Chapter 18 – Revelations, Part II

"In we go." Lizzie grinned as she opened the door to the house and Lawrence rushed inside. They were back at home after an hour at the local park, and Lawrence had been overjoyed to try out the swings, the slide, and the climbing frame, one after the other, time after time.

"Take your coat and shoes off! You'll get mud everywhere!" Lizzie called after the young boy as he raced into the living room, with all his winter layers still intact. She shut the door behind her, and was taking off her coat when a noise behind her made her turn. Looking around, her gaze fell on her mother standing just outside the living room door.

Lizzie's eyes widened. "Mom! I wasn't expecting you back until tomorrow! I thought you'd gone to visit Aunty Carol for a week…" she trailed off as Lawrence came bowling back out of the living room, holding Ted in his arms. He rushed at Lizzie and she caught him as he did so, making him stop in his tracks. She began to take off his coat as she stood there, feeling uneasy suddenly.

"Aunty Carol came down with a cold and we felt it unwise to burden her when she wasn't feeling well. Your Uncle Derek isn't the most entertaining of people as you know." Mrs Newmarket's gaze fixed on her daughter, searching her face. "Who's this young man running around our house?"

Lizzie froze and hovered, holding Lawrence's coat in both hands uselessly. She couldn't move or speak. She inhaled sharply, a hundred different excuses running through her brain – which one should she pick? That she babysat? He was a relative? He was a friend's little boy? She'd found him wandering in the street? That she was a ruthless kidnapper?

She breathed out. Her mother, nor her father for that matter, would never believe any imaginary, fake excuse.

"Mom. This is Lawrence. He's…he's your grandchild."

"What's that noise?" Jessie asked, perking up a little at the sounds coming from the other side of the door. The four of them were still in the spare room, having been left there since Lizzie went out. An hour to so later they'd heard a car in the driveway and Woody had gone to look out of the window, thinking it might be Amanda coming back for Bullseye, Buzz or himself (or all three of them).

Thankfully it had only been Lizzie's parents. They drove the car into the garage below and then the toys heard the various downstairs noises of doors opening and closing as the two older folk settled back into their home life. It was only since Lizzie had returned with Lawrence that the louder noises had started.

"Sounds like an argument." Woody commented. He'd heard enough of those over the years to be an expert on them. Then he heard another noise, another that he knew all too well. Footsteps on the stairs.

"Freeze, quick! I think that's Lawrence!" The cowboy doll hissed, and almost as soon as he had spoken, the door to the spare room flew open and Lawrence appeared, with Ted in his arms. He flung the teddy bear down on the pillow and picked up Buzz.

"So this is where the spaceman landed!" he cried in excitement, "I'll show you to Lizzie later!" He put Buzz down, and his gaze settled on the other unfamiliar toys littering the bed. Curiously, he reached out and picked up Jessie first, glancing at her.

He screwed up his nose. "A girl? Yucky!" He flung the cowgirl down and picked up Woody instead. His face brightened this time. "Cowboy! Awesome!" Clutching Woody to his chest, Lawrence exited the room, leaving the door wide open behind him as he ran back downstairs.

As the boy's footsteps faded, Ted picked himself up and glanced about. "Well, there's certainly a whole hullabaloo going on down there," he remarked to no one in particular. "Where the devil am I?"

"In the spare room." Jessie adjusted her hat and straightened herself up from where she'd been flung down. "Were you downstairs all this time?"

"Yes, my dear. I think Lawrence forgot I was downstairs with all his tiredness last night and his excitement over Amanda this morning." Ted chuckled, then paused and glanced at Buzz. "Well! My eyes do deceive me - Buzz Lightyear. When did you get back?"

"Yesterday." Buzz smiled. "So, what's going on downstairs?"

"My gadget-ready friend, I'm not sure." Ted stretched out his cotton limbs and shrugged. "Something about a secret Lizzie was keeping. I wasn't privy to the details."

"Lizzie's not the only one with a secret." Buzz commented, turning to look at Jessie. The cowgirl flushed and looked away as the space toy walked over and took both her smaller hands into his larger ones. He stroked her palms with his fingers as she kept looking down. "Jessie, please just tell me what you're thinking. Whatever it is, whatever's gone on, it can't be as bad as Emily."

"How do you know? How do you know it isn't something really bad?" Jessie murmured, still staring at the floor. "I can't tell you Buzz. It hurts too much. Please…just let's drop it."

"Fine! Don't tell me! That's it." Buzz dropped her hands, and Jessie finally looked up in astonishment. "I've asked you nicely, I've tried to be understanding all this time. I've even said I'll help you through it, and all I get is you pushing me away. I don't understand you, Jessie. After all we've been through, you and me, and you can't tell me this."

"Buzz…" Jessie's eyes widened, and she tried to grab at his hands, a gesture that Buzz avoided by taking a step back. "I can't tell you. It's too…" a sob caught in her throat as the situation spun out of control in front of her.

"No, you know what? It's fine. Fine!" Buzz spat, turning on his heel and walking away. Jessie stared after him as he hopped down off the bed. She watched him scout outside the door for any movement before he disappeared around the door frame and out of sight. Tears welled in Jessie's eyes and she hugged her arms around her chest as she started to cry, and even the soft nudge of Bullseye's head into her side wasn't enough to comfort her.