Sarah's POV
The following morning she awakes to Irene hollering, "Sarah, I am running to the store to get the things for dinner, please keep an eye on Toby."
"All right," she calls out as she stretches and gets ready to get up.
She is surprised when she looks around the room to discover that it has been dusted, and all of the wood surfaces have been polished to a shine. Blinking, she remembers the night before and the fact that there are apparently four brownies and two goblins living here. She would have to talk to with them a bit more. Right now she was not sure that her parents should know anything about the fae folk living in the house. While her dad might understand, Irene probably would not.
After changing into a pair of jeans, blue tee-shirt, and a sweater, she heads into her brothers room to scoop him up when she sees that he is awake. Kissing his forehead she decides to give him a bath and dress him for the day. While she does so, he giggles and plays in the water. By the time she is done washing him, the floor is as wet as he is, though she manages to somehow not be and she distractedly wonders how. Once he is dry, she dresses him in a thing of clip coveralls before taking him downstairs to give him some applesauce. When he is done eating she puts him in the playpen for the moment with some of his safer toys.
Since they are the only ones in the house, she calls out, "Umm goblins? Sorry, I forgot your names, can I speak with you for a moment?"
A moment later the two small bodies appear the first popping up from behind the sofa, the other from where the steps are. In the daylight she takes a better look at them, noticing that the one is rather reed like, at least two and half, maybe three feet in height with leather armor covering most of his body. There was a short spear strapped to his back and his long ears looks like they are missing pieces. The other goblin is round and looks like one of the furry gremlins out of the movie. When both smile there are all sorts of sharp teeth showing, almost seeming as if there are more teeth than there should be.
"Hello!" the reed looking one states as he gets close to her. "You wanted uz?"
The second one hops in the playpen with her brother, picking up one of the stuffed animals in the pen and dancing it in front of him. Toby stares at him for a minute before beginning to giggle and try to chase it.
Nodding distractedly she replies, "What is your names again? I'm sorry, I forgot them."
"I'z Scrapper, Mistrezz, and he'z Clipson," the reedy looking one answers her. "The Labyrinth choose uz for our unique talent to protect you."
"The Labyrinth? Do you mean the Goblin King?" she asks, confused about who they are speaking of.
Shaking his head energetically Scrapper replies, "No Mistrezz, the Labyrinth, she'z been around a lot longer than the King. Sometimez she choosez goblinz to do taskz for her. We were selected to become part of the Champion, yourz, household. We'z were carefully told not to cause mischief."
She carefully considers what he is saying, apparently by beating the Labyrinth she became its champion. How does that work exactly? Does she have responsibilities to it now? Where can she get more information about it? Maybe Hoggle or Didymus will know something useful for her. So if she is understanding this right, she now has a household because she is Champion and that's why there are two goblins and a family of brownies here. Should she be expecting any more of them? The idea that the Labyrinth is a thinking being also causes her to wonder if it was him or her, and since the goblins keep referring to the Labyrinth as she it must be a her, that pulled some of the stunts while she was running it. What an even bigger quandary to think about.
"Does the Labyrinth affect the puzzles while there is someone trying to solve it?" she inquires sitting down on the sofa and patting the spot next to her for him to join her.
Hopping up on the arm of the sofa, Scrapper shakes his head, "No, she'z been sleeping for generations. I'z thought it was a myth until I'z felt her."
Well that solves that quandary, "Okay," she pauses for a moment, thinking, "So you are here to protect Toby and me. From what?"
"Dark Sidhe will steal children even if they are not wished away. If a Dark Sidhe getz it in their mind to do that to get control of you, we're to stop them or get help," he explains, bobbing his head he smiles, "You'z also have browniez, in a well kept home browniez are strong and able to ward off enemy attackz too with their protective magicz."
From the playpen Clipson remarks, "Besides, goblins like babies and children." Turning to look at her, the furry goblin frowns, "You don't mind play?"
"As long as my parents don't see you and he does not get hurt, no, I don't mind you playing with him. He doesn't have any playmates." She answers the little furry goblin currently sitting by her brother in the pen, playing with a teddy bear with him.
Nodding, he returns to playing with Toby, dancing the bear in front of him and making him giggle.
Before she can think of anything else to say, she hears Irene's car pull into the driveway. A moment later both goblins have vanished and Toby is glancing around for where his friend has gone. Shaking her head, she picks him up and starts to bounce him before he has a chance to cry, getting him to return to the giggling. Once he is calm again she places him in the playpen just as Irene walks in with two large paper bags.
Politely, she grabs one, earning herself a shocked look out of Irene who mutters thank you. After everything is put away she stops to glance at Irene for a moment while gathering her nerve.
"I…" she begins not sure what to say and hating herself for her hesitance. She didn't hesitate to fight to get Toby back so why should she now? This was a lot less dangerous. "Can we have a serious talk?"
Startled, the older woman freezes in place and stares at her for a moment before slowly nodding, "Alright Sarah, what would you like to talk about?"
Sighing in relief she states, "Be right back, I made a list of things so I wouldn't forget or get all mixed up," before bolting out of the room and upstairs to her room. In her room she grabs the notepad and pen before heading back down to the living room where Irene has taken a seat with a cup of tea.
"You made a list?" her stepmom asks, her voice edging on shocked.
Nodding, she sits down on the other side of the sofa, "I did. Since you married Dad we have had close to non-stop problems." Taking a deep breath, she reminds herself that she won against the Labyrinth this should be easy for a second time. "Some of them are my fault, but some of them are yours too."
"My fault? My fault!" Irene shrilly repeats.
Again she nods, keeping a close eye on her stepmom to see if there is going to be any more yelling before continuing to speak, "Like that, anyways, you try to act like my you are my mom, but refuse to do anything with me, neither of us likes to listen to the other, and this has been my home longer than it's been yours, changing everything makes me feel like you don't want me here."
Apparently what she has to say shocks the older woman who stares at her with wide eyes, mouth open like a fish. She waits for her process what had been said.
"How dare you?" her stepmom screeches, her voice a combination of anger and disbelief.
"I dare because of that type of response," she replies, trying and struggling to keep her voice even, "Did you actually consider what I said or just react to it?"
Again her stepmom stares at her with her mouth wide open. Twice she closes and opens it as if she is going to say something before she finally does mutters, "Good point." For a few minutes she can feel it as the older woman studies her thoughtfully. "Something is different about you."
She shrugs, "I had an epiphany, it made me consider some things and have been trying to change my behavior accordingly." There is no way that she is going to tell Irene about the Labyrinth, Goblin King, fae now living in the house, or anything else of that nature. It just was not going to happen. She did not trust her to understand.
"Can I think about this for a bit?" Irene inquires, "You have apparently put a lot of thought into this, and it would be better if I thought about it first."
She nods once, "Of course, I plan to speak with Dad when he gets home, and sometime in the next day or so I want to talk with both of you." Standing, she takes the notes backup to her room.
After putting them away she, glances around her room and remembers the brownies in the attic, so that's where she heads to next. After pulling the small ladder down so she can climb up, she flips the little switch by the entry and sneezes as the dust moves from around the entrance. Glancing around, she does not see the brownies but is not surprised by that, if they are anything like the goblins then they are probably out of sight right now. Moving towards the piles of boxes, she checks each before setting the two with her old costume making supplies aside and continuing to go through them.
She is in the middle of the last box when she hears, "Hello Mistress Sarah," from a high pitched voice to her left.
Turning, she spots the mother brownie standing just a little bit away from her. As soon as the small fae spots her eyes, she drops into a curtsy, her patchwork dress flaring out around her as she does so.
"Hello Berrybell," she greets the brownie, "if there is anything in those two boxes that is useful to you, you are welcome to use it." She tells her while motioning to the boxes that she set aside.
"Thank you Mistress," the little woman tells her as she follows where she is motioning to.
"Please call me Sarah," she asks the brownie, "I feel weird having you call me mistress."
Confusion mars the brownies features for a moment before she nods, "I'll try, but I make no promises."
"Great! I would like to be friends if we can be." She states as she watches the small fae.
Smiling, the brownie nods again, "That's nice, I like it," though she frowns for a moment, a look of concern on her face, "though it is very informal and since you're my mistress it feels odd."
Nodding she remarks, "Understandable, still, I will appreciate it if you and the others can try."
"I'll make sure to tell them. Tonight we will start dusting everything. Lots of little spots that have not been properly dusted in a long while," Berrybell answers before she curtsies one more time before heading to the box to start sorting through it.
"Alright, do you need anything?" she inquires of the small woman as she gets closer to the fold out staircase.
"Oh no, I've already seen a small sewing case, I have everything I need, and there is plenty of fabric here. We are setting up over there by the window, making our beds and little home." The brownie answers with a smile, "You are a most generous mistress."
Blushing, she nods before heading back down the steps and carefully closing up the attic again. Heading to her room she is preparing to change because she does not want to be covered with dust when she realizes that she does not have any dust on her. The brownie must have done something to get rid of it. Still, it is of no matter, she will thank her later.
With a few hours left until dad was due home she decides to go play with Toby, particularly since she is certain that Irene is not. Sure enough, when she reaches the living room he is in his playpen with a few of his toys, giggling and enjoying himself. She smiles at him, leaning over the edge of the pen to scoop him and Lancelot up before settling on the carpeted floor to play with him, dancing the small bear in front of him and enjoying his reactions.
After a while he starts to lose interest in his bear and looks like he is going to start crying.
"Are you hungry Tobes?" she asks as she sets the bear back in the pen.
"Hunwe," he repeats nodding.
For a moment she considers telling Irene but decides against it because she is fairly certain that the older woman is only going to ask her to feed him. Frustrating, but not really a big deal, it's one of those things that she has been trying to deal with better, though she does wonder why Irene ever had Toby at times when it seems that she really does not wish to take care of him in any way whenever she is home. Still, she loves her brother and will take care of him, after all it's not his fault his mom is lazy. Shaking her head as she carries him into the kitchen, she tries to clear her thoughts, thinking so negatively about the woman was not going to help her try and build any sort of relationship with her.
Humming, she settles him into his highchair before fetching a small cup of pears for him to eat. When he is done eating, she returns him to his playpen before going up to her room to read some more after telling Irene where Toby is.
Stretching out on her bed she finishes the book that Didymus had given her, an idea blossoming in the back of her mind. Rather than become an actress maybe she should go into storytelling. She's always been better coming up with the stories then she has been portraying them. Her primary reason for wanting to act is her mom, an actress with a glamorous life, but surely the people who write the stories must have a glamorous life too? It is something that she will have to think about more. Though as she glances at her bookshelf she wonders why she had decided to get those books on government, they were not her normal type of books, however they had felt right when she was trying to decide what to get.
She is still deep in her thoughts, her book laid aside when she finished it, when she hears her dad pull into the driveway. Standing, she heads downstairs, she wants to talk with her dad before Irene. After she has had her discussion with him, then Irene can talk with him, and probably whine about how mean she was being. Sighing, she reaches the door just moments before her stepmom and takes that time to give him a quick hug.
"Can we talk please? Before you talk with Irene." she requests softly, hoping that he will act like the dad he had been prior to getting remarried, the one who used to spend a lot of time with her.
Confused he nods just as her stepmom comes around the corner stating, "Robert we have to talk now," a frustrated look on her face.
For a long minute, he looks between the two of them, and she swears that it feels like there is an outside force at work when he shakes his head once, stating, "Sarah has already asked me to have a quick chat, I will talk with you afterwards honey."
Since they had gotten married, her dad had not picked her once over her stepmom, so she is thankful to whatever force it is helping her, even if it does make her leery as to why that force is helping her.
Huffing, her stepmom nods once, before heading into the living room where Toby has started to cry.
"Come on pumpkin, we can talk in the study," he mutters as he turns and heads down the hall to his study where he works from when he has home days.
Unlike her discussion with Irene, she does not feel the need to fetch her notes, there is only one thing she wants to discuss with him on his own.
Once they are in the study, he sets his briefcase down before sitting on the small sofa and patting the spot next to him.
Settling on it she is not sure where to begin, how does one go about asking their dad if he does not want her anymore? It really is not that simple, with a small shake of her head, she reminds herself again that she completed the Labyrinth, she can do this too.
"I only have one thing I want to talk to you about," she eventually murmurs, still working on her courage to just outright ask or state.
"What is it pumpkin?" he inquires softly, pulling her against his side in a way he has not since he got married nearly five years prior.
After sitting there in his arms for a bit, she twists around and scoots back so she can look him in the face, before asking, "Do you want me around?"
"Of course I do!" he exclaims, staring at her in horrified shock according to the expression on his face. "Why would you think otherwise?" he demands.
"You used to spend time with me, even if it was both of us reading our individual stuff. You used to kiss me on the forehead goodbye before you'd leave. You used to take one day out of the week to just sit down and talk with me about how things are going. Now I hardly ever see you because your time is spent with Irene or Toby, and I understand, I really do, but you spend all your time with them when you are not at work. It's been years since we have done anything that is just us," she can feel the tears building up as she explains. "After you brought her home you stopped kissing me goodbye or letting me sit in here and read with you. Then Toby was born, and you seemed to barely notice I was alive except for when Irene has a complaint about me." Despite her best efforts, her voice breaks as she finishes explaining.
It hurts the fact that he had chosen his new family over her, even if it was unintentional, it still happened. She went from having two parents who loved her and did things with her, to one who she rarely got to see and one who still loved her, to one she rarely got to see and the other who was never there anymore. It was very frustrating to her. Particularly when she was often treated as the one in the wrong when all she wanted was some sort of sign that she was still wanted.
"Oh Sarah," her dad sighs pulling her back over to him and hugging her close. "Of course I still want you and love you. You just always seem to be lost in your own world so I never thought you minded all the time I have been spending with Irene and Toby." He runs one hand down her back in comforting circles. "You're still my daughter, you always will be, just because I remarried that doesn't mean I don't still love you." Kissing her forehead he suggests, "How about every Monday we spend part of the afternoon in here reading or doing something together?"
She nods, not sure that she can answer aloud without crying her eyes out.
For a while the two of them just sit there, she enjoys being cuddled up with her dad after spending the last few years thinking that he no longer wanted her around. She might be sixteen, and nearly an adult, but she still wanted to feel like she belonged somewhere, and it had been a long while since she had felt like she belonged here. It was actually one of the leading reasons why she had wished her brother away.
Eventually her stepmom calls for dinner, and the two of them get up, her dad querying, "We good?"
Nodding, she ducks her head, feeling a bit embarrassed by the fact she had been crying.
"Go wash your face then come downstairs to eat," he directs her softly, kissing he on the forehead one more time.
It is the most affection he has shown her in years at one time. Hopefully, after she has her talk with the both of them it will continue, but she doubts it because that has been her luck in the recent past.
Heading to her bathroom, she washes her hands and face before heading down to eat. Something tells her to grab her notes from earlier so she does so on the way.
As she is getting to the dining room she stops because she can hear Irene just about yelling, "She acts like I am at fault for everything! She's sixteen, it's time she starts having some responsibilities!"
"Now did she say that you were at fault for everything?" she hears her dad ask as she gets just a bit closer to the door.
A part of her wants to interrupt and repeat everything she had said to Irene earlier in the day, but another part of her wants to see how her dad is going to respond to the accusations.
"She implied it!" her stepmoms voice has taken on that shrill quality to it again.
"What were her exact words?" Dad asks, his voice softening.
She can hear as Irene stutters, not able to come up with them and decides that now would be a good time to interrupt. Opening the dining room door she states, "Is it dinner time?"
"It is," her stepmom snaps, clearly angry.
Glancing at the table, she notices that it is not yet set, so she goes to grab the dishes, chuckling when she spots Scrapper giving Irene dirty looks from his hiding place in the kitchen. "She'z really screechy, is she related to harpiez?"
Biting her lip so not to laugh, she shakes her head, softly answering, "Purely human."
"Well then, harpiez take lessonz from her," he mutters, nodding energetically.
Still biting her lip so not to laugh, she takes the dishes to the dining room and sets them down before taking her seat. There is a look of annoyance on her stepmom's face, while her dad looks frustrated.
"Pumpkin, do you remember what you told Irene this morning?" her dad eventually asks after grace has been spoken and dinner put on each person's plate.
She nods, replying, "I do." taking a deep breath, she calls up the memory in order to say it word for word, "Since you married Dad we have had close to non-stop problems. Some of them are my fault, but some of them are yours too."
Glancing at her stepmom, her dad asks, "Well is that right?"
Scowling, Irene nods once, but says nothing.
"Sounds to me like she was taking responsibility, but also trying to tell you that something is wrong," he responds, "after dinner I think we need to have a family discussion."
Still scowling, her stepmom nods once more.
Shaking his head, her dad asks, "So how was your day?" not looking at either of them.
Irene is the first to start speaking, talking about how her trip to the store was, the friends that she had run into while there, and what all she had done once she reached home. They are just about done with dinner when her stepmom stops speaking long enough for her to answer about reading a book of tales that had been given to her and spending time with Toby.
After mentioning Toby, her dad's attention turns to him, taking his turn feeding the baby who is seated in his high chair between him and Irene. Once the baby has been fed, her dad picks him up to take him upstairs to bed. While he does that, she starts picking up the dishes, setting them in the sink so they can be washed after the conversation. Something tells her that it is not going to be an easy conversation to have.
A short while later the three of them gather in the living room to talk. Irene looks like she is still annoyed or even more annoyed while her dad just looks frustrated. Carrying her notepad, she sits down and waits to see how this talk is going.
"Well, Irene, since you brought it up, please state how you think that Sarah is not accepting responsibility." Her dad prompts her stepmom after several minutes of silence.
"She's always off in her head, I have to force her to help me with Toby, she doesn't like to do anything around the house without being yelled at, and she is always disrespectful!"
Biting her lip, she reminds herself to respond calmly, not to give into the yelling match that Irene was aiming for to make her look like the problem, "Who took care of Toby for most the day even after you got back from town?" She asks, "You only asked me to keep an eye on him while you were gone, I kept an eye on him most the day."
"Did she?" her dad asks curiously.
"Well yes, but…" her stepmom snaps but trails off grumbling.
"Sarah has brought up a few good points to both of us it seems," her dad comments, "I think we should discuss them like rational adults and almost-adult."
She smiles, knowing that he is trying to joke with her and make her feel better.
Glancing at her, he spots her notes and motions to them looking at her questioningly. Hesitantly she hands it to him, knowing he is not going to like some of what she has written on there, particularly since he had not liked it when she asked. He accepts it and reads it, using the pen she has clipped at the top to make a couple of notes of his own before he begins talking again.
"In her notes she has written down that we need to start acting like a family, discuss our problems, and talk about Toby's care." He remarks, "I agree, we probably should have had this talk long before now, however we are going to have it now."
"What does Toby's care have to do with anything?" Irene shrilly demands.
"Well, I think it has to do with the fact we ask her to watch him any time we're busy, including our Saturday night date nights," he replies before she has a chance to answer.
She smiles gratefully. Happy that he is really trying to understand her view, even if nothing really comes of it, at least he has tried.
"We only go out once a week," her stepmom snaps in response, "It's not asking too much for her to watch him that one day!"
"But that's not the only time you ask me to watch him or help with him," she remarks, before listing them off. "Any time you run to the store, when you are speaking with your friends, whenever you are planning something, on Saturdays when you go out for date night, any time you want to watch TV without having to worry about what the baby is doing, when he is upset and wanting someone to play with him." She stops, thinking that she probably does not want to keep going or it might cause even more issues.
Irene stares at her with wide angry eyes as if she cannot believe that she would dare contradict her but says nothing.
"I don't mind helping with Toby, but I am a teenager and his sister, not his mother, it's not my responsibility to be the one always taking care of him." She states after a bit, still trying to keep her voice even and not shrill back like she really wants to.
"Well what other problems are there?" the older woman demands, changing the subject so that she does not have to admit to being right or wrong, it was the reaction she was expecting sadly.
"Respect is earned, you haven't earned mine by just coming in here and changing everything. Just because you do not have an imagination, does not mean I do not." She answers before her dad has a chance to, "If you want me to respect you, then you have to at least give me the courtesy of doing the same."
"You're just a kid, what do you know about being respectful?" her stepmom scornfully states.
"Actually, prior to us getting married Sarah was well known for her manners and helpful nature, she was also really good in school. That's why I was surprised by all of the difficulties you two were having." He frowns, "I really should have thought about the fact we went from doing stuff as a family to not."
Silence reigns for several minutes as each considers what has been said so far. In the back of her mind she can hear a mocking voice saying, 'What's said is said,' as if nothing will change or come of this or it is a waste of time. A small part of her wants to wish for understanding, but she refuses to make any more wishes. That's just too dangerous an area.
Jumping to her feet, her stepmom exclaims piercingly, "Are you blaming me too?"
He shakes his head, trying for a soothing tone, "No honey, I am not, I am saying it is all of our faults, Sarah's for not saying what was wrong, us for being the adults and not explaining it to her." He pauses for a moment before suggesting, "How about we make Sunday's family night? We can do something together as a family besides watch TV whether it is watch a movie, play a game, or just go for a walk."
"Tch, fine," her stepmom grumbles, "I have a headache, I am going to bed." Without waiting for any sort of response, Irene takes off.
Shaking her head, she just glances at her dad, to see him doing the same thing.
"You realize you're going to have to start being more respectful of her if you expect her to be respectful of you?" he queries after a bit.
She shrugs, answering, "If you haven't noticed I have been trying over the last few weeks."
He nods, "I had, I just wasn't sure why until you brought it up tonight." Glancing at the clock, he states, "Well pumpkin, I am going to go talk with her than go to bed. Goodnight, don't stay up too late," he kisses her on the forehead as he walks past, turning off most the lights as he goes.
She heads into the kitchen to start washing dishes only to discover the two younger brownies are already there and doing so. It's actually kind of funny to watch because Songskip is humming as she skips around the edge of the sink pointing at each dish in turn and focusing really hard on them while Blossom is waving her hands around in circular motions like she is wiping each off with the towel before they are settling onto a pile next to the sink.
"Hello Songskip, Blossom, ummmm what would have happened had my parents come in here?" she greets the two young brownies who finish the dishes they are working on and turn to face her.
"We felt them go to bed," Blossom explains, "it was safe for us to come out."
Beside her Songskip is nodding.
"Oh well, thank you," she tells the two little brownies as she starts putting the dishes away, both watch her with intent eyes, as if they are memorizing where stuff goes. Once she has the done pile put away the two return to washing and drying, getting the rest of the dishes done. "So what types of treats do you guys like? I am not sure what you think of as a treat."
"Honey," both answer nearly instantly before grinning at each other.
After a shared look conversation, Blossom continues, "We love honey, just a thimble full is enough for one of us, but we also like fresh baked goods too."
Nodding to them, she looks through the cupboards, checking to see if there is any honey, and what baking goods they have, "I'll make some fresh bread tomorrow, we don't have any honey."
"Okay, thank you!" Songskip exclaims.
Smiling at the tiny girl, she bids them goodnight before heading up to bed. Soon she will call for Hoggle or Didymus to ask about the nobility thing and the Champion matter but not tonight. Tonight she is going to take a hot bath, check Toby one last time, and go to bed.