Author's Notes: The readers are gasping loudly, "OMG! She's actually posting something!" LOL Yes, I'm finally back. YAY! I want to thank all of you for your patience. I hope some of you are still interested in this story. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my dad, James Edward Newton, who passed away on January 2, 2010 and to you, the readers/reviewers. Also, I have to thank everyone who reads and/or reviews my stuff. I'm always grateful for the support. LO:CI and its characters belong to Dick Wolf and company; I'm just borrowing them for a little while. Any and all mistakes belong to me. Read and enjoy! :o)

Wednesday, September 7, 1977
Home of Bill and Susannah Lewis
Bedtime

"Whatcha writing there, Susie Q?" Bill asked his wife as he entered their bedroom. He was carrying a copy of Popular Mechanics in his hand. Susannah was sitting on the foot of the bed, writing on a small notepad with a pencil. "Oh, I'm just writing a grocery list," she replied. "Do you want spaghetti or chicken for dinner tomorrow night?" He shrugged his shoulders before kissing her on the forehead. "Doesn't matter to me. I have no preference," he said. She chuckled. "Figures."

Bill got into the bed, leaned against the headboard and opened his magazine. "Who was that on the phone for Bobby?" he asked. "Doreen," Susannah replied. "She wanted to let him know that she was going to sleep at home tonight." "Oh, okay." She stopped writing to turn around to look at him. He could feel his wife's eyes on him, so Bill looked up from his magazine. "What?" he said. "Doreen told me that she was going to talk to Cal about having Frances and Bobby come to live with them,"

Bill's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Wow. Really? Why?" he asked. Susannah sighed as she stood up and went to her side of the bed. She got in and leaned against the headboard. She said, "Doreen thinks that when Bobby decides to go away for college, Frances won't handle it well. She wants to be there for her when that day comes. And other days like the one she had on Monday." A thoughtful look crossed Bill's face. "That makes sense, I guess. But I suspect Bobby will probably want to stay nearby to take care of his mother." Susannah nodded. "That's what Doreen is afraid of: Bobby putting his life on hold to take care of Frances."

"Well, what do you want to do?" Bill asked, putting his arm around his wife's shoulders and giving her squeeze. "If Cal decides to go along with Doreen's idea, then I say we support them and their decision," she replied with a smile. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "That sounds like a good plan," he said before returning to read his magazine. Susannah smiled to herself as she continued writing out the grocery list.

Wednesday, September 7, 1977
Home of Cal and Doreen Reed
Bedtime

"Look at the picture I drew today, Mommy," 5 year old Cheryl Reed said. Doreen smiled as she sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed. She took the piece of paper out of her hand and looked at it. "This is a very lovely picture of the sky, trees and birds. I love it," she said. "Thank you, Mommy. You can have it." Doreen leaned over and kissed Cheryl on the forehead. "Thank you, sweetie. I think I'll hang it in the shop."

Cheryl sat up and said, "Mommy, Trey said that cousin Frances is sick in the head and that I'll get sick like her if I'm near her. Is that true?" Doreen mentally groaned as she put a reassuring smile on her lips. She grasped Cheryl's shoulders very lightly and shook her head, guiding the little girl to lay back down. "No, sweetie. That's not true. Trey is just trying to make a joke." "And it's not a very funny one," she thought. "Cousin Frances is sick? Right, Mommy?" "Yes, she's sick. And I have to help take care of her." "Why?" "Because Bobby can't do it by himself. He has to go to school, just like you and Trey." "Oh." Doreen lightly chuckled as she kissed Cheryl's forehead again. "Good night, Cheryl. I love you," Doreen said as she stood up. She flipped on the switch for the night light, then turned off the bedside lamp. "Good night, Mommy. I love you."

Doreen walked out of Cheryl's bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her. Cal was standing in the hallway waiting for her, his arms folded across his chest and a slight lopsided grin on his lips. She looked at him and smiled as she let out a heavy sigh. "You handled that well," he said. She pointed to a small patch of gray hair on her left temple and said, "You see this? This comes from repeatedly telling a teenage boy to stop telling his 5 year old sister things she doesn't need to know about." Cal chuckled as he unfolded his arms and wrapped them around Doreen's small frame. "Glad it's him and not me," he said teasingly. "Hmmph," was all she said as she pulled away from her husband and headed towards Trey's room. Cal followed behind her.

Doreen knocked lightly on 16 year old Trey's bedroom door before opening it. He was sitting up in the bed, reading the latest edition of a Superman comic book. Without looking away from the comic, he said, "I've got 4 pages left, Ma. I'll go to bed after that." Doreen stood in the middle of the floor with her arms folded, her weight shifted to one side as she tapped her foot. Cal leaned against the doorframe, looking back and forth between Trey and Doreen. "Trey, your mother has something to say to you," he said. "I think you need to give her your undivided attention." Trey let out a dramatically long and loud sigh as he laid his comic aside to look at Doreen.

"How many times have I told you not to tell Cheryl any wild stories about Frances?" Doreen said. Trey made a face and said, "I'm not making up any stories about Cousin Frances! I'm telling Cheryl the truth. It's not my fault she's a complete fruitcake!" He picked up his comic to start reading, but Doreen snatched it out of his hands. "Don't cop an attitude with your mother, son," Cal said, "or your backside will regret it." "Calvin Martin Reed the Third! How dare you say such a thing about Frances!" Doreen said. "Ma, she's crazy! Our whole family knows that. Cheryl needs to know, too." "For your information, young man, Frances is schizophrenic, not crazy. You should not be telling your sister that she'll get sick in the head by getting near her."

Trey huffed as he rolled his eyes. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at the wall. "Whatever," he muttered under his breath. Doreen sat down on the edge of the bed. "Trey, look at me," she said. He turned his head to look at his mother. "It's bad enough that some people, including our family, treat Frances like a leper because she's a schizophrenic. I don't want Cheryl thinking being around her is a bad thing or to be afraid of her. I want her to grow up knowing that Frances is just like you and me, only difference is that she's got an illness that can't be cured. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Trey sighed heavily. "Yeah, I guess," he replied. Doreen smiled, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. She stood up, holding the comic book out to him and said, "Promise me you won't tell Cheryl she'll end up like Frances by being around her or any other wild stories." "Yeah, okay," he said flatly. He reached for the comic, but Doreen held it back out of his grasp because she wasn't convinced by his answer. "Promise me, Trey." He sighed heavily again. "Ma, I promise. Geez." She grunted as she gave him the comic. "If you don't keep your promise, I'm going to confiscate your whole comic book collection and those 3 Playboy magazines Frank gave you for 2 months. Do I make myself clear?" Trey's mouth dropped open as he nodded.

"Good night, sweetie," Doreen said, a small smile of triumph crossing her lips as she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. "How in the world do you know Frank gave Trey some girlie magazines?" Cal asked when he and Doreen reached their bedroom. "Oh, I saw Frank give them to him at the restaurant," she replied. "He didn't realize that I could see the front cover." She sat down on the foot of the bed and pulled off her shoes. Cal sat down beside her. He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "I always knew nothing could get past your keen eyesight."

Doreen looked at Cal and smiled. "I want to ask you something," she said. "Ok, sure," he replied as he removed his arm from her shoulders. "I want you to do some serious thinking before you give me an answer," she said, taking one of his hands into both of hers. "This sounds serious, Dorie. What's up?" Doreen took a deep breath, exhaled and asked, "What do you think about Frances and Bobby staying here with us?" A puzzled look crossed Cal's face. "For how long?" he asked. "I was thinking permanently," was the reply.

Cal blew out a deep breath as he stood up. "Permanently?" he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's a tall order, babe." "I know there's a lot to think about," Doreen said. "I've been thinking about it ever since Frances went into the hospital. It would be a major change for us. Especially for Cheryl." He grunted lightly. "Cheryl's adjustment will be the least of our worries." "Yeah, I know Trey will express his displeasure in his own subtle way. But I don't want what happened Monday to happen again. Between the police, paramedics and Mrs. Neely freaking out, I'm surprised Frances didn't have a more serious breakdown than she did."

Doreen sniffed softly, wiping a small tear off of her cheek. "Don't cry, Dorie," Cal said quietly. He sat down again, putting both of his arms around her. After a couple of minutes of silence, she pulled back a little to look up at him. "Promise me you'll at least think about it," she said. He nodded. "I will. When is Frances suppose to be released from the hospital?" "Maybe sometime this weekend. Dr. Archer has her on some new medication. He wants to see how she reacts to it before releasing her."

Cal pursed his lips. "How about we think about it and make a decision on Friday?" he asked. "Okay," Doreen replied. He kissed her on the forehead. She sighed heavily as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I hope Frances accepts our help," she thought to herself.

Thursday, September 8, 1977
Home of Bill and Susannah Lewis
Breakfast Time

"Lewis! Bobby!" Susannah shouted from the bottom of the stairs. "Get it in gear, guys! Breakfast is ready!" She let out an exasperated sigh when she didn't get an answer from either one of the teenage boys. When the doorbell rang, she reluctantly walked over to answer the door. "Good morning, you two," Susannah said to Mattie and Tricia after she opened the door and stepped aside. "Good morning, Mrs. Lewis," the girls said in unison as they walked passed her into the house. "Breakfast is on the table. Make sure to take the toast out of the toaster and put it on the table, too," Susannah said. "Okay," Mattie replied. She and Tricia placed their books on a hallway table before heading into the dining room.

Susannah walked back to the bottom of the stairs. "Jedidiah Lewis! Robert Goren!" she exclaimed loudly. "If you're not down here by the time I count to five, I'm coming up there to drag you out of the bed! One. Two." Before she could get to three, Lewis and Bobby came bounding down the stairs noisily, school books in hand. "Morning, Mom," Lewis said. He quickly kissed Susannah on the cheek, then threw his books on the table next to Mattie and Tricia's books, making a beeline for the dining room. Bobby followed right behind him, doing exactly as Lewis did. Susannah chuckled to herself as she shook her head.

Bill came down the stairs a few seconds later, zipping up his dark blue coveralls. "Good morning, sweetheart," he said. "Good morning," Susannah replied. She reached up and kissed Bill on the lips. "What's so funny?" he asked. She just laughed and shook her head. "Nothing. You better hurry up and go get some breakfast. There are 4 hungry teenagers sitting at the dining room table." "Ah. Say no more." He walked towards the dining room while she headed into the kitchen.

When Bill walked into the dining room, he found all four teenagers stuffing their faces with pancakes, eggs and toast. "Good morning, everybody," he said as he reached for the pitcher of orange juice and a glass. He got nods and grunts in reply He poured some juice into the glass, then placed the pitcher back on the table before sitting down. Susannah came out of the kitchen with a plate of fresh pancakes and a cup of coffee, handing them to Bill. "Thank you," he said. Susannah just smiled as she sat down.

"Dad, today's Thursday," Lewis said after he finished swallowing a mouthful of food. Bill pursed his lips slightly. "Really? I hadn't noticed. Pass the eggs and syrup, please, Tricia," he said as if he hadn't heard Lewis. Susannah hid a smile behind her raised coffee cup while Lewis exchanged a worried look with Mattie, Tricia and Bobby. "Um, Dad. You know Thursday is a special day." "Really? What makes it so special?" Bill asked nonchalantly as he poured syrup over his pancakes. Lewis let out a heavy dramatic sigh. "Dad!" he said desperately.

Bill let out a hearty laugh. He reached over and patted Lewis' arm, saying, "Good grief, son. I know what today is. You've got to learn to take a joke." Thursdays and Fridays were special to Lewis because those were the days his dad would let him drive a metallic blue 2 door 1977 Dodge Charger SE to school. Bill had received the brand new car as a gift last October from a very grateful customer who loved a restoration job he had done. Driving the car to school was Lewis' reward for working at the shop and keeping up his grades.

Bill reached into the breast pocket of his coveralls, pulling out a single key on a keychain that hung from his index finger. He held out the key to Lewis, who eagerly tried to snatch it away from him. Bill quickly withdrew his hand, making a fist around the keychain. "What are the rules?" he asked. "Ugh! Come on, Dad! I know what the rules are," Lewis groaned. "What are the rules, Jed?" Lewis remained quiet as he looked at his plate.

"Do I need to remind you, Jedidiah, driving that car is a privilege you've earned, not a right," Bill said sternly. "Now you have a choice. Either you adjust your attitude and recite the rules or you can just forget about driving at all this week." Mattie opened her mouth to say something to Lewis, but Tricia pinched the back of her hand. Lewis squirmed a little in his chair before he said, "I can drive from home to school and to the shop. Only Bobby, Tricia and Mattie are allowed to ride in the car and can be taken somewhere else besides home and school. I'm the only person allowed to drive the car." A smile of satisfaction spread across Bill's face as he handed the key to his humbled son. "Thank you," he said.

"Can an exception be made to one of the rules?" Bobby asked. Lewis frowned at him. "Are you nuts?!" he said. "Settle down, son," Bill said. "Let's hear what he has to say." He looked expectantly at Bobby. "What exception do you want to make?" "C-c-can CeCe ride with us?" Susannah and Bill exchanged looks while all 4 teenagers held their collective breath. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's fine with me." "Okay. CeCe can ride in the car, too." All the teenagers let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," Bobby said. "You're welcome," Bill replied. "Hurry up and finish eating before you all are late for school."