Lindsay had been spending more and more time at the Ramsey household. She got along excellently with all of the boys, and was considered one of them. They played often and Geoff was more than happy to have her over. He had eventually stopped locking the front door so she could come over, especially when her parents weren't home. Which seemed like far too long, in Geoff's opinion. She appeared to be forgotten in her large family, even though many of her siblings lived on their own.
She fit right in, and quickly became part of their strange stitched together family. Lindsay slept over frequently, and with Geoff now being able to support the six of them, he figured one more couldn't hurt. Everyone was happy when she started coming over more, Michael especially. The boys liked to embarrass him in front of his crush whenever they could.
One particularly rainy Saturday, the seven of them had made a blanket fort that stretched from the kitchen to the living room. Blanket ceilings propped up by furniture and pillows shielded them all from the outside world. Among the stuffed animals, pillows, and assortment of toys lay one man, six children, and a rabbit, hamster, puppy, bird, and cat. They were all playing video games in their new kingdom when there was a knock at the door. Before Geoff could get out, Gus and Burnie entered, although only their feet were visible from under the blankets.
"Geoff, is Lindsay here?" Gus asked the lump under the blanket.
He put his finger to his lips before he replied. "No…?"
"Yeah she is, silly! She's right here! Say hi, Lindsay," Gavin responded. Ray smacked the back of Gavin's head before Lindsay gave herself up.
"Yeah, I'm in here." she said.
"Geoff come out, we need to talk. It's serious," Burnie told him.
"No."
"Geoff, don't make this difficult. We need to have an intervention," Gus sighed.
"My drinking habits are perfectly fine."
"We don't mean your drinking. Just get out here!"
Geoff attempted to stand to leave, but forgot how low the ceiling was. He knocked part of the roof down, and as it wrapped around him he went down hard, taking more of the roof and one wall with him. Children screamed as they were buried in bedding, and animals ran and hopped and flew out from every opening. A blanket covered head popped up from the rubble. "I think I'm just gonna stay in here and talk," it said.
Gus started his well rehearsed speech. "Geoff, you're a good guy. No one here is going to deny that. And you have good kids, too. But you have a serious problem that we need to address."
"And wuzzat?" Ray asked in place of Geoff.
"Geoff, you're a hoarder," Gus responded as if the man being interrogated had actually answered. "You're addicted."
"Am not!" he cried indignantly. "I'm a responsible and mature adult," said the talking blanket fort.
Until that point Burnie had been fairly quiet. Finally he couldn't take it and exploded. "Geoff! Look at all these kids! Look at all these animals! Look at all this Mac n Cheese!"
"Okay I do not have a Mac n Cheese problem," Geoff stated.
Burnie stomped over to the kitchen and stood in front of the large cupboard with his hands on his hips. A few kids peeked out from under the fort, but Geoff stayed where he sat. Burnie flung open the cupboard to reveal the fact that the entire thing was filled with noodles. Mainly princess, with a few dragon ones for Lindsay thrown in. "Geoff, man, you need help!" he cried.
"How dare you question my parenting skills. I have everything under control," Geoff said calmly as a rabbit climbed onto his head.
"Well then lets ask the people you seem to worship," Gus sneered. He helped the kids out from underneath the demolished fort and they all lined up with their pets in front of them. "Okay kids. I want you to tattle on him. Tell him that he's wrong!" Gus pointed at the accused with flourish, waiting for the kids to take his side.
The children looked at each other, and then all spoke in unison. "Geoff's awesome, you guys are wrong!" Gus face palmed and looked to Burnie to support. Burnie simply shrugged and tried to hide the princess noodles he was stuffing into his jacket.
"I might be a sucker for these kids, but they've got my back," Geoff proclaimed, striking a confident pose. He finally climbed out of the fort, but tied the blanket that had been on him around his shoulders like a cape. His friends seemed to give up; there was no way to persuade this thick headed man. They walked to the door, but Burnie turned back one last time.
"If you plan on getting any more kids, we're gonna need a bigger house."
"We?"
"Oh please Geoff, you know you're not raising them alone."
And with that, they two men left. Geoff supposed they were right. There was no way he'd still have any of them without their help. He looked over at the kids, who were still standing by the wall. He raised an eyebrow at them as if to ask 'So what do you think of that?'
"He's right," Ryan said. "We're raising you as well."
