Chapter 16

Tina ran a damp cloth over the counter, grateful that the lunch rush was over. It had been so busy, they hadn't been able to properly clean the tables when customers had left; they just had time to bus them before new ones sat down.

While Linda was hurriedly cleaning off the tables, Tina took the opportunity to catch her breath. Gene's burger suit lay on the floor by the window where he'd quickly discarded it after being urged inside by Bob.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Teddy removing his apron and collapsing in his usual seat, panting heavily.

"Oh, boy, that was a rough one," he said, wiping his sweaty brow. Far be it from him to leave the Burgers in a pickle; when he saw his favourite family struggling to manage the customers, he'd crammed the remains of his burger in his mouth, and rushed behind the counter.

"It's all over now – 'til tomorrow, anyway," said Linda, as she moved quickly from one booth to the other, while Gene married condiments at the end of the counter, and Bob had the arduous task of cleaning the grill.

"I can swing by and help tomorrow, if you guys want."

"That's okay, Teddy; I'm sure we can manage," Bob looked at him through the hatch, trying to hide how exhausted he was.

"You sure? I really don't mind." Teddy tried to smile even though he was wheezing. Bob smiled a little.

"It's fine, Teddy. You can.. take the day off."

Linda good-naturedly rolled her eyes at their camaraderie, and continued to clean, as did Tina. She was just refilling the napkin dispensers when she heard the bell ring, and looked up, her jaw dropping. Standing in the restaurant, right in front of her, was Boyz 4 Now, along with their bodyguard.

"Hello," smiled Boo Boo.

"Bu – wha – I -" Tina stuttered, dropping the dispenser, and freezing. Was this really happening?

"I remember you," Allen grinned. "You're one of the girls who hid on our tour bus that one time."

"Uh, yeah." Tina blushed, hoping they wouldn't remember the sweaty, unwashed headbands she still had in her room.

Before any of them could say anything else, Linda had looked up and recognised them.

"Oh, it's Boyz 4 Us!" she said, her jaw agape at the sight of having actual celebrities in their restaurant, her shout causing Bob to come in to the diner.

The boy band smiled politely at the mix up of their name – oddly, it happened quite a lot, be it the name of the band, or people getting the members' names mixed up. It was just one of those things. "What brings you guys here?" she asked, abandoning the booth she was at and standing next to the counter. She smiled at Tina, who was still agog at seeing her idols right in front of her.

The boys exchanged glances before Griffin took a small step forward.

"Well, we're here because we've been writing songs for our new album, and we have one here we wanna dedicate to Louise," he said, and the Belchers only stared at him.

".. You would really do that?" asked Linda. She looked over at Bob and Gene, who appeared to be just as stunned as she was.

"Yeah, I mean, we know she was a huge fan, and it seemed like a nice way to remember her. I'd want that for my daughter, if I had one," Matt said.

"We got the lyrics here, if you wanna read 'em." Boo Boo pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and smoothed it out. "It's not about anyone in particular, but still..." he trailed off awkwardly.

He placed the paper on the counter, and Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene, and Teddy leaned in and began to read:

'Memories of You

I wish I'd had more time

To say the things I wanted to

Now we can't make it right

To do the things we'll never do

I wish I'd said goodbye

Before you left for good

My only wish in life

Is to spend it all with you

How could I have known?

If I could have seen you one last time

I would never have let you go

Now all we have are dreams and

Memories of you in my mind

I look across the empty field

Where roses used to be

I think of you when seasons change

Visions of you and me

How could I have known?

If I could have seen you one last time

I would never have let you go

Now all we have are dreams and

Memories of you in my mind

There is no light without you

Life isn't right without you

I'd do anything to see your face again

If I saw you now, I would make that vow

I would take you in my arms, hold you close, and savour the moment

You took the sunshine from my life

And tore my world apart

I will always keep you on my mind

And forever in my heart

How could I have known?

If I could have seen you one last time

I would never have let you go

Now all we have are dreams and

Memories of you in my mind

Memories of you in my mind.'

When they had finished reading, they looked back up, unable to speak.

"It might seem a bit grown up," said Allen quickly. "But it's not about Louise specifically; it's a song about losing someone in general."

"It's.. really nice," said Linda honestly when she had found her voice, and Gene nodded. He looked back down at the paper, already composing a melody for it in his head. He probably wouldn't ever sing this song, but he couldn't stop the music from forming. "You really want to dedicate this to Louise?"

"Well, only if you want us to," Matt clarified. "It's completely up to you."

Linda, Bob, and the kids met each others eyes. They didn't even have to speak to know what they all wanted.

"Yes. Please," said Bob. "Thanks for this; it's so nice of you. I don't know what to say." It was all rather overwhelming.

"Okay, great," Matt said. "I think our label said they would just put her name in the notes on the CD, and he said there'll be a little note underneath it when it gets streamed."

"Thanks," said Tina, feeling like the word was way too small. "When will it be released?"

"I'm not sure," Griffin told her. "We still have to record it, and some others, too. We're hoping to have the album ready in time for Thanksgiving, but you never can tell, what with mixing and mastering. We might need backing singers for this, and we gotta figure out who's gonna sing what backing vocals and where, you know?"

Tina did not know, but she still nodded politely. Being in a boy band sounded a lot harder than she thought.

"So, we just wanted to drop by and make sure you were okay with it," said Boo Boo, for their bodyguard was ushering them along, and kept glancing out of the window nervously. "So, now that you're okay with it, and you like the lyrics, we gotta head off, now."

"Bye, thanks for coming to see us," said Linda, waving as Boo Boo picked up the paper. "Can't wait to hear the song."

"Oh, before we go..." Allen pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Tina. "It's four front row tickets to our next concert. Hope these are okay; we wanted to give you backstage passes as well, but they sold out quickly, and we couldn't get hold of any more."

Tina felt like pinching herself, and she blinked at the tickets in her hand. She looked back up at Allen, words failing her.

"Hope to see you there!" Griffin waved at her, and Tina felt like her legs would buckle. Linda hugged the boys fiercely; Tina wanted to, but she couldn't move, not even when Boo Boo gave her one of his special smiles that drove – used to drive – Louise crazy.

She was still staring at the door long after they had left, barely registering anything else. It was only when Gene came over to look at the tickets that she looked away, with a little shake of her head.

"Did that just happen?" was all she found she could say, not noticing Gene taking the tickets out of her slack hand.

"Yeah, I think it did," said Bob. "That was nice of them."

Tina nodded, still staring at the door.

"These tickets are real," Gene observed, holding them up to the light. "I guess it means this is real, too. Are we gonna go to the concert?"

"Uh, sure, I guess?" Truthfully, Bob felt he might a little out of place; a middle-aged man at a concert primarily for little girls? He wasn't sure if it was something he would enjoy all that much, despite liking some of their songs.

"I guess it would be fun," said Linda. "Bobby, maybe we could dance?"

"Sure. Definitely." Now Bob was definitely going to go; anything to make Linda and his kids happy. If she wanted him to do what he called dancing in front of an arena full of kids, he was going to do it. Who cares if he looked silly? "I think it might be fun," he added, and Linda nodded. She picked up the cloth once again, and one by one, they continued cleaning the restaurant once again.

As she resumed wiping down the counter, Tina began thinking. So many people, friends and strangers alike, had been going out of their way to do things like this for them. The farmer allowing her to keep Kopi at his place. The school organising several fundraisers for the memorial garden. And now, one of the biggest boy bands in America dedicating one of their own songs to her sister? And front row tickets?

Forgetting about her job, Tina dropped the cloth and rested her elbows on the counter. She guessed that people were trying to make them feel better, but it felt strange to her as she realised that people were only doing these things because Louise was dead. Not that she wasn't grateful for all the kind words and gifts...

"When is this gonna stop?" Tina did not realise she had spoken aloud.

"What do you mean?" asked Linda.

"Well," Tina began slowly, "we know the reason why people are doing this. They're not going to do this forever. If they stop, does it mean they've forgotten about Louise?"

No one knew quite how to answer that.

"No, I don't think it does," said Bob after a while. "I think they want to help us feel better, but maybe, as time goes by, they don't want to keep reminding us. Maybe they will want to help us get back to a normal routine, and you can't feel normal when you get gifts and stuff everyday, right?"

Tina considered this; she had never thought about it in that way.

"I guess that makes sense," she said, taking up the cloth again, and resuming cleaning.

'Nice job,' Linda mouthed at Bob and he gave her a small smile.

Despite it being the summer holidays, Gene and Tina were back at Wagstaff, along with dozens of students and teachers, as work on Louise's Garden began.

The Belcher siblings stood next to boxes containing gravel, flower seed packets and fruit seed packets, doing their best not to focus on Olsen Benner and her camera.

"I think if we plant two of them on either side, it would look really nice," Tina was saying, gesturing with the hand holding her notebook to the wall. The flowers that Tina had ordered had arrived a few days prior, and were in a little box that was specially marked, and she hoped that Louise would like them.

"Right, okay," Frond muttered as he wrote down his own notes.

They were going to do very little planting that day; just the flowers that would take the longest to bloom, so they would be ready in time. What they were mainly doing was planning where everything else was going to be set up, so there would be no confusion in the future. "Right, and all the flowers will be over there, where it's marked off. We can put this in the centre, if you want." He pointed to the box next to the flower seeds, and Gene and Tina leaned over to see what was inside.

"Yeah, that will look really nice in the middle," said Tina, and Frond wrote it down.

The other students were milling around and chatting, mainly there for support more than anything else.

"Hey."

The Belcher kids turned to see Regular-sized Rudy behind them. "I thought you'd like to see what our class has been doing." And he held up a large, white pebble. On it, he had painted a pink bunny eared hat, outlined in black, then in green, with "R.I.P." painted underneath it.

"That's really nice," said Gene. "Everyone made one?"

"Yeah; most of us made two, actually." Rudy produced a second pebble; this one had a little Kuchi Kopi painted on it. "They've all been painted over with sealant, so the rain won't damage them," Rudy told them.

"I like them," Tina said honestly. "It's nice that you all did this."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Andy and Ollie approaching her, their pebbles held out in front of them.

"We made some, too!" Andy thrust his pebble under her nose. Naturally, he and Ollie had made identical ones; on one side was 'Louise Belcher', and on the other were tiny paintings of Sticky Sugar Booms. "It's her favourite candy," Andy said as though Tina did not already know.

Millie, still looking hollow and haunted, showed them her five pebbles, each lovingly painted in as artistic a manner as she could manage. Bunny ears, a minute painting of Louise and Millie together, and Louise with angel wings were just a few of the things Millie had put on her pebbles.

"They look really nice," Gene told her, and Millie only gave him a watery smile in reply, before leaving.

Tina took a few steps back, squinting slightly, picturing the finished product in her mind. Yes, if they planted those flowers on either side of the bench... It would look very nice. And off to the side, where the other flowers where going to be planted, they could put the fruit seeds, as well.

A lot of the flowers wouldn't bloom in time for the unveiling of the garden, which was why there were several potted versions of them near Mr Frond, so the garden would have the finished look.

"Tina, Gene!" called Frond, and the kids turned to look at him. "We're ready to start planting a few," he said. Bending down, he picked up two small potted plants and gave them to Gene and Tina.

The siblings led the way over to the wall, and bent down.

Straightening up determinedly, Tina picked up the nearby trowel and began to dig, with Gene following suite. She knew the camera was on them, but she did her best to ignore it. It was something she was learning to get used to.

When the holes were deep enough, she and Gene removed the flowers from their pots, and began planting them. Frond joined them and began to guide them on how to do it correctly. Tina found that she didn't mind; she wanted the garden to turn out well, after all.

After they had planted several of those flowers, Tina and Gene, and a few of the other kids then got to work planting some more a few inches in front of them. So far, it looked nice, and Tina hoped that when they bloomed fully, it would look just as nice as she was picturing it.

When the flowers had been adequately watered, they all took a step back to admire their handiwork. The first lot of shrubs had been planted on either side of where the bench would be, extending about three feet in each direction, while the other flowers in front only spanned half the length. The colours of the flowers contrasted nicely, and they would hopefully grow well together. Once the bench was in place, then the rest of the flowers, along with everything else, could be planted.

Looking around, Tina nodded in approval, her gaze flitting over to Gene.

"What do you think?" she asked him.

"I think it looks good, and when it's all finished, it will look great," he said, and Tina nodded.

They washed their hands and loitered, unsure if Frond wanted them to stay or not, but that question was soon answered when he called them over.

"Thanks for coming by and helping out today," he told them. "I think it's gonna turn out great. I'll let you know when the bench is ready, and when it's time for the other stuff to be planted."

"Okay," said Tina. "We were happy to help." She almost said that they were glad to be there, which they kind of were, they were happy to get involved. She and Gene just wished it was for anything else, though. "Well, we have to get going now. So, bye!"

Tina and Gene navigated their way through the playground, calling their goodbyes to all the students and adults that yelled it at them.

"Hello, my babies," said Linda, as Gene and Tina entered the restaurant.

"Hi, kids," Bob called through the hatch.

"Hi, Mom, hi, Dad, sorry we missed the lunch rush," Tina said, looking guilty.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Linda waved her hand. "You had something to do. How does it look?"

"It looks good so far," said Gene, taking a seat at the counter. "I think the more we do, the better it will look."

Linda nodded and came around the counter to hug her children. She and Bob had declined to take part that day, partly because it was too hard, and partly because they wanted to wait and see the finished result.

"By the way, you just missed Aunt Gayle," she told them. "She came round to see how we were doing, and she brought some stuff." Linda pointed at the first booth, which had a cake decorated in pink and green frosting, a photo of Louise in a frame, a plush horse for Tina, and a tub of Pinkles for Gene. Bob was still amazed at how mature Gayle was being; she had been so calm and thoughtful during her visit. It still felt weird to him; it was almost like she was a different person.

"That was nice of her," said Gene, as he slid off the stool and retrieved the Pinkles. That was his dessert for that evening sorted. If they lasted that long.

"We also got this today." Linda held up a strip of paper. Tina and Gene leaned forward and saw that it was a cheque for $75,000.

"Who's that from?" asked Tina, and Linda's face darkened.

"Them," was all she had to say. "All I know is, this is all they could do in one go, and they'll give us the other half soon." Linda couldn't help but roll her eyes a little bit. "I mean, the money's gonna help us a lot, but I wish it wasn't them that gave it to us," she said, and Gene and Tina nodded. It seemed like such a small pittance for what had happened. "When Gayle came in," Linda continued, "she told me that Colleen Caviello told her that Cynthia and Tom are in debt and they have to move."

"Really?" asked Tina, and Linda nodded as Bob came into the dining room.

"All I know is they're moving away from the town, but no one knows where. All I can say is good riddance."

"The further away from us they are, the better," Bob muttered. He knew they wouldn't go too far; they would want to visit the human stain they called their son, but as long as he never had to see them again, then that was fine by him.

Glancing over at Gene, Bob pulled into a nearby parking space outside the building.

"You ready?" he asked, and Gene nodded.

"Yeah," he said, a faint look of determination crossing his face.

Getting out of the car, they both walked into the building, where they were met by a man slightly younger than Bob.

"Hello! Bob Belcher?" he enquired, and Bob nodded. "Hi, I'm Miguel, and this is Gene?" he directed this to the boy in question, who only nodded. "Great. Well, it's lovely to meet you both. Are you ready to get started?"

"Sure," said Gene, and Miguel led them past the lobby and down a tiled hall. "So, Gene, your dad tells me that you write your own songs?" Miguel asked, and Gene confirmed this. "That's awesome; I didn't start writing until I was at least seventeen, so you're ahead of the game." He stopped by a closed door, which he opened, and then gestured for them to enter.

Once inside, Gene looked around the recording studio. Directly in front of him was a mixing desk that spanned the length of the wall, covered in buttons, faders, and outputs, and other wonderful gadgets. This was Gear Heaven 2.0. In front of the desk was a window, which allowed him to see into the actual recording studio, and he could see a microphone, headphones, and a sheet music stand, surrounded by soundproof walls.

Miguel sat down in one of the swivel chairs and turned to face them. "She's yours for the day, Gene. What would you like to do first?"

"I guess I want to record some songs? There's no lyrics, just music, though."

"That's fine. I'll get you set up next door, and then I'll let you know when we're ready."

So Gene and Bob found themselves in the recording room. Bob was allowed to sit nearby, so long as he kept quiet, while Miguel helped Gene set up his keyboard, and adjusted the microphone to his height. Gene placed the headphones over his ears, and looked over at Miguel, who was now back in the other room. "Can you hear me, Gene?" came the voice through the headphones.

"Yeah, I can."

"How's the volume? If it's too loud or too quiet, just let me know."

"It's fine."

"Okay. When you're ready, just say the word, and I'll hit record, and you just go for it."

"I'm ready."

Miguel nodded, and gave him a thumbs up to indicate the recording had started, and Gene began to play.

Just as before, he let the music come from his heart, and he closed his eyes as the melody flowed out of him. There weren't any lyrics, but there didn't need to be; the music spoke for itself and told you everything you needed to know.

As Gene continued to play, Bob was once again in awe. Gene had to have gotten his musical talent from Linda; Bob couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. He couldn't even sing "Happy Birthday" on key. No, Gene definitely inherited this from his mother.

When Gene had finished the first piece, he played another improvised composition, and then he played some sections from his "Die Hard" musical before taking a little break. He didn't feel like singing, however.

"Okay, it's all sounding great. Bet your fingers are aching, though!" Miguel smiled as he sat in front of the mixing desk, with Gene and Bob sat behind him. "Did you write all these yourself?"

"Yeah. Well, I don't really write them; I don't know how – I just remember what notes to play. But I come up with them. And some of them I did today I didn't write; it just came out."

Miguel looked impressed, and he nodded in approval as he adjusted the volume settings and added a touch of reverb to make the keyboard sound fuller. "Do you want any background instruments added? We could do maybe more pianos, or some violins, whatever you want?"

"Um..." Gene was about to say no, when he thought about it. He'd always dreamed to record music professionally; now that he was here, shouldn't he take advantage of it? It wasn't like he had access to Gear Heaven at home. "Yeah, sure. That would be cool." He fell silent again, taking a moment to picture what was needed, before getting up and heading over to the desk.

Bob had to admit, he felt more than a little lost and confused when Gene and Miguel started talking about adding a classical strings crescendo after bar eight in the second verse, before bringing in some quiet drums, and the flute that would remain in the background, fading in and out periodically. They might as well be speaking Greek. He was impressed with Miguel; Gene didn't know the technical terms, but Miguel was able to guess what he was talking about. But the best thing about it all was the look on Gene's face; he looked happy, and Bob didn't think he'd ever see that again. He would pay for a full day in a recording studio every week if it made Gene happy again.

After a quick snack, Gene and Bob headed back into the recording room, where Gene once again played to his heart's content.

"You know, I have a friend who works at a radio station," Miguel began, while he mixed and mastered the rest of Gene's tracks. "It's in Bog Harbour; if you wanted, I could send him some of your music?"

"Really?" asked Gene, his eyes wide.

"Wow," said Bob. "I mean, that's real nice of you, but there's no lyrics, would he be allowed to play it?"

"Sure. It's a little indie place, and they play stuff like this all the time. Of course, I haven't heard anything like what Gene's done before, but if I love it, and I do, then I think everyone else will, as well."

Swelling with pride, Bob looked over at Gene, who was so flattered that a flush was creeping up his neck. "So, what do you say, Gene?"

Gene, still unable to believe what he was hearing, could only nod, and both Bob and Miguel smiled.

"You're really gonna play Gene's music?" Bob was just as overwhelmed as his son.

"Sure! We're always on the lookout for upcoming talent."

After confirming that Miguel definitely had Bob's email (even though they both knew he did; it was how Bob had contacted him), Bob and Gene left, with Gene's tracks on a USB stick in his pocket, and a promise from Miguel to let him know when the songs would air.

When they had stepped into the parking lot, Gene hugged his father tightly.

"Thanks, Dad," he said. "I needed that."

Bob hugged him back, his chest about to burst with pride. "I haven't felt this good for ages," he admitted.

"I'm so glad you're feeling better," said Bob honestly. "And I'm glad I could help."

Gene decides to put his music on YouTube, Sound Cloud, Spotify, in hopes of realising his dream.

When they arrived home, they made their way up to the apartment.

"Lin! We're home!" he called, closing the door as Gene headed up the stairs.

"Oh, good! How was it?"

"It was great," Bob answered, thankful that she was keeping her tone neutral. He didn't want Gene to get suspicious. "Miguel, the guy who runs the place, has a friend in radio, and he said he's gonna play some of Gene's songs on there." Bob wondered if he should get in touch with Clem Clements and see if he also wanted to feature Gene's music on his show.

"Oh, that's great!"

He heard Gene's footsteps stop, and he hoped he liked his other present. When he entered the living-room, he saw that Gene had completely frozen, staring at the professional drum machine from the Hi-fi Emporium.

Feeling bad that Gene had had two treats and Tina only one, Bob had left the complete box set of The Equestranauts on DVD on her bed. It was only something small, but he hoped Tina wouldn't feel left out.

"... Is that for me?" Gene asked, looking back and forth at his parents.

"Yeah," Bob nodded. "Thought you might like it."

"I love it! I remember playing with it in the store all the time!" He looked back at the machine, and his face fell as he remembered what Louise had done, how she had been so angry at Dino kicking him out that she'd sworn revenge. She loved him enough to do that for him. "Thanks," he said quickly, ducking his head.

"Gene? What is it, sweetie?" Linda asked, getting up off the sofa.

"Noth-" but then Gene paused. "I'm just feeling a little sad," he told her. "You know, Louise was so mad that I got kicked out, that she got our friends together and sent him a glitter bomb."

"Wait? She did?" asked Bob, and Gene nodded.

"Yeah, she said she got angry at him hurting my feelings and wanted to get revenge on him."

"Sounds like our Louise," Linda chuckled sadly. "I didn't know about that."

"We just never told you," was all Gene found he could say. He was about to head off to his room, but instead he stayed, and sat down in between his parents.

~ X ~

Done! I'm happy to finally reveal Gene's treat.
That song by Boyz 4 Now? I wrote that! :O I don't mean to brag, but I've never written a song in my life, and I am so proud of this. I am working on finishing up the music, and hopefully it can be recorded soon.
What did you think? I'd love to know!