Meet The Burnses

Meet The Burnses is the fifth episode of the first season of At Home With Karen.

Summary
Fred and Daphne are out for the day, so Steve and Joe take Karen with them to Denver for a barbecue at their parent's house, where she meets the rest of their family.

Story
One day, Joe was playing Wii Sports in the living room when Steve came down.

"Hey, Joe," said Steve, "I just got off the phone with Dad. They're having a barbecue at their place, and they want us to come."

"Cool," said Joe.

"I don't think Karen's met neither Mom, Dad, Holly, nor Blue yet," said Steve.

"Neither do I," said Joe.

Just then, Karen came downstairs.

"Hey, Karen," said Steve.

"Hey, guys," said Karen, "what's up?"

"We just got invited to our parents' place for a barbecue," said Joe, "wanna come?"

"Sure," said Karen, "I've been wanting to meet your parents."

"Well," said Steve, "now's your chance."

"What time did they want us to be there," asked Joe.

"Well," said Steve, "Dad said we can be there at any time."

"Well," said Joe, "I'm just about done with this bowling game."

"Okay," said Steve, "we'll leave when you're done."

"Sounds good," said Joe.

"Where do your parents live," asked Karen.

"In Denver," said Steve.

"Is that far from here," asked Karen.

"Not too far," said Joe, "only an hour's worth of driving."

"Okay," said Karen.

Soon, Joe finished his game and the threesome got into Steve and Joe's shared 1974 Volkswagen Thing and drove off for Denver. In no time, they arrived, and were greeted by Steve and Joe's mother, Olivia.

"Hello," said Olivia happily as she hugged her sons.

"Hey, Mom," said Steve, "Where's Dad?"

"He's at the supermarket getting the patties, franks, buns, and chips," said Olivia, "Holly's in her room with Blue."

Just then, Olivia noticed Karen.

"Who's that," asked Olivia.

"Remember how we said that we adopted a girl in our last video call to you guys," asked Joe.

"Yes," said Olivia.

"Well," said Steve, "that's her. That's Karen."

"Oh, yes," said Olivia, "of course."

Olivia then turned to Karen.

"Hello, Karen," said Olivia, "I'm Steve and Joe's mother."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Burns," Karen said happily.

"Please," said Olivia, "just 'Olivia' will do."

"Okay," said Karen.

"Come on, Joe," said Steve, "let's go see Holly and Blue."

With that, the three went to Holly's room and Steve knocked on the door.

"Come in," said Holly.

Steve, Joe, and Karen entered the room.

"Hey, Hol," said Steve.

"Hey, Steve, Joe," said Karen, "Mom and Dad told me you two were coming."

"Hey, guys," said Blue.

"And hello to you, Blue," said Joe as he patted Blue's head.

Just then, Holly saw Karen.

"Are you Karen," asked Holly.

"Yeah," said Karen, "how'd you know?"

"Steve and Joe told me about you," said Holly.

"Hey, Karen," said Blue happily.

Karen was surprised.

"Wow," said Karen, "another talking dog! And this one's blue!"

"Is that a problem," asked Blue.

"Not at all," said Karen.

"Blue was a Christmas present from Mom and Dad when me and Steve were kids," said Joe.

Flashback

It was Christmas of 2011, when Steve was sixteen years old, Joe was fourteen, and Holly was two.

"Okay, kids," said Olivia, "it's time for you two to open our present."

Steve Sr. then placed a large box wrapped in light blue paper and a dark blue bow in front of Steve, Joe, and Holly.

"Go ahead," said Steve Sr., "open it!"

Steve opened the box and found a little puppy with light blue fur and dark blue spots.

"Puppy," Holly said excitedly.

"Wow," said Steve, "a blue puppy!"

"Is it really blue or did someone just dye it blue," asked Joe.

"Oh, it's really blue, alright," said Olivia, "that's why we got her for half price."

"Nice," said Steve, "so, what are we gonna name it?"

"Well," said Steve Sr., "we kinda thought of naming her "Blue" for a pretty obvious reason."

"Sounds fitting," said Steve.

"Well, Blue," said Joe, "welcome to the family!"

Blue happily licked Steve's face, and the latter laughed.

End Flashback

"I'll never forget that Christmas," said Steve.

"Neither will I," said Joe.

Just then, Holly saw the Burns children's father, Steve Sr.,'s 2013 Toyota Highlander pull up.

"Dad's home," Holly announced.

They then went downstairs and Steve Jr. helped Steve Sr. carrying in the groceries.

"Glad you boys could make it," said Steve Sr.

"So are we," said Joe.

Steve and Joe then introduced their father to Karen.

"Nice to meet you in person," said Steve Sr.

"You too, Steve Sr.," said Karen.

"Boys, Holly," said Steve Sr., "why don't you three do something fun with Karen while I cook the food?"

"You got it, Pops," said Steve.

Steve and Joe then showed Karen their old room.

"Man," said Joe, "who knows how long it's been since I've last been in this room."

"Ditto," said Steve.

"So this was your room," asked Karen.

"Yeah," said Joe.

"Mom and Dad use it as a guest room now," said Karen.

Just then, Steve had an idea.

"Hey, Karen," asked Steve, "wanna see something really cool?"

"Sure," said Karen.

Steve then went into Steve Sr. and Olivia's room and came back with a photograph of a younger Steve Sr. with the Loud sisters' dad and Karen's teacher, Lynn Loud Sr., Fred's dad, Skip Jones, Daphne's dad, Nedley Blake, and the Hardy brothers' dad, Fenton Hardy. All of them were wearing black leather jackets, jeans, and combat boots and had their hair in the mullet style.

"Is that Mr. Loud," asked Karen.

"Yup," said Joe, "when he, Dad, Mr. Jones. Mr. Blake, and Mr. Hardy were all in high school, they were in a band called Thimbles & Half Dollars."

"Yeah," said Steve, "Lynn Sr. played bass and sang lead, Skip played drums, Nedley played keyboard, Dad played lead guitar, and Fenton played rhythm guitar."

"Nice," said Karen.

"Yeah," said Steve.

Just then, they heard Steve Sr. calling them down, as the food was ready, so they washed up and joined Steve Sr. and Olivia outside.

"So," asked Olivia, "what were you guys up to?"

"We were telling Karen about Dad's old band," said Joe.

"Oh, yeah," said Steve Sr., "I remember when we performed before your guys' concert."

"Yeah," said Joe, "that was fun!"

A while later, it was time for Steve, Joe, and Karen to head home.

"It was great seeing you boys again," said Olivia.

"Same to you, Mom," said Steve.

Steve, Joe, and Karen waved goodbye to the rest of the Burns family as they drove off back to Starlet City.

"Those sure looked like some nice people," said Karen.

The End