"Eddie! Stay out of their food!" An auburn-haired woman groaned, walking over to a dirty-blonde haired man who was rummaging through a cupboard. She slammed it shut, and the man turned to her with a look like a wounded puppy.
"But I'm hungry." Eddie complained, crossing his arms and scowling at the woman.
"You ate a – erm – a hoagie and you finished my last piece of cake before we left!" Patricia snapped, mimicking him in crossing her arms and returning his scowl with an icy glare. Eddie faltered under her glare, and sighed loudly. "Still! And Nina and Fabian won't mind… we are babysitting their daughter; the least they can do is feed me." He insisted, and Patricia groaned again. She gave him an annoyed look before stalking out of the kitchen.
"Why do they only have healthy stuff!? Ugh." Patricia heard Eddie complaining from behind as she walked into the living room. A little brown-haired girl looked up from where she was sitting on the floor in front of a sturdy wooden coffee table, where she was building a puzzle of two cartoonish dinosaurs.
"How's it coming, Miss Rutter?" Patricia asked, sitting down across from the little girl on the floor. The girl beamed widely, brushing some of her long and wavy brown hair from her face, and then glanced down at the puzzle again.
"I think Rupie might have stoled a piece. I can't find this corner one, here." Eve sighed, pointing out a corner of her puzzle that was missing a piece and then turning her head to glare at a plump ginger cat that was sitting on the couch, watching them. Eve crawled over to the cat and looked into its eyes intently. "He always steals my pieces. He bats them under the couch. Bad cat!" Eve said, turning to face Patricia and then her cat, scolding him softly. The cat didn't seem bothered by this scolding, however, and jumped off the couch and ran to the kitchen; it was probably hoping Eddie would sneak it some scraps.
"Well, let's look under the couch, then. I'll hold it up and you look, okay?" Patricia said; standing and glancing at the girl, who nodded eagerly. Walking to the side of the couch, Patricia lifted it with only a bit of a struggle. Eve's small hand quickly snaked under and she grabbed the missing piece. As Patricia lowered the couch, Eve held the piece up victoriously. "I knew that naughty kitty took it!" Eve exclaimed cheerfully, scrambling back over to her puzzle and snapping the final piece in.
"Done! Look, Aunt 'Trisha. Daddy says that this one is a pterodactyl," Eve pointed to a bright orange, bird-like dinosaur that was flying above the other, "And that this one is a… stag.., steg - stegosaurus!" Eve said after a moment of figuring out the name, and then pointed to a blue dinosaur that was on the ground.
"Good job! You like dinosaurs, Evie?" Patricia asked softly, sitting back down on the floor. Eve nodded happily. "Yeah, they're cool. But I like other things, too." Patricia quirked an eyebrow, "Like what?"
"Like… ribbons, to put in my hair, and ponies, dragons, aliens, puppies…" Eve listed, ticking things off on her fingers, which had their small nails painted bright purple, "I like the color purple – Aunt Amber always paints my fingernails purple for me, see? I also like scaring people. And getting new toys. But, I like old things, too, like Gram-Gram. And mysterious, secrets…" Eve rambled, stuck her hand in Patricia's face, and then trailed off, her eyes wide. Patricia laughed and shook her head; this girl had a bit of all of their friends in her personality.
"Well, you have about a half hour before your bedtime, so what do you want to do? We can play with your puppy and pony stuffed animals, if you want." Patricia said, her voice lacking some enthusiasm at this suggestion, though. Eve considered this for a moment, and then shook her head back and forth. "Fine, fine, I can try and put ribbons in your hair, if you want. But I won't be as good at it as Aunt Amber or Aunt Willow." Patricia added, raising her eyebrows. Eve shook her head no again.
"Can we build a blanket-fort?" Eve asked innocently, and Patricia grinned. "Of course – I'm the best at building blanket-forts." Patricia laughed, standing up and glancing into the kitchen. Eddie was humming loudly, and, quite frankly, Patricia didn't want to know what he was up to. Turning back to Eve, Patricia motioned with her thumb to the puzzle on the table. "Pick that up, okay? I'll gather up some blankets." Eve nodded and crouched down, beginning to scoop her puzzle back into the box as Patricia walked through the house.
She walked down a hallway that was covered with pictures in frames. Patricia walked slowly, her eyes trailing over the pictures. There was one of Nina when she was younger, with two people who Patricia assumed were her parents. Feeling a pang of sadness for her friend, but marveling at how similar she and Eve looked as kids, Patricia moved on to the next photo. This one was Fabian, he was dressed in a dorky sweater and proudly holding up a book, a triumphant smile on his face. Chuckling, Patricia continued down the hall, her eyes sliding over old photographs of the couple as children and their families, to some newer ones. One frame held many familiar faces – this was the class photo from Nina's first year at Anubis House. Patricia's mouth twitched, unsure how to feel. That was the year she had lost Joy, but had found an unexpected new friend in Nina (even after she poured water down her head). That year was also the year all of the mysteries started… the year she met Rufus…
Patricia gave a soft yelp when an arm snagged around her waist, and struggled unseeingly against the arm around her, deaf to the owner of the arm's voice.
"Hey! Hey, Yacker! Patricia, stop, what's wrong with you? It's me!" The voice called, finally releasing her and stepping back. Patricia's hands shot to her eyes and she rubbed them quickly, blinking at Eddie, who looked completely bewildered. "What was that about?" Eddie asked, raising his eyebrows and looking at her questioningly. Patricia rolled her eyes and pushed past him, walking to the closet and mumbling a half-hearted "Nothing." She had just elapsed into bad memories that she had pressed down years ago, and Eddie had really scared her – but she wasn't going to let that doofus know that. Eddie decided it was best not to press the issue – not here, anyway.
Patricia stalked over to the hallway closet and pulled out the pile of spare blankets that Nina and Fabian kept folded in there. Just then Eve came running into the hall, looking at the two excitedly. She bounced over to Eddie and tugged his shirt, and he obediently lifted her into his arms. "Are you going to help me and Aunt 'Trisha build our blanket-fort, Uncle Weasel?" Eve asked, curling her arm around Eddie's neck. Eddie rolled his eyes playfully at her 'Uncle Weasel' comment, but smiled. "Sure."
Before long, the three of them had built a large blanket-fort that covered the majority of Eve's room. Eddie sat on a bunch of pillows on the ground with Eve, playing with her stuffed animals, and Patricia laid on the small princess bed, her head rubbing against the blanket roof.
"It's eight o'clock, Evie." Patricia said, glancing at the clock on her phone and then looking at the little girl with her eyebrows raised.
"You sound like Victor. 'It is eight o'clock. You have five minutes precisely, and then I want to hear a pin… drop.'" Eddie mocked in a deep voice, clearly trying to impersonate Victor, and flinging a pillow at Patricia.
"Victor's thing was ten o'clock, weasel. And shut up, I do not. But you need to get ready for bed, Eve. You know how Mummy and Daddy are." Patricia grumbled at Eddie before turning her attention back to Eve. The little girl sighed dramatically, and Patricia was sure a fit was going to be coming, but then her face cracked into a mischievous smile. "Okay. I'll get ready for bed if you both tell me a bedtime story?" Eddie shrugged and nodded, the request was simple enough.
Patricia led Eve into the bathroom as Eddie fixed her bed, leaving the fort up around it. "Right, brush your teeth. Does Mummy usually braid your hair or anything before you go to sleep?" Patricia asked, leaning against the wall as Eve pulled a stool across the tiled floor to the sink. The child clambered onto it, turned the sink on, and selected her purple toothbrush with a crown on it. "Sometimes. But I don't want anything done tonight." Eve said nonchalantly, squirting a bit of toothpaste onto the brush and jamming it in her mouth. After brushing for a few minutes, Eve spat the leftover into the sink as Patricia filled up a cup of water for her. She swished it around in her mouth and then spit it out, yawning.
"Let's go, short-stuff." Patricia cooed, picking Eve up and taking her back to her bedroom. Eddie had made her bed, and now sat in one of Eve's small tea-party chairs beside it. Patricia let Eve out of her arms and the two crawled through the blanket-fort to reach the bed, and then Eve plopped down into it. "Story time!" She squealed excitedly as Patricia sat down at the foot of her bed.
"Okay… uh… There was once a little pony called Flower. And she lived in a great big meadow and –" Patricia began awkwardly, fiddling with Eve's comforter. "No! I want a mysterious story, with adventure and secrets and old things." Eve complained, cutting Patricia off. Eddie smirked and cleared his throat.
"Looks like you're too boring, Yacker. Time to be quiet and let a master story-teller tell it." He bragged to Patricia before turning to face Eve.
"There was once a group of friends that stayed at a faraway school. Everything was normal at the school until a new girl, named… Dina came along. Some people didn't like or trust Dina at first, because they thought she took another girl, named, uh, Glee's, place. One very mean person named… Victoria even dumped a smoothie all down poor Dina's head." Eddie began, the story was off to a rocky start, but a few sentences in Patricia realized what he was beginning to tell the five-year-old about. She leaned forward and grabbed his elbow, giving him a cross glare. "You can't tell her about this!" Eddie rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively, tugging his elbow from her grip. Eve watched suspiciously, but then turned her eyes back to Eddie. "Will you get to the adventure and mystery part, Uncle Weasel?" She asked impatiently.
"Fine. Dina received a special bracelet that helped her find out special things about their school. Dina made friends Gavin and Ruby, and they started up a secret group called Sibuna. Soon, Victoria and Albie joined the group too – "
"Uncle Weasel, this story is boring." Eve complained, sitting up in her bed and crossing her arms. Eddie sighed and ran a hand through his hair tiredly. Patricia, taking pity on him, piped up.
"If I tell you this story, you have to promise not to get scared, okay? It's not real, and we're only making it up." Patricia asked first, looking at Eve carefully. Eve nodded vigorously and settled back against her pillows.
"One day, a bad ghost lady called Sakahara came to Dina. She told her that she had to find a special crown, or else bad things would happen. Amb – Sapphire, Albie, Victoria, Gavin, and Dina tried to search for the crown, but it was hard, because they had to follow clues to get to it. Sakahara grew angry, because they took such a long time, and cursed Sapphire, Albie, Victoria, and Gavin. Sapphire, who was young and had pretty golden hair, began to get old and her golden hair became grey. Albie began to grow younger, and soon he was a baby again! Gavin was cursed to forget everything, and Victoria was cursed so that she couldn't talk."
"Too bad that one didn't stick." Eddie mumbled under his breath, and Patricia's head whipped around to give him a glare before she turned back to Eve, whose eyes were wide with excitement.
"Dina had to quickly figure out this clue, or else her friends would be in even more danger. Finally, Dina managed to figure out the clue, which was a special song, with help from Sakahara, and her friend's curses were lifted. They were still in trouble, though, because there were more clues to figure out… but for now, they were safe again – Gavin got his memory back, Sapphire became young again, Albie went back to his normal age, and Victoria got her voice back."
"Shame." Mumbled Eddie, and Patricia leaned off to bed to slap his arm. Eve looked at both of them curiously and tugged Patrica's arm. "Tell me more." She whispered, rubbing at her eye with a fist.
"Not tonight… go to sleep, Mummy and Daddy will be home in a bit." Patricia whispered, helping Eve settle into her blankets. "Mummy usually sings me a lullaby." Eve whispered, shutting her large blue eyes. Patricia made a mental note to kick Nina.
"Ugh. Okay, uhm.." Patricia froze; trying her hardest to remember any lullaby she was ever sung. "Upstairs, downstairs, outside in, always search to conquer sin… high and low in dale in hill…" She began shakily, glancing at Eddie for help. He seemed shocked that this was the lullaby she had chosen, but the words instantly sprung to mind – how could he forget them?
"Seek ye all to mend all ill. There is just one thing you'll need…" Eddie sung softly, watching as Eve relaxed into her bed as Patricia rubbed her back. "- in the summer house beneath the weed." Patricia finished softly, standing up from the princess bed, careful not to hit her head on the blanket-fort ceiling. She beckoned to Eddie and they crawled to the door, leaving Eve's nightlight on.
"You remembered the lullaby." Eddie said softly as they walked back to the den. Patricia looked down and shrugged. "Just some parts…" She sighed, sitting down on the couch and curling her legs beneath her.
"Piper said you were too busy drowning in your own misery to remember any lullabies." Eddie muttered with a hint of laugher, sitting down on the other end of the couch and stretching his legs out onto Patricia's lap. She snorted and tried to push them off, but he held firm. Rolling her eyes, she glanced at him, her brow furrowed.
"When did you talk to Piper about me? I didn't know you two talked." She said; her voice sharp with a hint of jealousy. There was nothing to worry about, of course, but she couldn't help but feel it.
"Calm down. It was when; well, when you were a… sinner. I had to skype her to figure out your part of the lullaby." Eddie said, sounding rather guilty. The two had never really, truly talked about the events that took place when Patricia had become a sinner all those years ago. What was the point? It was done and over with, and Eddie was fine with never reliving that.
"Oh." Patricia sighed softly, picking at a spot on the couch. Her throat was tight, and she was sure she felt even guiltier then Eddie did on this subject. But this wasn't the time or place to discuss this.
"What time is it?" Patricia asked after a few moments of silence.
"Nine-o-five." Eddie replied coolly, pushing his legs farther onto Patricia. She laughed softly and slapped his feet away, feeling a bit squeamish. "Come on, get off, weasel. You know I hate feet." Eddie sighed and sat up, crawling across the couch and instead laid his head in Patricia's lap. "Better?" He asked, smiling as he nuzzled against her legs. Patricia laughed softly, and ran a hand through his hair, "I guess."
They lay like this until they heard Nina and Fabian's car pull into the driveway, and then stood to gather their things. They explained to the couple why their daughter's room was now a blanket-fort, and joked for a while until Patricia and Eddie set off to head home.
The next night they received a call from Nina and Fabian, asking who 'Albie, Victoria, Gavin, Sapphire, Sakahara, and Dina' were, and why their daughter was demanding a story about them. Patricia and Eddie shared a smirk, and decided to let them work it out for themselves.
Okay, so this is one of my longer ones. It was suggested by 55! :) I kinda got off topic a few times, but whatever, I'm tired. I don't think I gave this 'prompt' justice, it could have been done a lot better, but I did try. Maybe I'll do a rewrite someday. Eddie and Patricia's Sibuna stories were terrible – sorry! I haven't seen season one or two in forever, so I sorta just scraped by with the wikis. And I'm pretty sure I got the lullaby right, but let me know if I messed up.
Anyway, any more prompts/reviews are loved! What kid would you like to see next? A Jeroy baby? Jara baby? Walfie baby? Amfie baby? Let me know! I really need some good prompts (please try not to suggest Patricia having a baby - I am playing with the idea already, and if I do write about it, it'll be in a different story!) because I'm horrible with coming up with ideas x-x
Thanks~
xGaloshes
