"Max, where did Jeb go?"
The question plagued her for nearly half a year before things seemed to go back to normal. The little kids had a hard time adjusting to Jeb's disappearance so it was up to the older ones to take care of them. Not once did Max, Iggy, or Fang ever get to grieve on their own.
Tensions were running high since Angel had asked it the night before when Max and Fang were putting her to bed. Max hadn't wanted to tell her, but Fang nearly told her that he was gone and never coming back. Max had gotten angry. She didn't like being out of control and she most certainly hated when one of the Flock tried to disobey her. Her leadership was still fragile and new, and she was taking control.
She got up early in the morning because she hadn't been able to go back to sleep after the sun woke her up. Walking to the kitchen, she tensed as she spotted Fang already sitting on the couch, finishing off his cereal. She opened the refrigerator door just as he got up and made his way silently to the sink, dropping his bowl into it. He leaned back against the counter as she peered into the fridge, pretending to not know that he was waiting for her to say something about their fight the night before.
"We're out of milk," she said with a sigh, closing the refrigerator door and moving on to the freezer.
"We didn't finish our 'talk'," Fang said, almost too quiet for Max to hear.
Fuck it, Max thought as she shut the freezer door with a slam. "There's nothing to talk about. We aren't telling her."
"Max, we can't just let her stay oblivious and we can't keep blocking our minds from her. One of us will slip up," Fang insisted. Max narrowed her eyes at him, still gripping the freezer door handle.
"No we won't," Max said. "No one tells her and that's final."
"No," Fang said, moving toward her and grabbing her arm to keep her from walking away from him. "She will find out sooner than later."
"She's four, Fang. She will be heartbroken and there is no way that I'm dumping all of that grief on her!" Max snapped and struggled to rip her arm from his grip. "Let me go!"
Suddenly, he was hugging her and she realized that she was trembling. She completely forgot what they were fighting about as her eyes stung with tears and a lump formed in her throat. Her chest ached as she sobbed and, for the first time, mourned that the man she'd thought of as a father was gone and wasn't coming back. She'd been able to hold back in front of the others and she'd fooled herself into thinking that she didn't have to cry. She didn't have to think about what she was missing to move on.
As she cried into Fang's shirt her legs nearly gave out, but Fang held her up. He didn't move the whole time they stood there and he didn't say anything until Max sniffled and pulled away, wiping at her cheeks and red, puffy eyes. She squashed the last few sobs that bubbled in her throat and sighed. "Thanks," she murmured and looked up at him, "Let's tell Angel."
R&R please!