Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya! We're getting close to the end here, only a few more chapters left. Thanks for sticking around. :)
Also, I guess you could call this chapter a pretty pivotal moment for our two characters, and you'll see why soon enough.
Enjoy!
"Skye! Can you get the front door, please?" Grant calls from within the kitchen.
Standing from her bed, Skye sighs and makes her way out of the room, down the hallway and toward the front of the house. She tosses Max a quick smile as she passes the dog lounging in the living room.
She pulls open the door when she reaches it, finding a familiar looking woman standing on the other side. It clicks after a few seconds that she recognizes the woman from some of the photos on the walls of the house. She definitely looks a lot like Grant, that's for sure.
"Wow. It really is you," the woman says, pulling Skye out of her head.
She smiles kindly at the woman. "You must be Amanda, Grant's sister."
Amanda nods. "That is me. And you're Skye."
"I am."
"Wow."
Skye laughs quietly. "Yeah, you kinda said that already."
Amanda smiles sheepishly. "I'm sorry. It's just, you're my daughter's favorite actress. I've only ever seen your face on my TV screen or phone and now you're standing here right in front of me. I can only imagine how Katie must have felt."
Skye smiles. "She was pretty attached to me once she realized who I was yesterday."
"I'm sorry if she was a little much for you."
Skye shakes her head. "No, don't worry, it was fine. She's a sweet girl."
Amanda smiles proudly. "She most definitely is."
"Mommy!"
"There's my girl," Amanda says with a smile as Kate runs through the house toward her.
Skye watches with a smile on her face as the mother and daughter embrace in a tight hug.
"I missed you, mommy."
"I missed you too, Katie. Did you have fun with your uncle Grant?"
Kate nods. "The most fun ever. And mommy, guess what?"
"What?"
She leans in and tries to whisper. "Uncle Grant knows Princess Daisy."
Amanda smiles and laughs quietly. "I know. That must have been really fun to hang out with her."
"So much. She's the best. She even read to us last night for bedtime."
Amanda looks up at Skye and she gives the mother a small shrug. "It was Harry Potter. And besides, how could someone say no to such a cute face?" She reaches out and cups Kate's chin in her hand, smiling sweetly at her.
"Oh, it's definitely possible," Amanda says, shifting Kate on her hip.
"Mommy always says no," Kate tells Skye.
"I don't always say no," Amanda defends herself to her daughter. "Just when you're doing something you're not supposed to, or when you want something you can't have."
"Hi, mom."
"There are my boys, " Amanda says with a smile, pulling the two boys into a hug when they get closer to her. "Are you two ready to go?"
"Yeah," Ethan says. "Let me grab my stuff, though."
"Okay. We'll be right here."
Ethan turns and walks back out of the room toward the bedroom the kids were using last night.
"Mommy, I wanna get down," Kate tells her mom.
"Okay, sweetie." Amanda loosens her hold on her daughter, allowing the young girl to slide down to the floor. She leans back against her mom's legs as they all wait for Ethan to return. Amanda reaches down and runs a hand down over her daughter's head. "I hope they were good for you," she says to her brother as he enters the room.
"They were as they usually are," he replies. "They helped out with the animals and really only argued once when it was time for bed."
"Of course they did," she says with a sigh. "When isn't there an argument between them?"
"I have the bag," Ethan announces as he enters the hallway again, struggling just a bit to carry their overnight bag.
Amanda smiles at her son. "You good there, Ethan?"
He nods. "Yeah. I've got it."
"Alright, time to go, then," Amanda says to her three children, gesturing to the open door behind her. "Everybody to the car."
Ethan and Caleb make their way out to the car parked outside, after giving Grant and Skye each a hug, Ethan carrying the bag out with him.
"Katie, that means you too," Amanda says to her daughter.
"I don't wanna leave." Kate frowns as she stands with her arms crossed over her chest.
Grant steps forward and kneels down in front of his niece. "I know you don't, Katie. But you have to."
"I wanna stay with you and Skye."
"But your mom and dad will be sad if you don't go home," Skye pipes in, trying to assist with the current situation. She takes a few small steps toward the little girl. "And you still get to see your Uncle Grant all the time even though you don't live here, right?"
Kate nods. "Yeah."
"Well then even when I go back to my home, all the way in Los Angeles, I'll still make an effort to see you and your brothers as much as I can. How does that sound to you?"
"Um, good."
Skye smiles. "I'm glad you said that. Now come here and give me the biggest hug you can."
Kate steps forward and wraps her arms tightly around Skye's neck, burying her face in the older woman's hair.
When she pulls away, Skye smiles sweetly at her. "See, that wasn't a 'goodbye forever' hug. It was an 'I'll see you soon' hug. Because I don't think there's any possible way that I could stay away from you. You're my biggest fan, right?"
Kate nods. "Yeah, I am. And I'm your best friend too."
Skye smiles. "Well I think you'll have to talk to my friend Jemma about taking that title from her, but I'm sure she won't mind sharing it."
"Okay."
"Good. Now you better go and join your brothers in the car, okay? But say bye to your uncle first."
Kate steps around her and walks over to Grant, hugging him around the legs. "I love you, Uncle Grant."
Geant hugs her back and kisses the top of her head. "I love you too, Katie. I'll see you later."
Kate pulls out of the hug and smiles up at him before moving to the door and out to the car.
"Wow, you're really great with kids," Amanda says to Skye once Kate is out of earshot. "It would have taken me forever to get her out of that mopey state."
Skye shrugs. "It was nothing. I really haven't worked with kids too often, so I honestly was just winging it, hoping I wouldn't make things worse."
"Well, I'm certainly glad that you didn't."
"Me too. And it was really great to meet you, by the way. Grant's talked about you before, but it was nice to actually get to talk to you instead of just hearing about you."
"I'm glad we met as well," Amanda tells her. "Hopefully we'll see each other again."
Skye smiles and nods. "I think I'd really like that."
"Great. I should probably get going before my kids get restless. Bye, Dougie," she says, peering around Skye to smile at her brother. "Love you."
"I love you, too, Mandy. See you soon."
"Yeah, bye." She gives them both one last smile before turning and making her way out of the house and down toward her car where her kids are waiting.
"Those kids are, hands down, some of the cutest kids I've ever met," Skye tells Grant after she closes the door, leaning back against it.
Grant smiles. "Yeah?"
She nods. "Oh yeah. I've met a lot of kids over the course of my career, and the last couple of years, I've never met any kids as cute as those three." She gestures over her shoulder with her thumb.
"They are pretty great. I definitely lucked out in the niece and nephews department."
She smiles at him. "You certainly did."
"Hey, do you maybe want to watch a movie or something?" he asks her out of the blue, causing her brows to furrow.
"What?"
He rubs at the back of his neck. "I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie. I don't have a lot of options, I think most of them are kids movies, but I might have something we could both enjoy. I just figured you've been working hard lately, it might be nice to just relax for a couple of hours."
She shifts on her feet, subconsciously biting her bottom lip between her teeth. "Um, yeah, sure, that'd be great."
He smiles. "Great. I'm uh, I'm just going to go use the bathroom real quick. If you want to pick out a movie, they're in the cabinet below the tv."
She nods. "I will do that." She smiles at him, watching as he walks down the hall before turning toward the TV, taking a deep breath as her heart rate starts to pick up.
.
.
.
Stepping back into the living room after using the bathroom, Grant's brows furrow when he sees Skye sitting up against one of the walls in the living room, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head down in her lap. Max is sitting beside her, his head tilted as his body leans into hers.
He rushes toward her, stopping with a bit of space between them and immediately crouching down to get to her level.
"Good job, boy," he says quietly to Max, giving the dog a small smile before focusing his attention on the brunette. "Skye? Skye, can you hear me? Are you okay?"
She shakes her head quickly, her eyes shut tight and her breathing heavy. She pulls her legs in tighter and buries her head further in them.
"Skye," he says softly but firmly. "Skye, I need you to listen to me, okay? Focus on me, just focus on my voice." He waits a beat. "I need you to tell me five things you can see."
Her head lifts slowly, her eyes closed halfway and a deep frown on her face. "What?"
"Open your eyes all the way and tell me five things you can see."
"Why…?"
"Just do it, please."
"Um…your shoes, the lamp in the corner…the couch, the tv...and the coffee table."
He nods with a small hint of a smile on his face. "That's good. Now tell me four things you can feel right now."
"M-my legs," she says, her hands rubbing subconsciously against her thighs. "The floor...um…uh, the wall, and Max. I can feel Max."
"Okay. Now tell me three things you can hear."
"The uh, the fridge. Kebo shouting outside. And your voice."
He smiles. "Alright. Now, what about two things you can smell."
"The cows. And the scented candle on the table."
"And finally, tell me one thing you can taste."
Her brows furrow a little deeper and she tilts her head. "Mint. From my toothpaste."
He smiles. "Good, that's good." He scoots a little closer to her now that she seems to be much calmer than she was a couple of minutes ago. "How do you feel?"
"Um, weird. But better, I think. How did you...how did you do that?"
He shrugs. "I knew someone growing up who had anxiety attacks too, a kid I went to school with."
Her brows furrow. "What? What are you talking about?"
He shifts on his feet. "I think you had an anxiety attack, Skye," he admits to her. "You had me really worried. It took me a second to realize what was happening."
She shakes her head. "I don't...I don't have anxiety attacks."
"You didn't sound too convincing there," he says with a small smile. "I think...I think maybe you should talk to somebody, to get a professionals opinion on all of this."
"You do?"
He nods. "Yeah. And there's a great guy in town that I think could really help you figure out exactly what's going on. I can set an appointment up for you if you want me to."
"Um, I guess so."
"Great. So, uh, I'll give his office a call and see if he can get you in as soon as possible."
She nods. "Okay. Thanks."
He gives her a small smile. "It's not a problem. Are you going to be okay for a few minutes or do you want me to stay in here with you a little longer?"
She takes a deep breath in, her body shuddering just a little. Max shifts against her and she instinctively reaches out to him. "Um, I think I'll be fine."
"Okay. I'll come and check on you after I finish making the call."
She slowly nods and swallows. "Okay."
Grant squeezes her knee reassuringly, a small smile on his face, before standing up from the floor and stepping out of the room. He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and dials the number for the psychiatrist in town.
"Hello?"
"Doctor Anderson, it's Grant."
"Grant, so nice to hear from you."
"Yeah, it's good to talk to you too. Um, do you have any availabilities sometime tomorrow afternoon?"
"I might have one or two. Is this about your grandmother again?"
He shakes his head. "No, I haven't had any issues from that in a while. A friend of mine, she's been staying with me for a while and I think she has some form of anxiety. I was hoping you could talk to her and see if that's actually the case or if I'm just jumping to conclusions."
"I'd be happy to talk to her."
"Grant. What times do you have open?"
"My earliest opening is two in the afternoon. Is that alright?"
"That should be fine. Thank you."
"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
Ending the call, Grant slides the phone back into his pocket and walks back into the living room, finding Skye curled up on the couch, her eyes staring out the window across the room. Max is lying next to her with his head in her lap, Skye's fingers buried in the Shepherd's dark fur.
"Skye?" he speaks up hesitantly, not wanting to startle her in case she's far away in her mind.
She turns her head toward him slowly and gives him half a smile. "Hi."
"Hey. How are you feeling? Are you still up for a movie?"
"Um, actually, I think I'll take a rain check on the movie. I'm pretty exhausted so I think I just want to sleep right now."
He nods. "Yeah, no, of course. Whatever you need. We can watch a movie another night, it's no problem."
"Are you sure?" she asks him. "You seemed pretty into the idea."
"But I'm more into you being healthy," he tells her honestly with a small smile. He nods his head in the direction of the hallway. "Go get some sleep."
She smiles back at him, reaching out to cover his hand with hers. "Thank you. Really. I just...thank you."
"No problem. I'm always here for you. I want you to know that. Now stop stalling and go to bed."
She rolls her eyes, while still smiling, and stands up from the couch. "Alright, alright, I'm going. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Grant leans back into the couch as he watches Skye walk into the hallway, a pleased smile on his face. He turns his attention to Max as the dog shifts on the couch and rests his head in his owner's lap.
"You did a good job, Max," he says to the dog, rubbing his head affectionately. "You did a really good job."
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Big shout out to my sister for helping me fix up the scene where Grant calms Skye down. You the best, baby sis. :)
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!
