Thank you to everyone that has continued to read this story, you have no idea how honored I am every time I get that notification that someone has made a comment, mark the story had favorite or followed.
I have to thank my best friend for reviewing each chapter and making sure all mistakes are minimal and for giving me feedback to help me be a better writer.
I figured that since this is a little different than what you are used to that I would post this tonight instead of waiting for Thursday. This chapter only deals with the Plum's side because I felt Edna needed her own chapter. The next chapter will go back to the original way I was telling it and will be posted on Thursday as normal.
Thank you all again for reading, I hope you enjoy it.
All the familiar characters belong to J.E. However the story line and original characters are mine. I don't own them and I'm not making any money from them, I'm just playing with them for a little bit.
Trenton – Edna Strikes
Edna's plane landed and she took a taxi from the airport to the Plum home since there was no reason to burden them with having someone to pick her up. She figured they needed to be home not waiting on her. When she finally got to the house and walked through the door she realized that the situation was worse than she could have possibly ever imagined. The front door was unlocked and when she walked in she saw that no one was in the living room but it was a mess and the TV was on. She looked in the kitchen and saw Frank sitting at the table with his unshaven weary face propped in his hands and he was just staring at the phone. She looked around and saw that the kitchen was worse than the living room. She didn't say anything to Frank she just backed out and moved to the hallway and took a look at the main bathroom that showed it had not been cleaned lately either. She walked down the hallway and peaked into the first bedroom and saw the saddest site, there was little Valerie just lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. In her effort to assess things before announcing she was there she stepped back away from the door silently. She kept going and came to a room with a closed door. She knew this was Stephanie's room so she didn't understand why the door was shut. She tried to open it but found it was locked, she wondered why. She moved down to Helen and Frank's room and saw that Helen was in there with a glass of some dark liquid in it and the huge Jack Daniels bottle next to her. She had seen enough at that point. She decided that what they needed to do was to stop wallowing in their own self-pity. She yelled at Helen to snap out of it and to go into the kitchen, she passed Valerie's room and told her the same thing, when she got to the kitchen Frank finally looked up with a look of shock on his face. Once they were all in the room she told them to seriously think about what they were all doing and asked them what they thought would happen when they found Stephanie and she came home and had to see all of them looking like shit and moping around like a bunch of pitiful old souls. Then she got up and told them that she was going to stay in a hotel for the night and when she came back tomorrow to be prepared to be whipped into shape and then she walked out the door.
When Edna came back the next morning she knew that she wanted to speak with Valerie first since she wasn't getting any guidance from her parents and figured this had to be harder on her than everyone else. She had already seen what shape the kitchen was and knew that she would need to get groceries for the next part of the plan, so she decided to take Valerie with her. Plus it would do her granddaughter some good to get out of the house for a while, since she doesn't know when the last time that happened was. They decided to stop at one of the local diners and get some breakfast. After they were seated at the table, the waitress came up to them and Edna ordered. She thanked the waitress and then glanced down at Valerie. She had her head down and was looking like the weight of the world was resting on her shoulders. Edna decided that the best way to talk to her was to jump right in and start talking to her about what was going on. Valerie was pretty quiet but Edna could tell that she was listening to her. By the time that their food came, Valerie started talking and was really starting to open up about all the fears that she had regarding Stephanie. After she was done saying everything that was on her mind, Edna spoke up and told her that everything that happened wasn't her fault and pointed out that maybe if she had given in to Stephie's demands and they both had gone outside that it could have been possible they both could have been taken and how did she think her parents would feel about that. Valerie listened to what her grandma had said and realized that she didn't want to think about that and how bad that truly would have been for them. Then Edna finally told her the last thing that she needed to explain to her was that it didn't matter what Val thought about her thinking she was a bad sister, the only person who would ever be allowed to determine that was Stephanie, and she wasn't here so she'd have to wait until she was to find out if that was true. Valerie laughed at little and told her grandma that Stephie would only probably say she was a bad sister for getting her into trouble. At that moment Edna knew that her eldest granddaughter would be OK.
Once Edna and Valerie returned from the store, she sent Valerie off to clean her room. She then walked up to Helen and told her to follow her to the kitchen, after they were both in there Edna put the grocery bags on the table and told her daughter that although what she was going through was one of the hardest things that anyone could possibly imagine, that she had let herself go and had completely stopped taking care of her family. She was still a mother and a wife and she needed to start acting like it. She told Helen that she was taking Frank and Valerie out and that they all would be home at precisely at 6 o'clock on the dot. Then she told her that while they were gone she expected Helen to completely clean her house and to make a real homemade dinner and to have it on the table when they got home. Helen seemed stunned by this and tried to argue, but Edna didn't hear any of it she told Valerie to get her coat on and told Frank to get up and let's go and then they all walked out of the house, leaving Helen completely shocked. She didn't know how her mom could ask her to do what she did, how could she when she could barely think about doing anything at the moment. She also knew that if she didn't do everything that her mom expected her to do that it wouldn't be pretty when they got home. So she picked up the grocery bags putting things away as need but then making sure that what she needed to start dinner was left out. After she got the pot roast in the oven and the potatoes pealed cut and in the pot on low along with all the vegetables sliced and cooking as well she sighed and started on her next task of cleaning the house, after about an hour of cleaning she realized how dirty her house had gotten in such a short time and how badly she had neglected her responsibilities. She silently thanked her mom for making her do this and not only because of the realization of how bad it was but because for a little bit in time she was able to focus on something other than her own miserable life and how bad things were for her. She didn't know what was going to happen but one thing she did know was that she was ashamed of herself and vowed that she could never allow herself to go back to the way she was. When Edna, Frank, and Valerie walked through the door at 6 O'clock after being where ever they had been, they smelled the food first then saw how clean the house was. Helen greeted them, freshly showered and looking very much like her old self. She told everyone that dinner would be on the table in 5 minutes and that they all needed to go wash up and then hurry up and sit down so they eat before the roast got dried out. As everyone was going to get washed up Helen walked up to her mom and gave her the biggest hug that she could possibly give her and then walked into the kitchen to start bringing out the food to the dining room.
After Frank, Edna, and Valerie left the house, Frank had no clue what was going on but figured that at least he was getting out of the house. It had only been a few days since their life was turned upside down as well as how badly that Helen had let the house go, but he didn't have the energy to say anything to her or do anything for himself. He knew they were drowning in their sorrows but he didn't know what to do or how to fix it, he was almost at the end of his rope. He kept thinking that there hadn't been any ransom notes or calls and no type of threats against him or Joe so what could possibly be happening to Stephanie. Edna brought him out of his thoughts by telling him to drive them to Chuck E Cheese. Frank had looked like she lost her mind but Edna knew that by going there Valerie would be occupied long enough for her to be able to talk to Frank. Once he pulled in and parked, they all got out of the car. Valerie looked like she was finally starting to feel better since she seemed excited to be there which made Frank happy. She tried to rush to the door but Edna grabbed her hand and gave her a stern look, Valerie quickly slowed down and started to walk to the entrance. Edna knew that she was excited but they couldn't have Valerie run off especially since they didn't know what was going on. Since it was a school day and most of the kids had been in school it wasn't very crowded so Edna was able to walk up to the cashier order their food and get a bunch of tokens so Valerie could play the games. When they picked out a table Edna gave Valerie a handful of tokens to use but reminded her to stay close and check in. Valerie understood just like she understood the look that her grandma gave outside. She needed to be careful.
Edna then turned to Frank who was just looking around trying to figure out why he came here. She got his attention and told him that they needed to have a serious talk. She told him that enough was enough and that he needed to snap out of it and to start acting like the head of his family instead of being a jackass. She asked him how long he planned to sit at the kitchen table just staring at the phone hoping it would ring. She wanted to know when the last time he even did anything except sit at that table. If he wasn't even able to take care of himself, how did he ever expect to take care of the family he had left who was going through the same thing he was? He was at a loss for words and he really didn't know how to answer her. She continued by saying even though this situation was horrible and one of the worst things that a parent will ever have to go through and even though he should never give up trying to find Stephanie, he needs to find the balance in his life that allows him time to himself for his sanity but also still allows him to continue his search for Stephanie. Frank knew that she was right but he really didn't know how to do that. Edna then asked him if he was completely out of the military, he explained that he was done with the missions and that he was almost finally out. He needed to finish up some paperwork that had been neglected. She inquired if he had to go away to complete the paperwork or could it be done in Trenton, he told her that it could be done in Trenton. She told him that he need to do it and then told him to go the next day and get it done. Then she told him that when he got home he needed to tell his wife that he was taking her out to dinner. She told him not to worry about Valerie that she would take care of her. She reminded him that he needed to be strong for his family and they needed to come together instead of drifting apart like they had been. That it was his job as the head of the house to do what he could to repair his family and that he needed to do it before it got any worse.
Their food was finally delivered and they called Valerie over so they could eat. Frank sat there while he was eating and started to think about everything that Edna had told him, he looked up at his daughter and realized that she had a small smile on her face. That gave him some hope that maybe they could still have some normalcy in their life while still keeping the hope they would find Stephanie. He understood how close he came to almost losing the rest of his family and he didn't want that to happen so after they were done eating he grabbed the rest of the tokens and went off to play with his eldest child. After all the tokens were used they realized it was time to head home, Frank couldn't remember the last time that he had smiled was, his heart ached of Stephanie missing and he would still do everything in his power to find her, but he needed to take care of his family as well.
When they got home and walked in the door to a clean home and the smell of food in the air, and when he saw his wife looking more like her old self, he knew then that the best thing that could have ever happened was Helen calling her mother even though he hadn't been sure at the time. He knew that whatever the future held that together as a family they would be able to handle it.