One

Rick stepped out of the portal and looked at the house that stood in front of him. It wasn't a bad looking house, it looked like it cost a decent amount of money. He was sure it was just as decent on the inside; it was his daughter's house after all. He approached the front door and looked at the mat in front of it. It had a little dog on it and read: "Wipe your paws!" Ha ha. How cute. He looked back towards the mailbox, squinting at it. "Smith" was painted on the side. Smith, Smith... right, Jerry Smith. That's the boy Beth was dating in high school; and got her pregnant, no less. Such is life, he supposed, and you can't stop life from happening. Well. You can try. But whatever.

Rick knocked on the door. "I got it," was heard from inside. It was a feminine voice, but it wasn't Beth. Too young. The door opened to reveal a teenage girl with red hair tied back in a ponytail. "Oh. Um... hi." she greeted, not recognizing Rick. Rick didn't recognize her, but he had an idea of who she was. "Can I... help you...?"

"Yeah. I-I'm looking for Beth," he replied, suppressing his belching for a moment. "Is she around- i-is she here?"

"Uh, yeah. Hold on a second." She turned and yelled into the house. "MOM, SOMEONE'S HERE FOR YOU!" Rick winced and watched the 17-year-old walk away and disappear into the house. What a host.

Beth walked down the stairs and towards the door. "Hey, sorry about that, my daughter isn't usually so-" she stopped and her eyes widened. "...dad?"

"Hey, Be-egGHH-th." he belched. "Long time no speak- er, see."

She smiled a bit. "Well. Both." She kept smiling, trying to keep the emotions from washing over her. 'You're strong, Beth,' she thought. 'You got through vet school. You can have a composed, contained conversation with your dad. Even if it's almost twenty years coming.' "It's... it's great to see you, dad."

Rick raised one side of his brow, reading right through her. "C'mon now Beth." He held his arms out a little. "Br-uuURP-bring it in." Beth hesitated a little bit, but not too much, leaning in to give Rick a tight hug.

She led him into the living room, where Jerry was sitting in his recliner and watching golf on TV. "Here dad, I'll get you a drink. Lemonade okay?" Beth asked.

"Sure," Rick said, reaching into his lab coat to finger his flask. "You know me, I'll dr-uuuUGHGHH-drink whatever."

"Oh, grab me one, Beth." Jerry said. "If you don't mind..."

'Like you can't get it yourself,' Rick thought as Beth went into the kitchen. He didn't remember much about Jerry except that he was kind of entitled? Spoiled? Diluted? He vaguely remembered that Jerry was always wearing whatever classy fashion statement was popular when he and Beth first started dating. Hi-tops. Members Only jacket. Acid-washed jeans. Stuff like that. He though he was cool. Too cool to use a fucking condom, apparently.

Rick was snapped out of his thoughts when, speak of the devil, the devil spoke. "...Rick," Jerry greeted.

He took a swig from his flask. "Jerry." He replied. He could be civil enough. Just not while he was sober. They both fell quiet, the sound of golf announcers and some guy yelling 'bababooey' every time someone tee'd off filling the silence. Occasionally Jerry would whisper 'bababooey' along. Rick took another swig of whiskey.

Beth walked back out with a tray of lemonade, setting it on the table. "Tha-aaAAEGGHH-nks, Beth." Rick said, taking a glass and smiling a bit. "Oh look at that, got the slices in the dri- in there and everything. Swanky."

"Aw, thanks dad. I'll be right back. I'm going to go grab Summer." She said, walking into the hall.

"So... Rick." Jerry said. Oh god here we go. "What brings you to our neck of the woods?

"Thought I'd come say hi,"

"Really?"

"No." Rick replied facetiously. "Wh-when was the last time you s-aaAUGH-saw me coming to say hi, Jerry?"

"Just like old times," Jerry muttered to himself. Before they could start really bitching at each other, Beth and Summer walked in.

"Dad, you've met Summer," Beth said.

"Briefly."

Summer looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry about earlier, grandpa Rick," she said. "I didn't recognize you!" She held out a hand to be shaken.

Rick looked at her hand and shrugged, taking a sip of lemonade. "D-don't sweat it." Summer pushed her hand into her pocket, a little offended, but soon enough she forgot about it as she played with her phone. Beth sat down on the couch next to her father, while Summer pulled up a chair from the kitchen.

"So... um... dad," Beth began, a little nervous. "How have things been? What are you doing these days?"

"Eh. Same old same o-uurrgh-old. Actually, I-I'm in kind of a tight squeeze here, Beth. I need a place to crash. Do my research and work and everything." He explained.

Jerry's brows furrowed. "Well, Rick, you can't just-"

"There's a guest room upstairs," Beth interrupted. "And there's plenty of space in the garage to work on your projects." Of course she was gonna let him stay, even if only for a little while. Rick was her dad, and despite him being out of her life for such a long time, she was just glad to see him back. Jerry, of course, wasn't happy about this sudden decision, but Rick didn't give a fuck.

"Thanks, Beth. Y-ouURRGH-you're a lifesaver." He smiled and took another sip of lemonade. He looked around the room a little bit. "Hey, uh... where's the other one? Uh, uh," he snapped his fingers a couple times as he rattled off names in his head. Mmmmm... "Morty! Morty. Where's my gr-uurp-grandson?" Now, Rick wasn't really a participant in the whole Council of Ricks deal, but he did know a couple of Ricks who were. He heard them talk about their Mortys a few times, and he figured it might be beneficial to get into contact with his. You know. Human cloaking devices and brainwaves and all that garbage.

A hush fell on the group, the air feeling a bit... heavier all of a sudden. Jerry looked at Beth, Beth looked at Summer, and Summer looked towards both of her parents. They all had kind of an uncomfortable, hurt expression.

"...what?" Rick said, lifting half of his brow.

"Uhm..." Beth began, looking down. "He's... he's in his room." She stood up. "I'll take you to him."