"What's going on?" asks Lynn, as she approaches the two teens.
Elena quickly hops off of the bed and places herself between Lynn and Noah, "Hey Lynn, how was the game? Did Lucy's kids win? Did Victor sit through the whole game? You know, I feel like I'm talking too much. I think I need a glass of water. Do you want a glass of water? Let's get a glass of water," she says as she leads her stepmother away from her boyfriend.
Lynn doesn't move. She glances over at Noah, who is still on Elena's bed, and Elena, who is trying to sneak out of the room as if no one can see her.
"H-Hello," Noah stutters, through a weak smile. "You look nice today. Well, would you look at the time?" he says, looking at his bare wrist. "I should probably get going," he tells her as he tries to follow after his girlfriend.
"Not so fast! You're not going until I say you're going, now stay here," she orders him.
Noah stands still as Lynn looks out into the hallway for Elena. Despite Lynn calling out to her, Elena doesn't stop. She doesn't want to talk to Lynn about what happened. All she can think about is how she invaded her privacy, walked in on the two of them, and is making a big deal out of nothing.
Lynn walks back into the room and approaches Noah, "Alright, I'm giving you until the count of ten to get out of my sight." She slowly steps towards, yelling out, "Nine!"
Noah runs out of the room, ignoring Elena as he passes her in the hallway.
She turns around and looks at Lynn, "What was that? Why'd you scare him off like that?"
"Hey, that's not what's important right now. Why was Noah in your room?"
"It was nothing."
"It didn't look like nothing when I walked in."
Elena gets annoyed at the accusation, "Well you wouldn't have seen anything if you knocked."
Lynn is taken back by her response, and immediately tells her, "Hey, hey, hey, don't get smart with me. You had a boy on your bed, don't make me the bad guy."
"We didn't do anything wrong!"
"Really?" says Lynn. In the calmest voice she can muster, she asks, "So what would have happened if I didn't come home?"
Elena tries to walk out the front door, Lynn calls out to her, "Hey! We're not done here!"
"Well it isn't your business. I'm not going to talk to you about my sex life."
As Elena walks away, all Lynn could whisper to herself is, "Sex life?"
Francisco and Caroline look over at the monitor. It's their first time seeing their baby and despite how nervous they were in the waiting room, it all melted away after hearing the first heartbeats. The ultrasound technician spends the appointment pointing out how the baby is doing fine and that there are no abnormalities. It's a routine appointment, but then she asks, "Do you want to know the sex of the baby?"
The couple look at one another. They didn't discuss whether or not they wanted to know. To him, it makes more sense, that way they can get clothes ready, pick out names, and also, because he doesn't feel like waiting until the baby is born.
However, he isn't sure if Caroline feels the same. She might want to hold off on figuring out if their baby is going to be a boy or a girl, "What do you think, Francisco? I'm fine either way."
He takes the opportunity, "Y-Yeah, I'd like to know."
The technician confirms with Caroline and after getting a silent approval, she moves the ultrasound monitor around. She looks over at the monitor, points to the screen, and says, "It appears that you're expecting a girl."
A girl…
For a brief moment, Francisco stares at the screen letting the news sink in. He and Caroline are going to have a daughter. Ever since Caroline told him that she was pregnant, he figured that they were going to have a son. Yes, he knows that it was going to be one or the other, but he sort of had his heart set on a boy, though he definitely won't admit that out loud.
Francisco can feel Caroline's eyes on him. He's not sure if the surprise is obvious on his face, so to keep her from worrying about him, Francisco takes her hand and smiles while still staring at the screen.
After the appointment is over, the young couple walk over to the truck. Francisco has been quiet since he's heard the news. He's trying his best to keep Caroline from finding out what's running through his mind. Francisco figures that after a couple of hours everything will start to sink in and the idea of a daughter won't be as much of a shock as it is at the moment.
When Francisco settles into his seat, he looks over at Caroline, who is happily staring at the ultrasound photos. Though she isn't looking in his direction, he smiles regardless.
Francisco taps his steering wheel as he hums the lyrics of the song he can't remember. He's got the rest of his weekend planned out putting aside some of the few little projects around the house, in favor of making something for his kids.
"And the feeling coming from my bones, says- what the hell?" he asks as he avoids a familiar red car speeding past him.
There goes his good mood.
He takes a deep breath, "Benefit of the doubt, benefit of the doubt," he repeats to himself. "Elena's a good girl, I trust her. I trust her. I trust her," he says, holding back his emotions as he reaches the house.
He pulls into the driveway, nothing seems out of the ordinary until he spots Elena walking towards her car. He can see that she's upset, probably something to do with Noah speeding down the road.
Francisco steps out of his car. He doesn't know if Noah was really here, the boy could have seen Lynn's car in the driveway and drove off before anyone else could notice, or maybe he did enter the house while Elena was alone. Either way, he'll only find out if he approaches the subject carefully, "How's it going?"
"Fine," she answers, without looking over at him.
"That's good…did you have fun today?"
Elena doesn't face him. She's sure that he might have seen Noah on the way home, but if she makes a big deal out of it, then he'll know for sure, "It was fine. You know, I've been cooped up all day at home, and I could really use a drive to clear my head."
"What happened?"
"Nothing, I've been at home for hours, and could use a change of scenery."
"Fine. When are you going to be home?"
She sighs, "I don't know, maybe an hour or two. I have my phone, and I'll be back before the sun sets. Can I go?"
"Sure."
Elena gets in her car, but before she is able to put her key in the ignition, Lynn opens the door, "Hey!" yells Lynn. "Where are you going? I told you that we're not done talking!"
"That's why I need a minute…" she whispers to herself.
Francisco turns to his wife, "Lynn, stop yelling. You're making a scene."
"Hey, you'd make a scene too if you saw what I did."
Elena realizes that if her dad hears what happened, he'll blow it out of proportion like Lynn. Rather than have both of them yelling at her, she turns on the car.
Lynn realizes what Elena is about to do, "Oh no you don't. Don't think that you're gonna get away that easily," she says as she runs in front of the car. "Go ahead and try, I've been run over before."
Neither one is sure how true that story could be, but regardless Elena isn't going to risk running over her stepmother. She takes her hand off of the steering wheel and waits as Lynn walks towards her dad and explains what she saw.
"What?" he says before turning to Elena, "You know better than to have a boy in your room, especially when we're not home."
"It was nothing," she insists. "Nothing happened."
"If nothing happened, then Lynn wouldn't be telling me what just happened the way she did. What were you thinking? It's bad enough that he was in the house when neither one of us were home, but for him to be in your room? What were you thinking?!"
Elena remains silent. She can feel both of them staring at her as they await her response. She doesn't have one to give, other than what she told Lynn earlier. It was nothing, but now she has two adults mad at her for something so silly.
"Well?!"
Rather than give the two a response, she puts the car in drive and speeds off before Lynn can get in her way. Lynn tries to chase after her, but she isn't able to keep up. The two watch Elena drive away. Both of them are frustrated, but aware that chasing her in their vehicles isn't going to solve anything while everyone is tense. As they walk towards the front door, Lynn hears Victor crying. Francisco watches her head towards his room, while he walks towards the garage.
Francisco stares at the tv, but he isn't paying much attention to the game. Despite hours passing since he heard the news, it still feels as though he heard it only a minute ago. It isn't disappointment, he isn't upset, in fact, Francisco isn't even sure what to call it, but it is something. Ever since he heard that Caroline was pregnant, he imagined these little fatherly scenarios where he would teach his son how to fix a car, take him to games, and even play catch with him.
He can still do that with a daughter, but now he's worrying about something he never did when it came to a boy.
He knows what it's like to be a little boy, he has no idea what it's like to be a little girl, let alone raise one. He grew up surrounded by boys, and the only girls he was around were Lynn, Margo, and Paula; not exactly the poster girls for femininity.
Of course, he's getting ahead of himself. The first couple of years shouldn't be too bad, after all, little kids are little kids. By the time their daughter grows up, he should have an idea of what to do with her.
Francisco nods his head, coming to an understanding with himself. He's being silly. Besides, he isn't going about this alone, he's got his mom and Caroline, "It's gonna be fine," he tells himself. "If we raise her well, how much trouble could one little girl get into?"
Then he starts to think about Caroline. From what he's gathered, she was raised well, and now here she is, after leaving college, getting pregnant by her boyfriend, and completely cut off from her parents.
He likes to think that he won't be that kind of father who would kick his daughter out for getting pregnant at a young age, but if Jacob and Elizabeth could do it, he might be capable too.
Then again, what would he be like once she starts dating?
Francisco can definitely remember what the boys in the locker rooms would say about the girls they liked, and while he didn't join in, he still remembers their words and his reactions. It didn't seem like a big deal then, but now he's going to have a daughter who is going to have to face those kinds of boys one day.
He can feel his heart racing. Again, it's years down the road, and it shouldn't matter now but it does. Rather than deal with runaway thoughts, Francisco gets up off the couch and decides going to bed will do him some good, or at least he can close his eyes and eventually fall asleep.
After turning off the tv and brushing his teeth, he climbs into bed and tries to close his eyes.
'Look at this photo I took.'
'Let me see, let me see.'
'You won't believe what happened this weekend. So Natalie's parents weren't home and she invited me over…'
Francisco quickly opens his eyes. He groans at the memories that hit him as soon as he tried to fall asleep. That won't happen for years, but here he is worried as though it's going to happen the minute his daughter is born. He tries not to dwell on it and forces himself to fall asleep, but is unaware of how much he is tossing and turning.
"Are you okay?" he hears.
Francisco looks over at Caroline, "Y-Yeah, just a little tired. Go back to sleep."
He pretends to close his eyes. A minute later, he discreetly opens one eye to see if she has fallen asleep. He doesn't want to worry her with his silly problem, she's got enough to worry about with him adding new dad fears to her plate, so decides to lay there in bed, perfectly still, with his thoughts, as he waits for sleep to overtake him.
Francisco walks into the garage. He needs some time to calm down, and it isn't going to happen if he stands around the house. He turns on his speakers and blasts it as loud as he can. It's not the greatest thing to do right now, but he knows that nothing good will come if he screams at Elena through the phone, so rather than face anyone, he'd rather dive into his project.
He opens the garage door and grabs the supplies that he bought out of his truck.
Over the last couple of days, he has been looking over blueprints online, making design plans, and gathering supplies so that he could complete the two projects for his kids. He was going to start on Elena's gift first since it was easier, but he decides against it so that he can focus on the more time-consuming gift.
Besides, if he can focus on the project, he can start to forget about what Elena did.
Francisco pulls out the blueprints for the rocking horse that he plans on building Victor. He watched plenty of videos, made sure to design it in hopes that it can withstand his son's roughhousing, and he should have everything he needs to get started.
He walks over to his work bench with some pieces of wood. After pulling out a pencil and some measuring tape, Francisco marks where he will make his cuts. However, despite the simplicity of the task, he is moving at a slower pace than he normally can.
He moves along with the music. Once he's finished cutting some of the basic shapes of the seat and rocker, Francisco glues some of the panels together. While the glue dries, he grabs his binder from the shelf and pulls out a page with a simple horse head printed on it. Francisco sprays some glue onto the panel and places the page onto it.
After cutting the horse's head shape with a band saw, he pulls out his chisel set. He plans on creating a simple joint so that he can just attach the head shape onto the body without needing screws or making unnecessary holes. He places a grip to keep the piece from moving and starts chiseling out the joint.
Unfortunately, the chisel goes further than intended and slices Francisco's thumb, "Shit!" he yells before grasping onto his finger and running towards the small first aid kit he has stashed in his workbench drawer. He quickly bandages up his finger and lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Okay, this isn't working…I need a break," he walks over to his garage fridge and pulls out a pop, which he quickly guzzles down.
He plops down on a bucket and looks over at his handiwork. He'll probably get the little rocking horse done by tomorrow, and if he hurries, Victor will get to enjoy it by then too. Francisco smiles at the thought of Victor playing; he's growing up so fast. It's like the blink of an eye, one day you bring home a baby and the next day, they're toddling around the house, then they're caught in bed and running away.
It isn't long before he starts feeling his heart racing, his nostrils flaring, and his grip around his pop can tighten. He was doing pretty damn well trying to forget what happened earlier today, and he had to go ahead and ruin it.
He's still angry at what happened.
Elena is smarter than to do something so stupid. It was probably Noah, yeah, he probably talked her into it or turned on some stupid charm that only she sees in him. Francisco is able to run on that idea for a bit, but he can't convince himself that Elena is all that innocent, especially after running away.
Still, he can't help but blame the boy. He wants to wring out his little neck, force him to stare into his eyes as he cowers in fear-
Francisco stops. He's getting ahead of himself, he's not going to kill the boy, but he is going to want him away from his daughter for some time. If he's lucky, the two getting caught by Lynn has spooked them enough to want to stay away from each other for a bit.
Of course, that's only going to work for a short time. He needs to cover his bases and he needs someone who will be on his side.
Francisco pulls out his phone and starts texting. He glances up at the pieces of Victor's rocking horse, "It's so much easier when they're younger."
"Francisco!" he hears a coworker yell out to him, "Lunch time!"
The younger man looks around as he spots his coworkers heading to the break room or their cars. He looks over at the clock and is surprised by how much time has passed. Ever since he clocked in, he has been engrossed in his work and he knows why. The more he focused on doing his job, the easier it is for him to ignore thoughts creeping into his head.
"Go on without me," he tells his coworkers. "I'm gonna finish up here."
Francisco looks around at his workstation. Without his coworkers around, he can't finish assembling the interior. He looks around to see what he can do alone, but is told to stop and go to lunch when his supervisor passes by and notices his lone employee still working.
He drags his feet towards the break room. Francisco knows that he's tired and hungry, but he doesn't want to stop moving around, even though his back is begging him to do so. He walks into the break room and sees his coworkers talking amongst themselves, playing on their phones, or quietly eating.
While Francisco pops his lunch in the microwave, he hears one of his coworkers speaking to him, "We thought you were never gonna come over. You know you don't get paid overtime for working through lunch, right?"
Without looking over at him, Francisco responds, "Just wanted to get my work done before I ate."
Another coworker speaks up, "That seems like the fastest way to get yourself an ulcer. You gotta learn to relax, don't you have a kid on the way?"
Francisco nods his head.
"Well you aren't gonna do much good overworking like that."
"It was just a few minutes," he yawns.
Some of the other guys laugh, "Not even a dad yet and he's already tired."
Francisco goes along with his coworkers' jokes. He wasn't able to sleep well last night. Thoughts ran through his mind about how he would stack up as a father, and on top of that, he started thinking about more issues that might arise - saving up for college, the possibility of more kids coming along, and trying to get his own home for his family. The second one definitely isn't going to happen as far as either he and Caroline can help it, but he can't avoid thinking about the rest of the stuff.
'Hopefully she ends up athletic or smart so that she can get a scholarship.'
That would be a dream. He got one, there's a good chance that their little girl can end up athletic like him, assuming that she doesn't get hurt along the way.
Francisco moves around in his seat and feels his back aching him after standing around on those hard floors and sitting in this uncomfortable chair, 'Definitely going to push academics. It's much harder to lose that than athletic ability.'
Not even born yet, and he's already thinking about her college career. This whole dad stuff is definitely something. It was easier to ignore while he was in school - go to class, study, and take walks to avoid the issues.
At home, it isn't as easy to ignore.
He has Caroline and his mom talking to him about these issues. On weekdays, they're more passive, but as the pregnancy progresses, the subject is going to come up more often. It would be easier if he and Caroline were together for years, and had time to talk about how they would parent their child, but alas that's not how it's happening.
"Daddy, look what I drew!" Francisco hears. He looks up and sees a coworker video chatting with his daughter.
He looks back down at his lunch, but he keeps listening in, unaware of the small smile on his face.
Three hours.
Three hours of hearing the same song and power tools going on and off. It was bad enough that Elena driving off earlier woke Victor up, but the music and power tools aren't helping calm the fussy toddler who needs his nap.
Lynn rocks the boy back and forth, but he doesn't stop crying or squirming in her arms. "C'mon Vic, we both need you to take this nap."
However, the boy doesn't comply. Lynn can't blame him, no one can nap in such a noisy environment.
Jackson steps out of his house. He notices his neighbor, "Good afternoon, Lynn. How are you doing today?"
"Bad…Vic can't sleep, Elena drove off, and Francisco is driving me nuts right now with the music and power tools!" she yells towards the garage.
Victor's crying gets louder and Lynn groans as she rocks the boy.
The older man listens to the music. He's heard that familiar tune before, Francisco tends to play it whenever he builds anything, though he's never heard his neighbor play it as loudly as he is at the moment.
"What's he building?"
Lynn flatly answers, "I don't care. Right now, I just want Vic to sleep."
"If you'd like, you two can come over. It won't be entirely quiet, but the music won't be as loud from my house."
She gladly takes him up on his offer. Lynn hands Victor over to the man and hops the fence. They walk inside and as soon as Jackson closes the door, the noise level drops dramatically. Lynn can still hear muffled lyrics, but it should be much easier for Victor to take his nap.
Though that might not happen by the looks of it.
He's not crying anymore, but now he's staring at his new environment. Victor has never been inside of Jackson's house, so seeing all the knickknacks must be exciting for him, especially since he's reaching out for them.
Jackson leads the two into the living room, "Could I interest you in some tea?"
"Nah, I don't really like that stuff. I'd rather have some pop or a coffee."
"I can see what I have, in the meantime, you can get Victor settled in for his nap."
Lynn looks around. She didn't bring anything for him to sleep on, but maybe he can nap on the couch. It isn't like Jackson is a noisy man and he would be mindful of a sleeping toddler, but it is going to make for a boring afternoon if it's just the two of them whispering and watching tv at the lowest volume.
Speaking of, Lynn notices something, "Hey Jackson, where's your tv?"
"I don't have one," he answers as he takes a seat on the other couch.
"What? So how do you pass the time?"
"Typically books, hobbies, local festivals, or whatever else catches my eye."
"I see…" is all Lynn can say.
Victor rolls back and forth on the couch, possibly in an attempt to rock himself to sleep. When he begins to whimper, Lynn decides to pick him up in an effort to help him fall back asleep. She tries to hum a song in hopes that it would soothe him, but before she knew it, Lynn was humming the same song that has been playing for hours.
She sighs. It was only a matter of time before she would have gone insane, she just figured it would have been more from Victor's cries than the song. Lynn walks around the living room in hopes that a little movement will help.
With tired eyes, she looks over at her neighbor, hoping that maybe he knows of some weird magical way to quiet Victor down that they haven't tried yet. However, all he does is step out of the room. Lynn continues trying to soothe her son.
Shortly after Jackson left, he returns with a cassette player. He sets it down on the coffee table and presses play. Soon the room is filled with calming music. Victor starts to quiet down, and he stares at the machine.
He's not asleep yet, but to both adults it's definitely a step in the right direction.
Lynn carefully sets him down on the couch. Victor is still staring at the cassette player. Lynn is tempted to bring it closer or set it louder, but Jackson notices her reaching for the device and shakes his head. He mouths out a quiet 'no' and Lynn stays put.
This is the part that she hates - waiting for Vic to fall asleep and stay asleep. It would help if she had a blanket or a stuffed animal, but she left all that behind, and she's not risking going outside for one thing.
Jackson quietly gets up from the couch and turns off the lights, in the meantime, Lynn sets up some pillows around Victor to keep him from falling off the couch. He's actually falling asleep. She makes sure not to look him in the eye in case it keeps him from falling asleep, but she occasionally glances over to see if he falls asleep.
Soon, Lynn hears her son snoring and quietly sighs in relief. The two adults head to the kitchen so that they can talk without waking the toddler.
Lynn leans over the counter, "Finally, he fell asleep."
"It's a shame that it's still going on. Have you considered talking to his pediatrician about what could be causing it?"
The couple have talked about it before with their neighbor. He offered them some help before, but they never worked, except for when he helped with Victor's colic.
"Tried, but they can't figure out anything. All they keep saying is 'he'll grow out of it', out of it my ass."
"What's his current bedtime routine?"
Lynn stops to think about it - dinner, bath, put him in his pj's and put to bed, then a good two hours of Vic refusing to sleep. She and Francisco have tried books, calming music, driving him around the block a couple of times, and even pushing him in his stroller. Her parents have even suggested some things as well, though they weren't sure of the idea of rocking him skating on a small half-pipe.
Her stomach growls, "You got anything to eat?"
Jacksons agrees to let her find something for herself in the fridge.
Lynn looks inside, but is confused by the contents. She doesn't recognize any of the fruits and vegetables. She looks through some of the containers, but all she seems to find are some rather pungent or disgusting looking foods. Lynn spots one last container. She pops the lid open and is delighted to find that it is what she thought - meat!
She takes a bite of the meat cube and notices that it's a bit sweeter than what she's used to, "Hey Jackson, what kinda meat is this?"
He looks over at the container that she's eating from, "That's horse meat."
Lynn looks down at the rest of the meat cubes and puts the piece that she had in her hand back into the container. She was probably better off not asking, especially after what she saw in the fridge, but she tempted fate and now she can barely stomach the meat in her mouth.
After chewing the meat dozens of times, Lynn is finally able to swallow, "Well, that was…" she can't finish that thought.
Jackson can tell that she didn't like it, "You know if you'd like, I can watch Victor if you wanted to go get something to eat."
She can feel herself smile at the possibility of leaving and getting a break from Francisco's music. Lynn confirms with her neighbor and immediately runs out the door. As soon as she opens the door, she is hit by the sound of the loud music.
"I cannot believe him," she mutters to herself. "Don't worry about it, just run to Burpin' Burger and come back. Easy."
Lynn runs in the direction of the restaurant. The further she gets from her house, the quieter it becomes and the better she feels knowing that she isn't listening to that ding-dang rock song anymore. Francisco has had plenty of time to calm down after Elena outburst earlier today, but regardless, he's still holed up in the garage.
She'll probably have to force him out, but for now, she wants to enjoy the silence.
After spending a little time at Burpin' Burger, Lynn heads out with food in hand. With each step she takes towards the house, she can hear the music. How none of the neighbors have complained to him is beyond her, however, maybe dinner will get him out of the damn garage.
Lynn walks into the house, sets the food down on the table and knocks on the door. She doesn't get a response. She doesn't know what he's doing, but that is more than enough time to calm down after his and Elena's outburst earlier today. She knocks on the door harder, "Dinner's ready!" she yells, making sure that he hears her.
The music doesn't stop.
She's fed up. His childish behavior has been going on long enough and she's putting an end to it whether he likes it or not.
Lynn kicks the door open, breaking part of the hinge off and startling Francisco in the process, "What the heck, Lynn? Now I have to fix the door."
"I don't care!" she says as she approaches the speaker and turns it off. She takes a deep breath and asks, "What are you doing?"
The sound of a roaring dinosaur grabs Lynn's attention and she looks over to his phone which is playing a video.
'What manly design are you cutting out today?'
'A heart for my girlfriend, Ashley.'
"Can't get more manly than that," Lynn says sarcastically.
Francisco chuckles, "That's what Tim says too," he tells her before turning off his phone. "I'm making a rocking horse for Victor. I was going to work on a jewelry box for Elena, but right now I don't want to think about her or Noah or anything else," he says between his teeth.
"How about dinner?"
He looks up at her, then down at his growling stomach. He hasn't eaten anything since this morning before he went to the hardware store, "I could eat."
"Good," she says, taking his arm to force him away from his project towards the kitchen.
As Francisco washes up, Lynn sets the table for both of them to eat. He looks over at the clock, and notices how much time has passed since Elena drove off. It didn't feel like it was over three hours ago, but time can definitely slip away when he's woodworking in anger.
He takes his seat and grabs one of the Burpin' Burger bags on the table, then he notices Lynn grabbing her own. She could have waited, but he doubts that she would if she's really hungry, "You didn't eat?" he asks.
"It's called second dinner."
"Are you sure about that?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
In the past, whenever Lynn eats large meals at night, she wakes up regretting it. She would complain that her stomach is bubbling and burning, but regardless, it appears that she never learns her lesson.
"That I'll need to put antacids in my nightstand to hand them to you."
She scowls and in effort to spite him, takes a large bite out of her meal, "I'm not some little kid you know. I can handle a little extra food."
"The issue isn't handling it now, it's the pain that you'll feel in the morning."
"I'm willing to take my chances."
"Yeah, I'm going to put some in the nightstand before we go to bed."
She doesn't like the implication that she can't handle a second meal, so she takes a seat in front of him and angrily takes her second first bite. For a few minutes, neither one says anything as they enjoy the silence after hours of repeatedly listening to the loud rock song.
Lynn looks over at her husband. She notices the bandages on his hand and asks, "What happened to your hand?"
"I cut myself with a chisel."
She quietly nods her head, "So about Elena…?"
Lynn knows that she probably shouldn't have brought it up, but it's going to have to be talked about sooner or later, especially once she comes back from where she drove off to.
"Yeah, I'm sorry she acted that way with you."
She's confused, "What?"
"The way she behaved, acting like she didn't have to listen to you. I know that she probably would have run off on me too if I caught them, but I thought that she would have been calmer since you were the one who caught her."
Lynn scoffs, "Yeah, well I didn't act much better. Then again, it was definitely a shock to catch both of them like that."
Francisco nods his head. All he has to go off is his imagination, and he was all ready to yell at Elena from just that. She's sixteen, this was bound to happen, but that doesn't mean that it should or that it was okay to do what she did. Her running off also doesn't help, but they'll talk about it when she comes home.
"I just don't like thinking about it," he says between bites. "I still think about her as my little girl, now I have to think about her like she's becoming a grown woman."
"Really? Now's when you're worried? I'm surprised you didn't realize that when she got her first bra."
He did, but not as much. He figured that at twelve-years-old, Elena would have been too shy to act on anything that might have been suggested, not that he imagines that she would have had a lot of time to be alone without either parent being around. No, he saw this coming years ago, heck, even when he brought her home after she was born, he had the same sort of fears; wondering how he would stack up as a father when it came time for her to date and as she got older. He knew that he wasn't going to be one of those nutjobs that planned on scaring any boy that came near her, but after what Lynn said when he came home, it brought him pretty damn close.
"Now I know how your dad felt when we were kids."
Lynn's confused. As far as she remembers, they never did anything like that growing up. Sure they wrestled, and she invited him to her room to study, but for the most part, she never gave her dad a reason to worry and he trusted them.
"What are you talking about? He was never like that."
"Yes, he was," he reminds her. "Anytime I came over and we would hang out alone, he would force Lily onto us or barge in himself to see what we were doing. He didn't trust me around you."
As hard as Lynn tries, she can't recall her dad doing that, not for her or her siblings.
Chuy rests his head against the steering wheel. He has been waiting for his brother for over twenty minutes. He's tired, hungry, and dreading their near one hour commute. He misses living close to his job, when it was only a short drive through the surface streets, but he made his choice years ago, and he's sticking to it for now.
"What is taking him so long?" Chuy asks himself after looking at the clock on his phone.
His stomach starts to growl. They might have to make a quick pit stop for a bag of chips or a cheap gas station hot dog, "At this rate, I'm gonna make him drive us home," he yawns.
The sound of the door opening startles Chuy and he looks over at his brother, who is fastening himself in, "What took you so long?"
Francisco rests his head against the window, and with closed eyes answers, "I had to go."
"And that took thirty minutes?"
The younger brother shrugs his shoulders. Chuy looks over at Francisco. He can tell that he's exhausted, trying to keep up with the workload is tough when you're starting out, and it's not made any easier when he's constantly feeling back pain.
Francisco pats his pockets, then shakes his lunchbox. The brothers can hear the rattling of the pill bottle, and it isn't long until Francisco reaches for his medicine.
"Still taking those?" asks Chuy.
"Still in pain," says Francisco as he swallows the pill.
"Have you thought about going to see a doctor about that?"
"How do you think I get the pills?"
Chuy knows that his brother rarely likes going to the doctor, so he does wonder how he gets his prescription renewed, but the thoughts go out the window when he spots a gas station. "Do you want anything?"
"What, did Mom say that she didn't feel like cooking tonight?"
Chuy shakes his head, "No, but it's an hour until we get home, and I'm hungry now. Besides, one hot dog isn't going to kill me."
Francisco shakes his head, "I'm good."
A few minutes later, Chuy returns with a bag of snacks, "What happened to 'one hot dog'?"
"Snacks for tomorrow? I like having some chips with my lunch and you know those vending machines are a rip off."
"What about going to the store to get a bigger bag of chips?"
Chuy turns his head away from his brother, "I don't want to leave them in the truck, and I'll eat the whole bag in about two days," he answers as he drives towards the highway. After pulling onto the freeway, Chuy grabs his pre-dinner snack, but struggles to unwrap it while keeping his eyes on the road.
Francisco notices Chuy struggling to unwrap the hot dog, "Do you want me to help you with that?"
"No, I got it."
Francisco continues to watch his older brother struggle until he eventually succeeds in unwrapping his snack to munch down on.
The brothers sigh when they slowly come to a standstill. Francisco figured that their quick pit stop and late departure could have helped ease traffic, but it's clear that it isn't the case.
Chuy turns on the radio and both brothers silently listen as they stare out at the cars in front of them. "I hate hitting this dang traffic everyday."
"Tell me about it."
"What happened earlier? You never hang around that late."
Chuy noticed shortly after Francisco started that he's not much of a social butterfly with his coworkers, not that they let themselves get close to the new guys either; they tend to quit easily.
"Had to look into a few things."
Unlike his dad and brother, Francisco actually wants to take advantage of his job's benefits package. However, all the technical jargon, combined with his exhaustion, led to him not being able to understand what he was reading, so he settled on chatting with the people who could answer his questions.
"Do you ever wonder what Mom and Dad worried about when we were born?"
Chuy ponders the question as he bites down on his hot dog. He hasn't thought about that for a long time. Not that he wondered so heavily anyway. He knows that when his brother was born, they were worried about Dad being regularly unemployed, but other than that, he isn't too sure.
"A little. I mean, you know that Mom and Dad were essentially living in a shack in a cousin's backyard when I was born. I remember sleeping on a couch. Then I remember Kiké and I having to share a bed in a one bedroom apartment when he was a toddler."
Well that definitely makes Francisco's problems seem small. His parents struggled through much more and here he is worried as though he's doing it all alone. He sighs to himself, deciding that anything that he brings up now will make him sound whiny by comparison.
Chuy hears his brother, "What's on your mind?"
"Nothing."
He doesn't believe Francisco, but he isn't going to pester him to open up, especially if it means making this long drive awkward. Chuy turns on the music and both brothers ignore one another for the rest of their trip.
After getting home, the brothers open the door and are surprised by the small piles of baby clothes on the coffee table. The two spot ribbons, bows, dresses, and a variety of pink clothes neatly folded and sorted. Francisco did not anticipate that his mom and girlfriend would have gone shopping so quickly after learning that they are going to have a daughter.
Chuy turns to his brother, "So, it's a girl, huh?"
Francisco nods his head, unaware of his brother's sighing. He walks over to the living room and grabs one of the little bows. He starts imagining the little girl that's going to wear all the clothes in a few months; how she's going to run around, how she's going to look up at him, how she's going to look up to him, how she'll call out when she's scared and need him to protect her from what's out in the world.
It's becoming real again.
Chuy watches his brother as he silently grips the bow in his hand. It explains why he asked about their parents in the truck, and he's probably too proud to admit that he's scared of what's to come. Being a parent is hard, and it's another added stress his brother has to endure on top of what he's had to deal with this year.
"So…" starts Chuy, but he doesn't know what else to say.
Francisco silently nods his head. He looks around to see where his mom and Caroline are, then he whispers to his brother, "I feel like I'm way over my head."
"That'll happen, but you know it shouldn't be so hard, especially since you'll get some help from Mom, who's finally getting that little girl she's always wanted."
Francisco chuckles. He's quiet for a minute as he thinks about that little girl that he and Caroline are going to bring home in a few months. Thoughts of dolls and potential tea parties cross his mind, and that's not too bad, but once that little girl starts growing up, he imagines fights and her drifting away.
He doesn't know where that last part came from, but can't shake those thoughts.
Chuy gets up to grab dinner, but notices that his brother is lost in his own thoughts. He places his hand on his shoulder and reminds him, "Pancho, you'll be a good dad, even if you think that you're gonna screw up. Whatever crap you think your kids are gonna put you through, you'll know how to handle it when you get there."
Francisco doesn't think so, but regardless, he tells his brother, "Thanks."
Elena walks down the path. She's been at the park for about two hours, and after spending some time walking around, looking at all the happy children, she was able to calm herself down. She doesn't know what else she can do. She thought about getting a hold of Noah, but he seems apprehensive to answer her texts, especially after Lynn threatened him. She could go back to her mom's place, but Dad probably told her about what happened and she's likely going to face punishment and a lecture from her.
She gets back in her car and drives around aimlessly hoping that the different streets will give her a little clarity. She makes a turn onto Franklin Avenue and spots an all too familiar house. Elena has never visited Lynn's childhood home alone, but she figures that the family will happily let her in without much issue.
Elena parks her car in front of the house and knocks on the front door. She doesn't see the aging vehicle, so it's possible that they're not home, but it never hurts to check. She knocks one more time and hears an exasperated groan and whatever video games sounds stop, "I already bought cookies from one of the other Bluebell Scouts!"
"Lily, it's me," says the teen.
The door opens, "Hey, I wasn't expecting you." Lily notices Elena looking down at the ground, and is curious about what brought about this unexpected visit.
"I happened to be in the neighborhood and thought, 'I haven't seen Lily or the Louds in months, I should go see them'."
Lily doesn't believe that, but she decides to humor her niece. She invites her inside and the two take a seat on the couch.
"What's going on? Tell me everything."
Elena is a little surprised by how upfront Lily is being, and tries to play it off, "There's nothing going on."
"So you just happened to come over on a Saturday night to chat?"
"Yes. You can go back to playing your video games, if you want."
"I thought you wanted to chat?"
"You can't do both?"
Lily chuckles. She hands Elena the remote, "You wanna try?"
The younger girl shakes her head, "I'm not good at video games."
"It's okay, I'm just playing against the computer."
Lily continues to try to hand the remote to Elena until the girl finally gives in and takes the remote. She starts the game back up and is immediately beaten in the fight. Elena hands the remote over to Lily, "Told you."
"Yeah, you did," says Lily as she tries to hide her surprise at how badly her niece was beaten by a computer. She starts another round, and despite having her eyes on the tv, she can sense Elena's mood. There's an awkward silence between the two that Lily can't ignore, no matter how much she wants to drown it out with the sounds of virtual violence. "How are Lynn and the boys doing?"
Elena quickly answers, "Fine."
Lily can feel how cold that response was, "Is everything okay with them?"
"Yup," is all Elena can say. She came over to talk to Lily, or any of the Louds, but as soon that door opened, it was like she lost her nerve. She's sure that with nine other sisters, Lily has seen her parents react to something similar, but she's afraid that she will react the same way Lynn and her dad did despite the smaller age gap.
Elena looks over at Lily. She takes a deep breath and finally says, "Dad and Lynn are mad because I had Noah over when they weren't home."
Lily keeps playing her game, "That's it? I mean, I can believe that Francisco would be old-fashioned like that, but I didn't think that Lynn would be such a prude."
"Well Lynn did catch me making out with Noah on my bed."
Lily pauses the game and sets the controller down on the coffee table. Now she understands why her sister and brother-in-law are mad. It's one thing to have a boy over, but to be in bed with him is another, even if it is just making out. She looks over at the teen, "I get it," starts Lily. "I mean, I can't say that I haven't been guilty of wanting to do the same thing, but I get it."
"I didn't plan it."
"But it happened regardless, that's how they're gonna look at it no matter what." Lily sighs, "That's the thing about parents, they want their kids to be better people than they were, and that little stunt you pulled definitely was definitely a punch to the gut. Not to mention, you're getting older and I know that you know what could have happened if you weren't caught and kept going with your little boyfriend."
Elena doesn't appreciate the accusation from Lily, but she isn't wrong; she has no idea how far she and Noah would have gone in the heat of the moment. They probably wouldn't have, at least, as far as she's concerned, but she doesn't know long that's going to be true.
"What makes you think that that would have happened?"
Lily shrugs her shoulders, "Things happen is all I'm saying. I know that on any other day you're smart enough not to screw around with Noah, but sometimes you're not going to be in control and that's when it all goes to hell."
Elena doesn't think that. Besides, one day, one time, and she's being given a doom and gloom talk. She knows that she won't let it happen, and she trusts Noah to respect her wishes, but it doesn't seem like Lily believes that, and if she doesn't, Dad and Lynn definitely don't.
"A punch to the gut," she mutters.
"Yup."
"I was hoping that you would have been more understanding, but now I feel guiltier than ever."
Lily pats her back, "I'm sorry, but I've overheard enough conversations between my parents on the subject. They don't love it and it doesn't get any easier, no matter how many siblings they have to worry about."
Elena can't believe it. With eleven kids, it seems impossible to get the house empty to do anything, and that's assuming that all of them snuck in a date when they were home alone, "All of them did this?"
Lily thinks back, "I was too young to remember if Lori did, Luna did, that I remember, Dad definitely tried to stop Lynn…"
Hearing that surprises Elena. As far as she knows, her stepmom didn't date while in high school, though that could have been a lie.
"...and Lola was probably the last one to get caught, but I'm pretty sure she was like you, and wasn't going to let it go too far. Trust me, it's hard to be alone in this house, especially with Lisa's cameras looking at you," Lily says as she points up to a camera disguised as a light fixture.
Elena looks up at the ceiling, "Has that always been there?"
In a nonchalant tone, she answers, "Not as long as the ones in the bathroom."
The teenager makes a mental note to never use the bathroom in the Loud house ever again.
"Then there's also the kitchen, basement, attic, garage, bedrooms. Seriously, as if privacy wasn't already at a premium in a crowded house with roommates."
Disturbed, Elena tries to bring the conversation back to what she was talking about, "So, what happened?"
"Depends on the kid, some got one talk, some got a few more, and some were being actively stopped."
"That bad?"
Lily nods her head, "I thought that that last one was ridiculous, but Lynn is rather thick-headed."
Elena opens her mouth, wanting to ask about that, but she's afraid of the answer that she'll get, so instead, she asks, "Was that all?"
"No, they were on thin ice for a while. Dates couldn't come over if either Mom or Dad weren't home, weird silences between the three of them, and, of course, Dad got all over-protective and tried his damn best to keep them apart whenever he was home."
Elena sighs. That's probably going to end up happening to her. It's bad enough that her dad hasn't been on the best terms with Noah, now they're going to be treated worse whenever they're together.
It's definitely the price that has to be paid for letting her hormones take the driver's seat.
Elena pulls out her phone. She figured that by now one of her parents would have tried to make contact with her, but so far, nothing. She's sure that they're probably going to save it for when they're all in the same room and she's dreading that.
Lily looks over at her, "I'm sorry you didn't get the talk you wanted, but I did think that you needed to hear it. Try to keep calm and they should be calm too. Also, call me afterwards and let me know how it turned out. And if Lynn gives you a hard time, I can quickly remind her of what it's like to be young."
Elena gives Lily a small grin, "Thanks. I should probably go and face them, shouldn't I?"
"I think so. You've all had time to cool off. Remember, stay calm and don't say anything you'll regret."
Elena heads home. As she pulls up by the driveway, she sees her dad and Lynn talking. They seem to be calm enough after what happened earlier that afternoon, so maybe they won't want to talk about it.
"I can only hope," she whispers to herself as she steps out of the car and walks towards the couple.
As Elena gets closer she can hear the two adults better, "Dang, this thing is sturdy," says Lynn as she repeatedly jumps onto the frame. "Get on," she says, offering her hand to Francisco.
"No way! I'm heavier than you. If the two of us get on, it'll break, then there goes a whole afternoon of work."
Lynn hops off, "Okay, now you get on," she says, offering him a chance to step on to have some fun.
Francisco decides to humor her and steps on, "See, sturdy. Good luck trying to break that, Vic."
She chuckles, "Don't be so sure."
"Yeah, you're right, he is half Loud, he'll find a way."
"That's not what I meant!"
Francisco laughs. He notices Elena watching the two and begins quieting down. Lynn looks over towards her stepdaughter and quickly glances over at her husband. He's been okay since dinner, but she has no idea what's going to happen.
The teen approaches the two, briefly waves to the two and heads inside without saying a thing to either adult. She couldn't say a word to them, she was worried that they were both still mad, and rather than face them now, she'd rather wait for morning when Victor can take some attention off of her.
Francisco sighs, but he lets her go without saying a word to her either.
I'm sorry to say that this will the last chapter for a while. I'm going to take a brief hiatus, so that I can relax a bit and focus on making the story writing process more enjoyable instead of like work. I want to thank you all for reading and thank you for the reviews. Sorry to keep you hanging, but I'll try to be back as soon as I can.
Thank you