"Sammy this bag kind of smells"
Stunned, shocked and kind of smarting, Elizabeth had laid flat on the floor for a good five minutes as Sammy fussed and panicked over her, Nanook jumping around his owner's feet and getting his paws tangled in her hair. Funnily enough, her head didn't hurt that much. It was more a jarring experience than anything else. Sammy had told her that her forehead was a little red, had made her count the various fingers he had been holding up and then carefully hauled her to her feet.
As she blinked, cringing a little, she realized that she really as fine.
Body was a bit sore, head was a bit sore but otherwise? No problems.
It was a good job the cupboard door was made with such thin wood. Everything else in the house was solid, heavy and thick and would have done a lot of damage but the kitchen had been remodeled a few years back. The materials must have been a bit cheaper than the other stuff Grandpa had. She could have almost imagined Grandpa tutting, observing her un-scarred head and saying 'they don't make stuff like they used to...'
She must have really scared Sammy though because he had escorted her to the kitchen table, pushed her upon it and rushed to the freezer to retrieve a bag of peas.
He'd kept the bag carefully pressed against her forehead for more than five minutes already and in that time she had realized the bag had a very funky smell to it. A lingering, kind of...off smell.
"Yeah, I know"
They both grimaced at each other and Elizabeth winced, moving to pull away.
She was fine.
She certainly didn't need or want a ratty and stinky bag of peas pressed to her forehead but Sammy, quick as a flash smushed his hand against the back of her head with a laugh, making sure she was wedged between both of his hands...and the questionable bag of frozen goods.
So much for brotherly love, care and compassion.
Realizing she was fine, he was right back to his old antics.
"Get it off!" Elizabeth laughed, insistent as she tried to squirm away from him.
"No way, I'm helping you. Stay still already-ow, hey!" he jerked backwards, yelping a little. As the peas fell into Elizabeth's lap, she laughed again at the way he was rubbing his chest. He looked so hard done by, shocked that she'd even managed to get a nipple twist in. He gaped at her before moving in, "..you're dead!"
Laughing, she kicked out her feet and he once again jumped back, "stay away from me, Sammy! This is how we got into this predicament-"
"-I didn't slam a cupboard door into your head!"
"What?"
Both Sammy and Elizabeth jumped at the tone of their mother's voice. Surprised she was there, not having heard her open the door, surprised by the anger in her voice.
As Elizabeth looked over at the door and Sammy did a funny little spin, they both wondered if they had made a mistake in leaving the safety of the upstairs bedroom.
The tone in her voice...well. It did not promise a happy discussion. In fact, Lucy herself didn't look happy.
"Hi Mom..."
"Don't 'hi, Mom' me. Who hit a door into whose head?"
She placed two platters of sandwiches and what looked like various chopped salads onto the counter without even looking at what she was doing. Her eyes were focused on her two children.
"And why are is there a bag peas on the floor? We eat from that bag you know?"
"They're disgusting" Sammy said, almost without thinking.
It was the wrong thing to say.
"So what? You just throw them on the floor?!" Lucy asked, her eyes wide, "you kids have no idea about responsibility! Who buys those peas? Food doesn't just materialize!"
For someone who had been previously afraid of their mother's anger, Sammy was surprisingly willing to poke the bear, "I think those materialized twenty years ago, Mom..."
Elizabeth wondered if she could push herself backwards across the table, slide off the other side and crawl out of the door without Lucy noticing.
"Sammy! Are you..." Lucy gaped, "what's the matter with you?!"
"What's the matter with you?" he retorted quickly, "we didn't do anything, Mom...it's just a bag of peas! Look!"
He scooped down to pick them up as Lucy followed his actions with her eyes. Unfortunately, that meant she caught sight of Elizabeth.
"What about you, young lady? Anything to add? Dumping bags of frozen food around without caring about the cost of them?"
Why was she talking about responsibility? About the cost of food? Elizabeth didn't know, "uh? It was an accident?"
As Lucy shook her head and Sammy stood up, limply holding the bag of peas that actually had a distinctly time worn, off white tinge to the tatty package, she continued, "...I hit my head and Sammy used the peas as a compress..."
"Then Elizabeth gave me a nipple twist and I dropped them"
"The bag kind of smells so I tried to pull away"
"I was helping her"
"It stank, Sammy"
They were now talking to each other rather than their mother and Sammy jerked his hand forward, threatening to shove the smelly bag into her face and Elizabeth ducked, swatting his arm away.
"...you were playing?"
As they turned to their mother, Sammy shrugged, "yeah...before you started yelling..."
"We were just goofing around" Elizabeth shrugged herself, wondering how Sammy - so scared upstairs - was confident enough to stare down their mother, to answer her back.
"What..what does that mean?" Lucy asked, her body relaxing a little and her face softening.
"We were playing...we were running around" Sam said, somewhat slowly and patronizingly, "some bright spark left a cupboard open and this even brighter spark ran into it" he jerked his thumb at Elizabeth, the bag hanging limply in his left hand as his voice became more playfully sly, "and so I played doctor but my ungrateful patient didn't appreciate my methods and tried to attack me, which I think you'll agree is shocking-"
Elizabeth kicked out at him, landing a little nudge on his hip. He jumped away indignantly.
"-see! She's a beast. You raised a beast, Mother. And as I was preparing to continue administering first aid via peas - out of love, may I point out - you came in and started shouting...also quite beastly..."
"It wasn't out of love, you know they stink!" Elizabeth protested, "he knew, Mom"
"You guys were...you were playing catch or...?"
"Something like that" Elizabeth nodded, not entirely sure she should tell her that they were running through the house like wild horses. She seemed to be calming down and Elizabeth felt there was no need to ignite her annoyance again.
"I'm sorry I shouted" Lucy said, taking a step back, "I'm sorry. I saw the peas and I just..."
"Said they cost a lot of money and that we don't know about responsibility" Sam reminded.
"Shut up, Sammy!"
"You shut up!"
Both siblings made to hit each other, laughing as they did.
"It's so, so nice to see you two playing" Lucy said with a smile. Her whole demeanour had changed. She had been angry, annoyed, she had looked stressed and tense but now, watching them playfully hit each other, knowing that they had been silly seemed to have softened her a lot, "..it's nice to see you two just...you know. Being you"
"When have we not been us?" Elizabeth asked, flinching as Sammy extended the bag towards her.
"Not you but...oh, I guess I was projecting. I'm just..I'm happy to see you two having fun. Being normal" she smiled at her children, "I'm sorry"
"It's alright"
"I don't know, I feel pretty hurt..." Sammy said, his voice obviously playful.
"I brought subs?" Lucy said, her eyebrows raised and hopeful, "for lunch?"
"The hurt has dulled"
"You're such an idiot" Elizabeth laughed, swatting away the bag once more but Sammy had only made a half-hearted attempt at an attack. He was obviously drawn in by the platter of sandwiches, "are they all for us?"
"No but the top one is and some salad, too. I added extra pickles because I know you two like them"
Sammy dropped the peas onto the table, "I'm gonna go wash my hands. We got soda, too?"
"In the fridge" Lucy nodded, smiling.
Nodding to himself, the younger Emerson left the kitchen.
"Well I feel terrible..." Lucy admitted, smiling sheepishly at her daughter.
"Don't...we all have bad days, right?"
"Hah..I feel like I'm having a bad month..." Lucy sighed and moved one of the trays of sandwiches to the table, nudging Elizabeth's side as she did.
Taking the hint, she slid off and observed her mother, "you look good though? I didn't realize you were having a rough time, Mom..."
"Oh don't worry yourself. I'm being silly"
"Is it Max?"
Lucy laughed, "gosh no! No, he's wonderful. He's...he's amazing. And I'm glad to see you and Sammy being goofy kids, it's nice to know I haven't lost you to the sullen teenage years" she opened the tray, the plastic lid creaking as she compressed the sides, "I have a lot to be thankful for...I'm just being silly.."
"Are you seeing Max tonight?"
"Well, of course. I work with him"
"When's the next date?"
Lucy smiled, "today after work...but I feel so bad for snapping at you two, I feel like a terrible mother"
She did look guilty.
"Mom, it's fine. Really! You're the best. We'll always love you...but these peas really don't have any business being in the freezer..."
With a little disbelieving frown, Lucy scooped them up, taking a deep breath, "oh-" she pulled away quickly, "OK..yes that's um..OK"
"Just put them in the trash, by the time Sammy comes down he'll be so focused on the food you won't have to listen to him running his mouth"
Lucy's lips quirked, "it really is nice to see you two being kids"
Not quite knowing what to say, Elizabeth instead asked, "what's up with the sandwiches anyway? Sammy and I were thinking about making you lunch"
"You were?"
"Yeah.." she pointed to her forehead, "but this distracted us"
"It's a little red, it might bruise. Gosh, I didn't even ask you..are you OK?"
Not wanting her mother to fuss, wanting her to just be happy and light as usual, Elizabeth walked towards the fridge to retrieve Sammy's much loved soda, "honestly it was more shocking than painful? And jarring when I hit the floor but I'm fine. Not swollen or anything"
She wasn't lying. True, she preferred happy and caring Lucy to stressed and self-depreciating Lucy but she wasn't blindly trying to keep the conversation positive. She had fallen to the floor, the cupboard had slammed shut and she had sort of laid there in shock, her head hadn't even hurt that much. Her body did, from when it hit the deck but that was another story.
"No, not swollen" Lucy agreed, peering at her daughter, "I guess Sammy did OK with the stinky-the compress, huh?"
"God, don't tell him that!"
Lucy chuckled, "I'm sorry. Hey, let's..." she took a breath, "let's just eat, hmm? Get the day back on track?"
"Sounds good to me...but you never told me the story behind these? Who's the other tray for?"
"Well.." Lucy glanced at the door, checking for Sammy, "the other day I brought in some casserole for the kids that work there, you know? Nobody eats well these days"
Elizabeth said nothing, merely nodding as she thought about all the junk food she filled herself with at the boardwalk.
"and Max thought it was a nice gesture so he um..." Lucy was blushing a little, "he was so complimentary..anyway, he suggested we keep food in the break room for the day and night staff. It's just a trail thing but I supply the food for the day people, he reimburses me and he brings the food for the night crew"
"He never works days with you?"
"No, he visits other branches in the day" Lucy beamed, "and he said that since I was buying for the kids at work, I should buy for you guys too. His treat!"
"Oh so Max is funding our lunch?"
Lucy nodded, looking very much like her usual self but brighter even. Talking about Max had certainly elevated her spirits.
"He sounds really kind, Mom"
"He really is. You know I work afternoons, then late into night and I just...I don't feel tired. I like spending my time with him. I'd love for you kids to meet him one day...when you're all ready, of course.."
"I'd like that, too"
Elizabeth reached for a sub as Lucy placed a large, square napkin on the table before the two of them, throwing one over to where Sammy would sit, too.
"You would?"
"Sure! He makes you happy, Mom. That alone makes him a good guy in my books" she observed the fat but soft sub in her hands, seeing rashers of bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion and all the good sauces, "and this definitely helps"
"Well, I'm..that's.." Lucy smiled, "that's good to know. Thank you, Elizabeth"
"Did you start without me?"
"No. I haven't even taken a bite"
Sammy sat down at the table, "yeah well where are your manners? This is good grub, Mom! Thanks-"
He reached for the fattest and juiciest sandwich as Nanook peered into the room.
"You're very welcome. Are you seeing your friends today? I can drive you down if you want?"
Elizabeth tried not to smile. Lucy was obviously trying to make up for shouting and she briefly wondered what had gotten her so riled up. If she was happy in work, the two of them hadn't stressed her out..what caused it?
"We were gonna catch a movie at the multiplex. Could you maybe drive me there?"
Obviously Sammy felt no ill will towards their mother.
"What movie?" Elizabeth asked, not knowing what was showing.
"Dunno. I just want the big screen and the popcorn to be honest" he looked at his mother, "we wanted to be there around five. Get a game or two of bowling in before, you know?"
"Tell you what. Let me swing by the video shop to drop those off-" she nodded to the remaining platter on the counter, "and you've got a ride"
Sammy nodded enthusiastically, "I'll call them after lunch. Thanks, Mom"
"Of course. You don't want to go Elizabeth?"
"Nah" she shook her head, wiping her chin clean of mayo. Dwayne had mentioned last night that he may not be able to see her until very late - early, she supposed - and while she was disappointed not to be with him, she understood that he had needs he needed to attend to, "I was going to do a face mask and have an early night. I don't need those clowns invading what would otherwise be a nice evening"
"Psh, grandma"
She scrunched her nose up at Sammy.
"OK. I have a nice mask you can use, I'll put it in the fridge for you. How about you, Sammy? How will you get home?"
"Huh?"
"I'm working the night shift. How will you get home if I drive you there?"
"Uh...taxi?" he smiled hopefully up at his mother and Elizabeth hid her smile by taking another bite of her sub.
For someone who had professed his fear of their mother, then stood up and stubbornly fought back when she was angry, he sure wasn't above asking for favors.
"If I sleep over, you can pick me up after your morning shift tomorrow, too?"
"You don't ask for much, do you Sammy?" Elizabeth grinned.