NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13 - Home Integration
The seventy-pound beast ruined my coziness on the couch as Ghost used my stomach as a spring pad to go chase after Tristan. The kid was in the middle of getting his breakfast ready. He spilled cereal on the counter and sweeping it on the ground for his four-legged friend while he kept talking, "-Then dad grabbed a rock and smashed down!"
"Don't feed the dog," Beth lectured fruitlessly.
"Sorry." Tristan rushed before continuing, "But then it wasn't done, and then the beavers came after us. But Goldy got them." Tristan explained last night's gaming event to his mom. He loved the game and the fight last night only filled him with more excitement.
She was brushing his hair and put the comb down on the counter, switching to sweeping up the crumbs. "That's exciting. Or is that what woke you up a lot last night?"
"Umm-"
"Blaine!" Beth cut him off. She had that look as she glanced at her watch. Her mind was already clocking into work. "Can you please get them to school?"
I swear, she had a time dimension or something. She appeared fresher, more awake, and beautiful while I dragged into the kitchen from the couch in the open living room. The clock read ten minutes after seven. No time to shower to this morning before work.
"Yeah, I have them," I confirmed.
Elaine wasn't at the table eating, but already walking down the hallway to the kitchen with her school bag on and shoes ready.
"Both of you," I said, but my voice directed at Elaine, "eat breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day. We're going to leave once I'm ready." I patted her on the head, right by her French braid as I passed.
She swatted my hand away and sternly told me, "Don't ruin it. Hey mom! Thanks for signing this."
I glanced back. Elaine grabbed the paper Beth dealt with last night and put it in her bag.
"Yes," Beth answered in a motherly, forgiving tone. "But we need to talk about this. What happened-"
The coffee pot started to bubble and pop as it heated the water, blocking out the rest of the conversation Beth and Elaine had. Was Elaine mad at me yesterday because I didn't notice the paper on the shoe rack? She could've asked me to sign it. I didn't want to turn around and barge in on the ladies' conversation. I could ask Elaine about it on the way to school.
Once I got ready, Beth was already gone, without giving me a kiss again.
I had my spreadsheet to present to the family. It would be great to include her on it, but I defaulted to not with how busy she was lately. Elaine chased Ghost back inside the house with a tennis ball. A dirty bowl sat on the table with milk all around the placemat.
"Tristan! Clean up your dishes and we need to go," I ordered.
Tristan didn't respond, or move from where ever he was. We didn't have time for this. I needed to get the kids to school.
"Where is your brother?" I inquired at Elaine.
Elaine pointed down the hall to the office and threw the ball for Ghost in that direction for him to get it.
I jogged down there, side stepping cars and the dog, to see Tristan looking at the capsule's monitor screen and hugging his favorite superhero action figure. I forget its name. It had a red cape and a bolt on his chest.
"Hey Bud, we got to go," I declared.
"Are we going back in the game?" he asked.
"No, we're going to school. But yeah, I'm excited to get into the game too." I unfolded a piece of paper filled with my handwriting, terrible diagrams, a calendar, and even meal planning. "I planned out our next two weeks. You'll get the details once we're in the car."
I put an arm around his back and pushed him out of the office and toward the garage. Elaine got into the car, headphones on. Tristan kept asking questions about the game and what type of monsters are there and how much were they real? With my seat belt buckled and the car on, I could finally comfort him.
"It's just a game, bud," I reassured him, emphasizing that there was nothing to worry about coming out to hurt him. "I must admit, I felt excited too last night. It kept me up, and it's why I have that plan written. Elaine, take you headphones out and listen! Elaine!" she finally listened. "We're going to live like the big professionals, maybe even catch up to CheezWiz in level. Make sure we're balanced, powerful, prepared, and safe. A strong team has the most fun on adventures. I'll pick you up from school and we're going to eat in the car. Get home, Tristan and I are on Ghost walking duty, and Elaine, quickly finish your homework. Once that's all done, we all log in and start hitting the zone outside of the city. There will be a few late nights while we work on clues for the quest. We'll camp out there like you wanted, Elaine."
In the rear mirror, I watched as she closed her eyes and put her headphones back on. Was it too hard for a dad to ask for some attention from his kids?
"Hey!" I called to her, "I wanted to ask, what was that paper about you need signed?"
Studying her reaction, she opened her eyes, saw me looking at her and bluntly said, "Nothing. Mom got it."
Beth would tell me the truth later, but I needed to keep my concerns about Elaine's dishonesty and lack of communication hidden from her. Beth didn't need additional worries.
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Raising my voice above her music, I said, "Elaine! I need to know the truth about your quest. I tried to plan us hanging out in that forest again, but we need to be higher level to fight that monster again and-"
Tristan broke out singing some song from the internet.
"Tristan, I'm trying to talk here. Please wait," I instructed.
"I don't want to go to the forest," he sang. "I want to build."
The lyrics didn't even rhyme, and the beat was as notorious as most music these days. "You can't just stay at the guild hall all the time building. You need to go out and level up."
"No, he doesn't." Elaine countered. "There are craftworkers that are high level and people bring them the materials to craft with. They don't fight."
I hit the brakes a little harder than I meant for a red light, thinking. She wasn't wrong, but it didn't work for our plan. After researching, I knew how to keep three of us alive and safe, but two was a whole different problem. We needed all of us to go out and fight. Unless I truly wanted to keep them safe. From what I read, I could solo this mission, if I had the actual time to level up and grind, but this game wasn't about me. It was for us and right now, with Elaine pushing Tristan and herself away, she was not helping.
The group depended on a range damage dealer, a glass cannon fighter, and a support mage. We really needed a tank, but that would require Elaine to continue on this wooded adventure of hers and getting a pet that could be a tank for us. For Tristan to be a support mage, he needed higher intelligence and to solve some problems on his own. Working in the workshop and researching could help with that. He could learn how to make potions.
My teeth ground together, a visual of my notes popping inside of my head. If we spent this afternoon getting him set up on at the base, just for a quick ten minutes, then Elaine and I could run out…
That could work.
But only ten minutes and we could keep bringing him supplies to level up.
The light turned green, and I commented, "You know, fine. Tristan can be at the base, and Elaine and I will focus on this. I love how we are working as a family to make this plan. But Tristan, you'll need to leave the base once we figure out this quest more. I want to make sure you get the same bonus we get from the quest."
"Or curse." Elaine spoke and then went "ooh, a bout of bad luck may fall upon you."
She tossed some dried-out raisins and fruit snacks at her brother. He giggled and threw the food back. There were so much car-baked snacks in the car, it added a scent that was defining the family. Something else on the never-ending list of to-dos that I would address when the kids moved out.
I pulled up to Tristan's school and watched him run up to his teacher before going to the playground with his friends. He tossed woodchips in the air like they were jingle bombs. Hopefully, he wasn't saying anything about the game at school.
He was a kid.
The teachers probably were getting their own lessons from him on Seconds-Over. I pulled off toward Elaine's school next. It was finally the two of us and I could focus on the real problem at hand.
I asked about the first problem, "Why aren't you answering my question about your quest? What is the next requirement?"
"It's about getting enough items, and I needed them near the forest and they take some time to spawn." She confessed.
"Why are you lying to me about a game? No, why are you even lying to me at all?" I repeated.
"Of course, you only care about the game first." She snipped.
"I care about you! It's why I'm trying to talk to you now." I watched in the rearview as she put her headphones in to end this conversation or forcing us to yell and argue more.
The lack of communicating made executing my intricate plan even more challenging. We had to talk honestly to each other. Awkward silence filled the rest of the car ride as I dropped her off at her school.
I called out, "Have a great day, and I love you! You're great."
She glanced back at me, brows crossing in confusion, before nodding her head in acknowledgment and running off to go inside, not saying hi to anyone. When I was her age, I talked to a bunch of my classmates and got into a few fights. I'm glad she wasn't fighting, but I was wondering why no one waited for her. I sent a quick message to Beth just as a car horn blared at me to move along from the drop off lane.
"Shut it. We're all late for our jobs at this point," I quipped.
Instead of moving, I sent another message to Uncle Rick asking how he put up with my mother's lying and made sure I didn't become like her.
---
"Let it go. It's only one lie, and it's probably not a big deal situation." Uncle Rick's voice resonated through the kitchen as I had him on speakerphone. "If it was, then Elaine will open up to you."
I dug through the random kitchen tool drawer trying to find the evasive slotted spoon. It should've been in there. At least this is where I would put it.
"Then why would she talk to Beth about it and not me?" I quipped back.
"Did you ask Beth?" Uncle Rick replied.
"Ouch!" I cried as a knife nicked my finger. I slammed the drawer shut to prevent further harm to me and my burning meatballs. Instead, I reached into the utensil drawer, and found the largest spoon there - which was the slotted spoon.
I sighed, "I did, and it was only about camping. I was planning on doing that with the kids soon. Should I try it now?"
"Camping? In a video game? That feels…" Rick's voice trailed off on the phone, "the opposite reason I camp. I did it to take you boys out of the city and see the world."
"It's the same in the game. But I'm not mad about camping. It was the lying on her mission. It's such a minor thing to answer. I read up on the internet that she probably doesn't have a timed mission at all. Why tell that lie? It's just like my mom," I vented as I ran over to the stove.
The cooking pan had seared the meatballs on one side as I rotated them around and drizzled fat over the top.
The noodles bubbled away next to me and the oven timer beeped, saying the veggies were done. Or was that the timer for the noodles to come out? I glanced around and tried finding my sticky notes on meal planning. I put the spoon down in a bowl and grabbed some oven mitts out to save the veggies before I burned something else.
"-that is my two-cents on the situation." Uncle Rick continued talking.
"Hold on!" I called out as I danced around Ghost, who begged for the fat drippings, and placed the squash, carrots, onions, and broccoli on the table. Rushing back, I went to reach for my spoon, only to find it missing again. "Ugh, where did I put it?"
"Aren't you supposed to be working today?" Uncle Rick asked, changing the subject from his sister.
"Lunch break!" Another timer joined in on my chorus as I dashed over to clear the sink, and find it lacking in a colander to drain the noodles. "But could you repeat what you just said?"
"Your mom was doing the best to raise you boys on her own. She bent the truth to protect you from the world. Keep that in mind that maybe Elaine doesn't think you're ready to li-"
"Ah! Found my spoon. It was in the colander." I announced to him.
Uncle Rick sighed. "It seems like you're multitasking a lot. We can catch up later."
I bit my cheek, frustrated that today no one wanted to give me a full answer. The phone call ended while I drained the noodles.
"Shoot," I talked to Ghost, "I forgot to ask him how to fix the water line. Ah well, there's not enough time to fix it today, anyway. That quest timer is going to cut things short."
Rick was right, though. I was taking too long on my lunch break and would need to log back into work. Gaming from home all the time was easier when I could work and play at the desk at the same time. VR Systems made it impossible to be on at work and in the game at the same time.