Sudden Impulse

Five minutes later the family (excluding Jack, who was still in his room) were seated together at the dining room table. An unearthly silence hung in the air as everyone waited for everyone else to say something.

Finally Helen broke the silence. "Okay, before I go around making motherly accusations…what happened when I was gone?"

Bob, Violet, and Dash were all reluctant to answer. At the looks from his children, Bob answered first. "Before I say anything else…I think that Jack-Jack has something of a cold."

"No kidding," Violet muttered aside to Dash.

Bob went into a thorough explanation of the scorch marks in the living room. "Whenever he coughs or sneezes, he shoots fire. I don't know what the cause of this is, but we should take him to a doctor or something so that he can be diagnosed."

Helen rolled her eyes. "Of course Bob," she said sarcastically. "Of course we can take our baby to a doctor, reveal that he's a super, and have all of our secret identities discovered to be advertised on every billboard in town! We have to take this seriously!"

"I am taking this seriously," Bob retorted.

"Then you would think of the consequences before trying an instant solution!" Helen snapped.

There was another long, uneasy pause.

This time Violet broke the silence by changing the subject. "How did your interview go, Mom?" she asked cautiously.

"It was fine. No one there seemed entirely keen on hiring me, though. For one thing they still remember who my husband is."

Bob grinned weakly. "I'm sure that they'll consider hiring you, Helen," he assured her. "I know that they won't base your talent on my actions."

"Well, we'll find out if they did for sure soon," said Helen. "Supposedly they're going to call us either tonight or tomorrow morning to tell me whether I'm being accepted by the company or not. If I am, then work begins on Monday."

Bob noticed that Dash and Violet had already excused themselves from the table. "Our children get bored way too easily," he decided.

"Agreed." Helen got up from her chair. "I think I'll start dinner so that I have something to do while I wait for the phone call…can you watch the kids?"

Bob gulped, but tried not to allow his despair to shine through. "Of course, honey. Sure…" He got up and exited the kitchen.

XXXXX

It was at around seven o'clock that evening when the phone rang for Helen. With the table already cleared, she had gotten up and answered it, while everyone else remained silent and watched from the living room. After about a full minute of discussion with the person at the other end of the line, her eyes shone with relief and gratitude. When she had hung up she rushed to Bob and grabbed him into an embrace. "I've got the job, Bob!" she said excitedly.

"That's…that's great," Bob congratulated her dazedly as he hugged her back. He couldn't believe that they had hired his wife after the incident from not so long ago—but he was happy for her all the same.

What he wasn't happy about was the kind of things he would have to handle by himself in the very near future. Maybe he could start leaving the house earlier on Wednesdays…

A/N: Sorry that was so short, but I should have chapter 4 done soon. Anyway…could I have a suggestion for a genre? Currently it's General, but I think that it should be categorized under something a little more descriptive. I just don't know what it is yet.

Rumpelteazer