Neglected

Helen drives slowly back to her house with tears all over her face. Jack-Jack looks at his mother with concern. He has never seen his mother this miserable in his life. Helen and Jack-Jack arrive at home. Helen sits on her seat continuing to cry. She takes out a piece of tissue and wipes off her tears. Jack-Jack cries with his mother.

"Mom!" Jack-Jack weeps, but Helen didn't look back at her baby. She continues to cry. The two of them sits inside the car and sobs for minutes. Finally, Helen places her tissue into her pocket. She unbuckles herself and unbuckles Jack-Jack. She cradles the sobbing baby around her arms. Helen's tears drop on poor Jack-Jack's face. She wipes Jack-Jack's tear off his face. She hums her baby a lullaby. Jack-Jack slowly closes his eyes and falls into a deep sleep. Helen carries the baby inside the house and she places him gently in his crib. She covers Jack-Jack up in a yellow blanket. A smile appears on her face when she sees her baby sucking on his thumb. She kisses the baby on the head and leaves the room. She lies on the couch, thinking and crying.

"Sean, Violet, Dash." Helen thought. "How can they do this to me? How can they reject me? I thought I raised them well just like a mother should. And now, after 15 years of hard work, this is all I get. No attention, no concern and no respect. I feel so guilty." A downpour of tears fell off of Helen's face. She takes out a piece of tissue and wipes her tears. She looks at her watch and it reads 4:30. Helen gets up out of the couch and throws the tissue in the trash.

"I better get a hold of myself." She thought. "Maybe I'm just having a rough day. Perhaps, cooking dinner will clear my mind a little bit." Helen walks to across the hall. She checks on her baby Jack-Jack. The small infant has his eyes closed and his thumb in his mouth. Helen plants a small kiss on his head and covers him up in a yellow blanket. After seeing a tiny smile on the baby's face, Helen makes her way into the kitchen. She puts on her apron and retrieves some pots and pans in the cupboard. She begins to cook. Helen looks up at the clock and when it struck four, the front door opened. Helen looks across the hall and waits for someone to enter. She then hears laughter out of the house.

"Woo hoo!" some shouts. Dash enters the house jumping like crazy. He then starts dancing around the house.

"I'm the Dash!" he brags. "I'm the Dash! I'm the Dash!" Finally, he walks toward the stairs. Helen walks out of the kitchen.

"Hi honey. How was…" But Dash ignores his mother and he continues to walk up the stairs. Helen waits until she couldn't hear anymore of Dash's boasting. Helen's face was covered with tears. She goes back to the kitchen and continues to cook. A few minutes later, the front door opens. Violet and Sean walks into the house, laughing.

"We were awesome!" Violet yells.

"We were fantastic!" Sean screams.

"You were great Sean." Violet compliments.

"Nah. You were better Vi. Great job." Violet smiles at his brother. After a small hug, the two teenagers went upstairs to their rooms without saying a word to their mother. More and more tears fall from Helen's eyes. Never in her own life has she ever been neglected by her own children. She was so depressed, she couldn't move or speak. She just cried for a long time. Helen finally regains herself and continues to make dinner. After an hour of cooking and crying, Helen takes the steak out of the pan and places it onto a plate. She takes out another plate and puts corn on it. She sets them on the table alone with forks, knives, spoons, plates, napkins and cups.

"Kids! Dinner's ready!" she called. She walks back to the crib and wakes up her baby. The small infant opens his eyes and smiles at his mom. "Hi Jack-Jack." She softly spoke. Jack-Jack innocently clapped his hands in front of his mom. Helen smiles as she carries her baby out of the crib and into the kitchen. She placed him in a high chair. Helen brings the food over to the table and sits down next to Jack-Jack. Quietly and patiently, she waits for her children to come down. She looks back at her energetic baby.

"Up! Up! Up!" he said. The mother smiles.

"Kids! Come on down! Your dinner is getting cold." She walks to the stair way and calls on her children again.

"Dash! Vi! Sean! If you don't get down here on the count of three, I will ground you for a month!" But before Helen can start counting Dash and Violet come racing down the stairs with Sean following.

"Come on Vi!" dash teases. He waves a pinkish book to his sister. "Just one page. Let me read just one page."

"Dash! Give me back my diary!" Violet screams. She dives toward her little brother, but the speedster steps out of the way and his sister lands hard on the ground. She glares at her brother. Dash continues to make faces at her. "Dash. Please. Give back my diary."

"You want it?" Dash asks. He places the diary on the ground. "Come and get it." Violet looks at her brother. She slowly makes her way toward her diary. She growls every time Dash yawns. "You're boring me sis." Violet ignores her brother and she creeps toward her diary. But before she can make a move, Dash snatches it from the ground and runs to the kitchen.

"Too slow!" he teases. Dash opens up his sister's diary. A furious Violet clenches her teeth and her fists. She stomps toward her little brother.

"Dear diary." Dash read. Violet stops walking and looks at Dash with her eyes open.

"Dash, don't! She orders. "You read one more word in my diary, I'll kill you!" A sick grin appears on the speedsters face. He chuckles as he continues to read.

"Tony was such a sweetie to me today. Today during school, he offered to carry my books for me. And that's not all, during class, when I opened up one if my books; I found a rose and a violet inside. I felt like the angels were lifting me up into heaven. How romantic is Tony?" Dash closed the diary and grins at his embarrassed sister.

"Awwwwwwww." He teases. "How cute. Kissie kissie huh Violet? Tony and Violet, sitting in a tree, K I S S I N…"

"That's it!" Violet screams. She pounces on her brother and the two of them falls on the floor. She grabs Dash by the neck and strangles him. She pounds his head on the floor. Dash manages to roll out. He drops his sister's diary and tackles his sister. The two of them rolls on the ground. Dash manages to get on top of his sister. He grabs Violet's long hair and starts pulling on it. The teenager screams in pain. With the other hand, he grabs Violet's neck and chokes his sister. He slams Violet's head hard on the floor. Violet counters with a hard uppercut on Dash's chin, knocking him back. Violet gets back up and glares at Violet. Dash runs toward his sister with tremendous speed. He runs past her, but gives a vicious slap to her face. He runs around in circles, slapping his sister's face. Helen tries to control her kids, but it's no use. Jack-Jack would bounce uncontrollably in his chair. Violet strives to project a force field to stop her brother, but a quick slap from Dash makes her lose her concentration.

"Dash! (slap)…Stop…(slap)…it…(slap)…please…(slap)…Dash…that's…(slap)…enough…(slap)" Each slap brings more pain to Violet's face. She was sent on he knees. Violet gasps for air as Dash continues to humiliate his sister. Jack-Jack continues to bounce up and down his seat. Helen tries her best to control the kids.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" shouted Sean. Helen, Violet and Dash look at the teenage boy without saying a word. Jack-Jack laughs during the silence, but Sean looks at the baby with a scowl on his face. The poor baby gulps and remains silent. Sean stomps toward his two fighting siblings. He stares into their eyes. Finally, he turns toward Dash. Sean extends his hand toward the ten year old boy. Dash sighs and gives the diary to Sean, which he gives to Violet. Violet wraps her dairy around her arms and she glares at Dash.

"Little insect." She pouts and turns her back toward him.

"Humph." Dash grunts. He turns his back toward his sister.

"Alright you two." Sean sighs. "Why don't you all turn around, look straight into each others eyes and apologize." He waited for a while, but Violet and Dash continue to ignore him and each other. This made Sean very angry. He grabs Dash by the ear and Violet by her hair and he turns them around until they are facing each other. Dash and Violet screamed in pain. They open their eyes and looked at each other.

"Say it or I'll pull so hard you'll be out for week." Sean warned. Although the pain is unbearable, Dash and Vi stares into each others eyes.

"I'm sorry." The said simultaneously. Sean nods and releases Dash's ear and Violet's hair. The three of them sat down at the dinner table and begin to eat. Helen soon joins them and the family starts to eat.

The Parr family eats their food in silence. Helen feeds her baby Jack-Jack while making funny faces. Dash is annoyed by this, but chooses to ignore it. Helen looks at Violet.

"So Vi, how was school?" Violet looks at her mother.

"Nothing new mom. The same old answer like the last a hundred times you asked me." Violet mumbles. "Sean, pass me the corn please." Sean hands her a plate of corn. Again, for minutes the dining room is filled with silence. Helen looks at her children and she clears her throat.

"So, ummmm…" she spoke. "Dash, how was your day in…"

"Can you pass me the gravy Vi?" Dash interrupts. Violet hands him the gravy and he pours it all over his steak. Helen sighs and tries talking to talk again.

"Enjoying your food kids?" she asked. Sean, Violet and Dash look at her without saying a word. They continue to eat their food without acknowledging their mother. Helen stares at her kids with her mouth wide open. She tries to fight back her tears.

"So Dash," she said again. "How was…"

"Are ready for your big game Dash?" Sean asks, disrupting Helen. A wicked smile appears on his face.

"Ready?" he grins. "I was born ready! Do you know how long I've been waiting for this? After so many months of training and practice, "The Turf Punks" will finally get a shot to be number one! I can't believe my dreams of being the greatest athlete in the world are about to come true!"

"Keep dreaming twerp." Violet teases.

"Shut up sis. My team and I worked our butts off after school before the game."

"Really?" Sean asks.

"Yeah. Things were going well until the team and I heard the police sirens. Everyone else ran away except me. The Dash never runs away. So I slipped into my super suit and I raced off to the city for some action. Oh it was so much fun. I couldn't get enough of it."

"Jeez Dash." Violet said. "Calm down. We all had fun saving the day and fighting crime. Let me say this isn't about you. It's about us. We rescued people, kicked butt and saved the day." Sean and Dash stares at Violet. A minute later, the three of them, including Jack-Jack starts to laugh.

"That was so cool you guys!" Dash said with excitement. He turns to Sean. "That was so cool of you kissing that girl after you saved her life!"

"Not as cool as Violet saving two little boys from a fire." Sean said. Violet smiles.

"Thanks guys. But really, we all did a great job."

"It was so awesome!" Dash said. "I love the part when I ran through the path of crossfire to get to the bad guys, and then I tripped all of those teenagers, oh it was so much fun. And when Sean uses his laser beams to knock the guns to the other side and when Violet wraps them up in her little force field. That was so cool!" Dash said in one breath without stopping. As Dash continues to recall the rescues, Sean, Violet and Jack-Jack listen and smile. A few minutes later…

"And after you kiss that girl right in the lips, THAT WAS THE BESTEST DAY EVER!" Dash screams. He runs out of breath and falls back on his chair. "I love my siblings." The siblings laugh at each other as they finish their food. Sean gets out of his seat.

"I'm done." He said. "I'm gonna go finish my homework."

"Me too." Violet said as she carried her plate to the kitchen counter.

"And me." Dash said. He places his plate in the sink. The three of them walks to the stairway. Suddenly, there was a loud pound on the table. The three children looks back and they see Helen clenching her fist and gritting her teeth. She glares at her kids.

"Sean, Violet, Dash, come here, NOW!" she orders. Hesitantly, they drag their way toward their mother. Helen stands in front of her children. One by one, she slaps their faces.

"Ow! Mom what was that for?" A furious Helen gives the boy another slap.

"Don't talk to me like that young man." Helen growls.

"What's your problem?" Dash argues. "We just saved the day and now you're punishing us for it? What kind of mother are you?"

"I…" Helen stammers.

"We always look up to you mom! We thought we were gonna have the greatest mother of all!" Violet yells.

"We were wrong all along." Sean scowls. Helen was speechless. Trying to fight her tears, she pulls her hand back, ready to give another slap. But before she could do anything, wailing sounds of police sirens echoed throughout the neighborhood. The Parr family sees the patrol cars past by their house. The children glares back at their mother.

"You know something?" Sean said. "This is just a waste of time. Mom, this discussion is over!" He slips into his super suit and runs out the door. Violet walks up to her mom.

"Some mother you are huh?" she glowers. Violet sighs as she gets into her super suit and follows Sean outside. Dash gets into his super suit and walks to the front door. Helen elongates her arms and places her hand on Dash's shoulder.

"Dash, wait, please. I…" Helen said. Dash pushes Helen's hand off of his shoulder.

"Let me guess. When I get home, you want to talk to me huh? Well, forget it mom. You disrespected me and humiliate me. I don't feel like talking to you anymore. Now get out of my way. I've got some work to do." Dash puts on his mask and runs out of the door. Helen's eyes burst into tears. Never in her whole life had she felt this miserable. She covers her face and continues to cry. She didn't see the front door open.

"Honey, I'm home!" Bob yells. He walks into the kitchen and sees his wife crying on the table. "Honey, are you alright?" Helen looks at her husband. Bob wipes away her tears with his finger.

"I'm fine." Helen replies. "Just fine. I had a rough day today." Helen places her hand on her forehead as if she's about to faint. Bob carries his wife upstairs and places her on her bed. He covers her up.

"Get some rest honey." He said. He turns off the lights and walks down the stairs. Helen stares at the ceiling, thinking about her children and what they've said to her. She tries to fall asleep, but tears continue to form and fall off her face. A small thought clouds over her mind. Do her children love her or not? Helen covers her face on her pillow. For hours, she weeps all over her bed. Finally, Bob enters the room. He hears his wife crying. He sits down next to her and places his hand on her head. Helen looks up and sees him smiling. Helen gives Bob a great big hug and a kiss. Once again, Bob wipes away her tears.

"What's wrong honey?" Bob asked.

"Bob am I a good mother?" she asked. Her husband stares at her oddly.

"What do you mean?"

"For the past months, I've been raising Sean, Vi, Dash and Jack-Jack as best as I can. I fed them, cared for them, took them to school, trained them, protected them, and loved them with all of my heart. I thought I was doing a great job, but it is as if the kids are taking me for granite. They don't appreciate me or anything I do. All they care about is themselves and saving the world. Recently, I've heard them saying that they could take care of the world and themselves and that they don't need any of our help." Helen's eyes start to water. Bob holds Helen's chin up.

"Honey, you've worked so hard. You've raised our children for such a long time. You shouldn't feel guilty honey. You should feel happy for our children. Look at what they have become. If it wasn't for you, they wouldn't be what they are right now. I'm proud of you sweetie." Bob kisses his wife on the cheek. "But, our kids are growing up. We can't always watch them. Our children fights evil just like we do. Everyday, they get better and better. Someday, they'll be on their own protecting us, each other and themselves. I know its hard honey, but someday, we will have to let go of our own children so they can become what we are; great heroes." Helen thought about it and she slowly nods her head. Finally, both Bob and Helen tuck themselves into bed. Bob is the first to fall asleep. Helen stares at the ceiling for a few minutes.

"Maybe Bob's right." She thought. Slowly, she closes her eyes and falls into a deep sleep.

An hour later, the front door opens and the Incredikids enter the house. They slowly shut the door and took off their super suits.

"That was fun!" Dash exclaims. "Hey, hey, did you guys see me when I took that bad guy down? And did you see the way I wrestled him to…"

"Dash, shut up!" Violet orders. "We get the idea."

"Vi, Dash, shut up." Sean commands. "Jack-Jack's asleep. So are mom and dad." The three of them tiptoes into the kitchen. They found a note on the counter. Violet picks up the note and starts reading it.

My dearest children,

I'm sorry I couldn't help you saving the day, but it wouldn't matter because you are my children. You're growing up. I'm sure someday you can take care of yourselves. If you're hungry, there are some leftovers in the fridge and chocolate cake just for you. I'm so proud of the three of you. You've grown a lot. You've changed so much. I'll do anything to…"

"Huh? That's weird, mom didn't finish the note." said Violet.

"Oh well, I'm gonna get some cake." Dash said. He sprints to the fridge and takes out the cake. He cuts the cake and puts it on the plate. "Want some cake Sean?" he asked.

"Sure." The teenager smiles. Dash cuts off a piece of cake. The piece he hands to Sean was twice as small as his. Sean looked at Dash with an odd stare. Dash grins at his brother and Sean had no choice but to smile.

"Hey Vi, want some cake?" he asked. There was no answer. "Violet, want some cake or not?" Again, his sister wouldn't answer. The two boys looked at her and noticed Violet reading the note.

"Vi, what's wrong?" Sean wondered.

"I'm wondering." She said. "If mom wrote this, what's with all of the small wet dots on the note?" Sean looks at the note and it was covered with tiny wet spots. The two teenagers looked at each other. Suddenly, Sean's eyes widened and Violet mouth dropped.

"Oh my God!" Violet gasped. "Oh my God! Mom!"

"What have we done?" Sean thought. He looks down to the ground feeling miserable.

"What's going on?" Dash wondered. Violet hands him the note. Dash reads it and sees the wet dots. Dash gasped and drops the note. The three siblings look at each other with guilt. Finally, Sean heads to the phone.

"What are you doing?" Dash asked.

"Something I should've done earlier." Sean answers. He looks at Violet and the two nods their heads.

"Great. I get the phone next." She said.

"And what about me? What can I do?" Dash complains.

"Well, in a situation like this, what would be the smartest thing to do?" Violet remarks. Dash knew what she was thinking.

"Oh come on!" he whines. "I can't…well I…can't you guys…I just…I just…oh…alright. I'll do it." He sighs.

"Good." Sean said. "Now when we're done, we better get some sleep."

"Because," agreed Violet. "Tomorrow is going to be a special day for a special person. Let's do this…for mom."

Author's Note: Sorry for the long update my friends. Stupid classes is taking my time away. I promise the next update won't be as long as this.