~ Chapter Five ~

Kind Gestures

When Barbara came home the following morning, she could barely move nor keep her eyes open. She stumbled over her feet, her body ached, and she had a pounding headache. It felt like she'd been run over by a truck.

"Oh, wait," she mumbled sarcastically to herself, pausing at her front door, "I did get run over by a truck."

Well, almost.

Walter saved her life; however, the x-ray she jokingly asked her fellow doctors for, confirmed that he gave her three cracked ribs when he pushed her out of harm's way. The injury wasn't severe, but it was enough. The dull pain she was experiencing was draining her of the energy she didn't have.

She was exhausted. Thoroughly exhausted. So, much so, the hospital administration sent her home at shift change and told her not to come back until next weekend, and she didn't fight it. Instead, she was thankful for the small break to rest and be at home with Walter. It was a break they both needed.

Since Gunmar's war two weeks ago, she was needed at the hospital almost every single night helping people who were injured, but now that she was injured and was ordered to stay home for a week- it was fine with her.

Barbara fumbled with her keys for a few seconds before finding the right one to unlock her front door. She tried not to stumble through the door frame nor make too much noise, but she was almost too tired and in pain to function correctly.

Shutting the door quietly behind her, she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. She could have fallen asleep right there, standing, had she allowed it. Letting her purse fall to the ground, Barbara took a series of breaths to give her the strength to walk up the stairs to bed, but still, she stayed standing against her front door with her eyes closed, wincing at the pain breathing brought her.

Sighing, she opened her heavy eyes and glanced around her home. It was an open, comfortable, two-story home- and was quiet. Walter, NotEnrique, and the two Changeling Familiar babies were most likely still sleeping.

Barbara relished in the quiet, and her thoughts instantly lingered on her son. It was still strange that he wasn't at home, especially now that it was summer break. Of course, he didn't spend much time at the house, anyway, since he would wake up at the crack of dawn and usually ride his bike with Toby, but sometimes, she was sure he was in the house somewhere.

Not on a troll quest.

By habit, Barbara pulled out her phone to check for any messages from him, but still, there wasn't anything. No text from Jim, no new pictures, no missed phone call, nothing.

Another day had passed, and Jim still hadn't given her an update on whether or not they were alright. It had been four days since she received the last vague text, and the worry for her son's well-being took the only energy she had left.

Sinking to the floor, Barbara sighed heavily and closed her heavy eyes. Exhaustion instantly took hold of her, and she was slowly falling into her subconscious when something solid and hard collected her into a bridal carry.

Humming, she opened her heavy eyes and vaguely knew that she was climbing the stairs towards her bedroom.

How? She wasn't walking.

Turning her head, she tried to focus on who had her in their arms but couldn't seem to focus. Then, when she rested her hand upon his bare, stone chest, she knew who had her. He had a strange scent, as well, like tobacco and cedar- but it was pleasant and familiar.

"Walter?" Barbara whispered weakly.

"Shh," she heard him say quietly, "it's alright, darling. I've got you."

Barbara then felt herself fall gently before her head hit her soft bed and pillow.

Walter carefully took her glasses off, making her vision blur horribly, and she could barely make out his figure standing above her. He tucked her blankets over her body; then, she heard him cross the room and shut the curtains at her window, darkening the room. Then, she heard his footsteps approach her and felt him caress a smooth but slightly coarse hand over her face before he planted a soft but brief kiss on her forehead.

"Sleep, Barbara," he whispered, and his voice seemed to contain a spell, for right as she heard his deep but sweet voice, her eyes shut, and sleep took over all her senses.

Barbara awoke a few hours later. Or so she thought. Turning onto her other side, she searched for her alarm clock, which read, '6:23 PM,' and gasped out loud. "I slept for eleven hours?" But, no one answered her.

Groaning, she sat up and ran hands over her face. She felt better and wasn't as deliriously tired as she was this morning, but her sides and head still ached. Sighing heavily, she reached over at her nightstand, picked up her glasses, and placed them on her face. Now that she could see better, she glanced around her darkened room. The curtains were still closed, darkening out the fading sunlight, and her bedroom door was open a crack, which let in some light and noise from the hallway.

Looking around more, she suddenly noticed that a small tray of food sat next to her alarm clock, and her heart leaped with joy.

A single lavender-white rose laid delicately in a glass vase with an assortment of cut-up fruits, toast, avocado spread, and two bacon strips with a small glass of orange juice.

Barbara gasped, clutched a hand to her chest, and smiled at the kind gesture. Taking the food tray and setting it on her lap, she picked up the note next to the rose and opened it.

It read:

My Dearest Barbara,

I hope you had a restful sleep and are feeling better. Seeing as how exhausted you were this morning, I took the liberty of doing all that had to be done to help you out. So, take the rest of the night to relax, fix yourself a bubble bath, and read a book or two. Whatever you need or want to do to relax, please don't worry about anything. I have the house and Changeling Familiar children all under control.

Yours truly,

Walt

"Oh, Walter," Barbara gasped, clutching her chest again. This was the kindest thing she'd ever have someone do for her.

Jim often served her like that, but to have someone outside of her family take care of her, was different. However, she couldn't remember the last time someone gave her a flower.

Taking the single rose from the vase, she closed her eyes and brought it up to her nose. The rose was sweet, fresh, and smelled beautiful. It was half-white, but the circular center was lavender purple. She loved roses but had never seen a lavender-colored one before. It was softly romantic, unlike the passionate red-rose, but it made her smile with true joy.

Setting the rose back inside the vase, Barbara dug into the delicious food Walter made her. It wasn't heavy but had enough sustenance to it that made her feel full and satisfied.

When finished, she set the food to the side, climbed out and made her bed look nice, then decided to take a bath, as Walter had suggested. She was still in her medical scrubs from the night before, and now that she didn't have to return to work for a week, she was excited to get into more comfortable clothes.

After her warm and relaxing bath, Barbara climbed out and got dressed. She settled for a comfortable white blouse, and a pair of light blue, casual skinny jeans. Once she brushed her teeth, washed her face, and brushed out her mid-back, auburn red hair, she pulled it away from her face and into a soft updo, then left her bedroom.

Walking down the stairs towards the rest of the house, she heard the soft clattering of utensils at the kitchen table but no talking. Keeping her footsteps quiet, she descended the stairs and quietly walked towards her dining room. Hanging out beside the wall of her living room that separated the dining room from it, she saw the most adorable sight.

Walter, in his troll-form, was wearing one of her pink aprons over his bare chest and brown shorts and was feeding the two Changeling Familiars.

The little girl, Nomura's Familiar, was splashing oatmeal all over herself, laughing happily, as Walter Jr. was slowly spitting out the sweet potatoes that Walter was trying to spoon-feed him. And Walter, bless his heart, was making ridiculous faces in trying to encourage his young Familiar to eat.

Barbara rested herself against the wall and watched the tender scene, her heart-melting.

"No, no," Walter said softly, speaking to his Familiar, "eat the food. Like this." He made another hilarious face, mimicking eating. "Don't keep spitting it out." He then looked over, stood, and began wiping Nomura's face and hands-off with a towel he'd kept handy. "And you… little miss… are just like your Changeling Familiar; loud, active, impulsive, curious, and always making a mess of things."

Barbara had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing but stopped as Walter softly added, "-but she is one of my closest friends. So, I do not doubt that it will be the same for you and me. That is if you can sit still and listen for just one second."

Nomura Jr. slammed her tiny hands down upon her high-chair tray, spraying oatmeal all over Walter's face. The baby giggled loudly, flailing in her seat, and Walter groaned, sat up, and began to try to wipe the thick and sticky mess from his face.

By now, Barbara could no longer suppress the laugh that fell off her lips, and Walter whirled around at the sound. His messy oatmeal face was full of shock as she emerged from her hiding place in the hallway.

"Here," she giggled, "let me help."

"Barbara!" Walter looked around at the mess the babies had created and suddenly looked sheepish. "I uh, thought you were still asleep."

"I was," Barbara answered lightly, taking over helping clean up Nomura Jr., who began, instantly upon seeing her, screaming out excitedly for her. She kissed the baby on the forehead, then moved on to kiss Walter Jr. She then turned to face Walter, took the towel from his hands, and gently began cleaning up his face with a smile.

"However," she continued, "after I woke up, I ate the wonderful dinner you made me and had a bath. I now feel rejuvenated and better than I did this morning." Barbara paused upon cleaning Walter's face, then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. His eyes widened at the gesture, but then he smiled warmly at her.

"Then," she continued, turning away from him, "I saw that you could use a hand, so I'm here now."

"I didn't want you to have to do a thing," Walter said quietly. "You were so tired this morning, and I could tell you were still hurt from the car crash accident. I didn't want you to have to..."

"Oh, hush," Barbara said, turning to face him while holding a very messy, half-naked Nomura Jr. in her arms. "I said we were in this together, and that's exactly what we are going to do." She adjusted the chubbier baby girl in her arms and then reached out and took Walter Jr. from Walter's hands and rested the other baby on her other hip. "You finish eating your food, and I'll bathe these messy stinkers. Then, we can both be on cleaning duty from dinner and possibly have a nice evening when they go down for their bedtime. Deal?"

Walter smiled at Barbara and nodded.

"Deal."

Barbara turned to leave but then stopped and glanced over her shoulder at him. "Oh, and Walt?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Thank you."

Walter blinked. "For what?"

"For everything," Barbara whispered. "For taking care of me, giving me notes and flowers, for feeding me good food, for tending to the house when I'm not here, and helping me take care of these kids. Walt, I…" she stopped for a few seconds, then said in a choked voice, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

When she turned away, he didn't see the tears she sniffed away from her eyes.

An hour passed, and it was straining, to say the least. Barbara wasn't as young as she once was when she took care of Jim as an infant by herself. And while she wasn't alone anymore in taking care of two Changeling-Familiar infants, it still exhausted her.

Barbara struggled to contain both infants in the bathtub and ended up wrestling with Nomura Jr. when trying to get her pajamas on while also stopping Walter Jr. from crawling off her bed. Now that it was their feeding time, Barbara was lucky that Nomura Jr. preferred to be laid down in her crib and drink her bottle independently, while Walter Jr. liked the closeness.

Barbara didn't know what she'd do if both children needed to be held and rocked to go to sleep.

Humming lightly to herself, she rocked Walter Jr., back and forth in her arms, and found herself humming a tune she used to sing to Jim when he was a baby. Then, the words came out of her mouth before she could stop herself, and she softly began singing:

"You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

Walter Jr.'s bright green eyes slowly began to close as tears swam in Barbara's. She remembered singing that song to Jim, and suddenly, she lifted her head and looked around the baby's room. Jim's old room. She had moved Jim's bed into the basement to make space for the two cribs, but all of his books in his bookshelf, pictures, and trinkets on his nightstand remained.

Across the room, an older picture of Jim and her hugging lived on the wall, and Barbara loved that picture.

Jim was about five at the time and was near the time her first husband left them. When he asked where his father had gone, she said, "we'll just have to take care of each other from now on…" and she never forgot the sad but accepting look on his face.

Barbara remembered seeing the promise in her little boy's eyes- as it was a commitment to take care of her, and even as a young boy, Jim always had a fighting, courageous spirit. He was always a hero in her eyes.

Tears fell down her face now, a silent sob building in her throat. When Walter, Jr. grew heavy in her arms and had fallen asleep, she glanced down at him. Nearby, Nomura Jr. had fallen asleep too.

Being careful not to wake them both, Barbara carefully laid Walter Jr. down in his crib, placed a blanket over his tiny body, then she took their bottles away.

Smiling, she planted soft kisses upon their foreheads, then crossed the room. But, before leaving, she glanced at the picture of her son one last time, reached out and caressed a few fingers over Jim's five-year-old face, and let more tears fall.

"Please don't take," she breathed through ragged breaths, in the song's tune, "my sunshine away."