Hello there! Sorry for the large gap between prompts. This week I'm done getting my ass kicked by math tests, psychology midterms, SATs, and friends' acapella competitions, so I'm hoping to get a lot more of this fic done! As always, thank you.
XXVIII. Sorrow
Stacey peered up at Blaine from where she sat cross-legged on the floor. Goldie lazed next to her, both for once operating at less than a million miles an hour.
"Why are you sad?" she asked bluntly.
Blaine blinked and quickly slapped what he hoped was a convincing smile on his face.
"Who says I'm sad?"
"I think it's called 'body language,'" Stacey mused, sweet and innocent as anything as she absently scratched Goldie's head. "That's how I know."
"What am I doing?" Blaine uncrossed his legs and leaned forward slightly, genuinely curious.
She shrugged and turned to nuzzle her face in the glisteningly soft fur of Goldie's side. As she did, Blaine exhaled and allowed the smile to drop from his face, settling himself back against the couch cushions.
And Stacey whirled around, her blonde hair flying into her face, and pointed an accusing finger at him.
"There!"
Blaine started. "What?"
"That's what you're doing."
She sighed as he stared at her blankly, uncomprehending.
"You're not smiling," Stacey explained patiently. "Whenever you're around me, you smile, but you're not right now. So you're sad. It's called in...no, de…something duck-tive reasoning. Sammy tried to explain it to me but I forget what it was."
Blaine let out a soft laugh. "You know why I'm sad?" he asked. "It's because I don't have a smart little sister like you."
She squealed as he lifted her up and began tickling her. The golden retriever at his feet flicked her ear at the sound but otherwise ignored it.
"Are you sad because Sammy's not here?" Stacey asked after a minute, when her fit of giggles had died down. "That's why Goldie's sad, you know." Then, before Blaine could answer: "Or is it because my mommy's not paying you to babysit me?"
"That is exactly it," Blaine replied, keeping his face straight and serious. "I am devastated by the fact that I volunteered to babysit you while your mom worked and Sam took Stevie out, and now I'm stuck here having absolutely no fun and not even getting paid for it."
Stacey stared right back at him, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Really?"
"Yes."
She kept staring for a few more seconds, then a big grin grew on her face.
"You're funny. I can't wait until you're my brother. Then we can play together all the time."
Blaine cracked a smile. "And when will that be?"
"When you and Sam get married, silly!"
He laughed, but he hoped the tinge of sorrow that was creeping into his chest wasn't perceptible in his voice. If Stacey picked up on it—which, knowing her, she had—she did not point it out; instead, she launched herself at Blaine with a shriek and began tickling him mercilessly, effectively distracting him from his melancholia.
