Thanks to Phish Tacko for beta'ing this. Go read her stuff!
Ch. 37
For the second time that year, Gilbert, Sam, their women, and their children gathered together at Sam's house for what they hoped would be a nice meal together.
Everyone sat around the table, including the children, and helped themselves to the food. Joon sat next to Edward so she could help him eat, as slippery lasagna noodles were not something he could easily pick up. As she was cutting up Edward's food, she noticed Gilbert taking three huge pieces of the pasta.
"Hungry, are we?" She smirked.
Gilbert seemed caught off guard. He'd still been eating a lot when he was sad, but this time he hadn't even considered that he was doing it. He just took what he thought he wanted.
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't eat much today," He said, hoping that the excuse would make her drop it. He'd have to remember to eat less around other people.
"And remember, he's eating for two now," Becky said, wrapping an arm around Gilbert's shoulder.
Gilbert forced a small smile.
"I'm just kidding with you. Eat as much of it as you want," Joon replied as she put a forkful of pasta into Edward's mouth.
"Okay," Gilbert replied, still feeling a bit awkward. Nonetheless the meal continued on.
Sam was talking about some old movie when it the power flickered on and off. Oddly, the babies seemed amused by it more than anything, and Esther and Victor started clapping as it went off and on.
When light returned, Gilbert could see that Sam's face was very pale. He looked nervous.
"Are you okay?" Gilbert asked.
This drew Joon, Becky, and Edward's attention towards Sam.
"Y-yes," Sam answered. "I'm okay. Just wasn't expecting that."
"Could be because of the storm moving in. I heard it's supposed to be a doozy. High winds, lots of rain, the whole nine yards," Becky said.
"I saw on the news that they were expecting power outages," Edward noted.
"And that's why I was sure to take out all of our candles and flashlights and blankets, so we should all be fine if that does occur," Joon said.
Sam smiled at his wife. "That was smart."
Before Joon could reply, the lights once again flickered. They turned on and off, and then, when a loud crack of thunder hit, they turned off for good.
At first, the room was quiet. The babies could be heard making small, questioning sounds, but none of them seemed to be getting upset. But then there was the panting sound, like someone was out of breath or nervous. Becky realized what it was almost instantly.
"Sam, are you okay? Gilbert, go find Sam. I think he's freaking out."
Sure enough, sitting on the floor under the table, was Sam. Gilbert knelt down to be more on Sam's level, and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Sam, are you okay?"
Sam definitely sounded like he was hyperventilating, and there was no verbal answer. Instead, he launched himself at Gilbert, wrapping his arms around the redhead.
"Whoa, okay," Gilbert said as he tried to find a spot where he could sit with Sam and not fall over. When he finally maneuvered himself against a wall, he spoke again.
"Sam, calm down. It's okay. It's just a storm."
Sam, who had his arms wrapped around Gilbert and was essentially glued to his side, disagreed. "I don't like it. What if the power's gone forever?"
"Well... that won't happen, but even if it did, people lived for thousands of years with no electricity."
"I couldn't watch movies," Sam replied, getting even closer to Gilbert, if that were possible. Now he was almost sitting in Gilbert's lap, with his arms around him and his head resting on his chest.
The redhead was used to comforting Arnie when he got like this, so it really wasn't a big deal to him. He was more concerned with how to calm Sam down.
"Are you guys okay down there?" Joon called. She had a flashlight in her hand, and cast the beam on them.
"Sam's upset," Gilbert said, though it was obvious if one looked at them. Sam was crying by then. Gilbert flinched a little as he felt him begin to tremble and began to pat his back. "Sam, it's okay,"
There was a loud sigh from elsewhere in the room. "He doesn't like blackouts," The voice – Joon's again– stated. "He's going to be nervous for a while. Sorry he latched on to you, Gilbert."
Gilbert nodded. "It's okay. Sam's a good guy." He started making his voice a little higher, like he was talking to a small child. "Right? Come on, you're okay." He hugged Sam a little tighter, but the shaking and crying didn't let up.
"Usually I just let him cry it out, but sometimes he-"
Joon wasn't able to finish the sentence. Sam had let go of Gilbert and was now standing at the sink and dry heaving. Soon enough, dry heaving became actual heaving and Sam was throwing up. When she cast the light on it, she could see the parts of tonight's dinner mixed in. Thankfully, it didn't seem to have gotten on Gilbert at all.
Gilbert just sighed, stood up, and moved next to Sam. He patted the brunette man's back.
"Come on, buddy, you're okay."
"Sometimes he gets so upset that he gets sick," Joon finished.
"I gathered that," Gilbert snapped. Then he realized how rude he probably sounded. "Sorry, Joon, I just... I'm a little worried about him."
A few minutes later Sam at least seemed to be done. He was shaking and sweaty, and he collapsed against Gilbert. When Becky cast a light on them both, Gilbert could see that Sam was still crying a little and that his body was still shaking.
"Um, I'll clean this up, maybe you'll want to get Sam some clean clothes?" Becky suggested. Indeed, Sam's shirt was covered with spots of undigested lasagna.
"Good idea," Joon replied. She wrapped an arm around her husband and maneuvered them out of the dining room and towards the bathroom.
Once there, she lit a candle so they could see. In the light, she could see the snot and tears and tiny chunks around his mouth. It was rare for her husband to look like such a wreck, so she knew it had to be really bad. He must've been terrified.
"Sam, are you okay now?" She asked. He did seem much steadier.
"I think so. I got stuff on my shirt."
"I know. I'm going to clean off your face and then we'll get you a new shirt, okay?"
"Okay."
Joon found a clean, dry washcloth and ran it under the faucet. Thankfully, they still had water. She began dabbing it on Sam's face, trying to clean him up. Sam closed his eyes as she did this, likely embarrassed as the realization of what had just occurred hit him.
"There we go," She said, wiping the last of his tears away. "All done. Now we just need to get you a new shirt, and you can go rejoin society."
Sam silently followed Joon to their bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.
"I hugged Gilbert." Sam said as Joon looked through his shirts.
"So? You've hugged Gilbert before."
"But then I threw up on Gilbert, too."
"Nope. Not on him."
"I made an ass of myself."
"I think that Gilbert and Becky just thought you were scared. They were worried more than anything, Sam. Don't over-think it. You know they aren't judgmental people."
"I guess."
Joon turned around, holding a dark red button-down shirt. "This okay?"
"Sure."
She helped Sam remove his old shirt, tossed it in the laundry basket, then helped him into his new shirt, buttoning it for him all the way down.
"Looks good," Joon remarked.
"Thanks..."
"I guess we should go make sure everyone else is okay."
Sam nodded in agreement, and followed Joon back out.
Becky had long since finished rinsing the sink out, and Gilbert was sitting in a chair, sort of playing with the food in front of him, but not eating it. The babies seemed okay, oddly. They were sitting in their chairs, making baby talk sounds, and as long as someone paid attention to them, they didn't fuss.
"Hey," Gilbert said, snapping out of his trance. "I just realized, has anyone seen Edward?"
There came the sound of a soft whimper from the corner of the room. Becky shined a flashlight in that direction, and everyone could see Edward curled up in the corner, arms wrapped around his knees, and shaking.
"Well, here we go again," Joon said.
00
It'd taken no small amount of coercing to get Edward out of his corner and calmed down. He hadn't cried, but he looked like he was going to. Everyone else was a bit surprised. Edward had spent so long up in the mansion alone, no one thought that he'd be afraid of a little black out. Surely it was dark up there a lot.
Eventually, both Sam and Edward tired themselves out from being nervous, so the rest of the group took them to bed. Joon led Sam to their bedroom first, pulled back the covers and tucked him in, still wearing his clothes. Since there was no power, there was no heat, and Sam was shivering, so Joon got another blanket from the closet and wrapped it around him.
"Go to sleep, honey," She whispered, planting a kiss on his forehead. "It'll be a little better tomorrow when the sun's out."
"Do you think we'll have power tomorrow?" Sam asked sleepily.
"I hope so."
"Can you please tell Becky and Gilbert I'm sorry? And I'm sorry for puking on Gilbert."
"It's okay. You missed," Came a voice from the door. It was Gilbert. He and Becky were waiting outside the bedroom.
"Still sorry," Sam said, yawning.
"Go to sleep," Joon told him again.
"Okay."
Once Sam was tucked in, the group walked Edward to his room. The dark-haired man was still shaking nervously.
"Can you guys give us a moment?" Joon asked as she led Edward into the room. "Usually Sam or I help him with his pajamas."
"Sure," Gilbert and Becky agreed.
Joon thanked them and closed the door to Edward's bedroom. From outside, Becky and Gilbert could hear Joon's voice.
"Edward, you have to calm down," She said kindly. "Which pajamas do you want?"
They couldn't hear Edward's voice, but they could hear Joon speaking again.
"The red ones? Purple ones?" Then a second later. "Okay, sit on the bed. Leg into the pants. You know the drill."
A bit later, Joon opened the door. "We're all done now."
Gilbert and Becky looked in, to see Edward situated under the covers, which were almost pulled up to his chin.
Even in the dim light, Gilbert could see that Edward still looked afraid. He made his way over to Edward's bed.
"You okay, buddy?" He asked, sitting next to Edward.
Edward shrugged, and wouldn't make eye contact with Gilbert.
"Are you afraid of the dark in here?"
"I don't like it. Where's Vincent and Vivienne?"
"In the kitchen, in their high chairs. They're fine. We'll get them in a minute. Would it help you to have a candle or a flashlight in here?"
"Yes, please," Edward whispered.
Gilbert looked at Joon. "Can you get him that?"
"Sure." Joon ducked out of the room, and returned a few minutes later, lit candle in hand. She placed it on the nightstand next to Edward's bed.
"Better?" Gilbert asked.
Edward nodded 'yes'.
"Are you cold? Do you need anything else?"
Edward looked down at his scissors, not wanting to ask for anything else. He was rather cold, though.
"He's cold," Joon said. "He's shivering."
Gilbert noticed that Joon was right. Edward wasn't just shaking in fear. He was actually cold.
Joon found another blanket, and laid it over Edward. "There you go," She said, wrapping it around him.
"Thank you," Edward said, softly.
"No problem. Goodnight, Edward," Joon said, placing a kiss on his head just as she'd done to Sam. She sort of saw Edward more as a child and less as an adult, so she tended to care for him as such.
"Goodnight, Joon. And Gilbert, and Becky."
"'Night Edward. Sweet dreams."