A/N: Hey good morning readers! (or evening, wherever you're at) Hope you all are doing well! Decided to go ahead and get this chapter up and posted (I'd like to remind readers, I cannot take credit for this chapter, it all belongs to KynleeM). I'd like to thank these reviewers:
CmGleek - Thanks, we should for sure be seeing more of these cuteness between the siblings.
Caroliny Hotchner - We shall find out, hopefully it'll be soon!
I shall now let you get on with this chapter
CriminalMindsFan88
Chapter 4
The next morning JJ had woken up before her siblings. She quietly got out of bed without disturbing them, and quietly walked out of the room. She went down to the next room over, and went into the bathroom. Once she used the bathroom, she quickly washed her hands, and walked out of the room. Making sure she was quiet, so she wouldn't wake her father, or her siblings, she tiptoed down the stairs. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, she walked down the hall to the kitchen. She went over to the table, slid the chair across the floor to the cabinet, and hopped up on the chair to reach for a cup. Once she grabbed one, she set it down on the counter, and slowly got down till both feet were planted on the floor. She walked over to the fridge and used both hands to get the milk. She then proceeded to the counter where her cup was at, and slowly poured herself some milk, making a small mess in the process. JJ then walked back to the fridge, and put the milk back up and closed the fridge door. She put the chair back, and went to grab her cup of milk after cleaning up her mess, and walked to the living room.
JJ set the cup down on the coffee table in front of the couch, and grabbed for the remote. She turned the TV on with the volume a bit loud. She scrambled to turn the noise from the tv, down, and stood still to make sure she didn't wake anyone. Not hearing any movement from upstairs for a few minutes, she focused her attention back to the television and looked for a show to watch. Finding a show on the Nickelodeon channel, she settled on the show Rugrats.
An hour later, JJ heard footsteps at the top of the stairs. Before she could change the channel back, and get the TV shut off. Her father had come down and seen her watching tv. He walks over to her, and roughly picks her up, "Keep your sorry little ass away from my tv! You hear me?"
"Y-yes," JJ frighteningly responds, tears building up in her eyes.
"Yes what?" Her father asked her harshley.
"Yes s-sir," JJ answers, tears streaming down her face.
Mark threw his youngest down on the floor, like she was just a rag doll. "I'm not even sure why you're even living. Shoulda just gotten rid of you, like I wanted too. You deserve every beating you get. Especially for killing my wife! Maybe I outta toss your sorry ass out the house."
The young girl just sat on the ground, listening to her father. Afraid to make a move, she looks over and sees her older brother come running down the stairs, "leave her alone! She didn't do anything wrong."
"Mind your business boy!" Mark told his son. He then turns and faces his youngest, bends down and picks her up, and takes her over to the nearby closet, he opens the door, "You can just keep your ass right here! You better keep your mouth shut!" He then tosses her into the closet, and shuts the door. He pushes a nearby table over, and places it in front of the door, so JJ couldn't get out. Mark then turns to face his son, "You'll have another thing coming if you even think about letting her out." He seethed.
"You can't leave her in there!" Aaron yells, going to the closet.
Mark stops his son in his tracks, "if you open that door so help me..."
"You can't just leave her in there!" Aaron tells him, getting frustrated with his dad.
"I can, and I will," Mark tells him, as he walks over to his son. "Now, go do something useful. Make sure that other useless child stays out of my way!"
Aaron stands still, willing himself to be taller than his father. Knowing his dad wouldn't back down, he walks away, and heads towards the stairs. As he was walking up, he saw his sister standing close to the stairs, but out of her father's sight. She quickly wipes away the tears that started to spill over, after watching her dad stick her sister in the closet. Once Aaron reached her, she walked the short distance to her brother, "She hates the dark Aaron. We have to get her out of the closet."
"I know Em', and we will. It's best to wait till either he leaves, or he passes out. Whichever comes first. There's no point in fighting him." Aaron tells her as he guides his sister to his room.
"I hope he leaves. I hope, when he goes to the bar, he gets drunk and crashes and dies," Emily tells her brother, as she sits down on his bed.
"Em'," Aaron starts, and before he can get another word in, his sister starts up.
"No Aaron. I'm tired of living with him. He's not the same. Not since mom died. He blames JJ for our mom's death. She was just an infant, it wasn't her fault! Why can't he see that?"
"He's too blinded by it. He's filled with so much rage, and hatred, that he feels like he should take it out on us, especially JJ. I know that isn't right, or fair, but that's what I think is the reason behind it. He misses his wife, our mom. That it's just easier to blame others." Aaron tells her. He goes over and sits next to his sister, and wraps his arms around her. "We'll get out of here. Someday, but we will."
"I hope you're right Aaron. I can't stand to see him hurt JJ anymore, or heck, even all of us," Emily tells him, sounding defeated.
"We will, I promise," Aaron promises.
After a little while of giving each other comfort, they both decided to do what they could, by cleaning their rooms, and cleaning the bathroom. Just trying to get themselves busy. Every now and then, they could hear their little sister crying. Each time, their father would go and smack the door while telling her to shut up. As soon as it got quiet a little while later, Mark decided JJ could come out of the closet. He moves the table back over to where it belongs, and opens the door to see JJ just sitting in the corner, knees against her chest, with her small arms wrapped around her knees. She looks up just as the door opened, to see her father standing there. He quickly pulls her out of the closet by the arm, not caring if she hit the door frame as he did so.
"If I ever catch you watching my tv again, you're gonna wish you were never born!" Mark tells her. He then tosses her down on the floor, away from him. "Get your ass moving upstairs now!"
JJ scrambles up off the floor, and makes a beeline for the stairs, not wanting to stick around another minute. Once she got to the top of the stairs, she walked slower, and headed towards her brother's room. She knocks on the door, and waits for her brother to open the door. Just as she was about to knock again, the door opened up, revealing her brother. She takes one look at Aaron and bursts out crying. Aaron gently picks her up, and walks her into the room, closing the door behind him. He goes over to his desk, and sits down in his chair, placing his sister on his lap.
"Hey, you're okay. Everything is okay, just calm down squirt," Aaron gently tells his youngest sister.
"I'm sorry!" JJ wails, as she wraps her arms around her brother's neck, and cries into his shoulder.
"There's nothing to be sorry for squirt, you're okay. Just calm down, take deep breaths, "Aaron instructs, rubbing small circles on the little girls' back.
Just as Aaron was trying to get JJ to calm down, his bedroom door opened, and he could feel his sister tense up. He looks over, and sees Emily walking in. The teen looks down at his sister and tells her, "it's just Em'. You're safe." looking back up at his other sister, he tells Emily, "could you go and get a cup of water for her?"
"Of course," Emily tells him, as she turns to walk back out the door.
After Emily walked out, JJ sat up to face her brother, "I'm sorry Aaron."
"Sorry for what kiddo?" Aaron asks, pushing her hair back behind her ears.
JJ looks down at her hands, "for watching daddy's tv."
"It's okay," Aaron softly tells her. "It's not just daddys tv. It's also ours. We have every right to it, just as he does."
"But, daddy said it was his tv. I just wanted to watch cartoons," JJ tells him, getting teary eyed again.
"I know you did," He tells her. "Why didn't you wake me or Emily up?"
The eight year old looks at her older brother with tears in her eyes, "I dunno, I didn't want to wake you, or Emmy."
"It would have been okay, squirt." Aaron tells her, wiping the tears off her face. "Come on, let's lay you down, maybe get a nap."
"Aaron?" JJ calls out to her brother, as he gently laid her down on his bed.
"Yes," he, Aaron, responds.
JJ gives a big sigh, "Why did daddy say I killed mommy? He told me that I deserve the beatings because I killed his wife. How did I do that? I didn't mean to. I don't want to be kicked out. Please don't let him kick me out."
Aaron had JJ scoot over, and he got in next to her, "dad doesn't know what he's talking about. What he's saying, isn't true. You didn't kill our mom, and I won't let him kick you out. I promise JJ, I won't let him do that. You didn't do anything wrong."
"But, how did mommy die? Why does daddy keep saying it's my fault?" JJ keeps questioning.
Aaron sighs, rubs his hand against his face, "Well, how our mom died, she was giving birth to you. But, it was due to complications, I'm not exactly sure what happened. What I do know is, our mom told the doctors to do whatever they could to save you. She put her life before yours."
"Is that why daddy hates me? It was my fault mommy died?" JJ asks, getting upset.
"No, JJ. Daddy is just really, really angry. He's mad at the world, because his wife died, our mom. It's no excuse to take that anger out on you, or Emily, or even me. I promise JJ, I promise, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe." Aaron promises, he leans over and kisses the top of his sisters head.
JJ stays silent for a few, as she takes in what her brother told her. "I don't like going into that closet. I'm sorry I didn't wake you, or Emmy up. You're not mad are you?"
"No, of course not. I love you JJ, you could never make me mad." Aaron tells her.
Just then, the door to the bedroom opens up, and in steps Emily with a cup of water for her sister. She walks over to the bed, and gives Aaron the cup of water to give to their sister. She sits down on the edge of the bed, "Dad left. It's why it took me a little longer to get back up here. I didn't want him to see me."
"Good, hopefully he'll be gone all day again," Aaron tells her.
"We can only hope," Emily agrees, then she takes the cup from her sister. "What's going on up here?"
Aaron just gives a slight shake of his head, "I'll tell you later. She's still upset from earlier, and figured it'll help if she were to lay down and take a nap."
Emily looks to her sister, "What time did you even get up this morning?"
JJ shrugs her shoulders, "I dunno. But the rugrats were on, two shows."
"Must have been early then," Emily responds. "Okay, move on over, I'm crawling in."
All three kids get snuggled in bed together, the older two mostly just in bed to keep their sister company and to make sure she was okay. Once they got comfortable in bed, they each slowly started passing out, and drifted off into sleep. They ended up taking a long morning nap, not realizing it was going almost past noon. Aaron woke up first, and decided to let his sisters sleep just a tad bit longer, while he went to see if his dad was home, or if he was still out.
A/N: Oh no! Poor JJ! That was just absolutely horrible! No kid should ever have to go through that, and if you suspect a child(ren) is being abused, please help them! They may not know how to ask for help, or they could be afraid to ask for help. If you suspect abuse in a child please call this national child abuse hotline:
1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
Thanks for reading, I plan on working on Chapter 5 sometime today, and hopefully I can get it up and posted this evening, otherwise, there won't be an update until Monday, going out of state tomorrow morning. Hope you all have a wonderful day/night, and hope you have an amazing weekend!
CriminalMindsFan88