Gene slept on Linda's side of the bed on Monday night. It broke Bob's heart to see the way Gene clung to Linda's pillow. Hearing them cry the entire night was even worse. He longed for the old Gene and regretted all the times he had wished his son would mellow out. It seemed all he did anymore was regret his past actions. Eventually around four in the morning, Bob gave up on sleep. He stumbled to the living room and switched on the TV. It was September but Hallmark was still playing a Christmas movie. It was so formulaic and droll.
"Oh my God, this guy who keeps coming into my shop is trying to take it over. I mean I should have known by the time he brought contractors." Bob taunted. He looked over to the other side of the couch. Expecting to hear a comment about how the fake snow was clearly giving everybody in the town brain damage. Instead, he saw and empty cushion and was again reminded that she was gone. Once again everything came boiling up. He didn't even realize what he was doing until it was too late. He stood over the now smashed television set, screaming. It was smashed beyond repair, but he continued to kick and punch, grabbing random pieces of shattered glass and plastic and tossing them across the room. Somebody was fighting him, but he jerked himself away and returned to his rampage. Somebody punched him in the back. He whirled around to see Big Bob behind him with his fists balled up. Tina and Gene clung to each other in the hallway looking scared to death. Now he was sobbing again. He fell to his knees weeping and Big Bob got down beside him. "I thought she was here." Bob sniffed.
"That's going to happen, but you've got to learn to get control. This old TV set can be replaced but you can't. I was sure you were about to get electrocuted." Big Bob explained.
"Oh, like that would be so bad." Bob cried.
"Bobby" Big Bob whispered.
"I don't know how much longer I can go on." Bob confessed.
"Son, you need help. When that social worker gets here you are going to tell them everything." Big Bob insisted.
"What if they take Tina and Gene?" Bob demanded.
"They won't and even if they try to, I will make sure they stay with me. I have every right to them as a grandparent." Big Bob assured.
"What if they resent me for going away too?" Bob questioned.
"We won't resent you. I am not even mad at you. I am mad at mom for leaving and Louise for dying." Gene admitted,
"Yeah, and it's not like you can help getting sick. I wouldn't get mad if you got cancer or some other physical ailment. Why should I hate you for having a mental breakdown?" Tina assured.
"Because somebody needs to be strong." Bob sighed.
"Somebody does and until you are back on your feet it's going to be me." Big Bob assured.
"And me" Teddy added.
"Teddy?" Bob gasped.
"Tina called me, and I rushed right over." Teddy explained.
Big Bob, Teddy, and Tina went to work cleaning up the mess that Bob made. Gene went back to bed and Bob went down to the restaurant. He walked to the empty shelf that was supposed to hold the buns. The guilt came surging back. He wanted nothing more than to go back and redo that day, but you cannot turn back time. All he could do was move forward the best he could, and that thought was terrifying.
The social worker would be coming at ten in the morning. The movers at noon. There would be no time for Bob to compose himself between having to prove he could care for his children and watching strangers take his wife's things away. Best case scenario the two events wouldn't overlap. Bob was already planning to go back to bed and staying there once everybody had left. Maybe for the rest of the night. Maybe for the rest of his life.
It was quarter 'til ten. Bob had changed into a white button down and pair of slacks. Gene had a similar outfit except with a red shirt and Tina wore one of her nicer skirts and a blue button down. Teddy had gone to work and Big Bob had gone to change into some nicer clothes and pop in on the diner real quick. Tina was on the other end of the couch texting Zeke on the emergency phone. Gene was in the pink chair quietly crying. Teddy had brought the restaurant TV upstairs to make the living room look less empty. The house was clean, and the family was getting on as well as they could. No sense in trying to fake anything. All they could really do was hope for the best anyway. The front door opened, and Bob shuddered. To his relief it was just Big Bob returning. There was a knock. Bob had to take several deep breaths before he had the strength to walk downstairs. Big Bob went with him, while Tina and Gene watched nervously through the banister.
"Hello, Mr. Belcher my name is Gloria Richards. I am with family services." Gloria introduced.
"Call me Bob" Bob replied nervously.
"No need to be nervous. I am just here to see how everybody is coping." Gloria assured.
Gloria followed Bob upstairs. She instructed the family to wait in the living room while she completed her inspection. She went around each room of the house occasionally scribbling something in her notebook. Bob buried his head in his hands and gasped for air. He was sure that Gloria would find something wrong. Eventually she returned to the living room and took a seat in the chair. She had that same notebook on her lap, Bob was now visibly sweating and trying not to cry.
"Everything looks good with the house. Surprisingly good after everything you have been through. I just need to ask everybody some questions really quick. Then I will be on my way." Gloria explained.
"Are you going to take us away?" Tina asked nervously.
"No in fact I don't even have the authority to take children from their homes. All I can do is notify the part of the department who is responsible for removing children from their homes if I suspect problems. Which I do not. You and your brother are clearly loved and well cared for. No signs of abuse." Gloria assured.
"Good" Tina sighed.
Everything with Gloria went reasonably well. Tina somehow maintained a straight face but both Bob and Gene broke down on numerous occasions. Gloria gave the family information on a center in Bog Harbor that specialized in familial grief. They had support groups for bereaved parents and siblings, and individual therapy sessions. The support groups were free, and the individual sessions were on a sliding scale. The family would start support groups on Wednesday and individual therapy on Monday. The same day Tina and Gene would return to school.
The movers got held up and Gayle's apartment and would now not be coming until at least two. For that Bob was grateful. Grateful he did not have to feign normalcy while Linda's belongings were taken away. Grateful he would now be able to send Gene away while Linda's things were taken away.
Big Bob took Tina and Gene to Moos Clues while the movers packed Linda's life with the Belchers away. Teddy had come over to stay with Bob. The Belchers sat in the back corner of the small ice cream shop. Big Bob had ordered a basic frozen yogurt. Tina ordered a Neapolitan and Gene had ordered the chocolate deluxe. Normally Gene would devour his ice cream and be begging for seconds before anybody else was even half done. Today he just picked at his snack, poking it with his spoon and taking small bites. Even Tina who typically took forever to eat ice cream was eating faster than him. The door opened and a family entered. A small girl around five or six road on the dad's shoulders. A chubby boy around seven or eight danced inside tightly holding his mother's hands. The mother had the same hair cut that Linda had had when Gene and Louise were that age, and the same glasses. Suddenly Gene didn't know what was happening. He felt as if his throat was closing. Had he developed an allergy to chocolate? No, it wasn't his throat. It was his chest. His chest was getting tighter by the second. He was gasping and fighting but he could not get air. "Get back! He's having a panic attack!" Tina cried to the crowd who had now formed around the family. that was the last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness.
The movers had arrived. Bob sat expressionlessly on the couch as the men walked through the house gathering the things Linda had requested be delivered to her in Florida. Even though Linda hadn't said anything about wanting them. Teddy had taken Louise's collectables to his house, until they were done. Bob felt a small amount of guilt for taking such and action but the way he saw it he had no choice. Tina needed those collectables and Linda could have tried harder to stay. She could have at least tried to stay in Tina and Gene's lives. Bob hated himself for beginning to resent her. He knew that she was grieving too but nothing made senses to him anymore. He could hear his phone ring in the distance but had dissociated too much to be able to react to it. He heard Teddy answer. Whispering at first but his tone kept growing more and more urgent.
"Bobby! We have to get to the hospital!" Teddy cried.
"Why?" Bob asked nervously.
"Gene had a panic attack!" Teddy cried.
Just like that Bob was back to reality. A panic attacks. Gene? Tina got them all the time but never Gene. Gene had always been the most well adjusted of the Belcher children. He had, had that anxiety attack at the laser show but that was so minor. Bob was able to talk him through that and after a few hours it was as if nothing had happened. So, a panic attack so bad he had to be hospitalized. That was unchartered territory. There was too much of that in the Belcher's lives lately.
It was five o'clock when Linda got the call. Her things had been packed away and the movers were now enroute to her new home in Florida. She sat alone in her new room at her parents' condominium. Clouds had formed in the sky, and it was beginning to rain. She reached for the bottle that sat beside her bed and raised it to her lips. She didn't even remember what she was drinking. Whatever it was must have been doing its job, however. Because she was beginning to forget why movers had taken her things from the apartment and why she was living in Florida in the first place. Another swig and now Gayle was in the room. She was screaming something, but it didn't even begin to register to Linda. Another swing and Gayle's voice had grown even more distant. Another swig and she could no longer sit up. The bottle fell from her hands, and she fell forwards onto her bed,
"Linda! Wake up, Linda! Your son is in the hospital! Don't you care?!" Gayle demanded slapping her sister's face.
The first thing that registered to Gene was the sound of a heart monitor. He knew instantly that he was in the hospital. There was a fleeting moment of hope where he had himself convinced that he had spent the past week and a half in a coma. That he would open his eyes and see Louise standing beside his bed, maybe banged up really bad but alive. His mom would be there too, and his family would still be whole. Instead, he awoke to find his dad, Pop Pop, and Tina standing over him. Even though he knew the truth. His eyes still searched desperately for his mom and sister.
"You had a panic attack, Gene" Bob explained nervously.
"The lady at the ice cream shop looked like mom." Gene recalled.
"That's what Tina told me." Bob replied.
"I want my old life back" Gene whispered.
"Me too" Bob sighed.
"Me three" Tina agreed.
Jimmy Pesto Junior gazed at his dad through the glass. He could not believe his father had been brought down this low and by that little Belcher brat. He reached for the phone and watched his father do the same.
"I don't have much time. I only get five minutes. So, I need you to listen clearly." Jimmy Senior demanded.
"What is it?" Jimmy Junior asked.
"I thought of a way for you to get me out of here." Jimmy Senior replied.
"What?" Jimmy Junior questioned.
"If you get back with Tina Belcher. You can talk her family into dropping the charges." Jimmy Senior explained.
"But her grandfather threatened me if I came near her again and she hates me." Jimmy Junior sighed.
"So, you sneak up on her at school. You get a close and as forceful as you need but you get her back. You get her back and you convince her I am innocent." Jimmy demanded.
"Yeah sure. Whatever it takes." Jimmy Junior replied,