❝they say that not matter how old you become, when you are with your siblings, you revert back to childhood.❞
─karen white

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗠𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗕𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘!

skeeter - goofy
chris - mickey
scott – donald

goofy
hello, imbeciles!! 

otherwise known as my younger brothers 

donald
okay who pissed in your coffee 

mickey
ugh

can't talk

headache 

hungover 

dead

bye 

goofy
no! 

YOU COME BACK HERE, CHRISTOPHER ROBERT 

i'm even sparing you because i didn't decide to facetime which would have given me the opportunity to YELL AT YOU 

donald 
oh so this doesn't involve me 

bye?

goofy
THIS INVOLVES YOU SCOTT 

why the FUCK was i the only one at pa's last night? 

donald
well, i was working

goofy
you──an actor who possibly has a friend with a private jet──couldn't fly home?

donald
pa told me not to go with the private jet 🙁 said it was bad for the environment

mickey
and i──

goofy
and i don't even wanna hear YOUR excuse 

mickey
hey what if my excuse is a good one 

goofy
oh boi i've heard it and it isn't

a fucking party? REALLY?

dick move, chris, dick move 

donald
okay it seems like i'm not needed here goODBYE

mickey
there is NO NEED to have a fucking fake funeral, okay? you──a harvard graduate and surgeon──said it yourself, skeeter, pa is not dying anytime soon. 

goofy
that's what i said! 

but it would have been nice if his children and grandchildren showed up 

mickey
in my defense, i told pa i would try and he just told me to go to the party instead. he said it would be more fun 😶

goofy
oh believe me anything would have been more fun than a fake funeral 

mickey 
and it's too sad 

i don't want to think about it because we've always been the chill family, you know?

goofy
hmmm. . .i didn't know we were the chill family 🤔

were you all chilling while i was working my ass off?
ERASED 

mickey
come on, skeet, we've had some good times 😉

goofy
uh-huh 

i'll see you at dinner?

mickey
we good?

goofy
we're good

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ────── ⊰

A run down for the weekly Evans family dinner was Skeeter arriving at their childhood home first, helping in the kitchen under her mother's watchful eye, and then setting the table. Ruth would arrive with her husband and her passel of children. Then, Elizabeth would arrive with her family to be followed by Chris with Bambi and Scott. But, since Scott was filming a show and Chris' wife was still caught up in the studio, they would be unable to make it for now.

The adults sat at wooden dining table while the kids had their own miniature version of it. There was an easy flow of conversation as each family member traded their own stories about what had happened in their week. Greg, Elizabeth's husband, shared that he had won another case. Ruth proudly smiled as Norman, her high-school sweetheart and eventual husband, said that he would be going out of the country this week for a business meeting.

Skeeter stopped fidgeting with the food on her plate, her mind still preoccupied by the silent battle between her and Charlie. She turned her head to the sound of her name, "Pardon?"

"You're going to be bringing Eric to his soccer game tomorrow, right? Then the girls' ballet class?" Ruth's eyes softened and her lips formed into a pout when she was met with a confused look, "Please, Skeeter. Elizabeth and I have a Parent-Teacher conference to attend to."

"And while you're at it," Elizabeth added as she drowned her wine. "Can you please just take my kids too? We can't find a sitter."

No matter how many times her sisters used the word please, it always sounded more imperative rather than a request. Her sisters don't wait for her answer; they just turn their heads and continue talking to their mother, who sat at the head of the table.

Skeeter took a long sip of her wine──hoping that it could give her a boost of confidence as she objected. "I can't."

Three heads──Ruth, Elizabeth, and their mother's──sharply turn to her while Chris, who sat beside Skeeter, nervously chewed his food as he watched the scene in front of him unfold.

"What?" Her sisters asked in unison.

"I said I can't."

"Well, why not?"

Skeeter shrugged and popped a slice of steak into her mouth. "I already have plans."

"You mean getting drowned by paperwork and having strangers bleed right in front of you?" Ruth laughed dryly, "Those don't sound like plans, Skeet." 

Skeeter flashed a sarcastic smile to her sister's direction. "No, I'm meeting a friend tomorrow after work."

This statement makes her sisters roll their eyes and give an exasperated sigh. "So?" Ruth shot back, "Just re-schedule and have some other doctor fill in for you. I'm sure Charlie─your only friend and missed opportunity─wouldn't mind."

"It's not Charlie and I have patients to see." Skeeter retorted, making her sisters' roll their eyes and groan.

Chris gave a her a confused look and muttered under his breath. "You have other friends besides Charlie?" To which Skeeter responded with a smack to his shoulder. 

"We get it." Ruth said, bringing the attention back to her. "You're the doctor. You're the one who went to Harvard. You're the one who dad is most proud of. It would be nice if you didn't rub it in our faces."

This caught Skeeter off guard, her mouth agape. "Wha─I wasn't─I have a job, Ruth!"

"Oh, I know you have a job! It's the only thing dad ever talks about!"

Skeeter narrowed her eyes. "How would you know? You barely visit him!"

"Yeah? At least I don't come home to an empty apartment!" Ruth taunted, "I have a loving husband and my kids."

Fuming, Skeeter slammed her hands on the wooden table, the utensils clinking because of the force. It had been a rough couple of days and this was merely her breaking point. Who knew a childish taunt from her older sister could make a successful and intelligent woman like Skeeter Evans snap?

"You wanna know what I think about your perfect family, Ruth?"

"Oh, this is going to be good coming from a girl who hasn't been in a ever since relationship since she got──"

"Hey, Ruth," Chris piped up, glaring at her. "Quit being such an asshole!"

His plea falls on deaf ears as Skeeter stood up from her chair, the floor screeching. "I think your kids are brats! But, it's not a surprise since they learned all their manners from you! And, your loving husband? Oh, he's cheating on you, Ruthie. Why the fuck do you think he's always taking those out of town trips, huh?"

"You little bitc──"

"Would the both of you just shut up?!" When it was their mother who yelled, it was enough to command a whole army of soldiers. "Girls, sit down. We raised you better than to yell at the dining table. Take it outside."

This was the supposed 'chill family' that Chris was talking about?

They two glared at each other as they took their seats. Seeing this their mother sighed, "Now, apologize to each other."

Ruth puffed and crossed her arms. "I will when Skeeter agrees."

"Wow, you really are a brat and an asshole rolled into one."

"Cordelia Anne."

"Sorry." Skeeter muttered, "Why can't you just find a sitter?"

"The kids don't listen to the sitter."

Skeeter clicked her tongue. "Again, manners." This statement makes Chris chuckle, Skeeter smirk, and Anne shoot the two a disapproving look.

"Skeeter, honey, don't you love kids?" Her mother is looking at her with a sweet yet forced smile, "It's just one night."

"But, ma─"

"But, nothing, Cordelia. You'll take your nieces and nephews for one night while your sisters go to the meeting."

Slumping back in her seat, Skeeter grumbled and sighed in defeat while her older sisters continue to smile sweetly and talk animatedly to their mother. It felt like she was seventeen years old again and no one paid attention to the fact that she made it to the national championships for high school cross country runners.

She felt a hand pat her knee and locked eyes with Chris. He leaned in closer to her, voice low. "For the record, I do think the kids and their parents are extremely in need for a lesson on manners." 

⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ────── ⊰

"You okay?"

"I think I'm going insane."

"Now, now, Skeeter, don't do that. We don't need you murdering young children with your bad cooking."

"It's not murder if they can't find a body! I'll just lock them in my room while I give myself some time to think."

"They can't be that bad."

"Keanu, I have six impatient and starving children cramped in my apartment and they made a blanket fort which makes my space even tinier!"

"I take it back. It seems like you have chosen death." 

"Ugh, I know."

". . ."

"Hey, I'm really sorry for cancelling tonight."

"It's okay. I still have one more day in beautiful Boston." 

"I'll meet you around seven tomorrow, okay? I still have to find a decent pub."

". . .Or you can just have that talk with Charlie and we can go to Zion's."

"Hm. . .I'll think about it──Amelia, no! Get down from there!"

"Skeeter?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm still here. It's just a little──Damien, do not follow her!"

"I think I'll just not annoy when you're not losing your mind. Talk to you later?"

"Sure. Remember tomorrow──ugh! You kids are always running around like little rats! I swear if you──"

CALL ENDED!