From Our House to Bob's chp7

And like a flash, every Veggie in town went off to tend to their jobs. Mothers and wives began their Christmas baking for Bob; fathers and husbands climbed ladders and began taking their Christmas lights down; children made crafts and bought gifts for their Sunday School teacher, all the while discussing the games they would play with him on that special day.

Larry and Petunia immediately set off to the task of finding every means possible of helping Bob recover in time for the Christmas party. They made hot chocolate, chicken noodle soup, and gathered the warmest blankets they could find. They were both determined to make the tomato better within three days.

The doorbell on Petunia's door rang, just as she and Larry were busy making some soup. "Come in!" Petunia shouted.

The door opened and in hopped Junior. He closed the door behind him before running into the kitchen. "How's the cure comin' along, guys?" he wondered.

"Great; my grandmother gave me the best chicken noodle soup recipe ever," Petunia replied excitedly. "It should have Bob up on his feet in no time!" When Larry and Junior both looked at her in confusion, Petunia giggled and smiled wryly. "Um, hypothetically speaking, of course," she added.

"And we're making sure that Bob takes some hot chocolate, not to mention some Buckley's cold remedy," Larry added. "What are you up to, Junior?"

Junior held up some song books. "I know Bob plays the piano, and so does Mr. Archibald," he said. "And you remember that Christmas pageant we were goin' to put up with Bob and you, right?"

"Yeah, of course. Too bad he'll be too sick to go to it."

"Well, I thought that we could bring it to him! We don't need to dress up or anything, but we could sing songs together! And then you, Bob and I could sing that song we practiced together! I'm pretty sure Bob should be able to sing by Christmas. Don't you?"

"That's a great idea, Junior!" Larry said with a smile. "Bob loves to sing!"

"We could have the whole town singing with us!" Petunia added.

"Will there be enough room in his house for everyone?" Junior wondered.

Larry shrugged. "Well, some folks might leave earlier, and I'm sure most of the kids who aren't in the pageant will be outside in the snow," he said. "And who said you couldn't sing from the kitchen? Bob's house looks small, but it's pretty spacey. He likes space. That's what you get for living in a mansion all your li—!" Larry widened his eyes and placed a hot chocolate pack in front of his mouth while looking at Petunia. "Ops," he muttered.

Petunia was already staring at him in surprise. "Did you say mansion?" she exclaimed.

"Larry, I thought Bob didn't like it when you blabbed!" Junior scolded.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Larry apologized. "And it's only Petunia! What harm could it do?"

"But Bob wouldn't like it!"

Petunia giggled softly before returning to her soup. "Okay, I get it," she said. "Apparently, Bob was raised in a mansion, but if I'm not supposed to know that, I'll try to forget I even heard it. When Bob's ready to tell me, then I'll listen."

Junior leaned towards Larry. "It's a good thing your girlfriend is an understanding Veggie," he whispered.

"Hey!" Larry whispered back. "She is not my girlfriend!"

"Not yet."

"Junior!"

Petunia pretended not to hear anything, even though she actually did hear the entire conversation. She rolled her eyes amusingly and continued to cook.

*****

All day on Thursday, everyone was busy making arrangements. The children took a break only for lunch and to practice singing with Junior. The men of the town – including Mr. Nezzer, Mr. Lunt, Pa Grape, Mr. Asparagus, Mr. Carrot, Mr. Cucumber and his sons, Mr. Pea and the Gourd brothers – once they had organized all the Christmas lights they could find, immediately headed straight for Bob's house to set things up in every tree and in on the roof of the house.

While they did so, Larry and Petunia entered the house to make sure Bob kept his eyes away from the windows.

"You didn't have to come over, Larry," Bob said as he hopped from the kitchen to the stairs.

Larry and Petunia followed him, holding a mug of hot cocoa and a bowl of soup. "Of course we did," Larry replied. "It's Christmas time, Bob."

"But what about your families?" Bob wondered as he turned around and looked at them.

"You're part of our family, Bob," Petunia mentioned as she stopped next to the tomato while Larry went into the living room to close the blinds. "And we wanted to make sure you get better by Christmas."

"I appreciate your concern, Petunia, but it really doesn't matter anymore," Bob replied weakly. "Besides; all I've been doing so far was sleep. Every time I get up, my head starts getting light."

"Which is why we brought you some remedies."

Bob sighed tiredly while looking at her before looking over her shoulder at his best friend.

"I brought some chicken noodle soup that's sure to make you better in no time flat," Petunia added. "My grandmother used to make it for me when I caught the cold."

Bob nodded solemnly while still watching his best friend.

"It's delicious and it'll keep you nice and warm—!"

"Larry, why are you closing all the blinds?" Bob interrupted, watching the cucumber do so. "You'll cast the whole house into darkness!"

Larry closed the last one and looked at him. "Light will disturb you," he said. "My mom always said that if you're sick, you should rest in the dark. It's peaceful and soft on the eyes."

"But what if I need to get from one room to the other? I need to see where I'm going."

"If you're sick, you don't need to move around. You just said that it makes your head light."

Bob looked at him tiredly and rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever," he muttered, turning around and hopping up the stairs. Petunia followed closely behind.

Larry watched them leave and quickly peeked out the window. Mr. Nezzer was nearby, holding a ladder in place, while Pa Grape, Mr. Lunt and Mr. Pea climbed it with some lights.

Nezzer looked at the cucumber and grinned with a wink.

Larry smiled back before disappearing into the house again.

When he caught up with Petunia and Bob, they had already reached the tomato's bedroom. While Bob sat down on his bed, Petunia was busy closing the curtains over the windows.

"This is completely ridiculous," Bob muttered as Petunia left half of one window visible. "I feel like I live in a cave all of a sudden."

"You'll get used to it," Larry replied as Petunia left the room and went to close the drapes in every other room on that floor.

"No one did that with every window at my house when I was a kid."

"That's because mansions have too many windows. The maids would have gotten tired after the first five."

Bob coughed a few times before grabbing a tissue and blowing his nose. "I hate colds," he muttered.

Larry passed him the mug of hot chocolate. "Just keep yourself warm and take some Buckley's, and you should be fine by Christmas, Buddy," he replied.

"I don't care if I'm cured by Christmas or not anymore, Larry," Bob said gloomily after taking a sip of the hot chocolate. "There's nothing to look forward to anymore."

Larry did not like hearing his friend speak this way. It made him even more worried for his condition. "Bob, Christmas isn't only about being with family," he said gently. "It's about Baby Jesus. You always remind the kids about that. Doesn't He matter to you anymore?"

Bob looked at him restlessly. "Of course He does," he replied. He looked at the bowl of soup that Petunia had put down. "But what's the point in celebrating His birth… alone?"

Larry looked at him sadly. "Bob, you know I'm always here to celebrate Christmas with you," he reminded him.

Bob only sighed and grabbed the bowl of soup.

"You'll never be alone on Christmas while I'm around."

The tomato tried to grin through his sadness, Larry could tell. But after a few seconds of trying, Bob gave up and let it disappear again.

Oh, Bob, Larry thought sadly. You're not used to being this sad.

Bob remained silent for a little longer and then began to raise the spoon in the bowl up to his mouth. But just as Petunia entered when the tomato was about to taste the soup, something from outside caught their attention.

Ba-BOOM!

Bob quickly raised his head and looked out the window, just as Larry and Petunia did as well. Then, out from nowhere, a little green bullet fell from the sky and bounced off of second part of the roof, right in front of the window. There was a shout of surprise before everything else fell silent.

Larry and Petunia stared outside in complete dismay. Bob, on the other hand, frowned in confusion and put down his chicken noodle soup. "What in the world?" he muttered. He slid off of his bed and hopped up to the window. "Was that a pea?"

Just as he was leaning forward to get a better look, all the while pushing away the other half of the curtain, Larry and Petunia jumped into action. They gasped in horror and rushed over to the tomato. "Don't, Bob!" Larry exclaimed as he quickly pulled his best friend away from the window while Petunia closed the curtains all the way.

Bob was utterly perplexed. He looked at the cucumber as he was pulled backwards. "What's going on around here?" he exclaimed.

"Nothing!" Larry replied as Bob broke free. "You just shouldn't look into the light… when you're… uh, sick with the cold."

Bob stared at him in complete befuddlement.

"It will… uh, make you worse."

The tomato blinked quickly before finally frowning at the cucumber. "What's going on, Larry?" he asked sternly. "First, you and Petunia show up after I said I didn't need any company; next you're closing all the blinds in my house, and now, I'm seeing peas falling from my roof! Just what the heck are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything, I swear!" Larry replied.

"And that wasn't a pea, Bob," Petunia corrected him nervously. "It was… um, cabbages!"

At these words, even Larry gave the rhubarb an odd look.

Petunia laughed nervously. "You know those squirrels," she added. "They pick up everything."

Bob stared at her in bewilderment. "Squirrels?" he echoed.

Petunia bared her teeth. "The ones where I grew up actually ate cheese, believe it or not," she said.

Bob continued to give her an odd look until he decided it was useless to go on. With a groan, he rolled his eyes, turned around and hopped into bed. "Fine, don't tell me anything," he mumbled, pulling back the sheets over himself. "I'm in no condition to care about the silly games you guys play anyway." Laying down, he turned over so that his back was to his visitors. "Now let me sleep, thank you."

Larry shot another confused look at Petunia. Petunia shrugged before leaving the room. "The rest of the soup is in the kitchen if you want it, Bob," she said gently. "Rest up."

"I'll try."

Larry watched her leave before looking at Bob again. "You won't be alone," he reassured him.

Bob sighed heavily. "Larry, please," he said in a hurtful tone.

Larry was slightly hurt that his best friend was pushing him away, but did not take it personally. He knew that Bob was still trying to get over the fact that his parents would not be there for Christmas again.

The cucumber took a few steps towards the hallway, but just as he reached the doorway, he stopped and turned around to look at his best friend again.

After a moment of thought, he hopped back into the room and pulled out his pocket copy of the Holy Bible. He held it up, looked at the little black book with golden letters, and then looked at his best friend once more. Then he leaned over the bed and pushed the book over until he was sure it was lying in front of Bob's face.

Larry straightened out and looked at him pitifully. "Maybe you should let Him tell you a story this time," he said softly. "You might feel better." He hopped up to the doorway again, and once he was there, looked over his shoulder again. "See ya later, Bob," he whispered before turning away and leaving the bedroom.

Arriving at the first floor, Petunia was already in the entrance. They got dressed quietly before leaving the house.

Larry closed the door behind him and then gave Petunia a slightly irritated look. "Cabages?" he said incredulously.

"Well, what would you have said?" Petunia argued, looking back at him and frowning. "I couldn't tell him that he was right!"

"But cabbages? Come on, Petunia! Bob's not an idiot!"

"At least he didn't bother to look again."

They left the house only after they told Jean-Claude, Phillipe and the other men on the roof to make sure not to make too much noise.

*****