Chapter 2-
"Celia, please turn off the TV and come sit down," Brooke pleaded with her daughter.
"I wanna watch," Celia said, barely taking her eyes off the television.
"Celia, do it for Mommy," Brooke asked again.
"Fine!" Celia screamed, stomping over to her chair, sitting down, and putting on a pout so dramatic and "Brooke-like" that it would have been comical if Brooke hadn't been so flustered. Brooke placed a bowl of Cheerios in front of her, and the pout grew.
"I want Trix," Celia whined. Brooke rolled her eyes, she didn't have time to cater to one of Celia's moods.
"Keith, you gotta get dressed," Brooke said, leaning down to eye level with her son. Keith looked down to the toy in his hands. Brooke tried to pick him up, and he instantly began to kick and scream. Brooke sighed, already exhausted. It was just her luck that Celia and Keith both decided to have their bad day on the same day. She dragged a kicking, screaming Keith down the hall to the twin's room. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, and starting undressing Keith, trying to dodge his kicks. Ding dong! Curse that she ever had a doorbell installed. Keith wiggled out of her grasp, running and screaming.
"Who are you?" she heard Celia ask.
"Uhh, Mouth," a voice answered. Brooke walked out, hoping it was no one that would require much, she had enough going on.
"Mouth?" she asked incredulously.
"Hey Brooke," Mouth answered.
"Come in," Brooke invited.
Mouth walked in, taking in the scene going on around him. Brooke was as beautiful as he had remembered, she wearing sweats and tee shirt, and looked like she was trying to hold back tears. A little girl, presumably Brooke's, they looked exactly alike, sat pouting at a bowl of cereal, grimacing with every bite. A little boy, probably the little girl's twin, they were almost identical, was sitting naked in a corner, screaming.
"This is Celia," Brooke introduced, "and that's Keith. Kids this is my friend Mouth."
"Mouth, I don't want Cheerios! And I'm missing Dora!" Celia whined to him.
"I'm sorry?" Mouth asked.
"They're mine and Luke's," Brooke explained, "twins."
"Oh, you guys stayed together? What's he up to?"
"Daddy's in heaven with God," Celia piped up.
"Oh my gosh, Brooke, I'm so sorry," Mouth said, genuinely upset, "When?" he asked.
"The day the twins were born." Brooke said, "I'm sorry, Mouth, do mind waiting ten minutes? I have to get groceries before it gets too crowded, and Keith isn't dressed yet."
"Of course," Mouth said, feeling a little guilty for just dropping by.
"Watch TV, look around, try to convince Celia Cheerios are better than Trix, whatever." Mouth nodded, taking a seat next to Celia.
"Come on Keith," Brooke said, trying to lead Keith back to the bedroom.
"No!" Keith screamed, pulling away from Brooke. Brooke dragged him to the bedroom, and eventually got him dressed. His hair wasn't brushed, but his teeth were. Brooke took him back out and set him down with a bowl of cereal and a truck, and he immediately calmed.
"Sorry about that, he has autism," Brooke explained, trying to play much cooler with the idea than she really was.
"It's fine," Mouth said, "I'll let you get back to them."
"Lunch at Karen's?" Brooke asked.
"Yeah," Mouth smiled, "Lunch at Karen's."
"Keith, sit still," Brooke begged. She was juggling both the twins in one cart, plus a book she had grabbed at the library on the way. Special Diets for Special Kids. She had stopped by the library the night before as well, and spent the evening reading Jenny McCarthy's Louder than Words, the only book she knew of about autism, and she knew that only from watching Oprah.
Jenny devoted herself to curing Evan, and Brooke had devoted herself to curing Keith, and had been to library again to pick up every book recommended. Starting with Special Diets for Special Kids.
She'd successfully found gluten-free, casein-free cookie mix, and was grabbing as many boxes she could find. Muffin mix, brownie mix, cake mix, not only would Brooke have to do a lot of baking, Keith would be permanently sugar hopped. She'd read in Louder than Words, that Fritos were gluten, casein-free. Perfect. Something she didn't have to cook.
Brooke turned around to find only one twin in her cart. Crap. Where was Celia?
"Celia!" Brooke called, grabbing the cart, running back down the aisle. She nearly ran into Celia, who was at the magazine rack, sitting cross-legged with a People- Style Watch in her lap.
"Mommy, I need a hot pink dress," Celia stated, pointing at a whole page covered in fuchsia dresses.
Brooke refrained from praising her little protégée.
"Celia, don't run away from Mommy. And we'll go shopping later." She couldn't help but add. Brooke sat Celia back down, bucking her in tight, then turned to get Keith, who had wiggled his way out as well, and was standing in the aisle spinning. Once she had both kids buckled back in, she hurried to finish shopping, she had very little time before she had to meet Mouth, and she was only half-way done.
Brooke grabbed three flavors of soy milk, and every type of corn chip available, before heading to the check-out line. This was where the trouble usually started. Keith couldn't understand why he had to wait for anything, something that made lines horrendous. Celia was still sitting in the cart reading her magazine, when Keith grew tired of waiting. He erupted into screams. It was the first time Brooke was thankful for Keith's diagnosis. She had a name, a name for his flapping, his tantrums; his zoning out on spinning objects. She no longer had to wonder, and that she was grateful for. She was eventually able to check out, and was thankful to finally be able to walk out, the whole store was sick of her by then. She loaded her arms up with groceries, and grabbed each twin by the hand. Celia serenaded the group, telling her mom everything she'd learned in her magazine.
Brooke had never been more proud.
Mouth sat at the all too familiar booth, waiting for Brooke to arrive. Seconds later, Celia burst through the doors.
"Gramma!" She screamed, racing to the kitchen.
"Hey Celia-bop," Karen greeted, lifting Celia's petite frame into her arms.
"Celia! What did I tell you about doing that?" Brooke called through the door, leading Keith by the hand.
"Not to," Celia replied simply, dancing around the café.
"Brooke, how is Keith doing?" Karen greeted.
"Good, we went gluten- casein- free shopping this morning, and I'm hoping to find a DAN! doctor soon." Brooke replied, hugging Karen, handing Karen the grocery bags to look through, and refrigerate the soy milk.
"Hey Mouth," Brooke said, taking a seat across the booth, Celia and Keith climbing in after her.
"Hey Brooke," Mouth responded.
"Hi Mouth! Cobalt blue is the new fall color!" Celia greeted.
"Wow." Mouth replied.
"She likes fashion," Brooke explained.
"I can tell. My daughter, Gracie, would go crazy over her."
"Your daughter? How old?" Brooke inquired.
"Ten, she's Shelley's"
"Oh my gosh, y'all are still together?"
"No. Not since Grace was about a week old."
"Oh, I'm sorry Mouth."
"It's fine, Gracie and I do just fine."
"I would love to meet her. You two want to come over for dinner tomorrow? I swear Keith will be dressed."
"I'd love to. What about you? What's been going on in your life since high school?" Mouth asked.
"I went to college, started a clothing line, married Lucas, had the twins, and now I design and am a Mommy."
"What about Luke?" Mouth asked carefully, knowing he was approaching a touchy subject.
"Heart attack, about an hour after the twins were born." Brooke answered factually, not willing to go into the details.
"I'm sorry Brooke; I wish I could've been here for you." Mouth apologized.
"It's okay Mouth, you didn't know. By the way, Nathan and Haley- divorced with five kids."
"No way," Mouth said. Nathan and Haley were so perfect for each other.
"Peyton and Jake have three kids, Jenny's 13 now, and Ava's 6, and Caleb's 18 months. Haley and Nathan have Conrad's 11, Jamie's 5, Ady's nine, Bryan's seven, and Beth just turned four. Rachel is married with four kids, Heidi and Cayden are three, Ella's nine and Tyler's six"
"Wow, that's amazing. What about Karen's daughter?"
"She's eleven, Emily."
"And Nathan and Haley are divorced?"
"He cheated on her."
"Auntie Brooke!"
They both turned to see Beth clamoring into the café.
"Mouth, that's Nate and Hale's youngest, Beth. Bette, this is my friend Mouth."
"Nice to meet you Mouth, my name is Bethany Taylor Scott." Mouth looked a bit taken aback.
"Haley taught all five of them that. Rachel almost peed from laughing when Adrianne introduced herself for the first time."
"Beth! Slow down!" they heard Haley's voice call out as she raced into the café.
"Mouth! It's so good to see you!" Haley exclaimed as she reached in for a hug.
"How was shopping, Brooke?"
"Good, you'd have no idea all the stuff they have."
"Mouth, I see you met Beth," Haley stifled a laugh, as Celia and Beth sat in Mouth's lap, screaming with giggles, as Mouth sat uncomfortably.
"Mouth has a daughter," Brooke informed her friend, pulling Celia off Mouth's lap, and onto her own.
"Aww, Mouth! Congratulations! How old?"
"Ten, Gracie."
"Awesome! Conrad's 11."
They were interrupted by Celia's screams, Brooke groaned, and tried to get up to get her, but realized Keith was asleep in her lap.
"I'd better go, naptime." Brooke said, hugging Haley and Beth goodbye.
"See you and Grace tomorrow Mouth," she said shifting Keith to one arm, and taking a still screaming Celia by the hand.
AN- Hey! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. Now, before we get into it, I know that treating autism with a Gluten Free/Casein Free diet is a very controversial subject. Personally, I support it, and have seen a child make huge improvements on the diet. But this is just a story. If you're against the GFCF diet, that's fine, I'm not here to debate. There may be more instances where Brooke treats Keith biomedically, and the same goes then aswell. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I would really love reveiws. They mean the world to me. Thank you!