Disclaimer: I do not own Even Stevens. The Walt Disney Co. does. Only
the idea for this story belongs to me.
I would just like to send out another THANKS to everyone who reviewed my story. Welcome any more newbies.
Note to shooting-starrz-4- Sorry, but I think you just lost 100 dollars. I did not just finish watching Where the Heart Is, although I do know the movie well. It's one of my faves.
Note to idk- Thank you for the Beta reader offer, but I am confident in my writing skills. I know there are some errors; I usually don't catch them until after I've posted though. Besides, this is just a fun project to get my mind off homework. (Especially essays- blah! lX P )
Note to artsigurl16- WHERE ARE YOU?!
A/N: I know, I know; it's been over a month. Bad Widow Shark (slaps herself in the face)! Sorry about taking so long again, I never meant for it to go this far without updating. The usual excuses are to blame: work, homework, reading, writer's block, yadda yadda yadda. Get my drift? Anywho don't forget to sparkle and shine like the gems you all are and review. Thanks and tootles.
Ren's Perfect Mistake
Chapter 10: Thanks For Nothing
Thanksgiving had sneaked up on the Stevens family in what seemed only to be a couple of days ago and not almost three weeks. It was only nine in the morning and Mrs. Stevens was already in the kitchen making her own family's Thanksgiving dinner after having been away for a week of helping the needy in the greater Sacramento area. Mr. Stevens was fast at work in his study writing a brief for a large, new case. Louis would be sleeping like a baby until almost noon. And Ren, as always, was up early and in the kitchen helping her mom prepare a magnificent Thanksgiving feast, despite her current situation.
Things were especially exciting this year because Donny would be getting home from school soon with Wendi, now his fiancée, and her parents.
Over those three weeks Ren had learned that the reason for Donny's early return from school was primarily to introduce Wendi to their parents and ask about proposing. They had stayed that entire weekend and Ren got to know Wendi better and vice versa. It turns out they had a lot more in common than she would have ever guessed.
The following week, Donny proposed to her, at a football game nonetheless, with the use of one of the giant video scoreboards. And whether Ren wanted to believe it or not, Donny and Wendi were madly in love with each other. Now they were engaged and the parents were meeting over Thanksgiving dinner.
This year Ren and her mother where discussing pregnancy and parenthood during food preparation. She asked her mother several questions. Among them were mostly general questions, but one was rather difficult for Eileen to answer completely, simple as it was:
"How did you become such a good mom?" Ren asked.
Eileen was a bit stumped over this one. She stopped what she was doing and put her hand to her chin, thoughtfully, and sighed. "Well, hmm...let me think," Eileen said, still pondering her daughter's question.
"Can you think of a metaphor?" Ren asked, trying to be helpful.
"Thanks for the suggestion, Honey," she said continuing to think. "Okay, I've got it!" She paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Well, to begin with Ren, I'm glad you asked that question, but I'm sorry to tell you there's no definite answer as to how I became a good mom. I just sort of evolved into one, you could say. However, I was able to think of a metaphor like you suggested." Eileen paused to put the turkey she'd been stuffing and basting in the oven. When that was finished, she continued answering Ren's question. "You see, Ren, parenting is much like learning how to ride a bike..."
Ren interjected, "Mom," she said, "I'm not sure that's such a good metaphor. If you remember correctly, I still can't ride a bike without training wheels and I don't think I ever will..."
"Nonsense, Ren, you'll learn how to ride a two-wheeler eventually. Give it time. Just listen to my metaphor first." Ren sighed.
"Okay," she said reluctantly.
"What I was trying to say was, you don't become good overnight..."
Ren mumbled something that sounded like "unless you're Donny" under her breath, still listening to her mother's pep talk.
"...It takes a lot of patience and a lot of time and energy to be a good parent, just like learning to ride a bike. The main difference between being a parent and learning to ride a bike, though, is you don't get too many chances to practice. Even if you baby-sit all of the time; it's very different when it's your own child and that's the most important thing to remember." Ren nodded again.
"I will, Mom. Thanks for answering my..." the doorbell rang and she stopped talking in mid-sentence.
"That must be Donny, Wendi, and her parents," Eileen said looking at the clock. "Oh My! It's late. Ren, could you do me a huge favor, Honey, and go wake Louis up. He's overslept. Again," she finished, running to answer the door, but Steve had beaten her to it.
"No problem, Mom," Ren sighed, then hurried up the stairs as fast as her swollen body would allow. She could hear voices from the top of the steps; it was in fact Donny and his fiancée and her parents. She stood there for a few moments listening before returning to her mission.
"Come on in, don't be shy," she heard her father, Steve, telling their guests. "You can just set your suitcases right there on the floor, I'll get them later. My name's Steve Stevens." Wendi's parents, the Glass's, came in and greeted Mr. Stevens.
"Thank you, so much, Steve," Mr. Glass said wearily. They had just flown in and would be staying in one of the guest bedrooms for the weekend. Donny and Wendi would occupy the other guest bedroom, which just happened to be Donny's old bedroom.
Mrs. Stevens, who had still been in the kitchen when Ren went upstairs, walked up and casually introduced herself to the guests.
"Hello, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm Eileen, and I see you've already met my husband, Steve. Please, come into the living room and make yourselves at home." She said leading Mr. and Mrs. Glass to the living room. Ren couldn't hear much after that so she forced herself up the rest of the stairs to rouse "Sleeping Ugly" with a few pounds on the door.
Meanwhile, in the Stevens' family living room there were still more introductions to be made and much more chattering to come.
"It's a real pleasure meetin' ya!" Mrs. Glass said heartily. "By the way, I'm Sandee, with a double-e an' this is mah husband, Booker. Mah Wendi can't say 'nough 'bout you folks," Mrs. Glass laughed. Eileen laughed too.
"Can I get you anything, Sandee, Booker?" Mrs. Stevens asked.
"Heck no, Mrs. Stevens. We're just fine for the time bein.' Thanks fer the offer though," Booker replied.
"Okay then," Mrs. Stevens said smiling. "Just let me know if you need anything. Won't all of you have a seat?" Everyone found a comfortable spot to sit. Mr. and Mrs. Glass were sitting side by side on the couch. Donny and Wendi were on the floor leaning against the coffee table and each other. And Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were sitting in armchairs that were askew from each other. They talked quietly amongst themselves while they waited for Ren and Louis to come down.
Ren knocked on Louis' door three times; she pounded really, but there was no sign of life coming from inside. She hated the thought of venturing into her brother's room; it was a wreck. She waited thirty more seconds before she tried again. The same results came back. "Louis, wake up!" she shouted through the door. "It's after eleven." It was no use; there was no answer. "Fine. Have it your way!" she shouted. Then she thought of something that would make it worth her wild to go into his pigsty. She smirked deviously. 'Now THAT just might work,' she thought.
It was the best plan she'd come up with in a while. It was almost as good as when she'd helped Louis clean up the "Stevens' Manor" mess. Her smile faded when she thought about the trouble they'd been in. Louis had been grounded for over a month and she'd gotten two weeks for helping him cover it up. That had been over two years ago though. That was then; this is now. He wasn't going to wake up any other way and, Heaven forbid, he should wake up on his own. She had to do this. And surely her parents would understand... She placed a hand on her stomach, "Right?" she asked it, though mostly to herself.
Ren shrugged then went into her bedroom to get her Polaroid camera and then to the bathroom and filled a large paper cup almost to the top with ice- cold water. 'If this doesn't wake him up, I don't know what will,' she thought. She carefully walked back out into the hallway and after thinking for a couple seconds decided to give Louis one more chance to wake up before she went in. Ren could still hear the adults' lively conversation and bantering coming from the living room although she had no idea what they were saying. She pounded on the door again. "Louis! Come on; wake up. It's almost eleven-thirty and the Glass's are already hear. Louis? Fine. I'm coming in now." Then she mumbled under her breath, "and don't say I didn't warn you." She was about to put her hand on the doorknob when her mother yelled up the stairs, startling her and almost causing her to lose her grasp of the cup.
"Ren! What's taking you so long? Is Louis up yet?"
"No, Mom," Ren called down. "He must not have heard me. I'm going in to wake him up now."
"Okay, just be quick about it. We're all waiting for you," Eileen said before heading back into the living room with Steve, Donny, and the Glass family. Ren sighed heavily.
"That was a close one. Here goes nothing..." Ren opened Louis' bedroom door slowly so as not to make any noise. Then, on her tiptoes, she stepped over several articles of worn clothing and junk on the floor. She almost tripped several times. And that was only two feet away from the door. She tiptoed a few more feet closer to Louis' bed. Ren could see him sprawled out. He was snoring loudly. One of his hands was resting on his alarm clock. Her camera fell out of her hand once and she squinted, hoping it hadn't awakened her brother. He hadn't stirred. "Phew, I thought I blew it," Ren whispered to herself. When she finally reached the optimal picture-taking position, Ren readied herself: camera in one hand, cup of ice water in the other. "On the count of three I'll do it. Okay. One. Two. Three." She threw the water at him, it worked, he sat up quickly, and she snapped the picture. He seemed to be in a sort of haze for a moment, but came to fast.
"Wha...wha...what are you doing in here?" Louis stammered. He wiped the water that was dripping from his face off with his blanket.
"Mom sent me to wake you up," Ren told him, arms akimbo.
"It's only eight-thirty in the morning, Ren. My alarm only went off a few minutes ago. I just hit the sleep button, it would have rang again in a minute." Ren shook her head back and forth and sighed.
"It's after eleven-thirty, Lou. Look at your clock."
"It is not...it is after eleven-thirty!" He looked at Ren, his eyes bulging.
"Yeah. And Wendi and her parents are here. They're waiting for us to come down. Now, come on. Get up out of your bed and get dressed." He stared at her in disbelief for a moment.
"I will. Wow, I even set my alarm..." he muttered. "I'll be down in a few minutes. You can go," he sighed.
"Alright. Just hurry up. Mom wants to have dinner on the table by noon," she told her brother, carefully making her way to the door. Before she left his room she added, "and by the way, Lou," she said holding up the picture, "this will make great black-male one day!" He started to run towards her, but he tripped and she disappeared around the corner. He could still hear her laughter though.
"Gee, thanks," Louis mumbled, picking himself up off the floor. Then he finally got dressed in a nice pair of khakis and an orange, collared shirt. He thought about putting his turkey tie on, but thought better of it when he remembered the guests. It was nearly noon by the time he finished getting ready. "Mom and Dad are going to be furious with me. Ah! What else is new?" he said.
Ren had gone back to her bedroom. She had to calm down before returning downstairs to meet the Glass's. She picked up the picture and burst out laughing again then immediately put it face down under her pillow. Taking deep breaths, Ren was finally able to calm herself down to a point where she wouldn't be guffawing any more. However, a smirk still remained on her face, so she remained in her room until she heard Louis' door open.
Louis stepped out of his room and into the bathroom to finish getting ready. Ren stepped into the hallway a couple seconds later. "I swear I heard his door open," she mumbled and started downstairs with one hand on the railing and the other resting on her stomach. Louis was out of the bathroom before she made it to the bottom step. The adults had gone into the dining room and were getting ready to sit down and eat.
"Hey, Sis!" Louis said to Ren. Then he lightly placed his hand on her growing stomach and said, "hey little niece or nephew!" Ren rolled her eyes at Louis' new 'thing'. That had been the fourth or fifth or tenth time this week he'd done that to her and it was getting annoying. She sighed and let it go.
Louis and Ren walked into the dining room together. Eileen was the first to see them.
"It's so nice of you two to finally join us, Kids!" she smiled. Louis and Ren could both hear the twang of agitation in her voice for keeping the guests waiting. She panned her attention back to the Glass's. "Sandee, Booker; I'd like you to meet my daughter, Ren, and my other son, Louis." Ren and Louis smiled and waved. "Ren, Lou," Mrs. Stevens continued with the introductions, "these are Wendi's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Glass."
"It's very nice to meet you both," Ren said, smiling. She elbowed Louis, who was standing right next to her, lightly in the ribs.
"Ow! What'd ya do that for?" Louis whispered to Ren. She just smiled and rolled her eyes in the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Glass, who were both looking directly at him. Louis caught her drift. "Oh! Yeah, it's um... very nice to meet you, too," he stammered.
"Aw, shucks. Pleasure's all ours," Booker said, his accent surprising both Ren and Louis. Then he said, "why don't we all sit down and start eating? This dinner looks absolutely deeeee-licious!"
"Why, thank you so much!" Mrs. Stevens exclaimed.
Mr. Stevens thought that was a great idea and called everyone to the dinner table to sit down, but before everyone began eating, he asked that everyone tell what he or she was thankful for. He started: "I'm thankful for all the good times I've shared with my beautiful family and that I have a job at a great new firm."
Mrs. Stevens went next: "I'm thankful for my wonderful husband and children and for the people of this district for electing me as their senator again. Why don't you go now, Louis?"
"Oh, okay, sure. Uh, lemme think. Okay, got it. I'm thankful for my family and friends, my girlfriend, Tawny. I'm thankful for my drum set, my skis, and for all the times I've gotten away with something or another. And...and I'm thankful for," he began again, but his dad cut him off.
"I think that's enough, Lou. Ren, why don't you go next?" he asked.
"All right. I am also thankful for my family and friends. I don't know what I'd do without them, especially now," she said winking at her parents. "I'm thankful that Bobby and I made up and that the baby is health..." Ren quickly covered her mouth with both hands. She had a nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. What had she said? She hadn't planned on telling Wendi or her parents that she was pregnant, at least not yet. She was barely showing.
Nobody said anything for half a minute and there were a lot of raised eyebrows, but nobody was staring at Ren. Wendi was the first to break the silence. "Ren, ya don't hafta ta hide. We ain't gonna bite ya and you've got nothin' ta be ashamed of either. Besides, I figured it out three weeks ago when I spent the weekend here." Ren put her hands down and looked at Wendi, the feeling in her stomach settling a bit.
"How did you figure it out? I was so careful..." Ren said.
"That's exactly how I figured you out; you was too careful. Besides, I saw the ultrasound picture laying on a table." Wendi smiled warmly. Ren had only known Wendi for a matter of weeks and she already felt like a sister to her. "You're so lucky, Ren, to have a supportive family. I wish my friend had had a family like yours when she got "in trouble." Ren wanted to know what happened to Wendi's friend right then, but she didn't think it was such an appropriate topic to talk about during Thanksgiving dinner, so she decided to wait until later. Wendi's parents didn't say a word and Ren couldn't tell whether their reaction was just shocked, piteous, disgusted, or some combination of the three.
Suddenly Mrs. Glass spoke up. "Well, it doesn't matter how old ya are when ya have a baby, so long as it's loved an' cared for. So, why don't we continue sayin' what we're thankful for, hmm?" Everyone nodded, Donny was next, followed by Wendi, who in turn was supposed to be followed by her parents, but they were interrupted...
"I'm thankful for BACON!" a voice said, coming from the back corner of the room. Steve rolled his eyes; it was no use changing the locks anymore, it was a waste of money. Eileen sighed, an expected unexpected guest. Ren and Louis did nothing; they were used to having the annoying kid around. Donny and Wendi, however, ducked under the table out of fear; Ren had a feeling it had something to do with the day she had the ultrasound done. Mr. and Mrs. Glass only looked at the chubby boy that stood in front of them. "Who are you?" the kid asked them.
Booker answered, "we're the Glass's and we were just 'bout ta ask you the same question."
"I'm Beans!" the kid answered ecstatically. He then turned to Mrs. Stevens, "Do you have any bacon?"
"Bernard, Beans, Sweetie," Mrs. Stevens said taking the kid by both his hands, "why aren't you at home, eating Thanksgiving dinner with your family?" Eileen asked. The kid thought for a few moments before answering her question.
"My weird Aunt Sal is over. She smells like dead bugs and she likes to pinch my cheeks," he told Mrs. Stevens.
Eileen nodded her head. "Well, you can stay and have turkey with us if you'd like, but I'm calling your parents to let them know where you are."
"Oh, I already told them I was coming over here. It's cool with them." Mrs. Stevens gave Beans a funny look, nodded, and then went into the kitchen to get another place setting for the intrusive, yet oddly adorable, ten-year old. Once Beans was seated, both families (and Beans) joined together in reciting grace and then they ate until they could eat no more.
Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. Glass, Ren and Wendi talked and cleaned up the dishes and leftover food while the boys sat in the living room sleeping off dinner. Ren called Bobby to come over for dessert after the game; he said he'd be there.
The game ended at about four o'clock; San Francisco beat Cleveland by a touchdown. Bobby called at ten after to tell Ren he'd be there in a few minutes and he was. After introducing Bobby to Wendi and Mr. and Mrs. Glass everyone sat back down at the table, with the exception of Beans who had gone home right after dinner, for dessert- fresh baked pumpkin pie. Everyone talked between bites.
"Mrs. Stevens," Booker started.
"Eileen, please," she replied.
"Eileen," Booker started again, and then continued, "you make one mean pumpkin pie. What is your secret?"
"Oh, there's no secret. It's the kind of pumpkin I buy. It's called a fairy tale pumpkin; they're green on the outside and orange on the inside. They're recommended for baking," she laughed.
"We'll have to remember that, huh, Sandee?" Booker asked his wife.
"We sho' do," she replied. "You said it was called a fairy tale pum'kin?" Sandee asked their host.
Eileen had just put a bite in her mouth and was chewing, so she nodded and mumbled an, "hmm, mmm."
"Thank you, so much, Eileen. Oh here, I'll get those dirty plates out of the way for ya. It's the least Ah could do," Sandee told her hostess. With that she cleared away the paper plates and left everyone else sitting at the table to talk amongst themselves.
Ren and Bobby decided to move away from the table so they could talk privately. While watching the game Ren had decided that today would be as good as any to talk about baby names, so leaving Bobby in the living room with Louis, she went upstairs to fetch the baby name books she had borrowed from the library.
When she came back she put a couple books in Bobby's lap, "what are these for?" he asked.
"Well, I figured today would be a good day to choose baby names. And on the plus side, everyone here knows we're having a baby. We don't have to be sneaky about it," she said to him. Bobby agreed.
"I guess I'll start with these books," he said. Ren had already starting flipping through the books she had to look through herself. Suddenly she got up and went back upstairs and came down with two notebooks and two pens. She threw a notebook and pen at Bobby; he caught them.
"Here, right down some names that you like, one page for girls and one page for boys. I've already started a page for each. Once we're done we can compare our lists, which will make it easier to decide on the final names and then..." Ren would have continued, but Bobby kissed her suddenly on the lips causing her to forget what she was saying. Louis saw the whole thing, but decided to ignore it. Bobby pulled back after a moment.
"I got it," he told her, leaning in for another short kiss before beginning his name lists. Ren nodded and started working on hers.
About an hour later, the teens decided to stop and compare their lists, so they put both of their notebooks on the coffee table and Ren told Bobby how they would make the lists smaller: by crossing out all of the names that neither of them had in common, which were many. Bobby asked if they could both keep three names on each of their lists that they didn't have in common, but they both personally liked a lot. Ren liked the idea and chose three names from her girl list and three from her boy list that weren't on Bobby's lists; Bobby did the same, choosing names that weren't on either of Ren's lists.
Ren suggested that they give their arguments to the other as to why their names should be considered, however this didn't work like she had hoped. Instead they fought pettily as to why Bobby Darren Deaver Jr. was better than Demetrius Jason Deaver and vice versa or why naming a kid Junior would give him an identity crisis. They also fought over why a kid shouldn't be named after a literary character or historical figure.
"It's weird!" one would scream.
"Not as weird as naming him or her after a dead president!" the other would scream. The adults were too in tune with their own conversation to notice, but Louis on the other hand did and would turn the volume of the television up during the more animated parts of the argument. Neither Bobby nor Ren seemed to notice though and the argument continued.
"Why don't you like the name Reagan?"
"Well, what's wrong with the name Caddy?"
"Caddy is the name of the messed up sister in the Sound and the Fury."
"So, I could've said Hermia or Ophelia."
"I know you like Shakespeare just as much as the next person, but get real, naming a kid after a Shakespearean character is homicide."
"Thanks a lot, we're getting real far. So far the only names we've agreed with are Jessica and Roger and THOSE are from a couple of cartoon characters!" The two continued fighting over names for sometime after that until Ren stated she didn't want to talk about baby names anymore because it was just making each one angrier with the other.
"Fine. I don't want to do this anymore either. I'm going home, BYE and Happy Thanksgiving!" Bobby said angrily, getting up from the couch and walking to the door.
"Fine, Leave!" Ren shouted. "Go home, Happy Thanksgiving to you too." None of the adults had heard anything and Louis was minding his own business for a change.
However, Ren was fuming now, so she stomped upstairs to her bedroom and lay down to think. "Thanks for your help, Bobby," she said turning over on her other side. "Humph, thanks for nothing." She turned over again, but she couldn't get comfortable and she couldn't help thinking about the argument she had just had with her boyfriend. "I wish you could pick out your own name, it would make things so much less complicated," she mumbled to her belly and herself before drifting off to sleep, her hand resting on her abdomen.
A/N 2: I hope you liked this chapter. I know it took forever to write, but it had to be perfect in my head. Please forgive me; I've been under so much stress lately. Good news though, there is less than a month until school gets out for me and then I will be free to write all I want, but until then I thank you all so much for your patience. I hope to have this story finished before I start college in the fall, heck I hope to have it finished before the end of summer. Please keep checking up on my profile page for updates on this story. It may take me a long time to write, but I have every intention of finishing.
Finally, if anyone has any suggestions for names, I'd be more than happy to hear them, however I will have the final hand in selecting the name. I already have a couple picked out, but I may use one of yours if I like it better. : )
Warning: Chapter 11 probably won't come until June. I have two big projects and a book to finish reading within the next two weeks. I already have an idea for the next chapter though.
I would just like to send out another THANKS to everyone who reviewed my story. Welcome any more newbies.
Note to shooting-starrz-4- Sorry, but I think you just lost 100 dollars. I did not just finish watching Where the Heart Is, although I do know the movie well. It's one of my faves.
Note to idk- Thank you for the Beta reader offer, but I am confident in my writing skills. I know there are some errors; I usually don't catch them until after I've posted though. Besides, this is just a fun project to get my mind off homework. (Especially essays- blah! lX P )
Note to artsigurl16- WHERE ARE YOU?!
A/N: I know, I know; it's been over a month. Bad Widow Shark (slaps herself in the face)! Sorry about taking so long again, I never meant for it to go this far without updating. The usual excuses are to blame: work, homework, reading, writer's block, yadda yadda yadda. Get my drift? Anywho don't forget to sparkle and shine like the gems you all are and review. Thanks and tootles.
Ren's Perfect Mistake
Chapter 10: Thanks For Nothing
Thanksgiving had sneaked up on the Stevens family in what seemed only to be a couple of days ago and not almost three weeks. It was only nine in the morning and Mrs. Stevens was already in the kitchen making her own family's Thanksgiving dinner after having been away for a week of helping the needy in the greater Sacramento area. Mr. Stevens was fast at work in his study writing a brief for a large, new case. Louis would be sleeping like a baby until almost noon. And Ren, as always, was up early and in the kitchen helping her mom prepare a magnificent Thanksgiving feast, despite her current situation.
Things were especially exciting this year because Donny would be getting home from school soon with Wendi, now his fiancée, and her parents.
Over those three weeks Ren had learned that the reason for Donny's early return from school was primarily to introduce Wendi to their parents and ask about proposing. They had stayed that entire weekend and Ren got to know Wendi better and vice versa. It turns out they had a lot more in common than she would have ever guessed.
The following week, Donny proposed to her, at a football game nonetheless, with the use of one of the giant video scoreboards. And whether Ren wanted to believe it or not, Donny and Wendi were madly in love with each other. Now they were engaged and the parents were meeting over Thanksgiving dinner.
This year Ren and her mother where discussing pregnancy and parenthood during food preparation. She asked her mother several questions. Among them were mostly general questions, but one was rather difficult for Eileen to answer completely, simple as it was:
"How did you become such a good mom?" Ren asked.
Eileen was a bit stumped over this one. She stopped what she was doing and put her hand to her chin, thoughtfully, and sighed. "Well, hmm...let me think," Eileen said, still pondering her daughter's question.
"Can you think of a metaphor?" Ren asked, trying to be helpful.
"Thanks for the suggestion, Honey," she said continuing to think. "Okay, I've got it!" She paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Well, to begin with Ren, I'm glad you asked that question, but I'm sorry to tell you there's no definite answer as to how I became a good mom. I just sort of evolved into one, you could say. However, I was able to think of a metaphor like you suggested." Eileen paused to put the turkey she'd been stuffing and basting in the oven. When that was finished, she continued answering Ren's question. "You see, Ren, parenting is much like learning how to ride a bike..."
Ren interjected, "Mom," she said, "I'm not sure that's such a good metaphor. If you remember correctly, I still can't ride a bike without training wheels and I don't think I ever will..."
"Nonsense, Ren, you'll learn how to ride a two-wheeler eventually. Give it time. Just listen to my metaphor first." Ren sighed.
"Okay," she said reluctantly.
"What I was trying to say was, you don't become good overnight..."
Ren mumbled something that sounded like "unless you're Donny" under her breath, still listening to her mother's pep talk.
"...It takes a lot of patience and a lot of time and energy to be a good parent, just like learning to ride a bike. The main difference between being a parent and learning to ride a bike, though, is you don't get too many chances to practice. Even if you baby-sit all of the time; it's very different when it's your own child and that's the most important thing to remember." Ren nodded again.
"I will, Mom. Thanks for answering my..." the doorbell rang and she stopped talking in mid-sentence.
"That must be Donny, Wendi, and her parents," Eileen said looking at the clock. "Oh My! It's late. Ren, could you do me a huge favor, Honey, and go wake Louis up. He's overslept. Again," she finished, running to answer the door, but Steve had beaten her to it.
"No problem, Mom," Ren sighed, then hurried up the stairs as fast as her swollen body would allow. She could hear voices from the top of the steps; it was in fact Donny and his fiancée and her parents. She stood there for a few moments listening before returning to her mission.
"Come on in, don't be shy," she heard her father, Steve, telling their guests. "You can just set your suitcases right there on the floor, I'll get them later. My name's Steve Stevens." Wendi's parents, the Glass's, came in and greeted Mr. Stevens.
"Thank you, so much, Steve," Mr. Glass said wearily. They had just flown in and would be staying in one of the guest bedrooms for the weekend. Donny and Wendi would occupy the other guest bedroom, which just happened to be Donny's old bedroom.
Mrs. Stevens, who had still been in the kitchen when Ren went upstairs, walked up and casually introduced herself to the guests.
"Hello, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm Eileen, and I see you've already met my husband, Steve. Please, come into the living room and make yourselves at home." She said leading Mr. and Mrs. Glass to the living room. Ren couldn't hear much after that so she forced herself up the rest of the stairs to rouse "Sleeping Ugly" with a few pounds on the door.
Meanwhile, in the Stevens' family living room there were still more introductions to be made and much more chattering to come.
"It's a real pleasure meetin' ya!" Mrs. Glass said heartily. "By the way, I'm Sandee, with a double-e an' this is mah husband, Booker. Mah Wendi can't say 'nough 'bout you folks," Mrs. Glass laughed. Eileen laughed too.
"Can I get you anything, Sandee, Booker?" Mrs. Stevens asked.
"Heck no, Mrs. Stevens. We're just fine for the time bein.' Thanks fer the offer though," Booker replied.
"Okay then," Mrs. Stevens said smiling. "Just let me know if you need anything. Won't all of you have a seat?" Everyone found a comfortable spot to sit. Mr. and Mrs. Glass were sitting side by side on the couch. Donny and Wendi were on the floor leaning against the coffee table and each other. And Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were sitting in armchairs that were askew from each other. They talked quietly amongst themselves while they waited for Ren and Louis to come down.
Ren knocked on Louis' door three times; she pounded really, but there was no sign of life coming from inside. She hated the thought of venturing into her brother's room; it was a wreck. She waited thirty more seconds before she tried again. The same results came back. "Louis, wake up!" she shouted through the door. "It's after eleven." It was no use; there was no answer. "Fine. Have it your way!" she shouted. Then she thought of something that would make it worth her wild to go into his pigsty. She smirked deviously. 'Now THAT just might work,' she thought.
It was the best plan she'd come up with in a while. It was almost as good as when she'd helped Louis clean up the "Stevens' Manor" mess. Her smile faded when she thought about the trouble they'd been in. Louis had been grounded for over a month and she'd gotten two weeks for helping him cover it up. That had been over two years ago though. That was then; this is now. He wasn't going to wake up any other way and, Heaven forbid, he should wake up on his own. She had to do this. And surely her parents would understand... She placed a hand on her stomach, "Right?" she asked it, though mostly to herself.
Ren shrugged then went into her bedroom to get her Polaroid camera and then to the bathroom and filled a large paper cup almost to the top with ice- cold water. 'If this doesn't wake him up, I don't know what will,' she thought. She carefully walked back out into the hallway and after thinking for a couple seconds decided to give Louis one more chance to wake up before she went in. Ren could still hear the adults' lively conversation and bantering coming from the living room although she had no idea what they were saying. She pounded on the door again. "Louis! Come on; wake up. It's almost eleven-thirty and the Glass's are already hear. Louis? Fine. I'm coming in now." Then she mumbled under her breath, "and don't say I didn't warn you." She was about to put her hand on the doorknob when her mother yelled up the stairs, startling her and almost causing her to lose her grasp of the cup.
"Ren! What's taking you so long? Is Louis up yet?"
"No, Mom," Ren called down. "He must not have heard me. I'm going in to wake him up now."
"Okay, just be quick about it. We're all waiting for you," Eileen said before heading back into the living room with Steve, Donny, and the Glass family. Ren sighed heavily.
"That was a close one. Here goes nothing..." Ren opened Louis' bedroom door slowly so as not to make any noise. Then, on her tiptoes, she stepped over several articles of worn clothing and junk on the floor. She almost tripped several times. And that was only two feet away from the door. She tiptoed a few more feet closer to Louis' bed. Ren could see him sprawled out. He was snoring loudly. One of his hands was resting on his alarm clock. Her camera fell out of her hand once and she squinted, hoping it hadn't awakened her brother. He hadn't stirred. "Phew, I thought I blew it," Ren whispered to herself. When she finally reached the optimal picture-taking position, Ren readied herself: camera in one hand, cup of ice water in the other. "On the count of three I'll do it. Okay. One. Two. Three." She threw the water at him, it worked, he sat up quickly, and she snapped the picture. He seemed to be in a sort of haze for a moment, but came to fast.
"Wha...wha...what are you doing in here?" Louis stammered. He wiped the water that was dripping from his face off with his blanket.
"Mom sent me to wake you up," Ren told him, arms akimbo.
"It's only eight-thirty in the morning, Ren. My alarm only went off a few minutes ago. I just hit the sleep button, it would have rang again in a minute." Ren shook her head back and forth and sighed.
"It's after eleven-thirty, Lou. Look at your clock."
"It is not...it is after eleven-thirty!" He looked at Ren, his eyes bulging.
"Yeah. And Wendi and her parents are here. They're waiting for us to come down. Now, come on. Get up out of your bed and get dressed." He stared at her in disbelief for a moment.
"I will. Wow, I even set my alarm..." he muttered. "I'll be down in a few minutes. You can go," he sighed.
"Alright. Just hurry up. Mom wants to have dinner on the table by noon," she told her brother, carefully making her way to the door. Before she left his room she added, "and by the way, Lou," she said holding up the picture, "this will make great black-male one day!" He started to run towards her, but he tripped and she disappeared around the corner. He could still hear her laughter though.
"Gee, thanks," Louis mumbled, picking himself up off the floor. Then he finally got dressed in a nice pair of khakis and an orange, collared shirt. He thought about putting his turkey tie on, but thought better of it when he remembered the guests. It was nearly noon by the time he finished getting ready. "Mom and Dad are going to be furious with me. Ah! What else is new?" he said.
Ren had gone back to her bedroom. She had to calm down before returning downstairs to meet the Glass's. She picked up the picture and burst out laughing again then immediately put it face down under her pillow. Taking deep breaths, Ren was finally able to calm herself down to a point where she wouldn't be guffawing any more. However, a smirk still remained on her face, so she remained in her room until she heard Louis' door open.
Louis stepped out of his room and into the bathroom to finish getting ready. Ren stepped into the hallway a couple seconds later. "I swear I heard his door open," she mumbled and started downstairs with one hand on the railing and the other resting on her stomach. Louis was out of the bathroom before she made it to the bottom step. The adults had gone into the dining room and were getting ready to sit down and eat.
"Hey, Sis!" Louis said to Ren. Then he lightly placed his hand on her growing stomach and said, "hey little niece or nephew!" Ren rolled her eyes at Louis' new 'thing'. That had been the fourth or fifth or tenth time this week he'd done that to her and it was getting annoying. She sighed and let it go.
Louis and Ren walked into the dining room together. Eileen was the first to see them.
"It's so nice of you two to finally join us, Kids!" she smiled. Louis and Ren could both hear the twang of agitation in her voice for keeping the guests waiting. She panned her attention back to the Glass's. "Sandee, Booker; I'd like you to meet my daughter, Ren, and my other son, Louis." Ren and Louis smiled and waved. "Ren, Lou," Mrs. Stevens continued with the introductions, "these are Wendi's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Glass."
"It's very nice to meet you both," Ren said, smiling. She elbowed Louis, who was standing right next to her, lightly in the ribs.
"Ow! What'd ya do that for?" Louis whispered to Ren. She just smiled and rolled her eyes in the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Glass, who were both looking directly at him. Louis caught her drift. "Oh! Yeah, it's um... very nice to meet you, too," he stammered.
"Aw, shucks. Pleasure's all ours," Booker said, his accent surprising both Ren and Louis. Then he said, "why don't we all sit down and start eating? This dinner looks absolutely deeeee-licious!"
"Why, thank you so much!" Mrs. Stevens exclaimed.
Mr. Stevens thought that was a great idea and called everyone to the dinner table to sit down, but before everyone began eating, he asked that everyone tell what he or she was thankful for. He started: "I'm thankful for all the good times I've shared with my beautiful family and that I have a job at a great new firm."
Mrs. Stevens went next: "I'm thankful for my wonderful husband and children and for the people of this district for electing me as their senator again. Why don't you go now, Louis?"
"Oh, okay, sure. Uh, lemme think. Okay, got it. I'm thankful for my family and friends, my girlfriend, Tawny. I'm thankful for my drum set, my skis, and for all the times I've gotten away with something or another. And...and I'm thankful for," he began again, but his dad cut him off.
"I think that's enough, Lou. Ren, why don't you go next?" he asked.
"All right. I am also thankful for my family and friends. I don't know what I'd do without them, especially now," she said winking at her parents. "I'm thankful that Bobby and I made up and that the baby is health..." Ren quickly covered her mouth with both hands. She had a nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. What had she said? She hadn't planned on telling Wendi or her parents that she was pregnant, at least not yet. She was barely showing.
Nobody said anything for half a minute and there were a lot of raised eyebrows, but nobody was staring at Ren. Wendi was the first to break the silence. "Ren, ya don't hafta ta hide. We ain't gonna bite ya and you've got nothin' ta be ashamed of either. Besides, I figured it out three weeks ago when I spent the weekend here." Ren put her hands down and looked at Wendi, the feeling in her stomach settling a bit.
"How did you figure it out? I was so careful..." Ren said.
"That's exactly how I figured you out; you was too careful. Besides, I saw the ultrasound picture laying on a table." Wendi smiled warmly. Ren had only known Wendi for a matter of weeks and she already felt like a sister to her. "You're so lucky, Ren, to have a supportive family. I wish my friend had had a family like yours when she got "in trouble." Ren wanted to know what happened to Wendi's friend right then, but she didn't think it was such an appropriate topic to talk about during Thanksgiving dinner, so she decided to wait until later. Wendi's parents didn't say a word and Ren couldn't tell whether their reaction was just shocked, piteous, disgusted, or some combination of the three.
Suddenly Mrs. Glass spoke up. "Well, it doesn't matter how old ya are when ya have a baby, so long as it's loved an' cared for. So, why don't we continue sayin' what we're thankful for, hmm?" Everyone nodded, Donny was next, followed by Wendi, who in turn was supposed to be followed by her parents, but they were interrupted...
"I'm thankful for BACON!" a voice said, coming from the back corner of the room. Steve rolled his eyes; it was no use changing the locks anymore, it was a waste of money. Eileen sighed, an expected unexpected guest. Ren and Louis did nothing; they were used to having the annoying kid around. Donny and Wendi, however, ducked under the table out of fear; Ren had a feeling it had something to do with the day she had the ultrasound done. Mr. and Mrs. Glass only looked at the chubby boy that stood in front of them. "Who are you?" the kid asked them.
Booker answered, "we're the Glass's and we were just 'bout ta ask you the same question."
"I'm Beans!" the kid answered ecstatically. He then turned to Mrs. Stevens, "Do you have any bacon?"
"Bernard, Beans, Sweetie," Mrs. Stevens said taking the kid by both his hands, "why aren't you at home, eating Thanksgiving dinner with your family?" Eileen asked. The kid thought for a few moments before answering her question.
"My weird Aunt Sal is over. She smells like dead bugs and she likes to pinch my cheeks," he told Mrs. Stevens.
Eileen nodded her head. "Well, you can stay and have turkey with us if you'd like, but I'm calling your parents to let them know where you are."
"Oh, I already told them I was coming over here. It's cool with them." Mrs. Stevens gave Beans a funny look, nodded, and then went into the kitchen to get another place setting for the intrusive, yet oddly adorable, ten-year old. Once Beans was seated, both families (and Beans) joined together in reciting grace and then they ate until they could eat no more.
Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. Glass, Ren and Wendi talked and cleaned up the dishes and leftover food while the boys sat in the living room sleeping off dinner. Ren called Bobby to come over for dessert after the game; he said he'd be there.
The game ended at about four o'clock; San Francisco beat Cleveland by a touchdown. Bobby called at ten after to tell Ren he'd be there in a few minutes and he was. After introducing Bobby to Wendi and Mr. and Mrs. Glass everyone sat back down at the table, with the exception of Beans who had gone home right after dinner, for dessert- fresh baked pumpkin pie. Everyone talked between bites.
"Mrs. Stevens," Booker started.
"Eileen, please," she replied.
"Eileen," Booker started again, and then continued, "you make one mean pumpkin pie. What is your secret?"
"Oh, there's no secret. It's the kind of pumpkin I buy. It's called a fairy tale pumpkin; they're green on the outside and orange on the inside. They're recommended for baking," she laughed.
"We'll have to remember that, huh, Sandee?" Booker asked his wife.
"We sho' do," she replied. "You said it was called a fairy tale pum'kin?" Sandee asked their host.
Eileen had just put a bite in her mouth and was chewing, so she nodded and mumbled an, "hmm, mmm."
"Thank you, so much, Eileen. Oh here, I'll get those dirty plates out of the way for ya. It's the least Ah could do," Sandee told her hostess. With that she cleared away the paper plates and left everyone else sitting at the table to talk amongst themselves.
Ren and Bobby decided to move away from the table so they could talk privately. While watching the game Ren had decided that today would be as good as any to talk about baby names, so leaving Bobby in the living room with Louis, she went upstairs to fetch the baby name books she had borrowed from the library.
When she came back she put a couple books in Bobby's lap, "what are these for?" he asked.
"Well, I figured today would be a good day to choose baby names. And on the plus side, everyone here knows we're having a baby. We don't have to be sneaky about it," she said to him. Bobby agreed.
"I guess I'll start with these books," he said. Ren had already starting flipping through the books she had to look through herself. Suddenly she got up and went back upstairs and came down with two notebooks and two pens. She threw a notebook and pen at Bobby; he caught them.
"Here, right down some names that you like, one page for girls and one page for boys. I've already started a page for each. Once we're done we can compare our lists, which will make it easier to decide on the final names and then..." Ren would have continued, but Bobby kissed her suddenly on the lips causing her to forget what she was saying. Louis saw the whole thing, but decided to ignore it. Bobby pulled back after a moment.
"I got it," he told her, leaning in for another short kiss before beginning his name lists. Ren nodded and started working on hers.
About an hour later, the teens decided to stop and compare their lists, so they put both of their notebooks on the coffee table and Ren told Bobby how they would make the lists smaller: by crossing out all of the names that neither of them had in common, which were many. Bobby asked if they could both keep three names on each of their lists that they didn't have in common, but they both personally liked a lot. Ren liked the idea and chose three names from her girl list and three from her boy list that weren't on Bobby's lists; Bobby did the same, choosing names that weren't on either of Ren's lists.
Ren suggested that they give their arguments to the other as to why their names should be considered, however this didn't work like she had hoped. Instead they fought pettily as to why Bobby Darren Deaver Jr. was better than Demetrius Jason Deaver and vice versa or why naming a kid Junior would give him an identity crisis. They also fought over why a kid shouldn't be named after a literary character or historical figure.
"It's weird!" one would scream.
"Not as weird as naming him or her after a dead president!" the other would scream. The adults were too in tune with their own conversation to notice, but Louis on the other hand did and would turn the volume of the television up during the more animated parts of the argument. Neither Bobby nor Ren seemed to notice though and the argument continued.
"Why don't you like the name Reagan?"
"Well, what's wrong with the name Caddy?"
"Caddy is the name of the messed up sister in the Sound and the Fury."
"So, I could've said Hermia or Ophelia."
"I know you like Shakespeare just as much as the next person, but get real, naming a kid after a Shakespearean character is homicide."
"Thanks a lot, we're getting real far. So far the only names we've agreed with are Jessica and Roger and THOSE are from a couple of cartoon characters!" The two continued fighting over names for sometime after that until Ren stated she didn't want to talk about baby names anymore because it was just making each one angrier with the other.
"Fine. I don't want to do this anymore either. I'm going home, BYE and Happy Thanksgiving!" Bobby said angrily, getting up from the couch and walking to the door.
"Fine, Leave!" Ren shouted. "Go home, Happy Thanksgiving to you too." None of the adults had heard anything and Louis was minding his own business for a change.
However, Ren was fuming now, so she stomped upstairs to her bedroom and lay down to think. "Thanks for your help, Bobby," she said turning over on her other side. "Humph, thanks for nothing." She turned over again, but she couldn't get comfortable and she couldn't help thinking about the argument she had just had with her boyfriend. "I wish you could pick out your own name, it would make things so much less complicated," she mumbled to her belly and herself before drifting off to sleep, her hand resting on her abdomen.
A/N 2: I hope you liked this chapter. I know it took forever to write, but it had to be perfect in my head. Please forgive me; I've been under so much stress lately. Good news though, there is less than a month until school gets out for me and then I will be free to write all I want, but until then I thank you all so much for your patience. I hope to have this story finished before I start college in the fall, heck I hope to have it finished before the end of summer. Please keep checking up on my profile page for updates on this story. It may take me a long time to write, but I have every intention of finishing.
Finally, if anyone has any suggestions for names, I'd be more than happy to hear them, however I will have the final hand in selecting the name. I already have a couple picked out, but I may use one of yours if I like it better. : )
Warning: Chapter 11 probably won't come until June. I have two big projects and a book to finish reading within the next two weeks. I already have an idea for the next chapter though.