GROWING UP Chapter 3
Vlad found himself waking up to a bright world and a sun that refused to stop shining in his face, no matter how tightly he pulled the curtains closed. He finally groggily looked at the clock, only to find that it was already nine in the morning.
He rushed to change into appropriate party attire and grab the presents and his daily necessities like his phone and wallet, before rushing out the door. He grabbed a muffin from the complementary breakfast bar in the lobby before stuffing everything into his rented car and driving over to the Fenton's house to set up the party.
The grey haired man was surprised to see that no one was awake by the time he'd gotten there. Jasmine had obviously woken up at some time and moved herself to her bed while he was gone. Vlad shrugged and decided that everyone needed their sleep. He got to work decorating the main room and kitchen for Maddie's birthday. The sky outside clouded over and threatened to rain that afternoon. He was glad that he hadn't decided to make the party an out door party.
After a while of working, the man heard the house creaking. The kind of creaking you get when someone is awake upstairs. He put down his work and went to see if one of the kids had finally gotten up. Jazz was holed up in her room, no doubt developing the same troublesome habit her parents had. Danny on the other hand, was no where to be seen. Vlad walked around the house to see if he could find the boy whom he assumed to be sleeping the entire time. He finally found him in the laundry room, shoving his sheets into the washing machine.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" Vlad wondered aloud.
"I wet the bed." Danny was on the edge of crying. He sniffed and huffed and tried to hold back the tears as he stuffed his sheets into the machine.
Vlad ruffled the boy's hair and kneeled down to look him in the eye. "That's nothing to be sad about. We all have accidents." Vlad rolled up his sleeves and started taking care of the sheets while Danny watched from the doorway. After the machine was running, he took the boy to the restroom and helped him clean up and change. He rinsed the one piece PJs and let them dry in the tub while they waited for a spot to open up in the washing machine. The two boys washed their hands and went downstairs to continue setting up for Maddie's birthday party.
"What can I do, Vlad?" Danny bounced as he saw the banner and pretty gifts all wrapped up. He was running around the two rooms as he waited eagerly on how he could help.
"I have a few cards I'd like you to sign and draw pictures on." Masters placed Danny at the table with some crayons and two cards. He left one out and kept it to the side, so as not to get mixed in with the rest of the party stuff.
After an hour of drawing, setting up, and cooking, the party was almost ready to start. The two men snuck upstairs and lightly knocked on Jasmine's door. When she didn't reply, they opened it slightly and walked up to her bed. Vlad plucked Danny up off the floor and held the boy in one arm as he gently shook the girl awake. When her eyes batted open and she looked at them, they both bid her a good morning with large smiles.
"Get ready Jazz, get ready!" Danny shouted. He wiggled excitedly in Vlad's arm. "We're throwing mama a birthday party!"
"If you wouldn't mind changing and meeting us downstairs in ten minutes, I'd much appreciate it. I'll wait for you down there, unless of course you want me to help you." Vlad offered.
Jazz, who was as independent as ever, bluntly refused and shooed the two men from her room.
A well groomed girl met the two boys in the kitchen as they finished fixing up the table full of fresh cooked eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausages, and toast. Maddie's seat had two cards sitting in front of her plate.
The three sneaky well wishers tip toed down the metal stairs into the cold lab the Fenton parents spent most of their days. The two adults were, as expected, awake and rushing around the lab busily trying to work on some big invention that seemed to be only half finished. The children rushed to the center of the big room and shouted out, "Happy birthday!" as loudly as they could.
Maddie turned away from her command station and gawked at the three visitors in the lab. She smiled tiredly and hugged her children in appreciation. Jack, however, took a bit longer to react since he was trying to tinker with the delicate inner workings of an ecto gun.
"Happy birthday Madeline. Twenty nine and still as stunning as the day I met you." Vlad took the woman's blue clad hand and led her upstairs, the kids excitedly pushing their dad to follow.
"Thanks guys, but I really need to work on that project. The government has been breathing down our necks for a few months now to get a working prototype finished."
"Shush now dear. Everyone needs a day to themselves every once in a while. The government can wait." Vlad gently scolded as he ushered the lovely lady to her seat. "Now eat before you waste away to nothing."
Maddie couldn't refuse the hot food taunting her from the table and decided to take Vlad up on his offer of fresh cooked food. For the first time in years, the whole family ate together. They quickly scarfed down the delicious cuisine in front of them, loading their plates up with meat and syrup. By the end of the meal, only a small portion of it remained. Vlad took care of the dishes and put the food away for Maddie and Jack to eat later.
"Open the cards! Open the cards!" Danny prompted from his seat. He wanted his mother to pay attention to the drawings he had put on the cards. Maddie laughed as Jack tried to calm the young boy down.
"Yes, go on Maddie. It's time to get showered in presents and birthday goodies." Vlad leaned against the counter as he made coffee for himself and the Fenton parents.
"You've spoiled me enough as is." Maddie blushed. Her hands drifted up to the cards. She opened them one at a time and tried her best to read them, even though Danny had colored all over the cards and made it hard to see some of the words. The first card was well wishes from Jack, Jazz, and Danny. The second one, was from Vlad and Danny. "You're really good at drawing these, uh, dragons Danny."
"They're not dragons!" Danny huffed from his spot at the table.
Vlad looked at the cards as he placed the cups of hot coffee in front of Maddie. "I believe that's a green space ship and that is a horse." The man corrected. Danny nodded his head victoriously, glad that there was someone who could tell what he had drawn.
"Oh? Oh! I see it now. I'm sorry." Maddie said as she kept trying to actually see the resemblance of what he drew and what it was supposed to be. She finally gave up and started to unwrap the plethora of presents sitting before her. Shiny purple and blue paper was torn and drifted to the floor as her curiosity lead her to quickly open the gifts.
Besides Danny's presents, there was a large at home spa kit, manicure and pedicure supplies, and even a new vase to put the beautiful flower Danny had picked out the night before.
"Thank you guys so much!" She exclaimed as she gave her kids kisses on their cheeks and Vlad a friendly hug. Before she could get to her husband, he spoke up. "I'm sorry Maddie. I couldn't get you anything." He frowned, mentally beating himself up for having forgotten his wife's birthday.
Vlad looked towards the card he had on the counter. He quickly glanced between Jack and the card before letting out an inaudible sigh and frowning to himself as he grabbed the card. "What he means is, he couldn't get you anything personally. He told me the other night to make sure to get you this." Vlad handed the birthday girl another card enclosed in a light blue envelope.
She quickly peeled it open and read the beautiful card and handwritten poem. She reread it two more times before finally putting it down. She wrapped her hands around Jack and showered him in kisses. "Jack Fenton, that is the sweetest thing you could have ever gotten me!"
Vlad smiled to himself sadly as he watched Jack get all the praise. Some times playing the good guy hurt.
After the short party, the Fenton parents went back downstairs to work and Vlad was left to finish cleaning up. Jazz announced that she and her friend were going to have a slumber party. With that, the little girl was packed and gone. Danny was on the couch in the living room napping after an exciting afternoon.
Vlad sat back in one of the free chairs in the living room. The house seemed so quiet. It still felt like it wasn't quite lived in. There was something missing still. It was clean, the smell of food hung in the air, and everything was in it's place, but it still felt off kilter.
After a long time of wondering what was missing, the older man left his seat. He walked over to the sleeping boy and stared at him while he snoozed lazily. He had thrown the blanket that covered him to the floor and the pillow was missing. Vlad smiled at the sight. All the chaos, and the boy was still sleeping soundly. He kneeled down by the child and ruffled his hair slightly. The tiny hand grasped the man's finger as it trailed down the boy's chubby face. The older man didn't have a strong enough will to wrench his finger away from the child.
All the grey haired man could think of, was the fact that he was to leave for Wyoming in a day. He had only come down to visit Jack and Maddie and celebrate the day with them. It tore at his heart knowing that he'd come to know their family and was expected to just leave them alone after bonding with them.
Vlad sat on the floor for a long while, thinking about everything that had occurred in the last few days and what he was doing with his life.