"Mom had a miscarriage?" Brighton asked,

"Miscarriages, yes." Fran said.

"I didn't know you were in a car accident Ms. Babcock. How come you never talk about it?" Asked Grace, looking up at CC.

"I…Well I don't really remember much. I suppose it's just one of those things where I'd like to forget."

"It was raining out, thunder and all. Sara tried to convince her to stay the night, but I had played a cruel prank on her that day. I was getting on her nerves, naturally, she didn't want to stay any longer." Niles said, remembering the night the accident happened. looking down, feeling guilty. "I do blame myself for that night,"

CC took a deep breath and exhaled, she had never heard his side of the story, Sara had told her how bad he felt that night when they got the call. She knew he blamed himself but didn't see him express how he felt about that night.

"You weren't the drunk driver who hit me, Niles. I would've wanted to leave the mansion even if you didn't pull that prank."

CC sat next to him on the couch, placing a hand on his arm to comfort him. They never talked about it because it was so real and such a tragedy, they both experienced, something they are not very good at going through, especially together. Fran did the same, as she was sitting next to him on the opposite side of CC. The children sat together on the floor leaning on the table, as if they were being told a bedtime story.

"It was around midnight when we got the call, I had to run to the Sheffields to tell them the news, we were all in shock. Sara called her mother to stay with the children so Sara could see Ms. Babcock. They said it was very bad…when we arrived, they warned us she was in a terrible state. When we saw her…she…she looked so…fragile. I couldn't take it anymore. I broke down. Sara had to pull me together. I never seen her that way. I was always so used to her being so…" he stopped to look at her "So strong and put together." She squeezed his arm.

"And that's when they decided to ask you about donating?" Fran asked,

"No, it was a couple of days later, I couldn't eat or sleep. I couldn't believe was happening. I couldn't think about it because it would be unfair. If Ms. Babcock did not make it…I couldn't think about myself when someone who annoyed me so much every day, was not going to be doing just that anymore. Sara told me that Ms. Babcock had her eggs frozen and one day she would live on too, the way I would if I decided to donate. So, I did."

Grace had another question, the words Maxwell said when he was explaining his actions. 'because he had feelings for CC at the time' that's what he said. Does he still have feelings for her? She decided to not ask yet, she didn't want to put him on the spot if it were true. She always thought they'd make a cute couple as they were both stubborn and witty. And she had always looked up to Niles, as a father figure, he was the one after who took care of her when her father was at work, and she knew he didn't have to when the nannies were there. That's what made her love him like a father, she knew he didn't have to, and yet he did. As for CC, she felt she could be the only child out of the three to get through to her. Always the first child to greet her when she walked into the room, always the one time make her feel better when she would complain about Niles' awful pranks. She also knew that the tall blonde didn't hate her as much as she let on.

"Ugh that man, he is dead I tell you! Dead!" CC said storming into the living room,

"hello Ms. Babcock." Grace said, wondering what Niles did now to infuriate CC. "What did Niles do now?" Of course, she probably could guess, she had heard Ms. Babcock's 'oof' before she hit the ground, but she decided to ask anyway, knowing the tall woman before her needed to talk to someone about that man before she decides to kill him

"That Mutt had…the amount of times I've broken a bone over his careless acts…don't you have school?"

"It's Saturday…and it's summer vacation."

"Oh. Very well then." She decided to sit down on the couch next to Grace, holding the back of her head. "God that hurt, the baboon waxed the floors and didn't bother telling me imbecile."

Gracie shook her head, smiling. Those two are really something else.

"Would you like me to bring you some Ice?"

CC was shocked at how nice the child was being, the shrugged it off, forgetting it was the young one. She was always the nice one. She looked around the room, wondering if anyone was around.

"That would be lovely, thank you,"

Gracie got up and went to the kitchen to get an ice bag. When she came back, she sat down next to the blonde and decided to place the bag on the back of her head herself.

"I'm going to see how bad it is, ok?" Gracie said, lifting the bag a bit. "Oh. It's not too bad, just a little bump and some redness, but other than that you'll be fine."

"I'm going to get him for this. I swear." She muttered. "Thank you, Gracie," Gracie's eyes widened, she said her name right. CC's eyes widened too, "I-I mean Stacy. Sorry," She said.

"You…never mind."

"How was therapy?" CC asked trying to change the subject,

Gracie knew better but decided to let her have it. "It was alright. I keep having these nightmares, and we don't know exactly what's causing them." She sighed.

"Is it the same nightmare?"

Gracie nodded,

"What's it about?"

"Well, the whole scene is blue, all kinds of shades of blue. Even the people. Everyone emotionless. The only things that change are the places. Either I'm at home, school or at a park. I'm always there, looking for someone, and I have that feeling of grief. Like I lost someone very important. But I don't know who I miss."

"could it be your mother?"

"No, see that's the weird part. Sometimes she's there, with dad, and yet I still feel lost…I keep walking around, either on endless halls, or outside. Then I start to feel fear, I'm alone and everyone is gone. The many shades of blue become dull and I start to cry. And that's when I wake up."

"Hm. Could be something and not someone. Maybe school is overworking you."

"Well I have been worried about my future."

"You walking around feeling lost and feeling grief could be you afraid of what the future has in store for you. Lost because you don't know yet what you want to do, and grief because the person you think is about to be lost is yourself in the future. Becoming a mindless adult working a job you thought you wanted. I remember feeling that way around your age. And the pressure it had on me. Going through that feels lonely because it feels like everyone around you seem to know what they want to do. And you don't. Don't over think. You have to think of yourself and start thinking about the things you love to do and use that to help find you career."

"What did you do? How did you know you wanted to be a producer?"

"I didn't really know until I realized my love for theatre. I just followed a path and let things happen on their own. I didn't care for anyone else other than me, and whether my actions pleased or angered anyone, I simply held my head up high and decided that if I wanted the future to be good, I had to control the present"

Gracie smiled, "But I don't know what I love yet, what if I never do? Or what if I can't find something I'm good at?"

"You will, for example, you are good at making people feel better. Look at me, I completely forgot about my head. I say you can be a therapist, psychiatrist, doctor, even a social worker. The possibilities are endless."

Grace's face lit up, and it made CC's heart grow three time bigger. She made the child feel a lot better about herself, and she did that on her own.

Grace hugged her and thanked her before going back to her room. The next day Gracie had found a brand-new notebook, purple, her favorite color, on her desk with a letter on it.

'If you ever have the nightmare again, write it down, every detail you remember. Take your time to think about it, replay it in your head as many times as you can. Then, once you have everything down, come find me, and we'll burn the pages together. It'll set the nightmare free. And it'll set your mind free too.

-CC'

They eventually burned the pages together, and she never had the nightmare again. There were more moments like that between the two, but that one memory, she loved more than the others because that was when she realized CC did like her, and even helped her with one of the fears she faced. It was unfortunate though because no one knew how CC really treated her. When no one else was around, CC would always ask her how her day went, if she had done her homework, if a boy had given any attention to her at all at school. She just didn't understand why CC didn't want to act the same way in front of everyone else, especially in front of Maxwell, since she knew she fancied him so. She didn't know whether to ask her older siblings whether CC would treat them the same way she did with her, but decided not to, since she liked having this friendship a secret.

Now she knew what the phrase 'blood is thicker than water' meant. Even though they didn't know, somehow they had bonded anyway. In their own way of course.

"Ms. Babcock? Why did you pretend to dislike me? I've always wanted to know." The other two children were confused.

"I…well."

"What do you mean Gracie?" Fran asked, who was also confused.

"I think maybe I need to speak to Ms. Babcock alone." She said as she noticed CC feeling uncomfortable, she knew the woman had a hard time expressing her feelings. Everyone looked at each other, before agreeing it would be best for the two to have some privacy, something Fran never thought she would do. But this was about Gracie, and she had to respect that.

"Remember when I had that nightmare? When I dreamt everything was blue?" CC nodded, once in the kitchen alone.

"Why did you help me?

"You reminded me of myself when I was younger. You are always so strong and independent…and of course your mother letting me care for you several times when you were a baby. Of course, now we know why she did that. There was also…never mind," She shook her head, thinking how silly she would sound.

"No, what? Also what?"

"I had a feeling. Like I knew you were different then the other two. A…"

"Connection?" Grace finished, hoping that's what she meant.

CC nodded. And that's when she saw it. Gracie's brown eyes. Those were her grandfather's eyes. A sweet chocolate brown, it brought her back to her childhood, where she would visit her grandparent's house during the summer, her grandfather would have such a huge smile, always happy to see her,… and then there was Niles' sweet eye shape that carried so much kindness. Her chin, her eyebrows. That little puppy dog face she made, the same way Niles did when Maxwell would scold him after he heard him insult her.

CC's eyes swelled up, and Gracie began to cry as they hugged. They stayed that way for a while.

They came back to the living room, no one really questioning what happened between the two.

Then they heard a crash upstairs. They all ran to Maxwell's room. They heard him throwing stuff around the room, Fran tried the doorknob, but it was locked,

"What is it with people and locking their doors. Mistah Sheffield? Please open up!"

"I'll take the children downstairs." Niles said, as he saw them in tears. "Come on children, he'll be alright."

Fran waited for the children to leave, as she didn't want them to see their father that way. In what way, she didn't know. CC stayed with her.

She unlocked the door with the bobby pin she had used for Gracie's door, once the coast was clear.

"Oh, my God Mistah Sheffield!" She screamed, running towards him.

CC ran to him as well, in shock.

Since I took so very long to update the last time, here's a new chapter lol I'll be writing the next one as soon as I post this one.