Chapter Text
Cole Wolfe tosses his backpack onto the floor of the front seat of his mother’s car as he climbs in. He remains quiet as his brothers are brought to the car from their instructors as well. His Mum walking around to help his brother, Owen Anand, strap himself into his harness as the boy instantly takes his slip-on shoes off, tossing them to the boot of the car. “Mum, the other cars are starting to move.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Charlotte Wolfe mumbles, glancing to the other of her twins, “Lane, are you all secured?”
Lane hums approvingly, “I have a project...it’s about family.” He watches as his mother closes his brother’s side door to jog back over to the driver’s seat, waiting to continue, “we have to interview a person in our family about an important event in their life.”
“That sounds very interesting.” Char smirks a little, “have you decided who you’re going to interview?” She hears as Owen starts to rock in his seat, something he always does. He loves car rides. He makes a loud, guttural noise. Being otherwise nonverbal, it was one of his stimulation activities. “Laney?”
“I don’t know yet.” Lane watches through the window as they make their way home, “I mean, Gran was in the Army, Grandad was a doctor-”
“So was Nan.” Cole mumbles a little.
“I know.” Lane nods, “or Mum...I could interview you. Remember the book you wrote?”
“Well, I wrote it, so yes.” Char smirks, making eye contact with her oldest son, seeing him give an amused smile. “We were also on telly for a bit, but...it wasn’t really something I liked much. Dad has digital copies, but I’m not sure where he’s put them. You’ll need to ask, I’m sure he’d be happy to show them to you.”
“We were all on telly?” Cole only slightly remembers, probably from others' stories. Bits and pieces. He was much too small at the time. He sees his mother’s nod, continuing, “I thought I stayed with the Grands mostly.” Their pet name for their grandmothers as a cohesive unit, the Grands.
“Well, yeah, but...only because you wouldn’t sleep for Dad or me.” Char hums a soft chuckle of the memory, “you were always their boy...still are. The son they always wanted together.” She reaches over to her son, running an affectionate hand through his brunette hair, “I think you’re okay with that though.”
“I have peace and quiet while I’m there. How could I not be okay with that?” Cole glances to his visor mirror, seeing Owen start to calm himself in the backseat as they pull up to their house. “Owen has therapy tonight, right?” He has it most nights, honestly. Someone to help him learn simple tasks and coping mechanisms, or at least try to. When his mother hums approvingly, Cole continues, “can I do my homework over the Grands?” He asks as all of the car doors open, everyone climbing out.
“That’s home away from home with you lot, so of course.” Charlotte has learned not to let it bother her anymore. Really, it was one less body she had to worry about. Once Owen started showing signs of autism, Serena decided to retire from her position at Holby City General in order to help her more, especially when Owen was a toddler, so was home often. That is, if she wasn’t round hers. Char’s husband has been an Otter consultant going on nearly eleven years now, and her mother moved to be an AAU consultant a few years ago. Bernie Wolfe retire and sit still? Never. Char unbuckles her son’s harness, “shoes on, Owen.” When the boy does his objecting yell toward her, “It’s not a question, come on. Shoes on.” She watches as he reaches back for his shoes and slide them back onto his feet. “Very good.”
Owen claps his hands a little, pulling his bag from his seat, onto his back. He signs, “ Snack?”
“One small one. It’s nearly time for dinner.” Char motions for Lane to lead the way into their house, glancing to her other son who is on their way over to his grandparents' house, “Cole, tell your Nan we’re doing chicken, fried rice, and vegetables for dinner. Come over in a couple of hours.”
“Yes, Mum.” Cole gives a quick wave toward his mother, using his key to enter his grandparents house. He was the only one out of his siblings to have a key to their house. “Nan?” He calls out once opening the door, slowly walking through the entryway of the house.
“In the cellar.” Serena Wolfe calls out, organizing her bottles of wine as she washes a load of laundry for her stepdaughter. Her head lifts as she hears the boy descending the stairs after a moment, “How was school?”
“Sucked.” Cole shrugs, “as always.”
“ Sucked is such a...non-descriptive word. A lazy word. I know you can do better than that.” Serena offers, choosing a bottle she actually wouldn’t mind opening. She motions to the stairs for him to turn around, following up behind him.
He sighs, “it was unimaginative, boring, and borderline insulting to my intelligence.” Cole smirks a little, letting his Nan hug him when they reach the top of the stairs, “Better?”
“Much.” She kisses the top of his head, “you’re going to be taller than me soon...which I don’t approve of in the slightest.” Serena motions toward the kitchen, “Melon or do you want something else to nibble on?”
“Melon is good.” Cole begins to set up shop at the kitchen island with his homework, as he often does, “Mum said dinner will be ready in a couple of hours. Will Gran be home by then?” He opens his various notebooks and textbooks. “Also, don’t be surprised if Lane asks you about your life. He has a project, but doesn’t really know who he wants to do his project on.”
“She should be,” Serena opens one of the drawers, retrieving her corkscrew, “That could be interesting-”
“Not really. He didn’t mention your lecturing, or Gran being a top traumatic surgeon in the entire country, he mentioned Grandad being a doctor.” Cole shakes his head, “I mean, he could have even brought up Dad and his achievements in children’s internal medicine, but he didn’t.”
“You’re incredibly precocious. I think that works against you sometimes.” Serena removes the cork of her bottle of wine with a pop, tossing it into a large glass container with other corks, halfway full. “What homework do you have today?”
“Maths, but I actually kind of like Maths.” He sits on one of the stools at the kitchen island, “Owen was doing a lot of yelling today, but he has his therapy. So, I know I probably wouldn’t have been able to concentrate without locking myself into my room...which I didn’t really want to do, but also didn’t want to disturb him with his therapy. Double edged sword.”
“Has he had any fits lately?”
“Other night. Luckily, I was there to pull him off of Mum. He always goes for her hair.” Cole starts to focus on his Maths book, finding everything quite easy, “they always say to show your work, but why should I show work when I do everything in my head?”
“Because most children your age cannot do it in their head.” Serena shakes her head, "so just entertain your teachers with the work, please."
Cole falls quiet as he makes short work of his Maths homework, taking the time to pack it away, "can I talk to you about something without you telling Mum?"
Remembering Charlotte doing the same thing when she was younger and they all lived together, Serena offers an amused smirk toward the boy, "of course, Cole. You know you never need to ask."
"I um...I think Mum is sick." Cole answers quietly, unable to meet his grandmother's eyes. "I hear her puking in the loo...a lot. I notice she doesn't eat with us sometimes. She cooks and then does wash or...starts cleaning. Literally anything other than eating with us."
Serena tilts her head to the side, intrigued, "you haven't asked either of your parents about this?"
“Dad’s never really there to ask and Mum isn’t really going to give me an honest answer...not about that.” He shakes his head a little, "will you check her later?"
Sensing just how worried her grandson is, just from the look in his eye, Serena wraps a reassuring arm around his shoulders, kissing his temple. "For you, little cub, I'll do anything."