Olga got home at around 10:30. She hung up her coat and began walking upstairs. The Christmas tree sparkled a bit in the corner of her eye. She turned to look down at it in the living room. Helga had evidently begun decorating it. Where was she? The house was so quiet. It was too ominous. Her heartbeat actually increased as she walked down the hall on the second floor.
"No Arnold, I told you this before! You're coming over to watch the Hawk vs. Takamura fight, and that's that!" Helga's voice leaked from her room, even behind the closed door.
Olga crept over.
"What do you mean, you'll think about it? Come on, Football Head! You can't tell me that you'd rather watch one of those network animated Christmas specials than two BAD dudes beating the living crap out of each other!"
Olga's lips involuntarily curled up into a warm smile as she stepped past Helga's room and toward the master bedroom. She needed that. She opened the door and there he was, on the bed in just his trunks, reading a book. Confessions of an Advertising Man, she saw.
"Hey babe." He greeted and turned back to his book. "How'd the show go?"
"Good. We were playing Bach today."
"Your classic Brandenburg Concerto? That must've been nice, not too difficult." He said without looking at her as he turned a page.
"Yeah..." Olga trailed with a sigh and went into the bathroom. "Did your deal come through?" She asked as she turned on the water.
"Yep." Louis responded. "They loved my presentation because, quite simply, I am the best." He smirked. "We're going to get started on the campaign after the Holidays."
"That's good." Olga replied as she began to wash off her makeup. Her heartbeat was quickening.
Now Louis lowered the book slightly and darted his eyes over it and toward the bathroom. She was less cheerful than normal, especially after a good show. She would also have usually laughed at his earlier swagger.
"...Everything OK in there?"
"...Something came up today. We really need to talk."
"Ugh...we do?" He groaned and rolled his eyes as he put the book in his lap.
She emerged from the bathroom in her nightgown with tears rolling down her cheeks. Louis' sarcasm instantly morphed into concern.
"Olga, what happened?" He asked, rushing up and grabbing her shoulders.
"We should go in the kitchen." Olga responded. "I'd rather preclude the possibility of Helga overhearing this. She's on the phone with Arnold, so that will make this a little easier."
"What does Helga have to do with this?"
"Louis, let's just..."
Wordlessly, he followed her out, past Helga's room, to the end of the hallway, and down the stairs toward the kitchen.
"That settles it, Football Head! Be here on fight night!" Helga ordered and hung up the phone. "Ah!" She grinned. "That always makes things so much easier!"
She left her room and went to one of the closets in the hallway, pulling down a box of Christmas ornaments from the shelf. She hummed happily to herself as she moved downstairs and toward the tree. She stood on the stool nearby, put the box down on an adjacent chair, and started placing some ornaments near the top when she heard Olga's voice coming from the kitchen. Evidently, she'd gotten home.
"I got a call from the hospital this morning, Louis..."
"The hospital?" He asked skeptically, but couldn't hide his concern.
"No, it wasn't about me or Helga." Olga responded to reassure him.
"Then, what about?"
"...My mother...had an incident this morning."
Helga's ears immediately pricked up. She froze in place, an ornament dangling from her hand.
"What kind of incident?"
"She...collapsed on the street and was rushed into the emergency room. She's OK, but she had a blood alcohol level of 0.42, and they had to pump a ton out of her stomach."
"Holy shit, that's a lot." Louis instinctively responded, surprising her. He rarely cussed.
"And it gets worse from there. Her health has really deteriorated these past couple of years. Her doctor told me she was going to develop permanent brain and liver damage if she doesn't stop drinking now. I went to see her and..."
"You went there?!" Louis burst out, showing rare anger.
Helga put the ornament on the tree. Immediately afterward, she bunched her hands into fists.
"I had to!" Olga responded, throwing up her hands as if in surrender. "She's my mother, Louis!"
This made him relent. "I mean... I'm just worried that you were with your father without me there."
"Oh no, daddy wasn't there." Olga's voice grew icy. "The hospital called him, but he couldn't bother to listen because 'he had a business to run.' That's why they called me instead."
"Oh..." Louis' voice grew grim, barely concealing a growl. "I see... That actually only makes me angrier."
"I mean, I know what daddy's like, but even for him..."
"Yeah, it's not the first time I've wanted to beat the shit out of your father." Louis responded calmly.
"You wouldn't?!"
"No, not unless he tried to physically abuse you or Helga." He reassured. "Anyway, continue."
Helga growled to herself as she put another ornament in the tree. The ebullient gingerbread man was the polar opposite of how she felt in that moment.
"I saw her and she was so frail..." Olga trailed, trying to stifle some sobs. "And I just couldn't help but feel unbearably guilty. These last two years...was I running away from confronting my family's problems again...? Was I still just trying to see the world through rose-colored glasses? Did I abandon my family? Was I being selfish and not doing my best for my family?"
"Olga, we've been through this before." Louis looked at her sternly. "You are not responsible for your family's problems. It is not for you to take care of them. You have your own life and you are not obligated to carry the burden for your family. You didn't fail them. Understand?"
"I know but..." She began to sob. "Mommy's in really bad shape. She really needs help. She absolutely cannot go back to where she was before and..."
Helga's heartbeat quickened.
"NO!"
"Louis!"
"Absolutely not!" He declared and got up, pacing toward the refrigerator.
Helga bunched her fists together again and nodded up and down. Olga was too unbearably sweet for her own good in so many ways. Thankfully, Louis could always be counted on to be the voice of reason.
"Louis, she needs help! Her doctor told me she was at risk of developing a life-threatening liver condition and permanent dementia! What am I supposed to do, just send her back to the same place that led her to this?! You know, this thought came to me when I got the phone call from the hospital. I stared at the pictures of us on the coffee table, and the portraits of Louis Henri and the king...and I wondered...am I being too eager to join your family and totally disregard mine, to pretend like they don't exist? I mean...mommy could have died today...and she very well still might if she doesn't get help quickly. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I just did nothing. I can't very well let her die, can I?"
Louis' face drooped. "No...I guess not." He grumbled.
"I mean...she might not have been perfect, but wasn't it Seneca that said you can't live your life according to calculations of expediency? That you actually have to do the right thing, or it will come back to haunt you? I can't imagine that Seneca would consider unwillingness to help someone in need, especially when you have the power to do so, as being beneficial to civilized living. I mean, I've known about mommy's problem for as long as I can remember, but I wasn't able to do anything about it back then, so I just pretended like everything was fine. It's different now. It would be even worse if I didn't lift a finger to help her, now that I'm finally able to do so. I can't pretend anymore."
"It was Cicero that said those things." Louis corrected. "Nonetheless...point taken. You're even starting to make me feel guilty. It would be wrong of me to refuse such a request."
Helga's jaw dropped and her arm hung in mid-air. The ornament she was about to place on the tree was now the furthest thing from her mind. She began to slowly shake her head. Then the shaking quickened to a rapid pace.
"Thank you..." Olga smiled at him lovingly.
"BUT." Louis stopped her from kissing him and looked at her frankly. "I have two conditions. First, she better not be a detriment to you girls. If I think she's hurting you or Helga in some way, she's out of here, and that leads me to my second condition. She actually has to want to do it. Overcoming addiction is a serious business and requires a lot of work. She has to actually want to do the work. We can help and support her, but ultimately she needs to make the choice that she wants to do it. I swear, Olga, if she doesn't want to do it, she's out."
"Yes, I understand you." Olga replied as a few happy tears started leaking from her eyes. "You know...it's because of you that I now have the power to do this...to actually help my family instead of ignoring the problems. You helped me and then we helped Helga...I hope that the three of us can now pay it forward and..."
"NO!"
The two of them turned around with surprised expressions to see an agitated Helga standing at the entrance to the kitchen, with a look that skirted between despair and fury.
"Helga, why are you up so late?" Olga asked. "It's a school night!"
"Don't give me any of that school night crap!" Helga growled. "How can you possibly think of bringing Miriam here?! Where did this come from?!"
"How long have you been spying on us?" Louis lightly taunted.
"I heard the whole thing!" Helga pouted in response.
"Then you must have heard where the idea came from!" Louis answered, making Helga growl again.
"Helga..." Olga walked over and tried to hug her.
"NO! Get away from me!" She objected. "That's your problem, Olga. You're too sweet for your own good! That was always your problem! Here you are again, trying to be the golden child again. Old habits really do die hard, even after all this time, huh? Since when did Miriam deserve any of your goodwill?"
"Helga..." Olga trailed, her eyes expressing their pain. "I know she wasn't perfect to either of us, but...she's still our mother!"
"Mother?!" Helga huffed haughtily. "What kind of a mother lets you languish and fend for yourself when you're four years old?! Or does nothing to stick up for you when you're being harangued by your blowhard of a father for no reason?! And you...what about you?! You really think you owe something to a 'mother' that not only acquiesced to the pressure you were put under, but actually added to it? Do you really need to be her precious little doll again?"
Olga was about to cry again.
"Why even bother?" Helga muttered. "It's just another time I've been let down by my supposed 'family.' Thanks a lot."
Helga stormed upstairs. Tears again leaked from Olga's eyes and she was about to break down in sobs, but she suddenly felt herself in the embrace of a pair of strong arms. A hand was rubbing her back comfortingly. It worked.
"Let me go talk to her." Louis smiled confidently. "I know you're feeling crappy, but you know how sensitive this is to Helga. She'll come around. Just make sure you show your support for her. In the meantime, while I'm talking to her, I want you to take all the drinks out of the kitchen and put them in the fridge in the office. I'll lock that one up tomorrow morning."
Olga nodded in acquiescence as he broke the embrace and left the room.
"Well Arnold, it looks like I'm in a pickle again." She said to her classic locket. "Stupid Miriam!" She growled. "Stupid, naive, selfish Olga!"
A few knocks rattled on her door. Helga put the locket away and opened the door to see Louis standing there. Wordlessly, he let himself in and sat on her bed.
"I didn't ask for company!" She sneered.
"Well, you got it." Louis quipped back, unfazed. "Consider it your punishment for staying up this late on a school night and spying on us." He smirked and pointed to the spot next to him.
Helga grumbled and sat beside him.
"This definitely came as a shock to you, I know." Louis said. "Believe me, it was a shock to me, too."
"Yeah, and that's what really bugs me!" Helga cut him off. "I'd expect this kind of feel-good nauseating sweetness from Olga, not from you! You were the one I could always count on. I'm way more disappointed in you!" She growled and looked away, toward the wall.
"Helga, Olga is about to become my wife!" He objected. "Do you honestly think I can just ignore something this severe? In this case, her sweetness is in the right place."
Helga snapped her head back at him. "But what happened to your vow not to let Bob or Miriam see us until they became positive influences?! Are you really going to break that because of Olga's selfish need to be the perfect, golden child?"
"Someone's being selfish here, but it isn't Olga."
Helga's jaw dropped suddenly, then she quickly grit her teeth and grumbled.
"You know, when I first met you, I saw all the talent in the world, but it was hidden beneath your mess of a home and the scowling mask you wore in response to it. Now when I look at you two years later, I see that potential coming out and growing every day. It's amazing to me how much progress you've made. I'm proud of you." He smiled.
"So why do you want to take me closer to that old life?!" Helga snapped.
"The situation's changed, Helga. I want you to look at yourself. Think about all the work you've put in, the improvements you've made. You see what all that effort can do. You see what's possible. You see what can happen if you really want something, right?"
"I guess so, but..."
Her frown was breaking. Louis knew he just needed to make a final push.
"So now think about your mother. Maybe she can make those improvements too. Maybe she can put in the work too. It would be wrong to deny her that opportunity, wouldn't it? I know you know it would be wrong to just leave your mother with nothing but the bottle. A change of environment might just be the thing she needs to get moving and make the kind of improvements you've made."
The frown broke. "I guess that makes sense... I have no choice but to admit it."
Louis brought her into a hug. She returned the favor.
"I know this is going to be tough. Believe me, I'm not thrilled. Trust me when I say that I have your and Olga's interests at the center of my thoughts. My vow hasn't changed. It's just been altered a bit."
"That makes me feel a lot better..." Helga replied as the embrace ended.
"Good. Now get to bed." He ordered.
She complied with a smile as he turned off the lights and went out of the room, closing the door behind him. Still, Helga had difficulty falling asleep. It was suddenly dawning on her that her screw-up alcoholic of a mother was going to violate this precious house tomorrow, all thanks to Olga's unbearable kindness. She growled and clenched her fists until sweet sleep finally swept her off her feet.