"I know this is only your first day," Ethan told Jeffrey as they strode into Roxie's. "But you really don't have to be nervous about this job. You'll do great!" He paused. "Are you nervous?"
"Not too much," Jeffrey replied. "I mean, I've already been hired and I know everyone around here pretty well. So I think I'll be all right."
"Good," Ethan nodded and looked at his watch. "Now I have about an hour before I have to go to work, so I need to be on my way, but I'm glad I came with you."
"I'm glad you did too," Jeffrey replied and then went to the bar to tell Roxie he'd arrived and begin his first day as a working man, keeping a list in his head of everything that happened so he could tell Ethan about it when they were together again after work.
"I'm so glad to know that you're all right," Eli told Rebecca as he sat at her bedside. "I was really worried about you for a while there."
"It's so sweet of you to be concerned," Rebecca told him. "And for giving me the blood when you did." You really saved my life."
"Oh, it was nothing," Eli said, blushing a deep shade of pink. "Anyone would have done the same thing in my place."
"Well, it was very brave in any case," Rebecca replied. Ethan was so touched by her words that he was just about to do something crazy, like kissing her, when the door to her bedroom opened and her very put upon son came in, glaring at Eli. "Visiting hours are over," Robbie told Ethan sharply. "Go home!"
"Robbie, be nice!" Rebecca remonstrated as Eli got to his feet. "Don't listen to him," she said. "You can stay as long as you like."
"Oh, it's all right," Eli replied. "I don't want to be a bother. I should probably be getting home anyway. I'll see you later, Rebecca."
"We'll see about that," Robbie replied, his eyes narrowed, reminding Eli very strongly of his uncle who was Robbie's father. "Maybe you will, and maybe you won't."
With a sigh, Eli made his way to his mother's car and drove home, where Laura met him at the door. "How is Rebecca?" She asked.
"She's on the mend," Eli replied. "And seems to be in good spirits."
"You weren't there very long," Laura remarked.
"Her son doesn't feel comfortable having me there," Eli replied. "I think he's jealous or something."
Laura smiled and gave Eli a hug. "I know I've said this lots of times since Rebecca was hurt, but I'm so proud of you for how you handled it. And ending that weird thing that you and Vivi had going on was a smart idea too."
"I know," Eli replied. "I mean, I thought that since her mom was a good person that Vivi would be too, but apparently, she's as nutty as Uncle Klaus! I mean, you should have seen the mess that Rebecca was when Vivi was done with her. Boy am I glad I was born into the sane branch of the family."
"Ah, your uncle's not bad all the time." Laura replied. "There was a point when I was a little girl where Daddy got badly hurt and couldn't live with us anymore so Uncle Klaus took his place for a bit, and from what I can remember, he was actually a halfway decent parental figure to me."
"Really?" Eli asked. "I don't believe it."
"Well, it's true," Laura sighed. "I'm gonna go to the grocery store. If your father gets home and asks where I am, that's the answer."
"All right," Eli replied. "I'll make sure and tell him."
Then Laura left and Eli walked listlessly around the house for bit before going to his room to write a poem to Rebecca that he would give her the next time he saw her. Hopefully that would let her know that he was thinking about her, perhaps even as more than a friend. He found some paper and pencil, put the eraser end in his mouth while he thought of a way to start his masterpiece, and wrote until his father came home and asked where in the world his mother was.
Despite all of Eli's efforts to change her mind, Rebecca was still firmly fixated on King, even though he wasn't the one coming to spend time at her bedside every day.
When she finally felt well enough to leave the house (a fact that filled Robbie with immense relief cause it meant he could get on with his own life and not have to tend her every second of the day) the first thing she did was go and see her half brother.
"Can I come in?" She asked after King opened the door in response to her knock. "Or do you have a scary, murderous redhead in there?"
"Oh, no," King replied. "Come in. No scary redhead. We've broken up apparently. And she's moved on. We were in the same restaurant the other day and she kissed her new boyfriend in public. How much attention can one person need?" He sighed.
"Well, I'm feeling much better now," Rebecca informed him. "So if you ever need me to help you with anything (and I mean anything) don't hesitate to call me."
"All right, I'll remember that," King assured her. "Did you want to see Mom? I'm sure she's around here somewhere. I'm sure she'll be glad to know that you're feeling better and are up and about."
"Okay," Rebecca nodded. "Yeah, I better do that. She was calling so often to ask about me that Robbie was beginning to get irritated with her." She then went in search of her mother and found her looking for one of her spell books in the basement. "I'm here!" She cried. Gwen heard her voice, but it took awhile before it fully registered and she turned around to hug her daughter. "So glad you're doing better," she said. "I was worried about you for awhile there."
"I know," Rebecca nodded. "Thanks for that. But know that you know I'm fine, you can stop calling Robbie day and night."
"Is that beginning to irritate him?" Gwen asked. "I could hear it in his voice. And that's tough because I'm gonna keep calling. I'm your mother and that is what mothers do."
"Yeah," Rebecca nodded. "No kidding. Well, I just came over to tell you I was up and about so you wouldn't worry anymore. You wanna do something, or do you and Mikael have plans?"
Gwen scoffed. "If Mikael and I had plans, do you think I would be wasting my time down here looking for spellbooks? He's been sore at me ever since his former father-in-law showed up, became friends with me, and then I forced him to socialize with us. And then there's the whole thing between King and Vivi that's got him worked up too, so Mikael and I have basically been spending time apart and I have no idea when he's gonna get his act together. That being said, I would love to do something with you. I don't care what it is, let's just go."
"All right," Rebecca smiled and they both disappeared and ended up in the shopping district with enough money between them to make for a really nice afternoon out.
"Apparently, Jeffrey's job at Roxie's is going awfully well," Selina told Elijah. "But that doesn't mean you can start dropping less-than-subtle hints to Ethan that he and Jeffrey should move in together so that you and I can have the house to ourselves and start making an entirely new bunch of children."
"I will do no such thing," Elijah replied. "Not yet, anyway."
"Good," Selina replied. "And even after Ethan does leave, I think we should wait a little bit. Not a horribly long time, but just long enough to adequately savor the peace and quiet."
"We could try that," Elijah replied. "But I bet you'll be tired of the silence before I am."
"How could I be tired of the silence?" Selina asked. "It's the one thing our house has been lacking for years! When it finally comes, it'll be damn welcome!"
"Until you get bored cause you have no one but me to take care of and I'm very self-sufficient," Elijah pointed out. "And don't try to tell me that won't happen. It will."
"We'll just see about that," Selina replied. "You wanna make a bet about this?"
"Oh, I don't think you wanna bet with me," Elijah smiled. "I'll win every time."
"How do you suppose we test this ridiculous theory of yours?" Selina asked.
"Easy," Elijah replied and called for Ethan.
"Yeah?" Ethan asked when he approached his parents. "What can I do for you?"
"If you'd like to go stay with Jeffrey this weekend, feel free," Elijah told him. "You've been working hard. You deserve it."
"Really?" Ethan asked. "Are you sure? What's going on here?"
"Nothing is going on," Elijah replied. "We just want you to have a reward for how hard you've been working."
Ethan smiled. "You two want me out of the house, don't you? If you do, you just have to say so. You don't need to make up stuff."
"All right," Elijah replied. "We want you out of the house. It doesn't mean we don't love you, though."
"Oh, I know," Ethan replied. "Don't worry." He went to his room, grabbed some things, and headed to Jeffrey's. Once the door slammed shut, Elijah turned to grin at Selina. "And the rest is silence," he said. "I can make it? Can you?"
"You bet I can!" Selina replied. "You're on!"
But, much to her dismay, finding a way to occupy herself for an entire weekend with no kids to take care of was very difficult and every sign of boredom that she showed just made Elijah grin wider. "Have you had enough?" He asked her when he found her cleaning the bathroom when the cleaning lady she'd finally allowed to be hired was coming to do it the next day. "Are you ready to concede defeat?"
"I concede nothing!" Selina replied. "I just like a clean house is all. I'm not doing this because I'm bored or trying to find something to do that doesn't involve sex."
Elijah then chuckled to himself as he left the bathroom. Selina would beg him to get her pregnant the second Ethan was out of the house. After seeing how she was really grasping at straws to occupy herself when she didn't have kids to watch, he was sure of that.