I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, life really got in the way since my last update. Thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it.

Just a heads up, there's a small portion of this chapter that deals with a child trying to learn how to read, which may be a little annoying. It's a lot of sounding words out, if you've ever had to teach a kid how to read, you'll get it. I feel like I'm projecting some of my current parenting issues on Bob here :D

Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter.

Saturday morning arrived, and Bob's alarm went off much too early for his liking. He tried to hit the snooze button, but he missed and knocked the screaming alarm off the nightstand. He groaned as he got up to retrieve it. Linda's spot on the bed was empty save for a note on her pillow.

"Bob, I opened the restaurant with Tina and Gene. Louise is still sleeping. Get some rest & come down when you're ready. I love you! P.S Can you do a load of laundry? I'm out of underwear and had to wear a bathing suit...again. Now the burger suit is bottomless. You can see it's buns! HA! Thanks. P.P.S what does P.S mean?"

Bob laughed at his eccentric wife. He stretched his old bones and headed to the kitchen to start breakfast for himself and Louise. He was exhausted, so it will likely be something quick and easy. Last night, the father and daughter duo built a fort and unwound with a much-needed Hawk and Chick movie marathon. He let her stay up far too late, and now they were both paying the price. Thankfully he had a beautiful, supportive, somewhat crazy wife to help him run the restaurant whenever he needed a break.

Louise sat on the couch watching cartoons and waited for her father to call her to the kitchen to eat. She must have fallen asleep at some point because she later woke up to Gene yelling into the phone on the other side of the couch.

"Fine I'll just start my own VLOG, and I'll keep my skincare routine to MYSELF!" Gene slammed the burger phone shut. He must have been arguing with Ken again, as they haven't been getting along lately.

"Trouble in paradise?"

Gene jumped a little when he heard his sister's voice. "Oh Sorry, did I wake you?"

"With all of your yelling? Yeah." She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What're you doing up here anyway? Mom's note said you and Tina were working."

"I was! Sorta... I was a little more focused on writing a new song for our Wonder Wharf show, but I needed a break. So mom told me to fix the math homework that I failed the other day."

"The assignment she helped you with?"

Gene nodded. "She didn't do so well. We actually got every answer wrong this time."

"Did she get four for every answer?"

"Yup. She thought it was a pattern. I was going to ask Dad for help, but he was cooking. So I asked Ken, but all he wanted to do was talk about his Buddhist yoga retreat in Tucson. Then he tried to drag me into some pyramid scheme that sells locally sourced pancake mix door to door."

"Classic Ken." Louise sat up and looked at the crumbled up paper on the couch. It was marked up with a red pen and covered in peanut butter. "Fractions huh?"

"Yeah. I didn't even understand how to subtract them, and now they want me to DIVIDE them?" Gene sighed dramatically and flopped back down on the couch. "Gah! I need a peanut butter boost!" Peanut butter was his and Linda's stress snack, which explains why his homework and now the couch was covered in it.

While Gene was rummaging through the cabinets, Louise picked up the TV remote and started flipping through the channels. Saturday morning cartoons were over, and nothing else tickled her fancy. She tossed the remote to the other side of the couch, and it landed on Gene's homework. Something on the page caught her attention, she looked at the example problems at the top. "1/2 ÷ 1/4 = 2" and "1/3 ÷ 1/3= 1" Despite not having learned fractional division yet, she thought the homework looked simple. She immediately noticed a pattern with the two examples. "Mom couldn't do this? It looks so easy." She picked up a pencil and quickly worked her way through the 12 problems on the sheet.

Bob was prepared to wake his daughter up from her nap but was pleasantly surprised to see that she was awake and playing. "Louise, come get some eggs, toast, and bacon before Gene eats it all." She joined her father at the table and nibbled at her breakfast.

"Gene, as soon as I finish eating, I'll help you with your homework." Bob said between bites.

"Um, it looks like someone already did it." Gene shoved the homework in his father's face. "Oh my god, someone snuck in the apartment and finished my homework!"

Bob pulled the paper away from his face. He grumbled as a little bit of chunky peanut butter fell off the page and got stuck in his mustache. "You think someone snuck in our apartment in the middle of the day, stole nothing, but stopped to complete a sixth grader's homework on the way out?" He glanced over the first few problems. "Huh, these answers are all correct."

"His theory sounds more logical than someone in this family completing the work." Louise pointed out.

Bob picked the homework up again and examined the work. He knew it wasn't Linda, she was part of the reason Gene had to redo the work. He felt guilty that he didn't help his son, but he was busy freaking out about the restaurant at the time. It couldn't have been Tina. She was failing math herself and was worse in math than Gene. That left him and Louise. Obviously, it wasn't Bob, or he wouldn't be questioning all of this. He looked at Louise, then looked at the paper. It was a match for her handwriting. "Louise?"

"Robert?" She questioned. She seemed really focused on her eggs for some reason.

"One, don't call me Robert. Two, this looks like your handwriting. Did you... do.. your brother's homework?" He had a hard time getting his question out without laughing a little.

Louise was definitely avoiding eye contact. "Pfffft. No. Come on I don't even do my own homework."

"Well, I know I didn't do it. We both know that your mom, and siblings couldn't have done it."

"So it was robbers!" Gene cut his father off. "OH MY GOD I need to make sure my 90s R&B CDs are safe!" Gene ran to his room to take inventory.

"Gene." Bob quickly reprimanded his son then focused back on his daughter. He placed a hand under her chin and tilted it up, forcing her to look at him. "So who else would have done it?"

Louise shrugged. "Bonnie and pi-ed?"

Bob laughed at the pun. Yup she's definitely his kid, no D.N.A test needed. "I think you just sold yourself out because only a fraction of our family would understand that joke."

Louise scrunched up her face at Bob's 'dad joke'. "Wow dad, that's a mean thing to say."

Bob laughed again. "I never thought I'd have to ask one of my kids this, why did you do your brother's homework?"

"There was nothing on TV... I was bored... and you were taking forever to cook!" She sounded embarrassed and very defensive. Whenever she was caught caring about something or showing her intelligence, she'd get embarrassed and try to hide it. Bob didn't quite understand it, but he thought it was an adorable quirk of hers.

Bob threw his hands up. "Ok ok, no need to get upset."

Gene returned to the table clutching his CD collection tightly. "Hell math no fury like a women worn... out... worn out cuz she's tired."

"We get it Gene."

"How did you do my homework anyway? You're two grades younger than me."

Louise shrugged and continued to poke at her food. She still looked embarrassed.

"You know that's another thing that you and my mom had in common." Bob mentioned garnering a confused look from his children.

"Grandma did great-uncle Ernie's homework too?" Gene questioned.

Bob chuckled. "Not that I know of. I meant that my mom and Louise are both really smart. My mom was a 7th grade science and math teacher."

"Grandma didn't work at the diner with you and Pop-Pop?" Louise asked.

"She helped at the diner on weekends and sometimes after school as I did, but it wasn't her primary job. She loved her students and enjoyed teaching too much to leave the profession. I couldn't wait to be in her class, but uh...unfortunately... she you know... passed..." Bob looked over at his children, both had somber expressions on their faces. His normally upbeat and cheery son had never looked so sad. His strong and brave little girl looked like she was ready to cry. This is why he rarely mentioned his mother, he knew it would be upsetting not only for himself but for his children who never had the pleasure of meeting her. He stood up and walked over to the gloomy pair and placed his hands on their shoulders. He decided to change the subject a bit. If they have more questions about her he'll gladly answer them later. He cleared his throat and turned to his youngest. "You know I could tell you were intelligent since you were very little, but this whole homework fiasco reminded me of when you learned to read."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Flashback 5 and a half years ago XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bob and 6-year-old Gene sat at the kitchen table with "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss in front of them. Bob thought that buying him a book about food would pique his interest but Gene still couldn't get into it.

"I am Sam, I am Sam, Sam I am." Bob read out loud.

A confused and worried Gene looked up at his father. "I thought you were Bob?"

He chuckled and ruffled his son's hair. The kids can be so cute sometimes. "Can you try to read the next line?"

Gene stared at the following sentence but couldn't figure out how to start it. He shrugged and begged for help.

Bob patted him on the back. "Try sounding it out. I'm going to get dinner started."

3-and-a-half-year-old Louise toddled over to the fridge and tugged her father's pant leg. "Daddy, I want ice cream."

"Not right now Louise, we're having dinner soon."

"Pweeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase?" She hugged his leg and looked at him with big puppy dog eyes.

"God, she was adorable. No, Bob don't look at those hypnotic eyes, don't give in again, you're a good dad." He turned back to the chicken that he was seasoning. "Sorry honey. Maybe if you can eat everything on your dinner plate, you can have some ice cream after. Why don't you sit with your brother and follow along with the book he's reading."

Louise grumbled and stomped her feet, then begrudgingly sat next to Gene and looked at the pictures in the book.

Gene pointed to the word "would". He was struggling and didn't even know where to start. "Woah-you-lid"

"Not quite. Sound it out."

This went on back and forth, Gene would try his best to read, and Bob would encourage him to keep trying to sound it out and not to give up. He tried giving Gene hints, but eventually, he ended up giving in and telling him the word. Gene struggled with the following sentence too. Louise was getting bored staring at the same picture. She tried turning the page, which resulted in a fight between the siblings.

Bob grabbed hold of Louise's arm before she could throw her Sippy cup at her brother. "Come on Louise. I'm trying to cook dinner and teach your brother how to read. If you're bored, why don't you go play in your room."

"I can't! Tina is doing her stupid homework in our stupid room!" Louise hated sharing a room with Tina. She has been asking for her own room for months now. Bob wasn't looking forward to the room-sharing fights that will surely ensue when his girls become teenagers.

"How bout I turn on the TV for you." He mentioned for her to follow him to the living room.

"NO! There's nothing on TV! I wanna play wiff Gene!" Louise stomped her feet and crossed her arms. She missed her nap today, so she was exceptionally grumpy. It doesn't help that Bob was late with dinner. Linda was still manning the restaurant, so he was parenting on his own for another hour.

"Shhh. No yelling. How bout I put a Hawk and Chick movie on? Or one of your Kuchi Kopi show tapes?" He was getting desperate now.

"You can't! Stupid Gene put a stupid samwhich in the VCR!" She shouted.

He had forgotten about that. It was the second time Gene put a bologna sandwich in the VCR. This time, it had mayo. Teddy was going to try to repair it when he got the chance. "Louise, we don't name-call here. Apologize to your brother."

Louise stared back at her father. He had a stern look on his face, no amount of begging or use of puppy-dog eyes could get her out of this. Linda had already put her in time out once today, she didn't want to go back in the corner. She sighed and looked down at her feet. "Sorry Gene."

"Now apologize to Tina's homework for calling it stupid." Gene ordered his sister.

"Sorry Tina's homework."

"Good girl. I'll make a deal with you, If Gene finishes this page, he can take a break and go play with you. Okay?"

"Ok, Daddy." She returned to her seat and looked at the pictures in the book, but the toddler grew bored quickly.

So far the only word Gene had was "would". "Would y-o-u... yo..."

She ripped the book out of Gene's hands. "It says Would YOU!" She shouted in his face.

"Louise, I said no yelling. Next time you yell you will go to the corner for 2 minutes."

"Sorry daddy." She quieted down and began sounding out the words on the page as she pointed to them. "Would you... llll-i-kkk like grrrr-eeeee-nnn green eggs and ham."

A pan hit the floor startling the siblings. Bob was too stunned to apologize. "Louise? Did you just...? Did you just read?"

"Yeah you said we gotta finish the page so Gene can play wiff me. I'm finishing it now!"

"That's amazing! Good job Louise!" He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead, then laughed as she squirmed and tried to get out of his grasp. Children reading at such a young age wasn't unheard of, but he never thought one of his kids would be so advanced. Bob considered himself of average intelligence. Linda wasn't dumb, but she wasn't conventionally smart, neither were her parents or Gayle. He couldn't help but wonder where Louise got it from. Then it hit him. "Mom" He felt his eyes tear up.

"What?" Gene asked.

"Oh uh nothing." Bob shook his head and pulled his kids into a tight hug.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX End of flashback XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Louise reading a Dr. Suess book reminded you of grandma? That's your story?" Gene came off like he wasn't impressed, he was just confused.

"No, I was shocked that she was reading at such a young age. That reminded me of my mom, she was brilliant, like Louise. I know it sounds like nothing, but it's a memory that I'm fond of.

"Like the time I farted to the tune of hot cross buns? You guys said it was nothing but that was a significant moment in my life."

"No we said that was gross as we all ran out of the room." Bob made a face as he recalled Gene's "smemory" as he called it.

"We thought you pooped yourself." Louise pointed out. Bob nodded.

"Well I liked the story." Louise admitted. "Can you tell us more about grandma?"

"Sure thing, but we should get down to the restaurant. Your mom just texted me asking what we could use for a substitute for ketchup, and I don't want to see what she comes up with."