Disclaimer: I own only the original characters, everything else is property of Greg Berlanti
"Dad, I've gotta get these papers signed for my learner's permit, the deadline's tomorrow." Will Brown reminded his father from the passenger seat of their SUV.
"Let me guess, I'm being forced to sign something else that's going to be cruical to your future?" Ephram asked, his son gave him a half-smile.
"Don't forget the fifty bucks you have to shell out for the Drivers Ed. course. " The car pulled into the driveway of their house on Pine street, in Everwood, Colorado.
Ephram unlocked the front door, and Will sat down at the table, throwing his bag on the floor beside the chair. "I just need to go over the basic stuff with you, then you can read all the other forms and sign them." Will explained. His father nodded and Will began to read off the paper.
"Yeah, all that stuff's right." Ephram said when he'd finished. "I'll read over the papers with your mother when she gets home."
Will nodded, handing him the forms. "Okay, sure." He began flipping through the pages of hiscalculus book when he realized something. "Oh, wait, I almost forgot to ask, how do you spell "Kellner" ?"
Ephram froze. He was stunned by the sound of that name, so much so that what felt like an eternity for Ephram ticked by before he answered his son. "Um, It's uh, K-E-L-L-N-E-R."
"Alright." Will continued, ignoring his father's odd behavior. "I wanted to make sure I had it right, since I never really use it."
Ephram didn't respond, instead he absentmindedly searched through his briefcase."I'm gonna start on that new jazz peice. If your homework's finished ,I'll take you out driving after dinner."
"Sounds good." The pianist clapped his son affectionately on the shoulder and started down the hall towards his studio.
It was nearly 5:30 when Amy got home from a late night teaching at Everwood Community Collage. Ever since the dance hall in Denver closed down, she'd moved her course on the history of dance to the more traditional setting of a lecture hall on campus; She smelled the dinner that Will and Ephram had cooked in the air outside the house. Amy was grateful for the short drive home, since it gave her more time to spend with her family.
"Mommy!" Amy had barely gotten in the door when she was greeted by her eight-year-old daughter, Eva.
"Hi sweetie." Amy hung her coat on the stand by the door and reached down to hug the little girl. "Did you have fun at school today?"
Eva nodded enthusiastically. Amy looked down at her daughter's small hands, and it was evident that she had been using paint at some point. "We had art class today." Eva explained to her mother's questioning smile.
"Uh-Huh. Well, why don't you go get washed up, I'm sure Will and Daddy have everything ready for us." Doing as she was told, Eva headed toward the kitchen to wash her hands.
As if on cue, Ephram walked down the hallway from his studio. "Hey." He put his arms around his wife. "I didn't even hear you come in."
"I'm awful sneaky that way." She said, linking her arms with his. She slowly kissed him on the lips, then settled into his grasp. "Where's Will? I thought he was supposed to help you with dinner."
"Oh, yeah. He did. I think he went up to his room after he set the table." Ephram said, still having thoughts about what had happened that afternoon.
"Alright, well, you wanna call him down? I'm gonna go make sure Eva hasn't flooded the place." Amy began to turn away, and she'd only taken a few paces before Ephram stopped her.
"Amy, this afternoon, Will asked me how to spell "Kellner"." Ephram's voice was nearly down to a whisper, as if they were children telling secrets on the playground.
Amy slowly brought her hand to her mouth, thrown as Ephram had been by the sound of the name. "Do you think he suspects anything?"
Ephram shook his head. "No, It was an innocent question. Besides, It's not him I'm worried about; I haven't heard that name in over ten years, It kind of caughtme off gaurd."
"I know."Amy said emapathetically. "But, like you said, It was an innocent question. I mean, If he'd confronted you, or he'd found a picture or a file of something..." She trailed off, knowing she was reciting the words to a time-worn conversation.
"Mom, Dad, are we going to eat before morning?" Will's voice came in from the kitchen. It was only now that Amy noticed they were in the master bedroom, niether one of them really remembering walking in there, having been so engrossed in the topic at hand.
"We'll be right there!" Ephram called back, then he turned to Amy."Everything's put away, right?"
"Yeah." Amy knew exactly what he meant.
"Mommy, Daddy, Will says dinner's getting cold." Eva leaned her head through the slightly open door, ending her parents' disscussion.
"After Daddy and Will made a whole meal without burning it?" Amy said playfully to her daughter. Ephram held Eva in his arms and the three walked into the kitchen, and sat down at thetable, along with Will ,for dinner.
As they ate, Ephram couldn't shake the feeling that this was not the last the Brown family would be hearing of the name Kellner.
AN: Alrighty, that's chapter one! I hope you like it so far, since I'm tryng to make it as original as posible. You know what to do, review, review, review!