"Mom, I'm serious about the shoes. I'm absolutely not willing to bend on the issue here!"
"Sammy-"
"-I wore the t-shirt!"
"Oh gosh..." Lucy groaned, "you know what? Fine, Sammy. Do what you want"
"Really?"
"Really. Honestly, everything is an uphill battle with you kids-"
"-Morning, Mom" Elizabeth chirped, smiling as she entered the kitchen. The table was filled with snacks, drinks and tupperware boxes filled to the brim with everything Lucy had prepared the previous day, "wow! This is a lot!"
"Yes, well apparently your brother's friends have big appetites"
"Yeesh" Elizabeth grimaced. Grandpa and Sammy battling for food was enough. She looked between Sammy, who was frowning and Lucy who had her back to them both, "you guys OK?"
"I want to wear my loafers" Sammy said with a little bit of a petulant air.
"Those?" Elizabeth peered at his feet. He was wearing pristine white loafers with pointed toes, tan leather bottoms and, "are they made of straw?"
"Woven with straw. They're from Mexico, remember? I bought them in the mall back home?"
"This is home, doofus"
"Don't call me doofus"
Lucy sighed at the sink.
"Sorry I just...Sammy we're going camping...in nature? Why would you wear white straw shoes?"
This seemed to get her brother to pause.
"I mean...seems like they're gonna get ruined. Sneakers make more sense"
"I'm not a doofus"
"OK"
Elizabeth grinned at her brother as he passed her, long cardigan sweeping behind him. She knew he wouldn't admit he was stupid for his choice of shoes and she also knew he was heading to his room with his tail between his legs, off to look for a pair of worn shoes that matched his perfectly co-ordinated outfit.
"I'm surprised he wore the tee though" Elizabeth said with a laugh, moving to the sink, "you OK?"
She wrapped her hands around Lucy's waist, smushing her cheek into her mother's back and squeezing tightly.
Lucy sighed and put her hands over Elizabeth's arms, holding them softly, "I'm fine, sweetie. Thank you..."
"You sure?"
"Mhmm"
Elizabeth gave her mother a final squeeze before releasing her.
"So Grandpa and I are going to load the car and then Sammy's friends should be here in...oh, Elizabeth!" Lucy breathed, smiling widely, "you look so much better!"
Seeing the genuine wide and happy smile on her mother's face made Elizabeth smile in turn.
She felt better. She had slept really, really well - she wasn't sure if it was Dwayne's doing or not - but she had woken feeling fresh. Her shower had been brief but did the job because her hair was no longer flat and while her skin was a little dull, she'd actually taken the time to put on some makeup. Grandpa had all but dictated what she should wear, so that had been easy.
She felt good, human and ready for some fresh air.
"I feel better!"
"Oh, and you're wearing the shirt!"
"Of course - I can't say no to Grandpa"
"He did have them specially made"
"Where's yours?"
Lucy, smiling happily, pulled open her pale blue cardigan to reveal the same white t-shirt. It was hideous, there was no denying it but the fact that Grandpa had designed it and had it printed was so incredibly sweet. Elizabeth hadn't even felt a shred of embarrassment when she'd slipped it on. It was too thoughtful, too cute of a gesture from the old man.
The tee was a white, cotton crew neck with a photo printed square over the chest. The photograph wasn't great quality, it had been taken in a dim room with a close flash, so it looked kind of washed out but bright at the same time. It was a photo of four of Grandpa's stuffed animals - three otters and a snake wrapped around them, linking them together. Elizabeth was sure there was some kind of commentary, some kind of meaning behind the design though she couldn't guess as to what it was. Still, the effort had been a big one. Grandpa had even trimmed the photo so it was just the animals, no cluttered background in sight. With font that had been designed to look like posts of wood, curled over the animals were the words, 'Emerson CAMP Day'.
"He really went all out, didn't he?"
"Well, you know your grandpa" Lucy chuckled, closing her cardigan.
"And my world is all the better for it...hey...are you sure you're OK?" Elizabeth asked, perching on the end of the table, "you seemed kind of annoyed with Sammy..."
"I'm fine. There's just a lot to do and you know..the t-shirt was a fight, the shoes were a fight, he didn't like that I'd made hard boiled eggs-"
"-such a princess" Elizabeth laughed.
"...it's a lot, sometimes"
"Sounds like regular Sammy" Elizabeth shrugged, unaware of what Lucy was dealing with behind the scenes with Michael, "you know what he's like. Fashion first..." she continued, poking at a huge bag of hot dog rolls.
"Fashion first" Lucy repeated agreeably.
"Kind of funny, isn't it?" Elizabeth murmured without really thinking, plucking up one of the tupperware boxes, "we're not blood related but we have the easiest relationship. You chose well, Mom!"
Laughing, Lucy took the container from her hands, "don't say that, I didn't buy you!"
Elizabeth shrugged, "...eh..."
Lucy laughed lightly, shaking her head.
"But I'm very lucky to have you in my life, sweetie" Lucy said, still smiling. Placing a small kiss on her daughter's head, she plopped the container back on the table, "...and you're a lot easier than your brothers...but don't tell them that, OK?"
"Our secret"
Lucy winked, "right! I'm going to start loading up the car and-" as the doorbell rang three times, followed by a thudding knock, Lucy sighed, "...you get the door"
"Sammy's friends?"
"Must be"
"Do they really have big appetites?" she remembered that they certainly had big personalities.
"That's what your brother told me last night after you went to bed..after I'd spent the day preparing what I thought was enough food..."
Elizabeth took a deep, over exaggerated breath, "find your zen, Mom"
Smiling, Lucy nodded before nudging her head towards the hallway, "find the door, daughter"
"On it" sliding off the table, Elizabeth tugged her jean shorts down, smiling as Lucy gave her another quick cuddle.
"You're a good kid"
"I'm just answering the door" she replied with another chuckle, embracing her mother all the same.
"And I'm sure you'll do it wonderfully"
Shaking her head with a grin, Elizabeth left the kitchen. Pausing to neaten her socks, she tugged at her shorts once more before opening the door.
As the bright Santa Carla morning light flooded into the somewhat dim entrance, before she could even decide on what greeting to use, three words that nobody ever wanted to hear met her ears.
"You got fat!"
"Jesus, Edgar. You can't say that-"
"-on her face!" Edgar replied with a bit of indignant defensiveness before addressing Elizabeth directly, "just a little. Too much fried food huh?"
He sounded almost like he was commiserating with her and Elizabeth felt herself flush. She felt a lot better than yesterday and even though her skin was still a little pallid, the makeup she'd used evened everything out nicely.
She had felt good, she'd felt pretty and now she didn't.
She felt unsure and self-conscious and embarrassed.
"I-I don't..." she mumbled, stepping the side in disbelief as Edgar took a wide step into the house.
"Wow, this is awesome! Who kills the animals?"
"Uh..come in?"
The other brother seemed to register her shock and discomfort, her quiet if not sarcastic rebuttal of an invitation quite clearly demonstrating her feelings.
"Sorry..you didn't get that fat...he um..we like stuff like this...I don't know if you remember? I'm-"
"-Alan! Get over here! This is a chamber of death-"
The comparatively normal brother demonstrated his true colors by immediately stepping into the house and following the awed, excited voice of his sibling.
"-that's my Grandpa's workroom-" Elizabeth warned, still stunned.
She'd never been insulted or dismissed in such a way and now, suddenly, on top of that she had to protect her Grandfather's privacy?
Feeling out of her depth, she wondered if she should call for her mother, for Sammy. She wondered if Nanook had ever mastered the sic command. She had never been in such a strange, odd position and she didn't-
"-take one more step into that room and I'll have you stuffed and up on the wall"
As Edgar, Alan and Elizabeth all jerked their heads to the open door, Grandpa stood tall, strong and surprisingly, thankfully...he looked scary.
He was also wearing his Emerson CAMP Day tee but it already looked worn and he had paired it with some faded and very, very stained jeans. His work boots were thick and heavy and there was a hunting knife hanging from the busy, filled loops of his belt. He had a bandana wrapped around his neck and his hair looked wild and wiry, illuminated by the sunlight. His beard look scraggly and while his eyes were narrowed, there was a firm, stern and almost fierce sneer on his face.
Elizabeth had never seen the old man look so haggard and mean and she had never, ever been happier.
"-oh, sorry, Sir!"
"-sorry, sorry. This is just so cool. You've got some awesome equipment-"
"-how long have you been in the hunting business?-"
"-you do hunt them, right?-"
As the two boys all but scrambled back over to the doorway, seemingly ready to fangirl over the old man and his niche hobby, Elizabeth couldn't believe Alan had even said sir. Suddenly they could demonstrate manners?
What world was she currently in?
"Go wait by the car. Sammy'll be down now" the old man all but barked, pointing the Lucy's clunky looking car, the doors open from where she had been packing, "if you see a box, make yourselves useful and pack it"
"Yes, Sir" Edgar said, his voice serious, as if he were responding to a command from an army officer.
The old man said nothing, merely standing still, watching cooly as the two boys filed back out of the house.
When they had left, he stepped inside and, with his usual smile told Elizabeth to, "shut the damn door, would you Lizzie? We're spending the day with these clowns, I don't need to look at 'em any more than I have to"
As she did as she was told, he sighed, "how long has Sammy been in with the Frog Brothers, you know? They close?"
"You know them?"
He made an agreeable little murmur, shaking his head as he made his way towards his workroom, the doors stood unnaturally open. Closing them carefully, he turned to Elizabeth, "you got everything you need for today, kiddo?"
"Uh...yeah. Yeah, I guess..." she nodded, the wind taken out of her sails.
She'd felt pretty. She had taken time with her makeup, she had chosen her jean shorts carefully to match her sneakers and tee, she had braided her hair and now, just like yesterday but for vastly different reasons, she felt foul.
Sure, she'd been partying a lot and in the evenings with the boys she didn't really think about what she had been eating but she didn't realize she had put on weight.
"Well, you just go on ahead and pop it in the car, OK?"
"Yeah"
Turning to look at the door, Elizabeth suddenly wished she'd not agreed to go camping. She didn't want to be jammed in a car with the Frog Brothers, she didn't want-
"My car, kiddo"
Turning to the old man, Elizabeth couldn't stop the small, hopeful smile from lifting her lips. He had walked from the now closed doors of his workroom and was stood comfortably beside her.
"Huh?"
"You think I'm having my granddaughter stuffed in the middle seat between those two?"
"...what about Mom?"
"Collateral damage, kid" Grandpa said, his eyes dancing.
He placed a kiss on her head, his beard feeling scruffy and kind of scratchy but it was a comforting, familiar gesture all the same.
"You might as well just go and wait there, OK? I'll help your mother"
Nodding, Elizabeth smiled, "...thank you Grandpa"
"For what?"
Laughing and shrugging, not surprised that he would downplay his kindness, Elizabeth headed deeper into the house, towards the garage.
She hoped the trip was salvageable.
In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to curl up next to Dwayne but a car ride with Grandpa was infinitely better than sitting with Sammy's friends.
A/N: poor Lucy! Thank you for sticking with me! Sorry if the Frog Brothers are a bit OOC, but I kind of imagined them as being sort of wild and very much in their own, parentally void world of comics and supernatural. Kind of clueless with intentions they see as good and pure but, you know. They're actually kind of nuts haha.