Loneliness
Helen parks her car in front of her house. She exits the car and carries her baby Jack-Jack out. Jack-Jack and Helen gazes into each other's eyes and smile. Finally, Jack-Jack starts to giggle. When the two of them enters the house, Jack-Jack starts sucking on his thumb. Helen rocks her baby around her arms. She starts to sing "Rock-a-bye Baby" to Jack-Jack. Helen's beautiful voice causes the baby to become tired. Slowly, Jack-Jack closes his eyes. As Helen finishes the song, the infant falls into a deep sleep. Helen smiles and kisses the toddler on the forehead. Silently and leisurely, she carries Jack-Jack to his crib. She places him in his crib and covers him up with a yellow blanket. Helen kisses Jack-Jack on the forehead one more time. She can see a small smile on her baby's face. Helen checks the clock and it reads 11:00 am. She walks to the laundry room. She comes out with a basket full of clothes. She carries the basket into the living room. One by one, Helen takes one of the clothes out of the basket, folds them and sorts them into five different piles. Thirty minutes later, Helen finishes folding all the clothes. She then puts the folded clothes into the basket. She then carries the basket up the stairs. She first stops at Dash's room. She opens the door to Dash's room. But when she stepped inside, she trips on some of Dash's toys. Helen picks herself up and observes Dash's messy room.
"Dash." She sighs. "Please. For once, pick up after yourself." Helen puts the laundry back down and starts cleaning Dash's room. She picks up all of his toys, fixes his bed and finally, takes all of his clothes and placed them on his bed. Finally, Helen exits Dash's room. Helen then placed Violet's clothes on her bed and Sean's on his bed. Next, Helen enters the master bedroom and sets the laundry basket on the bed. She separates her clothes from her husband's. Finally, she heads back downstairs with an empty laundry basket. She puts the basket back in the laundry room and heads to the kitchen. She opens the refrigerator and finds an apple. She closes the fridge and heads to the sink. Helen sighs when she notices a huge pile of dishes stacked on each other. She puts down her apple and starts washing the dishes. While she was working on the dishes, she looks out the window. The sun is shine bright and there was not a cloud in the sky. She finally finishes washing, drying the dishes. After putting away all the dishes, she washes her apple and starts to eat. She checks the time and it reads 11:45. She finishes her snack and throws it in the trash. Helen then takes the garbage out of the house. She carries the heavy black bag to the front of the house. She goes back to the house and washes her hands. Next, walks back to Jack-Jack's crib. She notices her son sleeping like a baby. Jack-Jack has his small eyes closed and his thumb and in his mouth.
"My baby." Helen smiles. She plants a small kiss on Jack-Jack's cheek. The small infant slowly opens his eyes and sits up. His small blue eyes meet Helen's brown eyes. Helen picks up Jack-Jack and cradles him around her arms. Jack-Jack giggles and drools as his mom rocks him around her arms. The baby rests his head on his mother's chest. Helen smiles as her son drools on her shirt. She holds Jack-Jack by his feet. She gives a small, but painless pinch, causing the toddler laugh.
"Mom!" The baby coos. A huge smile appears on her. She rubs her nose on Jack-Jack's nose. She then gives a kiss on his cheek. Helen then reads the clock. It is 12:00. Helen then looks back at the infant and grins.
"Guess what time it is Jack-Jack?" she asks. Jack-Jack looks at the clock. He then stares into his mother's eyes and smiled. He puts his two fingers together, copying what he saw on the clock. Helen gazes at her baby and giggles.
"It's . . ." Helen answers. "TICKLE TIME!" Helen starts to tickle her baby's stomach with her fingers. Jack-Jack roars with laughter as his mom continues to tickle his chest. After a couple of minutes of laughter, Helen rubs the baby's stomach. Jack-Jack's laughter slowly dies down. He then grabs one of Helen's fingers and sucks on it. Helen smiles as she sets her son down on the floor. She then walks to the closet and takes out a bucket of toys and a vacuum. She dumps the bucket of toys in front of her son. As Jack-Jack plays with the toys, Helen starts to vacuum around the house. She vacuums the living room, the family room, the hallway, Dash's room, Violet's room, Sean's room and her room. She finishes vacuuming the entire house. She carries the heavy vacuum back down. She finds her youngest playing with an orange ball. Helen smiles as Jack-Jack places the ball near his mouth and starts drooling on it.
"Aww, Jack-Jack." She smiles. She picks the baby up. "Do you know why I love you Jack-Jack? Because you're the cutest, funniest, and the sweetest boy a mother can ask for. I love you, my baby boy." Helen rubs Jack-Jack's nose against her nose. She then kisses the baby's nose, then his cheek. Helen then checks the clock.
"Guess what Jack-Jack?" she asks. "It's time for you to take a bath." Jack-Jack laughs as Helen carries him into the kitchen. Helen turns on the water and the sink starts to fill up. Jack-Jack claps his hands as the water rises higher and higher. Helen turns off the water. She undresses the baby and places him in the small tub. Jack-Jack starts to splash his mother. Helen giggles as she scrubs the baby's large head. She then soaps Jack-Jack's arms, fingers, feet and toes. She rinses off the baby with nice warm water. As Helen cleans up the baby, Jack-Jack finds a pink bar of soap near the sink. He makes a grabs for the soap, but it slipped out of his hands and falls into the sink. Jack-Jack once again picks up the bar of soap and yet again, it falls out of his hand. Finally, Jack-Jack gets a firm hold on the soap. He rubs it on his arms and then on his chest. Jack-Jack laughs as the soap tickles him a little bit. Next, he stares into the pinkish bar. He opens his mouth and is about to put the bar of soap inside his mouth. Helen grabs the bar of soap and takes it out of Jack-Jack's hands. Jack-Jack reaches for the soap and starts to cry. Helen wipes Jack's tears and gives Jack-Jack his rattle. She shakes the rattle and Jack-Jack takes the toy out of Helen's hands. As Jack-Jack plays with the rattle, Helen carries him out of the tub and dries him off. Helen wipes Jack-Jack's head, arms, legs, fingers and toes. As Helen continues to rub the baby with the towel, ask-Jack puts the rattle in his mouth. He sucks on the toy as if it is a baby bottle. Helen giggles as she dresses the baby.
"Jack-Jack." She laughs. Helen starts tickling her baby. Jack-Jack roars in laughter. Helen then carries the infant into the living room. She cradles Jack-Jack around her arms. Helen and Jack-Jack gazes into each other's eyes. Helen plants a small kiss on the baby's cheek, forehead and nose. She then gives him a great big hug. Jack-Jack wraps his arms around his mother and he too gives her a big hug. For minutes the two of them embrace each other tightly. Finally, Helen sets Jack-Jack down on the couch. She goes into the closet and finds a yellow blanket. She covers him up and starts to sing "You Are My Sunshine." Helen's soft, sweet voice slowly puts Jack-Jack to sleep. The baby rests his head on the couch and snores soft like a kitten. Helen gives Jack-Jack a kiss on the head. She then goes to the bookshelf and takes out a large book covered with leather. She goes back to the living room and sits next to Jack-Jack. She opens the novel and quietly reads. Helen would occasionally look back at Jack-Jack. A smile appears on her face when she notices the baby is sucking his thumb. Finally, after ten minutes of reading, Helen puts the book down and rubs the baby's head. Slowly, Jack-Jack's eyes begin to open. The baby gazes into his mother's eyes.
"Hey Jack-Jack!" Helen smiles. "Sleep well?" Jack-Jack rubs his eyes and starts to stretch. Jack-Jack loses his balance and falls back on the couch. Helen giggles and she picks up Jack-Jack. Helen checks the clock.
"Oh my goodness!" she gasped. "Look at the time Jack-Jack. It's 2:00. We better pick up the kids from school. Come on." Helen grabs her purse. She carries Jack-Jack out of the house and into the car. She places Jack-Jack in the baby seat and buckles him up tight. When Jack-Jack is secured to the seat, he starts to bounce up and down in his seat. Helen smiles and pinches the baby's cheek. She then heads to the driver seat and starts the engine.
"Vroom!" Jack-Jack cheers. Helen looks back at her baby and smiles. She then takes the car out of the driveway. Helen starts making her way to Dash's school. As Helen drives her way to Dash's school, Jack-Jack peeks out the window. He sees the blue birds soaring above the car. He also notices the white clouds dancing in the sky. He can see the beautiful bright sun shining above. Helen pats her baby on the head and continues driving. Ten minutes later, she arrives at Dash's school. She parks the car in the parking lot and waits for her son. As Jack-Jack waits for his older brother, he starts to suck on his thumb.
"RINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!" The bell rang. Helen and Jack-Jack looks at the entrance to the school. Suddenly, a stampede of students comes rushing out of the school. The students rush to the parking lot and looks for their parents. Helen can tell they are happy and joyful, because of the weekends. Ten minutes has passed, yet Helen hasn't found Dash yet.
"Where could he be?" she wonders. Finally, her eyes caught on a ten year old boy with blonde hair. She notices the boy talking to two of his friends. Helen honks her horn, getting her son's attention. Dash looks at his mother, then at his friends and finally, back at Helen. Slowly, Dash drags himself over to Helen's car. He stares at his mother.
"Hey Dash." Helen smiles.
"Hi mom." Dash said.
"Come on. We got to pick up Sean and Vi." Helen instructs. Dash looks down on the ground. He looks back at his friends.
"Come on Dash!" one of them yells.
"I'll be there in a minute." Dash replies. He turns back to his mom and stares into her eyes. "Mom, is it alright if I stay after school for a little bit?"
"Why? What's wrong sweetie?" Helen asks.
"Nothings wrong mom." Dash answers. "My friends and I are gonna stay for practice. We have a big soccer game tomorrow. I defiantly do not want to miss this game."
"But honey…"
"Mom. Please. My team needs me. I'm the best player on the team. This game means everything to me. If we win this game, we're in the playoffs. If we don't practice, we might lose the game tomorrow. Please mom. I'm begging you. Let me stay for a little bit so we can practice!" Dash gazes into his mother's eyes. Helen looks back at Dash's friends and sighs.
"Okay. You can stay for a little bit. I'll pick you up at four. When I get their, we're heading straight home. Got it?" Dash nods, gives his mom a hug and runs back to his friends. He tells them the news and the three of them sprint as fast as they could to the field. Helen waits until the boys are out of sight. She sighs and starts the car. She makes her way to Western View Junior High. While she was driving, Jack-Jack looks up at his mother. He can see a small tear dropping on her face. When she arrives at the school, Helen wipes away her tears. She looks out the window and sees her teenage daughter chatting with her boyfriend Tony Rydinger. Tony and Violet gazes deeply into each other's eyes. The two of them close their eyes and draw close to each other.
"BEEP BEEP!" Violet and Tony spring to their feet. Violet sees her mom and Jack-Jack waiting for her. She wraps her arm around Tony and walks toward the car.
"Hey mom." Violet said.
"Hey sweetie. Ready to go?" Helen asks. Violet stares into her mother's eyes and then smiles at Tony.
"Aw come on mom!" Violet complains. "It's Friday. The weekend is starting. I wanna spend some time with Tony today. He promised me he will take me to the movies today. Please? Can I go with him? Please?" Violet gives her mom the old deer eyes. Helen tries her hardest to resist Violet's small cute eyes. Jack-Jack too sees Violet's affectionate eyes. He giggles, clips his hands and starts to drool on his bib. Finally, Helen releases a long sigh.
"Oh, alright. You can go to the movies with Tony." Helen takes out her wallet and hands her daughter some money. Violet takes the money and places it in her pocket. Helen then looks at Tony.
"You don't have to worry about a thing Mrs. Parr." Tony assures. "You're daughter will be safe with me. We're gonna have such a fun time together, aren't we my little purple flower?" Violet gazes into Tony's eyes and blushes. Violet manages to shake it off. She turns back to her mom.
"Well, I'll see you later mom. Tony will drop me off around five. See ya later." Violet and Tony holds each others hands and walks down the side walk.
"Bye sweetie!" Helen calls, even though the two teenagers didn't pay attention. She waits until Violet and Tony are out of sight. When they disappeared into the city, she starts to weep. Jack-Jack can see small tear drops falling from Helen's eyes. His eyes start to water and he too starts to sob. Helen looks back at her baby boy. She wipes off the tears off of Jack-Jack's face. She lifts his chin up and smiles at him. Jack-Jack's frown goes away and a huge smile appears on his face. Helen pinches his cheeks and softly tickles him. Jack-Jack claps his hands and roars with laughter. Jack-Jack opens his eyes and his laughter stops. His eyes widened. He lifts up his arm and reaches in front of him.
"Sean!" He spoke. Helen looks behind her and looks for Sean. Her eyes caught on a boy with a black hat on his head. He is having a conversation with a beautiful Asian girl. Her long dark black hair is tied in a ponytail. She is wearing a pink jacket with a red scarf wrapped around her neck. She is wearing bluish jeans and a beanie that matches her hair color. While Sean is talking, a cute smile is on her face. The two of them giggles as the gentle breeze sails past them. Sean holds the girl by the chin. The two of them exchange smiles and laughs.
"SEAN!" Helen yells. Sean looks behind him and sees his mother and his baby brother Jack-Jack, who is bouncing on his seat. The girl grabs Sean's hand and gazes into his eyes. Sean smiles and nods his head. He and the girl slowly make their way toward the car.
"Hi mom." Sean said. Helen looks at Sean and the girl next to him.
"Hey Sean." Helen said. She then turns to the girl next to him. "And who might you be young lady?" she asks. The girl blushes as she rest her head on Sean's shoulder.
"Oh, mom, this is my girlfriend, Allie. Allie, this is my mom and that's my baby brother Jack-Jack." Allie looks at Helen and gives her a cute, adorable smile. She then turns her eyes to Jack-Jack. The two of them exchange smiles. Finally, Jack-Jack drops his mouth and drool falls out of his mouth.
"Pleasure to meet you." Allie said.
"And it's a pleasure meeting you too Allie." Helen replies. "So how long have you been with my son?"
"For a few months." Allie answers.
"Oh, and what have you two been doing since then?" asked Helen.
"Well, I take her out on dates. Recently, I took her to the 8th grade dance. Next, we went to the movies and after that, I took her out to dinner."
"It was so romantic." Allie said. "Every week, he would give me flowers, chocolate, a teddy bear and other cute gifts. And every day after school, he'll either give a great bug hug or a small kiss on my cheek. Sometimes, he says a little poem for me. Sean, recite that poem to me again. It's so romantic."
"Oh come on Allie." Sean complains. "Do you have to say that in front of my family?"
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Allie begs.
"No, it's too embarrassing. I'm gonna feel like an idiot if you…" Sean was cut off when Allie grabbed his arm. Her affectionate eyes meet with Sean's brown eyes. Suddenly, her eyes start to water, yet Allie fights back her tears. Her mouth starts to tremble. Sean looks at Allie's face and groans with disappointment. He looks back at Allie and a small tear falls from her eyes. Finally, Sean lets out a long, huge sigh.
"Oh, alright." Sean said. Allie cheers, smiles and gives Sean a great big hug. Sean sighs and begins his poem.
When the sun shines above,
There is nothing but love.
When the sun goes down,
There shouldn't be a frown.
So before I go,
You should always know,
That I will always be,
In your heart, enduringly.
When Sean finishes the poem, Allie's eyes begin to spark. She gives him a great big hug, almost squeezing the life out of Sean. Sean looks at Jack-Jack and he starts clapping. Helen smiles at her son and he begins to blush.
"That was very sweet of you Sean." Helen compliments.
"Thanks mom." Sean said. Allie grabs Sean arm and starts tugging on it.
"Come on Sean. Let's go." Allie said.
"Where are you two going?" Helen wonders."
"Well, I promise Allie I take her out on a date after school."
"Honey." Helen sighs. "A date? Now? Sweetie, we got to…"
"Mom!" Sean interrupts. "I promised her I'd go with her. Please mom. I want to spend time with Allie. I want to start my weekend hanging out with my girlfriend."
"But Sean…"
"We'll be fine mom. I'll take good care of her. I swear." Helen looks at the two teenagers for a long time. Finally, she sighs.
"Alright. Go on." Helen said. Sean and Allie smile at each other. Allie gives Sean a great big hug.
"Thank you Mrs. Parr." She said. "Come on Sean, let's go!" She takes her boyfriend by the hand and the two of them head straight to the city. They never look back at Helen or Jack-Jack. Helen turns around and waves to her son. When Sean and Allie are out of sight, Helen starts the car and drives off. She looks back at Jack-Jack, who is playing with his toy. She starts to cry. Tears cascade down her eyes. She arrives at the park. She carries Jack-Jack out of the car. Helen sits on a bench under a tree. She watches her baby boy play in the sandbox.
"What have I done?" Helen thought. "How can they treat me like this?" Tears fall from Helen's face. "Three months have passed and I've never heard them say to me, "I love you mom." Why? Do they love anymore?" Helen looks at Jack-Jack. She tries to wipe off her tears, but when she does, more tears form in her eyes.
"Ever since they've become super heroes, they changed drastically. I mean, Dash is always ready to fight crime instead of spending time with his family. Violet wanted to be normal, but look at her now. Now she's always concerned about protecting others, mainly Tony. Sean…well, I don't even recognize him anymore. He was such a good boy. He was kind, compassionate, loving, anything a mother could ask for. But now, he's different. He's so aggressive and so violent; almost half of the city is terrified of him." She wipes her tears off her eyes.
"I rather watch the Eviles conquer the world than having this separation with my kids. I don't know what to do. I just don't know what to do." She couldn't take the pain much longer. She covers her face and cries uncontrollably. Tears fall down to the ground like rain drops. Suddenly, Helen felt a small tug on her knee. She wipes off her tears and looks down. She smiles when she sees Jack-Jack giving her leg a hug. Helen picks him up and sets him on her lap. Jack-Jack giggles and he wraps his arms around her mother's waist, giving her a great big hug.
"Aw, thank you Jack-Jack." Helen embraces her baby boy. "I love you very much." She gives Jack-Jack plenty of kisses to the head, cheek and nose. She then tickles the baby's toe. The two of them plays with each other as the sun slowly settles.
Suddenly, police sirens eco across the city. Helen stands up and looks behind her. She notices a black van speeding across the street, followed by four police cars. The vehicles exchange gunfire as they race into the city. Helen picks up Jack-Jack and rushes toward the car. She sets the baby back in the baby seat. Finally, Helen reaches for her purse. She opens her it up and digs through. She takes out her wallet, makeup, pens, pictures and other things, but she couldn't find her supersuit. Helen looks back at Jack-Jack, who is starting to cry. She realized that she left her supersuit in the house, somewhere buried in a laundry basket.
"It's not safe here Jack-Jack." Helen reassures. "We better get you to a safe spot. She heads to the driver seat. But the minute she opened the door, she felt a small breeze brushing through her face. She looks behind her and sees a red blur speeding into the city. Her eyes widened.
"Dash!" she cries. She looks at the city, and finally at Jack-Jack. She closes her eyes for a long time. Finally, she opens her eyes and gazes at the city. Helen enters the car and immediately drives off into the dangerous city.