Making her way upstairs, Carrie knocked on Farrah's door before walking in her room, seeing her playing with Merriweather and Marvin on her bed. Trying to mimic the squeaky octave Brody had been using for their voices.
"Sorry to interrupt.", Carrie smiled. "Marvin still thinks his name is better?"
"Yes. Merriweather not happy.", Farrah giggled, making room for Carrie on the bed.
"I'm glad you're home, Farrah. I really missed you."
"I missed you too.", Farrah smiled, climbing into her lap and hugging her. Getting hugged back just as tight.
"Bear still here?"
"No honey, he had to go home.", Carrie said as the girl's smile faded.
"I...I hear you...you two..."
"You heard us fighting?", she asked guiltily, getting a nod.
"I'm so sorry about that. Saul and I argue once in awhile. But we always work past it. And you know he cares about you so much."
"He care about you too?"
"Yeah, he does. Sometimes though I feel like he cares a little too much. And I get frustrated. That's what happened downstairs."
"You frust...frustrate...?", Farrah stumbled, frowning in confusion over the word.
"Frustrated. It means bothered, annoyed."
"Ah. You frustrated-"
"Good! Good job.", Carrie praised, but her face went solemn at Farrah's next words.
"You frustrated, with Khaliq because he care about me?"
"Farrah, I'm not frustrated with your brother. And I don't hate him either."
"Are you scared? Nick say you scared."
"Well, I was scared.", she admitted.
"I was scared Khaliq had taken you away from me. I was scared when we were apart. But the truth is I don't really understand your brother that well. I don't know him, or why he felt he had to do what he did. But when we track him down I'm going to ask him a lot of questions, figure it out."
"Why?"
"Because that's another part of my job. If people do bad things I have to learn why they did. I have to get answers from them. Once they say what they did, why they did it, then I can stop them from doing it again."
"You stop Khaliq?", Farrah asked nervously.
"After I find him, yeah. I'm going to figure out why he did what he did. And then afterward I'll decide what's going to happen with him."
"Nick say, he hide because he don't...want me scared."
"Well I'm sure that's a big part of it. Brody, er..Nick, he told you a lot didn't he?"
"He say you two friends! That you meet, in the rain."
"Did he say anything else about how we met?", Carrie asked curiously.
"He say you two become friends fast. That you beat up bad guys."
"Yeah we've done that. Did he tell you that I beat him at pool too?", she smirked as Farrah shook her head.
"He say you are his best friend. You take care of him."
"Well, I try to anyway."
Looking on as Farrah yawned, then tried to hide it, Carrie arched a brow.
"You getting tired?"
Answering with a bigger yawn, Farrah cuddled closer. Prompting Carrie to help her into her pajamas and under the covers.
"Yeah. When I eat a big dinner I get tired too."
"I not have big.."
"Yes you did, and Saul agreed with me. You had a double order of chicken fingers, extra fries and a hot fudge sundae for dessert."
"Is that big?", Farrah giggled as Carrie rolled her eyes, mimicking then tickling her.
"N..no, no you stop! Stop!", the girl squeaked. Rolling away before finally settling down under the covers.
"Now you need to get a good night's sleep because tomorrow morning, first thing, we're gonna pack our bags and go for a drive."
"Drive where?"
"It's a secret.", Carrie whispered in her ear as Farrah grinned, intrigued, then nodded for her to move closer.
"You tell me secret?", she whispered back.
"Well then it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it? Now go on, close your eyes.", Carrie encouraged, still knelt beside her bed.
"And listen, if you have any bad dreams or your leg starts hurting you, if you need anything at all come down the hall to my room and wake me up. Okay?"
"Okay.", Farrah nodded, getting a smile, a goodnight and a kiss on the forehead in return.
After Carrie flipped on her night light and turned off the overhead one, then left and shut the door, Farrah bit her lip and clutched Merriweather and Marvin tighter. Her eyes darted around nervously and not long after welled up with tears.
"C..Carrie? Carrie!"
"Farrah? Honey what-"
Cut off when Farrah scrambled out of bed and ran over to her, clung onto her for dear life, Carrie held her just as tight.
"Hey, hey what's wrong? You were fine just a few-"
"I get scared!"
Whimpering, she hid her face in Carrie's shoulder.
"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here now, everything's alright. Everything's fine."
Repeating herself, rubbing Farrah's back, Carrie held her until she was ready to be released.
"Okay look. Since we both need to get some rest, you grab Marvin and Merriweather, I'll grab this.."
Reaching for the throw blanket she folded it under her arm, then took Farrah's hand in her free one.
"You can sleep in my room tonight, okay?"
"Like sleepover?", Farrah asked eagerly as they walked down the hall.
"Except no movies, manicures, popcorn or pillow fights like the night you spent at Ruby and Josie's."
"No?", she pouted.
"Some other night when we aren't so tired. We need to sleep or we'll be too worn out for the surprise tomorrow, right?"
Nodding, yawning, in agreement Farrah curled up under the covers with her animals before Carrie draped the throw over her.
"I just have to brush my teeth and get changed. You try and close your eyes though, okay. I'll be right back."
"Okay."
After she was fully ready for bed, leaving the bathroom, switching off the light, she saw Farrah curled up on her side with her back towards her. She was snoring, loudly, almost obnoxiously so. Odd since she never snored.
It didn't take Carrie being a trained spy to know when she was being faked out.
"Wow, looks like someone was awfully tired. I guess she won't notice if I do this.."
Slyly grinning, she started tickling Farrah's foot poking out from underneath the blanket. Giving her props for keeping up the charade, feigning snoring and sleep for awhile before finally breaking, starting to squirm and laugh uncontrollably.
"Okay, okay! St..stop, you stop!", the girl choked out between giggles.
Rolling her eyes Carrie sighed, plopped down beside on the bed.
"What will I have to do to get you to go to sleep, huh?"
"You sing?", Farrah asked shyly, getting a surprised frown.
"Sing? Farrah I haven't sang to you in a really long time."
"Please?"
It took Carrie a minute or two to remember the words, her Arabic was far rustier than it ought to be, but after humming the tune to get it back in her head she started the lullaby one of Hadad's maids had graciously taught her when she'd started tutoring. The song was about all that could settle Farrah then, and luckily it had the same effect now. Within a few minutes the girl looked to be out like a light.
"Tisbah ala khair, Farrah.", Carrie whispered, pulling the covers over them both as she lay curled up on her side. Eyes half shut she smiled as the girl echoed her Arabic in reply, but then followed it with something else.
"M..Mama."
Holy shit.
Eyes snapping open, jerking back and up til she was slightly sitting up, Carrie ran a hand through her hair nervously, took a few shaky breaths. Still in disbelief over what she'd just heard, but knowing from the way the word kept ringing in her ear she had heard it. In all it's surreal, strange, too fucking official sounding glory.
After a minute or two she forced herself to lie back down, right as Farrah curled up closer to her, still sleeping soundly in spite of everything.
Staring up at her ceiling wide eyed, biting her lip she reached over to her nightstand, fumbled around for her phone before grabbing hold of it.
Struggling to unknot the earbuds, once doing so she slipped them in her ears, then thumbed to one of her playlists. Taking slow breaths she shut her eyes and started the music. Now she was the one in need of settling down.