"Stott, I want to go to the park" Gordon demands, tugging his eldest brothers' shirt. Too little to pronounce Scott's name correctly, his little blonde flashes his large amber eyes at him. The eyes Virgil can't resist but Scott is immune too, especially when he is trying to do his homework.
"Not now Gordon" Scott tells him, uncurling his fingers from his t-shirt. "Go and annoy someone else"
Gordon bites back his tears by chewing on his lower lip. "I tried but they all said no"
It has been like this ever since the baby was born. His mom spends all her time with the baby, his dad is always too busy for him, and John has never had any interest in playing with him. Virgil is in bed with a chest infection, or he would have taken him out. Gordon knows he would.
"So I was your last resort?" Scott asks rolling his eyes.
"What's a last retort?" Gordon asks.
"ReSort" Scott repeats. "Learn to pronounce your words properly, you're four years old. You aren't a baby anymore Gordon, grow up and get out of here. No one wants a pest like you."
"Fine" Gordon replies pouting, before storming from the room.
Scott goes back to struggling over his maths homework. Algebra is the most difficult thing he has ever had to tackle, and he doesn't need his spoiled little brother interfering.
Gordon has had enough of being abandoned. Until the baby was born, he was the baby, and they all loved him. Now he is just an inconvenience. Abandoned by his parents who prefer the baby, and his big brothers who prefer studying and being ill!
Scott said he was not a baby anymore, well now is his chance to prove to his brothers that they're right.
Gordon is going to the park!
He knows that he can't be seen leaving the house without being spotted, but his mom is busy feeding the baby. He gives the baby a brief look of disgust as he sneaks past the living room and opens up the cupboard under the stairs for his shoes.
Gordon still hasn't quite figured out shoelaces, but there is a pair with Velcro straps he slides onto his bare feet, realising that his mom isn't there to demand he wears socks makes him smile. There is a jar in the kitchen where his parents throw all their loose change, which he helps himself to a few dollars for ice cream.
Being a grown up is easy.
To his delight the front door has not been locked after his dad left for his business meeting this morning after breakfast, as he slips out into the bright sunshine and skips happily down the drive way and out onto the sidewalk running alongside the main road.
The local park is heaven. It is home to swings and climbing frames and slides and an ice cream van. There is even a small pond home to hundreds of frogs. it is a sunny Saturday and the park is crowded with families all enjoying the early summer sun, which makes it easy for Gordon to blend in, and none of the adults there think to question why he is alone.
Gordon loves frogs, and that is where he goes first. Kicking his shoes off so he can go wading in the pond, giggling as the fish nibble his toes. "Stott doesn't know what he is missing out on!" Gordon thinks as he chases after a frog as it leaps just out of his reach.
The frogs keep him amused for an hour, but the sun is burning the back of his neck and arms and he is starting to feel thirsty and hot. He puts his shoes back on, taking the money from his pocket, hoping that he has bought enough with him for a slushy from the ice cream van.
Feeling shy for the first time now, as he approaches the van. "Do I have enuff for a slushy?" Gordon asks handing over his pilfered loot.
"Where is your mommy or daddy?" the man asks concerned.
"Over der" Gordon replies, pointing out two random strangers with a smile.
The man smiles back at him and hands him his slushy and change without any further questions.
Gordon can't believe how easy it is too lie as he starts to drink his icy cold drink, sitting on the grass near the pond, kicking his shoes off again to feel the grass between his toes.
Throwing his empty cup into the recycling bin, Gordon heads over to the climbing frame, and joins in a game of chase. He has always been a sociable child, and he finds it easy to make friends with total strangers.
Losing track of all time as he plays, Gordon doesn't even think about going home until the park is nearly empty, as families start to head home for lunch. His own stomach is starting to rumble as he decides to go home.
One more go on the park's obstacle course, then he will go home he decides already climbing the bars to the top, and along the balance beam.
He has done this a hundred times already, so it is a big shock when his foot slips and he is unable to stop himself from falling. His left leg smacks into the concrete floor, as the rest of his body falls the other way. stabbing pains shoot up his leg and he cries out in pain before bursting into tears.
*TB*
"Scott, lunch is ready. Can you come downstairs please" his mom asks, popping her head around the door.
"Sure" Scott replies, stretching.
"Have you seen Gordon?" Lucy asks.
"Not for a while" Scott shrugs unconcerned. "He is probably with Virgil"
"I will go and check.
Virgil is lying on his stomach on his bed, colouring a sketch he completed earlier but he is the only one in the room.
"Virgil, are you hungry sweetheart?" Lucy asks, placing her head on his forehead to make sure that his fever has not returned.
"A little" Virgil replies. He has been on antibiotics all week, missing a full week of school and having very little appetite or energy. Today is the first day he has really felt hungry, and he has missed food. Getting up up and following her from his bedroom and downstairs into the kitchen where he finds Scott and John are waiting for him.
"Where is Gordon?" Virgil asks realising straight away that he is not at the table. And Gordon never misses a meal!
"We thought he was with you" Scott tells him.
"No, I have been asleep, I only woke up about half an hour ago" Virgil replies.
"So none of you have seen your brother?" Lucy asks, concerned now.
"No" Virgil tells her.
Scott is staring at the sandwich on his plate.
"Scott?" Lucy asks. Her eldest child is hiding something from her, she can always tell when her boys are lying.
"He wanted me to take him to the park earlier, and I said no" Scott tells her, deliberately skipping the part where he was mean to him, his mom doesn't need to know that. "He will be sulking somewhere" Scott insists.
Lucy knows that Gordon has been feeling abandoned since the baby was born, even referring to his little brother as the baby and not Alan and she has vowed several times to spend more time with him, only for something to happen and then he gets forgotten about in the crossfire.
Alan's colic, John's first science fair, Virgil's chest infection, Scott's school problems. She has always just expected Gordon to cope with all the changes in his life without complaint and now she's lost him.
"Get your shoes on, all of you. We are going to look for your brother" Lucy insists. And if he isn't at the park, then she is phoning the police.
Alan has been sitting in the living room in the bouncing chair, which was a gift from his grandma. He is crying loudly as he wants his own lunch, and his diaper is soaked. Getting him sorted into a clean and dry diaper and sleepsuit, Lucy is grateful that Jeff and she had the hindsight to purchase some emergency baby milk for when she is unable to feed her littlest one.
"Scott, can you feed Allie for me?" she asks as her eldest comes into the room with his shoes on, not waiting for a reply before placing the still wailing baby into his arms with the bottle while she gets her own shoes on. She is still wearing the tank top and shorts she slept in and has not even thought to wear a bra as she leaps up the stairs two at a time and into the bedroom she shares with Jeff. Past Alans crib and into the wardrobe, pulling out jeans and a clean t-shirt.
The park is less than five minutes away, with Scott taking charge of Alan's pram they make their way down the road.
"Mommy? What if we can't find him?" Virgil asks seriously.
"We will find him" Lucy replies. The words choke in her throat as she tries to sound more confident than she feels.
The park entrance is now home to two police officers, as the family approach the main gate.
"Stay here, I will go and speak to the officers" Lucy instructs Scott. "keep and eye on your brothers, and make sure they don't leave your sight."
"Okay" Scott replies, trying to peer through the hedge to see if he can find out what is happening.
"Excuse me officer, I am looking for my son. We think he snuck out of the house earlier" Lucy says to the first officer, taking out her phone and looking through the photos. Her heart breaks when she realises that the only photos she has taken of him are all where he is holding Alan, and she can't even remember the last time it was just the two of them. no wonder he has been feeling so abandoned she thinks bitterly.
The two officers look at the photo, before turning to look at each other. This is the child. The one being taken away in an ambulance. "Through here ma'am" the first officer says to her kindly. "He has had a bit of an accident, but there is an ambulance there with him now, and I am sure he will be fine"
Lucy never heard anything after "accident" as she tears past them and into the park, running across the field followed by Scott, Virgil, John and Alan.
"Gordy?!" Lucy gasps in shock at the sight of her baby who is now lying on a stretcher being loaded into the ambulance.
"Momma?" Gordon whimpers, still crying in shock and pain.
"What happened?" She asks him.
"I wanted to be growed up like Stott but momma it hurts" Gordon replies as a way of an explanation.
"Scott?" Lucy asks. "Just what did you say to him?"
Scott is saved from the shame of replying by the ambulance driver who comes over to speak to Lucy. "I believe that you are his mother?"
"Yes, I am, what is it you need to know?" Lucy asks, following him round to the front of the ambulance and giving them the details they need about Gordon and his medical history.
"YOU TOLD HIM WHAT!" Virgil explodes in anger, all feelings of his own illness forgotten as he throws Scott down onto the ground and brings his fist back to pound his older brother, who doesn't bother to defend himself, Scott deserves to be punched.
"VIRGIL GET OFF HIM" Lucy shouts, the last thing she needs right now is for her two eldest to start a public brawl.
Virgil is seething with anger as he allows Scott to stand up. "HE TOLD GORDON THAT WE DIDN'T WANT HIM!" he yells staring daggers at Scott. "THAT'S WHY HE LEFT ON HIS OWN."
"Scott? Is that true?" Lucy asks in shock. Scott is usually a wonderful big brother, but she knows that she hasn't had time to spend with him recently, and she knows that the last few weeks have been difficult.
"Yes" Scott replies, his face ashen with shame and he can't look his own mother in the eyes.
"We will talk about this later, right now we have to get Gordon to the hospital for an X-ray on his leg. Scott, we are going to go back to the house and then drive over and your father is going to meet us there. He will probably get there before we do. I would leave you home to babysit, but I don't think I can trust you anymore" Lucy tells him, taking Alans pram and starting to leave the park.
Scott starts to cry.
"Oh no, don't try the waterworks" Virgil hisses at him in anger, before he takes John's hand and storms out of the park followed by Lucy, Alan and a still shame faced Scott. 7
The walk back to the house is fraught with tension, with Virgil and Scott refusing to speak to each other.
*TB*
Waking up in the middle of the night, the first thing Gordon notices is his mom slumped in the chair next to his bed. His left leg feels weird, and heavy. Looking down at it he sees that it is covered in a large white cast which ends just below his hip.
"Momma" he cries confused.
"Hey baby" Lucy replies, her eyes springing open at the sound of her voice.
"Don't feel good" Gordon tells her. His mouth is dry and his head hurts.
"Where does it hurt Gords?" Lucy asks, already buzzing for the doctor.
"My head hurts and I'm firsty and I don't wanna be a growed up anymore" Gordon replies.
He has no idea that he has had an operation on his broken leg and remembers nothing from being loaded into the ambulance and now waking up, but he isn't scared. He has his momma.
Lucy lifts the glass of water to his lips and allows him to sip the cool clear liquid before she sits down on the bed next to him. Wrapped up in her arms, he feels safe now, as his head rests on her shoulder and he drifts back off to sleep.
This is not what she meant when she vowed to spend more time with her Gordy but being cuddled up with her little fish feels natural, and it is something that she has really missed.
Looking up when the door opens, one of the hospitals nurses is entering the room. "Is everything okay Mrs Tracy?" she asks.
"He woke up with a headache, but he has already fallen asleep again" Lucy informs her.
"Okay, let me know if you need anything else" the nurse replies, before leaving them in peace.
*TB*
Jeff brings Scott in to visit the following afternoon. They find Gordon sitting up in bed, watching Finding Nemo for what must be the millionth time.
"Daddy!" Gordon greets him enthusiastically, trying to get out of bed.
"Stay still Fish" Jeff tells him with a grin, before bending down to give him a hug.
"How are you feeling?" Scott asks nervously. Gordon doesn't know it, but Scott spent the evening in bed in disgrace and is feeling awful about what he said and making his own vows to never let his brothers feel so abandoned and unloved in their own house.
"I'm okay Stott. I wanna go home" Gordon tells him.
"We want you home too, and you know I didn't mean what I said yesterday, any of it. I love you and this family needs you" Scott tells him. "I got you a present"
"I know Stott, momma told me" Gordon replies. "Now, where is my present?"
Scott hands him a small, gift-wrapped package, wrapped in golden glittery paper.
Ripping the wrapping off, to reveal a build a boat kit. "I thought we could make this our project, and once we have put it together, we will go the park, just you and me and take it for its maiden voyage" Scott tells him smiling.
"Really? Just you and me?" Gordon asks incredulously.
"Just you and me" Scott confirms.
Gordon's face lights up in a way his brothers and parents have not seen for weeks and it drives home just how lost and neglected they let him feel.
He gets his second big surprise an hour later when his daddy comes back into his room with a wheelchair so he can go home.
*TB*
Grandma is home waiting for his arrival with Virgil, John and Alan. Virgil and John have painted a "Welcome home Gordy" Banner which is now strung up above the table in the dining room. Which is covered with sandwiches, sausage rolls, cocktail sausages, cheese and biscuits, crackers, a large bowl of salad, chocolates and mini cakes.
The atmosphere is festive, as they celebrate being a family.
Lucy and Jeff know they need to talk to Gordon about what he did, as he should never have left the house no matter how upset he was, but now is not the time as he holds court among his siblings, allowing them to fetch him food and drinks and revelling in their attention.
The journey and his welcome home party leave him exhausted and ready for his own bed hours earlier than normal, and Jeff carries him up the stairs and helps him get into a clean pair of pyjamas. Grandma has even changed the sheets and they smell fresh and clean and so inviting. Stretching out on the bed, his arms wrapped around his favourite cuddly toy. A squid, a gift on the day he was born which has rarely spend a night away from him in over four years.
Lucy pops up to his room to say goodnight. Gordon's room is small and cosy. His bed has been customised with a built-in ladder and draws full of clothes underneath, all painted his favourite colour of bright yellow with a black trim. The opposite wall has a series of shelves built in, covered with model ships and ornamental sea creatures, including a miniature loch ness monster. Gordon loves this room.
"Let's talk leaving the house without permission" Lucy says to him.
"I just wanted to prove to Stott that I was a growed up" Gordon tells her. "I asked him to go with me but he said I was a pest and that I needed not to be a baby. I didn't mean to stare you"
"We aren't angry Gordon, but you can't leave the house without mine or your dad or grandmas permission depending on who is in charge. And you are not old enough to go out alone. But if Scott or Virgil or John say anything like that to you again you tell us okay. And we promise you that we will make more time for you. And besides we have another big project coming up, that we want you to be a part of"
"It isn't another baby is it?" Gordon asks.
"No" Lucy laughs at the look on his face. "But that baby is going to be getting a lot bigger soon, and he needs somewhere to sleep, and we are running out of room here so we are going to be building an extension. We need your help, there will be walls to knock down and things to smash and break, and we are going to make you a bigger room, as well as splitting John and Virgil's room into two separate rooms so they can have their own space and a room for Alan."
"Really?" Gordon asks.
"Really, we love you Gordy, and we are so sorry that you ever felt differently." Jeff tells him.
"I love you too" Gordon replies.
"Get some sleep sweetie, and if you need anything during the night just call and we will be right here okay?" Lucy says, switching on the spare monitor, knowing that Gordon might not be able to make it to the bathroom on his own while he gets used to having his leg in a cast.
"okay momma" Gordon replies, "can you leave the door open?"
Happy to be home and back in his own bed, Gordon sleeps soundly and doesn't even stir when each of his big brothers come to check on him during the night, happy that they have their wannabe fish back with them, safe and exactly where he belongs.