Author's Note: I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. I worked, so I didn't get a holiday. XD

I hope you enjoy the update! Please be sure to read and review.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Girl Who Never Wants to be Alone

Cindy drummed her fingers on the table and ignored the bitterness threatening to devour her spirit. Jumping to her feet, she grabbed the chair back and swayed on her heels. Her mother smirked.

"You can't run from it," she said. "You can't deny it. It's a part of you."

"Jimmy loves me," she insisted.

"More than science?" her mother retorted.

"You're not happy unless you're making someone else miserable," Cindy snarled. "Admit it."

"What about you? You can't tell me you've never derived pleasure out of someone else's pain," Sasha said. "You can't tell me you've never enjoyed seeing someone suffer, and deliberately provoked someone and hurt them. You can't tell me you didn't relish the power."

Cindy's eyes narrowed. No, she was right, which she loathed. She certainly couldn't tell her mother anything of the sort. In the past, before she'd fallen for Jimmy, and particularly afterward, it had given her a sick thrill to rain on his parade. Perversely, it had injured her too, but the amusement she received usually outweighed the displeasure. But still. Her mother was entirely too close to the truth and it sent her guards back up.

"If I'm turning into you, you have no one to blame but yourself," she said. "You turned me into this."

"So I did," Sasha said. She frowned. "Cindy, do you really think I'd be warning you against Jimmy if I didn't feel he might cause you more harm than good? I spent my entire life pining after someone I couldn't have and ruined everyone's lives to get it. I know you're transforming into me. I let myself come back-"

"Bullshit," Cindy sneered, quiet so no one overheard her. "Jimmy forced you to return."

"I let him," Sasha said.

"Goddard would have ripped your throat out," Cindy said. "And then let Jimmy worry about the consequences later. So don't lie."

"Fine," her mother snapped. "I let a thirteen year old boy and his psychotic robot canine force me back to Retroville. Happy?"

"Yes," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm delirious with joy. Don't I look it?"

"Yes," her mother said. "You do. It's written all over your face. My point remains, regardless of why I came back. I knew you needed me and..."

"And what?" she snapped. "You left me for two fucking years, Mom."

"Watch your language," she said offhandedly. "And if you're going to make this so difficult, perhaps I won't tell you."

Cindy scowled. "Don't tell me we're going to have a heart to heart. I didn't think you had one."

"Did it ever occur to you I didn't want this? Any of it?" she snapped.

"You wanted Mr. Neutron's child," she pointed out, glaring.

"Aside from that," she said. "You must make things so cumbersome."

"I am what you made me," she shot back.

Sasha sighed and sipped her coffee. Cindy stared at hers. It no longer appealed to her. Picking it up, she dumped it out and ignored her mother's eyes upon her. What was this great secret her mother had to tell her? How many more ways she could say Jimmy was wrong for her and try to cast dispersion on him?

"Maybe there's a chance things can change," she said. "But only if you help."

"By what?" she huffed. "Turning my back on Neutron?"

"That's a start. I can't recreate a family without ensuring loyalty," she said. "I know you love him, but how can you be truly sure he loves you above all else?"

"How can I be sure you're not polluting me against him?" she said.

"As hard as this may be for you to believe, I love you, Cindy," she said.

Cindy grabbed the chair tightly to keep from falling over. This was the first time she'd ever heard her mother say that. Her lips trembled and she blanched, feeling the earth move beneath her. She pulled the chair out and sat down, or she'd crumple to the floor. She couldn't form complete sentences. Her mind had creaked to a standstill.

"I want what's best for you, and I want to start again," she said. "You can give me that chance, if you help me keep her."

"How do you know it's a her?" Cindy said slowly. Her knees felt weak and she slumped over onto the table. "How much do you know?"

"I know enough," she said. "And it's not too early to tell sex yet."

Cindy was suspicious, but her mother had thrown her for a loop. Unless she was manipulating her...and right now, she didn't know how to react. Her hands trembled and she put them on her lap.

"Do you want this family to work?" she asked.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she answered. "Why would you even want me to choose?"

"Because," she said and touched her knee. "I know you've always wanted a peaceful, happy home. You can help it become reality, but you have to join me. Not Neutron."

Cindy didn't answer and her mother smiled. "I'm not asking you to decide right now. Think on it."
...

The rides quacked. Jimmy had a headache not even modern medicine could cure, and he slumped in the chairs near the pie eating contest. His mother joined him and they groaned in unison.

"I love your father, but..." Judy said.

"This is a bit much," Jimmy concluded. "Now we get to see whether this particular family venture terminates in a hospital visit."

"I still have 911 on speed dial," his mother said, sighing. "But it is good to see your father enjoying himself."

"Did Dad eat breakfast?" Jimmy said, frowning.

"Yes, why?"

"The probability of him winning the contest decreased dramatically," he said, grimacing. The officiator raised his hands and started the competition. Silence fell and Jimmy stared at his father. He rubbed his palms on his pant legs.

"Gentlemen, start your eating!" the officiator said. He was a stout man, with a handlebar mustache, and a pinstriped shirt with red stretch pants and black leather buckled shoes. He had brown hair and patted his stomach.

"How long do you think-" she said and stopped. Shaking her head, she said, "Never mind. I don't want to know."

Grimacing, he looked down at his watch. Hmm. Cindy had tried to call, and he hadn't answered her. Unsurprisingly, she had left no voice mail. Since he didn't want to bear witness to his father's gluttony, he excused himself and abdicated the arena for a quieter area, ironically near the duck pond. After today, Jimmy didn't want to see another duck for weeks. Fortunately, the ducks had drifted over to the other side of the pond, which was situated near the amusement park's outskirts. From here, he had a beatific view of the parking lot and distantly, the highway.

Cindy was on his speed dial, below Goddard, Sheen, Carl, his parents, and the Candy Bar. He probably should move her above the Candy Bar, at the very least. He smiled. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

The phone rang a couple times.

"Neutron?" Cindy said, sounding surprised.

"You called?" he said.

"Yeah..." she said."What's the matter, too busy in the lab?"

"I wish," he said, grimacing. "Mom thought it'd be a good idea if we went out for a family expedition and now I'm stuck at an amusement park with an unhealthy fixation on ducks that makes Dad's obsession look like a passing fancy by comparison."

Cindy laughed. "Wow, Neutron. Or should I say 'quack'?"

"Don't," he groaned. "If I never see another duck-"

A man wearing a duck costume walked by and flapped his bill at Jimmy. Jimmy slapped his palm to his forehead.

"I can hear you face palm," she said. "What's the matter, Neutron? Doesn't fit the bill?"

"Vortex!" he snapped and she snickered. "Anyway, what were you doing you had to reach me so urgently and not leave a voice mail?"

She scoffed. "What makes you think I 'needed' you?"

"Nothing," he said. "And what are you up to?"

"Out with Mom," she said. He heard a door close and then the bolt strike home. In a quieter voice, she said, "She's trying to convince me to join her against you and your parents, Neutron."

Jimmy swallowed hard. "You're not considering it."

"Jimmy..." she swallowed too. "She told me...she told me she loved me. She's never said that to me."

He conceived of a family where the words 'I love you' were never used, and deduced it had to be a very unpleasant environment. Moreover, he could comprehend better now why Cindy reacted the way she did. His stomach wrenched and he stared at the phone on his wrist. Wherever Cindy had gone, there were no cameras, so the video feed remained blank. He imagined her biting her lip and looking around (probably in a bathroom, judging by the way the sound echoed).

Softly, swallowing again, he said, "I love you."

"I know..." she groaned. "Where are you, anyway, besides being in Duckville USA?"

"Austin," he said. "We took the hovercraft."

"Of course you did. Where would you be without your inventions?"

"We should talk when I get back," he said. "And whenever you return from your sojourn."

"Yes," she said and then hesitated. He waited. A moment passed, and then another. Then, murmuring, she said, "I love you too, Jimmy."

There was silence and he smirked. The phone call displayed the time and the message 'ended', and he slumped on the bench in front of the duck pond. It wasn't that large, maybe 20 by 20 feet, and a duck quacked at him, swimming up and wanting food. He held his head in his hands. At least Cindy had admitted she loved him. At the moment, it felt a pithy victory.

…

He took a break after five hours, not because he wanted to, but because his mother clamored for his presence. Ascending to the main house, he walked inside and scowled. His mother stood in the living room and clutched his father's portrait to her chest. Eddie didn't even remember his father. The official story she told him was he had died, but there was no grave nor any death notices. For whatever reason, his father had abandoned the family, and Eddie didn't particularly care why. He had provided nothing useful for his son.

The living room was small and sparsely decorated. In her spare time, his mother painted trite nature pieces, hanging on the walls and cluttering the little space they had. In the corner was a TV with a satellite dish box atop and a DVD player beneath it so the satellite box's vents were uncovered. Beside the TV she had a bookcase full of cook books and, along the wall beside the bookcase; there was an uncomfortable pleather couch. Eddie loathed it.

The carpet was cheap blue fabric, its origins dubious and uninteresting, and where paint poked its head through, the walls were white. Had the Neutron clan assembled in Eddie's house, they wouldn't have had enough room for Jimmy, his parents, Eddie, his mother, Aunt Amanda and cousin Gomer in this room. Another slap in the face that Aunt Amanda had written Eddie and his mother out of the will and favored Jimmy. Eddie's family could have used the money.

"What is it now, Mother?" he said. He ceased the pretense he didn't have the vocabulary and English mastery of someone far older. His mother already knew he was a genius, though he'd never beat Jimmy. Hot anger surged within him for a moment. Jimmy. He wanted to rip his cousin's throat out.

"Your father..." she moaned and sat down on the couch. She patted the space beside her. Eddie remained standing, his eyes narrowing.

"What about him?" he said, a bite to his words. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"Oh, Eddie...I've lied to you...I'm so sorry..." she moaned. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Eddie inhaled shakily, the effort to suppress his venom inordinately taxing. She was a trite, banal woman and he had no love for her, but he had no reason to tell her. He'd rather not be destitute if he could avoid it. Besides, she knew not all she did. She wasn't a genius, like him. It had skipped her generation. Besides, looking at her, he could muster pity. Judging by the look in her eyes, she truly loved his father. He didn't know what it was like to love someone.

"I suppose this once," he said.

"Your father might be coming home!" she said. "And he's going to take you to stay with him in Chicago. Isn't that great news?"

The bottom dropped out of his stomach. "What?"

"A change of pace, and you can stop fixating on your cousin so much," she said and grimaced. "Really, Eddie, your obsession with Jimmy is quite unhealthy."

"I can't move to Chicago..." he said. "I have plans. Goals. Aspirations."

I have to kill Cindy's mother, the baby, or both, he thought. I'm in the middle of repairing Curie for the task. I can't move.

"Your father should be here in a week," she said and smiled pleasantly. "That should give you enough time to tie up loose ends, shouldn't it?"

Eddie sunk to the couch and moaned. "No..."

"No what?" she said. "What's wrong? Don't you want to spend time with your father?"

All his plans would be ruined, dashed against the rapids. He thought he might be sick.