Contrary to the majority belief, Maddie believed that Vlad was still alive.
Hooting and hollering entered the silence of the downstairs lab. Glancing over at Jack who was currently occupied with testing out a new device, Maddie made her way upstairs to the laughter.
Sam and Tucker were there in the hallway. She had a very distinctive 'are you kidding me' look upon her face. He was snickering and snorting. Maddie froze, feeling very much caught in the act and baffled at her son's reaction.
Danny continued rolling around on the ground, clutching a box to his chest as tears poured out of his eyes.
The hallway door was wide open, the collection Maddie had placed inside displayed for the world to see. She had no doubts as to locking it, how was it open right now… Danny.
Bouncing up, his cheeks still bright from laughter, Danny tugged at Sam with his free hand. The other kept a hold of the box. "Come on guys! Oooh! Mom! You can come too!"
Dashing about the kitchen in spurts of laughter, Danny set the table for all of them. Lifting up a spoon that dripped milk onto the table, Danny toasted. "To one seriously crazed up fruit loop!"
His two friends lifted up their own spoons to meet her son's spoon. Sam had a smile at Danny's antics, while Tucker chuckled nearly as loudly as him. Maddie observed her son as he took in the humor of the situation and found herself chuckling at Vlad as well. Worries on the ties between them faded away as she saw her son laughing. Danny wasn't blaming himself. It was the first time she saw him without worry about Vlad.
She tapped her own spoon against the others.
"Uh." Danny's smile faltered a bit. "Mom, hey, I'm sorry that you and dad's college classmate was uh…"
Understanding Danny's reactions about Vlad around her now, Maddie reached out and grasped his hand. "It's okay Danny."
"Okay, I'll say it then," Tucker stated decisively. "That he was such a cheesehead."
"I never understood that," Maddie admitted. "And he was always so proud of his Packer collection even in college. Did I ever tell you Danny when he—"
"Guuuuys!" Jazz's voice echoed with panic. "Why is the hallway closet filled to the brim with Fruit Loops?"
"Because filling it with cats proved to be too difficult," Danny shouted back.
The trio of teenagers cracked up into laughter and Maddie gave a small wave when her daughter burst into the kitchen, full of bewilderment and alarm.