The Fremont Saga
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 30 

She Wouldn’t Would She?

We watched as Dad took a resisting and screaming Lauren to the car.  Timmy had his arms around me, “Brian, would she really kill me?”

Morgan answered before I could, “Timmy, she can’t do anything now.  Tanner can fix something for Grandmother’s dinner while the rest of us take care of the bed linens and dirty towels.”

We started in Ben and Grant’s room.  I was assigned as the official launderer.  I took the first load to the laundry room and started the washer.  I went to get the next load and Timmy and Morgan had the linens piled outside the bedrooms, “What are you doing?  Taking all the things out of the linen closet.”

Timmy answered, “We haven’t started on that.  We’ll do that after we take Grandmother’s dinner to her.”

Tanner called, “The Grandmother Express is about to depart.  All who are going need to get ready to depart immediately.”

Morgan yelled from her bathroom, “Chef Tanner, you and Timmy take the food tonight.  I’m just about finished with my bathroom. I’ll make sure that nothing happens to Brian.”

Suddenly I heard a voice, ‘Brian, this crisis will soon pass.  Don’t let it affect Timmy and Tanner.’

‘What about me?’

‘You’ll survive nicely, thank you.  I loved the way Timmy stood up to Lauren, today.  It proves that he’s got a lot of spunk, like someone else I know.’

My thoughts were interrupted by the return of Timmy and Tanner.  Timmy started, “Grandmother wants to know when Vicky’s coming back.  She said to remind you to tell your Dad to make an appointment for her to see Uncle David.”

After dinner, Timmy and Morgan, did the dishes while Tanner and I finished making the beds.  I asked, “How was your time with Ron, this weekend?”

Tanner sighed, “There was a lot of cuddling and kissing, but we decided to control ourselves.”

“Is there trouble?”

“No, we decided to act sensibly, like you.  If you can keep your dick in your pants, then so we can we.  We had a great time this weekend, until today.  I’m still floored at being chosen the Lord in Waiting.”

Tanner and I heard a voice, ‘Don’t blame me.  I had nothing to do with it.’

Timmy came into the room. “What do you want me to do?”

“Timmy, get ready for bed.  It’s been a long day and Tanner has some homework that he needs to do.  You need to make sure he does it.  I’ll be back as soon as I can put the clean linens away.  Where’s Morgan?”
 

“She’s still cleaning her room and she has some homework to do, too.”

When I arrived back at the bedroom, Timmy was already asleep and Tanner was engrossed in a book, so I went to wait for Mother and Dad in the living room.  I was starting to fall asleep when they came in.  Mother sat down beside me, “Brian, Lauren will probably not be returning to Fremont High, at least not this year.  It would probably be best if you and Tanner didn’t respond to any questions about her.”

“Mother and Dad, Timmy is really concerned that what’s happening is somehow his fault.  Another thing is that Grandmother Gleason wants Dad to make an appointment with Uncle David.”

Dad shook his head, “Brian, what’s happening with Lauren is no one’s fault but your Mother’s and mine.  We should have realized what was happening, sooner.  Did Grandmother say why she wanted to see David Burns again?  She just saw him a week ago.”

I shook my head, no, “She didn’t say.  She not only told me that she wanted to have an appointment when we took her home from the club, but she told Timmy to remind me when they took her meal to her.”

I hugged the parents and went to bed.  Tanner was already in bed.  I shed my clothes except for my briefs and crawled into bed, since I had taken a shower when I was cleaning the bathroom.

On Monday morning, I was awakened by Timmy, “Brian, it looks pretty cold outside.  Can we still go for a short run?”

I got up and looked outside and the temperature said it was 32 degrees.  Timmy, it’s going to need to be a short run.  Wear your warm up pants, a sweat shirt and your hoodie.  We should probably wear our gloves as well.”

Tanner jumped out of bed, “If we’re going to run, let’s do it and stop talking about it.”

When the three of us walked into the kitchen in our running gear, Dad was sitting there drinking coffee.  He looked at us and started to laugh, “You three have got be loony to run in weather like this.  You’ll freeze your penises and testicles off.”

When we got to the park, I was surprised at how many people were running.  We were warm and Timmy wanted to run the long course, so we did.  When we got back to the house, Timmy hugged Dad, “Daddy you were wrong.  We didn’t lose any body parts.  Do you want to check?”

Dad started to laugh, “That’s okay.  I trust you, but I still think you’re loony.”

Breakfast was relatively quiet, because it was apparent that Dad and Mother had other things on their minds.

We dropped Timmy and Morgan off at school and met our usual friends and it seemed so strange not to have any confrontations, for a change. Tanner and I were both congratulated as we entered the school.  I went to my creative writing class, and I decide to write an erotic story that would make Mr. Cox and Mr. Peters cream in their pants.”

I typed away and sent the story to Mr. Cox’s computer and started to write a story about a teenage girl who flipped out.  I was busy typing when someone touched me on the shoulder.  I whirled around and Mr. Cox was standing there.  “Brian, that story wasn’t very funny.  It pretty much told the story of Hank’s and my life.  I hope that you aren’t writing another of your sex stories.”

“No sir, this is a true story about someone whom I know, and it isn’t very nice.  It isn’t going to make anyone feel warm and fuzzy.”

“Brian, I have no idea how you can be so creative.”

When John and I arrived at the cafeteria, the gang was already seated, but I could hardly eat my lunch because people kept asking where Lauren was.  I intimated to them that she probably would not be back to school anymore this year, but I wouldn’t say anything more. 

Things settled down for the next several weeks and everyone was in a routine, but it was apparent that the ordeal was wearing on Dad and Mother.  Everyone seemed to sense that it was not a good idea to bring up the subject of Lauren.

It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and it was just Grandmother, Dad, Mother, Tanner, Morgan, Timmy and me at the club.  We were eating when Grandmother asked, “Are the other children all going to be here for Thanksgiving dinner?”

Dad answered, “Ben and Grant aren’t planning to be here.  Their bed and breakfast is fully booked for the entire Thanksgiving weekend, and J.R. is flying home to see his Dads.  Lauren will be home and will be packing to go to her new school in Minneapolis.”

Timmy, Morgan and Tanner looked at me and I shrugged, indicating that I didn’t know anything. 

Grandmother asked, “Becca, can we have a big celebration with all the trimmings.”

Tanner asked, “Grandmother Gleason, what kind of trimmings would you like?  I’m sure we can take care of them.”

Grandmother had a faraway look in her eyes.  “I was remembering the special stuffing that my Mother used to make and the special chocolate angel pie with a meringue crust with nuts in it.” 

When Tanner, Timmy and I took Grandmother Gleason home, Timmy got Grandmother settled for her nap while Tanner and I went through her recipe box to find the recipes that she might have been referring to.  We found two stuffing recipes and a recipe for Mrs. Grissom’s chocolate angel pie.  I put them in my pocket, since I figured Grandmother would never miss them, since she didn’t cook anymore.”

When we arrived at the house, Mother and Dad were sitting in the kitchen.  Timmy bounced into the house as only he can do, “Hi, Daddy and Mother, Grandmother is resting.  She only wants a sandwich for dinner.  When’s Lauren coming home?”

Dad hugged Timmy, “She’ll be home on Tuesday, and we’ll be taking her to her new school in Minneapolis the following Monday.”

I handed the two stuffing recipes that we had taken from Grandmother’s recipe box to Mother, “Which of these stuffing recipes do you think Grandmother might have been referring to?”

Mother looked at them, “Brian, I’m not sure.  We can make both.  We can do one in the turkey and the other in a casserole.  Stuffing is always good left over, especially with hot turkey sandwiches. 

When I handed the recipe for the chocolate angel pie to mother, I asked, “Mother, who is Mrs. Grissom?”

Mother shook her head, “Brian, I have no idea who Mrs. Grissom is.  I’ve never seen this recipe before.  You’ll have to ask Grandmother when you see her.”

I asked, “Do we have everything we need to make it?”

“We’ll need to get the whipping cream.  We also need to check to see if we have the right kind of chocolate squares.”

Tanner was standing there, “Mother, what are you planning for us to fix for Thanksgiving dinner?”

Mother started to laugh, “Tanner, I haven’t even thought about Thanksgiving dinner, except that I’ve ordered a fresh turkey that we need to pick up on Wednesday.  They cost more, but you don’t have to worry with thawing them.”

Tanner started to pound his chest with his hands, “Never fear the Lord in Waiting will plan and prepare to the meal with the help of his advisors.   Isn’t that right, Timothy, Brian and Morgan.”

Morgan giggled, “I vote for anything that doesn’t require doing dishes.  When are we going to start planning.  Timmy and I need to go steal some pumpkins.”

Timmy had a funny look, “Why do we gotta steal pumpkins?  I thought pumpkins were for Halloween?  I don’t want to steal anything.”

Morgan sighed, “But we always have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.   I guess this will have to be the year that we're without pumpkin pie.”

I put my arm around Timmy, “We can always open a can of pumpkin which is a heck of a lot easier than making a pie out of raw pumpkin.”

Tanner started toward the living room, “Come, advisors, we need to go plan a menu for Thanksgiving dinner.  Mother, what time would you like the feast to begin?”

Mother thought, “I guess we should plan to eat about two o’clock to make sure that the turkey has had time to cook.”

After we four young people had our planning session, we went to get the parents’ approval.  Mother looked at the proposed menu, “Are you planning to feed an army?”

Timmy put his arm around Mother, “Mommy, you never know who might pop in, so we need to be ready.”

Tanner put the menu on the fridge, “We’ll take inventory and see what we need to buy, and go to the store tomorrow evening before the mobs decide to do their holiday shopping.”

As Grandmother was eating her sandwich and stewed apples, Timmy grinned, “Grandmother, Brian wants to apologize to you.”

Grandmother looked at me, “What did Brian do that he needs to apologize for?”

“He borrowed three of your recipes without asking.”

“Timmy, Brian can take the whole container.  I can’t see well enough to read them any more.  Which three did you take, Brian?”

Tanner and Morgan were trying to refrain from laughing, but I answered, “We found two stuffing recipes and the recipe for Mrs. Grissom’s chocolate angel pie.  Who is Mrs. Grissom?”

Grandmother put down her spoon, “Mrs. Grissom was the old lady who lived next door when I was Tanner’s age.  She used to make the best pies.  Are you really going to make chocolate angel pie?”

Timmy nodded, “Yep and we have to make pumpkin pie for Morgan.  She says that you gotta have pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.”

Grandmother grinned, “I agree with Morgan, but you need real whipped cream to go with it and not that stuff that comes out of a can.  Which stuffing recipe are you going to use?”

Tanner answered, “Mother says we can put one in the turkey and cook the other in a casserole.”

Grandmother nodded, “Put the one with cranberries in the casserole.”

Timmy pointed to Grandmother’s food, “Grandmother, you need to finish eating.”

After dinner, Tanner, Morgan and Timmy were taking inventory of what we needed for the Thanksgiving meal, while I did the minimal cleanup.  They had a comprehensive shopping list when they were finished.

On Monday night as we were finishing eating, Timmy explained, “Daddy and Mother, we’re going to the store to get the things so we have everything that we need except the turkey.  Is there anything that we can get you?”

Dad pulled out his wallet and handed me his card, “Here, take this to pay for the groceries.  We don’t want you guys to be spending your money.”

Timmy was getting ready to argue, but I stopped him.  As we were going to Tanner’s car, I whispered, “Timmy, we need to let Dad and Mother pay for things, or they’ll get upset with us, and we don’t want any more people mad at us.”

As we were returning from our shopping excursion, I decided to bring up the subject of Lauren, “Everyone, please listen.  We have no idea what time Lauren will be arriving, tomorrow.  I want us all to make an effort to not upset or irritate her, since we have no idea what has been happening.  I can only surmise that it isn’t all that good, or she wouldn’t be going to a school in Minneapolis.  I know it may be difficult, but we need to try.”

“Brian, what do we do if she starts to yell at us?”

“Timmy, probably the best thing to do is to pretend that you didn’t hear her, or walk away.  I’m sure that Dad and Mother will be keeping a close eye on her.  Timmy, I don’t want you to be alone with her, if you can help it.”

After we had the groceries put away, Timmy looked at us, “What if we forgot something?”

Morgan giggled, “Then we’ll go to the store and get it.  The store had a sign that said they would be open from eight a.m. until noon on Thanksgiving Day.”

As we were walking through the hallway past the living room, Dad motioned to us, “Ben called, and he and Grant are going to be here for Thanksgiving dinner.  J.R. and his girlfriend decided not fly to Denver, because of the weather.  Jacques is going to there as well.”

Timmy asked, “Are Miss Inga and Miss Maria coming, too?”

“No, they’re spending the weekend in Washington, D. C. with Maria’s parents.”

As we were lying in bed, Timmy asked, “If something bad happens while Lauren is here, can we leave.”

Tanner answered, “Timmy, nothing terrible is going to happen.  We shouldn’t worry about it.  If it gets too bad, the parents will take care of it.  Let’s get some sleep.  We do have school tomorrow.” 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Lauren is not the nicest person, is she?  I do hope that something can be done to help her get better.

I really don't think any harm will come to Timmy, or Brian or Tanner, for that matter. 

Grandmother Gleason seems really pleased that they are going to bake her favourite pie, and make her favourite stuffing, too. She has certainly perked up since Timmy met her, hasn't she? 

I am really in the mood for a nice turkey dinner, right about now. Of course, I know I am going to have some of you upset, when I tell you that I prefer my Cranberry sauce without the cranberries in it.  I want the jellied version that is nice and smooth. I am in total agreement about having real whipped cream on pie, or anything else that calls for whipped cream.  I don't like that plastic stuff that comes in cans or plastic tubs. Yuck!  My favourite part of the turkey is the drumstick. 

I had better stop, before I have to go raid the fridge for some sort of snack.  I am ready for the next chapter!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 07/16/10