Day 17, Continued
"Mom's home!" Alison shouted as Stevie pulled up to the house, pointing at the familiar dark SUV's parked in front of their house.
"And the circus is back." Jason said dryly.
"I guess the world is safe again." Stevie said, parking the car. "She's probably tired though, Ali so . . ." But Allison had already thrown open the car door and darted up the steps.
"She's worse than a six year old." Jason said reaching for the door handle.
"Well, not everyone can cover up their fear with a bitter sarcastic tone, J." Stevie said before pushing open the door and climbing out of the car.
"Who said I was afraid?" He said defensively as he walked up the steps beside his older sister.
She shook her head at him. "Right, Mom barely survives a coup, and Dad gets hit with a radioactive bomb, but you aren't afraid."
"Shut up, Stevie!" Stevie's eyes grew wide at his reaction, but saying nothing, she grabbed onto his elbow and led him inside.
They were greeted by their father, who was holding onto Allison's arm.
" . . .let her sleep, Noodle. Just give her some . . ." He was saying, but was interrupted by a voice from upstairs.
"I am not asleep!" They all grinned at their mother's voice. "And you better not keep those babies away from me, Henry Patrick McCord or . . ."
"Or, what?" He said laughing. "You think you can take me? Buying clothes for the gym isn't the same thing as actually working out, Babe."
Allison McCord glanced briefly at her father who gave a slight nod of his head, before she bolted up the stairs to her mother's bedroom. She threw her arms around her mother who was sitting up in bed.
"I missed you, kid!" She said holding Allison in a tight hug.
"Me too!" Allison sat back from her mother beaming with delight. "Did you just get home?"
"Earlier, but I think I'm mixed up about whether it is day or night." She laughed, her arms outstretched to embrace Stevie who had come into the room with Jason trailing behind her.
"We are glad you are home." Stevie said, kissing her mother's cheek and then standing next to Allison who sat on the edge of the bed.
"Well, don't be a dork!" Elizabeth McCord said to Jason who stood awkwardly at the end of the bed. "Come let me hug you, or are you too cool for that?"
"You are the dork." He said, shaking his head and walking over to hug her. "Dad fed us candy and made us watch horror movies every night you were gone."
"You wish." She said laughing. "It's good to be home."
"I'm surprised you aren't at work." Jason said, leaning against the wall of the bedroom. "The world safe for today?"
"This afternoon, anyway." She studied him thoughtfully. "I've been gone too much, and I missed you guys." She smiled at them. "I missed my babies."
"Geez, mom!" Jason groaned.
"Mom! I'm sixteen years old! C'mon!" Allison protested but Stevie just laughed.
"You hungry?" Stevie asked her mother. "We were just talking about making some grilled cheese on the way home."
"That sounds fantastic." She threw the covers back, and stood awkwardly.
"Mom!" Allison burst out.
"What happened to your knee?" Stevie asked her.
"Oh, well, it turns out I'm a bit of a klutz." She shook her head. "It's stupid. I fell."
"I told you block heels were a mistake." Allison said, as they all followed her limping out of the bedroom.
"Well, here's good news then: I tossed them. They are somewhere in Hungary."
***MS***
Elizabeth McCord leaned back in her chair, setting down the remains of a grilled cheese sandwich.
"See, I can totally cook." She declared, sighing happily.
"Yeah, Mom." Allison agreed. "You are the queen of toast."
"And you can heat soup with the best of them." Stevie added.
"Thanks for that." Elizabeth said winking. She stretched lazily. "What time is it?"
"4:45." Jason told her. "Can I go over to Bender's?"
"No." Henry said. "Mom just got home!"
"She's falling asleep." Jason protested, gesturing to his mother.
"No." Henry repeated, and Jason shook his head, rising from the table and going to the sink.
Stevie watched her younger brother, wearily, and rising took her plate and her mother's plate to the sink.
"Help me wash, brat." She told him, bumping his hip with hers.
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes at her, but reached for the dish soap, as she doubled back to clear the rest of the table.
***MS***
Elizabeth knew she ought to just go back up to bed, but was far too content to have her family around her. She had settled on the couch, her legs stretched out. Allison sat on the other end, balancing her chemistry book on her lap, as she did her homework. She could hear the sound of Stevie and Jason from the kitchen. Jason had decided that he was hungry almost as soon as they'd finished cleaning up from their snack, and now the two of them were working to concoct some sort of pasta dish for dinner.
"You want anything?" Henry asked, hovering near her shoulder. "Thirsty?"
"Sort of tempted to have a glass of wine, but then it would all be over!" She laughed. "I'd be asleep in ten seconds."
"Now, I'm tempted to give you a glass of wine!" Henry laughed. "Besides didn't they give you pain pills for the knee?"
"Oh, that's right." She shook her head. "This has been the longest day. That seems like weeks ago."
"I'll get you some water." Henry said turning from her.
"So you saved those kids." Allison said to her mother. "I saw them with their parents on the news."
"Don't expect me to okay a trip running around Eastern Europe anytime soon, Noodle." Elizabeth said, winking at her daughter.
"Oh, that's okay, I was holding out for a trip to China."
"Fabulous!" Elizabeth accepted the glass of water that Henry handed her, taking a sip. "The Ambassador to China and I are practically besties." She winked at Henry, leaning forward, so that he could slide onto the couch behind her. She settled back against him, setting the glass of water on the coffee table.
"Jason, you didn't say anything about that math test we studied for." Henry said, and Jason stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the family room.
"I dunno. It was fine, I guess."
"How long does it usually take to find out?"
"He said he'd give back to us by Friday." Jason shrugged. "I'm gonna go do my homework."
He turned and was gone. Elizabeth glanced at Henry, who shrugged his shoulders.
"You just got home and are tired, Elizabeth. Leave it alone." He told her.
Stevie flopped into a chair. "Dinner in half an hour." She smiled at her mom. "But I'm thinking Jason's the only one who'll be hungry."
"He's always hungry." Allison looked up from a work briefly. "Mom, you'll be home tomorrow night, too, right?"
"In theory." Elizabeth said. "I don't have another trip scheduled for awhile."
"Unless a couple of teenagers decide to backpack into Iraq." Stevie offered.
"Oh, God! Let's hope not!"
"You should go back to bed, Mom." Stevie said. "You are falling asleep."
"I should." Elizabeth agreed, sleepily. Her eyes started to drift shut, but suddenly she pushed herself up from the couch. "Okay." She stood looking down at Henry.
"Stevie said you should go to bed." He pointed out to her. "And I said leave it alone for now."
"I heard you." She evaded. She limped to where Stevie sat, brushing a hand through her daughter's hair. "Thanks for doing the dishes, baby."
"No, problem." She said looking up at her mother. "Dad's right, though. Go to sleep. He won't talk to you. I've tried. He's not ready, yet."
Elizabeth considered her daughter thoughtfully for a long moment. "Thanks for looking out for him."
She paused next to Ali to give her forehead a kiss, and then continued limping toward the stairs, favoring her bad knee.
"She never listens." Stevie said to her father, who sighed, and pushed himself up from the couch.
"Tell me about it." He said and caught up to Elizabeth, wrapping an arm around her, so she could lean on him, as she limped up the stairs.
***MS***
She stood just inside his bedroom doorway, and typical of a youth consumed with angst, Jason sat on his bed a laptop in front of him, earbuds in his ears. He looked up at his parents, and pulled out one earbud.
"What? You going to bed?" He asked, not quite making eye contact with his mother.
"I just thought I'd see what you were up to." She limped into the room and sat on the edge of his bed. "You doing homework?"
"Nah." He shrugged. He glanced over at his father who still stood in the doorway. "You gotta take another trip or something?"
"No. I just . . ." She moved closer to him. "You seem . . ."
"You look really tired, Mom." He interrupted, rising abruptly. "She should be in bed." He said gesturing to his father.
"I agree." Henry said calmly. "But she has a hard time sleeping when she's worried."
"Yeah?" Jason responded sharply, his voice rising in pitch. "Join the club!" He folded his arms across his chest and glared down at his mother.
"Jason," She said rising, unsteadily. "Hey, we should talk about this."
"What?" He asked her. "There's nothing to talk about. It's fine. You are fine." He gestured toward his father. "He's fine. I'm fine. Nobody died. And everyone is great."
"It was really scary, though." Henry said taking a step closer to his son.
"I. Am. Not. Scared." Jason spit out angrily. "Stop saying that! Why does everyone keep saying that?"
"Okay," Elizabeth soothed. "So you tell us what you feel."
"No." He shook his head. "Jesus, Dad, will you make her just go rest!" He turned back to his mother. "You need to get some rest. They are gonna call in another hour or so, and you are gonna have to drag yourself back downtown, and . . . just go get some rest."
"Baby, look . . ."
"You didn't trip, Mom. Okay?" His voice was a tight growl. "I'm not a baby. I can manage the internet and its not like the press ignores you. You were overrun by violent protestors who wanted to kill you." He pointed at her. "You didn't trip and hurt your knee."
Elizabeth sighed and glanced over at Henry.
"I told you to stay off the internet." Henry said, reaching out and putting a hand on Jason's arm. "It only makes you worry."
"Yeah, well, at least it doesn't lie to me!" Jason spun to face his father. "It doesn't feed me some bullshit story about why Mom is so jittery she can't sleep after her "peaceful" little trip - which was to freakin' Iran in the middle of a coup! And at least I don't have to worry about another bomb going off - I mean, we are all safe here, protected, right? Just like at that conference - they had security too! So whatever! Go to your fake conferences and tell me a bunch dirty lies about where you are. I can sleep fine. Hell, you were younger than me, when your parents died, so no big deal right?"
He had pushed himself away from his father, and stood directly in front of his mother, whose eyes shone bright with tears.
"Jason," She whispered. "Baby, I'm sorry."
His shoulders slumped and he looked down at the floor. "Please," He pleaded. "Please, just go lie down, Mom. I can't . . . I can see the pain on your face. Your knee is hurting you!"
"It's not my knee." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around him, kissing the top of his head as she did. She half expected him to push her away, but instead he hugged her to himself crying great heaving sobs. He held so tightly to her that she would have fallen over, if Henry hadn't wrapped his arms around them both.
***MS***
"Go to sleep." Henry said, reaching over clicking off the light.
"I'm trying to." Elizabeth pointed out. They were both in bed and it was nearly eleven. She had every intention of being in bed hours ago, but between Jason's outburst, and the girls coming to check on Jason, and Stevie trying to feed her, and then Allison wanting to sit with her and talk with her - the evening had stretched on and on. Henry had shooed all of them out around nine, and she'd expected to collapse into instant sleep, but she'd been too keyed up.
"i'm just saying that he's never going to go willingly."
"Elizabeth, I"m not kidding. We can talk about it later. Go to sleep." Henry said clicking of his beside lamp.
"It's not like we ever said anything negative about therapy, did we?" She glanced over at her husband. "I mean before. I didn't make quips about it, did I?"
"You are just trying to drag me back into the conversation. I'm rolling over and I'm going to sleep." Henry said.
"It would be better if he wanted to go. Should we make the girls go too? I mean, things have gotten out of control."
Henry turned toward her then. "No, they haven't."
"Really? Did you have to deal with surviving a bomb when you were in high school? Did you have to deal with your mother running all over the globe?"
"They are doing okay, and Jason . . ." Henry sighed, reaching out and running a hand soothingly over Elizabeth's shoulder.
"He's been keeping a lot of things inside." Elizabeth said flatly. "I'd blame you, but it might be an Adams trait."
"It's a Jason trait." He told her. "And it isn't a problem that can be solved tonight. You've been awake for days, Babe. You've got to get some rest."
"Yeah." She agreed. She nodded her head and said nothing more.
"What?" He asked softly.
"I dunno." She said quietly. "I just sometimes wonder if it would be easier now if I had a mom when I was there age. I've got nothing to guide me."
Henry remained silently thoughtful and she sighed, waiting for the quote that was sure to follow, but when the silence continued she sat up on her elbow.
"Henry?" She peered at him in the dim light. "Where's my quote?"
"Sometimes, I'm at a loss for words." He whispered.
"I have that effect on people." She quipped, trying to lighten the mood.
"No." He said. "You are just . . ." He shook his head. "No, joke, Babe, I was mad as hell at you for . . ." He paused, clearing his throat. "But you are so sweet and I want so much to fix," he stopped again rubbing his forehead. "Everything. The kids. Your job. My job. I just want make everything right for you. I want to travel back in time and stop that crash."
She lay back down flat, her arm draped over her eyes, incapable of any response. Henry sat up on his elbow, leaning over her.
"Babe?" He asked.
"I can't even respond to something like that." Her voice was muffled by her arm, but she final lifted it and looked up at him with teary eyes. "Henry, that's the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me. And I'm so sorry about before. I really am."
"We already settled all that." He said running his hand along her cheek and leaning in for a kiss.
"We did." She agreed. "But it's been the longest of days."
"It has been. And now, sleep." He kissed her again and she shifted so that he could wrap his arms around her.
"It will be dawn again before you know it." She sighed.
"And the grey-eyed goddess held back the dawn so that the lovers could linger safely in one another's arms." Henry said.
And even as her eyes drifted shut she laughed comforted by the steady predictability of Henry.
"'Night, babe." She said sleepily.
"Good night, 'Lizabeth." She felt his lips brush her cheek and then, at last, she slept.
***MS***
Author's Note: My husband is a musician and last summer, was performing in Eastern Europe when a group of protesters stormed that stage and held him and his band hostage for a few hours. He called me just before it happened and texted me until his phone died. It really changed how I watch that Tamerlane episode and made the last few episodes kind of tense. Let's just say Barbara Hall knows what she's doing! He made it home safe but that was the longest of days.