Chapter 3

Lynette always loved her husband deeply and she just felt unimaginable things when she was with him that she had never felt before she met him. Even though their love just began as a regular hook-up in the elevators before they had to attend to business and such, it just grew and grew more over the years but one day, Lynette got the same exact news for the 3rd time and that love stopped growing for a moment. As the cinnamon-scented candles she bought to celebrate her finally getting back to work burned, the smell lingered through her nose and calmed her down a little, but she was enraged by the fact that her husband wasn't in touch with her emotions and clearly chose to ignore them. As her breathing was beginning to become more rhythmic, she breathed deeply and sighed at the mess her marriage has become. She could barely make out the sound of the twins taunting Parker, but the voices were so vivid in her head because they are the reason she isn't doing what she was meant to be doing. This wasn't what she wanted. She buried in herself in the hot warm water for a moment feeling like it was a temporary escape from the life she was now leading. After she dozed off for a long time which to he was about what seemed to be an hour, she mustered up the courage to confront Tom about his carelessness towards her emotions and how this really was affecting their marriage. As she climbed out of the bathtub, she faced the window for a moment and noticed one of the twins was sneaking out. She couldn't necessarily tell who it was so she squinted and looked closer to see that it was Porter. In her mind, she thought about running out quickly to stop him but she figured she'd let him go and do whatever he was up to. She then made up a few mental bullet points to lead the conversation in which Lynette would eventually reveal her true feelings. She nodded to herself as a sign of readiness, then changed into a ¾ -sleeve baby blue top and some sweat pants. She headed for the dresser and grabbed a hair clip and put her hair up in a semi-bun. Lynette was ready to this now; nothing was holding her back. Then, with no warning, Tom burst through the doors and with that, the fire alarm started ringing ever so loudly and Lynette stared at Tom with disbelieve and shock before she grabbed his hand to head towards the kids' bedrooms. As they checked the closest room, it was the twins' room and there was no sign of Preston; Lynette already knew that Porter was out, so she blurted out, "Tom, we have to find Preston! Porter is out, no time to explain." And with that, they both ran downstairs expecting a huge flaming fire devouring their house but when they got there, they stared with dismay at the perfectly untouched kitchen with Preston and Parker under the dining table laughing at their little prank. And after that, they explained how Porter was in on it and that he went to the backyard and helped set off the alarm. Tom seemed to listen to their explanation, so after there was silence, Lynette was about to start talking, considering she always was the bad cop when Tom got to be the saint. But shockingly, Tom yelled at the three young boys and at that note, they were sent to their rooms early. Lynette placed her hand on her forehead in complete shock, confusion, and unease, but then she slowly started to mentally grasp the situation and then it occurred to her that Tom just yelled at the kids. He was finally doing some parenting. As Tom looked at Lynette with just as much shock as she did, they suddenly started laughing at the whole situation. It was quite funny, so they called it a night with a glass of some cheap wine and that was the end of it. But that night, as everyone slept so soundly, there were soft footsteps in the hallway. They woke up Lynette but she figured it was just the kids trying to play another prank to avenge themselves after their parents scolded them, so she slept it off. For the rest of the night, no sounds were to be heard and it was oddly calming to wake up and hear no noise. Lynette walked by each room yelling for the kids to wake up just like she did every morning. She headed for the kitchen then started making some pancakes. As she set out the syrup and orange juice, Parker ran down the stairs singing the words, "Do I smell pancakes?!" Lynette smiled as her son approached the table but then she noticed the twins weren't down yet, so she asked him, "Where are your brothers? They should've been down here by now." Parker shrugged and looked confused but then gestured towards the pancakes hinting his mother that he wanted some. She served him 2 pancakes and lathered them in caramel syrup before she confusedly went up to the twins' room only to see two empty beds. On the drawer between the beds lay a note written on a crumbled piece of paper. Lynnette's confusion was replaced with worry as she picked up the note that read, I have Porter and Preston. Meet me at Wisteria Park. That was it. No name, no signature, no information. Just that. Lynette gasped a gasp of horridness and shed a tear as she reread the note. Quickly, she wiped away her tears and attended to her hungry son who was in need of more pancakes. She was clearly distracted and somewhere else but Parker, being a child, didn't care and just wanted his pancakes. After the bus picked up Parker, Lynette went up to her bedroom and woke up Tom who wasn't expecting such news. As she slowly told him everything, he became wide awake and they got dressed quickly before heading to the park. As they slowly approached the location where their kids' kidnapper possibly was, Lynette took a deep breath and awaited their fate….