Elena watches Lynn run around the house. For the past thirty minutes, she has been trying to get her bag ready with everything that she and Victor will need for their little afternoon excursion. Unfortunately for Lynn, she isn't organized and every time she is almost out the door, she remembers another thing that she forgot. Elena figures that it's what happens after years of her dad organizing most of their family outings, but they're only going to be out for a few hours, so the two shouldn't need much.
She takes a seat and looks over at her little brother, who is playing with his toy cars on the ground. Today, Lynn is taking him to watch his cousins play baseball at the park. Not something that Elena thinks will interest her little brother, but it's a beautiful day out and he could use some fresh air.
Lynn continues to pack the bag. She looks over at Elena, "Do me a favor and see if Vic has his shoes on."
Elena looks down at where Victor was sitting, and notices that he is gone, "I took my eyes off of him for one second."
Lynn laughs, "Yeah, he likes doing that. Good thing his legs are so little." She spots Victor hiding under the dining room table. She pretends to look away from him, but steps in his direction. When she is only steps away, the boy runs away and Lynn mimics him as she quickly grabs him from behind.
Victor squirms in her arms, "You're gonna have fun today," she assures him. "It's your first little league ball game and your cousins are gonna be there, so you can learn to love sports like me and your dad."
Elena watches over the two. She knows that Lynn has her heart set on her son being a sports nut like her and Dad, but the two of them try to remind her that she can't force him to like sports the same way. Right now, it's easy for Lynn to say that she understands, but she hopes that she can keep her word in case Victor doesn't develop a love of sports.
"Where the heck are your shoes?" she asks him after noticing that he is barefoot. "Did you take them off again?"
Victor stops moving upon hearing his mom's question. He has a decent grasp comprehending what people around him are saying, but he can definitely understand the ones he doesn't want to hear, and 'shoes' is one of them.
He tries harder to escape his mom's grasp, trying to loosen her arm around her, and even pull her hair, but she is able to overpower him, forcing him onto her lap. Lynn looks under the table where Victor was standing and finds his shoes near the middle.
She can't let go of Vic or he'll go running off again and they'll really be late. Lynn turns to Elena, "Can you help me get his shoes out from under here?"
Elena walks over to the table and pulls out her brother's shoes. Victor, with a renewed sense of vigor, tries to escape his mom's hold on him, but she won't let go of him. He tries kicking, shimmying, even headbutting her, but nothing seems to do the trick, and what's worse, his mom actually managed to get one shoe on.
As Lynn tries to put on Victor's other shoe, she asks Elena, "Are you sure you don't want to go to the game? It'll be fun."
Watching little kids play baseball isn't exactly Elena's idea of fun. She doesn't have anything else planned either, but a lazy afternoon at home sounds nice while everyone else is out of the house.
"No, I'm good."
"Then what're you gonna do all day?"
She shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know maybe, just read a book or something?"
"You did that last week."
"I was studying."
"You study way too much. You need to go outside! Your vitamin D levels must be plummeting."
Elena takes a seat on the couch, "I'm fine." She sits on Victor's cap and pulls it out from underneath her, handing it over to Lynn before she forgets it.
Lynn grabs the cap, places it on Victor's head and walks him over to the garage.
As Lynn walks out the door, Elena notices the blue bag full of everything that she packed on the counter. She figures that Lynn will probably come back for the bag, but when she hears Dutch pull out of the driveway, she begins to keep track of the time.
Seven minutes later, Dutch sputters at the front of the house. Elena grabs the bag and walks it over the front door. Lynn bursts into the room, narrowly missing Elena.
Lynn runs to the kitchen, where she last remembers leaving the bag, but she doesn't see it, "Where did I leave it?"
"Right here."
She turns towards the teen, "Thank you," she says as she grabs the bag and runs out the door.
Lynn Sr. sits back on the couch and relaxes. It isn't often that the family gets a weekend with nothing to do, and he is going to take advantage of it. At the moment, the kids are playing and Rita is on the phone, and he's got a Legends of the Hidden Temple marathon to keep him happy all day long.
During a commercial break, he mutes the television and hears his wife say, "Of course, we're not doing anything. We'll see you soon."
When Rita hangs up the phone, Lynn Sr. asks, "Who was that?"
"Aunt Ruth. She just came back from her Midwest Cat Aficionados Convention and she wanted to show us her slides."
Lynn Sr. can feel his skin grow cold at the thought of sitting through that slide show. It's never a short visit, it's always hundreds, sometimes thousands of slides, helping her clean litter boxes, rub bunions, and worst of all, it's the food.
Nope, he cannot handle a visit to Ruth's, he just can't.
"Can you help me pack some of the kids' things?" asks Rita.
As he picks up some toys for the kids, Lincoln bumps into him. An idea pops into his head. He picks up his son and runs him over to Rita, "You know, honey, we should probably keep Lincoln behind, what with all of Ruth's cats, she might not like having him chase them around."
It's happened with all the girls, so there's no reason to believe that Lincoln might not have the same habit, especially since the girls have mostly outgrown it, most of them anyway. Regardless, he's going to take an opportunity that comes his way. Besides, Lincoln would probably love having a little father-son time.
Rita thinks about it. He does make a good point, the cats are already going to deal with the extra houseguests, they don't need one chasing after them.
"Okay, I guess that's fine. I'll-"
She doesn't even finish before he starts celebrating, though he quickly stops when he notices his wife's stares.
"Right, I'll help you get the girls ready."
While Rita rounds up the girls, Lynn Sr. packs some snacks and toys for them so that they don't give their mom any hassle during this trip. It's a shame that he can't save them all from having to visit their aunt, especially since he knows that they don't like going over either, but Rita might get suspicious.
He takes the bag to Vanzilla and watches as the four older girls slowly walk towards the vehicle. The way they hang their heads down, it's as if they were going to get their inoculations. He feels a little bad about letting them, and makes a mental note to keep one of them behind the next time they have to go to their aunt, or at least give them a heads up so that they can fake being sick.
From inside the house, he can hear Rita calling out to their youngest daughter. He should help her, but it's not like anyone else wants to go, so he doesn't see why he should help get them out to Aunt Ruth's any faster. However, he shouldn't make his wife's job harder besides the quicker they leave, the quicker they'll come back.
Lynn runs outside. She doesn't want to go to Aunt Ruth's, she wants to stay home with her dad and baby brother, and she's not going to give in without a fight. She can hear her mom's footsteps and without thinking, she runs as far away from the door as she can. Unfortunately for the toddler, she doesn't notice her dad standing by Vanzilla, and when she runs past him, he picks her up.
She squirms in her father's arms, "No! I don' wanna!" she yells, as he buckles her into her seat.
"I'm sorry LJ, but you're going," he tells her. "Besides, you're gonna have a lot more fun than you will here alone with me and your brother."
The four older sisters stare at him. They know he's lying, they've never had fun at Aunt Ruth's and he knows it. They know that he hates going too, but before anyone can call him out on it Lynn blurts, "Nuh-uh!"
"Well, can you try to have fun for me?"
"Nope."
"Well, I tried."
Rita runs out of the house with her keys and purse in hand, "Thanks for catching her. We'll be back in a few hours," she tells him before hopping in the driver's seat and pulling out of the driveway.
The girls stare at Dad, hoping that he could try to talk Mom out of this trip, instead all they see is him waving and telling them to have fun.
Lynn Sr. watches as Vanzilla pulls around the corner, and as soon as they are out of sight, he jumps for joy at not having to be around for another visit to Ruth's place.
Lynn speeds down the road. Having to turn back ate up some of their time, but they should be able to get to the game with enough time to give her niece and nephew some last-minute pointers.
"Make sure you're confident, it'll psyche out the pitcher, but remember to back it up, or they'll see right through you," she says out loud, pretending to talk to the kids. "And don't stop running until you step onto that base. Keep your eyes on the ball, so you'll know if you can run a double." As she narrowly misses the other cars on the road, she swerves around and angrily wonders, "Whose freakin' idea was it to create speed limits? I mean, seriously? What's the point of a car that can go over a hundred miles an hour if I can't use more than half of it on a normal road?" She looks up at the rearview mirror to look at Victor, who is looking out the window. "You agree with me, right?"
He doesn't answer, instead focusing on the view.
"Yeah, you agree with me."
As Lynn continues to talk out loud, Victor stops looking outside and looks at the floor. It's littered with crumbs, crayons, and receipt papers that his mom tosses into the backseat. He tries to reach out for the crayon rolling closest to him, but is stopped by the strap on his seat.
He doesn't like the straps on the seat, but to this day he hasn't been able to figure out how to get them off on his own. At least with his shoes it's easy, grab the things on top and then pull them off. Then he kicks them off, hopefully not tripping on them later when he runs around. He tries to apply the same principle to the car seat, but there aren't any straps like on his shoes.
Victor continues to move around in his seat, but nothing comes of it. He looks down at the crayons, once again reaching out towards them, but when he fails, he angrily balls up his hands into a fist, hitting his seat in anger.
Lynn stops talking and notices Victor angrily hitting his seat, "Hey, what's wrong?" She doesn't know why she asked, considering he can't answer, "We're almost at the park. Don't worry, little man. You'll be able to run around soon."
Hearing herself say that makes her smile.
It wasn't long ago that she and Francisco were worried about Victor's ability to walk, and now it seems like it was such a silly thing to worry about. He was able to get it, it just took him some time, and now he's like any other little boy his age, toddling around with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Victor is still frustrated. He wants to be freed from his car seat. However, the idea of the park does sound nice. He looks down at the crayon as it rolls around on the floor and eventually disappears from view.
He continues to stare, waiting for the crayon to roll back, but it doesn't.
Victor looks around for something else to keep him from being bored, when he notices the red button on his car seat. He presses down on the button and feels the straps loosening up, as he frees himself from the seat. He gets up and walks towards the window, getting a good view of the outside. He can see birds flying in the air, people walking on the sidewalk, and street lamps along the road.
He decides to see what the other window's view will offer and runs to the other side, unaware that his mom has stopped talking.
Lynn hears the pitter-patter of his footsteps as he runs from one end of the backseat to the other. She looks up at the mirror and notices the top of his cap as he walks back and forth.
"Crap!" she says, as she slows the car down.
She is tempted to slam on the brakes, but is afraid of Victor getting hurt if she suddenly stops the car. Lynn pulls into the Burpin' Burger parking lot. After haphazardly pulling into a parking spot, she jumps out of the car and takes her son by surprise when she opens the door. Victor runs towards the other door to avoid his mom's reach, laughing at the supposed game his mom is playing with him. However, she doesn't have time to play, so Lynn gets in, trapping Victor.
She forces him back into his seat, despite his complaints, "Sorry Rookie, but you can't stand while Dutch is moving, especially when you're still a wobbly walker."
Victor lets out a grunt, which to Lynn sounds a bit like back talk. He can whine all he wants, but he's going to have to suck it up. For the rest of the ride, Lynn glances over at Victor. Now that he knows how to release himself from his seat, he's going to be more of a handful on car rides.
After pulling into the parking lot, Lynn grabs Victor and their things before running towards the diamond. She has been looking forward to this day since Lucy brought it up during their last visit. The chance for another athlete in the family has her brimming with joy. After so many nieces and nephews, she was hoping to be that cool aunt that would regale them with stories of competition and maybe even pass on some of her wisdom. However, most of them weren't interested in sports past casually watching it on tv or playing a friendly game. She's sure that Victor might join in eventually, but they're still a long way from that.
Lynn reaches the diamond. The game hasn't started yet, so she should have some time for that little pep talk, but first find her sister. She sets Victor and her bag while she looks up at the stands, hoping to find Lucy or her kids, which shouldn't be hard considering that they're probably the only ones wearing black. Lynn scans through all the fans, but doesn't spot any black clothing that would remind her of Halloween or signs telling people to 'Embrace the Darkness'.
A parasol at the edge of the stands grabs her attention, and she wonders, "Is that?" Lynn runs up towards the parasol and notices her sister and her sons, hiding from the sun.
"Hey, Luce. Hey, Chris. Hey, Ed."
"It's Edward," complains the boy.
"That's what I said."
He crosses his arms in anger, and Lucy looks up at her sister. While Lynn's nicknames don't bother Lucy, Edward prefers being called by his real name over anything else.
"Lynn," says Lucy. She tilts her head down towards her son.
The older sister doesn't get it, "What?"
"Call him Edward."
"Okay. Hey, Lucy. Hey, Chris. Hey, Edward."
The boy ignores his aunt and turns to his mom, "Can I have a book? I'm bored."
"Sigh," she grabs a book from her bag and hands it over to her son. He couldn't even handle warm-ups before he started asking for a book. Lucy would have held off a little longer, but he's so much easier to handle when he has his nose buried in a book.
As she watches the kids on the field, Lucy notices her nephew at the bottom of the stairs, "Victor's down by the field."
Lynn is confused by the statement, until she realizes that when she ran up to confirm that Lucy was under the parasol, she neglected to bring Victor up the stands with her. Luckily, he seems to be fascinated by the kids practicing their batting to have noticed that he was left behind.
"Victor!" yells Lynn to get her son's attention. "Get up here! The game's about to start!"
Lucy turns to her sister, "Aren't you going to go get him?"
"I think he can do it. He loves climbing and running around and he has lots of energy. He'll be up here in no time."
"Why does that sound familiar?"
Lucy can recall plenty of times growing up hearing their older sisters warn Lynn about running around the house and climbing up on furniture. It usually started with a simple warning, but every time it was ignored by Lynn, who never seemed to learn her lesson despite hearing it a million times.
"I think you should probably go get him anyway."
"Fine, way to have confidence in your nephew," jokes Lynn as she heads down towards the diamond.
It has nothing to do with lacking confidence in her nephew. She's more worried that he'll hurt himself trying to get up in the stands or run off and have a huge head start. Lynn should be able to catch him, but she doesn't see the point in risking it.
Lucy watches her sister bring Victor up. The whole time, he turns his head as people move around in their seats, call out to their kids, or to sniff food. Not surprising, the twins were similar at that age and even her youngest. Lynn sets the boy down and offers him a small sandwich and an orange slice to keep him occupied while the game starts. She hasn't been to a game like this in years, especially as a spectator, but she's excited nonetheless.
The kids run onto the field as the first inning commences.
Victor stares down at his mom's feet as she stomps in an effort to let go of all of her pent up excitement. He tries to copy her, but his feet can't reach the ground. He hops off of his seat and bounces up and down a bit, but stops when he catches the scent of the concession foods.
The fruit and a few bites of his sandwich that he had were fine, but they didn't smell as good as the buttery popcorn, the roasted peanuts, and the sizzling hot dogs. He walks towards one of the parents eating a hot dog, but before he can reach them, the food is gone.
Victor looks around and then notices the little building with a line of people and all of them carrying food. He runs towards that magical food building, not caring about anything else.
Edward finishes his book. In the brief second, when he's about to go looking for another book in his mom's bag, he notices his cousin toddling away from them, "Aunt Lynn, Victor's running."
She looks at her nephew confused, until she notices that Victor is on the other side of the bleachers. Lynn panics and pushes her way past the crowd to retrieve her son. Luckily, he can't move too quickly through the people, though her bigger concern is that he'll fall down and end up under the stands. Lynn takes any opportunity to get through the crowd while keeping Victor from finding out that she's on his tail.
For a brief second, he stops when the crowd begins to cheer, and Lynn immediately pounces on the boy. "Okay, let's try this again," she says, setting him down next to her.
Victor looks up at his mom, then looks down at the field where all the kids are playing. He's jealous that they get to run around and play with the ball. Meanwhile, he's stuck in this uncomfortable seat, and anytime he tries to go explore, his mom brings him right back.
Through the second inning, Victor's boredom continues. This isn't like when his parents took him to see the other baseball game, there he could run around a little more, play with the stuffed tiger his parents bought, pig out on all the snacks that his parents offered him, and go on the rides. He slouches in his seat, turning his body back and forth. When the crowd cheers again, his mom stands up like the rest of the parents around them. She starts talking to Aunt Lucy and he groans in frustration. Rather than continue dealing with this, he tries to make another break for it while his mom is distracted.
But like all the previous times, his mom notices and he's brought back to his seat.
As Lynn carries him back to his seat, again, Victor squirms around. He's tired of sitting around looking at the game, he wants to explore and have fun, but his mom won't let him go anywhere. When he's placed back in his seat, he starts to look everywhere except the field. First the clouds, then the cheering fans around him, back to the clouds, then the small line of ants going after a piece of popcorn, finally, he locks his eyes on the kids running past the bleachers. Victor follows them with his eyes until they reach the parking lot.
There goes that.
Victor slumps down in his seat. He turns to his mom, then the people next to him, the ones in front of him, back and forth, back and forth. This is so boring. He wants to run and play, but everytime he does, he's brought right back to his seat. The boy punches the ground in frustration, which goes unnoticed by everyone except his aunt.
Lucy looks over at her nephew, who is clearly frustrated. If he isn't kicking his feet, or looking around at the spectators eating their snacks, or at his own mother whenever she's hollering, he's trying to run off. Lynn brings him back every time, but with each failed attempt, he's getting fussier and fussier.
"Maybe you should take him to the playground. It might help him burn off some energy," suggests Lucy.
Lynn is disappointed, she wants to see how the game plays out. However, he notices the look on her son's face. He's getting angry and it isn't doing either of them any good if Vic keeps running away from her.
She picks him up, "Alright, let's go to the playground."
The five girls stare at the slideshow that has been going on forever. Every time they try to move, their aunt tells them to stay put, and their mom doesn't seem to care. Rather than help Aunt Ruth keep the slideshow going, she's looking at the slides and asking questions and slowing her down.
Lori leans over to her younger sisters, "This is torture," she whispers.
They agree.
One of Aunt Ruth's cats walks into the room and leaps in front of the slide that they are currently watching.
Leni points at the cat, "Ooh! Ooh! It's like that movie when we all got glasses."
Lori, Luna, and Luan stare at their sister, surprised that she's confusing a real cat for that 3D movie they saw a few weeks ago. The three look at one another and agree that there's no point in saying anything, not because Leni won't understand, but because Aunt Ruth will shush them like she has since they've arrived. Any time they shuffle around in their seats or so much as make a peep, she immediately calls them out to silence them. Well, at least they aren't Lynn who has been on the receiving end more than any of the other sisters.
Lynn slouches in her seat and watches the cat. Even if it's laying down by the bookshelf, the little cat is a lot more interesting than the slides that she's been forced to endure. The toddler watches the cat, waiting for it to do something, but all she can see is its belly going up and down with each breath it takes. The toddler thought that these cats would be more fun, they definitely were when she was younger, but all they want to do is climb on top of stuff and take naps.
A cat approaches the girls on the couch and soon more cats join in. The girls try to get them off their laps, but regardless, more cats take their place. They try again, but eventually their aunt notices that the girls are upsetting the cats and not paying attention to her slideshow.
She calls out to them and they all stop.
Aunt Ruth presses on the button to continue the slideshow, but the screen turns black. The girls smile thinking that they are finally over their ordeal. However, it's short-lived when they notice their aunt pull out another set of slides.
Lynn groans, "No!"
Rita looks over at her daughter, "Lynn, that's not nice."
The little girl tries to bury herself within the couch. She can't deal with any more slides. It's endless!
She soon feels her mother's arms around her, as she forces her to sit down properly on the couch, "It's only a few more slides, then we can go home."
Lynn crosses her arms. It's never a few slides, it's always like a million more, and Mom doesn't let them go home until Aunt Ruth is done with them all. Lynn leans back and closes her eyes, she might get lucky and be able to take a nap, then when she wakes up she'll be home in her own bed.
Except it's never that easy.
The little girl can't relax with the slide machine making noise. She sighs loudly and tries again, but she's startled when a cat jumps up on her lap. The toddler stares down at the creature and slowly reaches her hand out to pet the cat's body. The cat doesn't react, but regardless, it doesn't stop Lynn. Soon, she stops looking up at her aunt's boring slides, and decides that focusing on the cat is better. The girl grabs the cat's tail, curious what the tip looks like underneath the fur. She grips the tail to get a better look, and is quickly startled by the feline.
"Ow!" yells Lynn as she pushes the cat off her lap.
The cat runs off and Rita goes to check on her daughter, who is holding her hand, "Let me see." Rita notices a scratch on her daughter's hand, "Alright, get you cleaned up," she says taking her youngest daughter to the bathroom.
Lori looks over at Lynn as she's being led away. That cat scratch put her one step closer to throwing a tantrum. She can throw one easily and she won't even get in trouble because she's so little. It's not going to be fun, but if Lynn gets mad enough maybe Mom will call it a day and let them all go home.
"We should get Lynn mad," she suggests to her sisters.
"Why?" asks Leni.
"So that we can go home. Look," says Lori as she points at the slides. "Aunt Ruth stopped ever since Mom and Lynn left. We're gonna be stuck here forever, unless, you know, we give Mom a reason to get us home."
Luna and Luan notice their older sister tilting her head in the direction of the bathroom. It takes them a minute but they quickly catch on to what their older sister is planning. It'll be easy to make Lynn mad, but it's going to be annoying to hear their sister throw a tantrum. However, it'll definitely be worth it if they can go home. The two nod their heads, agreeing to go along with their older sister's plan.
"Wait," starts Leni, "What's the reason Mom's gonna let us go home?"
Elena lays back on the couch and takes in the silence. It has been a long time since she's had time to herself. Most of her days are filled with studying, recitals, and spending time with her little brothers, so having this rare opportunity seems like a dream.
She looks down at her book and sighs, rather than continue reading her book, she tosses it aside in favor of the remote to watch a movie instead. She scrolls through the menu looking through dozens of options, before settling on an old romcom. Before hitting play, she quickly runs to the kitchen to grab some water and make a bowl of popcorn.
With everything within reach, Elena takes a seat, and almost immediately after hitting play, her phone rings. She looks at the caller ID and smiles, "Hey, Noah."
"Hey, how are you doing?"
"I'm good, just about to watch a movie."
"That's good. I guess you'll be too busy to want to hang out with me for a bit," he teases.
Elena thinks about it for a minute. The last time they hung out while she was alone, she got in trouble, but it's been long enough and it isn't like she's leaving her brother behind so she can be with her boyfriend. She figures that they could hang out for a little bit, and he could go before anyone is the wiser. Elena looks at the clock. She knows that when her dad is at the hardware store, it can take hours before he comes home, especially when he's planning projects. So, they should be safe for a little bit, and Lynn and Victor will be gone until after the game, so they won't be back soon either, especially knowing her little brother, who will likely want to spend some time at the playground.
She mentally takes note of the time, "Fine, but only for an hour or two."
"An hour or two? I thought you liked me."
"Sorry, take it or leave it."
"I'll be there in a bit," he says before hanging up on her.
Elena can feel her heart racing, almost regretting what she did. She has no idea why she invited him over, or when she became so bold. Her dad will clearly be upset, though maybe Lynn could talk him down. She shakes her head. That's a terrible idea, and she can't count on Lynn being on her side. Elena looks down at her phone and thinks about calling Noah back to tell him that she changed her mind, but she decides that it'll be fine, besides it'll only be an hour, maybe two.
"It's fine, it's fine. It'll only be a little bit. Besides, this isn't the first time I've invited him over here."
Of course, the last time she invited him over she didn't run the risk of her dad or anyone catching them. It was the day Victor was born. She woke up to an empty house that morning. Originally, she was going to have breakfast and probably ask her mom to take her to the hospital to see her new brother after her dad called. However, she and Noah started texting, and the next thing she knew, she invited him over, and he offered to give her a ride to the hospital.
But that isn't the same as today.
Today, the rest of the family is doing their thing, and they can come home at any time. Elena shakes her head. She tries to assure herself that it'll be fine. She can spend one hour alone with her boyfriend without getting caught or anything.
"One hour."
A few minutes later, she hears a knock at the door and she quickly opens it so that she can let Noah in. She takes his hand and forces him into the house.
He's a bit surprised, but he's definitely not going to fight it. Noah looks around the house and notices how quiet it is, "Is no one home?"
Elena shakes her head.
That makes Noah a bit nervous. She got in trouble the last time they hung out while she was alone, and while they were still able to hang out, her mom kept an eye on the two of them whenever he was around. He doubts that her dad won't be worse, though at least it'll only be on weekends based on what Elena has told him.
"I haven't started the movie yet, do you want to join me?"
Noah looks at the movie on the screen. He isn't sure what she picked out based on the trees on screen, but he'll figure it out soon enough once she hits play on the remote. Elena walks over with some snacks and takes a seat next to him. She leans over to rest her head on his shoulders. Elena presses play and the movie resumes.
About an hour into the movie, Noah gets drowsy. Romcoms are definitely not his genre, they're so predictable, but he isn't going to tell Elena to change. Nope, he's going to suck it up and hope that the next hour can go by faster.
Elena stares at the screen, but she is startled by her ringtone. She looks down at the caller ID and is surprised to hear from her dad. Elena tosses the phone onto the coffee table, afraid to answer as if he knows that she invited Noah over.
"Aren't you gonna answer it?"
She doesn't say anything.
"It might be more suspicious if you don't answer."
He's got a point.
"Don't say a word," she tells him. Elena answers the phone, and in the calmest voice she can muster, asks, "Hey Dad, how's it going?"
"Not bad. Hey, are you still at home?"
She swallows, "Yeah, why?"
"Can you go into your closet and take a photo of your shoe rack?"
"What? Why?"
"Because I wanted to work on something and that shoe rack's held up for a while so I wanted to use it again. Just make sure to zoom in so I can show the picture to somebody."
"Okay," she answers. She signals Noah that she's going to her room, and on the way asks, "There are ways to identify wood by photo?"
"There's books, an app, and if not that, then maybe I'll get lucky comparing it to what they've got here at the store."
She doesn't know much, but she's going to believe her dad, "What are you going to build?"
"It's a surprise."
"You can't tell me?"
"Nope."
"Alright, I'm in my room. Give me a sec."
Elena opens her closet. She points her camera down at her shoe rack and zooms in to take the photo. She snaps a quick photo, "Okay, I'm about to send it."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"You're welcome." Then a thought pops into her head, "Hey, in case Lynn wants to pick up something for lunch, should I tell her to get you something?"
She knows that Lynn is unlikely to call, but at least it gives her an idea of how long her dad plans on being out of the house.
"Nah, I might be a while so tell her that I'll pick up something on the way home."
"Okay, I'll let her know."
"Thanks, Sunshine, I love you."
"I love you too, Dad."
As soon as she hangs up, she lets out a big sigh of relief. All she has to do is worry about Lynn, who will definitely be much more understanding if she sees Noah while she's home. Elena tries to get that plan out of her head, she can't rely on that, and besides she already told him that they can only hang out two hours max.
She turns around and is startled to see Noah at the doorway, "So this is what your room looks like," he says as he walks in looking at the posters on her walls, her furniture, and the random spot of black paint.
"What are you doing here?"
He shrugs his shoulders and lays down on the bed. As he stares up at the ceiling, he answers, "I was curious. I didn't get to see your room at your mom's house, so I thought, why not?"
Elena takes his hand, "Great, now let's go," she says hoping to force him off of her bed. However, she isn't strong enough to lift him up.
"It's only been a minute."
"What's so interesting about my room?"
"I don't know. I guess it tells me a bit about you. Everything's all in order, so you're organized. The colors match so maybe you're good at matching things, well except for that black paint on the wall. Um…let's see what else, the little doll, I guess is for decoration or something," he says as he looks around.
Elena can tell that he's curious and decides to let him have his little fun. She takes a seat on her bed, "Fine, you've got five more minutes."
Lynn Sr. runs into the house, slamming the door behind. He can't believe it, it worked. He doesn't have to go to Aunt Ruth's. He doesn't have to deal with seeing that gross extra toe, clean litter boxes, or eat expired food. Nope! He is going to sit back and enjoy today with his son who was able to get him out of going on that unfortunate trip.
"Oh, if only we could have a million kids, then I could make sure I never have to visit." He shakes his head to rid himself of those dark thoughts. Nope, he is not going to waste his day thinking about how he's not at Ruth's, instead he's going to do what he hasn't been able to do in years, relax and do what he wants to do.
Lynn Sr. grabs his son so that they can watch his favorite show. He sets the boy down next to him on the couch, and points to the tv, " You're gonna love this show, Lincoln. It's called Legends of the Hidden Temple. Now that team, son, is the Orange Iguanas. They're my favorite team."
Lincoln stares at the tv and points towards the orange team, "Yeah, you like them too?" asks Lynn Sr.
During a commercial break, Lynn Sr. turns away from the tv and heads into the kitchen to get a pop. When he walks back to the living room, he notices Lincoln slowly closing his eyes. He looks over at the clock, it's almost his nap time. It's a shame to cut their little father-son time short, but better that Lincoln get his rest than be fussy later.
Lynn Sr. picks up his son and takes him to his crib for a nap. It's not exactly how he anticipated their father-son day going, but he needs to recharge and a nap will do him some good. Besides, while Lincoln sleeps, he can continue his marathon.
After one episode, Lynn Sr.'s stomach starts to growl. He anxiously waits for the next commercial break, and as soon as the first ad appears, he runs to the kitchen. He opens the freezer, looking for anything that he can quickly pop into the microwave, but nothing looks appetizing. It's not surprising either, there's only so many times a man can eat frozen salisbury steak and pizza without getting bored of it.
"Gotta hurry, time's a-wastin'," he tells himself.
Rather than settling on something frozen, Lynn Sr. decides to search the pantry for something quick, "Let's see lasagna noodles and cereal."
Again, nothing looks appetizing.
"And it's not like I have time to make-" the lightbulb goes off in his head. He may have to miss part of his marathon, but he can't think of the last time that he's had to cook a non-instant meal.
"It is a good time, what with Lincoln napping and Rita and the girls out at Ruth's. Plus, I'd bet they'd love food that was made in this millennium."
He runs back to the fridge and notices some ground beef. If he combines that with the noodles, he can make spaghetti, except he didn't see tomato sauce in the pantry, "Could I make a sauce?" He searches through the pantry for any herbs that he thinks would go well into his sauce. He's never made lasagna that didn't already come pre-made, but it shouldn't be too hard.
"I used to cook all the time as a kid, I can figure this out. Let me get my black book. I should have a recipe for lasagna in there somewhere."
He doesn't, but it doesn't stop him. There are years of culinary knowledge in his head, making a simple bolognese sauce shouldn't be a hassle.
"Just get the noodles ready, simmer the sauce, and grate the cheese. Now all I have to do is layer it and put it in a preheated oven."
The sound of the tv gets his attention, and he's tempted to head towards the living room while the lasagna bakes in the oven. However, Lynn Sr. decides to stick around after catching a whiff of his food. He can't help himself, he hasn't been this proud of something he's made in years.
Lynn Sr. paces back and forth in front of the oven waiting for the minute the timer goes off. As soon as the timer goes off, he grabs his oven mitts and pulls the lasagna out of the oven. It has been a long time since he's had time to enjoy his hobby without getting pulled aside by one of his kids, and he is definitely going to take advantage of it.
The smell alone has the man smiling. He cuts out a piece of the food and takes a bite of his lasagna and moans, "That is definitely going into my recipe book. And it didn't even need my caramel sauce."
He pulls out his black book and tries to think of what he added to the dish and smiles as he continues to eat.
Lynn looks over at the field. The game was only a few innings in before she brought Victor to the playground. She hoped that after playing for a bit they could go back and rejoin Lucy, but instead of going back to the game, all he wants to do is run around with the other kids and play in the sandbox. She wonders if Lucy had to deal with this when the twins were younger, but it isn't like Ed is that much older, and he was able to sit in the stands, even if his nose was buried in a picture book.
"Maybe I should have brought you some toys," she says towards her son, who is running towards the swings. He doesn't seem to have a care in the world now, except for those damn kids that accidentally bump into him when they're running. It stinks that he's so dang small and isn't able to maintain his balance for long, but Victor doesn't seem to be upset so Lynn decides to hold her tongue.
For now.
Lynn's phone rings. She looks at the caller ID and is surprised to hear from Francisco, "Dang, about time I hear from you. Where have you been?"
He chuckles, "You know I'm at the hardware store."
"Still? You've been gone for hours! What are you buying?"
"It's a surprise."
Hearing that piques Lynn's curiosity, "Is it for me?"
He quickly answers, "No, but I think you'll like it too."
She playfully scoffs, "You sure about that?"
"Yup. So how's the game going?"
"I don't know. Vic got bored, so I brought him to the playground."
"Well that stinks."
"I know, I was looking forward to- hold on, Vic's hitting a kid. I'll call you back."
Just a minute ago, she was worried about kids messing with her son, and now she has to worry about her own kid messing with others. She runs over to Victor, who hit a boy for accidentally bumping into him. The other boy runs over to his mom and Lynn can feel her glaring at them because of what Victor did.
Lynn wants to tell that mom off for getting pissed at a little one-year-old, but for now she's going to take Victor to the bench to cool him off before there's any trouble. She sits down and holds him so that he faces her while she talks, "Rookie, what are you doing? You can't hit people like that, not without a good reason."
Victor doesn't even look at her, instead he's turning his head away from her. Lynn tries to turn his body to force him to stare at her, but he refuses to comply.
"Fine, you wanna play that game, we can play. You're sitting here for five minutes."
The boy is surprised to be seated, but immediately after his mom lets go, he runs back to the sandbox.
Lynn runs after him, "Victor!"
He doesn't even look back at her, instead he runs aimlessly as his mom chases after him. He heads towards the swings, bumping into others, accidentally running over sand castles, but nothing stops him until he hears children screaming. He turns towards the noise and in that moment, Lynn is able to grab onto him and forces him back to the bench.
"Let's try this again, you can't go around hitting people. That's bad and it makes people think that you're a bully. So sit down, cool off, and then you can go- dang it…"
Victor was able to sit still a little longer, but only because he spotted ants crawling in front of them. Once he lost interest in them, he walked away mid-sentence as if he wasn't being told anything.
"Man, you're stubborn!"
Lynn is sick of having to run after him, but she isn't going to let Victor get off so easily. She takes hold of him one more time, but unfortunately for her, Victor is laughing at her as she tries to explain to him why hitting others is wrong.
Well, there goes that. He thinks that she's playing with him. She wants to be mad at him, but his little laugh is infectious, and no matter how much she tries to fight the smile on her own face, she knows that it's a losing battle. Lynn looks around for the boy that Victor hit. He seems fine, and it doesn't seem like he or anyone else is mad at Victor, so she decides to let him play.
"Why am I making such a big deal out of this? You're only one. Just don't hit anyone again, Rookie."
"Tune in next time for Legends of the Hidden Temple!"
Lynn Sr. groans as he stares at the tv. His mouth has tomato sauce all over and his shirt has plenty of stains to match. He definitely went overboard with eating his lasagna, but he couldn't help himself, it was that ding-dang good.
As he looks at the empty pan that once had his lasagna, he figures that he can clean up everything before the girls come home. It definitely isn't nice to make food and not share, but he can probably whip up another lasagna so that everyone can enjoy it for dinner.
He groggily tells himself, "Yup, that's what I'll do, but first clean up."
Telling himself that filled him with dread. He hates washing dishes, but it's got to be done, especially if he's going to use the pan to make another lasagna.
After cleaning up and putting another lasagna in the oven, he hears the phone ring. Lynn Sr. answers the phone and is taken aback by the crying and screaming in the background. He has no idea what happened at Ruth's but it doesn't sound good.
"Hello?"
"Hi, honey! Bad news - Vanzilla broke down!"
Between all the noise, he couldn't hear her, "What?"
"Vanzilla broke down!" she repeats. "We were going to come home early since Lynn began to throw a tantrum, but as soon as I turned the key in the ignition, yeah…"
He couldn't hear anything after 'Vanzilla broke down' due to his daughter's screams, but he can tell that all of them are definitely ready to go home, "I'll call a taxi, and Lincoln and I will be there as soon as we can!"
Before he hangs up, he's pretty sure that he can hear his wife whisper, "Please hurry."
Lynn Sr. calls a taxi. He grabs his son, straps him into his sling and runs towards the cab waiting outside. He's not sure what to expect out of Vanzilla. It could be something simple or he might have to call a tow truck. At the moment, Rita is probably overwhelmed by Vanzilla breaking down and all of the crying to think straight, so if they head home he can work on the vehicle without all the stress piling on top of him.
When the taxi pulls up in front of the house, both Lynn Sr. and Lincoln are surprised by the screaming and yelling. As far as he knew, it was only Lynn that was throwing the temper tantrum, but now it seems like the girls are all arguing with one another. He can hear things like, 'It's your fault', 'Your idea', and 'Too far'. It definitely wasn't this bad over the phone.
He walks over to his wife and asks, "What happened?"
Rita shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know. We were watching some slides and then Lynn, out of nowhere started throwing a fit. I tried figuring out what was wrong, but between all the yelling, all I got was cats, poking, and the couch bothering her. I figured that it was better to get her home and she'll probably calm down."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Okay, let's get the girls into the taxi and you can take everyone home."
He helps straps the girls into their seats, he can see Rita start to calm down. They'll soon be home where they can spread out a little and maybe even enjoy the lasagna he made. Then he remembered that he left the meal in the oven before he and Lincoln headed out.
Lynn Sr. screams in horror, surprising both his wife and the cab driver, "I left dinner in the oven."
"What?"
He immediately hands Lincoln over to Rita, "Just get home and check the oven. The lasagna might be a little overcooked, but it should still be fine. Now go!" he says as he leads his wife to her seat. When she's buckled in, Lynn Sr. taps twice on the roof of the car to signal the driver to head out.
"Now what's wrong with you, baby?" he asks Vanzilla.
Lynn Sr. sits down in the driver's seat. He turns the keys in the ignition. It sounds like it might be able to start, but no matter how much he tries Vanzilla never comes on. He pops the hood and looks around. He has a decent amount of car knowledge, but without any tools, he's limited in what he can do.
Regardless, Lynn Sr. tries. He looks under the seats for a stray tool, which he manages to find, now armed with a wrench, he's going to look for anything that can help him.
Unfortunately it isn't much.
He even tries to hotwire the van, but Vanzilla isn't being cooperative.
He can't get it to start.
It's starting to get dark and he hasn't been able to fix it. Rather than waste anymore time, he decides to go inside and call a tow truck. He dreads having to face his wife's aunt, but he doesn't have a choice in the matter. Besides, the bigger concern is getting Vanzilla home. Once the vehicle is in their driveway, he can tinker with it, and even better, he'll be miles away from Ruth.
Lynn Sr. quietly opens the door and is met with Ruth feeding her cats.
Without looking her in the eye, he beelines straight to the phone, "I'm going to make a quick call."
"About time you came in," he hears her say.
He wanted to avoid that, but he had no choice now. He calls for a tow truck, but they won't be able to come over for another hour. Lynn Sr. wants to cry. He has to wait, inside, for an hour with Ruth and her millions of slides.
'Maybe I can hide in the bathroom, pretend like I'm sick.'
It sounds like a nice thought, but she'll probably offer him something to help him with his ailment. Instead, he thinks of a better idea.
"I'm gonna go wait outside for the tow truck. They said that it would only be a few minutes," he lies.
She probably won't notice how long he'll be out there, and that's good enough for him.
"There's no use waiting around outside in the dark," she takes his hand and forces him into the living room, "C'mon we can watch the slides from my trip while you wait, and you can probably put those hands to good use and help me out with my bunions."
Lynn Sr. tries to hold back tears at his unfortunate situation, and with the best tone he can muster, says, "Oh joy. I can't wait…" as he follows her.
Lynn puts the tired toddler into his car seat. No matter how many times he starts stumbling on his own two feet, or how long he keeps his eyes closed, he will not let himself fall asleep. He stubbornly wants to keep playing, but Lynn knows her son well enough to know that he needs a nap.
She walks over towards the slow-paced boy and immediately takes him into her arms. Victor whines and Lynn sighs, "I know you wanna keep playing, but it's time to go home and for you to take a nap."
Victor doesn't want to go home, he wants to play, so with as much strength as he can muster, he tries to break free of his mother's grasp. However, he isn't able to do anything, instead he hangs his head down, trying to keep his eyes open as his mom takes him to the car.
"Aunt Lynn!"
She turns around and sees her niece and nephew running after her to return the blue bag that she left behind with her sister.
Lucy catches up to her sister, "You forgot your bag."
Lynn chuckles, "Yeah, I guess I did. Thanks." She looks down at the kids. They don't seem excited, but regardless, she asks, "How'd your game go? Did you guys kick butt?"
"We lost," complains Art.
"Well, better luck next time."
Lucy quietly sighs in relief, thinking that her sister was going to tell them about one of her good luck rituals. Maybe she was tired after running after Victor for so long, or maybe it just isn't clicking at the moment, but she's going to be thankful that she isn't going to have them believe in those kinds of superstitions.
"You should get yourselves a good luck charm," suggests Lynn.
Lucy hangs her head.
"Like what?" asks Cat.
"I used to have a lucky jock, jerseys, hats, socks."
Art asks, "So anything could be a good luck charm?"
"No, there's bad luck charms. Look, if good stuff happens there's a reason for it, like if you forget to wash your socks or wear the same hat and you do well then they're lucky, just don't wash them. It cleans the luck out of them."
Cat shudders to think that she'll have to wear dirty clothes without ever washing them, "Can anything else be a good luck charm?"
"Yeah, I guess some players wear necklaces or something."
"Mom has a necklace made of goblin teeth," Art suggests, "We should try that next time."
"Goblin teeth? That's just weird," Lynn looks over at your sister, "They are definitely your kids."
"You had doubts?"
Lynn shrugs her shoulders, "Alright, I gotta get Vic home. I'll see you guys later."
Lucy calls out to her sister, who is already walking away, "Lynn, you forgot your bag."
She quickly turns around and takes the bag, "Thank you."
Lynn heads towards Dutch. She looks down at her son, "Well, Shortstop, we didn't get to see the game, but you still had fun, right?"
Victor quietly stares out in the direction of the playground that his mom forced him out of. He wants to keep playing, he knows that he can do it, but Mom is insisting that he has to take a nap. Then he yawns, his eyes are slowly closing, and he tries his best to keep them open, but in the end he has to concede.
Lynn buckles him into his seat. She sits down in the driver's seat and looks back through the rearview mirror, she nods her head, "Yeah, you had fun."
As Lynn approaches the house, she spots a red sports car in the driveway next to her stepdaughter's car. She wonders who could be visiting when Elena is supposed to be home alone. It could be Noah, but there's no way that she would invite him over without Francisco's permission, and there's no way he would grant it while she's alone. It could also be a friend, after all, she doesn't know what everyone's cars look like. Lynn nods her head and settles on that answer, besides Elena likely called her dad before she invited someone over.
She parks in front of the house. Lynn grabs the sleeping toddler from his car seat and takes him so that he can nap in his crib. When she opens the door to the house, she is surprised to see that no one is inside the dark house. She figured that she probably would have been met with Elena talking with a friend or reading or something, but nothing. Lynn thinks that maybe she and whoever owns the red sports car probably went out on foot.
"I hope they bring back some pop for everyone," she tells herself.
Lynn walks her son to his bedroom and sets Victor down in his crib. She closes the door and heads towards the living room, but stops when she hears the bed creaking from Elena's room. She isn't normally the type to snoop in her stepdaughter's room, heck, she doesn't even go in there unless Elena is around, but she is curious what could have caused that noise.
Slowly, Lynn opens the door and is surprised by what she sees.
First chapter of 2024!
I don't have much to say this time around, but like always I want to thank all the readers and reviewers taking time to enjoy the story. I appreciate you all and see you next time