Vaughn's Thanksgiving
Chapter One: Mom Comes to Town
Setting: This week, just a few days after Counteragent.
"Are you crazy?! What did you tell her?" Vaughn shouted into the phone. He was talking to Weiss and he was not happy.
"I had no choice," Weiss pleaded. "Devlin told me I had to call her if you were still sick after 24 hours."
"But I'm better now and you've worried her for nothing! My mother is a big worrier. You know that! Remember when I busted my knee in that hockey game and she called twice a day for a month?" Vaughn hated to see his mother worry about him. He was all she had left.
"Well it's too late now. I told her the minute you started beating the virus that you would be fine and you were coming home. She saidshe was flying out anyway. She wants to take care of her little boy and nobody's gonna stop her. So deal with it," Weiss said.
"Thanks a lot. Just for that I'm not saving you any leftovers and I know how you love my mom's sweet potato pie," teased Vaughn.
"Come on, man. Be fair. You know I love that stuff. I was just following orders to notify your next og kin. We didn't know if you would make it and we had a responsibility to let your mother know you were sick," Weiss pouted.
"Fine. I'll save you some turkey. But no gravy. And I know you love those yummy lumps!"
Vaughn was running through his apartment trying to clean the place up before his mother arrived. He set up the guest room and vacuumed the floors. He took out the garbage and washed the dishes. He checked the clock and headed out the door to the car. His mother's flight was scheduled to arrive in 20 minutes.
He found a parking spot at the airport and spotted his mother at the baggage claim area. Vaughn walked up behind her and kissed her warmly on the cheek. She smiled when she saw him and they shared a big hug.
"Hi mom! It's really good to see you," he said reaching for her bags.
"Don't you dare, Michael!" she said slapping his hand away from her luggage. "You almost lost your life and you're just getting your strength back. I already have a skycap helping me. Don't you lift a thing!" She put both hands on his face and smiled, "You're sucha good boy. I asked you not to come pick me up. I could have taken a cab. You need your rest. Look at you - you're all skin and bones," she said as they began walking, the skycap following with her suitcases.
As soon as they got to his apartment, Mrs Vaughn was a whirlwind of activity. She did two loads of laundry, went grocery shopping ("You hardly have any fruits and vegetables in this kitchen. You can't survive on soft drinks and pizza, honey.") She took Donovan for a walk and sent her son to bed for a nap.