When Sarah and Danny heard knocking, he lifted his head up out of fear. "Who is it?" she called, hoping it wasn't their mother.
"Me!" Paul called back.
"Is it okay if he comes in?" she questioned her still sobbing brother. When he nodded, she rubbed his back and flashed him a smile. "Come in!"
When Paul stepped into the house, he certainly didn't expect to find Danny crying in Sarah's arms and the scene in front of him stopped him dead in his tracks. "What's wrong? Tell me what happened," he demanded.
Danny's whole body shook, and Sarah winced in sympathy as he turned to look at their father. "Mom -," he stopped and swallowed. "Mom," he tried again before giving up.
"Is it okay if I tell him?" At Danny's nod, she glanced over at their father. "Mom's making amends, and I think she apologized for the abuse. He showed up on the verge of a panic attack and tailspinning." Sarah continued to rub her brother's back in an effort to calm him.
Paul narrowed his eyes, wanting to both hug his son and confront Ellen at the same time. When Danny choked on a sob and rocked backwards for a second, he knew what his next step was. He kneeled down next to his children and hugged them both, kissing the top of their heads. "You want me to put on a movie?"
"What do you say, Danny? Want me to find something on TV?" Sarah pressed. When he didn't answer, she bit her lip. "Can I make sure your hand is okay? Let's go to the kitchen so I can check."
"What happened to his hand?" Paul questioned as he noticed the bloody bandage for the first time.
Sarah shrugged as she stood up, grabbed Danny's hand, and then led him to the kitchen. She grabbed the first aid supplies and quickly got to work. "Can you tell me what you did to your hand, please?"
"Punched a mirror," he mumbled as he choked on yet another sob.
"Looks like you both lost," she joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. When it didn't work, she stayed silent and continued fixing his injury. "Let's go find something to watch now." Sarah grinned at him despite the fact that she didn't feel it and pushed him towards the living room. They sat down on the couch and she grabbed his uninjured hand, squeezing it, as he continued to cry out over twenty years of pent up pain and anger. "You pick."
"I'm supposed to protect you," Danny whispered out of the blue, breaking both his father and sister's hearts.
"And you did protect me - don't you ever doubt that. But it's my turn to protect you this time. Don't tell me if I do a shitty job, okay?" She winked at him and laughed when he unexpectedly chuckled.
The three of them sat together on the couch for about fifteen minutes before Danny ended up crying himself to sleep. Careful not to wake his son up, Paul stood up rather quickly, fire in his eyes. "I'm going to find your mother."
"Don't lay into her too harshly?" Sarah hated that her feelings for her mother were so complicated, especially after seeing Danny fall apart at the seams like this. She was going to suggest therapy once he woke up and had hopefully pulled himself together - he seemed to be displaying signs of undiagnosed PTSD.
"No promises." Paul strolled out the door, wanting to slam it but closing it gently so he didn't disturb Danny. He found Ellen about twenty minutes later.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I could say the same thing about you," he spat. There was so much he could say to her but he didn't want to betray Danny's trust so he refrained on a few things, namely their son's breakdown. It was none of her business anyway.
"And may I ask what this is about?" Ellen suspected she knew the reason, however, which was confirmed when he pulled her aside to give them some privacy.
"Go fuck yourself," Paul snarled. "You hurt our kids, and I can't abide by that." She hadn't physically harmed Sarah like she had with Danny but he didn't give a shit.
"The deadbeat's one to talk, and I know what I did, Paul. I'll regret it for the rest of my life." She knew nothing she did could ever make up for her actions, and Ellen had to live with that.
He got up in her face. "You ever lay a hand on either of them, and I'll kill you," Paul threatened.
"Good." Ellen still rolled her eyes anyway and walked away from her ex-husband, not wanting to talk to him anymore and instead planning to stew in her guilt a little bit more.
Paul would make sure Sarah and Danny were safe as long as he was around. He regretted his own actions and couldn't change them but he was determined to be there to support both his traumatized children now.