AN: Ok, remember how I said only 1 more chapter? Well I kind of lied. This is not the last chapter, 1 more after this (Maybe 2), depends on the length of the scenes. This chapter ended up being WAY longer than I thought (but I'm sure you're all ok with that right?).
Part 4:
It was no rules Saturday.
Elizabeth wasn't expected back at work until Tuesday, following her doctor's orders to take a few personal days.
Henry had made pancakes and Jason was glad to see his mother willingly eat a meal for the first time in what seemed like weeks.
"What's everyone doing today?" Henry asked the table.
"I have to work at 11." Stevie mentioned
Henry had been hoping for a family day, but maybe that would be tomorrow when Stevie was off.
"Aiden invited me to play basketball." Henry said, unsure if he would go or not. "But I'm not sure I want to go."
"Jase, what about you?" his mother asked him.
He looked down at his plate. "I have some homework." He wasn't really in the mood. Face The Nation had really thrown him for a loop.
He noticed his parents share a glace. It was unlike him to willingly be doing homework on a Saturday.
"What about you Noodle?"
"I don't know. Whatever mom wants to do." She said sweetly.
Elizabeth smiled at her. "Well, if Jason and Stevie are busy. Why don't we let Dad go play basketball and you and I can go get our nails done or something."
"Really?" Ally beamed.
Henry was pleased by this, Elizabeth wanting to go out and do something fun. He could tell she was trying hard to have a good day.
"Sure, why not. What could scare me at the nail place?" she tried to joke, although no one laughed.
"Okay then."
Later that afternoon everyone scattered. Stevie left for work. Henry left for the gym, and Elizabeth and Ally went to get their nails done.
He felt bad for lying. He really didn't have any homework to do. He just felt so weird being around his mother these days. He wanted to be around her. He wanted to tell her how scared he was when no one would tell him what happened to her. He wanted to tell her how glad he was that she was okay. He wanted to hug her and tell her how much he loved her. But he couldn't. He knew telling her these things would only make her feel worse. And he didn't want to cause her any more pain or struggles. So he kept his feeling to himself and sat alone in his room all day on his computer.
He heard his mother and sister come back home around 4pm, laughing. He loved hearing the sound of his mother's laugh. It was like things were normal again, if only for that moment.
He descended the stairs and asked how their day was. They both showed off their freshly painted fingers and toes. He also noticed they had shopping bags and Starbucks in hand. Typical girls crap.
"Thanks for taking me out mom, it was really fun." Ally said, hugging her mother before took her shopping bags up to their rooms.
"You're welcome sweetie. I'm really glad we got to do this." Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth hung up her coat and noticed Jason still standing there. "Hey you. Did you get all that homework done?"
"Yep." He lied.
"Good. You wanna watch a movie or play a game with me until dinner?" she tried. She knew something was bothering her youngest, but he didn't seem to want to talk about it.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I think I'm just going to play my game."
"I can play with you." Elizabeth offered.
He laughed. "Mom, no offense, but you suck at my game."
"Well then why don't you teach me." She tried again.
"You should just stick to playing Dad. He sucks at it too. You're equally matched."
Elizabeth wasn't stupid. She'd been shot down 3 times. She let it go. "Okay then, I'm just going to go in the living room and catch up on some reading, if you need me."
He felt awful, being so mean to his mother. She was just trying to hang out with him. But it was better this way. He went off into family room and turned on the TV and started playing his game.
***Hyper Aware***
"I'll be home in an hour or so." Henry texted Allison.
"Okay."
"How's mom?" he asked.
"She's fine. We had a really good time."
"Good. Glad you both had fun noodle. Should I pick up dinner?"
"I can make something. I've got a new recipes to try."
"Okay, text me if you need any groceries. Xoxox."
"Xoxox."
After Allison put her new outfits away, she headed downstairs to find her mother reading a stack of fashion magazine she'd been meaning to catch up on. "Mom, dad will be home in an hour. I'm going to start dinner. What do you feel like, beef stew or chicken chili?"
"Whatever you feel like Noodle, you're the chef." Elizabeth smiled at her.
"Let's have the beef stew, since Stevie isn't here tonight!" Alison decided.
"Okay. Need any help?" she offered.
Ally laughed and shook her head. She noticed Jason playing his video game.
"Hey turn it down." She demanded.
He looked at her. "Why?"
"Mom's in the next room. A little sensitivity." She scolded.
"Mom's fine. She's been in there for an hour and hasn't said anything about it."
"Fine. Whatever." Ally said and left for the kitchen to start on dinner.
She happily hummed as she chopped up all the vegetables and started working on the sauce.
As the sauce started to simmer, she turned her attention to the vegetables in the fry pan, forgetting about the sauce. It started to boil over. When when she heard the sizzle she left the vegetables unattended to turn down the burner.
But it was too late. The veggies started to burn, and the smoke detector went off. "Oh no!" Ally cried.
Meanwhile in the living room, Elizabeth had been happily enjoying the quiet, flipping through the magazines and she was started by the sudden loud beeping of the smoke detector. Her mind immediately panicked.
Ally rushed to quickly turn off all the stove burners and ran to the hallway to silence the smoke detector, accidently knocking a glass off the counter on her way. It shattered instantly. "Oh no, oh no" she cried.
When Elizabeth heard the glass shatter it added insult to injury and she tossed her magazine away as she tried to shield her ears from the sound. The magazine toppled her water glass and Jason, standing frozen after he got up to see what the commotion was about, watched it roll off the coffee table and shatter when it hit the floor.
As Ally made it to shut off the smoke detector, she heard the second glass break and saw her mother huddled in the corner of the couch, struggling to breath.
As soon as it was shut off and silent she rushed to her mother. She looked up at Jason, who stood frozen. He was terrified, seeing his mother panic all of a sudden. He was so glad Ally was there. It took her a second to remember what to do, but she reached for the drawer and pulled the paper bag out.
"Mom! Mom!" she tried to get her attention. "I'm sorry Mom. It was just the smoke detector. The sauce was boiling over. Mom, please….breathe." she said handing her the bag.
As she watched over her mother and kept apologizing she looked to Jason, fear in her eyes. "Jason call dad." She said as calmly as possible to not scare her mother.
"Jason do it!" she begged again, but he still stood frozen, struggling to breathe himself as tears streamed down his face.
When Ally realized he wasn't budging, she pulled her phone out of her pocket with shaking hands and started to text her father when he came through the door. "Hello!" he called in a happy voice.
Ally wanted to scream for him, but she kept thinking about her father's instructions not to panic yourself or scream. So she didn't. She just whispered to her mother. "Dad's home. It's okay."
When Henry didn't hear a reply he wandered through the house. Then he noticed Jason standing frozen and saw Ally on the couch struggling to keep calm and help her mother.
He sprang into action. He took Ally's place beside Elizabeth and rubbed her knee. "I'm here sweetheart, it's okay. Just take deep breaths." He continued to soothe her and turned to Ally. "How long?" he whispered.
"Just a few minutes. 10 maybe…" she replied, watching her father on the verge of tears. "It's all my fault. I burned dinner and the smoke alarm…..and I broke a glass when I was running to shut it off!"
"It's alright Ally. You didn't mean it." Henry whispered to her and turned his attention back to his wife. "Deep breaths baby, you're doing great." He rubbed her shoulder.
When Ally saw her father in control of the situation she backed away and went to clean up the broken glass in the kitchen and in the living room. She tried to get Jason to help, but he still stood frozen, watching.
Ally switched off the TV, preventing that game from making more loud noises and returned with a glass of water for her mother.
When the panic attack was over, he watched his mother gulp down the water and look over at Allison. She pulled her to her chest in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry baby girl."
"No mom! I'm sorry. I ruined today. It was a good day."
"No sweetheart. We still had a blast today. Nothing changes that." She assured her.
As Alison pulled away, Henry suggested. "Maybe we should just get carry out tonight."
The girls smiled, and as Elizabeth kissed Allison as she left the room they turned their attention to him. His mother held her arms out with a sad expression. "Jason…come here."
When he didn't move her expression grew more concerned and she walked toward him, actually trying to pull him into her arms. "Jase…it's okay. It's over now."
He pushed her away and yelled. "No it's not!" He disappeared up the stairs leaving his parent's dumbfounded.
Henry pulled his wife into his arms, watching his son disappear. "It's okay. He'll come around."
"No, I scared him." She nestled into her husband's embrace. This is exactly what she didn't want. She didn't want her kids to see her like this. This was the absolute worst part.
In his room, he cried into his pillow. How was it ever going to be okay? His mother had a great time with his sister and it got flipped around just like that. To make matters worse, he didn't follow his father's orders. He didn't get the paper bag, he didn't call his dad, he didn't do anything. He couldn't help his mother. He just froze. If Ally hadn't been there he didn't know what he would have done. He decided then and there he couldn't ever be alone with his mother, because if something happened again he wasn't capable of helping her.
