Home is a place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. - Robert Frost
~lalaLAlala~
"Mr Morgendorffer, do you have a tarp, or a couple of old newspapers, that I could borrow?" Jane asked.
"Uh, sure, but... what for?" Jake queried as he got up from the couch.
"I got inspired while we were saving Trent from the invasion at Casa Lane, so I'm going to paint while the idea is still fresh, while those two do the music thing," Jane explained.
"Oh, sure!" Jake agreed.
"Jane's agreed to paint in the guest room while Trent and I record in my room, where the padded walls will keep out most noise from the rest of the house," Daria added.
"Um..." Jake hesitated, and turned to Trent.
Trent raised both of his hands calmly. "Mr Morgendorffer, I swear, I'm not going to touch your daughter in any inappropriate way while we're up there behind closed doors and sound-proofing. That would be illegal," he stated.
Jake relaxed, and a happy smile spread across his face. "Thanks for allaying an old man's concerns Trent," he said. "Well Jane, the old papers are out this way," he offered happily, and jerked his thumb over his shoulder before he turned to lead the way.
"And the recording studio, otherwise known as my room, is this way," Daria said quietly to Trent, and started up the stairs.
"I remember," Trent agreed with a smile.
The first thing they did was finish and record Psychic Refugee, since it was new and burgeoning in Trent's mind. It might make it to the Spiral line-up, but Trent was honest enough about the band that he didn't actually hold much hope that Nick and Max would be able to stop yelling at each other long enough for the band to ever actually make it.
Continuing in the honesty streak, Trent would have to honestly admit that his sound was starting to drift away from the grunge and heavy metal too. Not into pop (the very thought made him shudder), but more along the indi- and alt-rock lines.
They were just about to start on recording another song – one inspired by an item on the list Trent had made per signs of an unhealthy relationship – when Jake called them down to dinner.
He'd been cooking again, and it smelled like one of his successes.
"Did you get through to pest control?" Helen asked Trent as they sat around the table – the arrangement was a bit short on elbow room, since it was the kitchen table, not the dining room table, but they made do.
"I didn't have the heart," Trent admitted. "The 'pests' are my brother Wind, kicked out of the houseboat he was sharing with his third wife, my sister Penny, back from Costa Rica after their volcano erupted, and my dad back from a photographic expedition," he explained.
Helen blinked in surprise.
"And I heard Mom talking on the phone while Trent and Daria were loading the Mini," Jane joined in. "Two of our eldest sister Summer's kids are, ahem, 'coming for a visit'," she said. "I asked Mom if Summer actually knew about that, and Mom agreed that she should, which means Summer won't be far behind to get them."
"I'm... confused," Helen said plainly.
"As much as it isn't so great being neglected the way we were growing up, being suddenly crowded by family you don't get along with is much, much worse," Jane explained, and used her (mercifully empty) fork to emphasise her point.
"For example, if Aunt Amy and Cousin Erin both showed up on our doorstep within half an hour of each other and asked to stay a couple of days," Daria offered.
"And then throw in couple of extra people and an obnoxious parakeet," Trent added with a scowl.
"Rita and Mother," Helen said lowly as she went stone-faced. "I see," she said – and it was clear that, now, she did. "Well, if you abide by the rules of the house, you're welcome to stay until your siblings all scatter again."
"We'll be good," Trent promised.
"Yeah," Jane agreed. "The Spiral aren't getting along well enough to even all come to practice right now, and Trent finally properly broke up with Monique after years of breaking up and getting back together every other week."
"Taking the time to figure out what I really want in a relationship, rather than just going back to what I know," Trent said as he nodded. "We really are grateful," he added.
~lalaLAlala~
Jane and Trent had taken refuge in the Morgendorffer house on a Friday night, and had a whole Saturday of quiet time at the house – Jake was in the kitchen, Helen was doing overtime at the firm, and Quinn was out with the Fashion Club.
Jane's painting of Trent as a responsible adult and world dictator was coming along nicely, and Trent even sort-of modelled for her when he and Daria took their breaks from recording, so she wasn't entirely reliant on old sketches. When the pair emerged for fresh air, they always were considerate enough to grab some food from the kitchen and join Jane in the guest room.
Quiet conversation about the things Jane hadn't realised she should be thanking her brother for, rather than her parents, dominated the first break from recording.
"Bills?"
"Me."
"Food?"
"Me."
"Allowance?"
"Me."
"School?"
"Me."
"College fund?"
"Mostly me. Mom's been putting a bit in every other month since she realised I'd started one for you."
"Damn."
"Yeah. Sorry."
"How?" Jane demanded. "How did you afford all that and the mortgage?"
"Got a job," Trent answered with a shrug. "Like any other normal person. I only worked while you were at school though, so you wouldn't know."
"And how did Daria find out?!"
"Accidentally," Daria herself admitted, her first contribution to the conversation.
Trent nodded a silent, grateful thanks to her. He didn't really want to explain to his little sister that he'd been feeling like the failure so many people called him, and had spilled everything to a girl he hadn't known for very long at the time. While they were sitting on the side of the road, at that.
The second break from recording, Trent pulled out his notebook.
"Seriously?" Jane asked. "You're recording song after song, and you're still getting inspired?"
"I'm not working on a song," Trent admitted. "After the last time I broke up with Monique, Daria suggested I figure out what I did and didn't want in a relationship."
Jane's eyebrows shot up and her enquiring blue gaze shifted from her dear darling brother to her beloved best friend. It was an 'oh really?' expression if ever there was one.
"I know that I don't want to end up with five kids that constantly run away from home like Summer. I don't want to end up having to pay two lots of alimony like Wind," Trent continued, either unaware of or ignoring the Look. "I don't want to end up like Mom and Dad, who are barely ever in the same state for very long, and I don't want to end up alone like Penny either."
"We don't exactly have the best role-models for how relationships should be, do we?" Jane said, a little sadly.
"No."
"Have you figured out any of the things you do want?" Daria asked.
Trent turned over the page of his notebook. "I found a quote, got no idea who said it, but it's 'anybody can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly', or something like that," he started off. "So... I want someone I can be... 'silly' with."
"Interesting first priority," Jane noted.
"It's not in any order," Trent denied, and went back to his notes. "I want someone I can trust with my problems, whatever they are, and my dreams, and I want them to be able to trust me with theirs, too."
"That's hard to find," Daria commented softly. "Someone you can really trust like that."
Trent and Jane both nodded.
"Um... Someone who accepts and respects that they're not the only person who's important to me," Trent kept on. "Like, they gotta understand that I'll always be there for my little sister," he said, and gave Jane a smile.
Jane smiled back. "I'll always be there for you too, bro."
"And ideally, whoever I'd be in a relationship with would be there for you too, because they know how important you are," Trent added. "And we gotta be able to talk to each other about stuff. Like, for no reason at all, we just like talking to each other, and if we get into a fight, we don't just break it off without resolving the issue. We gotta resolve the issue, so we don't have the same fight again a couple of weeks later."
"You mean like you and Monique did," Jane quipped.
"Yeah, like me an' Monique," Trent agreed with an unhappy nod. "Which is another thing on my don't want list. I don't want someone controlling, manipulative, or who never lets me make my own decisions."
"Well, that sounds like a good list Trent, but you know..." Jane smirked. "You pretty much just described how you are with Daria."
The two figures that had been sitting, side-by-side, on the guest-room bed jumped like they'd both suddenly had their spines replaced by metal poles. They went ram-rod straight, and from Trent, that was really impressive.
Daria's face went red, even as her eyes went flinty, fixed on Jane as they were. She couldn't look at Trent.
Trent, on the other hand, slowly turned to look at Daria, trying to figure out what her reaction meant. He'd... he'd had... inappropriate thoughts about Daria before, he knew she was pretty behind her defensive barriers of clothing and glasses, but for various reasons had always forced those feelings aside. But... Jane had a good point.
As he looked at her, Trent let his sleepy old brain revisit every occasion when he'd spent time with Daria. She was easy to talk to, and they could talk about anything. She got him, she believed in him and his dream, and helped him to be pro-active about chasing after it. She was best friends with the only family member he really cared about, so she'd understand if there were times when he'd have to drop whatever he was doing to go help Janey – because she'd be dropping whatever she was doing to help as well...
"Daria," Trent said softly.
"Yeah?" she asked, barely above a mumble as she bent her head forward, an action that got some of her hair to fall over her face and hide it a little.
"I stand by what I said to your father before. I'm not going to do anything inappropriate with you behind closed doors, because it would be illegal," Trent told her gently, and shuffled closer to where she was sitting. "But it won't be illegal forever," he added, and closed a hand around one of hers tenderly. "And by the time it isn't illegal any more, I should have something a bit more solid to offer, if you'd be interested."
"Mm... Mhm..." Daria answered, a dopey little smile on her face as she nodded.
"Yes!" Jane hissed in triumph as she punched the air.
"Don't get ahead of yourself Jane," Daria warned.
"I'm not!" she insisted. "You're practically best friends, and you have all this time until a certain eighteenth birthday to get comfortable with the idea. You two will be great together, I know you will."
Trent chuckled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said with a smile before he looked back to Daria. "And until that day, I'm going to work my butt off so that I'll be worthy of someone as smart and talented as you," he promised softly.
"Other way around," Daria mumbled back.
"Not-entirely-objective third parties, like your parents, will disagree on that score," Jane pointed out to her friend kindly.
Trent nodded. "Gotta convince them too," he agreed. "Don't want to cause any rifts."
Daria spared a moment to think of her grandparents, both sides, and how they each felt about their respective son- or daughter-in-law. As much as she preferred not to talk with her parents, they did care about her and were there for her when she needed them to be, so... She nodded in appreciative acceptance of how much Trent cared about Daria's relationship with her family.
~lalaLAlala~
Breakfast on Sunday was interrupted by the doorbell.
"Who could that be?" Jake asked.
It was Helen that went to answer it though.
"Why Amanda," Helen greeted with a smile as she stepped back from the door. "I guess you've come to claim your children?"
"Are they here?" Amanda asked, surprised by the notion even as she accepted Helen's silent invitation inside.
"They claimed sanctuary when their siblings blew in," Helen answered dryly.
"Smart of them," Amanda said, and turned to Helen with a desperate expression. "You gotta help me!" she begged, her general zen-like calm breaking. "I need my house back!"
"Amanda, I may have an idea," Helen told the other woman as she looked back into her own house with resigned frustration.
"Anything!"
"Get them all around the table for dinner and tell them that as long as they're all in residence, they will be having sit-down meals together," Helen said plainly.
"That is something I just gotta see," Jane said as she, Trent and Daria joined Helen and Amanda by the front door. "Summer, Penny and Wind all at the table together?"
"It would be less dramatic to serve them with an eviction notice," Trent said plainly.
Amanda looked up at her youngest son and tallest offspring. He'd even surpassed his father. "I don't think that I can do that," she admitted. "I do love all of our family, just... not when they're all in the house at the same time."
Trent blinked. "Um... technically, I would be the one evicting them Mom," Trent said.
"Trent?" Amanda questioned.
"What do you mean by that Trent?" Helen asked curiously.
"Um, Dad took out a loan against the house last time he left on a photography expedition," Trent started.
"He what?!" Amanda demanded, shocked. "He never said anything, and I never got any mail from the bank about them foreclosing on us."
"Uh, I'm the one who paid it back. The deed got re-written under my name after that," Trent explained a little sheepishly.
"Oh, Trent," Amanda said softly, apologetic. "You shouldn't have had to do that."
"But it was very responsible for you to have done it anyway," Helen added, impressed.
Trent shrugged, a little uncomfortable with the attention over the matter. He had done his best to make sure that particular secret of his had not been spread around before, but it was a couple of years in the past now, so it didn't really matter.
Besides which, he was working on being more visibly responsible, to impress Daria's parents so they wouldn't get mad at her for dating him when she eventually reached eighteen.
"Well, I'll try the family dinner," Amanda decided. "If that doesn't work to get my house back, then Trent, by all means, evict the lot of us from your house. You do have that right. Uh, doesn't he?" she asked Helen.
The law-woman nodded, a sympathetic expression on her face. "He can."
"Don't really want to do that to family though," Trent admitted.
"I'm fairly sure you won't have to," Helen said as she lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, and a wry smile twisted her lips.
She was right. He didn't have to. The family dinner worked like a charm to get the house empty again, and then it was just a matter of cleaning up after 'Hurricane Lane', and getting the house back to normal.
Amanda also took a bit of time away from her pottery to talk to Trent about the many house expenses he'd been covering – expenses Amanda had thought were being covered by her husband, but apparently weren't.