Chapter 36:

"Sorry, Sugey. But you do have school tomorrow!" Velma told her sister-in-law cheerfully as she helped her pack her belongings at the end of a long summer. Velma, of course, was folding everything perfectly neatly, whereas Sugey was cramming everything haphazardly into the duffel bag.

"Like, Mom and Pops will be here in less than half an hour, Sugey. Pick up the pace a little, will you?" Shaggy commented, poking his head into the room and observing how many of Sugey's belongings still lay strewn about. His wife and sister nodded, speeding up slightly. Shaggy left again.

"Thanks for letting me stay with you guys," Sugey said in a reserved voice (for her, anyway).

"No problem," Velma told her, folding up a t-shirt whose wrinkled state implied that this was perhaps the first time anyone had folded it in a while. Then she started in on organizing the back-to-school supplies she, Sugey, and Daphne had picked out maybe a week or two ago. "Back to reality, huh?" she asked, holding up a pack of blue erasable pens.

"Yeah..."

"Well... in about two weeks I have to go back to work, so I guess we're in the same boat here."

"Two weeks? That soon?" Sugey asked, although she had learned by now not to be too surprised at this sort of statement from Velma. "That's not very long for maternity leave--"

"I know," Velma said. She was really starting to tire of this kind of conversation. "But I really should be getting back."

Sugey nodded, understanding but not liking it.

"Well, I guess that about does it," Velma said after about ten more minutes. "And Sugey? We really are glad you came to stay with us this summer."

"It's been fun, hanging out with you and Shaggy and Scooby and... Max..." Even though the name had been her suggestion, and she adored her new nephew to the point of practically spoiling him, it was still hard for her to say the name without a brief flicker of sadness darting across her eyes.

Velma smiled. "I'm sure Max will miss you. As much as the rest of us."

They hugged, just as they heard a car pull up in the driveway. They dashed outside, Sugey's bag in her hand. Shaggy came out too, holding Max to meet his grandparents. The baby was dressed in the shirt Sugey had gotten him a few weeks back.

" 'Bye Velma! 'Bye Shaggy! 'Bye Scooby! 'Bye Max!" Sugey called as she loaded her stuff into the back trunk. It was very fortunate her parents were preoccupied with cooing over the little boy... she wasn't sure how much trouble she would be in for an offense committed three months ago.

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Velma crept into her bedroom and stared at the clock. Three-thirty a.m. That really had taken forever.

She tried to get back into bed without disturbing Shaggy, but alas, she tripped over her own slippers and practically fell on top of him.

"Velma? 'S'at you?" Shaggy's tired, slurred speech questioned.

"Yeah, it's me. Remember, we both woke up to Max's crying... I left to feed him?"

Zoinks, like, how long ago was that? Shaggy wondered, but decided it was not a question to ask the sleep-deprived. Still, he did mutter, "You were gone for kind of a while..."

"Sorry, feeding him took forever. The kid's a bottomless pit. Remind you of anyone?"

Shaggy grinned in spite of his exhaustion. "Just wait until he's old enough for Scooby Snacks!"

"Not my baby!" Velma told him in an exaggeratedly exasperated tone. "No solids at all until two-to-three months, at least..."

Shaggy laughed slightly and put an arm around his wife. "Think he'll be like me?"

"Who knows? He could have the best of both worlds..."

"Well, I finished Fahrenheit 451, so if he's like you..."

"He won't outdo his father in everything," Velma said.

"He wouldn't either way. Challenge me to a hot-dog-eating contest, any day."

"Didn't we just go over his appetite? It's yours, for sure."

"Hey, it's a healthy appetite. Remember what the doctors said, about his health?"

"Oh, right. 'The healthiest in years.' Always reassuring."

"Yeah..."

They lay there in silence, then Shaggy asked, "Like, don't you wish you didn't have to go back to work tomorrow? That you could stay home with him a while longer, or that you at least weren't spending so much time--?"

"Shaggy, you know the only way we could afford this house is with our combined salaries. One of us can't just quit..."

"No... but seriously, Velma..." Shaggy actually sat up in bed, his arms hanging over the tops of his knees. "Like, you don't really need to be working so hard... do you? I mean, what if you came back to work with the rest of us, and we could be Mystery Inc. again? The rest of us got a raise just the day before yesterday... if we were both working my job we could still have enough money!"

"Shaggy..." Velma sat up too, and turned to face him. "Shaggy, it's not just the money. It's the team. I can't just walk out on them like this... not when there's so much we can--"

"Which team?" Shaggy asked suddenly.

Velma was about to respond that of course she was talking about the HTRT when she stopped, having been forced to think. "Which team?" Which team?

Of course... Velma had made commitments long before ever joining the HTRT. She had committed herself to Mystery, Inc. while they were still children. She had even committed herself to Shaggy... and their unborn baby... without truly even realizing it at the time.

And who did she really want to be committed to?

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Velma stared at her son for the longest time before leaving for work. She knew exactly what the day held in store for both of them. Velma would leave for work. Max would be dropped off at day care, then Shaggy would leave for work. Shaggy would pick up Max and bring him home. Velma would come home... bringing a boatload of papers and graphs and charts and other meaningless paraphernalia with her. She would work on it until Shaggy finished making dinner, and then she would grab a quick bite to eat. Then she would work some more until nine or ten or eleven. She would climb into bed, feed Max at some point during the night, then leave again at five in the morning.

What was wrong with this picture?

She watched the sleeping boy for a while longer. He looked entirely innocent. Like he deserved something... something Velma wasn't giving him.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Max," she whispered to her son, even though he wouldn't understand a word she said. "I'm sorry I'm not a better mother. I'm sorry it'll be days or weeks before I really have any time to spend with you. I'm sorry I can't get to know you as well as I'd like. I--"

Velma stopped herself. Why was she apologizing?

She hadn't done anything yet.

And because she hadn't done anything... she didn't need to do anything. As long as she did one major something...

She braced herself for a quantum leap.