Chapter 24: The Fun Day that Wasn't!
A YEAR AND A HALF LATER!
The doorbell rings and Simon walks up to the door while reading one of his books from collage. He opens the door to see his brother Alvin standing there.
"What's the matter? Forget your keys again?" Simon said with half a smile.
"Funny." Alvin grumbled. "How's Jeanette? Still sick with the flu?"
"Yeah. She's feeling a tad better today, but I wouldn't recommend her getting out of bed just yet." Simon shook his head. "I do, however, appreciate you taking the kids today."
"No problem. So where are they? Brittany is waiting in the car!" Alvin replied as he jerked thumb behind him.
"They're still finishing their breakfast. Why doesn't Brittany just come in?"
"Ah, you know her. She is afraid to catch Jeanette's flu."
"I see. Actually, Jeanette caught the flu from Tom. He was very sick last week."
"Ouch." Alvin winced. "He is all better now, right?"
"Oh yeah. No worries there."
"So why aren't they ready? You asked me to be here at 9am, and now you are telling me that they are still eating. Honestly, why even do I bother?"
"I told you to come early, because you have an annoying habit of being late." Simon said with a serious look as he put the book aside.
"I do not. It is you that should be more organized with your kids." Alvin retorted.
"Hay, parenting is tough! Even with Dave helping us it's sometimes difficult organizing the kids. Especially now that Jeanette and I are going to school, and I'm also working part-time to top it off. So as you can see I'm really stressed right now."
Alvin snorted, "Simon, to me you've always been stressed."
Simon turned and glared at his brother. "Funny."
With a sigh, he continues. "Anyway, thanks again for volunteering to take the kids to Fun Park today. It'll give me the opportunity to finish my paper on Astor Physics."
"Hay, what are brothers for? Fun Park wouldn't be fun without the kids being there."
"Oh, hey that reminds me." Simon reaches in his pocket and pulls out some money. "Here this should cover for some of the rides and food."
"Ah, Simon you don't have to. Brittany and I could cover."
"No. Consider it as part of payment for taking the kids today."
"Alright. If you insist." Alvin said as he reluctantly takes the money. As both of them entered the kitchen the three young chipmunks are just finishing their breakfast.
"Ok, guys," Simon calls out. "Make sure you clear off the table before leaving with Uncle Alvin. I want all of you to be on your best behaviour." He added in a no nonsense tone.
"We will Dad." The three said in unison.
"Alright, I'm going downstairs to work on my paper. You guys have fun." As Simon opened the basement and headed downstairs, a scared look crossed Vince's face as he had just remembered something.
"Uh ho," Vincent jumped out of his seat and threw his unfinished bowl of cereal in the dishwasher, and ran up to his Uncle Alvin and started to pull at his arm.
"Come on Uncle! There's no time like the present to go to Fun Park. We must hurry if we want to catch all the good rides." He said hurriedly.
"What's up with you all of sudden?" Alvin asked giving his nephew a suspicious look.
"Yeah. Tom and I haven't finished our breakfast yet." Mary said giving a serious impression that she does not like being rushed.
"Come on! We could eat when we get at the Fun..."
"AAARRGG!! MY COMPUTER!" Came a cry from the basement, followed by footsteps running back up the stairs. The door flew open and an angry Simon looked at his three children and stopped at Vincent who was using Alvin as a human shield. "Vincent! You get over here right now!"
"D-d-dad. Calm down." Vincent said, hoping that he could reason with him.
"Calm down? You dismantled my computer, didn't you? There are parts all over the basement floor. I have a paper due tomorrow, and you want me to calm down?"
Everyone was interrupted when Jeanette entered the kitchen with a groan. "What's with all the yelling?" She asked while holding up her head with her hand.
Apparently she is so sick that she hadn't bothered to put up her hair into its usual style bun. Regardless of the fact that it was all a mess, her hair did show it's natural length all the way down to the middle of her back.
"Your son dismantled my computer. I have a paper due tomorrow, but there are computer parts all over the basement floor!" Simon said angrily.
Jeanette paused and thought on what her husband just said. She faced him with a cranky expression. "Why is it whenever he does anything bad he's my son?"
"I don't want to get into that right now." Simon said shaking his head trying to forget that he said that. "Tom! Mary. You two go put your bowls in the dishwasher, and get your shoes on to go to Fun Park."
"What about me, Dad?" Vincent asked in a timid voice and quivering behind his Uncle Alvin.
"What about you? You're grounded. Now go up to your room until I could think of a more suitable punishment for you."
"But Dad. You said I could go to Fun Park, that's not fair!" Vince cried, practically in tears. He started to take a few steps out from behind Alvin to face his Dad.
"That was before you took apart my computer. Now go to your room!"
With a quivering lip, he ran upstairs crying all the way up to his room and slams the door.
To Alvin, all of this seemed like a terrible flashback to when he was a kid. He began remembering the time when he was eight and didn't clean up after a party he had. Naturally, Alvin didn't listen to any of Simon's warnings, and the next morning he'd paid the price. Dave was so mad that he grounded him from going to Fun Park. Instead of going with Dave and his brothers, Alvin was left home alone the whole day to clean the house. A part of him still regretted not being able to join his brothers on any of the rides, and having fun in the sun, but yet the other part of had to admit he needed that time to himself.
Alvin quickly brought himself back to reality, and looked up at his brother whom obviously looked stressed beyond believe. He looked over to see Jeanette, who could barely stand, little alone deal with Vincent's antics. Shaking his head, Alvin looked back at Simon.
"Simon, maybe I should take Vince. I mean you two already have enough problems without having a head strong kid to deal with."
Simon shook his head and looked up at Alvin. "Thanks, but no thanks, Alvin. Vincent has to learn not to mess with other people's things. I mean you had to learn the hard way your self, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. Ok, fine." Alvin turns to look at Mary and Tom who were patiently waiting by the door. "You two ready to go?"
"Yes." They chimed at the same time.
"Alright then," Alvin looks at Jeanette and Simon one last time, "good luck."
"Yeah, thanks Alvin." Simon said as he walked Alvin and the kids to the door and closed it after them. He then turned to Jeanette, whom appeared paler then she did when she came down not moments ago. "You better go back to bed," he sighed. "I'll bring you some tea up later."
"Fine!" She replied. Her energy is so low that she is in no shape to argue.
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TWENTY MINUTES LATER...
Vincent sat alone in his room contemplating his actions this morning. His furry face was still damp from the tears he had shed earlier. To him it was so unfair that his dad disallowed him to go to Fun Park. He was positive that he didn't do anything wrong.
He can't help being curious and wanting to know how things work. As far back as he can remember all Vince wanted to do was dismantle things just to see how they would work from the inside. He was so excite to be going to Fun Part with Aunt Brittany and Uncle Alvin that he didn't realize that no one else was still in bed. He woke up at 6am, and to find something to do he went downstairs to the basement. As soon as Vince pulled out his dad's tools he took apart the computer case, piece by piece.
Around 8am Vincent heard his family getting up. Knowing that it would soon be time to get ready for Fun Park he quickly ran upstairs and left the computer parts all over the floor. How was he to know that his Dad would come down, and get mad over it?
The bedroom door slowly opened, and Simon peered in. He had just given Jeanette some herbed tea on his way up to Vince's room. Simon had finally calmed down, and yet he still looked quite upset.
"Are you ready to come downstairs to help me reassemble the computer?"
Vincent sighed; he figured since he took apart the computer perhaps he should help put it back together.
"I guess!" He slid off his bed and walked up to his dad. He looked up to see if there was anything else that his dad wanted to say to him.
"Maybe you should wash your face first!" Simon said coldly when he noticed the tearstains.
"Yes sir." Vince pouted as he went to the hallway bathroom and washed his face.
He then joined his dad down in the basement. Vincent listened carefully to Simon's instructions on how to put back the hard drive, but neither of them really spoke to each other.
Luck has been on their side for it only took two and half-hours to rebuild the computer. When it was done Simon decided to instruct Vince to clean the rest of the house, and tend to any needs that Jeanette may have. This will give Simon the opportunity to finish his paper on Astor Physics.
-------------------
TWO HOURS LATER...
Simon hated being the bad guy, but he also knew that Vincent had to learn his lessons. As he typed out his report he began to remember how he would act when he returned home from Founder's Island. He had behaved worse then Alvin would ever behave. Even before his journey to Founder's Island, he'd sometimes get into trouble. In fact, when he was seven he had been caught dismantling the VCR for the same reason why Vince dismantled the computer. He was curious to see how it worked from the inside.
He let out a huge sigh, and got up from his half finished report. He figured that it was a good time to have a break from his homework, and have a father to son chat. Simon saved what he had done so far before going upstairs to find Vincent.
When Simon arrived upstairs he saw his son in the living room. It appeared to him that Vincent is playing with some toy solders in the middle of the floor. Simon stood there with his eyebrow raised. Vince suddenly noticed his dad standing at the entranceway of the living room and jumped up.
"I wasn't playing with them. I was just polishing them." He quickly said as he threw the little army toys back in the bucket.
Simon rolled his eyes skyward. "I'm not worried about that, son."
Vince looked up at his dad questionably, "What do want then?" He said.
"I just want to talk to you for a bit, if that's ok?"
"It's a free country, I guess." Vincent sighed; obviously he is still upset for not being aloud to go to Fun Park.
"Look I'm still not happy for the damage you did to my computer. You're just lucky that we were able to put it back together in record time. I just want to know why you would do that when I said that I was going to use it today for a school project?" He paused for a bit to see his son's head sinks in a more depressive state.
"I'm sorry," he squeaked.
Simon shook his head. The look his son made had brought so many memories back. "You remind me so much of your Uncle Alvin." He said.
"I do, do I?" Vincent responded, bluntly. "How come?"
"Let's just say he would do things that literally drive me insane when we were kids. Heck, he still does things that are inappropriate."
"What kind of things?" Vince said in an almost whisper.
"Well..." Simon sat beside his son on the floor as he tried to think of an example he could use.
"For starters, he would come out with all of these different hair-brained schemes that would usually involve your Uncle Theodore and me. Naturally, these schemes would end up with us in a heap of trouble. Most of the time it would be up to me to get us out of trouble. Uncle Alvin would defiantly prove to be quiet the character, while Uncle Theodore and I just wanted to do our own thing."
"So, what you are saying is that you were boring as a child?" Vincent asked.
"I was not boring." Simon cried back, feeling a bit hurt with his son's comment. "I had charisma. Self-esteem. Not only was I great in academics, but also in the arts as well." He continued to boast.
"Oh, I see." Vincent said plainly.
For the next few minutes an awkward silence filled the room.
As Simon paused he thought drifted to the adventures he and his friends would go on when he stayed on the Island. The first few months were spent exploring the Island, and getting into all sorts of trouble from the Founders. The more he thought about it the more he came to realize that maybe there's apart of him in Vincent as well. Especially when it comes to taking apart electronic devices.
"Dad?" Vincent finally said as he looked up at his dad. He wondered if something was wrong with him. There seemed to a distant look in his eyes.
"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking on how you remind a little bit of me too." Simon reached over and patted Vincent on the head. He stopped when he noticed Vince pulling away.
"Anyway, I guess I am a bit sorry for getting mad with you! I just remembered that I too got in trouble one time when I took apart the VCR."
"You did?"
"I was about your age when I did that. Lets just say your Papa Dave was not impressed." Simon added with a wink.
Both of them began to chuckle.
"Someday I will make it up to you, I promise!" Simon finished as he sat up and faces his son. He started to hold out his arms. "Are we ok?"
Slowly Vince gave a slight smile and went into his dad's arms for a hug. Their father/son moment was interrupted when they heard Jeanette come down the stairs.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"Nothing," Vincent spoke.
"How are you feeling, Hon?" Simon said in a somewhat worried tone.
Slowly Jeanette looked up at her beloved husband, and attempted a weak smile. "It became quiet all of sudden. I came down to see if everything was alright!"
Simon and Vincent looked at each other, and smiled. "Yeah, we're fine!" Simon said.
After Simon got up he walked up to his wife. He placed his hand on her forehead to feel her temperature. Simon became relieved as he noticed that her temperature had dropped somewhat. But still he knew she shouldn't be up, and about just yet.
"It's good to see you are finally looking better, but you should still be in bed." Simon said as he ushers her back upstairs. "Vince and I will bring you up some soup later, ok?"
"Sounds good!" Jeanette said weakly.
As soon as Jeanette returned into the bedroom, Simon again turned to his son.
"Have you finished cleaning the living room?" He asked.
"Yes I have."
"Good, now you can help me make your mom some soup."
"Ok." Vincent jumped up from the floor, and ran into the kitchen. Simon shook his head and let out a chuckle as he too headed in the same direction.
A YEAR AND A HALF LATER!
The doorbell rings and Simon walks up to the door while reading one of his books from collage. He opens the door to see his brother Alvin standing there.
"What's the matter? Forget your keys again?" Simon said with half a smile.
"Funny." Alvin grumbled. "How's Jeanette? Still sick with the flu?"
"Yeah. She's feeling a tad better today, but I wouldn't recommend her getting out of bed just yet." Simon shook his head. "I do, however, appreciate you taking the kids today."
"No problem. So where are they? Brittany is waiting in the car!" Alvin replied as he jerked thumb behind him.
"They're still finishing their breakfast. Why doesn't Brittany just come in?"
"Ah, you know her. She is afraid to catch Jeanette's flu."
"I see. Actually, Jeanette caught the flu from Tom. He was very sick last week."
"Ouch." Alvin winced. "He is all better now, right?"
"Oh yeah. No worries there."
"So why aren't they ready? You asked me to be here at 9am, and now you are telling me that they are still eating. Honestly, why even do I bother?"
"I told you to come early, because you have an annoying habit of being late." Simon said with a serious look as he put the book aside.
"I do not. It is you that should be more organized with your kids." Alvin retorted.
"Hay, parenting is tough! Even with Dave helping us it's sometimes difficult organizing the kids. Especially now that Jeanette and I are going to school, and I'm also working part-time to top it off. So as you can see I'm really stressed right now."
Alvin snorted, "Simon, to me you've always been stressed."
Simon turned and glared at his brother. "Funny."
With a sigh, he continues. "Anyway, thanks again for volunteering to take the kids to Fun Park today. It'll give me the opportunity to finish my paper on Astor Physics."
"Hay, what are brothers for? Fun Park wouldn't be fun without the kids being there."
"Oh, hey that reminds me." Simon reaches in his pocket and pulls out some money. "Here this should cover for some of the rides and food."
"Ah, Simon you don't have to. Brittany and I could cover."
"No. Consider it as part of payment for taking the kids today."
"Alright. If you insist." Alvin said as he reluctantly takes the money. As both of them entered the kitchen the three young chipmunks are just finishing their breakfast.
"Ok, guys," Simon calls out. "Make sure you clear off the table before leaving with Uncle Alvin. I want all of you to be on your best behaviour." He added in a no nonsense tone.
"We will Dad." The three said in unison.
"Alright, I'm going downstairs to work on my paper. You guys have fun." As Simon opened the basement and headed downstairs, a scared look crossed Vince's face as he had just remembered something.
"Uh ho," Vincent jumped out of his seat and threw his unfinished bowl of cereal in the dishwasher, and ran up to his Uncle Alvin and started to pull at his arm.
"Come on Uncle! There's no time like the present to go to Fun Park. We must hurry if we want to catch all the good rides." He said hurriedly.
"What's up with you all of sudden?" Alvin asked giving his nephew a suspicious look.
"Yeah. Tom and I haven't finished our breakfast yet." Mary said giving a serious impression that she does not like being rushed.
"Come on! We could eat when we get at the Fun..."
"AAARRGG!! MY COMPUTER!" Came a cry from the basement, followed by footsteps running back up the stairs. The door flew open and an angry Simon looked at his three children and stopped at Vincent who was using Alvin as a human shield. "Vincent! You get over here right now!"
"D-d-dad. Calm down." Vincent said, hoping that he could reason with him.
"Calm down? You dismantled my computer, didn't you? There are parts all over the basement floor. I have a paper due tomorrow, and you want me to calm down?"
Everyone was interrupted when Jeanette entered the kitchen with a groan. "What's with all the yelling?" She asked while holding up her head with her hand.
Apparently she is so sick that she hadn't bothered to put up her hair into its usual style bun. Regardless of the fact that it was all a mess, her hair did show it's natural length all the way down to the middle of her back.
"Your son dismantled my computer. I have a paper due tomorrow, but there are computer parts all over the basement floor!" Simon said angrily.
Jeanette paused and thought on what her husband just said. She faced him with a cranky expression. "Why is it whenever he does anything bad he's my son?"
"I don't want to get into that right now." Simon said shaking his head trying to forget that he said that. "Tom! Mary. You two go put your bowls in the dishwasher, and get your shoes on to go to Fun Park."
"What about me, Dad?" Vincent asked in a timid voice and quivering behind his Uncle Alvin.
"What about you? You're grounded. Now go up to your room until I could think of a more suitable punishment for you."
"But Dad. You said I could go to Fun Park, that's not fair!" Vince cried, practically in tears. He started to take a few steps out from behind Alvin to face his Dad.
"That was before you took apart my computer. Now go to your room!"
With a quivering lip, he ran upstairs crying all the way up to his room and slams the door.
To Alvin, all of this seemed like a terrible flashback to when he was a kid. He began remembering the time when he was eight and didn't clean up after a party he had. Naturally, Alvin didn't listen to any of Simon's warnings, and the next morning he'd paid the price. Dave was so mad that he grounded him from going to Fun Park. Instead of going with Dave and his brothers, Alvin was left home alone the whole day to clean the house. A part of him still regretted not being able to join his brothers on any of the rides, and having fun in the sun, but yet the other part of had to admit he needed that time to himself.
Alvin quickly brought himself back to reality, and looked up at his brother whom obviously looked stressed beyond believe. He looked over to see Jeanette, who could barely stand, little alone deal with Vincent's antics. Shaking his head, Alvin looked back at Simon.
"Simon, maybe I should take Vince. I mean you two already have enough problems without having a head strong kid to deal with."
Simon shook his head and looked up at Alvin. "Thanks, but no thanks, Alvin. Vincent has to learn not to mess with other people's things. I mean you had to learn the hard way your self, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. Ok, fine." Alvin turns to look at Mary and Tom who were patiently waiting by the door. "You two ready to go?"
"Yes." They chimed at the same time.
"Alright then," Alvin looks at Jeanette and Simon one last time, "good luck."
"Yeah, thanks Alvin." Simon said as he walked Alvin and the kids to the door and closed it after them. He then turned to Jeanette, whom appeared paler then she did when she came down not moments ago. "You better go back to bed," he sighed. "I'll bring you some tea up later."
"Fine!" She replied. Her energy is so low that she is in no shape to argue.
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TWENTY MINUTES LATER...
Vincent sat alone in his room contemplating his actions this morning. His furry face was still damp from the tears he had shed earlier. To him it was so unfair that his dad disallowed him to go to Fun Park. He was positive that he didn't do anything wrong.
He can't help being curious and wanting to know how things work. As far back as he can remember all Vince wanted to do was dismantle things just to see how they would work from the inside. He was so excite to be going to Fun Part with Aunt Brittany and Uncle Alvin that he didn't realize that no one else was still in bed. He woke up at 6am, and to find something to do he went downstairs to the basement. As soon as Vince pulled out his dad's tools he took apart the computer case, piece by piece.
Around 8am Vincent heard his family getting up. Knowing that it would soon be time to get ready for Fun Park he quickly ran upstairs and left the computer parts all over the floor. How was he to know that his Dad would come down, and get mad over it?
The bedroom door slowly opened, and Simon peered in. He had just given Jeanette some herbed tea on his way up to Vince's room. Simon had finally calmed down, and yet he still looked quite upset.
"Are you ready to come downstairs to help me reassemble the computer?"
Vincent sighed; he figured since he took apart the computer perhaps he should help put it back together.
"I guess!" He slid off his bed and walked up to his dad. He looked up to see if there was anything else that his dad wanted to say to him.
"Maybe you should wash your face first!" Simon said coldly when he noticed the tearstains.
"Yes sir." Vince pouted as he went to the hallway bathroom and washed his face.
He then joined his dad down in the basement. Vincent listened carefully to Simon's instructions on how to put back the hard drive, but neither of them really spoke to each other.
Luck has been on their side for it only took two and half-hours to rebuild the computer. When it was done Simon decided to instruct Vince to clean the rest of the house, and tend to any needs that Jeanette may have. This will give Simon the opportunity to finish his paper on Astor Physics.
-------------------
TWO HOURS LATER...
Simon hated being the bad guy, but he also knew that Vincent had to learn his lessons. As he typed out his report he began to remember how he would act when he returned home from Founder's Island. He had behaved worse then Alvin would ever behave. Even before his journey to Founder's Island, he'd sometimes get into trouble. In fact, when he was seven he had been caught dismantling the VCR for the same reason why Vince dismantled the computer. He was curious to see how it worked from the inside.
He let out a huge sigh, and got up from his half finished report. He figured that it was a good time to have a break from his homework, and have a father to son chat. Simon saved what he had done so far before going upstairs to find Vincent.
When Simon arrived upstairs he saw his son in the living room. It appeared to him that Vincent is playing with some toy solders in the middle of the floor. Simon stood there with his eyebrow raised. Vince suddenly noticed his dad standing at the entranceway of the living room and jumped up.
"I wasn't playing with them. I was just polishing them." He quickly said as he threw the little army toys back in the bucket.
Simon rolled his eyes skyward. "I'm not worried about that, son."
Vince looked up at his dad questionably, "What do want then?" He said.
"I just want to talk to you for a bit, if that's ok?"
"It's a free country, I guess." Vincent sighed; obviously he is still upset for not being aloud to go to Fun Park.
"Look I'm still not happy for the damage you did to my computer. You're just lucky that we were able to put it back together in record time. I just want to know why you would do that when I said that I was going to use it today for a school project?" He paused for a bit to see his son's head sinks in a more depressive state.
"I'm sorry," he squeaked.
Simon shook his head. The look his son made had brought so many memories back. "You remind me so much of your Uncle Alvin." He said.
"I do, do I?" Vincent responded, bluntly. "How come?"
"Let's just say he would do things that literally drive me insane when we were kids. Heck, he still does things that are inappropriate."
"What kind of things?" Vince said in an almost whisper.
"Well..." Simon sat beside his son on the floor as he tried to think of an example he could use.
"For starters, he would come out with all of these different hair-brained schemes that would usually involve your Uncle Theodore and me. Naturally, these schemes would end up with us in a heap of trouble. Most of the time it would be up to me to get us out of trouble. Uncle Alvin would defiantly prove to be quiet the character, while Uncle Theodore and I just wanted to do our own thing."
"So, what you are saying is that you were boring as a child?" Vincent asked.
"I was not boring." Simon cried back, feeling a bit hurt with his son's comment. "I had charisma. Self-esteem. Not only was I great in academics, but also in the arts as well." He continued to boast.
"Oh, I see." Vincent said plainly.
For the next few minutes an awkward silence filled the room.
As Simon paused he thought drifted to the adventures he and his friends would go on when he stayed on the Island. The first few months were spent exploring the Island, and getting into all sorts of trouble from the Founders. The more he thought about it the more he came to realize that maybe there's apart of him in Vincent as well. Especially when it comes to taking apart electronic devices.
"Dad?" Vincent finally said as he looked up at his dad. He wondered if something was wrong with him. There seemed to a distant look in his eyes.
"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking on how you remind a little bit of me too." Simon reached over and patted Vincent on the head. He stopped when he noticed Vince pulling away.
"Anyway, I guess I am a bit sorry for getting mad with you! I just remembered that I too got in trouble one time when I took apart the VCR."
"You did?"
"I was about your age when I did that. Lets just say your Papa Dave was not impressed." Simon added with a wink.
Both of them began to chuckle.
"Someday I will make it up to you, I promise!" Simon finished as he sat up and faces his son. He started to hold out his arms. "Are we ok?"
Slowly Vince gave a slight smile and went into his dad's arms for a hug. Their father/son moment was interrupted when they heard Jeanette come down the stairs.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"Nothing," Vincent spoke.
"How are you feeling, Hon?" Simon said in a somewhat worried tone.
Slowly Jeanette looked up at her beloved husband, and attempted a weak smile. "It became quiet all of sudden. I came down to see if everything was alright!"
Simon and Vincent looked at each other, and smiled. "Yeah, we're fine!" Simon said.
After Simon got up he walked up to his wife. He placed his hand on her forehead to feel her temperature. Simon became relieved as he noticed that her temperature had dropped somewhat. But still he knew she shouldn't be up, and about just yet.
"It's good to see you are finally looking better, but you should still be in bed." Simon said as he ushers her back upstairs. "Vince and I will bring you up some soup later, ok?"
"Sounds good!" Jeanette said weakly.
As soon as Jeanette returned into the bedroom, Simon again turned to his son.
"Have you finished cleaning the living room?" He asked.
"Yes I have."
"Good, now you can help me make your mom some soup."
"Ok." Vincent jumped up from the floor, and ran into the kitchen. Simon shook his head and let out a chuckle as he too headed in the same direction.