I sat in the desk chair of the room I now shared with Noel. I was having Grey take a shower, and Ria was cleaning the room around me as I finished the homework from my own classes. I finished the last line of my literature report, took a drink of the bitter tea on the corner of the desk that had long since gotten cold.
I decided a warmup would be needed, and left the room with the cup in hand, not saying anything to Ria. as I got to the kitchen, I could hear some strange sounds from the garage door where my in-laws kept their only Lev, the other half of the garage having been partitioned into a room some time before I had arrived. the smell of hot rubber, and aged plastics from the electronic systems retaining heat melded with the dampness in the air from the day's rain.
the sound continued, comming from the additonal room in the garage, much louder now that one of the doors wasn't blocking it. I went to the second door, and opened it. although the walls were painted white, it was a dark room, and the far side, closest to the garage door hung a long light fixture emmiting a blindingly bright light that covered a work desk the same size as the one I had been working on upstairs. so bright was the light, that the person in front of the workstation appeared black to me. the only reason I knew it was Noel was because his father's hair had been cut the day before.
the smell of solder and burnt plastic continuously assaulted my nose, dust particles, and smoke wafted through the air of the room as though they had been airborne for a decade. I reached for the above light fixture, only to have Ria's arm grab me, and shake her head back and forth. she pulled me out of the room that was coverd in multiple projects that had exposed & damaged wires, strangely bent componets, and a plethora of other malformations that made me belive they were eiether rejects, or salvage.
Ria closed the door very silently behind her, I hadn't even heard her come into the garage. my heart was still beating quickly from the surprise.
"sorry for scaring you. but don't go in there right now." Ria said to me. "any disturbance may make my current assignment a failure; I can't even turn on the exhaust fans right now because of how tense I am, the noise of them alone will make my hands shake."
"alright. should I bring him some tea?" I asked Ria; to which an honest smile appeared.
"I appreciate the guesture, as does Noel. but not right now." she said, her smile withering as she spoke. "If he isn't in bed by ten thirty, come down and check on him." she said, and went back inside the house ahead of me. Christina met me in the kitchen as I came through the door.
"hey, Mom." I said as I closed the door behind myself. she smiled as she fixed a sink of water to hand wash the dishes. I glanced to the dishwasher next to her knee, then back to her.
"Checking on your husband, I see." she passed a loving smile, we put the workshop out there so the smell wouldn't get in the house. but I should probably let you know not to go out there before a quarter till ten." she says as she starts hand washing the dishes. I sit in one of the six wooden chairs around the oval table.
"how do you do it?" I asked, not really understanding what I mean myself. she looks back to me, gives a light chuckle, and then sets a pan in the water to soak. she doesn't give me an answer, just glances at the ceiling as she wipes her hands dry on a small towel hanging off the handle of an old style stove.
with the towel still in hand, she sits down in the chair next to me, turning it to face me completely.
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"Tia, Ive been a mother for a long time, I am currently playing mother to my granddaughter, and even I don't know sometimes." she sighs as she lays the towel in her lap, and grabs my hands, and leans into me. "every woman struggles with how to bring their house into order, how their husbands behavior can and does effect the unity of the home. in the end, we have to react to each other." she gets the look on her face that she had when I said my vows to Noel. "you haven't known Noel for very long. Ive had the chance to watch him grow, and become the man he is; the man you chose to marry. all this crap about being of a noble line, we don't care about that." her voice raised like the doctor's did when I was about to object that being a decendant of the House of Glass wasn't crap. "Tia, you are already my daughter-in-law. and you know Noel in ways that a mother will never know a son. but I can tell you this; if you want him pissed at you for weeks.. go back into that workshop before a quarter till ten. I love my son, and have battled wits end about his hobbies out there for years, and fought his anger, and his wrath about that workshop. but now, its more than a hobby. its his education in that room; and I, as his parent, have to agree that education takes priortiy."
I nod at her understanding, and her words that obviously came from her heart. "so it wouldn't be wise to take him a cup of tea?"
when I asked, she laughed histarically for nearly half a minute.
"its been a long standing rule, that neither Chuck, nor Noel will take any liquids into that room other than mineral oil." she patted my leg. "but, let me show you a trick." she got up dragging me by the wrist to the refrigerator, pulled out a pitcher of lemonaide, and set it on the counter, still holding my wrist, took down a glass, filled it with ice, finally releasing my wrist when she poured the drink into the glass. "Keep following." she grinned mischeviously, and walked deeper into the house. at spotting Ria folding the laundry in the living room, she set the glass down behind Ria, and then pulled me back into the kitchen. we sat back down in the chairs, and a few seconds later, Noel came into the kitchen, noisily guzzled down a glass of lemonaide, wiped his mouth, poured another glass, and sat at the table.
"you thought I needed a break?" he asked his mom, the odor of lead, burnt plastic, and burnt copper permiated off of his clothes. as he sat there.
"I wanted to see if you wanted to go out for a bite for dinner, and take Ashley with us, so Mom and Dad could have the house for a few hours tonight." I lied. Christina glanced my way for only a second, but figured out what I was doing.
he cocked his head for a few seconds, then looked straight back at me.
"You know, I haven't ever taken Ash anywhere by myself before. and Mom and Dad haven't had a night to themselves in a long time. I think its a great Idea. give me an hour to finish this stage up, and I'll go get ready." he looks to Christina. "Mom, would you mind getting Ash ready? I know she takes a while, tell Ria when an hour has passed, I tend to loose track in there."
"You two sure about this?" Mom asked shyly.
"Think we should get a hotel room, instead of just staying out till nine?" he asks with a grin.
"Boy, if you weren't on the other end of the table I would slap you across it." she said with a red face, and despite her tone, her face betrayed that she was glad he asked.
"Alright. I'll have the Lev alert the house when we are 10 minutes from the house." he grins, downs the rest of the glass, and goes back to the garage.
"That boy." Christina shakes her head while chuckling. "Are you sure about this? Ash can be a handful at times."
"I think it would be a good experiance for Ashley, to go out with us. a 'Kids Night Out' kind of thing."
"Alright. if thats the case, I need to tell you some places that Ashley enjoys. the Lev is already programmed to avoid the area where Erick was killed, so as long as you don't walk too far, you shouldn't have many issues."
"Erik was Ashley's Father?" I asked hearing an unfamiliar name.
"Yeah. she saw pictures of the scene last year when Chuck left them out on his desk. we had to answer a lot of hard questions that night. the authorities still don't know who stabbed him. there were no prints or DNA other than Erik's blood on the knife, and he was stabbed seven times." she sighed. "the trail went cold rather quickly." she said.
"Alright.. time for happier thoughts." I said, noticing her mood sinking. "How can we make Ashley's night?"