It was 8pm, and Peter was still not home. Lois's stomach would have knotted in worry for her husband, if it was not for fact that her children were hungry, and therefore her top priority of the time.
"Dinner!" Lois called, setting the table for lasagna. She quickly portioned the kids large pieces, and two normal sized ones for Brian and herself. She didn't have to worry about Peter eating all the salad, but she did have to worry about the lasagna getting wiped out in mere minutes.
Meg walked in first, and Chris followed. They were laughing about something that had occured at school, with Neil Goldman and Connie D'Amico. Meg patted Stewie's head, and he looked up from his coloring.
"Well Meg, did that D'Amico girl get the goods?" He asked, and Meg smiled at him.
"I do like your picture Stewie!" She said, and took her seat. Stewie rolled his eyes, and went back to his drawing. Chris and Meg continued conversing, and Lois smiled at seeing her children so happy and content. Brian walked in soon after, a wide smile on his face.
"What's with the smile dog?" Stewie asked, and Brian smiled even wider.
"I got a date with a purebred Borzoi. Gorgeous girl." Stewie scoffed.
"Is she only a few months old?" Lois began to dole salad out, and she smiled at Brian. She places the tongs back into the bowl, and Brian frowned.
"You can't kill my good mood, Stewie. And she's 5, for your information."
"I'm happy for you Brian." She said, and grabbed the juice from the counter and poured it into everyone's cups, handing Stewie a pre-filled sippy cup.
"She sounds nice Brian. What's her name?" Meg asked, piercing into her salad.
"Her name is Lavender." He said, beginning to eat his lasagna.
"Well, let her know she's always welcome-"
"I'm home." Peter said, slurring drunkenly and slamming the front door shut. He stumbled into the kitchen, gagging at the lasagna. "I'm not hungry, Lupus, Candy and Annie brought me and Quagmire McBurgertown." He began to laugh, and nudged Brian's arm.
"What Peter." Brian said, scooting away slightly. Meg and Chris moved closer together, and Meg shook a bit in fear. Stewie quieted down, looking straight at his coloring.
"That's not the only town they took us too. Kapow!"He thrusted into the air, and Lois frowned. She knew very well that he cheated on her, as did everyone else in the house. She stopped fighting it during her pregnancy with Stewie, knowing that it wasn't worth it.
"Was work good today, Peter?" Lois asked, trying to change the subject. He looked at her, and gave her a smile. That smile used to make Lois's heart flutter, but now just made her stomach sink.
"Didn't work today." He said, and headed to the living room. Dinner was finished with relative silence, permeated by the sound of the T.V. After dinner was finished, Meg helped Lois dry the dishes, Brian announced that he would put Stewie to bed, and Chris said he would be turning into bed early.
After Meg had finished the dish drying, Lois had thanked her profusely, and Meg had headed to the living room to watch T.V. She knew it was a lions den out there, but Meg had insisted. Lois retreated to the back room.
Lois sat at her grand piano, brought by her father. She traced her hands over the carved ivory, and ornate golden decorations on the edges. She turned the pages of the well worn practice book, and began to play a piece.
It was simple, and childish, but she had always had a place in her heart for Gavotte, remembering dancing and twirling her skirts to the lively song when she was younger. The tinkling of the keys is soon drowned out by raucous laughter, and the sound of something being thrown.
"Shut up Meg!" Peter called out, laughing even louder in his drunken stupor. Lois flared with anger, before taking a deep breath and continuing the piano playing. She slowly counted for 4 minutes before she decided she'd retreat upstairs, to comfort her daughter. She stood up, dusting off her teal shirt, and slowly tried to tiptoe across the living room.
Peter smelt like the Clam, like cheap liquor and skanky girls, and was sleeping soundly on the couch. She scrunched her nose up at his stained tank top, and his well worn underwear. He looked unkempt, and she could tell he hadn't shaved or showered in the past few days due to the sheen of grease on his hair, and the prominent 5 o'clock shadow on his face.
She went up the stairs slowly, before reaching the second floor. She checked on Stewie first, and saw him sleeping soundly while Brian sat at his small table and clacked away on his computer.
"Another bestseller, Mr. Rockwell?" She teased, and Brian gave her a loose smile.
"We'll see how the editors like this version of The Fishery." He said thoughtfully. "Meg has been helping me brainstorm."
"That's good." Lois said absentmindedly, rubbing her cool hand against Stewie's warm back. "I think I'm going to go see her."
"Goodnight Lois." Brian says, and Lois gently shuts the door and heads across the hall. Lois taps twice on the door, and is immediately let in by a tearful Meg.
"I hate him Mom!" She sobs, and throws herself into Lois's arms. She wraps her arms around her, cooing and leading her to the edge bed. "I hate him!" She says again, shrilly and looks up at Lois. They sit at the edge of the pink comforter, and Lois is struck with how beautiful her daughter is. She's a mirror image of Lois, with hazel eyes, and Lois is struck with even more pain.
"I'm so so sorry Meg." Lois feels tears gather in her eyes too. "I'm so sorry I did this to you kids." Lois holds her for what feels like hours, rubbing her back between sobs. She knows what it feels like to be bullied by that disgusting man, to have insults thrown at her front and back while he's drunk.
She hates him too, and she almost says it, until Meg takes a deep breath. Lois smiles, it's a trait she and Meg share, to take a deep breath before saying anything, to lasso all of her thoughts together.
"Mom." Meg says, closing her eyes. "I think I want to go to bed." She says hoarsely, and Lois nods, kissing her forehead. Meg gets up from the bed, and Lois does too, tucking Meg in and smoothing down her hair.
"Goodnight Meg." She flicks off the light as she exits the room, shutting the door. She heads over to Chris's room, opening the door just a crack to see him fast asleep and holding his favorite stuffed monkey.
"Goodnight, Chris." She hums out, and starts to creep towards her room. The door is ajar, and she winces as she pushes it open, hoping Peter isn't in there. She's hit with a horrid stench, but she can tell it's coming from the laundry rather than a fat blob on the bed.
"Thank the lord." She mumbles, knowing he'd be sleeping downstairs. She heads to her closet, fumbling for a nightgown in the dark, and hearing a coat hanger fall to the ground. She sighs heavily, before bending down to grab it. Instead of the rough cotton of her nightgown, Lois feels a smooth slip of paper on her side of the closet instead. "What the-"
She pulls it out, and the light from the window reveals that it's a letter. From Carter and Barbara "Babs" Pewterschmidt, it says, in her mother's curled handwriting. Her breath catches in her throat as she tears it open. Peter hid her mail again? It was likely, he never liked her talking to her mom and her dad, thinking that they'd turn her against him.
She dumps the letters contents down onto the bed, and flicks the lamp on to read it. There's two papers, one thick and folded; and Lois can tell it's a legal document. The other is thin, in her father's stationary.
She squints to read it, and almost cries at the loving words on the paper.
"My dearest Lois," It's her mother's handwriting again, but her father's words. "Your father and I miss you terribly, and we wish to have you and the children come stay. But this time, instead of having you stay for two days before your fat oaf of a husband demands you leave, we are inviting you and the children to come stay permanently. Enclosed are divorce papers, darling. Please, call us soon. With all of our love, Mother and Father." Lois feels as if a huge weight is lifted off her shoulders, and tears start to roll down her face. She eagerly began to look for a pen to sign the papers, before stopping.
"I- I can't divorce Peter!" Lois thought, multiple scenarios and memories flying through her head. Years of degradation had ruined Lois's confidence, and had made her constantly look tired and ragged.
Peter abused the whole family, although he only had ever physically hurt Meg and Chris. He had though, cheated on Lois multiple times. He called her names, and destroyed their marriage and any love she had for him.
Of course, she couldn't leave. She was an idiot, who had never worked a day in her life. Chris was an idiot too, and had no talent. Meg was unpopular, ugly, and an idiot too. Stewie was a dumb baby who only hindered Peter's plans to have fun because they had to plan around Stewie.
No one in this house had value besides Peter, he made sure of that. He had only brought the worst out in every family member, pitting them against each other, and taking advantage of his own wife and children for personal gain. Peter was a monster.
And Lois was in tears.
She remembered the day she met Peter, and how sweet he was. Certainly a bit husky, and kind faced and clean shaven and dressed well. What had happened to that Peter? He was now a disgusting man, never bathing, never cleaning after himself. He had become obese, and only ever wore tattered clothes.
Lois held herself close as she sobbed. She shook with hatred and sadness and anger and desperation. She had nothing, and she was nothing. She looked up to wipe her eyes, and saw the letter her mother had written her. Lois blinked once slowly, and then again.
Peter had tried to push her family away, citing that they didn't care about her. And for years, she felt like that wasn't the case. She hadn't seen them since Stewie was born, but hadn't talked to them since Meg's 10th birthday. A strange feeling settled in her chest. Her family had always been there, sending money, cards, gifts, and everything even when Lois hadn't talked to them. They had tried to talk to her. They had tried to be in the kids lives.
"I'm not alone." Lois said, and felt a laugh bubble from her chest. "I'm not alone!" She said louder, and began to laugh hard. Peter couldn't hurt her anymore. He couldn't stop her. She wasn't alone, and maybe she wasn't as worthless as he led her believe.
Divorcing Peter would do what? Release her back to stay with her parents, until they brought a home for Lois and the children. Divorcing Peter would open new avenues for Lois. She was only 41, and she couldn't resign herself to living the rest of her life with an obese drunk. She could send the kids to better schools, give Meg and Chris a makeover and healthy outlets. They wouldn't fail like she did. Stewie would grow up stable, with toys that weren't constantly taken by his father.
She grabbed the pen that had fallen onto the ground, and snatched the divorce papers. She looked over them, and saw the provisions her father wrote. She smiled in glee as he wrote Peter out of his will, as he made sure Peter would get no time with the children, no alimony from Lois. Another laugh came from her mouth as she put the pen to paper, and signed her name with a flourish.
Instead of Lois Griffin, she put Lois Pewterschmidt. After signing, she rushed over to Stewie's room, almost forgetting he was asleep. She opened the door with less force than intended, and tossed the papers at Brian.
"Brian." Lois breathed in, and the air felt so much cleaner. "We're leaving tomorrow."