Bobby snuck into Julie's office and looked through her address book. He heard the shower start running, so he assumed he was safe for at least 20 minutes while Julie was holed in in the bathroom.
His finger skimmed down the page until he found what he was looking for. With one ear listening out for Julie, he grabbed the phone and dialled in the number.
For her parents house.
Mrs Williams
Mrs Williams picked up the phone. She was expecting a call from the hospital and had practically been sitting on the phone all day.
"Hello?"
Bobby
Oh, thank God it was her mother. Women he could charm. Mother's seemed to love him.
"Hello, Mrs Williams? This is Robert Drake, Julie's... Julie's husband."
Mrs Williams
Mrs Williams was silent for a moment.
"Julie's husband?" she repeated.
Julie got married? Julie got married and she wasn't there to see it?
Bobby
"I realise this has probably come as a shock to you," Bobby said gently.
He paused.
"It would've been nice to have had you there, but Julie felt, under the circumstances... that you might not have wanted to be there. And I couldn't force her to do something she did not want to do."
Mrs Williams
"I... I... no... no of course not," Mrs Williams replied.
The realisation seemed to catch in her throat.
"I would have liked to be there..." she said wistfully. "How is she? B'E? Tom? The baby? How long have you been married for?"
Bobby
"Um... 11 days, so far," Bobby chuckled.
"B'E and Tom are great... um..."
He paused.
"There are 4 more kids... did you know? She had quads..."
Mrs Williams
"Quads!" Mrs Williams exclaimed.
She had to sit down. And she did. Hard.
"My baby had four? Four? And... and they're all..." she swallowed. "Mutants?"
Bobby
Bobby bit his lip. He'd expected the mutant thing to come up, and wasn't quite sure if she realised he was a mutant.
"Yes," he said slowly.
"I know this has got to be a lot to take, but really, mutants aren't all that bad. We get a bad reputation with guys like Magneto, always trying to incite some sort of war, but trust me, Mrs Williams, mutants are just like regular people... just slightly more evolved."
Mrs Williams
"My husband hates mutants," Mrs Williams said quietly. "I suppose you probably know that's why he disowned Julie - because the baby - babies - were fathered by a mutant. I guess, I have always shared that same distate because of his opinion. But... but I... I'd gladly try to give up that distaste, or at least try to endure it, to see my daughter again. And meet my grandchildren."
Bobby
"That's why I contacted you," Bobby said gently.
His voice was positively charming, he knew all the right things to say.
"I don't want our kids to not know their grandparents. And I know it hurts Julie more than she lets on."
Mrs Williams
Mutant or not, it sure sounded like Julie had found herself a kind, considerate man.
"Well, I... I guess we should arrange a meeting," she said. "Only... I know my husband won't come... and he's in the hospital at the moment."
She swallowed.
"He had a heart attack yesterday. A bad one. He almost didn't make it."
Bobby
"I'm very sorry to hear that," Bobby said sincerly. "If there's anything I can do..."
He wondered how he would tell Julie... firstly that he called her parents, and second that her father was in hospital.
"When your husband is well, and you feel ok with leaving him for a short amount of time, I'd love to have you - both of you, but I understand that would never be so - come out and stay with us. You can see how well Julie's online games are going. And make sure I'm taking care of her."
Mrs Williams
Mrs Williams chuckled softly.
"I'm sure you're taking care of her," she replied. "But what... online games?"
Bobby
"Oh."
Bobby wondered just how much about Julie that her parents didn't know. Because it seemed to be quite a lot.
"Julie has her own business. She designs games to play online and people subscribe to play... she has merchandise and everything now."
Mrs Williams
"Oh!"
Well, at least Julie hadn't just left her brains go to waste.
"That's wonderful," Mrs Williams beamed. "She was always a smart girl. Her business has been successful, I hope?"
Bobby
Bobby smiled at her reaction.
"Yeah, it started off a little slow, but once word got out about her game, she's been working non stop to fill out merchandise orders and working out the bugs in the game. She's programming more games everyday, from what I gather."
He listened and thought he heard the shower stop running. He assumed he had at least 10 more minutes.
Mrs Williams
"That's wonderful," Mrs Williams repeated. "Just wonderful. Thank you so much for calling me, Robert. You have no idea what it means to me to hear all of this."
She paused briefly.
"I... I imagine Julie was a little... upset when she didn't receieve all of her things. I... I do have the rest of them. I kept them safe and sound..." she chewed her lip for a moment, an unsual, even rebelious thought crossing her mind. "My husband was... well, he wanted to sell them or dump them - would only let me send so much back to her... But maybe while he's in hospital, I could ship the rest to you? If you wouldn't mind giving me an address? Or are you still at the school?"
Bobby
Bobby smiled in spite of himself.
"No no, that's no problem. Julie and I are actually living out of the school, we're still in New York... do you have a pen and paper? I'll give you the address and our phone number."
He waited patiently, then rattled off the address when he heard she was ready.
Mrs Williams
Mrs Williams jotted down the last figure.
"Great," she said. "I send everything off to you as soon as I can."
Bobby
"Thanks."
Bobby paused. The shower had stopped.
"I better get going, but if you were still interested in coming up for a visit, you can give me a call later on."
Mrs Williams
"I will. Thank you so much for contacting me. You have no idea just how much this means to me," Mrs Williams replied.
She set the pen back down.
Bobby
"I think I do," Bobby said honestly.
"I'll talk to you later, I guess."
They said their goodbyes, then Bobby hung up and went whistling through the house.