Parts of Home
Not many things frightened Garrett Pillsbury. Being an average bloke he didn't have much to brag about in his life. Wife, three kids, cable television for a bargain every time football season started up, He was a pretty unshakable guy. Irritated mother possum crammed under the sink, no sweat, making a toast with already a couple of beers under his belt at the Christmas work function, not a problem. Even that Justin Beaver or something cd signing riot, he hadn't come out with that 'been to hell and back' look on his face all the other parents had. Yes, there wasn't much in this world that could make Garret nervous. Except his sister Emma.
Garret would never forget that day. His parents had forced him to go to that stupid dairy farm, that he had to support his little sister's 'dreams of the future'. Maybe the resentment of missing out on Todd Foster's birthday party had driven him to tease Emma so on the way out. That had caused him to give her a push, threatening that he'd send her falling into the run off lagoon. But he had not meant to actually finish the job, see his eight year old sibling go topping backwards into the mix of cow feces, blood and guts, that head of red hair sinking under the surface.
Though the old farmer had pulled her out in time for her to not lose consciousness, the little girl covered in muck lying on the bank was not his sister. She refused to be touched by anyone and spent hour upon hour in the weeks afterwards scrubbing herself and consequently the things around her constantly. In time small bits of that smiling little girl reappeared and Garret felt comforted by the fact that he hadn't completely ruined her life.
But the prospect of his sister's visit still freaked him out. It's not like the family didn't get along, just worked better in smaller doses. Emma said she had forgiven him, and his mother always reinforced that point but one's presence had always made the other feel uneasy. He tapped his fingers nervously on the steering wheel as the traffic lights changed colors. His wife Sarah thankfully was giving the kids 'the talk' for tonight.
"Stephen, let go of Ashley's ponytail! Claire get that out of your mouth and listen." She took a deep breath and put that serious mom face on.
"Now you know your Auntie Emma is coming around to Gran and Pop's tonight too for dinner."
The three minions nodded.
"And you all remember how we behave around Auntie Emma."
They nodded again.
He pressed his foot on the accelerator as the lights changed colour again and saw Sarah give him a questioning look.
"Is she bringing…" she whispered.
"Yes she's bringing the guy around." He answered crisply.
Now as a thick sculled male he was, he had even picked up on the whispers circulating around the Pillsbury family. His mother had been overjoyed to find out during her fortnightly call to Lima that her admittedly somewhat loner of a daughter had found someone. But much to his parent's horror that someone was a divorced someone. Being from a pretty religious community Garrett could tell this 'welcome back home/ meet the folks' dinner was going oodles of fun.
Quickly rushing the kids out of the car and burling up the front porch of his parents house sent a quick prayer to whoever's up there that the evening wouldn't go down in flames.
"Sarah, Gar, kids come in!" exclaimed his mother opening the door and ushering the giggling children inside. Garrett and Sarah hovered on the porch peeking through the door.
"Yes, they are here." Mom huffed, "Now be polite and come inside."
The three squeezed through the doorway and entered the kitchen, Garrett making a quick pit stop at the 'Emma' drawer and sanitized his hands. He noticed the kitchen was unusually spotless. His mother was probably more obsessed with the anti mess movement than Emma whenever she came to visit.
"Anything to make her more comfortable" Had been the motto since the accident. Mum had probably had spent the whole weekend scrubbing the floors and restocking the 'Emma' drawer as well as orchestrating a non dairy meal. Garrett had to admire the dedication to a daughter who never visited.
He ambled through into the lounge, swatted Stephen's head for knocking over Gran's footstool already, and laid eyes on the pair; a curly haired man and the sister that he had not seen in almost two years.
She looked, nice. Her shiny red hair was doing that weird flippy thing that Sarah was convinced was a result of a bottle of hairspray every morning. Her outfit, well fitted to her slender frame (which he thought Sarah was jealous of too) was quirky as ever. But the most different thing about his sister was the smile on her face. In the years after the incident it wasn't like she was depressed or anything, just, cautious about life. Tentative to show that she really cared about anything and that hadn't seem to have changed when she left the town all those years ago and only came back for the occasional visit. Tonight her eyes were bright and a small but very real smile painted across her face.
She looked up at the just arrived guests, squeezing the guy's (whose name escaped Garrett mind even though it had been the subject of gossip over the past week) hand and looked up at her older brother.
"Hey Gar." She said politely getting up off the couch. Those huge brown eyes on him and Garrett was right back on the bank of the lagoon. She placed her hands over heart and he reciprocated (Pillsbury family substitute for a hug developed at a time where any physical contact would send Emma over the edge.)
"This is Will Schuester." She motioned to the man standing up beside her.
"My Will Schuester." She said slightly quieter before but with an excited grin on her face. Will held out a hand to shake which Garrett took gladly, relieved to break his sister's gaze.
Dinner was cautionary affair. Emma didn't seem like she really wanted to talk so the admittedly very friendly Will conducted most of the conversation, charming the parents. Who of which danced around the previous marriage topic and even though Sarah seemed more endorsed on supervising the Kids; who were eating on a designated rug in the lounge, from the table, her ears were pricked to catch every detail. Garrett grunted and nodded at appropriate times but was pretending to be more interested in his roast. Will seemed like a pretty stand up guy. Obviously nervous out of his mind but improvised well, especially lighting up when he talked about his Geek club or something.
"The kids just got back from regional's, finally got that number one place this year." He beamed while drowning his potatoes in gravy.
"What play did they do?" Garrett asked.
"Glee clubs don't do plays Garrett." Emma snapped, "They perform songs, like a choir."
He looked down at his plate embarrassed.
"Sorry Emma."
She looked away uncomfortably while Will scrambled to save the discussion. Sarah's eyes slid accusingly across to him while he stabbed into his chicken a bit too roughly and his parents ignored the little tiff, probably since they had been a common occurrence years ago.
The rest of the meal passed pretty smoothly, Will having successfully charmed the socks off Mrs. Pillsbury Sr. and Sarah seemed to warming up to him as well. Emma certainly seemed besotted. Her eyes constantly flickering towards the curly haired smooth talker and a stunned look on her face like she couldn't really believe he was here. The charismatic king himself quietly asked the two Mr. Pillsbury's to talk with him out on the patio while Emma and Mom did the dishes and Sarah tried to entertain the kids.
The night air was frosty but not too cold as they filed outside and looked expectantly at Will.
"Look." He began, "I know you aren't exactly overjoyed at the idea of Emma being with a divorcee like me."
He quickly accessed the level of hostility on the men's faces and decided it was safe to continue.
"But I love Emma very much. She stuck with me through a rough time in my life. She is an amazing individual, kind, honest and I can't imagine being without her. I mucked up with my first marriage but I have no plans to let that happen with Emma. So, what I'm asking, is if I have your permission to marry your daughter." He finished with the last line more directed to the elder Mr. Pillsbury.
Garrett looked too towards the older man and saw his father's face crumple with thought.
"I appreciate what you've done for our Emma. She seems very happy with you. But, how are you dealing with her – issues."
"I'm not going to lie, it took a bit off adjustment but I really think she's getting better. I mean I've had to step up too, but I think we are both handling it very well." Will smiled.
Mr. Pillsbury nodded then clapped Will on the shoulder.
"Welcome to the family Schuester." He declared.
Garrett had to admit he was pleased. The man was obviously over the moon that he could finally put on a ring on Emma's finger, the dude was growing on him.
"You don't mind do you?" Will asked Garrett cautiously once he clawed his way out of Dad's bear hug.
Garrett nodded, "Yeah, but if you mess her up even more I'll smash you."
The three celebrated for a couple minutes longer then retreated inside. Will went directly to Emma and scooped her up into a kiss, much to the surprise of Sarah and Mrs. Pillsbury.
"What was that?" Emma asked breathlessly when he set her down. Her boyfriend only smiled as the kids giggled and pointed. Mr. and Mrs. Pillsbury went into the kitchen and talked while Emma, still readjusting her hair from Schuester's public display of affection, sat down at the table, Sarah soon joining her for another drink (Even though Garrett knew Sarah was just a teensy bit jealous of her sister in law and usually avoided her). Will leant against the recently vacuumed couch and watched his soon to be nieces and nephew in law play on the floor. Garrett slowly walked over and stood beside him, arms folded and trying not to look over at his sister.
"She doesn't blame you, you know." Will said jerking him out of his reverie.
"So everyone tells me." Garrett replied looking at his feet.
"She really doesn't." Schuester reiterated, "She's a pretty forgiving person. I mean she's with me isn't she?" he laughed at his own joke.
"Yeah." Garrett agreed, "But I was serious about what I said before. You're dead if you hurt her."
Schuester looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or not.
The rest of the evening had a definite lift in the atmosphere. Even though Schue didn't do the cliché thing and propose to Emma there are then, you could feel the contentment in the air. When the kids started to fall asleep on the couch, Garrett took the cue to leave. Emma and Will were staying the night and making the hike back the day afterwards but this would still be the last time he would see them. After Sarah and he had loaded the drowsy trio into the car and refused to take the leftovers home they bid farewell. While Sarah and Schuester traded phone numbers (something to do with costumes for the Geek club thing, Garrett knew how much Sarah loved to sew) he hung back. Emma had her arms wrapped round her shoulders on the porch as he walked up beside her.
"Do you like him?" she asked quietly still not looking directly at Garrett.
"He seems like a nice guy." He shrugged. She turned around and those big brown eyes pierced right through him. She really wanted to know what he thought and just that fact humbled him.
"He makes you happy." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
She nodded dropping her gaze.
"I asked Sarah to be a bridesmaid at my wedding."
Garrett gulped trying to remember if he had told it wife too loudly about Schuester's plans and if Emma might have overheard.
She shook her head at the puzzled look on his face.
"Will and I have been talking about for a while now. He hasn't proposed officially yet but Brittany isn't good at keeping secrets." She smiled at the last sentence but Garrett didn't have any idea what she was talking about.
"You didn't have to ask Sarah." He said instead, thinking of the tension between the two women.
"I wanted to." She replied simply turning to look at him again, but with a happier expression on her face which made him breathe easier. Then she did something completely unexpected. Instead of hand over the heart gesture, she slowly leant her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her gently letting the moment sink in. A hug.
Soon enough the embrace ended. Either the germs on Garret's coat freaked her out or just the fact they hadn't shared a sibling bonding moment in years made him withdraw his arms and her back away. She smiled kindly as he walked out to the car, Schue coming from behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, the picture of a happy couple.
"Don't leave it so long to visit next time!" Garrett called back to them as he got into the driver's seat. The couple laughed as they waved back and he was glad to finally see his sister adjusting to the thing most people find second nature – human contact.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be." Sarah yawned as she slid down into her seat, her blonde hair spilling over her face. He smiled over at her almost forgetting to keep his eyes on the road. Schue's declaration of love for his sister had definitely made him appreciate the woman sitting beside him more.
And maybe the most important thing he'd take from the visit is that his little sister's presence no longer scared the living daylights out of him. Well, only a little.