Francisco picks up the scattered plates from the dining table and takes them to the sink, which is currently full of dishes from breakfast. He turns his head towards Lynn, who is feeding Victor, and sighs, before focusing on the dishes. In about an hour, her mom and sisters are coming over and the house is a mess, not that that's different from most days.
Ever since he went back to work, he has noticed that Lynn spends her entire time alone fixating on Victor, leaving the rest of the house a mess. At first, he thought that it was because she didn't know how to manage her time while handling a new baby, so he cut her some slack on the first couple of days, but it's been long enough. He's wanted to find the best way to tell her, but nothing sounds right without coming off as a terrible person.
Without looking up from the dishes, he reminds Lynn, "Don't forget, I've got physical therapy later today."
"You're going today?"
"I've put it off long enough. If I don't, then what good was the surgery?"
He hates to admit that he's been neglecting his back, especially with everything that's been happening since the surgery, but him struggling to get up off the floor, really woke him up at how much he may have fallen behind since. Luckily, with her family coming by, he is able to go see someone, while Lynn has company around.
"Yeah, I guess…"
"Lynn, it's going to be fine. Your mom's gonna be here, and I'll be damned if Lisa doesn't know what to do in case anything happens."
Lynn scoffs, "Fine..."
"What is it?"
"Nothing. I get it. Go do what you need to do."
"Do you want me to stay?" he asks in a slightly agitated tone.
"I said, 'it's fine'," she stresses.
A few days ago, her mom called asking if she could visit, see Victor and maybe help Lynn out for the afternoon. She's made this offer to all of her children, who gladly accept any help that she is willing to offer, but Lynn was hesitant. Unfortunately, after she agreed, her two youngest sisters invited themselves over. She didn't mind her mom coming over by herself, it's one person, but now one turned to three and soon enough Lucy, her family, and the rest of the siblings will want to come over and see Victor.
"Alright then," he says.
Francisco walks over to Victor and picks up the boy, "Go ahead and get ready. I'm almost done."
Lynn looks at him, waiting for him to leave their son out of sight while she's away. However, after Francisco notices her stares, he reminds her to once again get changed.
"Alright, I'm going! It's like you don't trust me," she tells him as she walks to their room.
He looks down at their son, "It isn't that I don't trust her, but I have to repeat myself a lot. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. The big thing we want to make sure of, is that you handle your grandma and aunts."
After bringing home Victor, he hasn't had much exposure to other people aside from Elena, Alicia, and Jackson, and each time he cried after being handed off to the other person. They both know that having three 'new' people come over might stress out the newborn, but his issue is with being held, so maybe they won't want to hold him.
Yeah, he can't convince himself that that's going to happen, but if Lisa and Lily notice how he behaves with the mom, maybe they won't want to deal with a crying baby. They're the two youngest and neither one has a child of their own, Lisa loves quiet, and Lily typically plays the cool aunt role, so that last part might happen.
"Just be a good boy for your Mom and Grandma."
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
Rita sighs, there is no such thing as a quiet afternoon in the Loud house, especially with four young daughters and baby to care for. Sometimes, whenever she's alone in the hallway or the bathroom, she imagines herself hiding away from them in the linen closet or the bathtub, but she can't leave them alone for long. Sooner or later, the sound of crashes and crying bring her back to reality and she has to handle it.
"Who knew toddlers were such hard work?" she asks herself.
It's bad enough to have a baby that relies on her, but adding four girls that seem to be pushing the boundaries all at once and she's sure that she's going to pull her hair out from the stress.
Lori is constantly bossing her sisters around and pulling on them whenever they don't do what they say, Leni wanders off whenever there's an open door, and Luna's terrible twos seem to involve her kicking anything and making a mess of anything that gets in her way.
Luckily, Luan and Lynn can't do much at the moment, but it's not going to be long before they join their older sisters.
Rita shudders at the thought. She and Lynn definitely should have spaced out the kids. They both knew that they wanted a large family with lots of kids, but having five children under five is a huge undertaking, especially when she's alone most of the day.
Best case scenario, it's just a phase and the older girls will begin to calm down and she'll have less daughters to worry about with each passing year, and if not that, then at least school is right around the corner.
A knock at the door grabs her attention. Rita is not in the mood to deal with salespeople or anyone trying to convert the family, but she can't pretend that no one is home - the girls can't stay quiet long enough.
Rita opens the door, "I'm sorry, we're happy with our current God," she says without looking at who was at the door. "No matter how trials are sent our way," she mutters to herself.
"Well, that's good to hear, I guess," says Albert, "but I figured that you might have your hands full with five girls."
Rita feels a wave of relief overcome her.
No, her dad didn't have five children to raise, but he raised one and dealt with a platoon in his military days, four girls should be a cake walk, and even if it isn't, an extra pair of hands is still appreciated.
She walks over and hugs him, "Oh Dad, I am so happy that you're here."
He chuckles, "I bet. Now where are my little granddaughters? Girls! Guess, who's here!"
The girls hear their grandfather call out to them and when they see him, they run over with glee, "Pop-Pop!"
The three girls run towards him and he is taken by surprise that they are able to force him to take a step back, "You three are getting big and strong," he compliments. "If I'm not careful, I'm going to be in big trouble when all five of you work together."
Lori and Leni each take one of his arms and pull him towards the stairs.
"Girls, let go of your Pop-Pop's arms."
Albert, impressed by the girls' strength, tells his daughter, "Don't worry about," he lifts the girls up and they hang off of his arms like monkeys on a tree branch, "I can handle them for a bit. Go relax or something. I've got this."
Rita can feel her heart rate dropping as she takes a huge sigh of relief. It isn't going to be much, but any amount of time, she'll happily accept if it means not worrying about the girls.
Lori and Leni lead Albert upstairs, while Luna follows after him. She's sure that Luan will probably join them in a bit, which means that she can start getting snacks ready for the girls. As she places Lynn's bottle in the warmer and begins cutting the fruits and veggies, she's almost surprised by the lack of interruptions. It's been a long time since she's been able to accomplish anything without one of the girls wanting her attention. She can't blame them though, between four little girls and baby, they're going to want some time alone with either her or their dad
It's just hard to share.
She places the cut fruit and vegetables into the fridge and gets the bottle out of the warmer.
Rita heads upstairs, she turns her head towards the girls, who are loudly talking over one another. It's nice that they're able to have some fun with their grandfather.
She opens the door to her youngest's nursery. Rita walks towards the crib and looks down at Lynn, "Time for your bottle," she says as she shows the bottle to the infant.
Lynn follows with her eyes as her mom's wrist goes back and forth. Rita picks up her daughter and leads her towards the rocking chair to feed the girl.
"Sorry it hasn't been a lot of fun," she apologizes to her daughter. "I know that you usually like things moving around a lot, but your Pop-Pop has his hands full and I'm sure your sisters will revolt if I don't get lunch or some sort of snack started soon. Don't worry, one day you'll be running around with them to your heart's content…"
The nursery door opens. Albert pokes his head into the room, "We're about to put on a movie. Do you two want to join us?" he whispers.
"In a bit. Lynn needs to finish her bottle and then I've got to burp her. Their snacks are in the fridge," she tells him, unaware that Lynn isn't drinking from the bottle anymore.
Albert points out to his daughter, "I think she might be done."
Rita looks down at Lynn, who seems to be staring at her Pop-Pop, "I think she wants you to hold her."
With a smile on his face, he walks over to his daughter and takes his youngest granddaughter into his arms, "Look at you, you look just like your father."
"Leonard said the same thing too. He even brought photos of when Lynn was a baby and the girls were wondering when they were taken and why they weren't in any of the photos."
He laughs, "I don't blame them for thinking that for a second, but with the way Lynn takes photos, I don't think the girls will ever have to worry about that." He leans down to tickle Lynn with his nose, "Isn't that right?"
"Dad, you might not want to do that," warns Rita. "Lynn, has a bit of a-"
Albert holds back a yell, as he tries to gently get Lynn to release her grip on his mustache, "She's definitely strong."
Lynn giggles as she pulls on her grandfather's mustache hair. Rita does her best to remove her fingers and after using a little force to pry her off, she is successful, but not quick enough if she asks her dad.
"Definitely don't want to get on her bad side," he jokes.
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
"Pop-Pop!"
Albert turns to Rita, "I'll get them their snack so we can start the movie."
"We'll see you in a bit," says Rita, as she places Lynn on her shoulder to burp her, but the infant takes the opportunity to pull on mommy's hair.
Lily waits outside of Vanzilla. For the past half hour, she has been standing around waiting for her mom and sister to get out so that they can see Lynn and Victor, but with each passing minute, she is getting more and more agitated. Seriously, it shouldn't take two people so much time to get ready, but old habits don't seem to die.
"C'mon! Let's go!" Lily yells towards the house. "By the time we leave, Vic'll be celebrating his first birthday."
Lisa opens the door, "You exaggerate, younger sister, but rest assured that eleven months won't pass by in the time it'll take Mother to join us."
"What's she doing?"
"Getting held up by Father, who insists that she take plenty of photos of our nephew."
Lily giggles. Their dad is that kind of doting grandfather who wants to capture every little moment with his newest family members. He even wanted to join them today, but with the new girl that he hired while Lynn is away, he is going to be too busy getting her up to speed to spend an afternoon away.
"Mom! C'mon! Let's go before Vic's bedtime."
Rita walks out with the camera in hand. She doesn't appreciate Lily's impatience, but it was the only thing to get her husband from keeping her any longer, so she'll live with it. He left her with clear instructions to take as many photos as possible and to forward her any video that she might take of their grandson, especially if it's 'adorable'.
Luckily, with a loose definition, it shouldn't be hard, but he does stress wanting these little moments recorded. He's done it for all the kids and grandkids, and they're sure that he'll continue the tradition for years to come.
The three hop in Vanzilla. Lily looks at Lisa in the rearview mirror. She is typing away on her computer and it has Lily curious, "What are you typing?"
"Some notes to start our nephew's file."
Like her father, Lisa also seems to like recording moments of the newest family members. However, instead of photos and videos, she types notes, after notes, of information like a family physician. It's one of the nice things about having her act as a quick family doctor who can see everyone at a moment's notice, but it is a little unnerving to have her know all those intimate details.
"I don't think you will, but if you find anything bad, don't tell Lynn right away. She might still be a little emotional after giving birth a few weeks ago, and there's no point in upsetting her."
"Understood. Though if caught early enough any long-term effects could be avoided," states Lisa.
"Don't you think that maybe the doctors could have caught it before they released him?" asks Lily.
She looks up at the rearview mirror, "Not always, besides, that isn't what I'm looking for today. Instead, I will be more focused on testing his primitive reflexes and any changes to his height and weight." Lisa turns to Rita, "Do you think that they would be willing to let me fill up a bathtub with water?"
Neither Lily or Rita know what Lisa is planning, but regardless, they tell her what they assume to be the couple's answer, "No."
Lily pulls up in front of the house. The three walk up to the front door. Before Lily knocks on the front door, Francisco opens the door, "You guys came earlier than I thought."
With how many Loud family parties he's attended in the past, he knows that they are not usually punctual. He assumed that growing up with such a large family, they were bound to run into issues whenever they travel, but not as they have their own families, either the habit stuck like in the case of Lynn, or it never was a problem like it is with some siblings.
Lily walks into the house, "That's a weird way to greet us. I thought you'd be a little more excited to see us."
"I am, but I can also be surprised that you guys are early."
"Fair," she notices Francisco grabbing the keys to his truck, "Where are you going? Don't tell me you can't be alone in a room with four women," she jokes.
He turns his head towards her as he walks back towards his truck, "I gotta go to physical therapy. I should be back before you know it."
When she's sure that he can't hear her, she mutters to Lisa, "It feels like he's been going forever. Are we sure that they aren't trying to rip him off?"
"Great physical success doesn't come overnight."
"No, and it's definitely not coming if you keep hunching over whatever you're working on at night," she giggles.
"Girls, enough," says Rita as she looks around for Lynn and spots her sitting on the couch watching tv. Normally, she's used to her being a little more lively, but to watch her be almost as still as she is a sight she didn't think she'd see from her daughter.
As she approaches Lynn, Rita spots her holding Victor in her arms, "Aww there's my new little grandson," says Rita before taking the seat next to her. "Can I hold him?"
Lynn hesitates for a second. It isn't that she doesn't trust her mom, but she knows that as soon as she hands Victor over, Lily and Lisa are going to want to hold him. It shouldn't be so bad, it's only three people, three people that she has known for years, but it still doesn't make it easy to let go of Victor.
Regardless, she hands Victor over to her mom and watches as she looks down at his face with a smile on her face. No matter how many grandchildren she has, she always has the same look in her eyes as she stares at the newest member of the family.
Lily takes a seat next to her mom and looks down at her nephew. Unlike a month ago, where he was attached to breathing tubes and machines, completely discolored, he appears more like a normal baby, even if all she can see is him sleeping.
"He looks so much like Francisco," states Lily, "except with less bushy eyebrows."
Rita chides her daughter, "Lily, don't say things like that."
"Well it's true. Look at him, it's like looking at mini Francisco."
Rita looks down at her grandson, Lily is right, he's the spitting image of his father. She tries to find a trait of Lynn's but she can't find any. Rita puts on her glasses to get a better look at the boy. She looks at his eyelids, his ears, his nose, mouth, even his fingers and toes trying to see if anything will remind her of her daughter, but nothing.
"That's not surprising, considering that he has the most dominant traits."
"But every one? That's impossible. Lynn's got to have one dominant trait and Francisco's got to have a recessive one."
Lisa observes her nephew, "I'll happily await your theories, if you can come up with one." She looks over at Lynn, "I assume that his sucking and rooting reflexes are faring well?"
"His what?"
"Does he have trouble breastfeeding?"
"Not usually. I mean, there was that one time, but he was being fussy, so no."
Lisa looks at her sister, expecting more of an explanation, "Do you mind if I observe?"
All three immediately answer, "No."
Lisa notices that her nephew is moving a bit. He is likely about to wake up, which gives her a chance to observe another one of his reflexes. She takes out a pen from her bag and places it near his hand. He firmly grasps it and Lisa makes a mental note of what she witnessed, "You know, if you place him in his crib with a pillow underneath his head and offer him your fifth digits while gradually lifting, he might be able to support himself."
"That shouldn't be surprising considering the strongmen he's going to call 'mommy' and 'daddy'."
Hearing that reminds Rita of something, "You're going to want to be careful, if he's anything like you," she warns Lynn. "You had the tightest grip of any of the kids. For a long time, I was afraid that you were going to pull out my hair. It was terrible for your dad too. He would get scared if you ever got one finger in his nostril, because you would pull on his nose and whenever we got your hand loose, we'd find nose hairs in your fists."
"That's a pretty mental image," remarks Lily.
Victor begins to open his eyes. The bright lights keep him from properly making out the shape of the women around him. Rita shields his eyes and looks at him with a smile.
Lily leans over and looks at his eyes, "Look who's finally waking up. Are you weddy to pway with youw aunty and gwandma?"
Rita and Lisa begin to focus more of their attention on Victor.
Lynn looks over as her sisters fuss over her son. They're completely unaware of her staring, but she can't pull her eyes away, looking at everything they start doing - Lily babytalking with him and Lisa lightly tickling his toes and writing notes in her notebook.
What Lynn doesn't notice is her mom staring at her. She knows that look, it was the same look she had when Lori was born, the look of a protective mother who doesn't trust her child to be in anyone else's arms but her own.
Lily takes Victor from her mom and he begins to whimper. Lynn knows what's about to happen and before Lily can look over at her, she grabs him and rocks him back and forth.
The three guests look at Lynn, not surprised by her swiftness, but by her taking Victor away from them without looking or saying anything to them.
Rita gets up from her seat, "I'm going to see if she needs any help."
The sound of crying wakes up Lynn. He looks over at his wife, but she appears to be knocked out, not that he's surprised, she just gave birth a few days ago. He could wake her up, but she's definitely not going to be happy about it.
Nope, he's just going to have to suck it up and get out of bed to see what's going on before the rest of the girls wake up.
He quietly gets out of bed and goes up the stairs. Once he's on the second floor, the crying gets louder. He walks towards the source of the noise and opens the door to find Luna crying.
"What's wrong kiddo? Did you have a bad dream?" He picks her up and begins to rock her back and forth. "Do you want a midnight snack?"
Luna doesn't answer, but regardless Lynn takes it as a yes and leads her downstairs towards the kitchen. He keeps on rocking her, but it doesn't stop her crying. He's sure that the sight of food might keep her quiet and if not, she can take a bite and stop that way.
He sets her down on the highchair and opens the fridge. He's tempted by dinner leftovers, but this isn't for him, it's for Luna, "What about a glass of cold milk? With a…" he struggles to finish that thought.
He can't give her a cookie, it's too much sugar at this time of night.
While he ponders what sort of midnight snack to offer his daughter, he hands her the cup of milk, but she slaps it off the tray.
"Luna! What's going on with you tonight?"
The toddler crosses her arm and pouts in silence. He doesn't have the energy to argue or try to find out what is bothering her. He walks towards the sink and runs a rag under the faucet to clean up the mess that Luna made.
As he steps towards where he's sure the mess is, he slips on the milk and falls to the ground. His back aches, but he can see Luna's eyes on him and rather than concern her, he gets up to his feet and tells her, "Pip pip. Bob's your uncle."
Luna smiles when she hears her dad speaking British English to her.
As he holds back screams of pain, he notices that her mood has changed, "Yeah? You like that? I have a treat for you then."
Deciding to ignore the midnight snack idea, he takes Luna towards the stereo. He looks through his CD collection for something that she might like. Most of it is cowbell and country music, which all of the girls have made clear that they don't like as much as he and Rita do.
Luckily, there are some CDs for the girls.
Most of it is silly and repetitive kids' songs that 'go missing' after a few weeks and the rest is some of his and Rita's collections before they had kids.
He looks through each CD trying to find something that is British and with lyrics friendly enough for a toddler's ears, and then he finds it.
"Mick Swagger," he whispers. Lynn grabs the CD, places it in the stereo and presses play.
Music begins to loudly play, and he quickly turns the knob down. Luckily, no one wakes up, but there's no use in having the stereo on if he and Luna can't hear anything.
He grabs the knob and turns it slightly, "Just a little bit," he tells her.
The instruments and the lyrics can barely be heard, but it's loud enough for the two if they keep their ears pressed against the speaker.
Lynn can see Luna smiling and he's sure that whatever had her crying is probably far from her little mind. He picks her up and carries her upstairs, but as soon as they reach the second floor, she buries her head in his robe.
"Are you tired?"
She shakes her head.
"Well, Luna," he yawns, "you have to go to bed. It's late and it's not good for you."
She doesn't say anything.
Lynn places her in her crib and notices the pout on her face. Rather than leave her alone, he opens the closet door, "No monsters in here." He looks under her crib, "or here." He walks towards her coloring table, "or here. See, Luna, it's all safe. You have your nightlight, your blankie, it's not too hot or too cold, so everything should be okay, right?"
When Luna doesn't say anything, he tries to walk out of the room, but soon she calls out to him, "Dada!"
He turns around, "What's wrong?"
"Baby!"
Lynn isn't sure what she's talking about. As far as he's concerned the girls have all been getting along, though considering how he's gone for most of the day, he doesn't really know. Rita hasn't mentioned anything to him, but before he jumps to conclusions, he decides to ask Luna some questions.
"Do you wanna sleep in Luan's crib?"
She shakes her head.
"Do you wanna play with Luan in the morning?"
She crosses her arms and shakes her head, "Nuh-uh."
That part he sort of knew, and he thinks he has an idea of where this is going. Luna hasn't taken it too well ever since Luan was born. It happened with Lori, and it was bound to happen again. However, just to be sure he asks, "Do you think that mommy and daddy love the baby more?"
She nods her head.
"Aww Luna, you don't have to worry about that," he reminds his daughter. "And your mom and I are never going to stop loving you. Right now the baby needs more attention, but you're becoming a big girl who can walk and do things for herself. A baby can't do any of the stuff you can," he assures her. "Right?"
Luna thinks about it. Her baby sister can't walk, or talk, or eat by herself. She needs Mom's help for everything. Heck, she can't even stand up!
"One day, you are going to love your sister, just like you love Mommy and Daddy and Lori and Leni, but never forget that we love you too. Got it?"
Luna nods her head and Lynn kisses her nose, "Good girl."
Rita walks towards the nursery and spots Lynn watching over her son. It feels like deja vu watching her daughter. It didn't matter how much time would pass, she would stare at Lori as if silently assuring her that mommy was going to watch over her and keep her safe from everything bad in the world.
"I remember when Lori was born. I would not for the life of me want to let her go. I thought that no one would be able to care for her, or that I couldn't trust anyone to be near her that wasn't your father or Pop-Pop."
Though as she says that she remembers thinking that for a brief moment, she also had the same distrust in both of them. They may have been family, but the same worries plagued her despite knowing that she could trust them.
"Sometimes, I would even worry that if I walked down the street with her in a stroller, everybody that whispered near me was making fun of her pointy head and webbed toes."
Rita looks over at her daughter to see some sort of reaction, but she doesn't get one.
"It's hard at first. They're your first little baby, they depend so much on you and you don't want them to get hurt by anything in the world. Little by little, they're going to become more independent, and it hurts to think about, but you'll be so proud of how far they've come because of you."
Lynn remains silent.
Rita doesn't want to push her daughter to talk to her, but it would definitely help so that she can understand what else might be going through her mind.
Just thinking that makes Rita wonder.
Lynn's silence is probably the reason that she resorted to alcohol, the reason none of them knew, and possibly many more problems. She can't blame her, Lynn has never been the type to talk about her feelings, she'd much rather roll with the punches on her own than burden the rest of the family.
Rita places a hand on her daughter's shoulder, "If you need any sort of help, you know that you can come to us," she assures, "No matter what."
While still looking at Victor, Lynn nods her head, and quietly answers, "Okay…"
Rita doesn't know if that's a good sign or not, but for the time being, she's going to assume that all is well. Though she does make a mental note to check up on her daughter from time to time to make sure that things go smoothly with her and her baby son.
"He's napping. We should probably leave him alone."
Rita heads towards the door, but notices that Lynn isn't moving at all. She stares at her daughter, waiting for her to move on her own.
Lynn can feel her mom staring. She is sure that if she doesn't move her mom is going to call out to her or ask her what's going on and she doesn't want to answer, but she can't help worrying about her son.
As she walks towards the door, Lynn asks, "So you really thought that everyone was talking about Lori's pointy head and junk?"
"Yeah… if I wasn't sad about it, I swear, I thought about smacking them with my diaper bag until they took it back."
Lynn is sort of surprised to hear her mom say that. She hasn't had those thoughts herself, but if they ever creep in she'll know that it isn't only her.
When the two get to the living room, they are surprised by the appearance of Lucy and the rest of her family. Despite the proximity of the nursery to the living room, and even with three children, they still managed to come in without either one hearing them.
"Holy crap…" is all Lynn could mutter before everyone's eyes focused on her.
Lynn offers Lori a bite of cereal at Leni tottling towards Rita. She is beginning to learn how to walk, which is a big step for her. Soon, she'll be following everyone around, then talking, and doing everything that her big sister is doing.
That sort of has him concerned.
It was easy when it was only Lori, but it was even easier when she couldn't even move. Both of them could put her in her car seat or strap her onto them and try their best to go about their day, but with two toddlers running, that's a whole different story, especially when they're so close in age.
It took a little time, but Lori now seems more excited about the idea of being Leni's older sister, teaching her the things that she's picked up in her few years on this planet and having her baby sister following her around. Hopefully, that streak can continue.
Lynn notices that Lori finished her breakfast and takes the bowl to the kitchen. He loves these lazy weekends, a nice slow start to the day, time with his family, the feeling that the workweek is far away, and a chance to help Rita with the girls.
Rita walks into the kitchen, "Well, Lori and Leni are playing with their dolls. Hopefully, Lori doesn't get upset with Leni any time soon."
"I think she's getting better. Last week, she went a whole ten minutes before calling out to me to say that Leni was bothering her."
"Here's hoping for eleven minutes," jokes Rita.
Lynn laughs, but his thoughts go to his wife and their soon-to-be baby. "Are you a little worried about the new baby? I mean, three kids under three."
Recently, the couple learned that they were expecting another child. Rita went to the doctor earlier this week for a checkup and all seems to be good, but they are both a little frightened at the idea of having another baby with two toddlers.
"Well, it could be twins, my mom's sister had twins."
Lynn doesn't want to think about four kids under three. He loves his children, and isn't against having a large family, but not for all the kids to be born in one fell swoop, "We'll figure something out, and the girls are doing great, one more shouldn't be so bad."
That's what her husband thinks, and as much as he hates leaving every morning to go to work, he at least gets a break from running around after a toddler and taking care of a home with two little girls.
It sort of makes her nostalgic for her job.
It wasn't anything glamorous, but it was her chance to talk with other adults and feel like her life isn't just cleaning up messes. She loves her girls, but sometimes she needs a break, and it definitely doesn't help when she watches Lynn leave for work every day.
"Hopefully, I know we said that we wanted a large family, but that was a lot easier to say when we still outnumbered them."
At the same time, Rita didn't expect them to have two, now about to be three, kids back-to-back. She sort of thought that they were going to space them out a bit, let them get a little more independent, before having their kids, but nature doesn't seem to look at it that way, and blessed them with three kids in three years
She's currently in the early stages of her pregnancy, but it won't be long before she feels more exhausted as her baby grows and her two daughters start running around the house more.
"We'll try to be more careful after this baby is born," he promises her. "Do you think that it might be a boy this time?"
Rita smiles. She knows that he wants a boy, a chance for a little Lynn Jr., and who knows they might get their son this time around or maybe another time, but she doesn't want to try again too soon.
"It's too early to tell, but can we just agree on something?"
"Sure. What is it?"
Lori yells before Rita is able to tell him what she wanted to say.
Lynn tells her, "I'll go check on the girls. We can talk later during naptime."
"Don't you think it's a little weird?" asks Francisco.
Dr. Hutchison looks at his patient. Like many times before, Francisco brings up Lynn's problems in an effort to have him help navigate the situation. He can commend his patient for caring, but now most of their sessions are turning to Francisco dealing with Lynn's behavior rather than Francisco's own emotions.
As Francisco continues to talk, Huchison looks at the notes that he's written on Lynn based on what's been said, but the note that grabs his attention is her alcoholism. His patient doesn't tend to bring up that aspect, instead choosing to focus on some of her other behaviors, at the moment, her obsessive fixation on someone watching over their son, so that he isn't alone.
"Francisco, I haven't mentioned this before because you don't like group therapies, but I think you might benefit from some Al-Anon meetings."
"What meetings?"
"Al-Anon," repeats the doctor. "They're meetings to help people deal with alcoholics."
"Lynn hasn't had a drink in years."
"Would she still call herself an alcoholic?"
Francisco stops to think about that. He wouldn't call her that, especially with her control, but he knows that she probably would. He can't imagine that the issues that Lynn is experiencing is because of her past drinking, but he's sure that his doctor is trying to lead him towards that conclusion.
"I know you aren't going to share, but maybe listening to others will help."
"But this has been going on with her since Victor came home."
"Francisco, my job is not to care about Lynn. She's not my patient, you are."
"But her being this way is affecting me."
"How?"
Francisco stops to think about that. Aside from being bothered that the house is a mess and that she isn't taking care of herself in favor of caring for Victor, there isn't much going on that would be affecting him personally.
When his patient doesn't answer, Hutchison pulls out a pamphlet and hands it to him, "I can't make you go, but I am going to tell you that there is a meeting that's not too far from here."
He isn't sure how it would help. Hutchison just admitted that he isn't the type to share and he's sure that if the group sees him, they're going to ask him to do so.
Francisco sighs, "Fine…"
"Are you upset that I'm suggesting this?"
Francisco shakes his head, "No, I just hate the thought of speaking in public to a bunch of strangers about my problems.
"I told you I can't make you go. All I'm going to do is recommend it, you could think of it sort of like a team where you guys try to prop yourselves up."
"I guess…"
Slightly better, but the doctor expected that from Francisco.
"So how are you faring with your new son?"
Rita looks down at her little girl as they take their morning stroll. It's a nice little part of their morning routine now that the weather has started to warm up and is a good chance to get out of the house. It's a little tougher than she thought to pass the time when she's all alone with her daughter, the day never felt as long. Before, it was wake up, have breakfast with Lynn, go to work, come home, dinner, and whatever the couple could think of until bedtime. The cycle continued for days, weeks, months.
Until their little Lori was born.
Their days haven't been the same since. There's a lot more crying, a lot less sleep, and a million people who want to give the couple advice on how to raise their daughter. Everyone has an opinion and it's driving Rita mad. It sort of makes her wonder if her mom had to deal with these issues, and she's sure that she did.
At the moment, she mostly wants to get out of the house after being cooped up in the house all winter. The snow is beginning to melt, and the sun is shining brighter, there are opportunities to break away from the routine, even if it is for a few minutes.
"Look Lori, we're almost to the park."
There isn't much she's able to do, but anything is better than sitting around at home or cleaning the house over and over again.
Day in and day out.
Nope.
The park is perfect.
Rita begins to walk the trail and watches as Lori looks at all the new sights. She points at the trees, squeals in delight at the sight of squirrels, and turns her head every time she spots a colorful flower. It makes Rita jealous of her daughter to look at the world and just be fascinated by every sight and sound.
She spots a bench to sit down and rest. She watches the children play and imagines Lori one day running around making friends with those children, but probably not any time soon, Lori can't even walk yet.
"One day, Lori, you're going to have fun on the slide and the swings and in the sandbox and make all sorts of friends. Doesn't that sound fun?"
Lori squeals in delight.
Soon, something catches Rita's eye. She notices the looks from the other moms. She knows what they're probably talking about. Yes, the pointed head and the webbed toes are a little concerning, but the doctor assured the couple that the issues were treatable. However, that doesn't stop anyone from pointing it out to her every time that she or Lynn go out with Lori.
It's infuriating. Her baby daughter couldn't help the way she came out, but it was so easy for those moms to judge her as if she chose to do this to herself.
She was almost tempted to face them head on, call them out for their behavior, and put them in their place, 'But then what happens?' Rita asks herself. 'Someone calls the cops and poor Lori might get taken away from me… and Lynn, of course. Nope, I'm going to have to be the better person, besides, I have to set a good example for Lori, I'm a mom after all.'
Rita instead keeps an eye on the women. She lets her imagination run a little wild, thinking of how she would punish them for thinking about her daughter the way they are. She was almost a little proud of her ideas, they weren't crazy, but tackling them after launching herself from the swings was probably a bit too much.
She takes a deep breath and looks down at Lori. That sort of thinking is not a good sign and she figures that it's best for the two of them to leave, "Are you ready to go home, Lori?"
The baby stares at her mother without giving any sort of response.
Rita nods her head, "Yeah, you're ready to go home."
"The time off was definitely helpful - two adults, one baby. No complaints. What can I say? It's nice to work for your father-in-law who puts family first."
"But it stinks that you have to go back to work," says Lily. "I mean, dealing with a baby's cries at night and still having to show up the next morning sounds like a lot.
"Considering that Father doesn't care for paperwork, it isn't surprising that he wants the extra help."
Lily quickly asks, "So why don't you do it? Help your dear old dad and sister in time of need."
Lisa looks over at her, "I have my own important work to conduct. At the moment, I'm at the beginning of a multi-year project and I do not wish to commence it with distractions. Besides, you are just as capable of helping at the restaurant."
Lucy watches the two go back and forth. Neither one wants to help out at the restaurant, and she doesn't blame them. The work can be tedious, and excluding Lisa, it'll require Dad to train Lily in the managerial work, so it is easier to just ask Francisco to return for a few hours a day.
"Gee," starts Rocky, "where was this offer when the twins were born?"
Lily laughs, "Okay, so we aren't perfect, but Mom went over a lot, and so did Lynn. What were we going to add?"
"A little extra help?" says Rocky.
"Well I can't argue that."
The kids watch the adults chuckle. It's been like this forever! Aunt Lynn's house doesn't have any fun toys and all the balls that they've seen so far, are all locked away behind glass. They try to get one to play with but everyone keeps stopping them.
They don't even understand why - it's all written on, not like the clean baseballs at the store.
The twins look at their brother on their mom's lap, he's reaching out for the magazine on the coffee table. Once their dad notices what the boy is doing he asks, "Do you mind if he plays with the magazine?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Lynn and I have already read it."
Lucy sets Edward down and Rocky hands him the magazine, which he stares at as if he is able to read the words.
That gives Arthur an idea. He walks over to the baseball and stares at it. If his dad was able to notice his baby brother looking at a magazine, he's sure to notice him staring at the baseball. However, after a minute, Arthur notices that his parents aren't paying attention. He pretends to clear his throat, but again, nothing.
Catherine notices her brother, "What're you doing?"
"I'm trying to see if I can get Mom and Dad to ask if we can play with the ball."
She turns towards her parents, then back at her brother, "Why?"
"To play with."
She still doesn't understand why her brother won't ask, so she decides to do it for him, "Mom, can we play with the ball?"
Arthur glares at his sister, his plan is ruined thanks to her.
Rocky leads the kids away from the ball, "No, that ball isn't for playing."
"What's it for?"
"To look at."
"Why?"
"Because that's what your aunt and uncle want to do."
"Why?"
"Because they want the ball to stay nice."
"Why?"
"Because that ball is important to them."
"Why?"
"Because it is," answers Rocky, tired of both kids asking the same question.
Neither one of the kids still understands why, so instead they decide to do the other thing that their mom promised that they would get to do.
Catherine approaches her aunt, "Can I hold the baby?"
"Me too!"
Lynn looks down at her niece and nephew. It was one thing to let her mom and sister hold Victor, it's a whole other thing to let two little kids do it. They're definitely not strong enough, and they tend to fight with one another, so Victor might end up the rope in their tug-of-war game, even if Lucy and Rocky stop them or try to help, she isn't confident letting the kids hold him.
"Sorry, he's taking a nap right now."
The twins groan. Once again, their day is a bust because of their cousin, and now they're back to trying to find something to do. There aren't many toys around, so they're stuck with just going to the backyard and running around.
Lynn notices the bored looks on her niece and nephew's faces and heads to the sports closet. She and Francisco typically put their more basic gear away in the closet. It's filled with balls, water bottles, caps, and some memorabilia from their afternoons going to stadiums, as well some of Lynn's old stuff that Francisco got from his in-laws for when Victor gets older.
She hands them a wiffle ball and bat, "You can play with this."
"But outside," Lucy quickly tells the kids, who take the ball and bat from their aunt and head outside. "I bet you can't wait until Victor can run around and play sports," she mentions to Lynn.
She nods her head. With all her worrying about Victor now, she hasn't had much time to think about him as he gets older. One day he's going to walk, he's going to talk, he's going to play with his cousins, he's going to go to school, but despite him being born weeks ago, she can't think about that.
All she keeps thinking about are the same stupid things that she's thought about since the day he was born.
Everyone can see the tears forming in Lynn's eyes, but no one wants to say anything, instead they all pretend that nothing out of the ordinary is going on and go about their conversations.
That night, after everyone is gone, and everyone in the house has gone to sleep, Victor wakes up crying. Lynn groans, but stumbles to his nursery to check on him. She rocks him back and forth, but he still continues to cry.
"I wish I knew some lullabies or something. I guess, I could hum something, but I don't know how you feel about dance music."
Francisco turns over in bed and notices that Lynn's side of the bed is empty. He can hear her humming, so opens his eyes and looks around for her.
'C'mon Vic, stop crying…'
He can hear the tiredness in her voice. He doesn't know how long she's been up for, so he decides to get out of bed so that Lynn can get some sleep.
Francisco quietly approaches the nursery and watches Lynn, as she sits in the rocking chair, looking down at Victor. His cries are stopping, but he notices the redness in her eyes as she passes her fingers from his upper lip to behind one of his ears.
He opens the door and approaches the two, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…" she says, but he isn't convinced.
Francisco takes her hand and tries to look at her, "You know, if you want to talk about something, I'm here."
"I know…"
He lets go of her hand and her fingers glide the same way they were before. Francisco tries to take Victor from her, "Do you want to go back to sleep? I can take him," he offers, but notices that Lynn isn't letting go of their son.
"I've got him. I can look after him myself."
She looks him in the eye and he's sure that she's trying to get him to leave, "I don't mind. C'mon, get some sleep, I'll look after him."
Lynn still doesn't hand him over.
He sighs, "He's going to be fine. We're in the next room over. Let's put him in his crib and get some sleep."
"Would you feel better if I move his crib to our room tonight?"
She nods her head and gets up.
Francisco groans as gets up to his feet and wonders why he's bending over on this. It's ridiculous, but it's definitely easier to go along with her. He isn't sure if it's because he's tired and wants to go to bed, or if wants to put her at ease, either way, he needs to make sure that she knows something, "But just tonight, tomorrow morning, I'm putting the crib back here."
"Fine…"
