A place to stay (Part 3)

Meanwhile, Fred is now in his house and texting Sarah, he was there very happy, not until his father knocked on the door. He got up from his bed and reached his door to answer.

“Hey son, can you come with me for a moment?” Alex asked

“Sure!” Fred answered

So they went downstairs up to their basement, Alex turned on the lights and as they can see, there are so many old things like old papers, old photographs, etc. It even has Alex and Christine’s graduation pictures. Fred didn’t believe they we’re in the same school as he was, and both of them graduated highschool.

“Yeah son, me and your mom we’re students in your school back then, your teachers, and more. I can’t believe the teachers you met are still loyal to that school, your mom and I thought about going back here when we graduated from college. And I work for the military here.” Alex said

And still Fred was still surprised. He kept looking and seeing old stuff. He found himself a golf kit. Then suddenly Alex started speaking but he was facing in the opposite direction.

“It was from your great grandpa, he passed away but I can tell you that he likes golfing. I'm gonna miss my grandpa.” Alex said

“How did he know what I am looking at and know my question?” Fred asked himself through his mind. He is completely suspicious of his father now as if he knows what he is going to ask.

“Ho ho ho…” Alex cheered as if he found something.

“Here it is my boy.” Alex said as he put a box on a table, “These are my memories and a lot of stuff that I mostly don't need.” He continued

“Why don’t you need it anymore?” Fred asked

“Ehhh, there are some things that I don't use, not unless you want to use them.”

Alex answered, he continued “There are some research papers of mine, some certificates, Cards, and more. You are going to find out by yourself.”

Fred keeps on looking at what is in the basement and finds an old picture of his father, his mother, he also found the younger version of Justin, and 7 more. They're like a team, a team of 10.

“Dad, who are these people with you?” Fred asked

“That my boy is all of my past schoolmates, we're all graduated from high school, the Arctisian’s. Me, your mother…” Alex answered but was cut off by Fred.

“Why is his face so familiar?” Fred asked, pointing at the picture where young teenage Justin is.

“That will be for another time son.” Alex said as he put down the picture and cleaned the basement.

Fred noticed what his dad was doing and he was really curious.

"Dad, why are we cleaning the basement?" Fred asked

"Well son, your room is kind of messy with your school work, and also i need a place to focus on my work, so we are going to design ourselves a little office." Alex answered.

And they have cleared all the boxes and removed dust in the basement. Just in time as well, Cristine is done making lunch. Once she called Fred and Alex they went back up to the living room and saw a lot of boxes piled up.

"Dad, what are we going to do with the boxes?" Fred asked

"I don't know." Alex answered

As Cristine walked in the living room she saw a lot of boxes piled up.

"Oh my! What were you both doing?" Cristine asked

"Cleaning up the basement." Fred answered, "But we don't know how we can get rid of the boxes." He added

"Not to worry, I think we can sell these." Alex said

"But honey, those are our memories as well." Cristine replied

"You're right" Alex sighed, "Well lets just separate all these items after we eat." He added

"You're right, I'm hungry." Fred replied

And they all went to the dining room to eat.

Meanwhile, Fred is just trying to find a way to clean these boxes, until he sees a very long bag that can hold a big sword, as in a literal sword. Once he opened he suddenly found a letter, tons of them, but what caught his eye was the letter saying "Open this at the perfect time" but Fred just wanted to open it now but he got self control so he won't be able to peek what is written in that letter.

His mother, Christine, is helping out to move the boxes somewhere else since they are dusty while Fred's Dad, Alex, is still keeping on getting his dream office that was formerly known as a basement or a storage room. He wanted to make it for him and Fred. Christine is going to check up on Alex so she went inside the Basement. Inside the basement there is Alex still painting the room, and while he is painting, he is thinking of something.

"Why is Justin really serious about putting my son as the keeper of the genociders pocket watch?" Alex thought to himself.

"I know what you are thinking honey." A voice appeared behind Alex and as he turned around he found Christine. Christine added, "Justin really did it, you know that man was not really joking, until now really. What he said is true, the time that Fred was born."

"You are right honey, but do you think our son is really fit for the job?" Alex asked.

"He is our son Justin, and he will be almost 18 in the next few months. You remembered the date right?" Christine asked Alex back.

"Of Course honey but it is just that I am scared for our son to be... you know." Alex replied

"No, do not think about that, be proud of him and let's make him ready also, it is the only thing to do, we need to support him." Christine replied back.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm just continuing this office." Alex said and continued to work as Christine left the basement.

The next day, Fred woke up and checked his alarm that it is now 7 AM on Sunday. He got out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen, to see his Mother and Father together at the table and eating breakfast.

"So, the basement is almost ready but we still need to know what to do with the boxes." Alex said

"Maybe we can throw something that we do not use anymore, or maybe give it to Fred." Christine replied and as she mentioned Fred's name,

"What are you gonna give me?" Fred asked

"Oh Good Morning Fred." Christine said, and she answered, “We are just gonna give you our old stuff.

“I see, that will be nice.” Fred said as he sat down the table

“Time to eat son, we will be finishing the office today.” Alex said

“Yes dad.” Fred replied

A few hours later, Alex and Fred finally finished the Office. The office has two wooden desks that have been bought through online shopping. Each desk has its own 3 drawers, a flower pot, a wooden chair with cushions behind the desk, and finally a lamp shade. The wall was painted light blue and the floorings have white tiles. The space is really big too.

"Well we did it son, our office has officially finished." Alex said

"Dad, why do we need an office?" Fred asked

Alex laughs and tells him, "Well son, I have a surprise." Alex said as his son was waiting. He added, "I am staying here now and working here from now on. I can't bear the fact of leaving you again before I left your mom with you after you were born." Alex said as he laughed. Fred laughs as well, and he was happy that his Father is finally staying home.

Alex however, is still keeping a secret from Fred, the fact that Fred is now the new guardian of the Genociders Pocketwatch. He wanted to leave for the army but he needs to keep an eye on Fred, even Christine cannot do it on her own.

"Now the question is how we are going to get rid of these boxes?" Alex asked as he looks at the boxes

Christine is in the living room, searching each box of old stuff, and whenever they see something that can suit Fred, she will give it to him, and the rest, she can sell them. But at the moment they kept on seeing papers and folders. Suddenly, Christine saw baby clothes inside one of the boxes.

"Oh hehe. Fred?" Christine called Fred and he approached her. She asked, "Can you put this upstairs in our room please?" And Fred do as she told

Fred went upstairs to his parents room. Their room was like a master bed and a closet next to the door where Fred got in. So Fred put the box on top of the closet and left the room.

Meanwhile in the living room, Alex arrived from the basement that is now an office, he saw some boxes on the other side of the living room. He saw tons of papers on the table. Alex is having a hard time going through all the boxes to reach his wife and son. But a few minutes passed, he finally reached them.

"It is like a maze back there. Thank you for making one." Alex said

"Sorry honey but we are finding our old stuff and what I found recently is baby clothes that we will use in case that we will have a baby again." Christine apologized to Alex

"Don't worry honey but can you compile all the boxes so that it wouldn't be a maze?" Alex asked

"Oh you and Fred can do it, just the empty boxes, I'm taking out all the important files and trying to hide it somewhere. While I am still finding my dress." Christine said

“Your dress?” Alex asked, and he added, “That is too small for you!”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion! It will be fine, now go!” Christine said angrily while Alex laughed

So Alex followed his wife and did as he was told, he called Fred for help and cleaned up the living room. The empty boxes we're outside the house this time.

It is now 3 PM and everyone had their lunch, all boxes are opened, Christine finally found her dress, all of the not important stuff is put back in the box while the important ones are at the living room table. There is also other stuff like kitchen tools, old toolboxes, old picture frames, and more that they can keep.

"I have finally ordered a file cabinet and a chest box online. And it is expensive." Alex said

"Everything you did is hard and expensive." Christine said back

"But on the bright side, everything is clean." Alex said, and he added, "No more boxes, it is not a maze anymore, but now we need to know where to put these until the cabinet and the chest arrive."

"I'll put the tools under the kitchen sink for now." Christine said, and she added "while you keep the files in your office." She said as she left the kitchen with the tools she held in her hands.

Alex did as he was told and grabbed the important files and went downstairs.

8 PM, everyone had dinner and Christine was washing the plates while she talked to Alex. Fred came into the kitchen and saw his parents chatting.

"Oh hey Fred!" Christine said

"Hello mom. Aren't you both sleeping right now?" Fred asked

"Oh after I finished the dishes." Christine answered

“Alright then. Good night.” Fred said as he waved goodbye and went to his room.

“Good night.” His parents said in unison

Then Fred went to his bed and fell asleep, knowing that he will return to school tomorrow.