I trudged down to the kitchen still half asleep. The house was silent, despite it being late morning. But after our surprise visitor at the wee hours of this morning, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was still in bed.
After the shock of finding Clint and his news, I had to drag him onto the quad bike with me. When we got to the house everyone was awake. Mom had quickly cut off any line of questioning from any of us, ordering Clint into the shower and straight to bed. Natasha, Jared and I all ended up in the spare room with him. Natasha and I squished in the bed with Clint and Jared on the floor. Clint was passed out the second his head hit the pillow, leaving us all dying for answers but not getting any. When I woke up, Jared was nowhere to be seen and it took a lot of effort to get Clint off me. He'd wrapped around me during the night in a tight grip. But he didn't stir even with my contortionist routine to get out of his grip. Natasha was still snoring beside him despite the noise and movement of me getting out of bed.
"Morning." Jared's voice made me jump. I rubbed my eyes to see him sitting at the table, nursing a cup of coffee.
I grunted in response as I made my own coffee. While the Keurig was brewing, I took a bigger than normal dose of painkillers. My jaw wasn't feeling too bad this morning, but Clint's killer grip throughout the night was a reminder that my ribs weren't healed yet.
"Barton still asleep?" Jared asked as I plonked down in the chair across from him.
I nodded wearily, sticking a straw into my coffee. From not sleeping well the night before, to the drama this morning, I was really feeling the lack of sleep today.
"Did you know things were that bad between him and Laura?" Jared asked with a furrowed brow. "I know she was fucking pissed after Pripyat, but I thought they worked through it."
"Me too." I took a long drink of coffee. "Any idea what set it off?"
Jared shrugged, looking as lost as I felt about the entire situation. It was completely out of the blue. Everything looked normal every time I went around there. Like Jared, I thought they'd worked through everything that happened after Pripyat.
"Maybe it's just a blow up and when things calm down it'll be all right?" Jared suggested, though his voice lacked conviction.
I gave him a half smile, my heart not feeling into making wild assumptions this early in the morning. Whatever had happened must have been bad for Laura to up and leave with the kids.
"You look tired," I changed subjects. Speculation wouldn't do us any good. We'd have to be patient for once in our lives and wait until Clint got up and told us the full story.
"Yeah, nightmares again." Jared let out a quiet sigh. "Fucking Yelena messing with my head again. Why do you look so tired?"
"You mean besides the abrupt awakening last night?" I skirted around the real subject of why I was tired. What Mom told me on Thanksgiving morning was still fresh in my mind. I didn't want to believe there could be a sliver of truth in it. The thought of Riley watching over us and keeping my idiot brother out of trouble, even in death, made my heart ache all over again.
"Yeah and the reason you were sitting out on the porch yesterday morning." Jared didn't miss a beat. By the look on his face, he wasn't being a snoop, he looked genuinely concerned about me not sleeping. It was also his subtle way of saying he didn't want to talk about his nightmares.
"Just weird dreams." I fought back a sigh. It wasn't right to be calling those dreams of Riley a nightmare. But they stirred up far too many old feelings. "I was having a bit of a Riley moment."
Jared didn't say anything. He really didn't need to. He scooted his chair over next to me and put an arm around my shoulders, gently squeezing me.
"He'd be very proud of you," Jared said softly, dropping a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Never, ever doubt that."
"I know." I closed my eyes, enjoying the hug from my brother. Despite our differences, I loved the big idiot. But on the subject of Riley, I couldn't help but turn my mind back to what Mom said. I decided to be brave and confront him about what Mom told me. I'd drive myself nuts otherwise. "Mom told me about what you said when you nearly died."
Jared stiffened against me. For a few seconds, he didn't move, not even a breath stirred in his body. I opened my eyes to look over at him. He had his eyes closed, his face twisted like he was caught in a painful memory. I waited patiently, he'd either talk or he'd shut himself off. Jared let out a long sigh as he opened his eyes. His grip on my shoulders tightened momentarily before he started to speak.
"I barely remember anything to be honest." Jared's arm dropped off my shoulders and his gaze went firmly to the wall opposite us. The muscles in his jaw clenched before he continued. "I remember you coming into the room and me telling Yelena she was fucked."
I shuddered in horror at that memory. It still haunted me in my dreams walking in on Jared being tortured. The image was burnt into my mind and there was no erasing it.
"I vaguely remember Natasha standing above me," Jared said with a small sigh. A strained smile came onto his face. "I was so fucking high on whatever drugs Yelena gave me, I thought she was an angel."
"Angel of death maybe," I said with my own strained smile. I remembered that look Jared was giving Natasha far too well. It was the same way Riley looked at me when he knew he was dying and there was nothing we could do.
"I remember trying to teleport," Jared's voice dropped, his gaze looking distant and far away. "But no matter what I did, I couldn't do it. Whatever she gave me fucked with me so bad. But right before I passed out completely it felt like something slapped me across the face and all of a sudden I had enough focus and I could teleport. I have no idea how or why we ended up at the hospital."
"That sounds vaguely familiar," I murmured, "I have no idea how I got Natasha and I off that cliff a few weeks ago."
"It's a common theme isn't it?" Jared blew out a long breath. "I don't really remember anything, to be honest. I don't remember what happened after we teleported. I'd get impressions, just blurs of noise and colour occasionally but I can tell you that it's bullshit about the white light at the end of the tunnel."
I flinched at Jared's brutal honesty. But this is what I got for asking. If he was talking about it, Jared wasn't going to hold anything back.
"I don't know if it was a dream or what it was." Jared swallowed heavily. "Even now it doesn't feel real. But I swear on everything I loved and hold sacred that Riley was there. He punched me in the face and called me a fucking idiot."
"Good, you deserved that." Tears welled in my eyes, despite the small chuckle. That's exactly what Riley would have done to Jared for the stupid stunt he pulled.
"I know." Jared gave me a wry smile but his face quickly turned serious again. "He told me to go back, that you needed me more than ever right now. The next thing I knew I woke up with my chest feeling like it was being crushed and gagging on the ventilator."
I let out a long shuddering breath. It sounded impossible. But Jared would never lie to me, especially about something like this. I couldn't wrap my head around it all. It made no sense and perfect sense all at the same time. It also made the ache of missing Riley feel like it was a hole in my chest a mile wide again. I swallowed back the lump in my throat, closing my eyes briefly. I felt Jared reach over and his arms pulled around me. I let him pull me into his body for a hug.
"I never told you because I didn't want to upset you," Jared murmured into my hair. "I barely believe it myself. Maybe it was my brain going nuts from lack of oxygen. Maybe we have a guardian angel, I don't know."
"Me either." I hugged Jared back. "I'm glad you're still here though."
If Jared had died after Pripyat, I don't know if I would have been able to pick up the pieces again. I didn't even want to think about it. Shuffling footsteps coming into the kitchen made me open my eyes and look over Jared's shoulder. It was Clint.
"Hey," I said, giving him a gentle smile. "Want a coffee?"
Clint nodded as he sank into the first free chair. He still looked like shit but at least he'd showered and slept a little. I moved to get up, but Jared beat me to it. For the first time in our friendship, I felt very awkward in Clint's presence. I had no idea what to say. The silence stretched out over the kitchen while I fiddled with my coffee. Clint sat in his chair, looking out of the kitchen widow and seemed miles away. He even jumped when Jared put the coffee mug in front of him. Something I'd never seen before.
"Thanks," Clint's voice was still hoarse. It reminded me of the times I'd cried myself to sleep after losing Riley. Sometimes I'd have no voice in the morning either.
"Mom and Dad have gone to the airport to get Coulson," Jared said as he sat in his own chair again. "They won't be far away by now."
Mom rang Coulson as soon as Clint was in the shower last night. It took all of her persuasion to wait until morning and get on a plane instead of getting in his car and driving here right away. Poor Coulson, from the snatches I could hear of the conversation he was out of his mind with worry. He had no idea anything had gone wrong and had been enjoying his Thanksgiving with Audrey.
Clint nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. His gaze went from looking out the window down to the table. I reached across, taking his free hand in my own and gave it a comforting squeeze. His own squeeze back was barely there, like it was too much energy for him to muster.
"Sorry for barging in," Clint's voice was so soft, I had to strain to hear him. "I didn't know where else to go."
Clint's soft words broke my heart a little. Besides Coulson, Natasha, Jared and I, Clint didn't have anyone else. We were his family and I hated that I couldn't be there for him when he needed it the most.
"You certainly made an entrance," Jared said, trying to put some humour into the situation. It didn't work. There wasn't even a quirk on Clint's face as he stared at the table. "Do you want some breakfast?"
Clint shook his head. The kitchen fell into silence again as the three of us drank our coffee. I felt awkward as I kept glancing over to Jared, trying to mentally urge him to do something about this. He was the better person at smoothing things over, not me. I never knew what to say or do and this was one of those situations I didn't want to make any worse. Jared gave me a small, helpless looking shrug looking as lost as I felt.
Natasha saved us a minute later, walking into the kitchen looking in desperate need of a coffee. Jared quickly sprung to his feet, looking grateful to have something to do as Natasha slid into the chair next to me. Unlike Jared and I, Natasha had no problems breaking the awkward silence.
"I'd start talking right about now Barton," Natasha said with an unpleasant scowl on her face. "Because what in the actual fuck?"
Even Jared flinched at Natasha's harsh tone. She could be such a bitch when she felt like it. Despite her tone, she looked very worried. The silence stretched over the kitchen as we all looked to Clint. He went paler than before, his shoulders drooped and he looked very small and child like.
"Laura's taken the kids and gone to live in the old place on her parent's farm," Clint's voice was hoarse and quiet. "She wants a divorce."
"But why?" Natasha pressed, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"Me missing Lila's birthday was the last straw in a long list of offences I've had lately," Clint's voice trembled as he spoke. "I'm a shit father and an even worse husband."
"Hey." I reached across the table, gripping Clint's hand again. "You are not a shit father."
Lila's birthday was the day Natasha and I went over the cliff in Odessa. Her present I'd bought at a street vendor somewhere in Armenia was lost in the wreckage of the car. I'd promised Laura I would buy her extra Christmas present to make up for it. It hadn't even occurred to me that Clint dropped everything on his daughter's birthday to be with us.
"Apparently I am," Clint said miserably. He heaved out a big sigh before looking up again. His eyes were red and no one could miss the dark circles under them. "I put SHIELD before everything, even my own family."
That wasn't an unusual occurrence in jobs like ours. While most people joked about STRIKE being the biggest single population in SHIELD, a lot of that was due to the insanely high divorce rate as well. There'd been two divorces in Bravo team since I knew them all. The numbers for some of the other teams had to be higher.
"Laura knew you were SHIELD when she met you, she knew what kind of life she was getting into." Natasha sounded like she was picking her words very carefully. "Why is it such a problem now?"
Clint sighed heavily as he leant forward and put his head in his hands. For a moment I thought there might be tears again. But Clint closed his eyes and took in a few long and deep breaths before looking up again.
"Because of everything that's happened this year," Clint said hoarsely, looking utterly miserable. "I haven't been around when my family needed me the most. I kept secrets from my wife and she doesn't want to be around it anymore. Or me."
Beside me, Jared squirmed uncomfortably. It wasn't hard to put it together that Pripyat was coming back to bite him in the ass. Again. Even Natasha was speechless as she stared at Clint, her mouth moving a few times but no words came out. I couldn't think of anything to say either. I knew they'd been arguing and what Clint said to Laura after Pripyat was harsh, but they seemed to be working through things. Not long as we'd come home from New Mexico, Clint had the biggest hickey I had ever seen on his neck and a smug grin that couldn't be wiped off his face for 2 days.
"How did this come up?" Natasha switched tactics. "I know it's been a little rocky the last few months, but you two seemed to have your shit together."
"I, ah…." Clint trailed off, his ears going bright red. "I took a quick mission the other day. The night before Thanksgiving. Rumlow asked me because his guy had already gone home for the holidays."
No wonder he'd been quiet the last few days. I closed my eyes and tried not to sigh. I could see exactly where this was going. Next to me, Jared visibly cringed and I'm sure our expressions were identical.
"And it went later than you anticipated," Natasha finished for him. She shot him a pitying look. "The straw that broke the camel's back?"
"Yep." Clint swallowed hard. He reached up, rubbing his nose on the sleeve of his sweatshirt. "The Quinjet meant to pick me up had engine trouble and it took ages for the replacement to come and get me. I didn't get home in time for dinner. I couldn't even let Laura know I was going to be late because my phone died."
Poor Clint. He had the worst luck in the world sometimes. It just had to be on Thanksgiving without anyone there to help him out.
"When I got back she already had her bags packed, her parents had already taken the kids," Clint's voiced wobbled dangerously and his face fell. "Even Lucky was gone."
That was enough to crumple even Natasha's cool facade. She was the closest and got to Clint first, wrapping him up in her arms. She murmured soothing words to him in Russian as Clint struggled with his emotions in her embrace.
"I tried," Clint's could barely get the words out through his choked voice. "I tried so fucking hard to make this work and I just fucked it up in the end. Everything I touch turns to shit, it always has."
"No, it doesn't," Natasha said softly, rubbing circles around Clint's back. "We'll work this out Clint. It's going to be all right."
The sound of a car pulling up at the front made me look up. It was my parent's car. I could just make out Coulson sitting in the front seat next to Dad.
"Coulson's here," I announced rather unnecessarily. Everyone would have heard the car pull up even if they didn't acknowledge it. Clint nodded, pulling himself away from Natasha. He quickly wiped his face, chasing away any traces of his emotional breakdown.
"You cry prettier than Kari does," Jared quipped with a smile. I scowled at him, sending a kick in the direction of his shin. My bare foot connected with bone far too hard for my toes. But Jared winced in pain, making it totally worth the throbbing toes.
"I do everything prettier than Kari does," Clint's voice was still hoarse, but he managed to quirk his lips up in a semblance of trying to smile.
Any comeback I was going to make was cut off by the front door banging open and Coulson coming into the kitchen a few seconds later. The tiny bit of humour that Clint was holding onto quickly faded as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
"I'm sorry." Clint swallowed heavily. "I didn't mean to wreck your Thanksgiving."
"Clint." Coulson didn't need to say anything else. All of his emotion went into that one name as Coulson stepped forward and hugged Clint.
Natasha caught my eye and she inclined her head towards the door. Jared and I both nodded in agreement as we quietly stood up and left the room. Whatever was going to be said between Clint and Coulson didn't need an audience.
"I'm going to have a shower." Natasha looked as tired as I felt. "Maybe after that, we can try and work out this clusterfuck."
"Yeah," Jared agreed with a sigh. "Can't say I saw this coming."
"You and me both." Natasha's smile was strained. "They had us all fooled."
It was only a few weeks ago we were all over at Clint and Laura's place having a beer and pizza. To think this had all been bubbling away below the surface without even Natasha knowing was incomprehensible.
The three of us went our separate ways. I went back to my room and checked my phone that I'd left on charge. There was the usual good morning text from Gareth along with a picture of Alexi grinning into the camera from Evans.
Then there was 3 missed calls and a text from Laura.
My heart stopped seeing her name on my screen. They were from earlier this morning. My fingers fumbled as I unlocked the screen and went to her message.
I know you're probably angry with me right now, but thank you for being there for Clint. He needs you guys more than anything right now. I understand if you don't want to talk to me, I just wanted to say thank you.
I was so conflicted reading the text. I wanted to be angry with Laura for breaking it off with Clint. She'd been with him long enough to know what the life of a SHIELD agent was like. It was a life of last second missions and not knowing when you were coming home. But it sounded like Clint wasn't the only one who was heartbroken. It certainly didn't sound like a scorned woman wanting a divorce. Laura was my friend too and she deserved my understanding too. I wasn't ready for a phone call, but I started to type out my reply.
You don't have to thank me. He's safe here. Coulson is here now as well.
I stared at the message, my fingers hovering above the screen. No matter how many times I read it, the message came across as short and angry in my mind. I sighed, this wasn't going to be solved over texting. I hit Laura's name and watched the phone screen as the call connected before I could chicken out. I put the phone to my ear as Laura picked up on the fourth ring.
"Hey, Kari." Laura sniffed, her voice strained.
"Hey." I suddenly found myself lost for words. I could hear the hurt in Laura's voice loud and clear. This was all so fucked up. "I was going to text but it didn't come right. But you don't have to thank me. We've got his back."
There was a bitter little voice in the back of my head wanting to be heard. But I didn't have it in me to be a bitch to Laura, especially when she sounded like she was still crying. Mom always said there was two sides to every story and the truth was somewhere in the middle of it all. Laura deserved to have her side of the story heard.
"He's going to need it," Laura sighed heavily. "Are you going to yell at me now or later?"
"Neither," I said tactfully. I fumbled to find the right thing to say. No matter what I said, I was probably going to fuck this up. I may as well cut straight to the point. "What the hell happened?"
"Everything." Laura sighed again. She paused to blow her nose. "Fucking everything. It just all came to head when Clint didn't come home for Thanksgiving."
This was going to be really hard to manage without picking a side. Instead of putting in my opinion I stayed silent, giving Laura the chance to speak.
"I always thought I knew what I was getting into, marrying a SHIELD agent," Laura's voice hitched at the end of the sentence. "We made it through me juggling the last year of med school and my internship with a baby for god sake."
I'd heard the stories of Laura falling pregnant with Cooper very unexpectedly. Instead of putting off her last year of medical school, she determinedly finished. Clint had joked both of them had run of nothing but caffeine and sheer determination after Cooper had been born. Medical school and the first year of internship was hard enough without a newborn baby.
"I knew Clint's job was dangerous," Laura kept going, despite the obvious struggle in her voice. "It never hit home how dangerous it was until Riley."
I closed my eyes, feeling my own lump form in my throat. Laura struggled with her emotions on the other end of the line for a minute before she could speak again.
"All of a sudden it hit home how real the danger is." Laura blew her nose again. I was going to need tissues by the end of this conversation the way things were going as well. "I don't know how you did it Kari. If I'd been in your shoes I don't think I'd ever be able to cope. And then Pripyat happened."
"Fucking Pripyat," I said with my own sigh. It'd never stop haunting us. I couldn't begin to touch on the subject of Riley's death. I knew it affected all of us, but I'd been wrapped up in my own grief far too much to realise how much of an impact it really had. I was glad for the subject change though. I don't think I could get through a conversation about Riley again today.
"Fucking Pripyat," Laura echoed with an unamused huff. "We nearly broke up once before because of Clint keeping secrets. I left him just before we got engaged because of it but he promised me he'd never keep anything from me again. Then someone hands me his stash of cash and fake passports. He had a hundred grand in there. A hundred fucking grand just lying around. You have no idea how much that could have helped us out over the last few years."
I had no clue about Clint and Laura's financial situation. It wasn't any of my business so I didn't pry any further.
"So of course that started that argument," Laura continued. "It wasn't just the money, it was more he'd been lying to me. Of course, he tried to talk his way around it by saying I didn't know about it, so technically he wasn't lying."
"Of course he did." I didn't doubt what Laura said at all. Clint was the master of trying to talk himself out of situations. Unfortunately for Clint, it didn't always work out for him.
"Then everything came to head." Laura didn't sound amused at my little quip at all. "The kids took Riley's death hard and Clint's answer to it was to go on a mission so he didn't have to deal with his own grief or anyone else around him. I resented him for having to be the only one there for that. Cooper pitched a huge fit and cried all day when Clint wasn't there for his birthday because of Pripyat. Clint had promised him this year he'd be there for it. Coop's 7 now, he's starting to catch onto things like that."
"Then he missed Lila's birthday and Thanksgiving." It wasn't hard to put the pieces together. Natasha was right when said the straw the broke the camels back. It was one thing after another.
"Yep," Laura's voice was heavy with regret. "I just…"
Laura trailed off with a heavy sigh. There were a few sniffles before she could continue.
"I can't deal with it anymore. He didn't even tell me he was going on a mission. All he said was that he had some stuff to do at work and he'd be home later. Then nothing until he got home. I'm on this never ending loop of we blow up at each other because he doesn't communicate. Then we work through it and it always ends up back at square one because he never tells me the entire truth. I'm not strong enough to keep doing this."
"I wish I could give you a hug right now." My heart was broken for both of them. It was a shitty situation. I knew Clint kept SHIELD out of his private life as much as possible. But with that also came these problems. I only wished one of them had talked to Natasha or I about this, we might have been able to help in some small way. It might have been wishful thinking, but I felt very guilty for not being there for either of them when there was such a struggle.
"Some strong liquor might be needed too," Laura's tone changed to sounding bone tired. As if getting it all off her chest has exhausted her. "I hate this. In my head I knew this was going to happen, we've been on a collision course for months. But it still doesn't stop my heart feeling like it's been ripped out of my chest and stomped in the dust. I love him, but I can't deal with the lies and secrets anymore. I just want a normal life. One where I can openly tell people that I have a husband. That he isn't hiding us away from the world and pretending we don't exist because he pissed off too many people being an assassin. The kids deserve some stability in their lives too."
I didn't realise how hard it was for Laura with Clint wanting to keep his family a secret. Like everything else, Laura seemed to be perfectly fine on the outside. But a lot looked happy and going well on the outside and in reality, it's all falling apart. This was all so hard to take in.
"Do you need anything?" I was feeling very lost on what to say. I really wasn't good at these situations and there'd been so much emotional turmoil already this morning. "I'm sorry Laura, this is a shitty situation for both of you."
"No, we're okay. My parents have a house at the back of their property that we're going to settle in." Laura said quietly. "I told the kids that Clint has an extended work mission so we're going to stay here for the time being. Cooper is suspicious, but Lila's too young to understand. It doesn't hurt that my Mom got her a pony."
"Every little girl needs a pony." I smiled a little at the thought of Lila finally getting the damn pony she'd been asking for. My horse phase as a kid lasted a grand total of 3 weeks then I went straight back to motorbikes.
"Even if it is 100 years old and a cantankerous little asshole." There was a tiny bit of humour in Laura's voice. Any trace of it was cancelled out by the long pause. "Can…."
Laura took in a deep breath. I waited patiently for her request. In the silence that followed, Natasha came into the bedroom. She raised her eyebrow at me on the phone. I shook my head, hoping I wouldn't get a grilling with Laura still on the phone. I had no idea how Natasha was going to take this.
"If the kids ring you later, can you put Clint on?" Laura's request was soft and hesitant. "Please? Otherwise Clint will just hang up on me."
"Of course. They can ring whenever they want." I was very relieved at Laura asking that. It crossed my mind briefly that this had the potential to get very, very messy if Laura wanted to be a bitch about things. "I've got to go. I'll talk to you later?"
"Thanks, Kari," Laura said softly. "Talk later."
She hung up before I could say anything else. I looked at my phone, feeling exhausted and emotionally drained. This was all crazy.
"Laura?" Natasha asked. I nodded in confirmation, expecting an explosion from Natasha. Instead, she sighed quietly, sitting down next to me on the bed. "Did she explain her side of the story?"
"Yeah, and none of it is good." I put my head on her shoulder, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. "She can't handle the secrets and lies anymore. She wants a normal life."
"Secrets and lies is what we do." Natasha didn't look angry, just sad. "This is going to be a mess to sort out."
"Yep." I rubbed my eyes. "The kids are going to ring later. That's a start at least."
"I'm glad." The relief was clear in Natasha's voice. "I really hoped she wouldn't use the kids against him. If she did I don't think I'd be so understanding about the whole thing."
"Me either." If Laura had gone down that path, our conversation would have been a very different one a few minutes ago. "They had us fooled, didn't they?"
"Even I thought everything was fine," Natasha admitted quietly. "We should head downstairs and see if Coulson needs our help with anything."
I nodded in agreement. Even if Coulson didn't need our help, I really needed another coffee and some breakfast.
It ended up being a long day. It turned out Coulson and Clint didn't want to be disturbed when Natasha and I went downstairs. Instead, we came face to face with Grams who got us out of the house and kept us busy checking one of the herds in one of the back fields. She even made Jared come out with us, much to his disgust. We were gone for most of the day. I felt like a kid being kept out of the house while the adults were talking. It was maddening, but I also understood that Clint didn't need us hovering over him.
Clint was quiet at dinner, but the rest of us made up for his lack of talking. Jared was over the top, spinning some bullshit stories to try and get everyone to laugh. But it did the trick of getting a ghost of a smile on Clint's face. Even if it did earn Jared many exasperated looks from Mom. At least Dad thought Jared's antics were funny. After dinner, Coulson and my parents went over to Grams house. I really felt like a kid again as we were left to clean up the kitchen. But once it was done, Clint retreated into the spare room. Natasha wanted to watch a movie, so we went into the den and argued about what we wanted to watch. For once in my life, I managed to get a movie I wanted. 5 seconds into putting Jurassic Park on, my phone started to ring. It was a number I didn't recognise.
"Start without me." I got up and answered the call right away, ignoring Jared's grumbling protests. "Hello?"
"Kari!" Lila's high pitched voice hurt my ears. "Hi, hi, hi. Grandma got me a pony!"
"Did she now?" I smiled as I started to walk to the spare room. "What's his name?"
"She," Lila informed me, sounded offended I called her pony he. "And her name is Princess Penelope."
"That's a very good name," I said seriously. "Did you ride her?"
Lila laughed into a long explanation all about her ride this afternoon while I made my way through the house. I knocked on the spare room door, hearing a muffled acknowledgement from Clint. I opened to door to find him sitting cross legged on the bed. He had Jared's laptop in his lap and looked up at me with a frown. I put my hand over the speaker of my phone.
"Someone wants to talk to you," I said quietly. I removed my hand just as Lila finished telling her story. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay Kari," Lila said happily. I could hear her bouncing on whatever she was sitting on. She was going through a stage of not being able to sit still if her life depended on it. She was a little ball of energy.
"I'm really not in the mood for a phone call from Alexi," Clint said sadly. "No offence but it's not going to make me feel any better."
"It's not Alexi." I put my hand over the speaker again, holding out the phone to him. "Please?"
Clint sighed heavily but took the phone off me.
"Hello?"
I could hear Lila's excited squeal at Clint's voice from where I was standing. The lines of stress and worry instantly melted away from Clint's face. He looked up at me, his eyes bright. I smiled at him, hoping this would give him a small bit of comfort at least. His entire world might be falling apart, but at least I could give him a little bit of joy in the darkness. I went to leave, but Clint grabbed my hand. He gave it a gentle tug, bringing me down onto the bed next to him.
Lila chatted Clint's ear off, so he only had to put in minimal effort to replying. It took a lot of effort for Cooper to pry the phone off her. Cooper wasn't normally a chatterbox, but tonight seemed to be the exception. I sat with Clint throughout the phone call for silent support. The kids talked for an hour and a half until Cooper said they had to go to bed. It took another 10 minutes to say their goodbyes because Clint really didn't want to get off the phone. As soon as they hung up, Clint reached over and pulled me into a bone crushing hug.
"Thank you."
"You don't need to thank me." I hugged him back, resting my head on his shoulder. "They're going to ring my phone when they want to talk to you. I told them they could ring anytime."
I was expecting Clint to start firing questions at me about speaking to Laura. But he stayed silent, his head resting against mine.
"I didn't grab my phone, it's still sitting in my car on charge," Clint sounded miserable again when he spoke. "I have so much to try and work out. I barely know where to start."
"At the start is usually a good idea." I threw one of Clint's favourite lines back at me when I moaned about the same thing. "Another good night sleep wouldn't hurt. But we're watching Jurassic Park. Come out and watch it with us and worry about everything else later."
"As long as you don't force me to watch the third one," Clint agreed as he released me from our hug. I smiled at him, pleased at his easy acceptance. I thought he might have put up more of an argument. I didn't get a smile back, but he didn't look quite as miserable as before.
"We'll work this out, I promise." I gave Clint another hug. "No matter what happens, we're all here for you."
I may not able to work out this huge problem. But I knew that was a promise I could make.
Authors Note
There are certain parts of the story I get worried about when I get to. Riley was one of them and this next arc is the next one. So despite the heavy chapter, I hope everyone enjoyed it and it answered some questions.
I'm hoping to be on a more regular posting schedule until the end of the year. I'm aiming for a minimum of 2 chapters a month on both stories. No promises, but its my goal.
Thank you for all of your reviews, follows and favourites! I love and cherish every single one of them.
Until next time