Have Our Daughters Home By 11
Lucas
"Lucas," said Max as she poked her her head into their workshop. Half of it was covered with Lucas's engine designs, while the other had Max's skateboard and safety equipment designs. "Sandra's date is here."
"Alright, let's meet this guy," said Lucas as he steadied his latest scale model.
"Actually, he was curious about the shop," said Max. "Come on in, Jake," said Max as she stepped inside and stood next to Lucas. A boy in glasses, a tee shirt and jeans walked in with Sandra, who looked a little mortified.
"Wow!" said Jake. "Your parents are awesome. Mr. Sinclair, your designs are amazing." Jake walked up to Lucas and held out his hand. Lucas smiled and shook it.
"Thank you, Jake. Are you interested in engineering?" asked Lucas.
"I am, I just hope they don't cut the program at school."
"That would be a shame," said Lucas. He had heard that the A.V. club no longer existed at Hawkins Middle and felt bad for his hometown.
"It would, but we've sold a lot of tickets for the 50-50 raffle and we have over 2000 signatures to save the program," said Jake. Sandra lightly stepped on his foot.
"There's a fundraiser and petition?" asked Lucas.
"Yeah, Sandra started it. You didn't know?" asked Jake. Sandra stared at her feet.
"Is that what you've been doing all these weeks, honey?" asked Max. Sandra had regularly been staying late after school and skipping dinner. She'd also been spending a lot of time in her room when she was at home.
"Yeah," said Sandra.
"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Lucas.
"What if this all fails?" asked Sandra.
"So what if it does?" asked Lucas. "Sandra, you're trying to do something meaningful. You're a woman of action. We're proud. There's a good chance the program will be saved because you decided to do something."
"Where's that petition," asked Max.
"I have a copy in my room," said Sandra.
"What are you waiting for, go get it so we can sign it," said Lucas. "Maybe we can both take you to work and get some more signatures."
"It'll just be a couple minutes, do you mind, Jake?" asked Sandra.
"Not at all," said Jake. "We need all the signatures we can get."
Sandra ran up to her room. "Let's go wait in the living room," Max suggested. The three of them started down the hall. When they passed Lucas and Max's hobby room, Jake froze. He slowly turned to look inside.
"Holy shit, you guys have vintage arcade games! Do they still work?"
"Yeah. Lucas and I like to fix these things together. It's way more effective than couples therapy," said Max.
"You two don't seem like you need couples therapy," said Jake.
"We don't," said Lucas. "A lot of people were really nagging us about working on our marriage because of our careers. We both really love these things, so we buy them off of ebay and fix them. They're good for blowing off steam if we're stressed."
Jake nodded and noticed the Dragon's Lair game. "Could I?" he asked.
"Be our guest," said Lucas. Jake turned on the game and started playing. He looked really focused. Sandra came in with her petition and groaned when she saw Jake.
"It's going to be a while, he's worse than you guys," said Sandra.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," said Lucas as he took the petition and signed it. He couldn't hide his grin.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Dustin
"Debbie's almost ready," said Cathy as she showed Blake into the living room. She thought she she could detect a small groan from the teenager as he checked his phone.
"You must be Blake," said Dustin as he walked into the living room carry Barty, his red Tegu. He walked over to Blake holding out his hand, but not putting Barty down. Barty stuck his tongue out. Blake jumped up from his chair and backed up until the wall stopped him.
"Jesus Christ!" Blake exclaimed. "What the hell is that?"
"It's okay," said Dustin. "Barty doesn't bite. He's really friendly. Here, you can hold him." Dusting held out the large and ugly but cute lizard to Blake.
"No thanks, Mr. Henderson," said Blake hastily as he inched along the wall.
"You aren't afraid of Barty, are you?" ask Debbie as she entered the livingroom. "C'mon, he's just a lizard. Hang on, I'll show you something." Debbie headed to the herp hobby room. She came out carrying a bag of frozen pheasant chicks. Dustin sat Barty on the floor. Debbie put dropped one of the frozen treats on the floor. Barty noticed, turned his head side to side, then reached over and grabbed it with his mouth. "Here, Blake, you try."
Blake looked at the Hendersons. A couple of Debbie's younger siblings peaked their heads in the doorway. Blake made a face, took one of the frozen chicks and hastily tossed it on the floor. Barty considered it for a moment, then ate that one as well. "Um, cute," said Blake. "Ready to go?"
"As soon as I show you our mini horses, they're all grandchildren of Li'l Sebastian," said Debbie.
"Who?" asked Blake. The Hendersons collectively gasped.
"I'll explain in a second. Go on ahead, I'll meet you out there, then we'll head to the show," said Debbie.
"Alright," said Blake as Cathy opened the door to the back patio for him.
Debbie's smile faded as she turned back to her parents. "I'm never letting my friends set me up again. I'm choosing my own dates."
"Maybe you'll discover good qualities on the date," said Dustin.
"Dad, he clearly didn't think that Barty was awesome and he didn't know who Li'l Sebastian was. What good qualities could he possibly have?"
"You're right, Debs, he's a loser and you should ditch him. Give us a call if you need up to pick you up," said Dustin.
"Don't worry, I'm meeting Molly and Jessica there just in case," said Debbie.
"Good thinking, Biscuit. Love you," said Dustin.
"I love you too, Dad."
Mike
"My parents don't know this is a date or that Jo is my girlfriend," said Katie.
"What?" said Mike, completely taken aback. "Oh, I see."
"Are your parents mouth breathers are something?" asked Eleven.
"They are about this," said Katie. "But they're my parents, and I don't want to lose them.
"I don't know why you care," said Jo bitterly. "If they'd cut you off over this, they don't deserve you."
"That's easy for you to say, Jo. Your parents are cool with everything and you won't lose them over our relationship."
"I'm sorry," said Jo. "I'm just tired of worrying about who knows my secrets. It's just frustrating to have yet another one to keep."
"Another one?" asked Katie.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," said Mike. Katie looked confused and Jo took her hand.
"We can trust Katie, Dad," said Jo.
"I'm sure we can," said Mike. "But should we put this one her?"
"What do you think, Katie?" asked Jo. "You want my really weird secret 'put on you'?"
"I like your weirdness," said Katie as she reached over and brushed Jo's hair out of her face, then remembered that her parents were in the room and blushed.
"What if I told you I'm basically one of the X-Men?" said Jo. Katie giggled.
"That would be pretty awesome, but seriously, what's this big secret."
"Remember when Dan Everett peed himself at the assembly the other day?" asked Jo.
"You used your powers on a classmate?" asked an astounded Mike.
"Mom did it do a guy ripping on Uncle Will, this was no different," said Jo.
"I'm proud," said Eleven. With a small smile.
"El!" Mike hissed out of the corner of his mouth.
"What?" said Eleven. "I taught her to be careful when she uses her powers." Mike buried his face in his hands.
"Powers?" asked a befuddled Katie. Jo held out her hand and a wrapped gift shot into it from the Avengers blanket she'd hidden it under.
"Happy birthday, by the way," said Jo as she handed the package to Katie. "Oh, and full disclosure: Uncle Will and Uncle Jonathan aren't my mother's step brothers, they're actually her biological brothers. Uncle Will is my mother's twin. Grandma Joyce was exposed to an MKUltra energy burst when she was a kid. Uncle Jonathan had the potential for power, but Mom and Uncle Will were born with powers. Evil scientists kidnapped my mom when she was born, but she escaped when she was twelve because an inter-dimensional monster kidnapped Uncle Will and Dad met mom when he was trying to find Uncle Will. Anyway, I inherited my mom's powers, so that's why I'm basically one of the X-Men. If only Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was real. Or Hogwarts, but that would be a different story."
"Jo," said Mike in a voice barely above a whisper.
"What, Dad. You always trusted your friends. I think I can trust my girlfriend."
"Good point," said Mike.
Katie gaped. "You're serious, aren't you? Wow, that is pretty awesome."
"So you're cool with this?"
"Full disclosure, I'm in shock," said Katie. "But, yeah, I'm cool with it."
"Back to the original topic," said Jo as she turned back to face her parents. "I'm really glad that you guys are so supportive and want to wear that pride swag. I didn't tell you not to go because I'm embarrassed. It's just that Katie hasn't come out to her parents. Since she's my best friend, if I come out, that'll at least get people talking and could cause problems with her parents...This sucks, it's the freaking 21st century."
"I'm sorry," said Mike. "But we're here for you."
"Maybe I should just say 'screw it' and tell my parents," said Katie.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Will
"Veronica should ditch that loser," said Julie as she came into the study where Will was working on some sketches for the latest video game he and Mike were creating. His youngest daughter Zelda was in the room with him making her own drawings. She'd inherited his artistic talent and was very advanced for an eight year old girl.
"Did he say one of the deal breaker phrases?" asked Will.
"He did the old 'I didn't know Veronica had an older sister' line. I mean, I know it's a big deal for her to be a sophomore invited to the prom, but at what cost?"
"He sounds gross, Mommy," said Zelda.
"Very gross, sweetie," said Julie. "I'm going to help Ronnie finish her hair. I just needed to vent really quick."
"Don't worry, Zelda and I will keep an eye on the creep," said Will as he shut his sketchbook. Zelda imitated the action. She then stood on his feet as he took her arms to steady her as they walked down the hall to the living room.
"Hi, Mr. Byers, you have a really nice house."
"Thanks...Logan is it?" said Will.
"Yep," said Logan if he put his feet on the coffee table.
"That's not a footstool," said Zelda as she put her hands on her hips. She hadn't inherited her father's chronic childhood shyness.
"Sorry," said Logan. He took his feet down. "Anyway, Veronica's really cool. She's not like all the other girls."
"All the other girls?" asked Will as he raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, is this the talk?" asked Logan.
"The talk?" asked Will.
"The one where you tell me not to try anything with your daughter?"
"Do I need to have that talk with you, Logan? Have many fathers had that talk with you?"
"Well, I mean-"
"Let me tell you something about Veronica. She's a strong intelligent girl who has been heavily influenced by strong intelligent women. There's my wife, who detests smooth talkers, and Veronica has inherited that hatred, " said Will as he started counting on his fingers. Logan gulped. "There's my sister, who hates what she calls mouthbreathers, and my mother who spent many years as a single mother. She's pretty tough and doesn't put up with crap from jerks. They've all taught Veronica to be quite the-" Will covered Zelda's ears and mouthed badass.
"O-okay," said Logan and he nervously nodded.
"I'm ready," said Veronica as she and Julie entered the room.
"Let's get a picture," said Julie.
"How about out front," Will suggested. "We'll be right behind you." Julie smiled, winked and nodded at him. Zelda hopped back onto Will's feet and he took her hands and waddled over to Logan and patted Zelda on the back. She hopped off his feet and to the side. "You know, Logan, I'm a pretty mild mannered guy. My best friend Mike once told me that it's rare that I lose my temper, but when I lose it, I really lose it. Life is short and I just want my daughter to have a good time, but if you try anything douchy or sleezy with Veronica-" Will leaned in and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I just may lose my temper." Will's voice returned to normal and he patted Logan on the back and Zelda stepped back on his feet. "Let's go get those pictures taken!"
Logan stood up and walked nervously. He noticed a Wyatt 2018 poster on the wall. "Ben Wyatt, isn't he running for congress in Southern Indiana?"
"He is," said Will.
"Well, Hartwell is a lifer and my dad says we need to get rid of career politicians, but the creator of Cones of Dunshire, Neerrrrd!" said Logan as he mimicked a mega phone with his hands. Will grimaced.
"Hey, Dad," said Veronica after Julie finished taking the pictures.
"Yes, pumpkin?" asked Will.
Veronica lowered her voice. "I know that Logan isn't your ideal guy for me."
"You can make up your own mind," said Will.
"Well, Aunt El may or may not have taught me how to make a guy pee himself if he tries anything."
"Ronnie!" said Will. He then covered his mouth and muttered. "It's actually a good way to use your powers undetected."
Will, Julie and Zelda watched the teenagers get into Logan's car and drive away. Will put his arm around his wife while his youngest child stepped back on his feet. "She'll figure it out, she's a smart girl," said Julie.
"She already has a backup plan," said Will. The three of them walked back into the house.