Goodbye, Brian (rewrite)

(based mostly on "Goodbye, Brian My Love")

Originally written by Villains' Bad Girl

Edited by LDEJRuff

Chapter 10 - A Change of Heart

Chapter written by Villains' Bad Girl

and edited by LDEJRuff


"Mom?"

The puppies looked into the kitchen to see Barbara sitting at the table. She was holding Brian's flask in her hand as she drank out of it. To ease her pain, Barbara had taken up drinking.

"Mom, Marcus and I are going to play ball", Ollie said. "Do you want to join?"

"No thanks", she said.

"Mom, do you want to come to the movies with Jenny and me?" Briana asked.

Barbara shook her head as she took another swig of whiskey. The puppies looked at each other sadly. They didn't know what to do about their mother. No matter what they did, she just wasn't going to cheer up. They didn't know how to fix a heart that was broken one too many times. Marcus and Ollie went out into the backyard while Briana and Jenny went out to the movies.

Lois came into the kitchen and sighed when she saw Barbara drinking.

"Barbara, I wish you'd stop drinking", she said. "You're setting a horrible example for the kids."

"I'm not", Barbara said. "My kids know better than to drink."

"They see you do it and they'll think it's okay", Lois pointed out. "Look at you, Barbara. Ever since Brian died, you've become a wreck. You need to get your act together."

"That's easy for you to say," she frowned. "You still have your husband! You still have all your children! You don't know what I'm feeling!"

Barbara got up and ran outside to the backyard where Stewie watched Ollie and Marcus play, and curled up in a fetal position and wept. Stewie noticed Barbara when she cried, and walked next to her, patting her on the shoulder.

"I know", he said, starting to cry as well. "I miss him too."

Vinny walked out of the house and saw them crying.

"Hey, what's with the waterworks?" he asked.

"Oh, I just realized I paid too much for my muffler", Stewie lied, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Come on, kid, quit crying. You're going to get your pants wrinkled. What's the matter?"

"You really want to know what the matter is?" Barbara asked. "You are! Ever since you showed up, it seems that no one cares about Brian anymore! Everyone forgot about him and seem to like you better! Well, I don't like you! I want my Brian back. I want my husband back."

"Look, I know it doesn't seem like it now, but you're going to be okay", Vinny said.

"You don't know that," Barbara said, turning away from him. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone you loved."

"Yes, I do," Vinny replied, suddenly sparking Barbara and Stewie.

"What?" Barbara responded. "You have lost someone?"

"Yeah," Vinny answered. "Before your family found me at the shop, I lived with an old man named Leo. It was just him and me in a tiny apartment, and we got pretty tight. He kind of became my whole world. By the time he passed away, it was real tough, and I've been sad since then."

Barbara gained a new feeling when Vinny finished; it was a feeling of regret.

"So," Stewie began, "how did he die?"

Vinny answered, "He tried to go to a yoga class, and on the first pose, his ballsack split in half."

Stewie and Barbara's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, it was on Dateline, it was a whole thing," Vinny shrugged. "Anyway, I guess Leo was kinda like my Brian."

"Well, so how did you get over him?" Barbara asked.

"Well," Vinny began, sitting down, "I met your family in the pet store. When I saw them looking for a dog, I kind of sensed they were all going through the same feeling of loss that I was. And it made me think, 'hey, maybe I was meant to find these guys. Maybe we were meant to be together.'"

"You know what, Vinny?" Stewie began, starting to smile as Barbara did, too. "I'm starting to think that may be true."

"Yeah," Barbara agreed. "Me, too."

Vinny chuckled in gesture. "Bring it in, guys."

With that, both Barbara and Stewie gave Vinny a heartwarming hug. When both Ollie and Marcus saw this, it made them sick to their stomachs.

"Ugh!" Ollie repulsed. "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"Ollie, no!" Marcus backed away. "Don't blow chunks on me!"

Barbara and Stewie then let go of Vinny.

"So, now that we're all friends," Vinny began, "maybe you can answer me some'n. Why does your living room smell so much like puke? Somebody throw up a lot in there once?"

"Vinny, my friend, you've got a lot of stories to catch up on," Stewie replied. "Most of them are on DVD."

"Really?" Barbara said. "Are the DVDs kinda like by season and everything?"

Stewie chuckled. "No, not by season."


Editor's note: B4L wanted the ending of this chapter to be changed so that Barbara would warm up to Vinny after he told his story to her and Stewie, instead of lashing out at him.