A/N; I bring up several different episodes in this chapter, so hopefully everyone will catch them! Thanks for all the reviews, they're graet!
Disclaimer: I forgot this last time, but I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does.
Chapter8 – The Music
Ten minutes later they were all squished in Matt's souped up 1980's Ford Bronco, speeding along the LA freeway, weaving in and out of traffic. Lizzie realized that she did not miss Los Angeles as much as she thought. She had grown used to the rolling green hills and the blue skies of Austin. LA just looked dirty and smoggy; she had to admit however that it wasn't quite as hot and the air wasn't nearly as humid. Hillridge was nice though, tree lined streets, pretty parks and friendly people; a great place to grow up.
Lizzie's thoughts were interrupted when she was thrown against the interior of the car as Matt changed lanes yet again. "Matt, What are you doing, trying to get us all killed?"
"No, Lanny needed to work on his tailing skills, so he's trying to follow us and I'm trying to loose him."
"Well could you try loosing him when my five year old daughter isn't in the car!"
"Too late." Matt laughed. "We did it Melina, we lost him…"
A ringing cell phone interrupted Matt.
"...and that would be Lanny. Hey Lanny, I know I'm the best...good try old bean...yeah we'll see you in Hillridge."
Lizzie glanced down at Emily who had been surprisingly quite during the whole ordeal and whispered to her, "Don't worry Em, we're almost there."
Emily giggled, "That was fun mommy!"
Oh lord, Lizzie thought, it runs in the family.
--
Fifteen minutes later they pulled up to her parents house. It looked exactly the same as it had when Lizzie was growing up. It had a nice feeling, a homey feeling, one of consistency and stability. Well, except for the door; Lizzie noticed it had been painted yet again.
Lizzie had just gotten lifted Emily out of the car and was grabbing a few bags when the door opened and her parents came running out. "GRANDMA…GRANDPA!" Emily shrieked flying past Lizzie and Miranda straight to Jo McGuire's waiting arms. Lizzie's dad was right behind her, the two of them practically smothering Emily in hugs and kisses; Emily was loving every second of it.
"Let's get the bags in the house." Lizzie motioned to Miranda and Matt and Melina.
"Don't you want to say hi to your parents?" Melina asked.
"They won't remember I'm here for about another five minutes." Lizzie grinned at her daughter who was smushed between her grandparents; she had a huge smile on her face.
"Lets just get this stuff inside."
--
Lizzie's parents did remember she was there, about five minutes later they came rushing in to wrap her in a huge hug.
"Okay mom…dad… I can't breathe."
"Oops, sorry sweetie," her mom stepped back to get a better look at her daughter. "I've missed you so much! You too Miranda, come give me a hug!"
"Oh!" Miranda gasped as she too was pulled in to a tight hug, "nice to see you too Mrs. McGuire."
Lizzie's dad finally stepped in to save them. "Jo, Honey why don't we let the girls get settled, they've been traveling all day."
"Ok, ok," Jo agreed. "Well let's see...Lizzie and Emily will be in Lizzie's old room and Miranda will be in Matt's old room, I mean, the office."
"Thanks for letting me stay here for a couple days Mrs. McGuire. With my parents in Mexico for the summer and Larry not coming out for a few days I didn't want to stay at my parents empty house all alone."
"We love having you here," Jo assured her.
"Yeah," Sam added "its almost like old times. The gang's all here, well except for Gor-"
"Ahem, Sam." Jo interrupted nudging him gently.
"What?" He looked over at his wife confused and she discreetly shook her head. Finally Sam clued in, "Whoa, gotcha..." He then proceeded to give Jo his best 'sly wink'. Jo shook her head, his best sly wink looked more like an awkward twitch to her, and changed the subject.
"How about we get you guys unpacked?"
--
Lizzie looked around her room; it looked almost the same as it had when she graduated. Everywhere she looked Lizzie saw shadows of her former self...of her former life. There was the window that Gordo had helped her sneak back in after her and Miranda had chased Matt and Lanny all over town when they smashed her fathers' beloved Walter Peyton football. They had managed to get him a Dick Butkus football instead, but Lizzie had always felt bad; a couple years back Lizzie had gotten him a new official one for Christmas. That was also the window that she and Gordo had snuk in and out of for midnights trysts once they had became a couple.
Lizzie still remembered the last time he had snuck in, Christmas Eve their second year of college. They were home for the holidays and staying with their respective families, neither set of parents knew that they had been living together for a year. Gordo had snuck in a little before midnight. She remembered how he seemed to be very nervous, pacing back and forth. She remembered feeling a little scared, his pacing had made her more than a little nervous. The next thing she knew, he had gotten on one knee and proposed. Lizzie didn't think she had ever been happier; it had been so perfect. Well, perfect until Lizzie's tears of joy had awakened her parents and brought them rushing into the room. They had expected to find an escaped convict holding her hostage. Needless to say they had been more than a little shocked to find just Gordo in Lizzie's room, down on one knee no less.
--
"What are you doing in my little girls room!?" Her father had gone crazy at the site of a boy in her room; He was blind to the fact that it was innocent Gordo. Lizzie's mom, upon surveying the scene, had realized what was going on
" Sam, Don't you see what's going on?" Tears started to well up in her eyes.
"Yeah, I see that this boy is in our daughters' room!"
"SAM, that boy, is Gordo, who we've known his entire life, AND he's proposing to our daughter!"
Sam had reacted with a slight twitch in his face, looking as though he too might cry or become even more enraged.
"Sam, this is a very important event in our daughter's life and you need to respect their privacy." She had turned back to Lizzie, "Oh you two…I always knew that you guys were made for each other and…"
"Mom!" Lizzie had finally broken, "could you at least let him start?"
"Oh yes!…SORRYSORRYSORRY, c'mon Sam." Jo grabbed him by the ear as they both made their exit from the doorway.
"We'll be back in two minutes." Sam called out from down the hall. "No funny business!"
--
"Hey." A voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see Miranda and her mom standing in the doorway.
"Hey guys." Lizzie tried to smile and look cheerful, "You can come in, I was just relaxing for a second trying to make myself unpack."
"So." Her mom walked in to the room and perched herself on one of Lizzie's chairs, "Ten year high school reunion, huh, pretty big!"
Lizzie smiled, "Yeah it s pretty crazy to think its been ten years."
Miranda plopped down on the bed next to Lizzie and joined in. "It'll be weird seeing everyone. However, it'll be fun to see how the past ten years have treated everyone."
"I use to feel old thinking about you guys graduating from high school. Now I feel really old when I think that it's been ten years. Of course I also feel old when I haven't taken my hormone pills." Lizzie rolled her eyes. Even though she worked for a magazine that talked about such issues, she still wasn't comfortable having her mom bring it up. "When is the reunion?" her mother asked, trying to change the subject.
"Next Friday and Saturday," Lizzie answered.
"Well I'm glad you decided to come early and stay a while, you haven't come home for more than a couple days since… well, since Emily was born." Her mom emphasized the last part and Lizzie tried to keep herself from squirming. She looked helplessly at Miranda using her eyes to beg for a topic change.
Miranda thought for a second. "So where is Emily?"
Lizzie was about to get mad about her choice of 'topic change' when she realized that she hadn't seen Emily since they got there.
"Yeah, where is Emily?" Lizzie echoed.
"She's downstairs watching a movie with Matt and Melina." Lizzie's mom stood up, "I better go help your dad, he's barbequing tonight."
"Barbequing! Ah, someone else cooking a nice meal." Miranda licked her lips, "My mouth is already watering." Normally, Miranda was the cook in the Sanchez/Tudgeman house; as much as she liked cooking, she was glad that someone else would be doing the dirty work tonight.
"I guess I better unpack." Lizzie admitted, making a half-hearted attempt to stand up.
"Hey Lizzie," Miranda spoke up, "how come your room looks exactly like it did when you lived here, but Matt's room, is an office, guest room? Isn't he mad?"
"No." Lizzie laughed; this was one McGuire event that she wished she had been there for. "His junior year of high school he needed a hefty sum of money and he was flat broke. Mom and Dad told him to get a job, however, he needed the money quick because what he wanted was the Bronco that is presently in the driveway. The previous owner told Matt that he had five other people waiting to buy it."
"So," she continued, " He sold all of his possessions, AGAIN to pay for it. Matt made quite a nice sum of money. His scheme was that he went door-to-door and told people that he was selling stuff for a charity and everyone gave him twice what the items were worth. A few weeks later, people noticed a cleaned up Bronco in the driveway."
"Well," Lizzie took a breath. "It was a bad situation, people from the neighborhood demanded their money back and since Matt had spent it already, mom and dad had to pay everyone back, plus extra, so they wouldn't sue. My parents were so mad that they refused to pay to replace anything of his and decided to make it an office. They told him that he could sleep on the sofa bed in there for the rest of his high school career."
"It backfired though," Jo sighed, heading for the door. "We put all of our new computer stuff in there. Matt started staying up all night, learning how to program computers and how to hack into other computers." She paused, and added, "international computers."
Jo, shook her head at the thought of the situation, "Next, he taught Lanny and Melina how to infiltrate school databases and other technical stuff that I have no idea about. This led to their senior year stunt of hacking into the school server as well as school servers from around the nation. The next thing you know the FBI was at our door."
"Yikes," Miranda showed a slight bit of concern for her 'former boyfriend'. "Was he in a lot of trouble?"
"Well he would have been, the FBI had enough on him to send him to prison for quite a while, but they decided to use his 'talents' for something bigger. The 'Feds' made a deal that if he stopped the malicious hacking, and went to college, they would ignore his previous misdeeds and guarantee him a spot in the FBI Computer and Surveillance Department when he graduated. He did go to college and got a dual degree in Computer Information Technologies and Technology Communication Fabrication; again, technical stuff that I have no idea about."
"What did he do to the school server?" Miranda asked.
"Well," Jo replied, "We can't really talk about it, but lets say that it involved the faking of someone's death…and the memorial auditorium that the school presently has."
Miranda shook her head in amazment.
"I'm going to check on Emily, who wants to come with me?" Lizzie asked, and the other two followed her.
"So what about Lanny and Melina," Miranda asked as they headed downstairs. "Did the FBI make the same deal with them?"
"No," Jo answered, "Lanny at first went into LAPD, and became one of their best undercover men, and that's why the FBI recruited him, and Melina…" Jo voice trailed off. "Well they were really scared of her, and figured criminals would be even more scared in the interrogation process if she were there. Personally, I don't see why a criminal would be afraid of her, she is such a sweetheart."
Miranda rolled her eyes.
--
They entered the family room to find Matt, Melina, Lanny, and Emily in a row on the couch staring at the TV.
"What are you watching" Lizzie asked peering at the questionable images flashing on the screen.
"Vesuvius 6...The Revenge of Old Smokey." Matt answered, never taking his eyes off the screen. "It's great, they have five hours of bonus footage, they even show the flying volcano's attacking the time traveling cavemen."
"WHAT!" Lizzie exclaimed.
Miranda chimed in, "Cool, I love that one, Not as much as Vesuvius 4, Children of the Ash, but still a classic."
Lanny looked at Miranda.
"You're right Lanny," Miranda agreed, "Vesuvius 3, Vesuvius versus Mount Etna, was brilliant until the end when that alien destroyed Vesuvius's mother."
"Remember what that alien said to Vesuvius?" Miranda asked enthusiastically. "I'm gonna rip you a new gas-hole…"
"Miranda!" Lizzie shot her a look. "Matt, Emily can't watch that, its rated R!"
"So," Matt replied defiantly, "I seem to remember you breaking and entering the movie theater to see the first one. Do you know how many strings I had to pull for my colleagues not to arrest you."
"Wha...?" Lizzie realized the absurdity of his last statment, but pleaded her case for the rest. "First of all, I was thirteen not five; Secondly, I did not actually get in to see it; and finally, Emily no more movie."
"MO-OM," Emily whined, "I wanna see it!"
"Why don't you come upstairs with me," Jo broke in, picking up the little girl. "I bought you some new books, we can read them together." She then looked over at Lizzie and mouthed, "And take a nap!" Lizzie smiled, loving her mother more than ever at that moment; Emily happily went with her grandmother, forgetting completely about Vesuvius.
Lizzie considered sitting down to watch the movie, she was over 17 after all, but decided to go in the kitchen and get a snack instead. The only thing that she had eaten, today, was a few peanuts on the flight from Denver. After staring into the refrigerator for a few minutes Lizzie decided on some chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk, she settled on one of the bar stools around the island to enjoy. She found herself looking around the kitchen, once again ghosts of her past haunting her. She saw the exact place at the kitchen table where she had been sitting the night of the Spring Fling when Gordo had shown up with soda and mini doughnuts. Others had soon followed, but Gordo had been there first; he had been her Johnny on the spot, her knight in Old Navy apparel. Lizzie was making herself depressed. She glanced around trying to find something else to concentrate on when she noticed Matt wander in.
"Hey Matt." Lizzie tried to sound upbeat. Matt didn't say anything, he just sat down next to her and took one of her cookies and began to nibble on it.
"Need something Matt?" Lizzie tried again. Matt shrugged and looked around and then he looked her straight in the eye.
"Staying for two whole weeks?"
Lizzie eyed him strangely, what was he getting at? "Two and a half actually..." Matt nodded, "That's a long time."
Lizzie nodded. He was up to something, but she couldn't figure out what.
"Excited about your reunion?"
Lizzie shrugged, she was really getting tired of that question. "I guess so."
"You'll see a lot of people you haven't seen in a while." Okay this was weird, even for Matt.
"Well that's the point of a reunion."
"Ethan will be there huh?"
"I guess."
"Kate too?"
"Kate never misses an opportunity to show off, so yeah, she'll probably be there."
"Tudgeman going to make it?"
"Yeah, he'll be here Sunday and he's staying until the next Friday, just like I am." Matt nodded and they fell into silence for a moment.
"Will Gordo be there?" Lizzie stiffened at the mention of his name but she didn't say anything. "Yeah," Matt continued, "that'll be weird huh. I mean the two of you were almost married and then... he was gone.?"
"What are you getting at Matt?" Lizzie was really starting to get irritated with this game of twenty questions. Well, at least Matt was the one grilling her, Melina would be a bit much for her to handle.
"Nothing, nothing, I'm just saying that the two of you will have a lot to catch up on, he has his movies... you have your job... " Matt surveyed the room before continuing, "... his child."
Lizzie tried to keep her best poker face, "What are you talking about Matt?" Her voice quivered just a little.
Matt called her bluff and went for the win. "Look Lizzie, I have connections, know that Gordo is her father, plus I am not blind I can see the similarities."
Lizzie, still not sure what to think, denied it. "Look Matt, I don't know what kind of 'connections' that you have, but they are wrong."
Matt called Lizzie on her last statement. "Okay, I do have his phone number, so why don't we call Gordo and get his opinion."
Lizzie eyed him carefully, this was an intricate game of cat and mouse that she was determined to win. She wasn't too sure about Matt and his connections; she was aware of this technique that Matt had used before to get information out of her.
"Fine, call Gordo, what's he going to say? I found out I was pregnant after he left, he has no reason to think he would be the father."
"The information that I have is public information. When Gordo sees it, he will know that it wasn't a coincidence. Emily is his daughter."
Lizzie slumped in her chair. This was it, she thought, beaten by her little, baby, brother...again. "Okay, Matt, you win, but what do you want from me?"
Matt paused before answering. "I just want you to be fair to Gordo...He has a right to konw. I mean, you're my sister and I have your back, but he is a good guy and I think that he deserves to know."
Lizzie stopped to think; Matt had matured a lot in the past few years. Underneath his goofy exterior was a person that she now respected more than ever. "Ok Matt, I know that what you are saying is the complete truth and that is one of the reasons that I came here. I want to make things rights. I have to contact Gordo and...and tell him the truth. Gordo is Emily's father."
A loud crash, followed by a gasp, caused both of them to turn around. Standing in the kitchen doorway with broken glass at her feet was a stunned Jo McGuire.
A/N: Ohhh, a cliffhanger! I do promise that Gordo will make his appearance in the next chapter. I'm going to try and post it soon, but I start school tommorow and I work full time so we'll see what happens! Oh, and I wanted to clear up a few things, I have NOTHING against Los Angeles as it may seem in the beginning of the chapter. I have visited LA several times and its a very nice city. I also know nothing about how the FBI works, so I'm just making up the stuff about Matt, taking creative liberties you might say. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I forgot this last time, but I do not own Lizzie McGuire, Disney does.
Chapter8 – The Music
Ten minutes later they were all squished in Matt's souped up 1980's Ford Bronco, speeding along the LA freeway, weaving in and out of traffic. Lizzie realized that she did not miss Los Angeles as much as she thought. She had grown used to the rolling green hills and the blue skies of Austin. LA just looked dirty and smoggy; she had to admit however that it wasn't quite as hot and the air wasn't nearly as humid. Hillridge was nice though, tree lined streets, pretty parks and friendly people; a great place to grow up.
Lizzie's thoughts were interrupted when she was thrown against the interior of the car as Matt changed lanes yet again. "Matt, What are you doing, trying to get us all killed?"
"No, Lanny needed to work on his tailing skills, so he's trying to follow us and I'm trying to loose him."
"Well could you try loosing him when my five year old daughter isn't in the car!"
"Too late." Matt laughed. "We did it Melina, we lost him…"
A ringing cell phone interrupted Matt.
"...and that would be Lanny. Hey Lanny, I know I'm the best...good try old bean...yeah we'll see you in Hillridge."
Lizzie glanced down at Emily who had been surprisingly quite during the whole ordeal and whispered to her, "Don't worry Em, we're almost there."
Emily giggled, "That was fun mommy!"
Oh lord, Lizzie thought, it runs in the family.
--
Fifteen minutes later they pulled up to her parents house. It looked exactly the same as it had when Lizzie was growing up. It had a nice feeling, a homey feeling, one of consistency and stability. Well, except for the door; Lizzie noticed it had been painted yet again.
Lizzie had just gotten lifted Emily out of the car and was grabbing a few bags when the door opened and her parents came running out. "GRANDMA…GRANDPA!" Emily shrieked flying past Lizzie and Miranda straight to Jo McGuire's waiting arms. Lizzie's dad was right behind her, the two of them practically smothering Emily in hugs and kisses; Emily was loving every second of it.
"Let's get the bags in the house." Lizzie motioned to Miranda and Matt and Melina.
"Don't you want to say hi to your parents?" Melina asked.
"They won't remember I'm here for about another five minutes." Lizzie grinned at her daughter who was smushed between her grandparents; she had a huge smile on her face.
"Lets just get this stuff inside."
--
Lizzie's parents did remember she was there, about five minutes later they came rushing in to wrap her in a huge hug.
"Okay mom…dad… I can't breathe."
"Oops, sorry sweetie," her mom stepped back to get a better look at her daughter. "I've missed you so much! You too Miranda, come give me a hug!"
"Oh!" Miranda gasped as she too was pulled in to a tight hug, "nice to see you too Mrs. McGuire."
Lizzie's dad finally stepped in to save them. "Jo, Honey why don't we let the girls get settled, they've been traveling all day."
"Ok, ok," Jo agreed. "Well let's see...Lizzie and Emily will be in Lizzie's old room and Miranda will be in Matt's old room, I mean, the office."
"Thanks for letting me stay here for a couple days Mrs. McGuire. With my parents in Mexico for the summer and Larry not coming out for a few days I didn't want to stay at my parents empty house all alone."
"We love having you here," Jo assured her.
"Yeah," Sam added "its almost like old times. The gang's all here, well except for Gor-"
"Ahem, Sam." Jo interrupted nudging him gently.
"What?" He looked over at his wife confused and she discreetly shook her head. Finally Sam clued in, "Whoa, gotcha..." He then proceeded to give Jo his best 'sly wink'. Jo shook her head, his best sly wink looked more like an awkward twitch to her, and changed the subject.
"How about we get you guys unpacked?"
--
Lizzie looked around her room; it looked almost the same as it had when she graduated. Everywhere she looked Lizzie saw shadows of her former self...of her former life. There was the window that Gordo had helped her sneak back in after her and Miranda had chased Matt and Lanny all over town when they smashed her fathers' beloved Walter Peyton football. They had managed to get him a Dick Butkus football instead, but Lizzie had always felt bad; a couple years back Lizzie had gotten him a new official one for Christmas. That was also the window that she and Gordo had snuk in and out of for midnights trysts once they had became a couple.
Lizzie still remembered the last time he had snuck in, Christmas Eve their second year of college. They were home for the holidays and staying with their respective families, neither set of parents knew that they had been living together for a year. Gordo had snuck in a little before midnight. She remembered how he seemed to be very nervous, pacing back and forth. She remembered feeling a little scared, his pacing had made her more than a little nervous. The next thing she knew, he had gotten on one knee and proposed. Lizzie didn't think she had ever been happier; it had been so perfect. Well, perfect until Lizzie's tears of joy had awakened her parents and brought them rushing into the room. They had expected to find an escaped convict holding her hostage. Needless to say they had been more than a little shocked to find just Gordo in Lizzie's room, down on one knee no less.
--
"What are you doing in my little girls room!?" Her father had gone crazy at the site of a boy in her room; He was blind to the fact that it was innocent Gordo. Lizzie's mom, upon surveying the scene, had realized what was going on
" Sam, Don't you see what's going on?" Tears started to well up in her eyes.
"Yeah, I see that this boy is in our daughters' room!"
"SAM, that boy, is Gordo, who we've known his entire life, AND he's proposing to our daughter!"
Sam had reacted with a slight twitch in his face, looking as though he too might cry or become even more enraged.
"Sam, this is a very important event in our daughter's life and you need to respect their privacy." She had turned back to Lizzie, "Oh you two…I always knew that you guys were made for each other and…"
"Mom!" Lizzie had finally broken, "could you at least let him start?"
"Oh yes!…SORRYSORRYSORRY, c'mon Sam." Jo grabbed him by the ear as they both made their exit from the doorway.
"We'll be back in two minutes." Sam called out from down the hall. "No funny business!"
--
"Hey." A voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see Miranda and her mom standing in the doorway.
"Hey guys." Lizzie tried to smile and look cheerful, "You can come in, I was just relaxing for a second trying to make myself unpack."
"So." Her mom walked in to the room and perched herself on one of Lizzie's chairs, "Ten year high school reunion, huh, pretty big!"
Lizzie smiled, "Yeah it s pretty crazy to think its been ten years."
Miranda plopped down on the bed next to Lizzie and joined in. "It'll be weird seeing everyone. However, it'll be fun to see how the past ten years have treated everyone."
"I use to feel old thinking about you guys graduating from high school. Now I feel really old when I think that it's been ten years. Of course I also feel old when I haven't taken my hormone pills." Lizzie rolled her eyes. Even though she worked for a magazine that talked about such issues, she still wasn't comfortable having her mom bring it up. "When is the reunion?" her mother asked, trying to change the subject.
"Next Friday and Saturday," Lizzie answered.
"Well I'm glad you decided to come early and stay a while, you haven't come home for more than a couple days since… well, since Emily was born." Her mom emphasized the last part and Lizzie tried to keep herself from squirming. She looked helplessly at Miranda using her eyes to beg for a topic change.
Miranda thought for a second. "So where is Emily?"
Lizzie was about to get mad about her choice of 'topic change' when she realized that she hadn't seen Emily since they got there.
"Yeah, where is Emily?" Lizzie echoed.
"She's downstairs watching a movie with Matt and Melina." Lizzie's mom stood up, "I better go help your dad, he's barbequing tonight."
"Barbequing! Ah, someone else cooking a nice meal." Miranda licked her lips, "My mouth is already watering." Normally, Miranda was the cook in the Sanchez/Tudgeman house; as much as she liked cooking, she was glad that someone else would be doing the dirty work tonight.
"I guess I better unpack." Lizzie admitted, making a half-hearted attempt to stand up.
"Hey Lizzie," Miranda spoke up, "how come your room looks exactly like it did when you lived here, but Matt's room, is an office, guest room? Isn't he mad?"
"No." Lizzie laughed; this was one McGuire event that she wished she had been there for. "His junior year of high school he needed a hefty sum of money and he was flat broke. Mom and Dad told him to get a job, however, he needed the money quick because what he wanted was the Bronco that is presently in the driveway. The previous owner told Matt that he had five other people waiting to buy it."
"So," she continued, " He sold all of his possessions, AGAIN to pay for it. Matt made quite a nice sum of money. His scheme was that he went door-to-door and told people that he was selling stuff for a charity and everyone gave him twice what the items were worth. A few weeks later, people noticed a cleaned up Bronco in the driveway."
"Well," Lizzie took a breath. "It was a bad situation, people from the neighborhood demanded their money back and since Matt had spent it already, mom and dad had to pay everyone back, plus extra, so they wouldn't sue. My parents were so mad that they refused to pay to replace anything of his and decided to make it an office. They told him that he could sleep on the sofa bed in there for the rest of his high school career."
"It backfired though," Jo sighed, heading for the door. "We put all of our new computer stuff in there. Matt started staying up all night, learning how to program computers and how to hack into other computers." She paused, and added, "international computers."
Jo, shook her head at the thought of the situation, "Next, he taught Lanny and Melina how to infiltrate school databases and other technical stuff that I have no idea about. This led to their senior year stunt of hacking into the school server as well as school servers from around the nation. The next thing you know the FBI was at our door."
"Yikes," Miranda showed a slight bit of concern for her 'former boyfriend'. "Was he in a lot of trouble?"
"Well he would have been, the FBI had enough on him to send him to prison for quite a while, but they decided to use his 'talents' for something bigger. The 'Feds' made a deal that if he stopped the malicious hacking, and went to college, they would ignore his previous misdeeds and guarantee him a spot in the FBI Computer and Surveillance Department when he graduated. He did go to college and got a dual degree in Computer Information Technologies and Technology Communication Fabrication; again, technical stuff that I have no idea about."
"What did he do to the school server?" Miranda asked.
"Well," Jo replied, "We can't really talk about it, but lets say that it involved the faking of someone's death…and the memorial auditorium that the school presently has."
Miranda shook her head in amazment.
"I'm going to check on Emily, who wants to come with me?" Lizzie asked, and the other two followed her.
"So what about Lanny and Melina," Miranda asked as they headed downstairs. "Did the FBI make the same deal with them?"
"No," Jo answered, "Lanny at first went into LAPD, and became one of their best undercover men, and that's why the FBI recruited him, and Melina…" Jo voice trailed off. "Well they were really scared of her, and figured criminals would be even more scared in the interrogation process if she were there. Personally, I don't see why a criminal would be afraid of her, she is such a sweetheart."
Miranda rolled her eyes.
--
They entered the family room to find Matt, Melina, Lanny, and Emily in a row on the couch staring at the TV.
"What are you watching" Lizzie asked peering at the questionable images flashing on the screen.
"Vesuvius 6...The Revenge of Old Smokey." Matt answered, never taking his eyes off the screen. "It's great, they have five hours of bonus footage, they even show the flying volcano's attacking the time traveling cavemen."
"WHAT!" Lizzie exclaimed.
Miranda chimed in, "Cool, I love that one, Not as much as Vesuvius 4, Children of the Ash, but still a classic."
Lanny looked at Miranda.
"You're right Lanny," Miranda agreed, "Vesuvius 3, Vesuvius versus Mount Etna, was brilliant until the end when that alien destroyed Vesuvius's mother."
"Remember what that alien said to Vesuvius?" Miranda asked enthusiastically. "I'm gonna rip you a new gas-hole…"
"Miranda!" Lizzie shot her a look. "Matt, Emily can't watch that, its rated R!"
"So," Matt replied defiantly, "I seem to remember you breaking and entering the movie theater to see the first one. Do you know how many strings I had to pull for my colleagues not to arrest you."
"Wha...?" Lizzie realized the absurdity of his last statment, but pleaded her case for the rest. "First of all, I was thirteen not five; Secondly, I did not actually get in to see it; and finally, Emily no more movie."
"MO-OM," Emily whined, "I wanna see it!"
"Why don't you come upstairs with me," Jo broke in, picking up the little girl. "I bought you some new books, we can read them together." She then looked over at Lizzie and mouthed, "And take a nap!" Lizzie smiled, loving her mother more than ever at that moment; Emily happily went with her grandmother, forgetting completely about Vesuvius.
Lizzie considered sitting down to watch the movie, she was over 17 after all, but decided to go in the kitchen and get a snack instead. The only thing that she had eaten, today, was a few peanuts on the flight from Denver. After staring into the refrigerator for a few minutes Lizzie decided on some chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk, she settled on one of the bar stools around the island to enjoy. She found herself looking around the kitchen, once again ghosts of her past haunting her. She saw the exact place at the kitchen table where she had been sitting the night of the Spring Fling when Gordo had shown up with soda and mini doughnuts. Others had soon followed, but Gordo had been there first; he had been her Johnny on the spot, her knight in Old Navy apparel. Lizzie was making herself depressed. She glanced around trying to find something else to concentrate on when she noticed Matt wander in.
"Hey Matt." Lizzie tried to sound upbeat. Matt didn't say anything, he just sat down next to her and took one of her cookies and began to nibble on it.
"Need something Matt?" Lizzie tried again. Matt shrugged and looked around and then he looked her straight in the eye.
"Staying for two whole weeks?"
Lizzie eyed him strangely, what was he getting at? "Two and a half actually..." Matt nodded, "That's a long time."
Lizzie nodded. He was up to something, but she couldn't figure out what.
"Excited about your reunion?"
Lizzie shrugged, she was really getting tired of that question. "I guess so."
"You'll see a lot of people you haven't seen in a while." Okay this was weird, even for Matt.
"Well that's the point of a reunion."
"Ethan will be there huh?"
"I guess."
"Kate too?"
"Kate never misses an opportunity to show off, so yeah, she'll probably be there."
"Tudgeman going to make it?"
"Yeah, he'll be here Sunday and he's staying until the next Friday, just like I am." Matt nodded and they fell into silence for a moment.
"Will Gordo be there?" Lizzie stiffened at the mention of his name but she didn't say anything. "Yeah," Matt continued, "that'll be weird huh. I mean the two of you were almost married and then... he was gone.?"
"What are you getting at Matt?" Lizzie was really starting to get irritated with this game of twenty questions. Well, at least Matt was the one grilling her, Melina would be a bit much for her to handle.
"Nothing, nothing, I'm just saying that the two of you will have a lot to catch up on, he has his movies... you have your job... " Matt surveyed the room before continuing, "... his child."
Lizzie tried to keep her best poker face, "What are you talking about Matt?" Her voice quivered just a little.
Matt called her bluff and went for the win. "Look Lizzie, I have connections, know that Gordo is her father, plus I am not blind I can see the similarities."
Lizzie, still not sure what to think, denied it. "Look Matt, I don't know what kind of 'connections' that you have, but they are wrong."
Matt called Lizzie on her last statement. "Okay, I do have his phone number, so why don't we call Gordo and get his opinion."
Lizzie eyed him carefully, this was an intricate game of cat and mouse that she was determined to win. She wasn't too sure about Matt and his connections; she was aware of this technique that Matt had used before to get information out of her.
"Fine, call Gordo, what's he going to say? I found out I was pregnant after he left, he has no reason to think he would be the father."
"The information that I have is public information. When Gordo sees it, he will know that it wasn't a coincidence. Emily is his daughter."
Lizzie slumped in her chair. This was it, she thought, beaten by her little, baby, brother...again. "Okay, Matt, you win, but what do you want from me?"
Matt paused before answering. "I just want you to be fair to Gordo...He has a right to konw. I mean, you're my sister and I have your back, but he is a good guy and I think that he deserves to know."
Lizzie stopped to think; Matt had matured a lot in the past few years. Underneath his goofy exterior was a person that she now respected more than ever. "Ok Matt, I know that what you are saying is the complete truth and that is one of the reasons that I came here. I want to make things rights. I have to contact Gordo and...and tell him the truth. Gordo is Emily's father."
A loud crash, followed by a gasp, caused both of them to turn around. Standing in the kitchen doorway with broken glass at her feet was a stunned Jo McGuire.
A/N: Ohhh, a cliffhanger! I do promise that Gordo will make his appearance in the next chapter. I'm going to try and post it soon, but I start school tommorow and I work full time so we'll see what happens! Oh, and I wanted to clear up a few things, I have NOTHING against Los Angeles as it may seem in the beginning of the chapter. I have visited LA several times and its a very nice city. I also know nothing about how the FBI works, so I'm just making up the stuff about Matt, taking creative liberties you might say. Thanks!