The Ghost and Mrs. Walker
Summary: Halloween story. Nora becomes convinced that William's ghost is haunting the house, causing the siblings to take sides on whether they believe her or not.
A/N: This is my first foray into the Brothers & Sisters category. I guess it's what happens when you watch the new episodes along with a million Halloween special commercials, lol.
Anyway, I apologize for any out-of-character behavior or inconsistencies with plot. Usually I'm okay with that stuff, but this is a new category for me, and I haven't been watching the show since the start – maybe the beginning to middle of last season. This takes place after the latest episode, the second one of Season 2, Book Burning.
This is going to be short, too. Ten chapters at most, and the length of each short as well. Will definitely be finished by Halloween.
Nora Walker sat on the living room couch with her laptop in front of her. After Kitty revealed her talent for writing, Nora was reminded of how much she enjoyed it. A hobby would be a nice distraction from the chaos that surrounded her.
If, of course, she could only get one word down on paper.
Her mind was so jumbled that nothing was coming to her. It was filled with the family drama. Her children's company was facing hard times, Kevin had just been fired from said company, Justin was dealing with a new, awkward relationship, and Kitty was in the process of adopting a child.
And she was dealing with the very real midlife crisis of realizing that she had no life of her own, started by reading Kitty's description of her in the book.
When she was honest with herself, she faced the facts. The company was not her problems. Her sons' professional and romantic lives were not her problems. The possible addition of an adopted child to the family was not her problem. She didn't have any problems because…she didn't have anything of her own.
The cordless phone beside her rang. "Hello?" she asked. "Oh, hi sweetie." It was Sarah on the line. "Justin…he's out with Rebecca right now. Okay, honey, see you at dinner this weekend. Good night." With that, she hung up, feeling as if her point had just been made. All she was these days was a personal answering machine for her son, or a chef when one of her children needed to impress someone with a meal.
She shook her head and went back to her computer. Wallowing in self-pity wouldn't do her any good.
A half hour later, all she managed to write down was a long rant about her sorry state in life, and her feelings on each of her children's issues. She began to wonder if she should write a sequel to her daughter's family tell-all.
Her head snapped up as a faint sound reached her ears….it almost sounded like a ghostly moan. But Nora shook her head, telling herself that her imagination was overreacting because of all the Halloween specials that were on TV.
She went back to work, beginning her next rant on Holly. Nora didn't hate people, but if there was one woman she strongly disliked, it was Holly. Who was she to take over her family's business?
Lost in her thoughts, she jumped when there was another noise. It was the unmistakable sound of knocking, a sharp rapping that seemed to be coming from someone banging their hand on the television. Of course, the room was empty except for her.
Her heart beginning to pound, Nora sunk lower on the couch and brought her blanket up to her shoulders. Justin said he'd be home by midnight, right?
While she thought of reasons why her son might miraculously come home at the exact moment she wanted him, the lamp that had been turned on low was knocked from the table, as if someone had swiped it off.
"Oh!" Nora gasped, closing her laptop in a reflexive gesture. The snap of the laptop also caused her to jump.
Hugging her laptop and blanket close, she tried to tell herself that the noises were nothing, just sounds of a large house. That the lamp could have been…could have been…
"Nora…"
"Oh my God!" Nora exclaimed, finally jumping up from the couch, the laptop crashing to the floor. Realizing she was standing with no destination in mind, she ran into the kitchen, her comfort zone.
And turned on every precious light she could find.
That night, she slept with one of her bedroom lights on. That was fine, since she knew she couldn't sleep anyway. The noises and lamp she'd dismissed in an instant, but the voice…
It sounded like William.
But now, in the daylight, she supposed she could have imagined the voice. The noises might have been real, but maybe they encouraged her to imagine this ethereal voice calling her. Or maybe, the voice had actually been something else, but in her frazzled state, she'd interpreted it as her name.
She just had to tell herself what she used to tell Kitty, when her youngest daughter would get scared on Halloween. There were no such things as ghosts.
"'Morning, Mom."
"Ah!" Nora exclaimed, jumping at her son's greeting. She'd been in the hallway, about to go downstairs when Justin had snuck up behind her from his room.
Smirking at her, Justin asked, "What's with you?"
"N-Nothing," Nora assured him as she composed herself. "I-I'm just a little shaken up this morning, I guess. With you out, most of the lights off, a few weeks before Halloween…I sort of let my imagination get carried away."
Justin chuckled while he and Nora went downstairs into the kitchen. "What happened? Creepy noises, stuff moving on its own…"
"Basically. I swear, it was a scene straight out of a cheesy Halloween movie. Which is probably where I imagined it from," Nora explained, taking out the hardware and ingredients necessary for eggs and bacon. "How do you want your eggs, sweetie?"
Taking a seat at the counter island, Justin replied, "Scrambled, please. So, what else did you 'imagine'?"
"That the lamp fell over. And your father's voice calling my name. Now that I think about it, it really is ridiculous how panicked I got," Nora said with a forced laugh. However, there was still that small doubt that maybe it hadn't all been imagination. "So how was your date?"
Justin smiled, clearly reliving the night in his mind. "Amazing, as usual. It's weird being in a relationship that I want to work, you know? I think taking it slow with Rebecca was definitely the right decision."
"I'm glad you think so. Who knows, maybe one day Rebecca actually will be a legitimate member of this family…" Nora trailed off, smiling at Justin's panicked expression. "Too soon, huh?"
Justin nodded. "Way too soon."
"Justin? Nora?"
Nora glanced toward the front of the house, where she could see Rebecca making her way towards the kitchen. "Good morning, honey!" she greeted. "You're just in time for breakfast. How do you want your eggs?"
"Uh…I'll have whatever Justin's having," Rebecca answered, stopping in the doorway as Justin got up and kissed her hello. Giving him a brief kiss back, she pointed in the general direction of the living room. "So, what happened to your lamp?"
At that, Nora almost dropped the whisk she'd been getting for the eggs. "W-What?"
"Yeah, I passed it on the way in, and it's broken on the floor…" Rebecca trailed off, bewildered by Nora's scared look. "What's going on?"
Grinning at the both of them, Justin remarked, "Mom thinks the house is haunted."
"Oh, I do not! I'm sure last night it just fell over. Furniture can do that, you know," Nora replied, the reasoning sounding feeble even to her.
Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Haunted? If it's any consolation, I don't' think a lamp falling over means…"
"It wasn't just the lamp," Justin interrupted.
Glaring at him, Nora explained, "Oh, come on, now you're just trying to embarrass me. So the lamp fell by itself. I highly doubt a ghost was calling my name through the dark…"
"You heard your name?" Rebecca asked in surprise.
'I'm almost positive it wasn't my name. It had to be a random noise and I just interpreted it that way," Nora insisted. Determined, she went back to making breakfast. "Now where did I put those eggs…"
The three stared in astonishment as the egg carton on the counter opened on its own. Then, in a move that made Nora gasp, an egg jumped out of its holder and landed gracefully on the counter. It didn't crack the slightest bit as it rolled over to the spot next to where Nora was standing, stopping just short of where her hand lied on the countertop.
While the women recuperated from the shock, Justin offered them a weak smile. "You did like it when Dad helped you in the kitchen."
"That's not funny," Nora said. She had meant it to come out sharp, but instead emerged as a terrified whisper.