Chapter 49: 99 problems
Vindictam (yeah. I went for the realistic angle), ThatChickontheInternet (She goes great work and that is a good sound for it), edgaryg (Joel had a lot of pent up anger and he took it out on her. Which isn't right, but Ellie went with it. I would have. We had to keep the joke. Thanks. They worked out a lot of their problems now. As for the last chapter. Joel would have killed David.) nachoiscool11 (THOSE ARE ADORABLE! I didn't want to shock you guys). KuroiHanabixShenny (Yeah they have three options and all kinda suck. And then the miltary would get involved in two of those options.), QuietSunlight (I didn't turn it down that much), mckoy12345678910 (No probs. You leave a comment for me everyday the least I can do is fill a request.).
A/N: This is a bit of a breathier. I speak for both us when I say Thank you for all the comments!
-...- (Ellie)
They made the move to John's and things settled down. Ellie went back to following Maria around and Joel stuck to the jobs they gave him. He was determined to find his place in the community.
Really a little space was nice and they had the second floor and now could sleep in the same bed without anyone noticing them. Besides Maria felt better having someone there with her dad.
"Got it." Maria smiled triumphantly. She offered Ellie the present for Joel. She still had that little party and now more than ever they needed something to bind their family. She was glad Maria still wanted to do this too. Sometimes women just knew more than men.
Ellie lit up. "He is going to love them."
"I know." Maria said.
So we got food, a few decorations, music (They borrowed a radio and an ipod from the man who usually ran the music at the meeting hall. Joel and her hadn't been there since that night, but he was nice enough to loan them his stuff), presents, and all they needed was a cake and they would be set.
"What type of cake do you think he wants?" Maria asked.
"Hm…" Ellie thought about it. She didn't peg him for a chocolate kind of man… "Butter cake." She said after a second of thought. "Definitely butter." He was a good southern man. They liked butter and fried anything… or at least that is what one of the romance books she borrowed made it sound like.
Maria smiled. "I think we can find that. I will ask Ashley too-"
"Wait, the pie lady! Nononono. We will find someone else." That lady might have backed off, but Ellie was still had her eye on the other woman.
Maria laughed. "Okay. Then we will figure it out."
They had only a week to his birthday and Ellie was so excited. She didn't really make a fuss about her own birthday passing because she wanted to celebrate with him. Birthdays weren't big things back at the zone. Nobody had anything to really give and they saved it for the holidays. You were lucky if you got something sweet to eat.
"Anyone you want to invite to the party?" Maria asked.
"What?" The question caught her off guard, like she was supposed to know someone to invite.
"Anyone in town. Like someone your age." Her eyebrows shot up for a second with suggestion...
If Maria was suggesting what Ellie thought. "Nope. Next topic, do you have some string for me to tie up the presents?"
Maria laughed. "It is okay. I was pretty shy when I was your age. I had to be tough like my daddy and I didn't have time for boys."
Ellie nodded. She never was 'shy' so much as she was just tough. You just don't let people in that close, so they can hurt you. She tried to imagine Maria as a girl.
Maria gave her some string and a yard of cloth. "This will do. Did you find him some other stuff?"
"Well, I found a can of instant coffee. You really can't drink it, but he should be able to at least smell it. And I got him some puzzles books, and now I got some shirts."
"Is there something you want? I know we didn't have your party, but…"
"I'm fine." She assured Maria. "I already get all the books I want and have clothes on my back."
Maria nodded. "Okay. Doesn't mean I won't try to find something." Ellie made a mental note to find something for Maria's birthday.
"So, Tommy is in on this?"
"Yep."
"Is he better?"
"Yeah…" Maria looked off. "Joel is a sore spot with him. He loves his brother, but the two can't stand each other. All they see is themselves and you know how men are. I swear. They think we have bad mood swings."
Ellie smiled. "Yeah. Joel literally pouted, when I wanted to read instead of watching a movie. And then he kept sighing until I caved."
Maria laughed. "Tommy does the same thing. The all-suffering-sigh." She mimicked her husband by flailing out her arms and sighing loudly. "He loves Joel, but they have a lot of history."
"I heard some of it." Ellie grumbled. What they said about Sarah hurt her.
"Yeah…" Maria said looking off. "But please stay. I think we can work something out. Why build towns if families leave each other."
"He hasn't said anything about leaving, but he does like John's house."
"I'm glad. Dad needs someone with him."
"Why didn't you too just move back in."
"We were and then you guys showed up." Marai confessed. "I just don't want him to die alone."
Ellie hugged the other woman "It will be okay."
"Thanks, Honey. Let's switch topics. You think we can force him into a party hat?"
Ellie giggled at the mental picture.
They finished up their plans for the big day and Ellie was excited. This would be really her first birthday 'party.' In the zone, it was hard to get stuff like this and even to bake cake could be hard to do if you didn't have the ration cards for it.
Ellie finished up wrapping the gifts in cloth and securing it with the long piece of ribbon. She hide it in the room.
"Well, now that's settled. We have to stop by Yolanda's. She just had a baby and I want to see if she needs anything."
"Cool." Ellie tagged along.
-...- (Joel)
He brought the shovel down on the snake's neck. "Not today." It was that a long yet, and the snake was one of the rattlesnakes found in the area. He picked up the remains and tossed it in the woods.
He didn't have the best jobs, but they were better than the stable; however, he worked like dog in the summer sun.
They were just cleaning up a corner of the town and maintaining the fence, but it was tough work. He did get stuck with the shit jobs.
"Hey, Joel. We are readying in for a siesta wanna come?" Trey offered and Joel happily put down the shovel.
"Sure." The group made its way to the meeting house and he was happily greeted by Ellie. Seeing her was like turning on a 100 watt bulb.
"Hey."
Ellie smiled at him and slide a glass of water his way. "I think we are close to a hundred today."
"Feels like it." He wiped the sweat off his brow.
"I swear if I didn't know any better we're in texas." Tommy said. He already guzzled down his water.
"You're not in Texas anymore, Dorothy." Joel said sitting down by his brother.
Tommy shot him a look, but cracked a smile. "How is it out there?"
"Hot and I found two rattlers."
"Hm." Tommy took a bite of his ham sandwich (maybe it was turkey, it was hard to tell).
"How about you? What have you done all day?" Joel pulled Ellie's plate over and began to eat her food. She swatted and protested, but he claimed the plate. She stuck out her tongue and went back through the line.
"I had to do a few home repairs. I fixed Ashley's shower." His eyes followed Ellie and he leaned in. "Heads up the women are planning something for you." Maybe Maria had a point now that they had some space the brothers could talk for the first time.
Maria joined them and wrapped an arm around her husband's neck. "Hey. I think we may call it a day. I'm going to spend some time with dad." John had been getting worse and worse recently and Maria was spending a lot of free time with him.
"Sounds good." Tommy's got to hold her ass for a second, while she kissed him.
Ellie came back with another plate. "Let's make it clear. This one is mine."She asked for it. He stole her sandwich and took a bite before she could snatch it away. "HEY!" He returned the sandwich to her plate with a sated grin.
"Bastard." She grumbled as she took the food back and sat down.
They ate their fill and Joel couldn't help but wonder what they were planning. Only after the women went off did Tommy finally had a chance to finish explaining what they women were planning. "If I were you, I would find something to give Ellie. Her birthday was a few weeks ago."
"What? Why didn't she tell me?" He raked through his memories and tired to remember her mentioning anything. Nothing But they did travel a year… Did I miss it?
"I don't know. I would just hurry up." Tommy pat him on the shoulder "I will talk to you later."
Joel nodded. His mind raced with what he could give her. Nothing seemed good enough for her.
He knew he had to find some books or comics. Or he needed to find something like... It hit him like a beer bottle. "Hey Tommy!" He called after his brother. "I got a question for you…"
A/N: A new kind of cliffhanger.
