Part II

The next day, there was a restless feeling in the air on Wisteria Lane. Everyone got up a little earlier than usual, unable to stay in bed. The Sunday paper just wasn't as satisfying as it usually was, and their late morning pancakes didn't taste as sweet no matter how much syrup was applied. Something was missing that wasn't in the usual routine, and no one could quite figure out what it was...
"Gabby! Aren't you ready yet?"
"Carlos, relax. Your mother's grave isn't going anywhere."
"Very nice. I'd just like to be there before the sun sets."
"Ugh, it's only two o'clock! Chill already."
Gabrielle grabbed her purse and stomped out of the house. Carlos rolled his eyes, looking to the heavens for patience. They'd been cranky since they woke up that morning, and riding in a car together to the cemetary to visit his mother was not going to help relieve tension.
"Oh look, Bree is out gardening!" Gabrielle had no idea why she felt the need to announce the fact to Carlos, but seeing her friend gave her a thrill today.
Carlos squinted against the afternoon sun, spotting a lovely redhead in a large brimmed hat, kneeling in front of a flower bed. Carlos and Gabrielle started talking at the same time:

"I'll be right back, I just-"
"I'll be right back, I just-"

They stopped, realizing they were saying the exact same thing.

"I'm just going to say hello to-"
"I'm just going to say hello to-"

They both narrowed their eyes at each other.

"Me first!"
"Me first!"

They took off across the street, trying to out-walk each other. Bree looked up, smiling and waving at the couple until she realized they were walk-racing towards her. Carlos easily 'won', stopping right in front of Bree's spade collection.
"Hi." he said with a friendly smile.
"Hello, Carlos." Bree greeted him, waiting for him to say something else. He wasn't one of the people that usually came over to chat. "Can I help you with something?"
Gabrielle finally arrived, overcoming the hinderances of her high heels and little legs. "Ugh!" She exclaimed, out of breath, but she managed to put on a smile for Bree. "Hi, Bree! I saw you out in your yard and thought I should come say hi!"
"Yes, I gathered that." Bree told her. "Did you two need something?"
"Oh Carlos, why don't you wait in the car?" Gabrielle suggested. "I won't be long."
"I don't mind standing here!" Carlos shrugged and put his hands in his pockets, smiling all the time. "Actually I was wondering what you were planting."
"Oh." Bree looked around at the little plants in plastic pots that were being readied for transfer into her yard. "Well these are impatiens, I just bought these at the garden store today, and I also have sunflower seeds..."
Gabrielle shot a dirty look at Carlos, which Bree narrowly missed as she was pointing at her work.
"Maybe I could stop by later and help!" Gabby offered. "I could use some tips, since our last few gardeners haven't worked out too well."
"Yeah, like you're really going to get down on your knees in the dirt." Carlos said derisively. "Not that there is anything wrong with that," he corrected himself for Bree's benefit. What was wrong with him today? Bickering in public, trying to impress Bree of all people?
Bree was wondering the same thing. What was wrong with everyone?

"Julie!" Susan yelled up the stairs in her house. "I'm going over to Mrs. Van de Kamp's house! I'll be back la-"
Julie appeared at the top of the steps.
"Oh! Hi." Susan quieted down. "I'm going to Bree's. I'll be back later."
Julie eyed her suspiciously. "Did you make plans with her?"
"No!" Susan giggled, all but jumping up and down in her obvious excitement. "I'm going to surprise her!"
"Mom..."
"Yeah?"
"...nothing. Have fun." Julie walked back slowly to her room. After sitting, puzzled, for a moment, she picked up her phone to call Danielle. Danielle didn't let a full ring go by before she picked up.
"Hello?" She sounded desperate to talk to anyone.
"Hey, Danielle? It's Julie."
"Oh, thank god."
"Haha, what's wrong?"
"These people have gone completely insane, you have to save me! Wanna go to the mall?"
"Sure, I'll ask my mom. She's headed over to your house actually."
Julie could hear Danielle snickering condescendingly, like she'd heard something she couldn't quite believe.
"Are you serious?"
Julie looked out her window, as Susan skipped across the street. "Yeah...why?"
"Well she's not going to be alone..."

Susan knocked on Bree's door three times. It occured to her that she had nothing to surprise Bree with, other than her prescence. Oh she couldn't wait to see the look on Bree's face when she saw her...just...standing there on her porch. Susan began to have doubts about the merits of her fabulous shockeroo, but the door started to open and the smile popped back on to her face.
"Surprise!"
"Susan! What a lovely...surprise!" Bree said, for lack of a better word. "What brings you here?"
Susan's smile faltered. "I don't know. Hug?"
"Oh. Well...okay." Bree stepped out of the doorway to give Susan a hug. "Is everything alright?" she asked as they pulled apart.
"I'm fine, I just-" Susan stopped talking as an all too familiar blonde came into view.
"Hello, Susan." Edie purred. She walked up behind Bree, smiling.
"Oh. Hi Edie. I didn't know you were here." Susan felt that familiar surge of jealousy and anger, the way she always felt when Edie got somewhere first.
"No, apparently not." Edie looked Susan up and down in judgement. "Bree and I were just whipping up something wonderful for dinner. Did you want to join us? Oh wait, I forgot - you can't cook." Edie looked at Bree, reaching up to tuck a piece of Bree's hair behind her ear.
"Don't be silly!" Bree laughed nervously, swatting at Edie's hand. "Susan can still join us!"
"No, it's okay..." Susan started to say, feeling dejected and worthless. But then she seemed to change her mind. "I guess I could watch." Anything just to be near her.
The smile on Edie's face dissolved into a scowl. "Fine. But don't touch anything."

Danielle put the phone back on its reciever and walked into the kitchen. Edie and Susan were standing on either side of Bree, who was preparing a roast on the island counter.
"Mom? I'm going to the mall with Julie."
Bree looked up, looking a bit stricken. "You're leaving me? I mean, leaving now?"
"I'll be back in time to eat, I promise. Assuming there will be enough for all of our 'guests'."
"Oh that's right, your father will be home from work soon." For some reason Bree felt a little nervous about asking Susan and Edie to share. "There's enough to go around, right girls?"
"For Rex?" Edie asked. "Oh sure. We've been sharing you with him for years!"
"I think she meant the roast..." said Danielle, but no one was listening.
Suddenly they all heard someone clomping down the stairs.
"The plumbing looks fine, Bree!"
Susan, Edie, Bree and Danielle all turned to see Mike in the kitchen doorway.
"And I can replace that faucet for free. You just let me know." Mike polished his wrench and put it in his tool belt.
"Mike?" Susan was the most surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"
Bree felt herself blush. How awkward.
Mike smiled, looking only at Bree. "I came over to check Bree's pipes."
Bree burst into nervous laughter, a little louder than last time. "I thought my bathroom sink was leaking!" she told them, trying to make it sound like a trivial little story, even though Mike had appeared at her door before any discussion of the sink had come up.
"Turns out it was just condensation." Mike explained. "You probably take really hot showers."
"Hmm..." Edie purred some more, looking at Bree with a curious look on her face.
Danielle couldn't take any more. She ducked out of the kitchen, intercepting Julie in the living room. Danielle grabbed Julie's hand, dragging her out the front door. "We have to find Andrew."

Later that night, after Rex had sent Edie, Susan and Mike on their way, the Van de Kamp couple were in their bedroom getting ready to see a play.
"So they all came over uninvited? Separately?" Rex asked as he put on his tie. He hadn't expected half the neighborhood to be at his house for dinner after his first day back at work, but he had no idea that Bree hadn't been expecting them either.
"Yes, I thought it was quite an odd coincidence too." Bree agreed as she tied the tie for him. "I actually started wondering if it was some kind of intervention, though I haven't the faintest idea as to what it would have been for. But they all seemed very surprised to see each other. Surprised... and unhappy, now that I think about it."
"Huh. Weird." Rex put his suit jacket on and smoothed the lapels. "Ready?"

"Oh, did Danielle or Andrew ever call?" Bree asked Rex on their way to the car. "They both disappeared after dinner."
"They said they were going to see a movie. Something about John Tucker dying, it sounded like a horror movie." Rex went to unlock the doors, but stopped when he heard a rustling in the hedges next to their driveway. He noticed two hushed voices as well.
-We should invite him too, shouldn't we? -
-Would it be weird if we didn't?-
"Lynette? Tom?" Rex peered around the bushes and found the Scavos crouching behind them.
Lynette shot up like a rocket. "Rex. Is Bree around?" Lynette pretended to look around for Bree, who was on the other side of the car. Lynette shot Rex a thumbs-up when she 'found' her, walking around the vehicle.
"Hey." Tom stood up as well. "We were wondering if you guys wanted to come over for drinks."
Rex narrowed his eyes. "Uh...thanks, but we were on our way out..."
"We've got margaritaaas!" Lynette sang, making her hands into fists and playfully punching Bree's arm.
"Oh, haha, ouch." Bree said, smiling and trying not to recoil too obviously.
"Sorry," Rex declined again. "We've had these tickets to 'Twelve Angry Men' for a while, it's all sold out."
"Well you're going to have Two Sad Neighbors if we don't get together soon!" said Tom. He started to laugh a phony laugh, and Lynette joined in to support him.
Rex laughed too, like he was still waiting for the punch line. "And you're going to have Two Creeped Out Neighbors if ya keep hidin' in our bushes!"
"Oh that," Lynette waved her hand dismissively. "I dropped my wedding ring, Tom was helping me find it."
"Right. Wouldn't want to lose a thing like that." Rex looked at the both of them, eyes still narrowed, and then at his wife. "We're gonna go now."
Rex got into the driver's seat, and watched Lynette open the door for Bree.
"Have fun!" Lynette told her. "You too Rex. But mostly Bree. Ah-ha, haha, just kidding."
Rex started the car and backed up slowly after Bree buckled her seat belt. Tom and Lynette stayed in their driveway, waving.

"I told you we should have called first."

Andrew, Danielle and Julie were back at the mall, eating french fries in the food court as Danielle told them about her horrible afternoon.
"I had to watch them make a roast, for god's sake."
"Why didn't you just leave sooner?" asked Andrew, not seeing how this was a big deal.
"Mom wouldn't give me a chance! Edie kept complimenting her clothes, and her hair, and her makeup. It was almost like she was flirting with her."
Andrew smirked. "It's not like Edie is the most prudish of Mom's friends, Danielle. Maybe she likes women too."
"Andrew, did you hear anything else I've said? Mike was there first, and then Julie's mom showed up. This is more than just Skeezy Britt trying to seduce everyone on the block."
The three teens ate their fries, trying to figure out what was happening.
"You said Mr. and Mrs. Solis were there earlier, right?" Julie asked.
"Ya. They raced each other." Danielle confirmed, emphasis on 'raced'.
Andrew laughed, trying to imagine tiny Gabrielle racing her tank of a husband Carlos.
The wheels were turning in Julie's head, and she thought about the party the previous day.
"Has your dad been acting strangely today?" she asked, gathering more information for her hypothesis.
"I don't know, he was at work all day. He seemed okay at dinner though." Danielle reported. "He barely got a chance to talk, it was all Bree! Bree! Bree!" she imitated their dinner guests in a shrill voice.
"Hmm..."
Andrew sighed and got up. "Sherlock, Watson: it's been really fun. But I'd much rather be shopping for video games than trying to solve the mystery of why people suddenly want to spend time with my Mom. I think that one is unsolvable.
"No Andrew, we need you." said Julie.
"I didn't know you cared."
"No, you have to find that bottle. We have to figure out what you spiked that punch with."