Ch14

Kayo slipped onto the couch next to Scott, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence and allow her to start the conversation she wanted to have about Alan. Something just wasn't sitting right, she had an instinct for a brother who was either in big trouble or worse one who was just deeply miserable. He needed more that her constant visits to his room to ask if he was ok or if he wanted to join her in a game to which he just raised his eyes and dismissed her attempts. The more she thought about it she hadn't seen him actually smile in days maybe even a week and the double disappearance of his partner in crime had seemed to drag him down, in fact the more she thought about it 'Thelma and Louise' had barely spoken to each other as far as she could see for close to a week. She sat there shifting her weight, getting more annoyed that Scott had not looked up from the tablet, blurting out 'do you think Al's OK' would be tantamount to sealing Alan's fate and ensuring full smother mode in Scott which she was sure would be the last thing he needed. What Alan needed was distraction, fun and more than anything a way to return to normal with Gordon, whatever had started the obvious discomfort between them needed stopping before their impending trip. Alan deserved this trip, a lot of planning had gone into it and she couldn't help being a little jealous that he had managed to plan the whole Gumball Rally adventure without her. Better yet it looked likely he'd get to keep it a secret, well apart from her, after all Eos had only been asked to keep her new instructions from John. Giving up that Scott would pay any attention to her without a little help she raised her legs onto the couch and pushed them into him a little.

Scott put his tablet down "Ok you got my attention."

"Glad to hear it and about time, when are Virg and Gordon back?"

"Ask them… Kayo what on earth are you trying to say?"

She was flailing in the wind now struggling to say something without actually saying what needed to be said "Pool party tonight, just think Al needs a little cheering up, you must have noticed he's been a little lost since Squid's being spending so much time with Virgil, how about we all spend some time together, including John and that's where you come in."

"You want me to summon John to a pool party, I couldn't think of anything less likely to bring him down."

This was harder than anticipated "Well use some creative thinking, Scott come on let's get Al out of his room and busy arranging some family fun, you know if John comes down we've got him in on it already."

Scott eyed her suspiciously "And why is this so important and why now."

"Do we really need a reason to spend some time having fun?"

"Well I think I need a reason why this is something you are suggesting." She had his full attention now "Kayo when was the last time you actually wanted to organise a party?"

"First time for everything." This was not as easy as she had expected, she'd got though the danger of Scott picking up on her need to cheer Alan up without alerting too much attention but she had to admit Scott was right, suggesting any sort of organised activity that didn't involve a training session was definitely out of character.

"You don't even allow us to plan a party for your birthday."

There was no let up and at this rate she would have to tell him why she thought it was so important to drag Alan out of his room "Well maybe I want to make up for it now, are you going to help me with this or not?"

Just from the expression on her face he could tell she was not leaving this alone and whether he liked it or not he was roped in now, it was going to happen so he may as well just accept it "What do I have to do?"

"You take John, I'll speak to Al and rope him into most of the organising and then you find out when the others are back and try to look a little more enthusiastic about it."

She was happy to see that Alan was most definitely more enthusiastic than Scott, in fact after his initial insistence she leave his room followed by a low flying pillow it has been quite easy to persuade him from the threshold that planning a pool party was a good idea. She hadn't even needed to play the John card yet, she was sure he saw the opportunity for a some fun with Gordon as his main motivation. Max had been roped into the food preparation so all Alan really needed to do was to help with the theme and the decorations. All the themes Alan came up with seemed to be thought of with Gordon in mind, so it didn't take much deducing that Alan felt guilty about something. This may just be the ice-breaker needed to get the whole trip back on track after all two weeks with someone you're not talking to is not an easy thing, a few days spent in a car with someone you're not speaking to is hell on earth.

"You sure you want 20,000 leagues under the sea Al?"

"Gordon will like it, don't need costumes it's a pool party but we could decorate the pool area, come on Kayo, most of the stuff I bet is at the back of Gordon's closet anyway he had an under the sea themed party for his 21st and he never throws anything away."

She had to admit Al had gone from miserable to completely engrossed in the task in hand, in fact she had barely had to lift a finger Alan was thoroughly relishing the challenge given and by the time he had spent a couple of hours by the pool dressing it with all sorts of nets, plastic sea creatures and an old diving suit Gordon had inexplicably purchased just for kicks it looked pretty darn good. The more Alan decorated the more everyone else seemed to be caught by the bug, John and Scott had gone into full BBQ king mode, both seeming to relish the role of master of the charcoal. Grandma Tracy had refrained from adding any deserts, always a bonus but the lanterns had been taken out of storage and been added to Alan's decorations, in fact the oldest and youngest in the family seemed to be so occupied in the task in hand they barely lifted their eyes to the sky when Tracy one returned.

Gordon's eyes portrayed his unexpected pleasure in the sight he took in as he rounded the edge of the pool house "Hey Virg, they're throwing us a home coming party."

"We've been away for a day Gord, I'd say that's bit dramatic."

"We should go away more often though, when was the last time we had a party."

Virgil immediately made his way over to the BBQ to make sure his steak wasn't going anywhere beyond medium rare and Gordon made his way over to Kayo.

"And this is in aid of?"

"Just a party, Al's idea, he's done a great job hasn't he."

"Nice theme, seem to recognise a bit of the décor."

"Come on Gord cut the kid a little slack, in fact I'd say why don't you hit full squid dunking mode an get the two of you back on track, go get your brother wet."

"What?"

"You know, go sort it out."

Gordon made his way over to Alan, little sheepishly at first but he could see from Alan's face that their enforced separation over the last few days was weighing as heavily on him.

"Hey Al, great idea."

"It's gonna be great, even John's made a guest appearance."

"You know Kayo suggested I hit full Squid dunking mode…. two pronged attack?" Gordon gave him a wink.

"Oh you bet."

Kayo was certainly surprised to be rushed off her feet and into the pool by her two blond siblings but nothing made her happier it seemed the mission had been a success and sometimes you just gotta to take one for the team.