Lynn grabs her jacket. She told Francisco that she would be there in the morning, but she struggled to get to sleep after hearing that he is currently in jail and is currently running behind. Lynn can't imagine that he was locked up for no good reason, but she can't imagine that it's such a bad thing if she only needs to show up with bail money, although she can imagine a few simple scenarios.
She isn't a stranger to being behind bars – throughout her twenties there were incidents, nothing insane, but nothing that she ever wanted her family to know about. Luckily, she had her friends to bail her out, but at some point, that was no longer an option. She can't blame them though; you can't enable an addict forever.
Lynn mutters that to herself. She didn't give Francisco much of a chance to explain himself, but he's in jail, so it clearly wasn't legal, "I'm gonna give him a chance and then I'll see if I have to give him a piece of my mind."
She doesn't want to go there, but if it has to happen, it has to happen. Lynn gets into her car and drives to the police station to go pick up Francisco.
Lily and Lisa see Lynn's blue car pull away from the driveway. The two are in disguise to keep their sister from becoming the wiser as they plan to ambush Francisco when he gets home. After last night's phone call and lunch, Lisa can see what is happening, and she spent her free time studying on how to treat him. She can't watch her sister deal with it alone and whether she knows it or not, her family is going to help her.
"Lisa, how do we even know that he isn't home?" Lily asks. "I get that his truck isn't there, but what if he left for work early and didn't carpool with Lynn."
Through a pair of binoculars, Lisa answers, "Because sister, father mentioned that Francisco isn't feeling well and is going to be absent, meanwhile our fifth eldest sister mentioned that she is not going in to work. With his vehicle missing and his absence from work, it can presumed that Lynn is picking him up, as soon as she's gone, we go inside and confront him when he gets home."
Lily sighs; Lisa can be so stubborn whenever she wants something that she thinks is right. Yesterday, the scientist texted her letting her know that she needed a ride, but she didn't imagine that it would be to break into their sister's home to force Francisco into treatment.
"And the whole helping him recover thing?"
"That's so that he can better himself," Lisa says. She turns around and when Lynn turns the corner, she steps out of the car and walks to Francisco's front door.
"Wait! That doesn't answer my question!" Lily yells as she follows her on foot. "Are we seriously leaving my car in front of another person's house? What if it gets towed?"
Lisa continues walking ahead, "Pay to get it out of the impound lot."
Lily scoffs, "And who's gonna pay for that!" she complains as she continues to follow after sister.
The two spot a car in the driveway and wonder whose it could belong to, but neither one is too concerned. Lily knocks on the door, and when neither one gets a response; they search for a hidden spare key. The door opens and Kiké looks at the two women who appear to be searching around the house suspiciously.
Lisa gets up and walks in the house, "Good morning, I see that you're one of Francisco's older brothers." Lily and Kiké wonder how she could know that at first glance, and the scientist answers their potential question, "Both share a similar brow line and auricle shape." Neither Lily and Kiké know what last word meant, and Lisa replies, "Your ears."
"Who the heck are you two?" Kiké asks.
With a smile, Lily answers, "We're Lynn's sisters. We're here to see Francisco…well, Lisa is."
"Then why are you here?" he asks the blonde.
"Lisa's 'too evolved' to drive," Lily jokes, "I'm her chauffeur unfortunately."
The older sister doesn't take the joke well, but decides not to let it get to her, "I'm that important," she tells the man.
Francisco looks around the house. It has been months since he started fixing things to make it more livable, and while it is miles better than before, he knows that he can do better. The holes are covered up, the floor isn't squeaky, the glass is cleaned up, and there are no more pests, as far as he's concerned. There's just one thing left to do – get clean.
Caroline didn't mention that she was going to let Elena see him anymore, but he can assume that if he makes enough of an effort to fix his life and turn it around then he shouldn't have any issue convincing her to see their daughter.
Francisco pulls out his bottle of medicine and looks over at it; he's been taking these since he got hurt on the job a while ago, but he assured everyone in his life that it's because he's in pain.
"I can do it…there's lots of ways to get over back pain…I can figure out something," he tells himself. "Do it for Elena."
He puts his pill bottle away in the medicine cabinet, "I don't have a problem. I can do it. Those pills will only be for emergencies."
He walks to the living room and anxiously paces back and forth; he knows what to expect concerning withdrawal symptoms, but that shouldn't be a problem.
"I'm not an addict…I have back pain that needs treatment…"
Ever since the car accident, his back has been in constant pain, luckily over the years, it has lessened in intensity, but it still flares up from time to time, especially when he's been purposefully doing so on the job.
"So long as I only take as prescribed, then I don't have a problem – I'll just be a man taking medicine as prescribed. Easy."
That's what he has told himself before, but he goes back to old habits. The first time was an actual accident on the job, everyone knew where the mistake was made, OSHA was called, solutions were offered, and Francisco went to the doctor. He was fine for months, then a muscle spasm occurred, and after that, he went down a slippery slope of muscle injuries that he faked. It isn't technically a lie, since his lower back muscles are in constant pain, but he would do it on purpose to get a prescription.
At some point, Francisco got sick of the x-rays, sick of spending hours in various clinics, and sick of probing questions from the doctors and his loved ones. Luckily, he knew someone who had all the time in the world and the ability to travel.
"Only take them when needed – that's the responsible thing to do."
Francisco and Lynn close the car door after stepping out of the police station. As Lynn pulls out into the street, neither one says a thing. Both of them are mad at one another, Lynn mad at the charges that he conveniently forgot to mention over the phone and Francisco mad that he was left overnight in a jail cell while beginning to feel the effects of his withdrawal.
After a minute of silence, the two simultaneously snap at one another, "I'm so mad at you!" both are surprised at other snapping at them, "You're mad at me?! Yes!"
"Alright, we're being stupid," Lynn says, "You go first."
"How could you let me spend a night in jail?"
"How could you go drinking and driving? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"It's not my fault; I was drinking to forget that I'm constantly taking pain pills."
"Speaking of that where did you get those? The last time I remember you have never gone to see a doctor. And that's not an excuse to go driving after blowing a .11 on the breathalyzer."
Francisco doesn't answer.
Lynn sighs, she isn't going to get him to incriminate himself, and so she decides on a peace offering, "Fine, I'm going to say one thing. I am saying this as one addict to another, if you want to get better, I'm willing to help you, but as your girlfriend, and I'm making this abundantly clear, I am so fucking mad at you for keeping this a secret, even after I told you that I was an alcoholic!"
He crosses his arms, "I'm not an addict."
"Are you serious?! You're telling me that this isn't the same thing?!"
"I was only drinking one time, not exactly the same as being an alcoholic that can't function throughout the day without a drink."
Lynn can't believe that that's how he plans on fighting her back, but rather than taking it lying down, she snaps back, "Kinda like you and your pills?"
Francisco stays quiet.
"Yeah, I thought so," she complains.
After arriving home, the two walk towards the front door, Francisco reminds Lynn, "At some point, we're going to have to get my truck out of the impound lot."
"Like that'll do you any good without a driver's license," she says in spite.
When the two walk in through the front door, they are taken by surprise to see Lisa looking at them from the living room. As both step to see why she showed up out of nowhere, they hear the front door close behind them, and Lily stepping towards them.
"Lisa wants to talk to you," the youngest Loud told Francisco.
The scientist steps towards the disheveled man, "I see I was right about what is going on with you. If you would like I can help you get better, but I can't begin any sort of treatment unless you consent to it."
Lily chuckles at the thought of Lisa asking someone for consent considering her past. Lynn, on the other hand, isn't taking it too lightly; she barely realized last night that there was a problem and now Lisa, who apparently knew, is offering him help.
Lynn stares down her younger sister, "I already told him that I was going to help him, so you don't need to worry about anything. Besides, why do you even care?"
Before Lisa can say a thing, Francisco clears his throat, "Excuse me, neither of you are going to make a decision for me. I'm going to decide what I do."
The sisters stare at him, waiting for what he plans on doing.
He looks over at Lynn, "Lisa is a doctor–"
"She is?" Kiké asks from the kitchen. "She told me that she was a scientist."
Lily speaks up, "She's also a lawyer, engineer, and going into business."
"Damn," he looks at Lisa, "Do you just collect degrees for fun?"
Lisa smiles at the accusation.
Francisco clears his throat again to get everyone's attention, "Again! Lisa is a doctor; she knows what to do when it comes to this better than anyone. I'm going to go with her."
Lynn scowls. She isn't thrilled about what is going on, but rather than say it out loud, she walks out of the house and slams the door as loudly as she can.
Francisco walks out to check on her, but as he opens the door, he can see that Lynn is already driving away from the house. He sighs, he knows that he's on thin ice with her, but he isn't going to dwell on it, in the end he's going to get better and everyone is going to be better off for it.
"Let me lead you to the x-ray machine that I set up in your spare room," Lisa informs him.
Chuy looks over at his younger brother, who is angrily muttering to himself as he puts together a door; this has been going on for weeks, but he can sense that his brother is getting angrier by the day. Since he moved out months ago, Francisco looks more tired and now it appears that he's adding temperamental.
The older brother walks over and looks over at Francisco. Chuy figures that at some point he'll be noticed and then maybe Francisco will stop trying to shove wires into the door haphazardly.
Francisco can feel someone staring at him, he turns around and sees his older brother staring at him, "What?" he asks, not sure about why he's being stared at.
"It's almost lunch time, do you want to finish the door and go out for something to eat? My treat," he offers, knowing that most of Francisco's money has been used for home repairs
Francisco nods his head and calmly tries to finish, but frustration begins to creep up on him. Before he can get the opportunity to angrily shake the door, Chuy calls out to him and looks at him, like a father disappointed in their child's tantrum. Francisco stops, takes a deep breath, and recalls the correct steps for putting the door together.
Come lunchtime, the two take a seat in the back of Chuy's truck and split the pizza in front of them. A box of Little Nero's Pizza isn't exactly what Francisco had in mind when it came to lunch, but he isn't going to complain about a free hot meal. Both brothers silently eat their slice of pizza, but Francisco knows what his brother wants to talk about.
"I'm trying…" Francisco starts.
"That's good, but maybe you shouldn't do it alone," Chuy tells his brother, despite knowing that that isn't Francisco's style; he'd rather suffer in silence than admit that he's got a problem that he needs help with.
"You aren't going to say anything to anyone, are you?"
Chuy shakes his head, "You're smart, Pancho, and I think you know how to fix your problem better than I do. You've just got to find your own motivation."
Francisco sighs. He knows why he should do it, but he can't quit cold turkey like he wants to; if this week has proven anything to him, it's that he can't function for long without his medicine to numb all the pain.
"I'm trying for Elena…"
Chuy takes a bite of another slice of pizza, "That's a good start," he sighs. He doesn't want to get too involved, but seeing his brother struggle is always a weakness of his, "You know that mom and I can help you, right?"
Francisco doesn't want to involve his mom; he knows that she knows, but he'd rather not have her involved for this. However, he also knows that he's lucky to have people who care to try, and how does he repay them – by running off and keeping himself closed off.
"I know…"
The older brother pats his brother's shoulder and the two quietly eat their lunch before heading back to work. As the two walk back in, Francisco can feel pain in his lower back, and he sighs; he's got two options – suck it up and be aggressive all day or at least stop for a minute and take his medicine.
Chuy turns around and sees his brother rifling through his pockets, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to get something from the vending machine, I didn't get full from lunch," he lies.
"Maybe next time don't spend your whole break nibbling on two slices," Chuy tells him before heading back to the plant floor.
Lynn drives around, she doesn't know where to go or even why she left, but did not want to be in that house right now. She doesn't want to look at Kiké, face Francisco, or deal with Lisa's comments about how a former addict living with a current addict could miss the symptoms.
She drives down a familiar street and parks Dutch in front of her childhood home. Lynn knocks on the front door and is greeted by her dad, "LJ, what are you doing here? I thought that you were at home with Francisco."
She shrugs her shoulders, "He said that he didn't need my help, and since I already took the next few days off, I figured that I'd come see you and Mom."
He smiles, "Well come on in, I always love it when one my little birdies flies back to the nest," he tells her in delight.
Lynn Sr. always said that to his kids, no matter how short the visit, he's thrilled to have his children come back home, not that any of the kids blame him.
"What was wrong with–"
"Do you mind if I get something to eat?" Lynn interrupts, not wanting to talk about Francisco.
Rita, who is slowly coming down the stairs, sees her daughter, "Lynn, how are you doing?" Lynn's stomach answers for her and Rita chuckles, knowing the answer to her question.
"I've been so busy this morning, I forgot to eat breakfast."
Lynn Sr. and Rita are surprised, eating was the one thing they were sure that she never forgot growing up. Granted, there were times when she would forget, especially if she was too focused on playing a sport, but other than that, they often times caught her sneaking snacks and bites of food between meals.
They notice the time and while neither one is in the mood for an early lunch they figure that for their daughter they can make exception.
The three walk in the kitchen to catch up, and Lynn Sr. turns to his daughter, asking, "What are you in the mood for breakfast?"
Lynn looks around and a cookbook catches her eye. She flips through the pages and she is drawn to a beef bourguignon recipe, "This looks good," she says, pointing to the picture.
Rita puts on her reading glasses, which are hanging off her neck, and looks at the total time listed in the book, "This recipe takes eight hours."
"I know, but it looks good."
Rita turns to her husband, who is happy to make the time-consuming dish, but she knows that her daughter isn't going to be patient enough to wait that amount of time. Before she is able to say anything, her husband and daughter begin prepping everything start the dish; Lynn starts chopping vegetables, Lynn Sr. searches for the cut of meat and Rita knows that she's lost them both.
As the two Lynns prep, Rita goes to her secret stash of cookies and pulls them out for whenever Lynn is ready admit that she's too hungry to wait for the stew to be ready. As the food cooks, Rita takes the opportunity to catch up with her daughter, who has been busy with work and an unwelcomed houseguest, whom her daughter referred to using rather colorful words.
Hours later, Lily drives home. Upon reaching the driveway, she notices Lynn's blue car and realizes that her older sister has been avoiding her and Lisa's calls in their parents' home.
"Seriously? We spend all day helping your boyfriend and you just run away because he chose Lisa to help?" Lily sighs, "I swear…"
As she walks inside, she is overtaken by the smell of meat, vegetables, and herbs wafting from the kitchen. Lily walks into the living room and sees her mom setting the table for dinner.
"Lily, there you are. I was wondering where you and Lisa had gone off to," Rita says. "Where's your sister?"
"She's busy with a project…what's going on here?"
"Your dad and Lynn made dinner. Get washed up and so that we can eat," Rita tells Lily, who is trying to figure out what is going on.
Lily does as her mother tells her. As she heads upstairs to wash her hands, she tries to think of what she's going to say to Lynn, about her behavior early in the day. When she returns, Lily notices the family sitting around the table as they wait for her. She takes a seat and she watches Lynn, who is pretending as if nothing is wrong; she has been gone for hours, but the younger sister can't believe that she was here the whole time. The food is placed in front of her and she forgets to talk, instead her mind is preoccupied with the smell of the warm meal in front of her.
The family happily eats the meal as they continue talking about how they're ready for the warmer weather and the fun that comes with summer, but Lily looks over at her sister, who appears to not have a care in the world about her boyfriend or what is going on at home, and she plans on confronting Lynn when they have a bit of privacy.
After finishing his dinner, Lynn Sr. gets up and begins to take the dishes, but Lily quickly gets up, "Lynn and I can take them," she says, hoping to get a few minutes alone with her sister.
"Hey! I cooked, why should I clean?"
"Because," Lily says, despite not having a good reason. She grabs her sister by the arm and the two begin to clear the table.
The two quietly wash the dishes, and when she's sure that they're alone, Lily puts down the sponge, and whispers to Lynn, "What is wrong with you?! Lisa and I spent all day taking care of your boyfriend; meanwhile, you're just playing in the kitchen making delicious food to avoid us. I get it, you're mad that he picked Lisa to help, but she's going to know way more about this. Think about it, Lynn, what do you know about helping someone get sober? I mean, she knows more than either of us, and she knew that there was a problem."
Lynn scoffs and mutters under her breath, "She couldn't even see a problem that was in front of her face."
"What was that?" Lily asks, curious about what her sister said.
"Nothing," Lynn complains, tossing the drying rag on the counter. "I'm going."
"Where?"
Lynn doesn't answer as she walks away. Lily, refusing to let her sister run from her, attempts to stop her by grabbing onto her sister's hand, but Lynn easily overpowers her younger sister and frees herself.
As she walks to the front door, Rita speaks up, "Oh, you're going?"
Lynn turns around, "Yeah, it's getting late. It was nice seeing you guys," she tells her parents, before giving them a hug. "I'll try to remember to come by a little more often."
Both parents smile, they know that she'll try, but they know that she'll probably forget until Easter or one of their birthdays. They don't blame her; her mind always seemed to be bouncing around until something like sports grabbed her attention.
The parents watch Lynn leave from the front door and they wave goodbye.
Lynn drives around again; how she wishes that she has more siblings living nearby, "Can't go to Great Lakes City – too far, Lansing is a long drive too, and everyone else just gets further away," she groans, before remembering Lucy, "That's right, she has plenty of room and I bet she'll love the help," she convinces herself as she drives to her younger sister's house.
Lynn knocks on Lucy's front door. She needs time to think and she figures that this is better than being around Francisco, his brother, and her youngest sisters.
Rocky opens the front door, "Hey Lynn, what are you doing out here?"
"Can I stay over for a bit? I'm…" she struggles to think of the right words, but rather than let her struggle to think of a reason, Rocky lets her in.
On the plant floor, Francisco keeps a sharp eye for anything that would cause him to lose his footing. He's been vigilant and he plans on staying true to his word of not abusing his medication. His back hasn't been bothering him as much, he doesn't overexert himself, and he's been doing the exercises that the doctor recommended during his last visit, but he also can't help but to sneak in a dosage of his medicine at any sign of trouble.
He told himself that it would only be for when he's in pain, but Francisco knows that with a loose definition of pain, he can take his medicine without much issue.
Francisco has also been keeping his emotions under control; Chuy found out about him because he lost his temper with a car door and he doesn't want his brother worrying too much.
As the work day ends, Chuy walks up behind his brother and asks, "Do you want to go get something for dinner?"
Francisco shakes his head, "No, I'm tired. I'm just hoping to get a shower and go to bed."
"Yeah, that deadline is pushing at lot of us, but you know how everyone loves buying cars for the holidays."
Francisco nods his head, "I'll take a rain check on the dinner, but I'll see you around."
Chuy lets his brother go, and as Francisco walks away, he notices that he's dragging his feet on the ground in an attempt to take steps.
When he's in his truck, Francisco takes out a pill and takes it, "Damn these long work days," he complains before driving out of the parking lot.
Francisco gets home from work. He's had time to get acclimated to the sound of silence, but he can't help but think of how he's alone in the house. The purpose of such a large house was to have space for everyone to not annoy another person, but he almost feels silly now having so much space for himself. Of course, if he can convince Caroline to come back then he won't be alone and he can fix everything.
He thinks about Caroline and Elena; they haven't seen each other in a long time, and he's almost afraid that he's going to become a stranger to his daughter after being apart for so long. His mom assured him that she does think of him, but he's sure that she was saying that to make him feel better.
Francisco pulls out his phone and looks at Caroline's name; his heart is pounding as he thinks about talking with her to let her know that he's trying harder to be a better man for her and Elena, but he's nervous to hear her say that she'll never let him near their daughter again. He knows that she isn't vindictive like that, but he hasn't given her any good reason to give him a chance and he's sure that her family has probably tried to sway her to keep him away.
He presses on her name and he hears the phone ring. He wishes that he would have practiced what he plans on saying, but it's too late now unless, she doesn't answer.
The call goes straight to voicemail.
"Hey Caroline, it's me…look, I was hoping that we could talk one of these days about, you know. I've been working on it for some time, and especially since we broke up, but I think that maybe we can talk in person about…" he doesn't know how to finish the message, "about Elena and maybe each other…let me know if you want to get together and talk. Bye."
Francisco hangs up; he's upset about how nervous he sounded, but at least he left her a voice message and maybe he'll get a response soon.
The next morning, Lucy is awakened by the sound of her children through the baby monitor. She hoped for a few more minutes of sleep before they would wake up, but it isn't anything new. Luckily the twins have their Aunt Lynn, who would gladly take them off of her hands for a few minutes, but Lucy can't ever seem to know how her sister is going to wake up – one morning, she's a ball of energy that runs through the neighborhood, and some days, like yesterday, she holed herself up in her room, exhausted but unable to say why.
When she realizes that Lynn isn't getting up to play with the twins, Lucy gets up to start the day. Like every morning, she gets the twins out of their crib, changes them into a fresh diaper, dresses them, and while they play, she makes breakfast. Lucy walks into the kitchen and notices the messy state of the kitchen, "Sigh…Lynn…" she complains, knowing that her sister is on a morning run. Lucy doesn't know why she's surprised, growing up, Lynn was always messy, but years apart did make Lucy forget how much of a destructive force her sister is when she's in search of her morning coffee.
Speaking of coffee, Lucy searches the cabinets for any coffee to get her started, but the bag is missing, "This is going to be a long morning."
Lynn runs inside, wearing Lucy's borrowed black clothes, and sees her sister and her children, "That was a good run," she tells them.
"Is there anymore coffee?" Lucy asks her sister.
Lynn kicks off her shoes, "I made a whole pot before I left, but I don't think that there's any more ground coffee."
"Sigh…did you drink it all?" Lucy asks, aware that her sister probably drank the whole pot before going on her run.
Lynn thinks about it for a minute, as she tries to remember, "I think so," she slowly says. "But I know I saw a bag of ground coffee in the cabinets somewhere. Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower," she says, leaving her sister alone in the kitchen.
Lucy is getting annoyed, she loves her sister, but she is ready for her to go. Lynn springs up unexpectedly at her front door a few days ago with nothing more than the clothes on her back, and now she seems to be making herself at home. While, Lucy does appreciate her sister's help with her children, it doesn't mean that she and Rocky don't miss having time alone without worrying about Lynn overhearing them.
Lucy's phone buzzes and she sees a text from Rocky, letting her know that he hid some coffee for her. She sighs in relief, both for her husband's quick thinking, but also to be able to drink the beverage to help get her up for the day.
She grabs the hidden stash of coffee grounds and walks to the kitchen where she sees Lynn making breakfast for everyone, the older sister turns around, "See! I told you that there was coffee somewhere around here."
Lucy doesn't respond and begins making her beverage. Like before she took her run, Lynn is making a mess of the kitchen; it makes Lucy wonder what the state the kitchen at the restaurant is in because of her.
"You want something to eat?" Lynn asks.
Lucy shakes her head and places her twins in their high chairs.
Lynn puts a plate in front of herself and the children, "Are you sure?"
She shakes her head again, and watches as the kids eat the food in front of them. Lynn takes a seat in front of them and joins them for breakfast. As Lucy watches her sister, she wonders if she's being too harsh for not letting Lynn cool down for a few days in her home; she didn't mention why she's here and Lisa isn't much help, but watching the three eat in their childishly playful manner keeps Lucy from judging her sister too harshly. However, the dirty pans and spills remind her that she wants Lynn to go home.
The twins each hold out a spoonful of eggs for their aunt and Lynn makes an attempt to 'steal' the food before they move the spoon away from her; food falls to the ground, and Lucy groans at another mess that she has to clean up.
When the coffee is brewed, Lucy pours herself a cup to forget the messes, but she feels a piece of egg hit her hair.
With pride in her voice, Lynn tells her niece, "Good arm, Catherine."
She squeals in delight, and her brother, not willing to let his sister be the only one to be praised, throws egg at Lucy and laughs.
Lucy walks over to the sink to clean off the food from her hair, "Lynn, don't encourage them."
"Why? You can wash it off, and it is a pretty impressive hit for both of them." The younger sister hisses at her Lynn and she takes the hint, "Okay, I'll praise them for 'normal' good behavior." She turns around and finishes her breakfast.
"And please clean up," Lucy pleads with her sister, who turns around and notices the mess that she left.
"Right," Lynn turns to the twins, who have finished breakfast, "Time to learn a new game, guys!" she says as she pretends the cleaning up is a new game for the children to play.
With Lynn preoccupied with the twins, Lucy sneaks away to her bedroom and texts Francisco, letting him know that Lynn is at her house. She knows that he isn't guaranteed to arrive and take her sister home, but it doesn't stop Lucy from taking a chance and hoping that he'll have enough sense to talk with Lynn.
Francisco looks at himself in the mirror. His clothes are clean and pressed, and he's almost ready to go see Caroline to talk with her. He called her to let her know that he wanted to talk in person and as expected she hesitated to do so, luckily, she changed her mind days later, but he knows that he has to be careful. Since their breakup, she hasn't made much effort to speak with him, except to check up on him, at least that's what Francisco assumes. He knows that he has one chance to convince her that he's doing okay, and he's not going to ruin it.
As he reaches for his shoes, he can feel his lumbar muscles begin to ache. He bites down on his bottom lip, and quickly puts on and ties his shoes. Francisco stands up, but his back continues to ache; his eyes wander towards the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and he's tempted to take one pill to calm his back.
"Just one…besides, I've been good. I've only been using them when I need them, that doesn't sound like someone with a problem," he convinces himself, as he slowly steps towards the bottle.
He grabs a pill and swallows it without a second thought. Francisco puts the pill bottle away in the medicine cabinet and as he closes the cabinet door, he notices his reflection in the mirror. He told himself that he was going to try and be better, but he can't stop himself from trying.
"It's not abuse if I'm taking it like the doctor prescribed to me before," he tells the mirror. Francisco repeats that to himself as he drives to see Caroline and as he pulls into the driveway.
He knocks on the front door of the house and tries to keep himself alert. Francisco can feel sweat dripping down his neck as he nervously thinks about how today is going to go.
Caroline opens the front door, "Hey," they both say at the same time. "How are–" they both stop speaking in an effort to let the other talk. "You look good," they say in unison.
She raises a finger and stops him to invite him inside, "Come in."
Francisco stands nervously by the door. He imagined in his mind what he was going to say, but all the words are getting caught in his throat as he tries to keep himself from messing up and ruining his only chance at returning things back to normal.
"This is a very nice place," he compliments.
"Thanks, it's Violet's."
He stays quiet, hoping to keep the conversation from swaying towards Caroline's sister.
Sensing that he's uncomfortable at the mention of her sister, she asks, "How are your mom and brother?"
"They're doing well, Chuy got that promotion he was hoping for and mom keeps talking about retirement."
Elena hears a familiar voice and turns to the source. She spots her dad at the door, and begins walking to make sure that he is who she thinks he is; when she's sure that it's him, she runs over to give him a hug, "Daddy!"
Francisco smiles, happy to know that she is happy to see him. He slowly bends down to pick her up, but he can feel his back ache. He can't believe it; he just took the medicine shortly before arriving and he can barely lift his own child.
Caroline notices the pain in his eyes as he lifts Elena, "Are you okay?"
He nods his head, "Yeah, I'm trying…to, um… find some alternatives to my medicine…with the help of a doctor."
She is happy to hear that, "What did they say?"
"It's mostly physical therapy and if that doesn't work…surgery," he says. It isn't news; he's been told that by doctors since the surgery, but like a stubborn idiot, he doesn't go.
Caroline leads him inside to where Elena was playing, "Have you started physical therapy yet?"
"I start next week," he says, as he sets Elena down.
She isn't sure if it's true, but as she watches the look in his eyes as he plays with Elena from his seat, she thinks that maybe there is honesty in his words and that he is trying to better himself. However, she doesn't know how far they should go concerning their daughter – she's willing to let him have this afternoon under her supervision, but maybe one day, assuming that he is being honest, she can trust him to be the dad that she knows he wants to be.
Elena pulls on her mother's hand, "Mommy, come play with us," she pleads.
With a smile, Caroline agrees and joins the two, almost forgetting that there was an issue to worry about.
Rocky walks into the house and sees Lynn playing ball with the children on the floor. He greets her through his teeth, but he is curious as to how long she is going to stick around; he misses being alone with his wife after their children go to bed, now they have a guest who can hear them at all hours of the night and it's not an ideal situation for the couple.
He spots Lucy typing away on her laptop in the dining room. Rocky walks up behind his wife, gives her a kiss and whispers to her, "How was your day?"
Lucy sighs, "Same as yesterday – exhausting."
He rubs her shoulders, "If we're lucky, she'll be leaving soon, she can't stay here forever, unless she likes wearing black everyday" he reminds her.
That's what Lucy wants, it has been days since Lynn has begun staying with them, and while they wouldn't mind inviting her into their home, they would have liked more of a heads up. They appreciate that she can help with the kids and cook meals but at some point they want their home back and having Lynn around is not helpful.
"I don't know," Lucy whispers back, "I talked to Lisa and she mentioned that Lynn ran out of the house after she and Francisco came home a few days ago."
"That doesn't sound like much of a reason to leave. What about your parents, can't she stay with them?"
"She doesn't want to because of Lily and we can't count on Lynn doing it herself. Besides, I'm the one who spends the most time with her, you can go to work and not worry about her constant presence."
Rocky can't argue with that.
Lucy pulls him close and whispers in his ear, "I already texted Francisco and let him know that she's here. Maybe he'll be able to get her to go home."
They are both hoping, but if he hasn't made much of an effort to look for Lynn, the text may not be enough.
Hours later, when the twins are asleep, the sound of knocking interrupts them. Lucy is hopeful that it's Francisco, and she smiles upon seeing him at the front door; happy that he could possibly take Lynn with him, "Come in," she invites him.
He shakes his head, "That's okay. I came to see Lynn, is she around to talk?"
Lucy nods her head, and goes inside the house. She tells her sister about her guest, but rather than ignore the man, she heads towards the front door. Lucy is afraid that she's going to slam the door in his face and that she and her family will have her for another night, but Lynn walks outside and closes the door behind her.
Rocky and Lucy peek through the curtains and see the two quietly stare at one another. Neither one is saying anything and for a minute the married couple is afraid that the meeting is all for naught.
Lynn, who notices the spying couple, quietly asks Francisco, "How'd you get here?"
"Taxi. I swear Lisa needs to learn how to drive one day," he answers.
"Is he gone?" she asks, hoping that Kiké has finally left like he promised.
Francisco nods his head, "Yeah, he's gone, but Lisa stuck around for the whole week."
Lynn speaks up, "Before you ask, I still don't know why I left."
"Okay…" The two take a seat on the porch swing and look up at the sky. To break the silence, Francisco tells her, "You know that I still have to go to court."
"Yeah…" Lynn sighs, "I remember. I can't tell you how many times I've had to step in front of a judge and then be forced to do community service."
Francisco grows curious, "How many times?"
"Plenty of times since I couldn't seem to stop getting in trouble," she tells him. "I would lose my license and then I figured I'm already in trouble, so what the heck is another ticket on my record?"
"You drove around without a license?"
"And lived in my car. Why do you think that I don't want to get rid of Dutch?"
Francisco can think of a reason – she thinks that the car is lucky despite constantly breaking down every few miles. He doesn't tell her though, even though he's sure that she knows his feelings on her superstitious nature.
"How was hell week?"
Francisco sighs, "I don't know…Lisa took an x-ray of my back, but she still gave me my medicine."
"Why?" she asks, curious as to why her sister would continue to give him medicine that he's abusing.
"She said that she needs to talk to some colleagues, but the alternatives that she gave me are a medicine that puts me to sleep or addictive medicine that someone else has to give me," he tells her, glancing in her direction, hoping that she'd get the hint.
Lynn notices, "You want me to give it to you?"
"Only until she and the doctors get back with us, then we'll see what they can do," he reminds her.
She isn't sure. He hid his addiction for years and she never knew that he was abusing it; Lynn can't imagine that he's being completely honest with her right now and she doesn't trust herself to not screw this up.
She shakes her head, "No, I can't."
Hearing that surprised Francisco, "What? Why? You said that you'd help me."
"Last I recall you wanted Lisa to help you."
He sighs, "Lynn, I'm serious."
"So am I. I can't help you, I know that I'm gonna screw it up so I think that you're better off getting someone that isn't me."
"But I trust you."
"Not enough if you had to lie and only thought about quitting when you got caught," she answers back.
She knows that it isn't the best thing to say to him, but she's frustrated and can't make sense of her emotions at the moment. For the last week, she's gone from emotional highs at her parents to emotional lows here at Lucy's all while trying to figure out what she's going to do. The pro is that his brother is gone, but she's still mad that he is still using his medicine and she can't understand why it bothers her so much.
Francisco stares out at Dutch and starts talking, "You know, it's hard to believe how I've spent over half my life screwing up. It's one bad decision after the other, and all because of one."
"That's not how it works," Lynn reminds him. She knows that he's trying to gain some sympathy points, but it doesn't undo what he's been doing, even though she knows what it's like to be in his shoes. "You get plenty of chances in life."
That's not how it feels to Francisco – he knows where things all went wrong, and why things are going wrong to this day. He knows that he can fix it, but he never tries. It was like Lynn said, he didn't care enough to quit until he was found out and he's still running around in circles making the same mistakes, even though he's had a great reason to stop.
"I'm thirty-five, and I think about how much of my life I screwed up sometimes. I would injure myself on purpose sometimes just to have a reason to see a doctor and not worry about my family asking questions. Do you remember the dune buggy accident a couple of years ago?"
"You did it on purpose?"
He nods his head, "I knew the brakes didn't work. When I fell off the roof during Lucy's baby shower, I knew where the patch of ice was. Even around Caroline, I did the same thing I would look for reasons to get hurt. I'm pretty sure my old job was convinced that I was a walking workplace hazard." He pauses to think for a minute, "I don't know how to stop myself, and I can't keep telling myself that I'm going to be able to do it alone."
Lynn sighs. After hearing that, she knows that he's going to keep going until he falls harder than he's ever fallen, and it's going to hurt everyone around him. She pulls him into a hug and quietly tells him, "You better be serious about quitting…trust me when I say you don't want this to control you forever and you don't want it to ruin your relationships…"
He's a little afraid of hearing that from her, but he nods his head to let her know that he understands what she's telling him.
She gets up and lends him her hand, "C'mon let's go home."
Francisco takes her hand and the two slowly walk to her car.
Apologies for the tardiness, I wasn't planning on taking so long, but somewhere between work and Thanksgiving, I ended up putting this off longer than necessary.
It feels weird to have Francisco's problem being spoken about, I'm so used to making attempts at hiding it, that it throws me off to have it mentioned by other characters. However, like Lynn, it'll get easier, and now I can work towards making the story a little lighter, with sprinkles of honesty and repercussions.
Thank you for reading and see you guys next time
