to me," Brandon muttered mutinously, then wished he hadn't when his father's eyes blazed in a fury. He winced as his father grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the cathedral. He did his best to keep up and thought it best not to say anything, even as he heard snatches of what Colby was muttering under his breath. Phrases like "I'll kill him anyway" and others that filled him with dread.
Colby finally calmed down when they arrived in Los Angeles. He'd leveled looks of disgust at Brandon throughout the entire flight. Brandon had finally started to look contrite about halfway through the flight and tried to explain how, as the middle triplet, he had felt left out. Colby had to struggle to maintain his composure through the seemingly indifferent explanation. He could see the hurt that Brandon tried to hide, and he knew Hannah would be hurt that Brandon felt that way.
Brandon hung back as they got out of the car, a little reluctant to go in the house. Colby waited with him, he knew Hannah would have heard them pull in.
"Brandon, oh, Brandon! Are you alright?" Hannah rushed to her son and hugged him tightly, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks despite her best efforts not to cry. "Why didn't you just say something if you wanted to go?"
"I didn't think you'd miss me," Brandon mumbled, scuffing his shoe on the pavement. Then he wished he hadn't, when hurt filled her eyes.
"I... see," Hannah's voice trembled from the hurt.
"Hannah," Colby murmured, squeezing her shoulder gently.
"Mama, I'm sorry," Brandon said helplessly.
"No, I'm the one who's sorry, son," Hannah said softly, hugging him again.
"I didn't mean to hurt you, Mama," Brandon tried desperately to erase the hurt in her eyes.
She patted him on the arm, "I know, honey. And I'll do better."
"Mama.."
Colby shook his head at Brandon and motioned him indoors. He watched sympathetically as Brandon hugged his mother tightly, almost desperately before he dragged indoors. "He didn't mean anything by it, Hannah," he said gently, aching at the hurt in her eyes.
"I'm a terrible mother, if my son thinks I wouldn't miss him if he were gone," Hannah choked on a sob. She slid gratefully into Colby's arms as he pulled her close.
"You're not a bad mother, Hannah. It's just sibling rivalry, and with five kids, it's hard to keep them all happy."
She sighed, "We have to focus so much on Cameron, I hope the others haven't suffered too much from it."
"I'm sure they'll be fine, Hannah."
"You won't have to cuff me and arrest me for child neglect, will you?"
"I'll cuff you anytime you want, sweetheart." Colby was happy that could still make her smile though it had been a while since they used the cuffs. "Come on, let's go inside. You can coddle him till he cries uncle." Colby knew Brandon would never forget the hurt in his mother's eyes.