Chapter Six
This Year - Christmas Eve, Noonday - 1998
"She's coming you guys!! Clean this place up!! It's a pigsty...no offense Miss Piggy!" Fozzie ducked as Piggy hurled a pillow at his head.
"Watch your mouth buster!" She said, as she was dusting off the couch, and the knick knacks on the wall.
"Oohhh..." Fozzie stood by the window, watching closely, his hat in his hands. Kermit walked over to the window and stood beside him.
"What's the matter Fozzie?" Kermit asked gently, as he saw his friend wringing his hat over and over again in his hands.
"What if they did it, Kermit?" He asked softly, looking at his best friend.
"Did what?" He countered, placing a gentle hand on his friends back.
"Got married and never even told me?" Fozzie said so softly, Kermit almost couldn't hear him.
Kermit smiled softly, and motioned for Fozzie to sit down beside him on the window seat. Fozzie sat down reluctantly, still wringing his hat. The gentle frog took the hat away from him. The ever-nervous bear started to wring his hands together. He realized what he was doing, and he finally stopped.
"Sorry, Kermit." He said quietly, looking out over the nicely manicured lawn.
"It's okay, Fozzie. And it's okay to be nervous too." He smiled, and patted his friends hands. "But I highly doubt Emily would get...married without telling you first. Your her son! She really cares about you a whole lot."
"I know! I just..." He looked away from the lawn, and he started to watch the people in the room, cleaning or directing others. His eyes fell to the tallest thing in the room, which currently was Sara, directing Sweetums where to put the extra couch.
"Okay, Sweetums! Just be careful because of that hole right there. Don't! Don't look down Sweetums!! There....there....good." She walked over and leaned down, helping Sweetums gently shift the couch down onto the floor. Her posterior end was towards Fozzie, although she was clear across the room.
Fozzie didn't really notice what he was watching, but it kept his mind off of his mother. Scooter had been watching Fozzie for awhile now, he was a little worried about him, and he wondered just what Fozzie was watching just then; so he walked over. He smiled at Fozzie and sidled up beside him, lineing up his and Fozzie's line of sight as best as possible. He had to stifle his laughter. Sara was still pointed towards Fozzie, as she and Sweetums were shifting the couch properly.
"Uh...you know, Foz. Watching my wifes' butt...is certainly going to help you get your mind off of your mother...but...that's just kinda weird isn't it??" He asked, as smoothly as he could; trying his darnedest not to crack a huge smile. He knew full well Fozzie probably didnt' even realize what he was watching.
"Huh?" He looked over at Scooter, who then pointed in the same direction Fozzie was watching. "Wahhaaahhaa!! Sorrrie!!" He immediately turned towards the window, blushing bright red. Scooter started to laugh, goodnaturedly.
"Fozzie....Fozzie!! It's okay!! You're just flustered! Don't worry about your Mother. She and Doc are going to be fine!!" Scooter said, smiling.
"It's just how fine that I'm worried about." Fozzie said, as he plopped his chin into his hands, keeping his vigilance through the window.
The old dark blue truck pulled up into the driveway. Fozzie was up off of the windowseat like Gonzo through a cannon. He belted towards the kitchen, and Sara blocked his way. Then he ran towards the labs, Beaker was there.
The bathroom? Animal.
The outside door to the backyard? Rowlf.
The computer room?? Bunsen.
There was nowhere for him to go. He didn't want to face his mother. For some reason, deep in his mind, it terrified him. And he wasn't sure why. And no one was answering the door either. Even Kermit stood stone still.
They waited for Fozzie.
And they waited. Doc walked over to the window and put his face towards the glass, shielding his eyes from the sun. Animal had already dashed into the living room and then pressed his own face to the glass, and was breathing heavily.
"Present man! Present man!! Gimme presents!!!!" He said growling happily, as his breath fogged the glass almost to the point where you couldn't see out or in of it.
"What the?? What's going on with everybody in there....Emily, do you have any clue what is going on?" Doc asked Emily, and she just shrugged softly, then rang the doorbell again.
"Come on in there! It's cold enough to freeze your winnebago out here kids!! Let us in would'ja!?" Emily shouted through the door. Jerome sat down on cold stone steps and Emily sat down beside him.
"I guess their not going let us inside then. I wonder why?" Jerome pondered, while Emily sat against him. Jerome was already shivering slightly because of the cold, but Emily couldn't feel it.
Suddenly there was a digusted groan from inside the house. Jerome looked up and saw a human woman striding across the living room, shaking her head. She flung open the door and looked down at the two sitting on the steps.
"Come on inside, please. I'm sorry they made you wait. They'll explain once your inside and nice and toasty." Sara said, as she pulled the black hankerchief off of her head, and tucked it into her jeans back pocket.
"Oh thank you! I wondered why they weren't letting us in. For a moment there, I thought they had forgotten we were coming." Jerome remarked, as he and Emily came inside. Fozzie was nowhere to be seen at the moment.
Sara stood in the middle of the living room, and looked all around. She was getting really exhasperated with this thing they were doing. "Guys...where did Fozzie go?!?"
"Sara, Fozzie has to deal with this on his own. We can't force him." Kermit said softly, as he gently took Jerome and Emily's coats from them and hung them up in the coat closet.
Sara moaned softly, and hung her head. "....he can't deal with this, if he not even here to deal with it period."
"I know. Eventually he'll come out, and then they'll talk." Kermit said with a smile on his face.
"We're only here for a few hours. Jerome's on his way to the National Tinkerer's Sociatie Meeting." Emily noted, as they settled down on the couch. "They've nominated him a second time for 'Tinkerer of the Year'!"
"Okay. Wonderful for you Jerome. Hope you have a great speech planned for it." Sara said, smiling towards them. She turned towards the kitchen, and frowned. "FOZZIE!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!?"
No answer. Sara walked into the kitchen, and looked around. No sign of the bear at all. She heard a muffling noise from one of the cabinets, and she flung it open. Fozzie was wedged between boxes of crackers and cans of soup.
"Fozzie....why are you doing this?" Sara said, as she gently pulled him out of the cabinet.
"I'm just....I really hope Ma's doing the right thing.." He said, as he stood up, and walked out of the kitchen beside Sara.
"Well, I hope so too, Fozzie. I hope so too." She replied.