After they'd brought Brooklyn home, the girl had been restricted to a few days of bedrest before she was to take it easy for a few days after that. Cordelia had stepped into her room to find it empty. The girl had obviously been there. Her phone was laid on the nightstand and her book she had been reading was still in the bed.
The Supreme rolled her eyes and headed downstairs. She found Misty in the greenhouse on her search for Brooklyn and the wild blonde just shook her head when Cordelia asked if she was hiding in there.
The woman finally found the younger girl sat cross legged on the porch swing staring off blankly ahead of her, "Brooklyn?" The girl's gaze snapped to her and she scrunched her face up.
"Busted," Was mumbled out and Cordelia just shook her head playfully before taking a seat beside the girl on the swing, "Sorry. I just… I don't like to be… Confined," Cordelia looked at her questioningly at the way she had struggled to pick a word to use but the girl wouldn't look towards her so she didn't press.
Cordelia threw her arm around her shoulders and the girl leaned against her side a moment later and laid her head down on her shoulder, "It's fine, darling. You're not in any pain?" Brooklyn shook her head.
"It healed already. It was healed when we left the hospital. There's not even a scar," Cordelia nodded. She'd completely forgotten that the girl healed so much faster than everyone else, "I don't even know how I got sick in the first place. I've never been able to get sick?"
"I'll do some research but maybe your body just couldn't heal itself completely and attacked itself this time," The girl nodded in acceptance, "So that volunteer nurse was kind of cute, huh?" Brooklyn blushed then and looked up at Cordelia exasperated.
"Mom," Was whined out and Cordelia felt her heart flutter just as she did each and every time Brooklyn called her mom. The girl had definitely noticed her nurse and the nurse had definitely noticed her too. They'd flirted pretty shamelessly when Cordelia and Misty were out of the room and were completely flustered when the women were in the room.
Unknown to Cordelia or Misty, the nurse, whose name was Dakota, had written her number on a cup that she had brought to Brooklyn with a message to text her. They'd been talking constantly.
"I'm just saying. She seemed to think you were kind of cute too," Brooklyn groaned and covered her face by burying it into Cordelia's shoulder. The woman just laughed at her and turned her head to press a kiss into blonde hair, "Okay, I'm finished," She held her hands up in defeat and Brooklyn laughed against her, "You hungry?"
oooOOooOOooo
Cordelia had needed a few things the next day and Brooklyn had volunteered to go with her. They were making their way through town now. The girl was walking next to Cordelia with her head down as she typed out a text and missed the way the girl she had just walked by snapped her head around to look at her.
"Brooklyn Elizabeth," The girl's head snapped up and Cordelia barely had time to look up and see the younger blonde being swung around by a taller girl who looked about her age.
"Jessica Elaine," She giggled as the girl sat her down to her feet, "What'd I tell you about my middle name?"
"Well I could have pulled a Jake and called you Brookibeth," The girl scrunched her face up in disgust.
"Where is he anyway?"
"He's here for work so he's around here somewhere," The girl nodded and finally remembered that she had been with someone. She turned around and faced an amused looking Cordelia.
"Right, Jess, this is my mom," The girl looked at her in shock before turning to an equally confused Cordelia and holding her hand out.
"Nice to meet you," Cordelia nodded and shook the girl's hand.
"Likewise."
"And this is Jess, my not so genius partner in crime," Was said laughingly and the girl rolled her eyes.
"For the last time, I assumed that since we had gotten a whole state over that no one would be looking for us. I wanted to meet Maya Angelou, sue me," Brooklyn just laughed, "Well, it was amazing to see you but Jake literally can't tell north from south meaning I probably need to go find him," Brooklyn laughed and hugged her again before she walked off in the opposite direction.
The girl turned back to Cordelia who was looking at her funnily, "You can just ask. I'm not going to bite you," The Supreme laughed as she fell into step beside her daughter.
"So, who exactly was that?"
"I met her in a group home for the first time right after Katie died. We were thrown together a few times after that too and we've been best friends since."
Cordelia nodded, "And Jake?"
"Jake is two years older than the two of us and he was my foster brother when I was twelve. He, uh, he… protected me. From my foster father," Cordelia nodded when the girl didn't continue and didn't press her for information.
"And.. Maya Angelou?" Brooklyn just giggled then.
"We decided that at fourteen we were tired of being in the system and ran away," Cordelia looked at her with wide eyes here, "Yeah, not the greatest idea. We got pretty far actually. We hopped a bus a state over and she saw this sign that Maya was going to be doing a book signing at the library in the town we got off on. She convinced me that we were far enough away that no one would recognize us and I let her talk me into it. Maya was nice though so I guess it was okay."
"Is that what that little thing in your file is that says you're reckless and a flight risk?" Brooklyn laughed at that.
"Yes, they love to hyperbolize things," Cordelia nodded, "System kids aren't exactly what people want."
Cordelia shook her head and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders to pull her into her side, "You're exactly what I want."
oooOOooOOooo
At around two in the morning, Cordelia pushed Brooklyn's bedroom door open. The girl looked up from her book and cocked her head to the side, "Why are you still up?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to ask you that," The girl shrugged and Cordelia made her way to the bed and sat down facing the girl, "I had last minute paperwork. What are you doing up?"
"I don't sleep well," Cordelia furrowed her eyebrows.
"You do this often?"
"Almost every night," The Supreme bit her lip at that information.
"Do you mind if I ask why?"
Brooklyn stared at her for a long time before sighing, "I have nightmares," Cordelia nodded in response, "Which sounds ridiculous, I know."
"It doesn't sound ridiculous, sweetheart. We all have nightmares. Hell, Misty used to wake up screaming and thrashing from hers," Brooklyn relaxed somewhat and Cordelia subtly moved closer to her, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'm not sure you want to hear it," Was said softly as she looked down at her lap. Cordelia grabbed one of her hands and rubbed her thumb over her knuckles.
"Sweetheart, I'll listen to anything you ever want to tell me," Brooklyn nodded and stared at her for a moment.
"Okay," She took a deep breath, "So I told you about Jake and that he protected me," Cordelia nodded, "Well, it was at the time that I was maturing and we lived in the same home at the time," Cordelia just squeezed her hand in acknowledgement, "And my twelve year old self had never had anyone give me the sex talk. I had no clue," Cordelia nodded, "And, well, as with most homes in the system, my foster father wasn't too nice," Brooklyn said softly and she felt Cordelia stiffen, "I can stop."
"Darling, I'm fine. But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Brooklyn nodded.
"I think it might be good for me to talk it out," Cordelia nodded and waited for her to continue, "Well, Jeff, that was my foster father's name, he came into my room one night and I didn't know what was going on. I just knew that it hurt and he got mad if I cried," Cordelia willed herself not to cry and scooted slightly closer to the girl, "And I mentioned it to Jake one day and, bless his heart, that fourteen year old boy had to tell me about the birds and the bees," Brooklyn laughed a little there and looked up at Cordelia who just nodded at her, "And after that, he protected me as much as he could. That is, until they got tired of him and sent him away. Then I was on my own and I didn't get transferred out of that home until I was fifteen."
Cordelia had to stifle her gasp and nodded to the girl, "So, I still have dreams about my time there. No matter who I called or who I reported him to, it never did any good. I was there for three years and he only moved on from me when there was a younger girl who was placed with them. At that point, I did what I had to and got us both out of there."
Cordelia didn't ask but the girl's tone left no room for argument. She had done whatever was necessary. It was silent for a moment and Cordelia finally just leaned towards the girl and pulled her into a hug. Brooklyn sank against her and breathed in deeply.
"I know that nothing I say can take what happened away or make your memories any less dark than they are. But I want you to know that I am so sorry, baby girl. You are safe now and we will do everything in our power to protect you. And if you ever just want someone to talk to after a nightmare or you don't want to be alone, you're never too old to be held either. Come get one of us," Brooklyn finally nodded against her and they sat like that for a long time.
When Cordelia looked down, Brooklyn was asleep against her. She shifted the girl so she was laying down and looked towards the door before taking a seat in the chair in the corner of the room and falling asleep there.
oooOOooOOooo
"Hey, darlin'," Cordelia looked up from a stack of papers as her wife stuck her head in the door, "One of the girls called. I think I may need ta fly out."
"Why didn't she call me?"
"She said ya were gonna get mad. I think I can handle this one. She just needs a little resurgence.. Or a lotta resurgence. Her dad's a farmer and she mighta killed his crops," Cordelia stifled a giggle and just nodded.
"Okay, I'll help you pack."
oooOOooOOooo
Cordelia was now sat in her office after Misty had gone. She could hear Brooklyn talking to Kara from the living room and giggled at something the girl said. The one sided conversations were always crazy to her.
Brooklyn appeared in her door way a few minutes later and sat down across from Cordelia. The girl was dressed comfortably in soft floral shorts and a tank top. She grinned widely at Cordelia and the woman shot her a look.
"What?" The girl just grinned and blushed slightly, "What?"
"Would it… Umm, would it be okay… Um, if.. Dakota came over here?" Was finally mumbled out as her daughter blushed adorably and wouldn't make eye contact with her.
"That would be the nurse, correct?" The girl nodded without looking at her and Cordelia bit her lip to keep her grin from growing too large, "I thought you weren't interested," Was said teasingly.
"Don't make me have this conversation," Was whined out and Cordelia laughed and nodded.
"Sure, just don't set anything on fire while trying to impress her."
"I don't even think I can do that?" Cordelia just giggled, "Can I do that? Oh god, what if I do that?"
"Brooklyn, calm down. Tell her she can come over and you'll be fine, baby girl. I promise."
"How do you know?"
Cordelia giggled, "Because that was almost my exact reaction when I went on my first date with Misty."
oooOOooOOooo
Cordelia somewhat sneakily decided to walk through the living room as she made her way to the kitchen. Brooklyn and Dakota were sat close but not alarmingly close on the couch while a movie played on the TV. She grinned softly when she caught sight of their entwined hands between them and made her way into the kitchen and pulled her phone out.
Cordelia: Baby, Brooklyn is kind of on a date right now.
Misty: What? With who?
Cordelia: Dakota, the nurse we teased her about.
Brooklyn: Damn, girl has game. And keep that girl away from my daughter until we know what she's up to.
Cordelia laughed softly at that reply. She trusted Brooklyn. She made her way back through the living room on her way to her office and heard Brooklyn speak up, "You're not sneaky."
"You're right. I'm just supreme-ly," She heard a laugh followed by the other girl asking what that meant. She just smiled as she stepped back into her office and left Brooklyn to explain for herself.
oooOOooOOooo
After Dakota had left, Cordelia stepped into the living room to see her daughter sat at the piano looking at it like she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do. Cordelia sat down on the bench beside her and bumped their shoulders together, "How did that go?"
The girl bit her lip and grinned slightly, "It went good."
"Yeah?"
"Mmhmm," She watched as Cordelia flexed her fingers before playing a few scales, "Hey, mom?"
"Yes, sweetheart?" Was replied without looking up.
"Would you look at something for me?" The woman nodded and watched her daughter get up and runoff into the house. Brooklyn came back with a few pieces of paper and looked from them to Cordelia before nodding and holding them out to her.
The Supreme looked down at handwritten music and glanced at Brooklyn before studying the piece, "Can I play it?"
The girl just nodded and took her seat again. She watched Cordelia carefully place the sheets in front of her before she started to play.
The beginning had a melancholy type feeling and flowed beautifully. It ebbed into what sounded like anger and passion before softening again into a similar sad feeling that the beginning had had. A few bars later, there was more anger and passion, but it was different somehow. The anger carried on for some time then before softening again. The piece then took a dramatic change. The music became more light and airy. It seemed happy as it ended and Cordelia looked at the girl who had been watching her play.
"It's beautiful. You wrote this?" Brooklyn nodded.
"That's me," Cordelia cocked her head to the side in question and Brooklyn pointed to the beginning section, "This is my childhood. The time spent in the system when I didn't know what was coming and I had a sense of hope still," Cordelia nodded after a moment and Brooklyn pointed to the next section, "This is when Katie got sick and-" She trailed off and Cordelia nodded after swallowing hard, "The next section is that time when I had Jess and Jake. I wasn't the happiest person, but I knew that maybe I could be. And then there's Jeff," She indicated the fiery portion of the piece, "That's the time that I spent in that house. And then this is the time I spent in the system after that. And then, well, this is you guys," She pointed to the last section. The section that was happy.
"Us?"
"You gave me back my hope and my happiness. I can relax and I can feel things that I haven't let myself feel in so long. I can do things and say things that make me happy. You guys did that for me," Cordelia looked at the girl with tears in her eyes. Brooklyn's gaze was on her lap and Cordelia leaned towards her and pulled her into her arms. The girl hugged her back just as tightly.
"I love it, sweetheart. I love it and I love you. You gave us happiness and hope too."
oooOOooOOooo
The next day, Cordelia walked into the greenhouse where Brooklyn was and heard the girl let out an exasperated, "No, mama."
"Tell her to leave you alone," Brooklyn looked up with a grin and laughed at something Misty said.
"Yes, mama," Was said just as exasperatedly, "I'm not having this conversation."
"What conversation?"
"The 'you better behave like a lady when dating' speech," Cordelia rolled her eyes and held her hand out for the phone.
"If I remember correctly, you took me to a swamp on our first date then pushed me into the mud and neglected to tell me that there was a snake in the bathtub when I went to wash it all off," Brooklyn laughed in amusement and Cordelia just giggled before handing the phone back.
"What? No," Brooklyn sighed, "Can't mom do it?" Brooklyn scrunched her face up, "Because you're going to scare her off… I'm not bringing her back then," Was said playfully, "I mean it… I love you too. Bye."
"Can't I do what?"
"Oh no. You don't get to do it either."
"Do what?"
"Give Dakota the angry don't hurt my kid talk," Cordelia giggled.
"Hmm, that might be a good idea," Brooklyn shot her a look and Cordelia just laughed, "I'm kidding, sweetheart. But you'll be sure to let one of us know if we need to handle her?"
"Yes, ma'am."
oooOOooOOooo
Brooklyn jerked awake in the middle of the night with labored breathing. She wiped her tears off of her face as her chest heaved and she tried to no avail to erase the images of her nightmare from her mind.
She finally got her breathing under control and sat up while flipping the lamp on beside her bed. She reached for her book and opened it before looking down. Her eyes were heavy with sleep and if she was being honest, she truly wanted to just curl back up and go back to sleep. But she knew she would never be able to sleep again tonight after that.
The girl glanced towards the door and bit her lip. Cordelia had said to find one of them. She contemplated with herself for so long before quietly sliding out of her bed and flipping her lamp back off.
The young blonde quietly pushed their bedroom door open and stepped into the room. Cordelia shifted in her sleep before opening her eyes and sitting up, "Are you okay?"
"Woah, how did you know I was in here?"
"I'm attuned to you as the Supreme. I can explain that later. Are you okay, baby girl?" Brooklyn looked at her for a moment and shook her head. Cordelia held her arms open to her and Brooklyn collapsed against her in a hug, "You're okay. I've got you, baby. I've got you."
The girl clung to her like her life depended on it and Cordelia held her just as tight. Brooklyn needed this. It felt as if Cordelia was holding her together and keeping her from flying apart.
After a few moments, Brooklyn relaxed against her and Cordelia ran her fingers through blonde waves, "Thank you."
"Any time, baby girl. Any time," She shifted Brooklyn onto the bed and the girl stiffened slightly, "What? You think I'm going to let you sleep alone like this?" The girl laughed softly and settled in the bed facing her mother.
Cordelia looked into exhausted brown eyes and reached out to tap the girl on the nose, "Are you okay now, darling?"
"Yeah, mom. I'm great now."
oooOOooOOooo
A couple of days later, Cordelia returned home to find Brooklyn still out on her date. The two of them had been spending a lot of time together over the last few days and Cordelia thought it was adorable and so did Misty from what she heard from Cordelia over the phone.
She heard the front door open and decided she'd give them their privacy until she heard, "Brook, seriously, let me look at your face," The girl sounded a little distraught and Cordelia stood and headed towards them.
"Kota, seriously, give me about two minutes and it'll be gone."
"What will be gone?" Both girls turned towards Cordelia then and she stepped forward when she saw Brooklyn was holding a cloth to her nose, "Brooklyn!"
"I'm fine… I'll be fine anyway," She shrugged and Cordelia shot her a look as she reached for the now blood soaked cloth and pulled it from the girl's face.
"Your nose is completely sideways!"
"Yeah, but watch this," She pointed towards her face and within seconds her nose was righting itself and the blood flow stopped only moments later.
"That was… Slightly disgusting actually," Cordelia nodded in agreement with Dakota and Brooklyn laughed.
"I'm going to ask one time and one time only. What the hell happened to your face?" Brooklyn bit her lip and Dakota cleared her throat.
"I'll tell you. She wouldn't let me hit him back," Brooklyn shot her a look but the girl ignored it, "Some ignorant ass saw us holding hands while we were walking down the street and made some comment about us being dykes," Cordelia turned her gaze sharply from where she had been staring her daughter down to look at the girl stood next to her, "I wanted to say something and Brooklyn told me to let it go so we kept walking. However, dude didn't want to let it go and kept taunting us while he walked behind us. So Brook turned around to say something to him and he hit her."
"He just hit you?" Brooklyn nodded in response, "You two hadn't said anything or done anything and he just hit you?"
"Yeah, and then she wouldn't let me hit him back… Although she took care of it."
"Dakota!" The girl shook her head slightly.
"No, please tell me you kicked his ass," Dakota laughed at Cordelia's response and smirked at her girlfriend.
"He's definitely going to need some cosmetic surgery to fix what she did to his face," Cordelia nodded approvingly.
"Do you know this guy?" They both shook his head, "You better tell me if you do because you know the second Misty hears about this, she's going to be finding him and we probably won't see him again," Brooklyn just groaned in response.
oooOOooOOooo
Brooklyn and Cordelia were sat in opposite ends of the couch reading later that night. The younger blonde looked up from the pages of her novel to glance at her mother and bit her lip, "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything," Was answered quickly and without hesitation as Cordelia didn't even look up from her book.
"What did you mean when you said you were "attuned to me"? Is that like a thing the Supreme has with her coven?" Cordelia closed her book then and sat up to look at Brooklyn.
"No," She shook her head, "That's not something I have with everyone. Only very few people actually. Misty, you, and Myrtle. Though I can only sense her when she's been around for a while since she's gone for so long during the year. It only works with the people that my heart recognizes as family," Brooklyn looked from her lap up to Cordelia then, "It only works because you're mine."
"Yours," Was whispered out softly like it was a word to be cradled.
"Mine," Cordelia leaned forward and held her arms out to the girl, "Forever, sweetheart," Was whispered into blonde waves as she whispered, "You're mine forever."