Chapter Text
Hey mate, you still up for the shivoo later or are you flat out?
Gerald yawned and blinked as he let the text process in his head, having just woken up less than 5 minutes ago. Thinking a moment about the good response since being freshly awoken can make one type something rather foolish, the cream colored spaniel gave his ear a good scratch as he sent his confirmation. He gave a bit of a snicker at the message sent moments later. Ripper! By the way, is Almond gonna be there? He doesn't have to come of course, just asking. Gerald could practically see Leo's tail wagging from the other side of the screen.
After pointing out that Almond would likely be unable to handle a severly rowdy party, he swore he could detect a hint of disappointment in Leo's response, the topic swiftly shifted to what the two of them usually discussed before Leo had to go and help his stepdad with something. Gerald figured it was about time to actually get out of bed. He paused at Almond's door, and judging by the utter silence his little brother wasn't up yet. That gave him he figured about an hour of two of peace.
It wasn't like Gerald hated his little brother mind you. (Almond was only about a little over a year younger) It's just that Almond wasn't your typical younger sibling. Where would Gerald even start if he were to explain what was unusual about Almond? One could certainly start with his manner of speech. When Almond spoke, he didn't often talk, he tended to speak in fragments rather than full on sentences. He left letters out of words, and entire words at times, seemingly at random. He frequently added "yeah" to the end of his fragments as if he was confirming to himself that he had said the correct thing. Almond didn't ask "what's that?", he asked "wha' da'?". Not only that, when you tried to talk to Almond it took him a good minute or two at most to even register you had spoken to him in the first place.
His speech wasn't where it ended obviously. Almond could frequently be found staring into space with his head at a slight downward tilt, as if the nearby wall held the secrets of the universe. When he did this, it took him a bit to, for lack of a better term, snap out of it, and he had no memory of doing it when you asked him. Then there was the routines, boy howdy were there routines! Almond for example had a bowl and a spoon that he absolutely had to use to specifically only eat Nutri-grain at the same seat at the brekkie table every morning. And when he did eat the cereal,or pretty much any food, he ate as if with every bite he had to figure out how to do it.
Almond also moved himself in rather odd ways as well. His leg seemed to have a mind of it's own, as when asked once why he kept frantically bouncing it he merely explained "dunno, jus' does dat sometimes, yeah." He had a habit of fidgeting with the flap of his right ear, which like uncle Stripe was folded down about halfway, when he was nervous, but that seemed to calm him down so Gerald didn't really mind that. Most notably of all was Almond moving his hands about as if he were trying to fly away or something when he got super excited. Like his head tilt, Almond seemingly had no memory of doing so when asked. Gerald had seen Socks, the boys' youngest cousin, do something similar at times and for that matter quite a few things Almond did reminded Gerald of her. They both hated supposedly bright lights and loud noises that to someone else like him seemed perfectly fine, they both did the leg bounce and the head thing, among other things. He wondered if there was a connection, but wasn't really knowledgeable enough to come to a proper conclusion.
Their parents were certainly aware of how Almond was, that was for sure. Frisky had on several occasions suggested to her husband that they see a professional to figure out what was up with their youngest, but Rad had simply shrugged it off on the grounds of "he's little, he'll grow out of it when he's older". This had somewhat worked for a while despite Frisky's concerns, but as Almond did get older he didn't exactly grow out of it. Rad's current justification was "well, he's just running his own race, it's fine!". Gerald had overhead his mum on the phone a few times with relatives admit in private she wanted to get Almond checked on anyways but felt like she'd be going behind Rad's back if she did so. A few times uncle Bandit or uncle Stripe had vaguely hinted that they also felt Rad and Frisky should seek a professional, but judging by Rad's annoyance at the suggestion he didn't take kindly to what he saw as his brothers trying to tell him how to raise his kids.
Gerald pulled up a seat at the kitchen table, prompting an amused glance from his mother. "Well well well..." Frisky remarked, "someone is up early!" Gerald snickered. "Muuuum, it's almost 9 in the morning!" He shurgged, a slight grin coming to his face. "Besides, you and dad woke up earlier." Frisky nodded. "Well more specifically your father did. He's still trying to learn how to cook, and I was woken up by the smell of burnt toast." Gerald's grin grew wider. "Sheesh, he's still trying huh? I thought they made that kinda cooking a war crime ages ago!" They shared a hearty laugh as Rad just so happened to waltz into the room holding two plates. "When you two are done having a good laugh, I believe I have created what is known as food." He laid down the plates in front of his wife and eldest son, who looked at the contents incredulously. "Hope you like 'em scrambled!"
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Rad looked over at Frisky as Gerald attempted to consume what one could just barely call scrambled eggs if you squinted hard enough and it was really dark. They nodded, Frisky also trying her best to ingest the soggy mess. Rad cleared his throat and waited for Gerald to look his way. "Got something to share with the class, dad?" The teenaged spaniel joked, getting him a snicker from Rad. "Well, for starters, you're still going to that party later, right?" Gerald raised his eyebrow in suspicion. "I sure am. Why, did something come up?" He immediately caught on when he noticed the look his parents exchanged and his eyes widened in dread. "Oh god, you're not..." he groaned. "Are you seriously asking me to bring him along?" Frisky leaned forward slightly to hold his paw. "Look sweetheart, I know you might not always get along with Almond, but your father and I really want him to make some friends and we felt that this party would be perfect for that."
Gerald rolled his eyes in a typical teenage fashion. "What, those fellow stones enthusiasts he talks to online don't count?" Frisky rubbed her temple and sighed. "It's not like we don't want him doing that, we just want him to have some friends he can actually meet in the flesh who aren't stuck behind a screen. The teachers are saying most of the other students go out of the way to avoid him, and we're hoping this party can show them he's a good one." Gerald thought for a second. "Well, Leo doesn't really seem to mind him." He smirked to himself. "Actually, come to think of it..." he waved a paw. "Nah, nevermind about that." Frisky looked rather amused. "Gerald Paprika Heeler, what are you hiding?" Blushing at the full name usage, he looked down at his hands. "Well, there's a rumor going around at school but it's nothing that exciting."
Rad leaned forward in anticipation, his excitement at hearing a rumor making him seem more like a schoolchild than the middle-aged father of two he actually was. "Oooo, a rumor? Lemme hear it!" Slightly startled by how eager his father seemed, Gerald shrugged. "Not much honestly. Some of the guys think Leo's got feelings for Almond. Like i said, nothing exciting. This kinda rumor spreads a lot at school with all sorts of people." Frisky put her fork down mid-air and alongside Rad gawked at him. "Feelings? Like, the smoochy kinda feelings?" Gerald nodded. "Yeah, and to be perfectly honest I can kinda see it." Rad raised a confused eyebrow. "Wait, Leo? You mean that maltese you hang around with a bunch?" Gerald shrugged. "Well duh, who else?" Frisky looked at Rad confused and turned back to Gerald. "Hon, what possible evidence could they have? I wasn't even aware your brother and Leo knew eachother!"
Gerald thought hard before counting off on his fingers. "Well, for one he's really the only one of my friends who actually interacts with Almond but i've never seen that as strong evidence as the other guys do. But I know for a fact that if both of them happen to both be there with me Leo practically makes a beeline for him, and it takes a lot of convincing for him to leave Almond's side. If he even hears Almond's name his cheeks get all reddish, and his tail gets all fast and stuff but he always acts like nothing is happening and he tries to change the topic immediately if you point it out. He's always wondering if Almond is gonna be there with me, hell this morning right after he confirmed i was still going to the party his very next question was that. Coulda sworn his next messages had a hint of disappointment when I said he wasn't coming." He paused for a moment. "Y'know, that's just off the top of my head for Leo but I do have a hunch Almond might feel the same way."
Rad leaned forward once more, a bit too far this time as he groaned and rubbed his back before speaking. "Now this I have to hear. I'm not even sure if Almond is aware of what it means to be in love outside of music and what he sees on tv. What makes you think he might like Leo back that way? For all you know, he could be utterly oblivious." Gerald looked over his shoulder before turning back. "Well among other things, you know that sketchbook Almond occasionally uses? The one he doesn't usually let anyone see because he says all the stuff in there isn't ready yet? I may or may not have snuck a peek in there once and I swear amongst some fairly decent drawings of the stones, he had a crap-ton of pictures of Leo, and pretty detailed ones at that! Some of them were just of Leo doing normal things like eating, and it made me wonder if Almond has been looking at him from afar and drawing these pictures unbeknownst to everyone." He leaned back and relaxed in his seat. "That's not all. He's always wondering when I go out if Leo is gonna be there, and if I actually want him to tag along with me all I need to do is say Leo will indeed be there. There's even been a few times where he casually remarked about the way a random mundane object reminds him of Leo."
He paused for dramatic effect. "But that's not the craziest thing. I shit you not, when the two of them talk, I have heard Almond come extremely close to speaking a complete unchanged sentence in causal conversation several times. No dropped words, no odd pronunciations, no missing letters. It looked like it took him a lot of effort too." Frisky gaped. "Strewth! Y-you you're not kidding, right?" Gerald shook his head. "Mum, I'm completely serious." Frisky and Rad exchanged a shocked expression. "This is amazing..." Rad muttered at her. She nodded in agreement. "How long has this been going on for?" Rad asked. Gerald thought for a second or two. "Bout a month now I guess. He's getting better at it, I guess being around Leo kinda opens him up a bit for lack of a better term." Rad rose from his seat. "Well if you're brother is already up by now, and given the time he likely is, I should see if he even wants to go to the party. He glanced over at Frisky before he left. "We'll, uh, talk about that later, right?" She smiled, nodding and waving him off in the direction of his destination.
***************
Rad very slowly opened the door to Almond's room just in case the younger son was still asleep. The multicolored heeler teenager sat on the floor of his room, headphones plugged into a smallish cheap turntable as he casually rocked back and forth while he listened to a record, his hands flapping happily as the record spun. It was a typical morning ritual for the 17 (soon to be 18) year old, putting on a stones 45 before he came to the kitchen for his usual breakfast. Rad took the time to look around the room, really letting the multitude of stones posters old and new coating the walls and the neatly organized records (how Almond exactly categorized them was a riddle for the ages) and the ironically messy state of the rest of the room save for the bed soak in. He wondered what it would be like if Almond had been obsessed with some other band or musician, and reminisced on how the whole thing had even started.
Many years ago
Rad got down on his knee and placed a hand on Gerald's shoulder. "Hey Ger, can you be a help and look after your brother for a sec while us grownups finish decorating for Muffin's suprise party? Just make sure he doesn't wander off or anything like he often does, ok?" The boy nodded before his father walked away. "Rad?" Stripe remarked confused. "You sure that's a good idea? Gerald's only 5 ya know." Rad scoffed. "Yeah, it'll be fine, he's a smart kid. Besides, he's just gotta make sure his little brother doesn't wander off, and it's not like there's much for Almond to do if he does that seeing as how he can't open a door by himself yet."
Turning around, Gerald noticed immediately that Almond had in fact already wandered away somehow. He heard footsteps down the nearby hallway followed by a small giggle. "Oh boy..." he groaned, running quickly down the hallway after his brother. He found a door that had been left open by mistake, and what unmistakabley sounded like Almond making a mess.
Inside the room, which was furnished with a small chair alongside several shelves of records and nick-nacks, Almond sat by a small side dresser atop which sat a turntable connected to two large speakers next to the dresser. The door at the front of the dresser, which opened with a simple push, was wide open, and the pup looked in fascination at his uncle's most beloved records from his own childhood, most of which had been hand me downs from his brothers and parents, all of which were now scattered all over the floor in a big pile. Wincing, Gerald approached him. "Almond come on, you gotta get outta there. I don't want either of us to get in trouble." Almond after a moment of silence looked up at his big brother and held up a record, pointing at it. Gerald grinned nervously and nodded. "Yes I see that, but let's put these away and get out of this room. I don't think we're supposed to be in here."
He scooped up the records one by one and placed them back in the dresser, hoping Stripe didn't have a particular order for them to be placed in in mind. He turned to Almond hoping to get the last one, but he wouldn't budge, pointing to the turntable. "Nooooo!" The little one whinged, tears coming to his small face. Gerald sighed in defeat. "Oh allright. I suppose we can play just one if we're really quiet, don't think we'll get in trouble for that. Almond smiled, his tail wagging happily as he handed the record to his brother. He studied it. "This is one of the smaller ones, think dad said you need to put a special thing in the middle to play it." He searched around momentarily before noticing that a record of the same size was already prepped for playing, "special thing" already in place. Shrugging, he removed the prior record and placed this one in it's spot, dropping the needle down as he had seen his parents do a few times here and there.
"It's a bit too quiet" he remarked as the song started, "think i'll turn it up a little bit." Unfortunately for Gerald, he did so just as the song significantly grew in volume. He was near literally blown off his feat as the singer bemoaned the loss of his lover and how he no longer felt the desire for any color than black. The room was swiftly entered and flooded by several adults who unsurprisingly could hear the commotion from halfway across the house, but Almond was unaware. He stood by the turntable, mesmerized by the haunting lyrics and the hypnotic instruments, unlike anything he had ever heard in his life.
And the rest, Rad remarked to himself, was history as evidenced by his younger son's room. He noticed the record finishing up and made his way towards Almond, joining the teen on the floor. He waited for Almond to take off his headphones before gently tapping him on the shoulder, a gesture most of the family had adopted as to not startle Almond who didn't particularly enjoy an unexpected touch. "Hey there buddy! Can dad ask you a little question?" Almond put his headphones to the side and leaned forward to methodically remove the record and place it back in the sleeve, putting it back on the shelf before closing his turntable and finally sitting back down next to his father. "Wha?" He responded, head slightly tilted and looking less so directly at Rad and more in his general direction. "Well, you know how your brother is going to that really cool party later?" Almond scratched the floppy part of his right ear and thought the question over. "Uhhh..." he wasn't quite sure how to respond so he just nodded. Rad smiled softly. He knew Almond often had trouble finding the right words but was trying his best to do so, and Rad was quite proud of him especially with the new context Gerald had given him a few minutes prior.
"I was just wondering, did you want to come along with him?" Almond worked out it out in his head for a few moments. "Where goin'?" Rad shrugged. "Not really sure, likely at a friend's house." Almond smiled and mimicked the holding of a steering wheel, his tail wagging in delight. "Fraid not mate, just a short walk apparently. Bout a few minutes of walking from what he tells me." The boy did his best to figure this out in his head before tilting his head in the opposite direction. "How f-f-f-f..." Rad knew it was better to let Almond work the words out in his head rather than try to force it out of him. "Faaaar is?" He concluded, looking quite pleased with himself. Rad rustled the fur on top of Almond's head between his ears, eliciting a giggle in response. "No need to worry mate! Just a few minutes of walking is all, not too much! Plus, you know who's gonna be there?" Almond looked puzzled when Rad took a page from Gerald's book and paused for dramatic effect. "Leo!" Rad declared. Almond's cheerful smile turned into a wide grin, his hands went flap happy and became a blur, his tail practically breaking the sound barrier. "So," Rad asked, growing a grin of his own, "Is that a yes?" Almond nodded giddily, letting out a small "yeah." In reply. Slowly rising from the floor as Almond copied the action, Rad wondered if Gerald was onto something.
***********
The rest of the day leading up to the party went as usual in the house, it was friday so the boys still had school to attend and of course Rad and Frisky had their respective jobs. But after dinner, it was just about time for Almond and Gerald to head out. Almond had misplaced one of his shoes so about 5 minutes were spent searching until it was found that he had it in his hand the entire time, and Gerald had spent twice as long picking out an outfit.
"Are the straps all strapped honey?" Frisky asked, watching carefully as Almond got his shoes on. Tying shoelaces was a bit out of his grasp literally and figuratively, so Frisky was more than thankful they made velcro strap shoes in more than children's sizes. He looked down at his shoes, and after a bit of consideration nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, all dem!" He smiled proudly and gave a thumbs up. "Great job!" Frisky replied, holding her hand out for a high five before the look on Almond's face made it clear that he didn't quite understand, the younger son waving at her. She lowered her hand and looked over her shoulder. "Gerald, you ready yet mate?" She shouted down the hall. Almond winced and covered his ears. "Yeah mum, just a sec!" Frisky rolled her eyes. "That's the fourth time you've said that!" Smirking, Gerald stepped into the room. "How do I look?" To the shock of nobody, he was just dressed in his everyday type of outfit: slightly faded jeans, a light jacket in the color of brownish yellow, and a orange shirt featuring Frankenstein's monster wearing sunglasses, adorned with the words "Frankie say relax".
Frisky placed her hands on his cheeks and giggled. "I think you look like such a handsome young man! I bet the girls will just eat you up!" Gerald blushed and did his best to slip out of her grasp. "Muuuum!" He whined before looking over at his brother. "You ready to go?" Almond's outfit was far plainer: he still followed the light jacket (his was a pleasant lilac color) and shirt combo, but his shirt was the same kind that one could find in a Where's Wally book and instead of jeans he was wearing shorts in a faded dark blue color, his dislike of wearing socks visible. Almond nodded. "Yeah." They made their way out the door, Gerald stopping briefly to wave goodbye. Once the door was closed, Rad walked up behind Frisky and nuzzled her neck, giving her shoulders a good rub. "So, since the kids are gonna be gone for at least an hour or two, you got any ideas for what we should do?" She looked at her husband in amusement. "Well, we do have that talk we were supposed to have, remember?" Rad groaned in a cartoonishly exaggerated fashion. "But muuum, i don't wanna!" She laughed. "Come on, into the kitchen with you mister!"
"I take it this aforementioned talk is about Almond?" Rad asked when they were both settled in. Frisky took a deep breath. "Yup, that's correct." Rad smiled. "Well, I for one am real excited that he's trying his best to talk more. Super proud of him!" Frisky nodded in agreement. "I am too, very much so. But that's not what I wanted to talk about concerning him." Rad's eyes widened when he registered what the intended topic of discussion was. "Woahhhh." He raised his hands up defensively. "Frisk,hon, we've been over this. Almond's fine, he's just-" Frisky held up her own hand. "Running his own race, I know." Rad detected a slight hint of annoyance and exhaustion in her voice. "But I was talking to Chilli and Trixie the other day, and they really opened my eyes Rad." He lowered his hands. "What did they say babe?"
".....and so of course Rad tried opening it from the other side but that went as well as you'd expect!" The trio laughed in unison before catching their breaths. Trixie coughed into her paw, glancing at Chilli whose ears perked up in remembrance. "Oh yeah, I just remembered." She placed a hand on Frisky's. "There's something we've been meaning to talk you about, and now that the three of us are alone it's more than the perfect time to do so." Frisky lowered her drink in confusion. "About what?" Chili let out a weak smile. "About Almond. I think Trixie is far more qualified to talk about this than me due to her personal experience." Frisky raised a baffled eyebrow. "Allright then, what's this about Trix?" The grey heeler replaced Chilli's hand with her own. "Well, Frisky, I'll be rather blunt about this if you don't mind. I believe....there's a very strong possibility that Almond is on the autism spectrum just like Socks."
"What she said was absolutely fascinating and like a revelation Rad. So much stuff about Almond made a ton more sense. Let me explain." Rad's eyes grew wider as she explained in detail what Trixie had told her, his expression growing more serious and contemplative as she went on. When she was done, he let out a whistle. "Geeze. That... yeah, that really makes a ton of sense." Frisky sighed. "I'm tired Rad." He tilted his head confused in a manner not too far from Almond. "I'm tired of living this lie. I'm tired of hiding behind an excuse. I'm tired of telling strangers that Almond just doesn't know any better and hoping that they understand and stop staring. I'm tired of constantly telling my friends that he's just running his own race and happens to be a quirky kid, praying they don't judge me as a mother. I'm tired of constantly reassuring myself that it's fine and nothing is up with my son. I've been this bloody close to just finding out for myself, but something in me makes it feel wrong to go behind your back and do it." Her eyes began watering up and she barely held back a sob.
Rad held her hands. "It's allright babe, it's allright." His own eyes weren't exactly dry either. "I've been doing some thinking lately, and I admit I was wrong. I think in hindsight I just kept making excuses because I'm scared. I felt like if I admitted something was going on with my child it would make me a bad father. I've been meaning to admit as much for a while but I wasn't very confident that it was necessarily the truth so I kept quiet. But what Trixie said opened my eyes too, and I'm real sorry I've been dismissing your concerns for so long. I understand now that acknowledging there's something going on with Almond makes me a far better father than just pretending there's nothing happening and hiding behind excuses. Tommorrow as soon as we can let's try to see if we can set something up to find out what Almond's situation is. " He leaned forward and rubbed his nose against hers. "I love you Frisky." "I love you too Rad." They kissed passionately, basking in the warmth of their embrace. Rad smiled warmly. "How does watching a corny action flick and calling it a night afterwards sound? Wanna end it on a good note?" She smiled back, looking deeply into his eyes. "Yeah, that sounds great."
Just as they left the kitchen, the doorbell rang. "Who could that be?" Frisky questioned, opening the door. To her surprise, it was Gerald and Almond, back home far earlier than expected. She was about to question them on the sudden return as they entered when she noticed the look on Almond's face. He looked extremely worried and confused, and he was playing with the floppy part of his right ear quite rapidly, his other hand flapping at a modest speed. "Oh no, what's the matter Almond?" He looked in her direction, distraught, and struggled to find the words. "Dddd-dunno..." he said quietly. Gerald stared uncomfortably at the floor then looked up at his parents, visibly just as confused as his brother. "This... this is a long one. I think it's best if we all sit down in the sunroom for this one, kitchen might feel a bit cramped right now."
Almond walked slowly over to Frisky and pulled her into a deep embrace, her shoulder dampening. "Oh honey, it's okay. I'm here, don't worry." Rad glanced over at Gerald as they made their way to the sunroom. "Is he alright Gerald? He's not hurt, nothing bad happened to him?" Gerald sighed. "He is, but... it's complicated dad. I hope Almond can explain it as best he can, but i'll make sure to help out if he needs it." Rad rubbed the back of his neck. "Hoo boy...."