"I don't want to watch tv, I prefer listening to some nice calming music." Alfred smiled.
"Okay, then what music do you want to listen to?" Joy asked as she walked to the radio and switched it on.
"The nice smooth oldies." Alfred said sipping his tea.
"Of course you want the oldies." Lulu laughed as she walked to the radio and tuned it to the right channel.
"The music you children listen to nowadays is nothing compared to the masterpieces that we listened to back in our day." Alfred said.
"Says literally every old person I've known." Lulu replied as she turn the dial that increased the volume and soft, gently music filled the room.
"Ahh, that's better." Alfred said as he leaned back and closed his eyes.
"Do you need anything else Alfred?" Joy asked.
"No Joy, everything is perfect, now, I can rest." he smiled he said as he closed his eyes.
"Come Joy, let's leave him so he can rest properly." Lulu said as she held Joy's hand.
"Will you be alright Alfred?" Joy asked as Alfred opened his eyes and smiled at her.
"I will be perfectly okay Joy." he smiled as Lulu and Joy left him alone.
"I'm sure he will be asleep in a few minutes." Lulu whispered in Joy's ear as they exited the living room.
"We need to be extremely quiet so we won't disturb him." Lulu said as they walked up the stairs.
"Okay, but what do we do while he's sleeping?" Joy asked, she was going to be bored, Alfred was sleeping in the living room where the only tv in the house was, and she didn't want to go and play outside with Maggie, that was boring if she couldn't go out to play in the park.
"Hmmm, I don't know, how about we play the silent game." Lulu said as she walked into her bedroom and carried Joy to her bed.
"What's the silent game?" Joy asked confused.
"So, the silent game is a game where we don't talk to each other, not a single word, instead, we try to communicate using sign language or anything else that we can use to describe what we're trying to say." Lulu said.
"Oooh, okay, so how do we play the game?" Joy asked looking excited already.
"First, you have to stop talking and from now one, you can only try to describe to me what you want to say, the last person not to talk will get a full bowl of ice cream after dinner." Lulu said.
"Oooh, okay, I am going to be the winner!" Joy declared and with that she remained completely silent.
"Oh, that was quick." Lulu said as Joy mouthed the words silent game causing Lulu to giggle as she nodded and kept silent.
Joy gasped and laughed then she shook her finger no.
Lulu replied by laughing and showing her a thumbs up. Laughing did not count as speaking, so it was alright to laugh.
Joy nodded, understanding what she meant and she smiled.
Lulu gestured that she was going to get changed, to which Joy nodded as Lulu disappeared into the bathroom and returned moments later dressed more comfortably.
Joy raised her shoulders and her palms gesturing, 'What do we do now?'
Lulu tapped her chin with her finger showing that she was thinking, then she stopped and smiled, her eyes lit up.
She put her palm out and demonstrated a walking motion with her two fingers, then she pointed down and Joy nodded.
She got off Lulu's bed and rushed downstairs carefully, she did not want to accidentally wake up Alfred.
Lulu followed behind her, then Joy realized that she did not know where they were going, so she turned back to look at Lulu who had grabbed her laptop on their way out.
Lulu pointed to the right, and Joy ran in that direction, then she pointed to the left and she ran in that direction, then right again, until they stopped in front of Dom's office and Lulu sat down on the couch and patted the seat beside her as Joy sat down beside her.
Lulu opened her laptop and typed something as Joy watched her.
Joy raised her shoulders and palms, she was asking what they were doing here.
Lulu pointed to her eyes then the screen of her laptop, they were going to watch some funny online videos to pass the time.
Joy had a confused look on her face, she was asking why they were down here watching this when they could have just watched it upstairs in her room.
Lulu pointed out the door and pretended like she was sleeping then she pointed to her eyes.
Joy nodded, she understood that Lulu said she wanted to be closer to Alfred just in case he called for help.
Lulu increased the volume of her laptop as they watched funny cat videos and giggled.
After a few minutes of watching the funny videos, Joy felt her stomach rumble, she was hungry.
She tapped Lulu on the shoulder, pointed to her stomach and rubbed it.
"Oh." Lulu mouthed, she had to admit, she was a bit hungry as well, she had skipped breakfast this morning.
"Me too." she mouthed.
"What do we eat?" Joy mouthed.
Lulu pointed outside and walked with her two fingers. Joy nodded and followed after her as they walked to the kitchen.
Joy sat on the counter as Lulu looked through the cupboards for a nice snack. She was sure that Natasha would be back home soon, and lunch would be ready then, so they could not spoil their appetite eating something heavy.
"Aha." Lulu smiled as Joy gasped.
Lulu turned around and exclaimed again showing her a thumbs up. Exclamations were fine, it wasn't talking after all.
Joy giggled and nodded as Lulu brought out a pack of potato chips and opened them instantly popping some chips into her mouth.
She gave Joy some as Joy smiled, with that they walked back to Dom's office, but not before checking on Alfred who was fast asleep with the soft music playing.
Joy shot Lulu a thumbs up and Lulu replied as they continued eating their chips.
They continued to watch some more videos till Joy felt like she needed to pee, so she ran off and returned back later, she did not know how to describe that she needed to use the toilet.
Joy pointed to her wrist and tapped on it asking what the time was.
Lulu mouthed the words one o clock as Joy nodded. Her mother should be back soon, Alfred said that she would be back by lunchtime.
...
Natasha walked into the house and frowned, everywhere was so quiet, yet she could hear the sound of soft music coming from the living room.
She walked to the living room to see Alfred fast asleep, worrying her because Joy was nowhere to be found.
As worried as she was, she did not want to trouble his sleep, so she refrained from shouting Joy's name.
As she was about to go upstairs and look for Joy in her room, she heard the sound of giggles coming from Dom's office.
She frowned in confusion and walked to Dom's office, she opened the door and was surprised to see Lulu, but relieved to see Joy.
"What are you two doing here?" asked Natasha in confusion.
"Natasha, you're back!" Lulu exclaimed smiling.
"Ha, ha, you lost aunt Lulu!" Joy exclaimed before jumping to Natasha.
"Hello mommy, you're finally back." she said hugging her.
"Okay Joy, okay, you played the game well." Lulu replied laughing, she could not believe that Joy actually took this game really seriously.
"What game?" Natasha asked confused.
"Aunt Lulu and I were playing the silent game, whoever was the first to speak loses and the winner gets ice cream tonight after dinner." Joy excitedly explained.
"And I take it that you're the winner?" Natasha laughed and Joy nodded.
"Alright, so, why is Alfred asleep and why are you home at this time Lulu?" Natasha asked as she carried Joy.
"Well you see, Joy and Alfred were playing when he tried to carry her and hurt his back in the process, luckily I arrived home in time or else, they would have both been helpless." Lulu explained.
"Oh no, poor Alfred, no wonder I found him asleep." Natasha said looked worried.
"Yes, I already called Doctor Henry to come check on him, he should be here in the evening." Lulu said.
"Can you believe that Alfred has been feeling a pain in his lower back for weeks and he didn't say anything!"
"Wow, that's unexpected coming from Alfred, he should have told us." Natasha said shaking her head.
"What do you expect? The birds of a feather flock together, he and grandfather are exactly the same." Lulu said as Natasha laughed.
"How long as he been asleep for?" she asked.
"Almost two hours now." Lulu replied.
"Oh, he must have been really tired." Natasha said as Lulu nodded.