Chapter four
"Uncle Marvin!"
Alex came bounding down the stairs. Her stuffed rabbit was gripped in her hand, flopping up and down by her side; her blonde hair was tied up in pigtails, bouncing against her head as she ran through the house. Making her way through the kitchen - slipping a little in her socks on the hardwood floor - she didn't find her uncle there. She looked through the living room. No sign of him there.
The sound of the front door opening brought her attention to the foyer and ran in that direction.
Her face lit up when she saw her uncle. "Uncle Marvin!"
The dark haired man sighed heavily as he turned around in the doorway to see his six year old niece staring up at him with a large smile on her face, her green eyes shining bright with happiness. He sighed again as he ran a hand down his face. He was tired and didn't want to see the little girl. Hell, he didn't want anything to do with her.
He sighed once again, pinching the bridge of his nose, before grumbling, "I'm going out."
Alex's face fell. He was always going out, she never got to see him. Ever since she got here he was always going out and never wanting to play with her. She wanted to play! Sure she had the Mercers, who were fun, but she wanted to play with her uncle. She had remembered her dad talking about him once with her mom, but she never really got to meet him until now. And here she was living with him for weeks, nearing the second month, and he never seemed to be around, let alone want to talk with her. She thought he'd want to get to know her since they never met.
A moment later her face broke into a smile at an idea. "Can I come with?" She was bouncing on the balls of her feet now, eyes shining even brighter as she stared up at him.
Marvin groaned a little. "No, you can't."
Alex's face fell again. "Why?" she asked, her head tilting to the side a bit.
"You just can't," he snapped, glaring down at her.
Alex flinched, eyes going wide as she stepped back a bit. "Oh…okay," she said. Her head lowered and she stared at her feet, fighting back tears that she could feel forming in her eyes.
Marvin sighed as he turned to leave only to be stopped by the little girl's voice, again. He suppressed a groan as he turned back to her. "What do you want, kid?"
"Can I go over to the Mercer's?" She looked up at him, her green eyes looking bigger than usual, as if she was trying to convince him to say yes.
He waved his head around as if thinking and giving up on the matter, even though he really didn't care at all. "Sure, whatever," he grunted. As long as she let him be he was fine with whatever she did. He turned on his heel, making his way to the door when he felt a tug on the hem of his shirt.
Alex was staring up at him, confusion and sadness written all over her face. "When's Mommy and Daddy coming?"
He cringed. He hated hearing that question. Every day it was the same question at least twice a day. Maybe even more. How long could he continue to lie to her? How could he even tell her that her parents weren't coming? That they were dead. He couldn't, that's how.
"Soon," he said, before slamming the door shut in front of her, leaving her alone like he always did.
Alex stood there, clutching at her stuffed rabbit as she stared at the door. Her lower lip trembled and she sniffed. Why wouldn't Uncle Marvin answer her question about Mommy and Daddy? Didn't he know when they would be coming? She had never been away from her parents for this long and she was starting to get worried. Did they not love her anymore?
She sniffed one more time, rubbing at her eyes as tears threatened to fall. "Mommy and Daddy are coming. I know it."
With a final sniff, the six-year-old turned on her heel and headed up to her room. Quickly searching her closet for her shoes she slipped them on and ran down the stairs and across the street. Her worries about her parents forgotten once she reached the front door to the Mercer's house and a smile was on her face as she bounced her knees, waiting for someone to answer the door.
The doorbell sounded throughout the house drawing the occupants attentions to the front door. Two of the brothers sat in the living room, staring at the TV as a movie played on the screen. Bobby turned his head toward the door for a brief moment before directing his attention back to the TV.
"Hey, Angel," he grunted, nodding his head to the side, "get the door."
The third eldest brother turned his head towards the other, giving him an incredulous look. "Are you serious, Bobby?"
Bobby's only response was another nod of the head in the direction of the door. Angel rolled his eyes and pushed off from his seat, making his way to the front door. Moving the curtain to peer outside his expression broke out into a grin.
"What's up, Alex?" he greeted her as he opened the door.
The little girl waved up at the giant man with a large smile. "Hi, Angel! Can Jack play?" she asked.
"Jack's out with Ma, but you can wait in here for him," Angel said, stepping aside to let the six-year-old through.
Alex's face lit up. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, latching onto his leg and giving him a hug before stepping in. There was a skip in her step as she followed the sound of the TV and entered the living room.
"Is that Cinderella I hear?" Bobby called out, a smile growing on his face as he looked over to the doorway.
"Hi, Bobby!" Alex said as she ran over to the oldest Mercer boy and jumped up and hugged him.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed, grabbing the little girl to steady her. "Nice to see you too, Cinderella," Bobby laughed as he hugged her back. "What's up?" he asked, sitting up straighter once she released him. "Come here to see Jack?"
"Uh huh!" Alex nodded her head vigorously, her pigtails flapping all around. "When is he coming back?"
"Not sure, kiddo," Angel answered, taking a seat in the armchair. "Ma and him went shopping. It's getting cold out, little guy needed some new clothes so they might be a while."
"Oh…" The little girl climbed onto the couch, taking a seat next to Bobby. She stared at her feet as they laid in front of her, they didn't even reach the edge of the couch. WIth a pout on her face, Alex folded her arms and let out a huff.
"What's wrong, Alex?" Bobby asked, looking down at the downtrodden child. He nudged her with his elbow, bringing her attention to him. "What's got you down?"
Alex puckered her lips out more as she glanced back down at her legs. "Does Uncle Marvin like me?"
Bobby and Angel's eyes widened as they looked from the girl, to each other, and back to the little girl. The silence filled the room as Alex looked up to each brother with big eyes, meeting the boys' uneasy gazes. Neither boy knew what to say and it wasn't until Bobby cleared his throat that the silence was broken.
"Um...well…" Bobby cleared his throat once more, rubbing the back of his neck. He look to Angel for helping only to receive a frantic shake of the head in reply. The oldest brother wracked his brain for some sort of answer when his thoughts traveled to his new brother. A thought dawned on him as he looked at the little girl, his face taking on a hard expression. "Did your uncle do something to you?"
Alex shook her head causing the brothers to relax from their tense postures. She didn't notice Bobby unclenching his fists as she played with the hem of her dress. "Uncle Marvin won't play with me. He is always leaving and won't let go with him." Her lower lip jutted out and began to quiver. "I don't think he likes me."
"Uh…" Angel opened and closed his mouth a couple times, trying to find the right words. "I'm sure he likes you, kid," he finally said, rubbing the back of his neck. He leaned forward on his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "He's probably just really busy and doesn't have time."
"Is that why he's always drinking the adult drinks Mommy and Daddy said I could never have?" she asked, blinking up at Angel.
Bobby sucked in a breath and leaned his head back against the couch. What the hell was happening? He always knew Marvin Grayson was an asshole, but he wasn't expecting this from a six-year-old. Evelyn always said kids were observant - and impressionable. He had learned that with Jack. The poor kid had stayed quiet and untrusting ever since he joined the family. He probably only said one thing and it was a brief goodbye to Alex weeks ago.
"We're back!"
The sound of Evelyn's voice carried through the house bringing a sigh of relief from both brothers and a large smile to Alex's face. Quickly the blonde little girl hopped off the couch and ran away, leaving the brothers.
"Jack!" Alex shouted as she ran into the foyer.
Jack jumped, eyes going wide as he quickly hid behind his mother. His form was shaking as he peered around her legs, sparing a terrified glance at the little girl in front of him.
Evelyn knelt down next to Jack, trying to coax him out from hiding. Placing a hand on the little boy's back, she did her best to soothe him. "It's alright, Jackie, it's just Alex. Nothing bad is happening." She looked up at Alex, offering a smile. "Hello, Alex. How are you, sweetheart?"
"I'm good!" Alex exclaimed, smiling brightly up at the woman. "How are you?"
"I'm doing well." She smiled at the little girl once more before turning to Jack. "Why don't you go play with Alex while I go put your things up in your room?"
The only response from the boy was a wide eyed stare as Alex and Evelyn smiled at him. He clutched the plastic bag in his hands to his chest and flinched when he saw Evelyn reach for it. Taking a step back he shook his head. The grip on the bag increased and his knuckles were turning white. Before Evelyn could say anything else the six-year-old bolted for the stairs, his feet carrying him as fast as they could.
"Is Jack okay, Evelyn?" Alex asked, her head tilting to the side as she watched her friend disappear upstairs. The sound of a door slamming shut echoed down to them.
"He's just a little nervous. It's a new environment for him," the woman answered, standing up and smoothing out her shirt. "Jackie will be fine." She glanced back up the stairs, a despondent look on her face before she turned back to Alex. "Jackie will be back down. For now I'm sure you'd like to play something and I think I have just the thing. Bobby! Angel!" She looked towards the living room.
"What, Ma?" came the shouted reply from Bobby which was followed by a loud cheer. He must have changed the movie to a hockey game.
"Don't shout what at me, Bobby Mercer," Evelyn scolded, placing her hands on her hips, a scowl on her face. "When I call you, you come here."
It was a moment later when the two boys shuffled into the room, a sheepish look on Bobby's face as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry, Ma."
"That's more like it," she stated with a firm nod. "Now, I need you two to go into the attic and find the box of my old clothes."
"Are we having a yard sale?" Angel asked, raising a brow and he folded his arms over his chest.
"No, I thought it would be a good idea to give Alex something to play and I thought dress up would be a good game for her and you two," she responded, smiling down at the little girl when she heard a gasp from her.
"Dress up?" she exclaimed at the same time as the two brothers, who wore identical incredulous looks.
"Can we really?" Alex asked, jumping up and down.
"Can we not?" Angel mumbled to Bobby, who was holding his head in his hand.
"Angel." Evelyn turned to the dark skinned teen with a raised brow. "Can you go show Alex where the box is?"
"Yeah, no problem, Ma," Angel said, gesturing a still bouncing Alex out of the foyer.
The woman watched her son lead the little girl to the attic, a soft smile on her face until she caught sight of Jack peeking his head through his door. The little boy was staring down at them through a small slight in his door, curious - and yet fearful - eyes staring at each one of them. As soon as the little boy spotted Angel and Alex coming up the stores he quickly shut the door, the softest sound of a lock turning could be heard if Evelyn listened close enough.
Her face fell and she let out a heavy sigh as she made her way to the kitchen. This didn't go unnoticed by Bobby and he followed his mother into the kitchen, watching her for a moment as she pulled things out of the fridge, preparing for dinner that night.
"What's wrong, Ma?" he asked, walking up next to her.
"It's Jack, Bobby," Evelyn sighed. She ran a hand down her face, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "I'm worried that he'll never open up to us. He's terrified of everything we do no matter how much kindness we show him." She let out a huff of air, her brow furrowing. "If it wasn't for that awful man he never would have been like this. I never can just understand how people can treat a child like that."
"Yeah…" Bobby trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced out the kitchen doorway. He could just picture the little blond boy curled up in his bed trying to hide from the world. "After seeing how Jack turned out, I feel Jerry, Angel, and I got lucky."
"Jack, he's such a gentle boy, I can tell. I only wish he'd realize we won't do anything to hurt him." She placed the vegetables in a colander and tossed them under running water, rinsing them. "He's in a home where he'll find love, but we all need to try harder, not just me. You, Jerry, and Angel all need to pull your weight too."
"Wait what?" Bobby exclaimed. His brow furrowed as he glared at his mother. "What do you mean I need to try harder? I've been trying ever since he got here. It's not my fault the kid has clammed right up." He folded his arms over his chest, a frustrated look on his face. "I get it, he's scared of people. He has every right to be, but I have been trying. I don't know what else you want from me."
"Play with him. Take him around town. Make him feel more at home. A part of the family." Evelyn sighed, shaking her head lightly before sternly meeting her oldest son's gaze. "I think he's afraid of you more than Jerry and Angel."
"I thought you said that all three of us have to try harder?" Bobby scoffed, rolling his eyes. "It seems like you're harping on me the most."
"That's because you're intimidating, Bobby," Evelyn said with the sweetest voice as she patted his shoulder. "No offense, sweetheart, but you're not exactly the most friendly person, unless you forgot how Jack first met you." Swiftly slapping him on the back of the head, she added "and don't you roll your eyes at me, mister; I thought I taught you better than that."
"Yes, ma'am," Bobby said, wincing at the slight throbbing in the back of his head. "And it's not my fault I scared the kid," he argued, rolling his eyes once his mother's back was to him. "I didn't know you were bringing him home that day. You never told us what day you were bringing him home. And it's not my fault Jerry was freaking out over his bike."
"Bobby," Evelyn deadpanned, glancing at him over her shoulder, "you ran over his bike with the car."
"And I said I was sorry."
His mother shook her head as she turned back to the vegetables, cutting up one of the bell peppers. "You need to work on your anger, young man."
"Yeah, yeah, Ma. I know," Bobby said, heading over to the fridge and pulling out an apple. He took a large bite out of it as he walked over to the window, leaning against the pane. Outside the leaves were changing as Fall was slowly approaching which meant colder days.
Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted a car pulling into the Grayson's driveway. Marvin got out a second later, slamming the door and trudging into the house.
Bobby's brow furrowed as he watched the man, his mind reeling with what Alex had said to him and Angel just moments ago.
"It's getting cold out," he spoke out.
"Yes it is, Captain Obvious," Evelyn said, giving her son a teasing smile. "Why are you bringing that up?"
"I don't think Alex has any clothes for this weather…" He trailed off, staring at the house as a light turned on in one of the rooms. "I don't think Marvin is going to buy her them any time soon either."
Evelyn's head whipped around to look at him, her brow furrowed. "He should! The poor thing is from Florida, she won't last long in this cold with clothes for hotter weather." She rounded the kitchen table and stood next to her son, staring out at the house as well. Pursing her lips, she glanced at Bobby. "What makes you think he won't?"
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Something that Alex said to Angel and I…"
"What did she say?"
"She thinks that Marvin doesn't like her," he answered, folding his arms over his chest. "She was saying how she wants to play with him, but he's always leaving. She also notices he's drinking a lot."
The mother's brow furrowed as she stared hard at the house across the street. The tension in her jaw was visible to Bobby, who was looking at his mother with a bit of unease.
"Ma?" he said, eyeing her cautiously. He blinked, taken aback when she turned sharply on her heel and stormed out of the kitchen, completely forgetting the vegetables that were left on the counter. "Ma!" he called after her, following her to the front door. "Ma, what are you doing?"
"Evelyn?" Alex said as she entered the foyer. Around her neck was a feather boa and on her head was a large floppy hat. She looked up at the woman with inquisitive eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, sweetheart," Evelyn answered, smiling down at the little girl. "I just have to leave for a moment. I'm going to talk with your uncle."
Bobby's eyebrows raised for a brief moment before nodding his head a few times. "Alright, Ma. Have a nice talk."
"Oh I will, Bobby," she stated, her smile falling before she walked out of the door.
As soon as the sound of the door clicking shut filled the small foyer, Angel poked his head out from the living room doorway. Around his neck was a bright green feather boa.
"Where did Ma go?"
"Across the street," Bobby replied, staring at the door for a moment longer. He sighed and turned to face his younger brother only to stop short when he saw the boa. "Come on, man. Seriously?"
"Shut up, Bobby," Angel growled, glaring at his oldest brother.
"I have something for you to wear too, Bobby!" Alex exclaimed, bouncing on her feet as she stared up at the oldest Mercer boy. She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the room, a huge grin on her face.
She pulled him to a spot on the ground next to Angel, who was sat criss-crossed with his arms folded across his chest and a frown on his face. Bobby slowly took a seat next to his brother, an identical frown on his face. They shared an irritated look before looking over at the little girl as she rummaged through the box of clothes. Seconds later, she let out a small cheer before she pulled out another large floppy hat - this one bright red - and placed it onto Bobby's head.
"Now you're pretty too!" she exclaimed, the smile on her face brightening even more. She clapped her hands together before hopping back over to the box. "We're going to have a tea party!"
"Jesus Christ," Bobby mumbled, hanging his head.
"Why did Ma make us go through with this," Angel responded, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"We should do makeovers!" Alex shouted, skipping around the living room.
Angel groaned, hanging his head back. "Ma better come back soon…"
ooOOoo
The doorbell rang throughout the house disrupting Marvin's movie. He groaned, pushing himself off of the chair. With a quick swig of his beer he made his way to the front door.
"I'm not interested," he declared as he swung open the door.
He had expected a salesman or some boy scout or girl scout selling whatever it was that they sold. Cookies? Popcorn? He couldn't remember. But what he hadn't expected was Evelyn Mercer from across the street.
He groaned, taking another drink from his beer. "What do you want?"
"Marvin, we need to talk," Evelyn stated, pushing her way into the house.
Marvin groaned once more and followed the woman into the living room before plopping back into the armchair he had previously occupied. "Alright then, talk." Another drink from the beer can.
"Put that damn thing away," Evelyn demanded, glaring at the man.
"Well shit, I never thought the Evelyn Mercer would curse at someone like that," he mocked. He took another drink before placing it on the coffee table. "Fine. I put it away. What do you want to talk about?" he asked, leaning back into his chair and raising a brow at the woman.
"I'm here to talk about Alex," she said only to get a loud moan from the man. "Knock it off!" She glared at him and pointed a finger. "You need to step up and be an adult. Look at you! You're a mess! This is not how Alex should be raised. Cleaning up your mess. Watching you drink your life away. This is your niece and this is not how she should see you!"
"What's it to you how the kid sees me?" he asked, matching her glare.
"It's part of my job," she said, emphasising the word job. "I make sure kids are being treated well and are in good homes and right now I can tell that Alex is not being treated well or in a good home. Look at this mess!" She gestured to the beer cans and pizza boxes scattered on the coffee table beside her. "This is not what a six-year-old should be subjected to. What would your brother think of this?"
"Like he'd give a damn what I thought," he scoffed, grabbing the beer can once more and taking a swig.
"He'd care deeply how you were raising his daughter," Evelyn said, placing her hands on her hips. "He entrusted you with his daughter!"
"He's an idiot for doing that!" Marvin shouted, sitting straight in his chair. He slammed the beer can back onto the coffee table. "Matt should never have entrusted me with his kid. I'm surprised he even thought of me!"
"He thought of you because he trusted you and why he did I'll never know! But right now that little girl needs you to take care of her and be her guardian."
"I don't want anything to do with that kid!" At this point, Marvin had stood up from his seat and standing in front of Evelyn, matching her stature, but the woman didn't back down.
Her brow furrowed as she glowered up at the man. "Well tough shit, Marvin. You're in charge of Alex, doesn't matter what you want. You're her guardian."
"You think I want this?" Marvin was shouting now, throwing his hands in the air. "I didn't want to take care of my brother's kid. I don't want to see her! Everytime I look at her I see him! She looks so much like him! Do you have any idea what it feels like to look at a kid and see your dead brother - your little brother - in her? My brother should hate me! After our dad died I left him and my mom. I left them to defend themselves. I love my brother, but I was a coward who abandoned his family for his own sake!" He was breathing heavy now, fists clenched at his sides. "My brother shouldn't have thought of me to watch that girl. He should hate me for what I did."
"Well clearly he loved you enough to entrust you with his child," Evelyn said calmly. "And right now that little girl needs a parent."
"I'm not her parent. Her parents are dead," he grumbled, staring at his feet.
"Does she know that? Because she doesn't seem like a child who learned her parents are dead," the woman light-haired woman stated. "You need to tell her what happened and you need to step up and be a parent. That or you're going to let your brother down. He loved you enough to choose you out of all relatives to watch Alex. Think about that." Evelyn gave him one last hard look for a moment before marching out of the house.
Marvin stared at his feet, flinching when he heard the door slam. His face fell from his angered expression and he slumped into his chair, placing his face into his hands. The tears fell from his eyes as he sat there, letting the silence and the woman's words swallow him.
Well… I'm back.
I'm not sure if anyone is even waiting for an update at this point since it's been five years since the last update. I'm really sorry about that. I had a huge case of writer's block and I had stopped for a bit then started writing other stuff. From there I never really got back into this story. The weird thing is though, I knew I would come back to it at some point. Four Brothers is one of my favorite movies and Alex is one of my favorite OCs so I figured I'd come back to it. I just didn't know it would be this long.
Looking through the old chapters I was laughing and smiling remembering all the things I wrote and I thought I made Alex pretty cute so I'm pretty happy with the outcome of it even after all this time. However, my writing has improved IMMENSELY. I don't plan on going back and editing the chapters because I'm lazy and just don't want to do it. It will just be funny to read chapters 1-3 and then read 4 and see this huge difference in the writing.
I didn't even think I would have any of my old files from this story. I had a ton of drabbles I had written for future chapters and ideas for this chapter and the next and I didn't know if I still had the file with everything. I did. I also found what I had started writing for this chapter and was kind of glad that I had already started it back in 2012 because if I didn't I would have no idea how to start this chapter haha. I did edit what I had written of course so now it won't be 2012 writing and then randomly 2017 writing.
I'm not sure how I should go about this story, whether to make this the years where Alex gets to know the Mercers before the movie, or make time skips here and there to reach the movie. I haven't thought about this until now and I'm not entirely sure. On one hand I feel I should just make this one story, on the other I feel I should make this multiple stories. This one the years before the movie and then a second story the actual movie. But that also depends on if I even reach the movie itself. I feel I might not even get to that point. I'd honestly love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
I'm not sure how often I'll update this story. I just wanted to attempt this chapter and see what would happen. I do hope to continue writing it, but I'm 22 now and working through an internship and then working on a career after. I'm also trying to write an original story and thanks to writing fanfiction my writing has improved and I'm able to plot out an idea for the story.
Basically, what I'm saying is please don't expect a regular updating schedule or the like. I want to continue this story, but at my own pace and I can't guarantee it will be complete. I know I just took a 5 year hiatus on this story and I didn't think I'd finish it, but I'm still not sure if I will finish this. I have been working on a Marvel series that I had to take a break from and now I just started a Voltron story that has my attention as well. I'm horrible when it comes to working on multiple stories at once so adding this to the list will make things go slowly.
I do plan on writing this, but again don't expect regular updates or this to be completed. I'd like to complete it, but I just know it won't be for a very long time.
I really hope you liked the chapter and if anyone is still following this story I'm glad to be back and I really hope you stick around some more. Let me know what you thought, I love and appreciate feedback, it helps me improve, so please leave a review.
if you have any questions for me or just want to message me I am easier to reach on tumblr with melapede.