"Mom."
Sigourney mumbles in answer but mostly she ignores the whispered call from her youngest daughter in favor of just a few more minutes of sleep before her alarm goes off.
It was Saturday she could afford to sleep in a little longer on a Saturday.
"Mmmooommm." Jenny tries again shaking her shoulder with more insistence. "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom."
Sigourney sighs into her pillow then rolls over onto her back with a defeated huff. "Alright, enough Jenny I'm awake."
The sound of insistent knocking from downstairs pauses any further conversation when Will answers the door and they both note just how panicked Dayton's voice was as it floated up from the lower floor.
"Cole wasn't in his room this morning when I went to get him for breakfast, and he isn't answering any of my texts or my calls and then Frankie wasn't answering her phone either and I know she'd normally up by now too so…"
The mention of her android daughter has Sigourney hurrying out of bed.
Frankie wasn't up yet? How was that possible? Her internal settings surely would have kicked in by now.
Maybe there was some kind of wide-scale power failure in the middle of the night?
Maybe-
"Uhm I'll take some milk thanks," Dayton answers her voice much calmer than Sigourney's spiraling thoughts on the not-so-happy reasons her second daughter wouldn't be awake to answer her BFF's calls or texts on what should have been a normal Saturday morning.
"Well, this is going to be interesting." Jenny mumbles to herself as she watches her mother hurrying to at least untangle her hair before heading down to greet their early morning company.
"Hey, Dayton." Jenny greets more cheerful than needed so early on a Saturday morning as she pulls out her own chair at the Gaines's kitchen table.
An empty bowl and a clean spoon already waiting beside the cereal box and milk jug her dad had set out for her.
"Hey, Jenny." Dayton answers more mechanically than any of the Gains family has seen her recently. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about Frankie and Cole." Her sister's BFF hurries on obviously once again chewing nervously at her fingernails as she notices the trio's expressions over her less than 'Dayton' character at the moment.
"I'm sure they are fine." Jenny answers tipping an extra-large portion of cereal into her bowl as she talks. "What?" she asks when she notices her parents exchanging one of their 'secret talks in only looks' moves.
The quiet back and forth ending with her mother giving a rather Frankie-worthy pout at her father's coaxing "well at least have some eggs and toast before you charge up there Siggy. If something did happen last night, you're going to need the brainpower." As he points his wife over towards the kitchen table.
Even Dayton could see Will was tempering down his own unease at Frankie's continued absence from family pluses one breakfast at the Gaines's.
Jenny's quiet "aww cute" at the show of worrying affection between her parents was dampened by the immediate probing look her mother gives her as soon as she'd taken the open seat across from Jenny's own as Will gets to work on making his wife a quick breakfast.
"Jenny."
The girl immediately stiffens at the more parental saying of her name and starts hurriedly spooning cereal into her mouth asking a garbled "What?" thought a mouth full of sugared chocolate so it came as more of a "Wa?"
"What do you know Jen-Jen?" Dayton questions making a fast tug on the milk jug when Jenny finally noticed after three more spoons of dry cereal, she'd forgotten to pour any into her bowl.
"Nofing." Jenny answers holding Dayton's narrowing gaze with a steady one of her own for her young age. "Pass da milk please." The youngest Gains adds pointing with her spoon towards the still waiting jug at Dayton's elbow.
"Are you alright, honey?" Sigourney questions her eyes finding what she able to see of her husband after another muffled sneeze from the direction of the refrigerator.
"Yeah." Will nodes only to muffle another sneeze into the crook of his arm. "Mean no." he amends now standing at the kitchen pantry for even more sneezing.
Its Dayton rather than the Gaines's themselves that notices Jenny's sympathetic glance in her father's direction before her gaze slips just enough towards the ceiling that Dayton feels just a little of her earlier panic over her brother and best friend's wellbeing lessen as she too catches the newer strain of her brother's favored body spray on the air.
Faint to any who aren't as familiar with that particular scent as Dayton herself.
The younger of the Reyes children making a mental reminder to tell her bother to tone it the heck down more than he'd already had since becoming next level friends with Dayton's best friend on the walk back towards home.
"Isn't that Cole's bike beside the back door?" Will asks a little more coherently having stepped outside for a breath of fresher air to clear his head and his nose.
At this Dayton sees Jenny pale just a little more over her cereal at her mother's startled "What?" as she jumps from her chair leaving her barely touched plate of eggs and toast completely forgotten in favor of hurrying to the back door for her own look at the bike in question.
Will's nervous "Sig, Siggy, honey wait." As after the briefest of glances out the back door the scientist mother that was Sigourney Gains hurried towards the stirs to the upper levels of the family home has the other two also bolting from the ability to follow her.
"That is an awful lot of busted pillows, Gaines."
Will at least breathes a far easier sigh at the sounds of his android daughter's giggled laughter in answer to Cole's whispered comment that he decides to turn around and head back down to tend to breakfast and let his wife handle giving the 'No boys in the bedroom' talk.
He'd already had the embracingly task of having said talk with Jenny that had ended with his then five-year-old daughter doing a better job of it than he had. This one was all Sigourney's turn.
"They were an attempted comforting device for my heightened emotional state at being prematurely awakened from Mom's pre-determined sleep mode time settings."
Two of the three that had paused to listen at the door shared a puzzled look at the attempted whisper of a reply. Both coming to the same question. "Why would Frankie need a comfort device?"
"But you're alright now, right? No more nightmares?"
All silent arguing outside the door stops at Cole's not so whispered question. Jenny having been attempting to give the newly found out couple a little more privacy before having to face the combined teasing anger that was now her mother and Dayton.
"Nightmares?!" Dayton and Sigourney mouth at the same time. Both wearing matching looks of wonder, confusion, and nerves. Jenny just looks guilty.
"No new dream files detected after last dream data transfer." Frankie answers after a pause the other guessed was her automatic checking of her systems. "and thank you again for your help, Cole Reyes." Even Dayton was more than a little pink in her cheeks at the shyness of her best friend's tone. "or should I say thanks for using 'the Frankie force' to come to my aid."
At this Jenny had to bite down hard enough to threaten blood to keep from giggling any louder than a few whimpered squeaks.
"Yeah, maybe don't play that around well anyone really." Cole advises "Someone who doesn't know what happened last night might get the wrong idea." He goes on to explain and Dayton can picture all to easily the adorable, confused puppy head tilt look her bestie gets at times when Frankie's android mind couldn't understand human sayings.
"What is wrong with it? Is it not 'something a boyfriend has where his girlfriend is concerned'" another sound bite of Cole's own voice reaches them by way of Frankie's attempted reasoning "as you said last night in your phone call?"
"Yeah, or that one either." The real Cole says. "look, Frankie like I said anyone that's not your or me might get the wrong idea about what happened between us last night if they heard you or I guess you sounding like me saying that."
"Like taking something out of context?" Frankie muses
Cole sighs in relief. "Exactly." He agrees "we that is to say you Frankie Gains and me Cole Reyes both know I just spent the night in your room. Completely platonic whilst still having the desired effect of my helping you get over a few bad dreams keeping you from getting a full night rest…erm charge."
"Platonic: an adjective word originated by the ancient philosopher Plato from whose name the word is taken meaning 'Of love or friendship intimacy and affection but nothing sex—"
"Yeah, yeah I..I know what platonic means, that's why I used it." Cole hurries to counter before Frankie could finish her reiterating a quick internet search.
Dayton this time needs to keep her amusement at her brother's stammering in check before they were all found oud for their unintentional eavesdropping.
"But that is the truth," Frankie summarizes "We were to use your words fully platonically clothed, and we did nothing besides embrace one another whilst in our varied forms of sleep mode."
Rather than attempt to prolong the back and forth of the current conversation Cole only sighs deeply as he wraps his arms around his girlfriend with Frankie seeming to snuggle in welcomed relief at the act.
The next second the sleepy quiet was broken by the sudden rebound of the door being open startling at least Cole enough to attempt to jump away from the embrace. Not that Frankie let him get far.
"Good morning, Mom. Good morning, Dayton Reyes. Good morning, Jenny Gaines." Frankie lists as the trio spill into the room
"Morning Frankie." Jenny answers despite her greeting being overshadowed greatly by their mother's accusing "Frankie Alexandra Gains why would you keep something this important from me?"
"Alexandra?" Jenny and Dayton ask together and even Cole seems puzzled by the addition to his girlfriend's name but chooses to attempt however poorly to keep from drawing any additional attention to himself.
"Alexandra a feminine form of the male Alexandros. An epithet of the goddess Hara the name Alexandra is also of Greek origins composed of the word 'alexein' meaning 'to ward off, keep defend' and 'aner' meaning…."
"Don't you change the subject young lady." Sigourney Gains cuts off her arms now cross tightly over her front with enough bite in her tone for even her android daughter to take a few nervous steps away from the woman who'd helped create her.
"Dr. Mom, please…I-" Frankie tries immediately grateful for the comforting weight of Cole's hand still held in her own as she feels herself wavering under the quiet disappointment clouding her mother's eyes.
"You what, Frankie?" Sigourney questions her eyebrow-raising in silent question "Do you know how important discovery like this means? For you? For our family? For me?"
"That's enough." Cole argues as Frankie shrinks away the picture of a properly scolded child. Her head bowed and her face hidden by her hair as her boyfriend steps in front of her as if he were able to shield her as easily from her emotions as he was the rest of the group who in essence hadn't moved beyond the doorway of the android girl's 'bedroom'
"Stay out of this Cole." Sigourney warns then adds towards the still cowering Frankie "and don't think I've forgotten about your violating the 'no boys in your room' rule."
This time it's Cole's turn to falter a little under the angered mother's annoyance but he doesn't move from between mother and android daughter. "I was the one…." He starts to cover only to stammer to a stop by a called "Everyone get down here while breakfast is still hot, please" from Will. "Cole that means you too, young man." He adds although his attempt at an intimidating parental tone only eases the sour tensions by triggering popcorned laughter from the younger members of the group upstairs.
Sigourney comes down first her lingering annoyance almost tangible as she descends the stairs from the second floor to the first. Frankie and Cole, their hands still clasped reassuringly between them both looking equally guilty as they follow a few steps behind the angered mother. Jenny and Dayton trailing behind all three the two sharing similar expressions of nervous apprehension as Will waits for all five in the separating space between the Gain's living room and the kitchen.
"Morning Cole." Will greets once again closing the refrigerator door after pulling out the orange juice and milk a second time. Not knowing which, the younger boy would prefer with his portion of already plated and waiting pancakes.
"Good morning, Mr. Gains." Cole answers his chin lifting just enough to meet the older man's eyes for the smallest fraction of a second before he goes back to the intent inspection of his own shoes.
"Eating first," Will decides quickly seeing the look on his wife's face when just as he'd predicted Cole and Frankie opt to sit beside one another at the table. Jenny and Dayton having chosen to take the stools at the breakfast nook to avoid overcrowding at the table.
Sigourney giving a grudging node of agreement. Only Will noticing the annoyance was more inwardly directed than his wife's lingering upset at finding their teenage daughter android though she might be having a boy stay the night in her room. He can easily see the battle of mother and scientist in his wife's downcast eyes as the younger crowd digs in to their respective breakfast options.
'How could I not notice something was wrong?'
'Why was she keeping this from me?'
"If she'd been keeping this secret then what else might she be hiding?"
"What can I do to help her?"
"Are you aright Dr. Mom?" Frankie asks her fork pausing with her next bite of pancake when she notices both the darkening look clouding her mother's unfocused eyes but also the startling twitch Sigourney gave at the unexpected touch of her husband's hand clasping her own under the table. Much like Will suspected Cole and Frankie were doing across from them.
A simple grounding touch to reassure the other. So simple yet also so powerful as Sigourney's fingers lightly squeeze his own in quiet thanks before, he lets go to reach for his juice glass.
At the title Will has to chew on his lower lip to keep from laughing into his morning glass of orange juice. It had been a long while since he'd heard Frankie use that call name with his genius wife. But it also worried him. If Frankie was reverting back to 'Dr. Mom' she must be more emotionally compromised than they realized.
"Yes, Frankie, I'm alright."
Even Dayton and Cole could pick up on the not so honest note of the answer, but Sigourney hurries on with a decisive "and if it's alright I'd like to do a full backup and systems scan after breakfast."
"Of course, Dr. Mom." Frankie agrees It's only this time that Frankie herself seems to notice her own slip at the title. "I mean, of course, Mom." The android amends already redirecting her gaze back to her mostly empty plate. Under the table, Cole's hand gives her own a reassuring squeeze.
Much to everyone else's surprise the rest of breakfast passed in relative able it nervous quiet aside from the scrapping of silverware and in jenny and Dayton's case the crush of cereal.
"Well, I've got the dishes, but Dayton would you mind helping check over Jenny's homework while Sig and Cole handle Frankie?" Will questions a sponge already in hand and a dish towel draped over the older man's shoulder after the last plate had been cleared from the table and transferred to the sink.
Cole immediately pales at Sigourney's agreeing "excellent idea, honey. Frankie mind running upstairs for your laptop, for us." As the Gaines mothers' hand drops against the teenager's shoulder keeping him in his chair.
"Uhm Dad why not just…" Jenny starts to point out the unusual usage of the sink in favor of the dishwasher which would have been far faster as she watches her father start to fill the sink with soapy water.
"Jenny homework." Will answers his tone on the sterner side of gentle as he points a soap coated sponge in the girl's direction. "And Dayton thanks again for helping her." Will adds nodding both watching young women towards the living room in quiet asking.
"But…" Jenny tries one more time but it's Dayton that quiets her this time with a soft clasp of a hand against the youngest Gain's shoulder.
"Come on Jen- Jen." Dayton sighs sending a 'Good luck bro' look towards Cole before tugging Jenny around the small bend from the kitchen to the living room the same moment Frankie comes back with the asked for laptop in hand.
"Thanks, Frankie." Sigourney smiles still keeping a steady but not restrictive hold on Cole's shoulder when the device was set onto the table and Frankie sat down in the already pulled-out seat across from Cole's own.
"Of course D..Mom." Frankie answers
Sigourney's hand closes just tightly enough to gain her daughter's attention. "This is just a normal file backup and system update. I'm not going to invade your privacy by asking about your dreams if you're not ready."
Frankie visibly relaxes at this. The uneasy pressure in the space of her chest eased into a more stable pulsing rhythm similar to that of the beat of Cole's own heart than the artificial pattern that had become her own. "But I do want to talk about them at some point." Her mother concludes
"Understood Mom." Frankie complies "Shall we start with my system's diagnostics now?" she goes on only a little embarrassed at saying the words aloud with her like like crush of a boyfriend sitting so close to her.
"I think that will be best." Her mother agrees "Cole if you could please."
"What?!" every one that wasn't Frankie or Sigourney themselves asked with mirrored levels of shock in their tones.
Apparently, Dayton and Jenny hadn't been as stealthy as they'd thought in eavesdropping from the living room.
Jenny even angrily returning to the kitchen with Dayton close behind her with an accusing "Seriously Mom? You're letting him do the update but not me or Dayton? Last week Dayton told me it took him ten minutes just to rest the time on the microwave and you're going to trust him with something as important as my sister's…."
"Frankie trusts him, Jenny." Sigourney interrupts once more pushing the still closed laptop closer towards the young man sitting at her kitchen table. "I trust her judgment."