The Perfect Family

26. Orson, it's time you know everything.

Right before the incident with Westin, Noemi had already made a few calls to the hospital on letting Orson be released because of in-home treatment she would be providing for him.

The request went through but Noemi was waiting for the approval and sure enough it got approved but she wasn't able to hear as she was fighting for her life on the operating table.

"Mr. Reed, you've been discharged," The doctor says as the nurse hands him the slip.

Orson takes it, stuffing it in his jean pocket.

Grabbing his duffle bag filled with his things he had before his stay in the psych ward, Nero is waiting for him at the back entrance of the hospital not wanting anyone to see Orson being released.

"Hey, little brother," Nero tries to sound confident but wavers as Orson walks past him and into the car without saying a word to him.

Orson puts his seatbelt on then looks out the window not wanting to talk to Nero.

"No, alright. We're not doing the silent game." Nero says seriously.

Orson sighs now looking at Nero, "What? What do you want me to say?"

Nero shrugs, "How are you for starters?"

Orson sucks his teeth shrugging too, "Fine. Anything else?"

Nero thinks back to Noemi's incident and clears his throat as he gets ready to tell him.

"Noemi...she got into a accident and is currently undergoing surgery." 

Orson listens to Nero for once saying, "What happened?"

Nero explains but Orson just draws his own conclusion that his family had something to do with it, since every bad thing that does occur around them is because of them.

"Let me guess? She was a loose end? A liability to the family?" Orson says cold.

Nero loses his patience and scoffs, "Is that how you view your own blood? As cold blooded killers?"

Orson shrugged with this nonchalant look saying, "The only thing is that we have a reasonable alibi to why we do, don't we?"

Nero holds his own forehead, stressing enough about everything else.

"God damn it Oreo, why can't you just once look at the situation and not put your damn illness into the mix? You didn't hurt anyone on purpose. We don't hurt anyone on purpose. The things that do happen are shitty coincidences. Do you understand?"

Orson chuckles low, "You just want me to believe that so you can sleep at night thinking you were the best big brother I could ever have."

Nodding, Nero says, "What the fuck is wrong with you? Seriously? Who is this? Because this isn't the Orson I knew before he was thrown into the fucking looney bin."

Orson looks to Nero, "I'm tired of pretending we're this–this perfect family when we're full of lies and more bullshit on top of other bullshit."

Nero starts the car saying, "What would you do if you didn't have this not so perfect family? Actually rotting in that god forsaken place. That's where."

Finally driving to the house, Lainey is inside making dinner for the first time in Reed history.

Maci is at the table with her headphones on, as if they took a time machine and had things put back to how it used to be.

Samuel wasn't there because of unforeseen circumstances, but Lainey had Kade in his place as he emerged from the wine cellar with a bottle of wine in his hand.

"Oreo!" Maci says looking up happily.

Orson embraces her into a hug while waving to Lainey and Kade.

"We missed you," Maci says sincerely, hugging her brother more.

Nero moves to the side of them, pulling Lainey away to talk to her in private.

"Where the fuck were you? Playing house with Kade?"

Lainey removes Nero's hand off her and cuts him with her eyes.

"We've never kept things from each other, right?" Lainey asks cutting to the chase of where all her hostility was coming from. 

Nero squints his eyes at her furrowing his eyebrows, "What? What are you getting at Lainey?"

Lainey nods, "Well she's dead dead. She's really not coming back. Since you're not hiding anything, you should know what I'm talking about."

Nero couldn't contain his anger, so when Lainey tries to walk away, he grabs her by the neck from behind smashing her face into the wall and all that he would never hurt her promise he made when she was a baby? Out the window.

"Why don't you ever fucking listen?" Nero says seething.

Lainey goes back and forth with him, almost having a screaming match, while yelling the words, "I'm pregnant Nero!" Having Nero let go and shake his head.

"Don't say Kade," Nero says, knowing how their mom felt about him.

"He doesn't know," Lainey says, fixing her hair.

Nero gets riled up punching the wall, overwhelmed.

"Damn it Lainey! Our father is in jail right now, Orson is some fucking alien who has seen some kind of light on our fucked up family and Maci is Maci, but a baby? Lainey you can't be serious."

Lainey sighs, "You think I planned on having one?"

Nero shook his hand from plunging it into the drywall as it tingled with pain.

"Get rid of it."

Lainey looks at her older brother in a way she's never looked at him before.

"What?"

Nero looks to Lainey, "Get rid of it."

Lainey has had her opinions about her siblings, but never thought of one to be as infuriating as Nero was right now.

"It's my choice, not yours."

Scoffing, Nero says, "You think you could be a good mother to another human being?"

Lainey smacks Nero not even feeling guilty about it saying, "I don't know what the hell crawled up your ass, but find the Nero that would actually find a genuine solution instead of a douchebag one," Walking away, hurt, Lainey starts serving the food she made but leaves going into her bedroom having Kade follow behind her.

"What were you guys talking about?" Maci asks, biting into the corn on the cob that was on her plate.

Nero sits with a grunt, not really wanting to answer so Orson just laughs.

"We are so fucked, it's insane."

Maci hits Orson on the arm, "Oreo shh," But Orson just smiles.

"What's amusing about all of this?" Nero asks strictly looking at Maci and Orson.

"Mac, I had some time to think things over and this family is a bunch of psychopaths," Orson says, tapping her hand.

Maci sides eyes him, being really confused on what the hell he's talking about.

"Not really getting what you're putting down Oreo."

Orson is about to say something until Nero cuts him off with, "Orson, it's time you know everything."

With that being said, a shrill noise of a phone erupts from the living room, being the landline having them turn.