A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you like this one.
Chapter 25
Will entered the kitchen to find Henry and Elizabeth standing next to the stove. They were each stirring something and talking quietly. Will had no idea what Henry said, but Elizabeth giggled and then he reached over and tickled her. She squealed and jumped back holding the spoon out in front of her.
"Don't you dare," she warned.
"Or you'll what?" Henry wanted to know.
"I'll beat you with this spoon!"
"Promise?" Henry asked with a devilish grin. Before Elizabeth could make a move, he stepped forward, snatched the spoon away from her and pulled her close, kissing her playfully.
Will watched for a few seconds amazed at the change in his sister. She was more relaxed than she had been-ever. Even as a young girl, she was always high strung, anxious and a meticulous busy body annoying him to no end. This person was laid back, funny and likeable. He was a fan of Henry already.
"Hey kids let's keep it PG in the common areas," Will kidded.
Elizabeth pulled back from Henry and smiled, "Hey there. Did you get see both of them?"
"Yes. One conversation was uncommonly irritating, the other uncommonly depressing."
"Yeah. My thoughts exactly. Good news! At least you didn't bring a gold digger home to pilfer the family riches because you're so incredibly stupid. No offense babe." Elizabeth smirked at Henry.
"None taken," Henry rolled his eyes and grinned at her.
"Will laughed, "Once again, I'm the golden child."
"That's what I've been saying for years! See I told you." Elizabeth poked Henry in the arm.
"If you two want to continue to annoy each other, do it over there. I need to finish dinner." Henry chided them.
"No, I'll help," Elizabeth said. "Will there's salad stuff in the fridge. You can get that out."
"Since when did you become Chef Lizzie?"
She laughed at him. "Since never. I can only stir under constant supervision."
"Hey babe, you're progressing. I totally just stepped away and got something out of the fridge, so not constant supervision." Henry grinned at her.
"Just stop!" she laughed and playfully pushed his chest. He caught her hand and kissed it.
"Alright people, cuteness overload. I might vomit!" Will said before burying his head in the fridge. He emerged with lettuce, tomato, carrots, hard boiled eggs and a chunk of cheese. Laying it all out on the counter, he said, "Anyone know where I can find a cutting board?"
"I think it's in that cabinet over there," Elizabeth pointed.
The three continued to work together. In a few more minutes, there was pasta with marinara sauce, Cobb-ish salad and steamed green beans.
"Where's Aunt Brenda?" Elizabeth asked.
"I haven't seen her since I got here. I'll go look." Stepping out into the hallway, Will saw Frederick. "Do you know where Aunt Brenda is?"
"She's with your uncle I believe."
"Thanks Fred."
Will took the steps two at a time. If I catch them both together, it will be harder for her to dismiss me. He stopped at the door for a second to catch his breath. He heard their voices. Quietly, Will cracked the door so he could hear better.
"What was the reason the doctor gave for me needing to be quarantined?" Geoffrey was asking his wife.
"The Doctor never said quarantined," Brenda replied coolly, "only that you needed to minimize the risk of getting an infection."
"And yet you've basically banned me to my room. No one ever comes to the house except the handful of people that come in this room anyway. I'm not going to be exposed to any illness in the study that I wouldn't be exposed to here."
"I'm just trying to do what's best for you."
"Will offered to bring everyone up here for dinner, but I think I'll go downstairs instead."
Will wasn't able to see Brenda's face, but he could visibly see she body stiffen. He silently shut the door and took four giant steps backward and then started back toward the door. He had his hand raised to knock when Brenda swing the door open. "Oh good grief!" They both jumped. "Sorry Aunt Brenda. I was just checking in Uncle Geoffrey. I had mentioned that we might eat dinner with him tonight. I came to see if he was up to it."
"He seems to think he's joining you downstairs."
"Oh! Well that's fine, I guess. I'm surprised. He must be feeling better."
"Or he's trying to kill himself. You do whatever you all need to do."
Will looked confused, "I don't know what all is going on, but if you want me to ask him to wait and maybe go downstairs tomorrow morning when he has more down time to rest?"
"I'm just really frustrated by this whole thing. Everything was just fine and now he has all these ideas." Brenda turned and started walking down the hall.
"Do you want us to bring a plate up for you?" Will asked. Silence. "Alrighty then."
Stepping into the room, he saw Geoffrey sitting on the edge of the bed. "You're looking lively!"
"I think I'm going to go downstairs and eat with you kids"
"How much exercise have you been getting while you've been up here? I'm worried that you won't have enough strength to make it downstairs and back up. We're fine with coming up here tonight and you can get downstairs tomorrow." Will put his hand on Uncle Geoffrey's shoulder.
"Admittedly I am a lot weaker now than I was even a few weeks ago. Maybe that's a good idea."
"If it's ok with you, I will call your doctor and see if we can get you doing a few exercises to get your strength back. Nothing crazy, but something that will allow you to be able to get around the house on your own. At least for now."
"Yes, at least for now."
"Let me help you to the recliner and we'll all be up in a minute." Will helped Geoffrey shuffle to the chair and then he went back down to get Lizzie and Henry.
Within 5 minutes, they brought their food and a plate for Brenda and Geoffrey. Will got out the TV tray and arranged everything within Geoffrey's reach. Henry pulled in a couple of chairs from his and Elizabeth's bedrooms. Elizabeth went to knock on Brenda's door.
"Aunt Brenda. Dinner is ready. Would you please join us?"
Not getting an answer, she knocked louder. Brenda threw the door open. "No, I don't want to join you. I want you to leave." Brenda slammed the door in Elizabeth's face.
"Okay. Well, if you get hungry, your plate will be in Geoffrey's room. Have a great night," Elizabeth said in the cheeriest voice she could muster and then flipped her off through the door and smirked before walking back into the room with the others.
The four of them had the best time Elizabeth could ever remember spending with her family since her parents died. Geoffrey told many stories of her father, Gregory, and the antics of their youth. He followed with stories of when Gregory met Sarah. All were stories that Will and Elizabeth had never heard before. Henry sat on the floor of Geoffrey's bedroom leaning against the bed. Elizabeth was sitting between his legs listening to Geoffrey tell all of the stories of his childhood. Every once in a while she would lean back and give him a quick kiss. He rubbed her shoulders and listened to her laugh, a sound that he never tired of hearing. It was late and it was obvious that Geoffrey was tired. Will offered to help him get ready for bed and Elizabeth and Henry took the dinner dishes down to clean up.
It took about an hour to get everything cleaned up, dishwasher loaded and running. "It's 1 am," Elizabeth mumbled, sleep about to overtake her.
"It seemed like a good night though. I'm glad you got that time with your Uncle and Will." Henry took Elizabeth by the waist and popped her up in the kitchen island. "What did you think?"
"I loved it. I really wish something like that would've happened when we came here so many years ago. I feel like I just met an Uncle I didn't know I had. He was never unkind, not like Brenda, but he was always so distant." Elizabeth lamented.
"Well, maybe the facing your own mortality changes your perspective. You want to make those connections if you haven't already. I'm glad we are here so you are able to do that."
"Yes, I suppose so, but I'd really like to avoid thinking about that right now. Oh, remind me to make that phone call tomorrow."
Henry leaned in and hugged Elizabeth. "Are you ready for bed, babe?"
"More than," she said, leaning in to kiss him.
"Come on then," practicing a walk that they would do countless times in their lives, he took her hand and led her upstairs.