A/N Welcome back everyone to Loud Adventures or Will. I'm sorry about the long wait. I have been up to something big that I will talk about at the end of this chapter. Also I didn't want to keep focusing on the origin story for Will and Nicholas. I took extra length on this chapter because I wanted to move onto adapting more episodes after this chapter.
Keep in mind that in this chapter, the narration lines in this chapter is Will actually telling things to the Louds. At any rate, enjoy!
A Tall Tale To Tell Part 2
Will cleared his throat as he got ready to tell his story to the Louds.
"As far back as I can remember, which is when I was five years old. Things were great, we were living happily at first in an apartment in Wisconsin. Although it did seem that my presence was weighing on my parents. I couldn't understand it at first."
Nicholas was taking apart a lightswitch in the bathroom while small, five year old Will was standing behind him. The panel covering the wires was taken off and the wires were exposed. Nicholas held a screwdriver. Tools and parts were sitting on the counter next to the sink.
"Daddy!" Will called in his young shrill voice. Nicholas jumped as he was surprised at Will calling to him. Will was wearing a light blue shirt, with blue jeans.
"Yes, son?" Nicholas said, his voice is a little tense.
"Can we throw the frisbee at the park?" Will asked. In his hand was a little white frisbee.
"Not yet, maybe after lunch." Nicholas answered. Will sighed in disappointment until he walked to the kitchen and found Jennifer. She was sizzling some meat in a skillet.
"Mommy!" Will called in the same shrill voice. This also caused Jennifer to jump as she turned to Will.
"Yes, sweetheart?" Jennifer asked, also feeling tense from being disturbed.
"Can we play at the park?"
"William, I'm cooking lunch right now!" Jennifer sighed in annoyance. She turned and resumed her cooking.
"Oh yeah, obviously I wasn't always just called Will, that comes later. Actually, I should amend my last statement, I think I kind of understand why I could sometimes be a weight on my parents."
Will sighed again as he went to the couch and sat. He sighed in disappointment.
The family of three were sitting at the table eating the food Jennifer prepared.
"So the Landlord approved of your project?" Jennifer asked. Nicholas nodded.
Nicholas nodded. "He agreed, the lights in the bathroom won't delay to flash on once we flick the switch."
Will quickly scarfed down the food and burped.
"I'M DONE!" Will announced. His parents laughed.
"Ok, once we finish, let's go to the park!" Nicholas said in a seemingly excited tone, which got Will excited.
"YAY!" Will cheered. Throwing his hands in the air. Will ran out of the dining room and to his room.
"He has a lot of energy." Jennifer said laughing.
"I don't know where he got it from." Nicholas answered. "I wasn't that energetic when I was his age."
Will ran back to the dining room with the frisbee in his hand and dressed in shorts. Like he's absolutely ready to go outside and play. He eyed his parents with a big toothy smile and cute blinking eyes.
"Patience William!" Jennifer laughed. "We're still eating."
Will walked to the sofa and waited for his parents to meet him. After about ten minutes Nicholas and Jennifer walked to the living room also dressed for outdoor activities.
The Celements all stood in a wide triangle and threw the white frisbee to each other. The park was wide and full of grass with a small playground nearby. The sky was bright blue and sunny.
Nicholas threw the frisbee too hard and it soared wide over Will's head he ran fast to go get it. Nicholas and Jennifer joined together and talked more as they watched Will run.
"You know, I've been thinking." Nicholas said.
"What?" Jennifer sighed.
Nicholas replied. "William has all this energy and he's about to start school in a month."
Jennifer nodded. "Kindergarten is a precious time for a child." Nicholas leaned into Jennifer's ear and spoke softly.
"William will need something, well, more than a park to help his energy." Jennifer raised an eyebrow at Nicholas's hint.
"What are you getting at?" Jennifer asked.
"We should move out of our Apartment." Nicholas finally admitted. "Get our first real home, a house with a yard William can play in."
Jennifer laughed. "And go to which house? I hope you have this thought out."
Nicholas shrugged and chuckled. "I'll admit, I don't have a place picked out. We gotta be smart though. We already got William enrolled, so we can't go too far."
As Will ran back with the frisbee, Jennifer sighed at the precious sight of her son running happily towards her. She was thinking over Nicholas's idea.
"I suppose you're right." She sighed. "A house would be nice for us."
It took about three months but with Will being well into his schooling, Jennifer and Nicholas scoured the listings for homes and finally picked one. The Clements packed their bags after Nicholas secured the purchase of the house.
"It was indeed a big change for me even if everything else stayed the same. Although I don't need to tell you guys that moving around is something I get used to over time."
The house was decent sized, a little 'extra' for a family of three. The outside had a cement walkup to the front door, with one extra large bay window on the right side, and a smaller window on the left side which gave a view into the kitchen.
"This is our new home." Jennifer said to Will as she gently tapped his shoulder.
"What do you think buddy?" Nicholas asked him.
"It's bigger than our last home." Will gasped.
"Actually my home now is bigger than the one I spent my much younger days in. It only seemed bigger to me because I was so small, and our apartment was smaller in comparison.
They stepped inside. The house was only one floor, but with three bedrooms, including the master bedroom. The only bathroom was small and looked cramped but was enough for one user at a time.
The kitchen gave access to the garage. The kitchen was only slightly bigger than what was at the apartment. The garage was big enough for one car and a few people.
The three moved around and looked. The three seemed to admire the family atmosphere that the house had. That is until Nicholas and Will both walked into the back door to see the yard.
Will's eyes widened in happiness as to the space he was looking at.
"IT'S A BIG YARD!" Will cheered in celebration. Nicholas laughed as Will immediately dashed into the grass. Indeed the yard was big enough to host big family gatherings.
Jennifer approached Nicholas from behind. The two parents smiled at each other as she slipped under Nicholas's arm to stand in front of him. The couple smiled warmly at their child looking happy. Jennifer leaned on Nicholas's chest.
"You know, there's more bedrooms than there are us." Jennifer pointed out. "I went into the basement. It's partially finished with another bedroom."
"Two extra rooms?" Nicholas chuckled slightly. "Well, we can use them for storage. Although this house is good for us when more little ones come along." Will didn't notice, Nicholas didn't either, but his Jennifer had a face that looked a little uneasy at the idea of more kids.
"I thought at the time that my life truly began. This was how things were going to be until I went out on my own as a grown up. We were all still a very happy family."
It was the Fourth of July. Will was playing catch with his Grandfather, Jennifer's father to be precise. Will's Grandfather smiled as he caught the baseball in his baseball mitt. He told Will to go long and threw the baseball hard. Will ran with his eyes locked on the ball, he ran until he hit the fence, he didn't catch the ball.
"I'm ok." Will laughed as he stood up and picked up the ball.
"According to dad, mom's parents didn't seem to approve of dad when they first met. To me it was definitely the case that they started treating him better once I was born. I suppose becoming Grandparents has that effect on people."
"He's such a beautiful boy." Mrs. Frost said, praising Will's energy and spirit. Nicholas was standing at a Bar B Q grilling burgers and hotdogs. Will threw the ball back to his grandfather. Who caught it easily.
"So how goes the job?" Mrs. Frost asked Jennifer, she sighed before answering.
"Well, I decided to step up on recommending purchases to customers. Each person I've worked with so far has liked my recommendations. I believe this can help me start doing commissions which will help me build up a portfolio."
"That's nice dear!" Mrs. Frost said feeling proud of her daughter. "How about you Nick?" Nicholas cleared his throat before answering.
"Our site foreman is about to retire. I'm hoping to fill his role once he leaves. Think about it, I could be in a management role!"
"That's really good! Sounds like your future is secure." Mrs. Frost praised. Nicholas called for Will and Mr. Frost to come to eat. Everyone gathered around the outdoor table on the patio and began to eat. Will noticed the sun was getting ready to set and was getting more excited.
"It's almost time for fireworks!" Will announced.
"Patience little guy." Mr. Frost said as he tapped Will's shoulder.
"I was so giddy and excitable at that time. I suppose it was only because I was so little and was well taken care of."
Mrs. Frost leaned over to Nicholas and Jennifer. She whispered to them. "You two are doing well so far as parents. You know he'll need a little sibling to play with." Nicholas and Jennifer blushed at the idea, although Jennifer more than Nicholas did.
It was at a nearby hill once the sun was down and the stars were out. Will was sitting on a blanket with his parents behind him. His grandparents were sitting on a separate blanket a few inches away. Many other families were in a similar set up with everyone focusing on the sky. Will was shaking with excitement Jennifer placed her hand on Will's shoulder. Will smiled at his mother and calmed down.
Then the whistling filled the air as a sparkling rocket flew into the air, it exploded with many beautiful red embers. Everyone looked at the display in awe, several more fireworks followed with the first one. Nicholas and Jennifer smiled at Will who was watching the fireworks in awe, soon they smiled at each other and kissed. This good holiday was great to celebrate with those you care about.
Some time later Will was playing at the ranch of Nicholas's parents. Anna was holding Will's hand as he got to see the horses out in the pasture. They were standing by the fence as the horses would occasionally look at the two but go back to their business.
"Anna's really excited to be an aunt." Mrs. Clements said.
"Not that we're not excited to be grandparents." Mr. Clements added.
"I have no doubts that my dad's parents were happy to be my grandma and grandpa, however their enthusiasm was as evident compared to my mom's parents."
"I bet little William would like to ride a horse huh?" Mr. Clements jokingly suggested.
"Absolutely not!" Jennifer asserted this caused everyone to break out laughing. Suddenly Mr. Clement's breathing sounded a little weak and he started to cough.
"You ok dad?"Nicholas asked. His voice sounded a little concerned for his father.
"Oh sure it's nothing." Mr. Clements affirmed as he cleared his throat. No one noticed but Mrs. Clements didn't look so certain.
"Of course that was a prelude to his time running out. Lucy, if you remember, gave a nice eulogy at his funeral. Although that would explain why dad's parents didn't seem to have enough energy to show how happy they are to be my grandparents."
Will walked back with Anna to the others. Will was holding his aunt's hand.
"How's school going William?" Mrs. Clements asked.
"It's fun!" Will answered. "I painted a picture of a bluebird in art class, and the teacher liked it." Nicholas leaned over and whispered.
"Kindergarten is a fun time in a kid's life."
"The teacher does say he has trouble laying still and actually sleeping at nap time." Jennifer added.
"That's good son." Mr. Clements said to Will. "You got good energy on you, just make sure it goes to good use when you grow up now, ya hear?"
"Sure Grandpa." Will answered.
"So Anna, you're gonna marry that boyfriend of yours soon?" Jennifer asked Anna. Anna answered by showing the ring on her finger.
"The wedding was a year later. Unfortunately it was full of tension because Uncle Jonathan looked down on us. Aunt Anna struggled to remind him to stay quiet. As far as I could tell life was great. Awesome grandparents as well as my actual parents."
One afternoon Will returned from school. He walked through the front door and sat his backpack on the living room chair. Nicholas hadn't returned yet but Jennifer had a snack for him ready on the kitchen table, a box of apple juice and a peanut butter sandwich.
"Hi mommy!" Will said happily to her.
"Hi honey." Jennifer said, her voice sounded more enthusiastic than normal. Will didn't seem to notice.
"Thanks mommy!" Will expressed his gratitude for the snack, he sat at the table and began to eat.
"Mom was actually pretty tough on me to say 'please' and 'thank you.' Good thing too, if she didn't I'd have trouble remembering when I should say those words."
The night continued until Jennifer finished cooking dinner, Nicholas was not yet home. Just before they could eat Nicholas came through the door, looking tired but also excited about something.
"Sorry I'm late hun." Nicholas said to Jennifer. "Hey William."
"Just in time for dinner at least." Jennifer sighed. "I got some amazing news."
"So do I." Nicholas replied. Will sat and ate, he couldn't really understand what was being discussed, but he watched his parents talk.
"I got my first commission job today!" Jennifer answered. "If this goes perfectly, I could get more, which is great for building a portfolio!"
"That's great dear!" Nicholas answered. "The foreman retired and I put my name in to take his job and I got it!"
"Amazing dear! Things are really looking up for us both!" Jennifer said happily. Will groaned in disgust as he watched his parents hug and kiss.
"Yeah I was one of those kids who thought kissing was icky. Of course at the time things were good, and only seemed to get better, unfortunately this was also the start of the downfall."
A year has passed and Will was in first grade. He started to get homework. He sat at a desk in his room while he filled out a paper assignment.
"Before my own downfall, I would say I was pretty decent in most subjects except social studies. Mom would return home usually before I did, however it would be about ten minutes before I got home from school. Dad would return home at least one or two hours later. Luckily mom would still have the energy to make dinner for us."
Nicholas returned home and kissed Jennifer.
"Hey honey." He said. Jennifer said hello back.
"Dinner will be ready soon. William is doing his homework."
After dinner Will had a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. Nicholas and Jennifer were getting ready to go to bed.
"Unfortunately at this time, mom was getting home later and later. Little six year old me had the neighbor lady keep an eye on me for the hour it would take for one of them to get home. Unfortunately weekends weren't any better. At the time, it was strange to me, but I didn't think too much about it. I figured that I still get to see mom and dad, and eat mom's good cooking, it didn't bother me."
It was Saturday and Will was tossing the same frisbee up and down, he approached Nichoas who was slumped over a table with a sandwich that he barely ate. He looked completely worn out but relaxed since he wasn't at work.
"Dad! Wanna go out and toss the Frisbee?" Will asked. Nicholas groaned, he looked as if he wasn't really happy to talk to his son.
"Ugh, maybe later." Nicholas answered. His fingers seemed to wave dismissively.
"Ok." Will sighed as he walked away. He walked toward his parent's room and poked his head inside and saw Jennifer laying on the bed with a rag on her head. She didn't look well, not sick, but very exhausted.
"Mommy you ok?" Will asked. "Daddy won't throw the frisbee with me. Could you-"
"No William!" Jennifer groaned with an irritated voice. Will felt a slight sting from her tone. "I got a headache, go play by yourself for a while!"
Will slunk and walked out of the room.
"Their desire to climb the ladder in their work was working them to the bone. Some weekends our family dynamic was just like before, other times they just needed time to themselves. I did hate it, but thinking back, they were just trying to make things work for us."
Another year passed, and this time seven year old Will was doing homework again. Unfortunately he heard angry voices in the living room. No shouting but it sounded like an argument. Will stood up and walked to the living room he found his parents giving irritated looks to each other.
"What do you mean you gotta go into the store to work on a business suit?" Nicholas questioned.
Jennifer countered. "What do you mean your team is behind and you gotta go in tomorrow to play catch up?"
"Mom? Dad?" Will said in a soft voice. Will's voice was high enough to catch their attention they stopped their argument and looked at their child with softer faces.
"This filled me with bad feelings. I've seen them angry before, especially if I annoyed them or when I did something bad. However, seeing them act like this towards each other was different. The feelings were like a mixture of physical pain and sickness."
"It's ok honey." Jennifer said to Will in a gentle voice, as she knelt down on Will's right side. Nicholas did the same but on Will's opposite side. Jennifer gently touched Will's hair to comfort him. "Nothing's wrong."
"Understand that all relationships have their ups and downs." Nicholas added.
"Please understand that we love you." Jennifer added. Nicholas agreed with Jennifer and the parents hugged their son and his bad feelings melted away as a smile slowly grew on his face.
"The bad feelings only seemed to go away at that moment, however that argument meant that for some time, I would only be spending the weekends with either mom or dad alone. It was getting uncommon for us to spend the weekend together. One weekend something interesting happened."
It was another Saturday when Will was with Nicholas and Jennifer was working. Will was sitting on the living room sofa waiting for Nicholas to return.
"Dad said he had a surprise for me."
Nicholas came out of his bedroom with a strange light grey box in his arms and other cords attached to it.
Nicholas sighed. "Son, I've seen how you've been looking at the situation between me and your mother. We're not changing how we feel about each other, and especially how we feel about you. We love you more than anything else. However I'm proud that you haven't complained about it. I think you deserve a special reward. This!"
Nicholas held out the box and Will was confused at what he's looking at. However there was a black and grey rectangle attached to the box via a cable. Will noticed there were black and red buttons on the rectangle. Will understood what it was then.
"Video games?" Will questioned.
"I got this myself when I earned my first real money." Nicholas explained. "I think you deserve to have fun with this." Will saw a word printed on the front of the box, a name Will immediately recognized.
"Nintendo!" Will said happily.
"Yeah, that was the 80's Nintendo NES, my first video game, the first of many in my collection."
Will was handed a game. A cartridge with a muscular man lashing a whip in the direction of an ancient castle with an image of a vampire in the night sky behind the castle.
"Castlevania." Will read the name of the game.
Nicholas explained. "A special kind of game where you fight famous monsters from movies. Like Frankienstien, the main villain you gotta beat is Dracula."
"Cool!" Will gasped in amazement.
"That's where my love of that game series began. It did serve as a good distraction for me when I felt yearning for mom or dad when one wasn't there. Or if they were ever having another spat."
Weeks later Will was playing his Nintendo, that is until the power was suddenly shut off.
"WHAT!?" Will shouted at the screen. He heard a throat clear loudly to his right. He saw his parents looking at him while Jennifer was holding the power plug for the console in her hands.
"Uh, hi mom, hi dad." Will said sheepishly.
"Have a seat at the table William, I think we need to talk." Nicholas said. The tone made Will shiver a little, he felt like he was in trouble.
Will sat across from his parents at the kitchen table who looked at him with at least what he felt as an intimidating stare.
"Did I do something wrong?" Will asked nervously. His parents looked at each other and then back to their son.
"No, not yet at least." Jennifer answered.
"We like how happy you've been with my gift to you." Nicholas said.
"However we heard from your teacher that while your performance in school is still acceptable, it's slipping." Jennifer added. "So we've been thinking." Their tone's changed suddenly to more lighter ones.
Nicholas finished Jennifer's statement. "We believe youre ready for 'allowance.'"
Will tilted his head. "What's that?" Nicholas reached into his pocket and took out a single dollar bill and placed it in front of Will. He smiled at it.
"Put it in your pocket. It's yours." Jennifer told Will.
"Really? Thanks!" Will cheered as he held the money in his hands.
"HOWEVER!" Nicholas bellowed immediately, getting Will's attention again. "That's just the start. Every Saturday, you'll be evaluated. Do well in school and do work around the house, doing dishes, sweeping. You'll receive more."
"Do less, you'll receive less." Jennifer added, her tone was a little warning. "Now, if you do no work around the house and do terribly in school."
Nicholas and Jennifer said at the same time with warning tones. "You will be punished!" Will gulped and nodded his head.
"That's how that started, it wasn't until later that I properly understood the value of money. Sadly it is the case that you sometimes need to lose something or suffer greatly to learn a valuable lesson."
"In fact sometime later something similar would happen with mom. This is when the beginning of the downfall would come."
Will was sitting in the living room playing the NES. He heard light chatter coming from his parents room.
"It was a weekend. Dad was working overtime again and I was home with mom."
"I can't believe I gotta go to work tomorrow, on a Sunday to work especially after Shelby just quit." Jennifer said. She was talking on the phone. With a friend. "Things are ok, but It's just so hard. I gotta take care of William."
Will heard his name and paused the game he was playing. The music stopped, Will crept over to his parents room while eavesdropping on his mother. The door was only a crack open.
Jennifer continued. "I love my boy. He's a great son. I just….I don't know. I had no idea that family life is so hard. Nick is a good husband and I never saw him so happy to be my husband and William's father. It's just, I can tell he wants to have more kids, he brought up the idea several times."
Will's eyes lit up as he thought about being an older brother. However he did detect the hesitation in his mother's voice.
"I actually don't want to have more though. I really want to continue with my commissions and build my portfolio. It's almost impossible for me to do so just with William. Time off is the best time to work on orders, it's hard to when William is screaming at me to 'play with him, or give me ice cream!'"
Will felt uneasy to hear his mother talk about him like this.
"It did hurt a little, but honestly I was too young to understand what she was really talking about at the time. Even then it hurts me now hearing what she's about to say. Still as young as I was, I couldn't properly understand it."
Jennifer spoke even softer. "I often get passed over for big commissions because my boss recommends single childless people for them instead. I have to admit, there are times like that, which make me regret becoming a wife and mother."
The next day Will had a ball and a baseball glove on. He found Nicholas groaning with fatigue because his body was sore from a hard day's work. He was sipping on a bottle of beer.
Will said cheerfully to his father. "Hey dad. Wanna toss the ball out front?" Nicholas sighed as he rubbed his temples.
"Sorry son. I just wanna rest today." Nicholas answered. His face lit up as he got an idea. "Son, you wanna watch a movie with me?"
"What kind?" Will asked as he tilted his head.
"A movie I watched when I was your age." Nicholas brought Will to the living room and put on a DVD on the TV. The title screen flashed on as Will read it aloud.
"Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Nicholas continued. "A famous series of films. I liked them when I was your age, I think you'll like them too."
Will sat crossed legged on the floor and watched the movie. Nicholas was continuing to relax on the sofa behind Will. He felt relieved as he found a means to bond with his son without tiring out his already worn out body.
Will seemed to be completely enraptured by the film. Will was especially captivated by the beautiful ancient artifacts that were being uncovered in the movie.
"Wow. I wanna do that." Will said in an inspired tone. Right when the Ark of the Covenant was unveiled.
"What, fight the scum of humanity? Get shot at and almost incinerated?" Nicholas joked.
"No, I wanna look for old things around the world that teach history." Will replied in his inspired voice.
"Interestingly enough. This interest in ancient history was not spoiled by the more let's just say 'graphic' parts of this film as well as the others."
Will was watching the climax of the film as the villains began to open and examine the magic powers of the Ark. Listening to the dialog on screen.
"It's beautiful!"
Will was mesmerized as he watched the beautiful heavenly image appear on screen, then the beautiful images turned scary and violent. Will just tilted his head then the three main villains began to scream in terror.
"Indy!?"
"Don't Look Marion Keep Your Eyes Shut!"
Then to Will's horror, one of the villains body imploded inwards, another villain's body melted in a pool of flesh and blood, the final villain simply exploded.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Will screamed and jumped up. "That's Horrible!" Nicholas just laughed at his son's reaction to a very graphic scene.
"Despite that, from that day forward. History became my favorite subject in school, the one thing I excelled at."
Another year passed. Eight year old Will was sitting in his room as he heard another unpleasant back and forth between his parents.
"I was feeling those hurting sick feelings more frequently because mom and dad were arguing more often. We still had fun times together but they were becoming less and less."
"We haven't been together in three months!" Jennifer scolded Nicholas. "You're always working overtime at the construction site!"
"I'm sorry." Nicholas replied in an annoyed voice. "Times are hard. We don't have enough workers to pick up the slack so we got to work more to cover the loss. The contract states we gotta get our project done by a certain date! What about you though? You're always at your store making orders!"
Will clutched his stomach. Bad feelings were manifesting there.
"This continued for at least two more years. The arguments became more intense and more frequent. I still believed that everything was fine. I understand now that I was in denial. My ninth birthday was a sure indication of this."
"Happy Birthday William." Jennifer and Nicholas said together, however their voices sounded unenthusiastic. Will smiled at his personal sized birthday cake, but he looked at his parents who just glared at each other.
"Here's your present." Nicholas groaned as he placed a gift box in front of Will next to his cake. Nicholas did this without even looking at Will who had a sad look on his face. He made a wish and blew out the number 9 shaped candle on his cake.
"That was one of the worst birthdays of my life. Unfortunately it wasn't going to be the last. I wished that things would get better, unfortunately the utter collapse was just right around the corner, it took until I was ten when things finally came to a head."
"Go to your room William." Jennifer politely asked her son one afternoon in the summer. Will was sitting at the kitchen table playing a solo game of Solitaire with a deck of cards. Jennifer was watching an afternoon talk show and Nicholas came through the front door looking completely tired out. He just had a day's work, Jennifer however, was glaring hard at Nicholas.
"But mom." Will groaned.
"I said Go!" Jennifer said with some anger in her voice. Her look to Will also had anger in it that felt like Will was getting punched in the stomach. Will then slunk to his room and closed the door. He found a portable music player and put in earphones and played a very banging metal song, he also turned the volume pretty high.
"I can't really understand or really understand what they were angry about. Why were they so mad at each other? To this day I don't know. Dad got me this with rock music. I learned very quickly to use this to block the sounds of their arguments. For the most part it worked, I couldn't hear what words were said, at least sometimes. Although I could still hear the voices so I knew who was yelling."
Unfortunately for Will, the song he was listening to was fading out the voices of his arguing parents was still going back and forth. Once the song ended, he heard something from his mom that panicked him.
"I'M LEAVING!" Jennifer yelled. Will dashed out of his room and looked at his parents. They still had angry looks on their faces, but they looked at their shaken child.
"You're going away mom?" Will asked in a weak voice. Jennifer looked at Nicholas and didn't hesitate to answer.
"Yes I am." Jennifer answered Will. She moved past Nicholas and out the door. Nicholas looked back down to Will as he started shaking. Tears formed in Will's eyes which softened Nicholas's face. He knelt down and hugged Will as Will started to cry.
"That night Me and Dad stayed together on the couch. He tried his best to keep me calm but every so often I would break down again. He would keep reminding me it's not my fault, but those words gave no comfort. I don't think either of us slept that night."
The next day Jennifer was at the house and packing her things. She was loading a moving truck ready to leave Nicholas. Nicholas was in the Garage away from Jennifer, just to not explode in front of Will. However Will was standing a few feet away from Jennifer. Will was standing in the doorway to the master bedroom, watching his mother pack.
"Mommy?" Will asked, trying to get her attention. Unfortunately she didn't answer him. "Mommy? Are you mad at me?" Jennifer turned her head to look at Will. She sighed with an annoyed tone.
"No." She answered. "I just need to get away from your father's desires for…..well. You'll know when you're older. Right now, I have to achieve what I need in life. I can't do that with your father." Jennifer finished packing her last case and walked to Will and knelt before his face. "You did nothing wrong. You're still my son, and I'm still your mother. That will never change ok?"
Will had a single tear run down his cheek. Jennifer brushed it away. Will hugged Jennifer, who returned the hug. Jennifer took the case to her moving truck and Will stood in the doorway as he watched his mother get into the driver's seat and drive away.
"That was the last time I ever saw her. Apparently she and dad would meet up sometimes to officiate the divorce but I never saw her in person afterwards. I never even heard from her on Christmas or my Birthday. Unfortunately things got worse, as you guys know, both me and dad took a downward spiral. Like most downward spirals though, at the beginning it wasn't so bad. After all the arguments stopped. Although for Dad things got bad almost immediately. One day though I made a decision that would change things. At least how I'm known now."
Will walked into the house after school. Unfortunately Will groaned as he saw the unsettling sight of Nicholas passed out on the floor. His hair was longer and his belly was getting bigger. Will facepalmed as he saw the many empty beer cans surrounding Nicholas's body.
"Not again." Will sighed.
"Dad, unfortunately, would take sick days to just sit at home and drink. It would get so bad that I would come home at least twice or three times a week with him passed out like this."
Will got a rag from the kitchen and cleaned the booze and drool around Nicholas's mouth. Will then lifted his dad's arm and tried to pull Nicholas towards his room. His little boy body was not very strong to lift Nicholas's very large frame. Will managed to drag Nicholas to his bedroom and just left him on the floor, he's not strong enough to lift Nicholas onto the bed. Will then just climbed onto the couch and turned on the TV. He was panting, feeling worn out from dragging his large father. He found a special movie on TV that really got his attention, especially after reading the title of the movie.
"Iron Will." Will said aloud. "Kinda like me?"
"The movie was about a boy a few years older than myself. He loses his father and he has to win money in a dog sled race. His determination was inspiring to me. It was then when I asserted to everyone that I simply go by 'Will.' For Dad it was a slight adjustment and he didn't understand why, but he didn't question it. I have Iron Will, and I will never give up. Those two words just really resonate with me."
"However, I must have not learned the proper lessons I should've learned from such words. It wasn't long after when my downward spiral really came forward."
Will was at school. He was looking at a piece of paper on his desk. The teacher was giving a geography lecture. Will took his pencil and started to draw a picture of his mother. He started to feel pain in his chest.
"I haven't seen her in a couple months. She hasn't reached out to me and asked how I was doing. I was really starting to feel like she abandoned me."
Will had tears form in his eyes as he was making his poor drawing of his mother. He however stopped feeling sad as he heard two kids behind him whispering. He looked over his shoulder and saw that two boys were whispering and one was pointing at Will with his thumb. Will started to feel immense anger at what was clearly two people gossiping about him.
"I learned recently that I was letting my sadness and my love for my mother morph into anger. Unfortunately I can't even say angry at what?"
It was recess and Will stormed towards the two boys who were gossiping about him. He stomped towards them with a furious look on his face.
"Hey!" Will snapped harshly at the two boys. "You two got something to say to me?" The boys were too intimidated to respond. "You two got something to say, don't whisper, say it to my face!" One of the boys ran away as the other one stood up and confronted Will.
"You cry a lot at school." The boy said. Will unfortunately responded with a fist as a fight broke out.
"This began me becoming a jerk as well as my bad attitude. I said I learned the wrong lessons about having Iron Will? I must have decided it meant not taking grief from anyone. Boy I was way wrong back then."
It was a week later Will was involved in three more fights. He was sitting outside the principal's office as Nicholas was sitting at the Principal's desk behind a closed door. Nicholas came outside and walked with Will as they both began to walk towards the car. Will was dismissed from classes for the rest of the day.
"You're lucky you're still in grade school." Nicholas warned. "If you were in Middle or High School the punishment would've been more severe."
"You don't sound too angry though." Will grumbled.
"That's because I know what the problem is." Nicholas sighed. "I'm sorry about everything that's been happening lately. I didn't plan or want this to happen to either of us."
"Well regardless it happened." Will grumbled again. They got into Nicholas's truck and Will sat with his arms crossed with a grumpy look on his face.
"I need you to promise me something ok?" Nicholas asked. "You don't hit anyone ever again. You hit nothing but books ok?" Will didn't answer. "Ok!?" Nicholas pressed for the promise harder.
"Whatever." Will groaned.
"Obviously I didn't follow through with my promise. I still had to drag dad if he drank too much beer, and deal with the rough sight of him passed out on the floor. My 'whatever' was said just to shut him up. He must've taken it as a 'yes.' This would continue into me turning eleven, at this time, dad's problems started to catch up with him, it was getting so bad for him, that his body had fully changed into his huge, hairy self you know of now."
Will sat at his TV playing a Nintendo 64. It was very late at night however Nicholas was nowhere to be seen.
"It's Eight. Where is he?" Will asked. Then there was a knock at the door. Will paused his game and went to answer it. Once Will opened the door Nicholas stumbled in and to Will's surprise a police officer was with him. Nicholas's car was nowhere to be seen, only the police cruiser was in the driveway.
"You stay here and you await your court date!" The officer scolded Nicholas, he tilted his hat to Will. "I'm sorry son. Your father went drinking after work and tried to drive home. His car will be towed home."
Will sighed and the officer left. Will closed the door and glared at his father.
"We argued that night, although he quickly went to sleep. He was still quite out of it. It was a week later when things started to change, for the better, although at the time, I didn't see it that way."
Nicholas was sitting at the kitchen table one weekend afternoon. He was looking at several papers and signing documents. He had a depressed look on his face. Will came to the kitchen to get a soda from the refrigerator.
"What're you up to?" Will asked. Nicholas pulled a chair out from the table and patted it, beckoning Will to sit with him. Will rolled his eyes and sat next to Nicholas.
Nicholas answered in a clam voice. "I'm looking for a new job. One that can pay a huge amount that can really take care of us both."
Will tilted his head. "Why? What's wrong with the job you have now?"
Nicholas sighed. "Getting in trouble with the law. Woke me up, I can't be a good father to you if I'm a mess. We can't stay here though. The badness of our lives lingers in the air here. We're going to move."
"Realy?" Will asked, with some snark in his voice. Clearly he wasn't very believing of his father's idea.
"A fresh start will do us all good." Nicholas said with all sincerity. "I'm going to clean myself up and I can only hope you do so too."
Will sighed with his eyes red, reliving this story caused him to fight back tears. Lola gave him tissues to wipe his eyes and he had to take a few breaks to relax himself.
"Sometime after dad made this promise. He tried his best and aside from the slip up at the Father's day party. There was no real incident with my dad with booze. We stayed together for many months. It wasn't soon after I turned twelve, dad got his oil rig job, we secured our new home in Royal Woods."
Will finished his story as his audience all gave him somber looks.
"I'm so sorry Will." Leni said softly, she walked to Will and she placed her hand on his shoulder. A single tear ran down his cheek as he smiled at Leni.
Lana asked. "You never saw or heard from your mother again? Too this day?" Will sighed and shook his head.
Lisa stepped forward. "May I see your picture?" Will hesitated but handed his picture of himself, his healthy father, and himself to Lisa. "Fear not, I will return it shortly." Lisa then walked out of the room with the picture in her hands. Ronnie Anne went to Will's side and spoke in a comforting voice.
"It's ok. Me and Bobby haven't seen our father since he and my mom got divorced either."
The door opened and Mr. and Mrs. Loud came back inside and they looked at Will with proud faces.
"You finished your story?" Mr. Loud asked. Will nodded.
Mrs. Loud added. "Your father did as well. We're so proud of you for being so brave." Will smiled at the praise, he looked at his friends and their smiling faces show they feel the same.
"Thank you all for listening." Will said. "Now, you should understand me and dad now." With a lasting glance at all the smiling faces he once again said. "Thank you."
Will then walked out of the Loud's house and returned home. He walked inside and saw Nicholas and Agnes holding hands on the couch. The two adults looked at Will and Agnes excused herself and went to the bathroom. Nicholas and Will looked at each other with sad smiles. The memories of everything they went through raced through their minds. Will approached Nicholas who stayed sitting on the couch to stay eye level with his son. Without saying anything more, the two had a single tear run down their faces and then hugged each other tightly.
A/N That is all for Will's origin story. I hope you all enjoyed the two parts. Now I happy to say that in my time away from Fanfiction, I've been working on my own Deviantart page! Go ahead to look up AdvntureSeeker there to find all the Artwork I commisioned from UnderratedHero. Not all artwork is there yet, but go ahead and see all artwork related to this story as well as my cover arts for covers for Sonic and Sailor Moon stories. Did you guys see the art? What did you think? Let me know in a PM or a review.
Next chapter is the start of adapting season 2 episodes. However I gotta get to correcting the chapter order. Thank you all and see you next time!