Once again, I do not own "Cheaper By the Dozen."
Thank you reviewers. I hope that this chapter is to your liking!
Chapter Two: A Lamentable Discovery (Jessica's POV)
Life at this house is insane. Well, my family has always been bizarre, being that there are twelve children in the house. Now that we live in Evanston, life had certainly plummeted from having a mostly loving family, to a life in which most of the family members hate each other. I am afraid that this newfound abhorrence went as deep between Mom and Dad. Kim and I had caught them fighting earlier this evening, and they sounded as though they wished that they had never met.
"Kimmy, we have to do something! Mom and Dad are going at each other's throats, Lorraine and Sarah are competing for the drama queen role, and Mark looked as though he wished that he had never been born!" I exclaimed to my twin sister who was sketching some picture in her drawing pad that she had received on our last birthday.
"I definitely know what you mean! This is a really arduous problem, and we need to do something, but what?" Kim pondered, setting aside her sketchbook. "We should be able to think of something, as we are the geniuses of the Baker household." She got up off her bed and peered out the window, an action that she does when she is facing a problem that she does not know how to solve.
"Kim, I'll be back, I am going to go ask Mark something, and I will be back in a few minutes!" I stated as I thought-provokingly stepped out of my room. As it was, I did not get to his room quickly because I overheard Mom and Dad bickering, something about Dad having to sleep on the couch.
"Mommy, Daddy, are you two going to get a divorce? That is what happens when most parents fight as much as you." I cry out, unable to keep the nagging thought to myself. I watched as Mom and Dad's faces showed their shame. Dad cleared his throat and Mom stepped up to me, putting her arm on my shoulders. Finally, she pulled me into a hug.
"Jessica, we are so sorry. Your Mom and I love each other deeply and love each of you, you do not have to worry about your Mom and I divorcing. "I promise that we will never leave you." Dad murmured, and reached over to kiss my head. I backed away from my parents slowly, unsure if I should trust them. I nodded and begin to walk near the staircase that lead to Mark's room. I had a queasy feeling in my stomach, which puzzled me, because Mom and Dad already had affirmed their decision not to divorce. I determinedly shrugged the feeling off, figuring that the feeling was left over from when I thought they would divorce. I reached the stairwell that led to Mark's loft-style room, still fighting the unshakable dread. Step after step, I fought the horrible nausea, which reached its peak at the threshold of Mark's room.
"Mark, can you open up the door, I have an important matter to discuss with you." I called out, figuring that he would open the door quickly, as Kim and I am a couple of the only people who did not harass him a tremendous amount. I stood there for a couple of minutes, and began to grow impatient. "Mark, please open the door! I really would like to discuss something with you!" I began to pound on the door a la Sarah. "Mark, if you do not open the door, I am just going to rudely barge in your room!" Even after that warning, I still did not receive a response from him. Since I do not enjoy lying, I kept my promise, and swung open his bedroom door. "Mark, I stood outside of you door….Mark, where are you?" I stammered, realizing that he was not in his room, where he always goes to retreat. I glanced around his room, and spotted a shoebox and a piece of paper on Mark's bed. My curiosity got the best of me and I walked over to the piece of paper and picked it up. "BIG FAMILIES STINK!" was the message that I read, I had to agree with him, this whole era of our lives were soiled in friction. I saw that the shoebox had the word "Beans" on it, and seeping through the box, a retched smell, the smell of death filled the air. I tried to process what had just occurred. I had found a cryptic note with only three words, a shoebox apparently with a dead amphibian inside of it, and Mark was nowhere to be found. The answer came quickly, to my dismay. Mark had grown tired of his family and had run away! So I did the only thing that I could think of doing in this circumstance, I screamed and ran down the stairs, pounding on my parents' bedroom door.
"Mom! Dad! Please open the door, this is an emergency!" I cried out as I pounded on the door. All my siblings, minus Nora, poked their heads out of their doors to see what the commotion was about. Dad quickly threw open the door, and I rushed inside their room. "Mom, Dad, I found this in Mark's room, please read it." My Mom grabbed the note from me and I watched as her face drained of all color. She silently showed it to Dad. Before I could process as to how he had moved so quickly, he had jumped up and flew into the hall.
"Kids! Come into the hall!" He yelled as my brothers and sisters rushed out of their rooms. After confused looks from my siblings, he looked at us each in our eyes and began to tell us something that I thought I would never hear.
"Kids…your Mom and I are sorry for everything that has happened today, thank you for putting up with us, but we have to tell you something..." Dad started as Nigel interrupted with the perfect question, "Where's Mark, he's not listening to your announcement?" Dad scooped up Nigel in his strong arms. "Nigel, that is the question of the hour. Kids, it seems as though Mark ran away." Gasps filled the air and Kim ran up to me. Mom, who had obviously found out, stood sobbing. "Ok, here is the game plan. I want everyone to pair up, Lorraine, you take Nigel and Kyle, and we are going to form a search party.
I heard Charlie clear his throat. "Dad, Mom, everyone, I am sorry that I was a jerk lately, please forgive me. Has anyone called the police yet?" he asked looking over at Mom, Dad and I. We shook our heads "no." "Alright, I will call them, be back in a few minutes." He rushed off to find the nearest and working phone as we had accidentally broken one yesterday.
I took the time to study everyone's face. Kim's face showed disbelieve as did Nigel, and Kyle's. Sarah's face showed shame, she was probably remorseful of how she had treated Mark. Mike and Jake both had matching looks of barely hidden worry, Henry looked as freaked out as he had the day that we learned that we were leaving Midland. Lorraine was softly crying as she walked over to Mom and hugged her. An awkward silence filled the air and lasted until Charlie returned to the hall, breaking the silence.