chapter 207

word count: 1177

when the doorbell rang,, john stepped up to answer it.. he and lisa had already decided to be genial with buzz and trudy,, but to shy away from making anything but small talk with them.. after all the purpose of the visit was for trudy and buzz to meet with their respective boys,, and even though collectively they thought such a meeting would be counterproductive to the cohesiveness of their new-found family as a whole,, they agreed that as their natural parents,, they deserved visitation,, supervised though it may be.

“detective miller!!” john greeted buzz warmly with an outstretched hand.. which buzz grabbed and shook firmly..

“trudy.” john more or less fumbled over her name,, but masked it quite elegantly by ushering them into the living room and offering them a seat on the sofa..

lisa who was seated in a wing chair just across the room stood up and offered a quick welcoming greeting as she excused herself to go upstairs and get the boys.. as she ascended the stairwell,, the sound of the boys running out to meet her on the landing was followed by some barely audible whispering,, that john attempted to cover up with small talk.

“so,, detective miller,,” he started, as he smiled widely at buzz,, intentionally not meeting eyes with trudy.. “if the news is any indicator,, you have been one busy man as of late!!”

“please," buzz interjected,, “just call me buzz..”

“well then buzz it is.. buzz and trudy.. kinda has a nice ring to it.”

“cut the crap john.” trudy said with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “i came here to see my elly,, not make small talk with you..”

buzz grabbed trudy’s hand and held it tight.. he hoped this simple show of affection would keep her leveled off.. the last thing they needed was trudy to go into attack mode.. not now.. not here.. not the first time either of them had seen their boys in what seemed like an eternity..

buzz tried to diffuse the tension that had quickly built up in the air between trudy and john by changing the subject,, “you were absolutely right when you said the job has been a whirlwind lately,, but i realize that is no excuse for why i haven’t made more time for adam.. why just this morning trudy and i were discussing….”

before buzz could finish his thought,, lisa, adam and erik came rumbling down the stairs.. “he’s gone!!” lisa exclaimed in a panic.. “elliot is gone!!”

trudy jumped to her feet. “wadda ya mean he’s gone??” she shrieked as she took two intimidating leaps toward lisa,, causing both adam and erik to duck behind lisa’s small frame in hopes that she would be able to protect them from trudy’s wrath,, after all,, they had heard more than enough stories from elliot to know that when she went on the warpath the best thing to do was seek cover..

“trudy!!” buzz barked as he stood up and grabbed her around the waist before she could further advance on lisa and the boys.. “sit!!”

john, too, jumped to his feet.. “now let’s just all sit down and give lisa and the boys a chance to explain what’s going on here.. no need to jump to conclusions until we have heard the whole story..”

“he’s right.” buzz admonished trudy as he guided her back to the sofa,, very much against her will..

lisa took a seat in her wing chair,, as each of the boys knelt down at her feet,, and waited patiently while buzz spoke in low tones,, eventually calming trudy down to the point that lisa felt it was safe to continue..

“well,, i believe i can assume the majority of the blame here,,” lisa said apologetically, “you see,, when you called and said you wanted to come and see elliot,, i didn’t just want to wait and spring the visit on him when you arrived,, so i told him you wanted to see him,, that you were anxious to see him,, in hopes that it would give him the time he needed to prepare himself for such a visit..”

“what the hell do you mean prepare for such a visit??” trudy bellowed. “he’s my kid!! what the hell is there to prepare for?? just because we haven’t seen each other in a while doesn’t mean i’m not still his mother!!”

at this point john felt he had to go out on a limb and step in.. “trudy,, look at yourself!! this is precisely why we decided it was better to tell elliot beforehand,, to allow him to mentally prepare himself to see you!! you are and always have been unpredictable to say the least,, and lisa and i have done our best to provide the boys with a stable homelike atmosphere,, one that is not punctuated with physical and or verbal abuse of any kind!!!”

buzz grasped trudy’s arm so firmly that it was possible he would leave a huge purple hand print on her pale white skin.. she opened her mouth to defend herself from what she perceived as johns personal attack on her,, but screamed out, “ouch!! let go!! you’re hurting me!!” instead..

buzz,, ignoring her tantrum,, turned his gaze to lisa, and said, “please lisa,, continue..”

“ok, “ lisa responded calmly, “it seems as though,, after i informed elliot of your visit,, and i was under the impression he had gone upstairs to join the boys playing video games,, he evidently took the opportunity to jump out the bathroom window instead..”

“you let my kid jump out the freaking bathroom window!!” trudy shouted,, no longer even feeling the vice like grip buzz had on her arm..

buzz took this opportunity to stand up, and yank trudy into a standing position by his side.. “i think it is in everyone’s best interest if we take off.. i’m gonna get an APB out on elliot as soon as i get to the car,, and check a few places he’s been known to gravitate toward in the past..”

as they approached the door,, buzz turned, and looked at adam apologetically.. “i’m sorry about all of this little man,, i really did want to spend some time with you.. and we will.. we’ll do it soon, i promise..”

adam didn’t answer,, nor did he make a move from lisa’s side.. had buzz allowed himself to concentrate on the picture of his only sons reluctance to even acknowledge him,, it just might have touched his heart.. but he didn’t. he couldn’t.. once again his world was consumed with restraining trudy..

as he dragged her off kicking and swearing to the car, he couldn’t help but wonder why he put himself through this.. what was it about this woman had that kept him wrapped so tight??

once he had trudy safely corralled in the car,, he called dispatch and had them issue the APB before he took off for what he knew to be one of elliot’s favorite ‘safe’ places.. the dairy queen..