InsaneJournal

Who: Laura and Frank James [closed narrative]
What: Laura thinks Frank can't separate fact from fiction
Where: The James house
When: Sunday night
Warnings: None!

She'd promised to speak to Frank about his HBO viewing. It was several days, however, before Laura could find the time to sit down with her son to have that discussion. The children were out of school in two weeks and there was entirely too much to be done in that short span of time! But in between cleaning the apartment and making the rounds at the children's lessons to take them out of class for the summer, she managed to find a spare moment in which to speak with Frank.

It was bedtime for the James kids and Mary was reading quietly in her bedroom. Laura had just closed the girl's door and walked into Frank's room when he held up the book he wanted for his own bedtime reading. Jesse James, My Father. Of course.

"Again, buddy? You just read this one last week!" She sat down on the side of the bed, taking the book and leaning back against the headboard.

Frank nodded and cuddled up to her side. "Again. I like it."

"Your daddy's going to get jealous if he thinks you're more interested in his namesake than him, you know." Okay, so that was a little bit of an exaggeration. But Frank's continued interest in the old West and the original Jesse James did worry Jesse. Until Frank had gotten interested in guns, it hadn't worried Laura in the least. She was starting to regret being so lenient now.

With the colossal disdain of a child, Frank huffed a sigh. "No he won't." He opened the book and pointed to a page. "Chapter Two. That's where I left off."

Laura picked up the book and obediently began to read. "The story of the murder of my father and the events leading up to it... baby, I can't read this to you." Before her son could protest, she set the book aside and turned to face him. "Your father told me that he found you watching that movie about Jesse James the other day. Said you looked upset. Want to tell me about it?"

There was a span of perhaps two minutes when Frank didn't say anything. He wouldn't look at her, instead twisting the edge of the blanket in his fingers. "They shot him in the back of the head, you know. Like cowards," he said at last, far quieter than usual.

She wrapped her arm around her son's shoulders and frowned. "Sweetheart, it's just a movie."

Frank was quick to counter, sitting up straight and looking at his mother insistently. "But it's not just a movie! It really happened! They shot him in the head and he died, and his family was just in the other room! Zerelda and Mary and Jesse Jr... not the twins, though. They died when they were babies. But everyone was right there when they shot Dad!"

Well, apparently Jesse had been right about how Frank was having difficulty separating fact from fiction. Laura tilted Frank's chin up and looked him right in the eyes, trying to be as serious as she could without betraying her worry over how literally he was taking this entire assassination. "Baby, they didn't shoot your dad. That Jesse James lived more than a hundred years ago -- even if he hadn't been killed, there's no way anybody lives that long. Just because Daddy's got the same name doesn't make him the same person. You understand that, don't you?"

Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could have sworn Frank paused before he nodded. "Uh-huh. I know."

"Okay. Why don't you try getting some sleep, and I'll see you in the morning." After kissing her son good-night and shutting the door behind herself, Laura retired to her own bed to go over what she'd just heard. It was the second time those particular children --Mary, Jesse, and the twins-- had been mentioned in conjunction with her husband. Something was going on.

But before she could get too lost in her thoughts, a crack of thunder echoed throughout the apartment and lightning lit up the dark room. As expected, Frank came racing into the room a few seconds later and threw himself into the bed between his parents. Well, she'd just have to consider those things tomorrow.