Chapter 8: Too Much
Disclaimer: I don't own Alias or any of its characters. But Laura and Brandon are my original creations and I intend to take credit for them.
A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews! They definitely speed up the updates! J
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I totally forgot about Grandpa in all the confusion after Mom disappeared. So when I walk into the kitchen the morning after meeting my grandmother, I can't believe it.
I simply stop in the doorway, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open.
He just sits there and looks at me. He's just as cold and stiffly unreadable as I remember. But then he breaks into a wide grin and I run to hug him, squealing like a little kid.
"Grandpa!" I squeal.
"Laura! You're so much bigger than you were then!" he says, sounding just like any other grandparent now.
I remember Grandpa coming to grandparent's day at my school once when I was little. All the other grandparents were playing with everyone else's grandkids, not just their own. But my grandpa scared everyone. He always seemed cold around other people. He does, now that I think of it, act like a CIA agent all the time, even back then.
"I can't believe it's you!" I cry, snapping out of my reverie.
"Laura, I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?" he asks worriedly.
"I'm fine," I mumble, becoming serious.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly, hugging me again.
All through this scene, my daddy stands in the corner, watching us stupidly, as though in awe. The smell of bacon cooking that had hung in the air quickly becomes that of bacon burning. I turn to him.
"Bacon's done," I say, looking at him and somehow keeping a straight face.
"Damn!" Daddy says loudly as he pulls the burning pieces of now very crunchy bacon off the stove.
Grandpa just looks at him. I recognize that look. I gave Weiss the same look when he cursed in front of Brandon.
Finally I laugh. At both of them.
"Daddy," I say with feigned exasperation, "Stop trying to cook. I'm sure Brandon's tired of waking up to smoke alarms going off."
Just then, Brandon walks into the kitchen, still in his pajamas. He looks at Grandpa for a second then runs to hide behind me.
"Laurie, who's that?" he asks in a comically loud whisper. I see the corners of Grandpa's mouth twitch.
"That's our grandpa. He hasn't seen you since you were a little baby. Go say hi," I encourage.
Brandon timidly goes to stand in front of him. He studies him with a childish conspicuousness.
"Hi," he finally says.
"Hi, Brandon," Grandpa says in a friendly tone. Friendly for him anyway.
Brandon cocks his head to one side.
"How do you know my name?"
"I know everything."
Oh no. Not now.
"You do not."
"Do too."
"Where's Mommy?" Brandon fires, fixing him with a glare.
Grandpa looks first to Daddy, then to me for help. I guess I never asked hard questions when I was little, because Grandpa has no clue how to field this one.
"I don't know," he finally says quietly.
******************************************************************************************
Vaughn nearly drops the pan he's holding, and he sees Laura tense as though ready to spring. They both watch as Brandon moves into tantrum mode, full force.
"LIAR!" Brandon shrieks. "You LIED! You don't know ANYTHING!" Tears pour down his face as he beats on Jack's leg with his small fists while Jack sits there, dumbfounded.
Laura swoops in before Vaughn even reacts and drags her brother, kicking and screaming, into the den. The door slams behind them.
Vaughn and Jack stare after them.
Soon they hear Laura yelling in a loud voice, muffled by the closed door.
"How dare you?" they hear. "You know better! And to hit an adult! Your Grandfather! Brandon, you can't do that!"
Vaughn moves toward the den, but Jack raises a hand to stop him.
"She seems to be handling it. She knows more about him than either of us," Jack says quietly.
"Yeah. She seems to handle him well," Vaughn agrees.
They hear Brandon start shouting back, in a much louder and shriller voice.
"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! YOU'RE NOT MOMMY! HE'S BAD! HE LIED! HE DON'T KNOW WHERE MOMMY IS!"
"BRANDON, SHUT UP!" Laura yells sharply.
Silence.
"Now," Laura starts so quietly that the men can hardly hear her. "You are going to go back in there calmly and apologize. No arguments. Go."
Brandon stomps into the kitchen moments later with Laura close on his heels.
"Sorry," he mutters.
"For?" Laura prompts.
"For hitting and yelling."
"Good enough. Go sit in the den until I come get you."
To the men's surprise, he does.
"Wow," Vaughn mutters.
Brandon stomps into the den and sits down much harder than necessary on the couch.
"Mean old Laurie," he mutters. "Thinks she's Momma. Thinks she can tell me what to do. She's not my momma. She's too little. She's not the boss o' me!"
He kicks at the blanket still lying on the floor. He hears them talking in the kitchen.
"Talkin' 'bout me. Think I cain't hear 'em. I want Momma."
Laura walks in and sits on the couch beside Brandon.
"Brandon," she says softly, "I know you miss Momma. I do too. But you don't want someone to tell her you were bad when she gets back, do you? Mom hasn't seen her Daddy in a long time. Do you want her dad to think you're a bad little boy?"
"Grandpa id Mommy's daddy?" Brandon asks.
"Yes. Now will you be nice?"
"Yes."
"Okay. You ready to go eat?" Laura takes her brother's hand and pulls him up off the couch.
"Uh-huh." He's smiling now.
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Grandpa's mouth twitches again when we walk into the kitchen.
Mom and Daddy always complained when I was little about how "unfeeling" and "cold" and "inexpressive" Grandpa was. He's not, they just don't know him the way I do. Even though to most people his expression never changes, I can tell a difference. To me, he can look happy and sad and proud and disappointed and shocked and amused, just like anyone else. It seems like I'm just the only one who can see it.
This morning, just like he used to, Daddy watches Grandpa for long stretches of time, searching for any sign of emotion. Daddy thinks Grandpa doesn't see him, but he does. I see his eyes dart toward Daddy once in a while, and his eyes sparkle like he's laughing. I think he knows he irritates Daddy, and he likes it.
Brandon eats his breakfast silently, but he's watching Grandpa too. He's not glaring, he's just curious about him.
I want to be happy to see Grandpa, but I can't I'm worried about Mom. I can't help but realize that I wouldn't be here with Daddy and Grandpa if Mom weren't missing. I can tell Grandpa is thinking of the same thing. So is Daddy. Brandon too, but six-year-olds aren't in the habit of worrying for very long.
The silence around the breakfast table is so loud you can almost hear it. It's like we all want to scream and cry, but we each feel like we have to be strong for someone else. Daddy and Grandpa won't cry in front of each other, and they want to support Brandon and me. I have to take care of Brandon; I'm all he has that's familiar here. And Brandon, I think he's afraid of disappointing Mom.
But none of us knows how to act or what to do now. It's just too much.
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Angst-y, I know. But it fits the story. And my mood.
I'm going out of town for a week, and I won't have access to a computer. So I won't be able to update this! It's horrible, I know. I hate to leave you hanging, but hey, at least this wasn't a big cliffhanger!
Disclaimer: I don't own Alias or any of its characters. But Laura and Brandon are my original creations and I intend to take credit for them.
A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews! They definitely speed up the updates! J
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I totally forgot about Grandpa in all the confusion after Mom disappeared. So when I walk into the kitchen the morning after meeting my grandmother, I can't believe it.
I simply stop in the doorway, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open.
He just sits there and looks at me. He's just as cold and stiffly unreadable as I remember. But then he breaks into a wide grin and I run to hug him, squealing like a little kid.
"Grandpa!" I squeal.
"Laura! You're so much bigger than you were then!" he says, sounding just like any other grandparent now.
I remember Grandpa coming to grandparent's day at my school once when I was little. All the other grandparents were playing with everyone else's grandkids, not just their own. But my grandpa scared everyone. He always seemed cold around other people. He does, now that I think of it, act like a CIA agent all the time, even back then.
"I can't believe it's you!" I cry, snapping out of my reverie.
"Laura, I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?" he asks worriedly.
"I'm fine," I mumble, becoming serious.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly, hugging me again.
All through this scene, my daddy stands in the corner, watching us stupidly, as though in awe. The smell of bacon cooking that had hung in the air quickly becomes that of bacon burning. I turn to him.
"Bacon's done," I say, looking at him and somehow keeping a straight face.
"Damn!" Daddy says loudly as he pulls the burning pieces of now very crunchy bacon off the stove.
Grandpa just looks at him. I recognize that look. I gave Weiss the same look when he cursed in front of Brandon.
Finally I laugh. At both of them.
"Daddy," I say with feigned exasperation, "Stop trying to cook. I'm sure Brandon's tired of waking up to smoke alarms going off."
Just then, Brandon walks into the kitchen, still in his pajamas. He looks at Grandpa for a second then runs to hide behind me.
"Laurie, who's that?" he asks in a comically loud whisper. I see the corners of Grandpa's mouth twitch.
"That's our grandpa. He hasn't seen you since you were a little baby. Go say hi," I encourage.
Brandon timidly goes to stand in front of him. He studies him with a childish conspicuousness.
"Hi," he finally says.
"Hi, Brandon," Grandpa says in a friendly tone. Friendly for him anyway.
Brandon cocks his head to one side.
"How do you know my name?"
"I know everything."
Oh no. Not now.
"You do not."
"Do too."
"Where's Mommy?" Brandon fires, fixing him with a glare.
Grandpa looks first to Daddy, then to me for help. I guess I never asked hard questions when I was little, because Grandpa has no clue how to field this one.
"I don't know," he finally says quietly.
******************************************************************************************
Vaughn nearly drops the pan he's holding, and he sees Laura tense as though ready to spring. They both watch as Brandon moves into tantrum mode, full force.
"LIAR!" Brandon shrieks. "You LIED! You don't know ANYTHING!" Tears pour down his face as he beats on Jack's leg with his small fists while Jack sits there, dumbfounded.
Laura swoops in before Vaughn even reacts and drags her brother, kicking and screaming, into the den. The door slams behind them.
Vaughn and Jack stare after them.
Soon they hear Laura yelling in a loud voice, muffled by the closed door.
"How dare you?" they hear. "You know better! And to hit an adult! Your Grandfather! Brandon, you can't do that!"
Vaughn moves toward the den, but Jack raises a hand to stop him.
"She seems to be handling it. She knows more about him than either of us," Jack says quietly.
"Yeah. She seems to handle him well," Vaughn agrees.
They hear Brandon start shouting back, in a much louder and shriller voice.
"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! YOU'RE NOT MOMMY! HE'S BAD! HE LIED! HE DON'T KNOW WHERE MOMMY IS!"
"BRANDON, SHUT UP!" Laura yells sharply.
Silence.
"Now," Laura starts so quietly that the men can hardly hear her. "You are going to go back in there calmly and apologize. No arguments. Go."
Brandon stomps into the kitchen moments later with Laura close on his heels.
"Sorry," he mutters.
"For?" Laura prompts.
"For hitting and yelling."
"Good enough. Go sit in the den until I come get you."
To the men's surprise, he does.
"Wow," Vaughn mutters.
Brandon stomps into the den and sits down much harder than necessary on the couch.
"Mean old Laurie," he mutters. "Thinks she's Momma. Thinks she can tell me what to do. She's not my momma. She's too little. She's not the boss o' me!"
He kicks at the blanket still lying on the floor. He hears them talking in the kitchen.
"Talkin' 'bout me. Think I cain't hear 'em. I want Momma."
Laura walks in and sits on the couch beside Brandon.
"Brandon," she says softly, "I know you miss Momma. I do too. But you don't want someone to tell her you were bad when she gets back, do you? Mom hasn't seen her Daddy in a long time. Do you want her dad to think you're a bad little boy?"
"Grandpa id Mommy's daddy?" Brandon asks.
"Yes. Now will you be nice?"
"Yes."
"Okay. You ready to go eat?" Laura takes her brother's hand and pulls him up off the couch.
"Uh-huh." He's smiling now.
******************************************************************************************
Grandpa's mouth twitches again when we walk into the kitchen.
Mom and Daddy always complained when I was little about how "unfeeling" and "cold" and "inexpressive" Grandpa was. He's not, they just don't know him the way I do. Even though to most people his expression never changes, I can tell a difference. To me, he can look happy and sad and proud and disappointed and shocked and amused, just like anyone else. It seems like I'm just the only one who can see it.
This morning, just like he used to, Daddy watches Grandpa for long stretches of time, searching for any sign of emotion. Daddy thinks Grandpa doesn't see him, but he does. I see his eyes dart toward Daddy once in a while, and his eyes sparkle like he's laughing. I think he knows he irritates Daddy, and he likes it.
Brandon eats his breakfast silently, but he's watching Grandpa too. He's not glaring, he's just curious about him.
I want to be happy to see Grandpa, but I can't I'm worried about Mom. I can't help but realize that I wouldn't be here with Daddy and Grandpa if Mom weren't missing. I can tell Grandpa is thinking of the same thing. So is Daddy. Brandon too, but six-year-olds aren't in the habit of worrying for very long.
The silence around the breakfast table is so loud you can almost hear it. It's like we all want to scream and cry, but we each feel like we have to be strong for someone else. Daddy and Grandpa won't cry in front of each other, and they want to support Brandon and me. I have to take care of Brandon; I'm all he has that's familiar here. And Brandon, I think he's afraid of disappointing Mom.
But none of us knows how to act or what to do now. It's just too much.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Angst-y, I know. But it fits the story. And my mood.
I'm going out of town for a week, and I won't have access to a computer. So I won't be able to update this! It's horrible, I know. I hate to leave you hanging, but hey, at least this wasn't a big cliffhanger!
