Four: Nightmare comforts
Plot: In the few hours since getting their daughters back, Lydia and Edward try to get the three of them back into a normal routine but with lack of knowledge for the two years they were gone and nightmares make it harder than it should be.
The first sign that concerned Lydia and Edward was the girls and food. Though thankful that manners had stuck with their oldest and taught to their twins, when the plates of food were presented to them, the girls stared.
"Where's squirrels? Or rabbits?" Sabrina asked with a frown.
"Or berries?" Madeline added while turning to her big sister. "Nell hunted for us all the time."
"We have berries," Miranda smiled softly, seeing Sofia's horrified face at the thought of the dead squirrels and rabbits. "But we do not hunt any animals. Nor would we have the cooks do something like that."
"Just try a little bit," Lydia encouraged as the twins shook their heads.
"Please, girls? Just take one little bite," Nell encouraged them.
Madeline and Sabrina looked at each other uneasily. They took a deep breath, and both took a bite at the same time. Their eyes widened in amazement.
"Well?" Nell asked.
"This is yummy!" Madeline smiled, taking a bigger bite of chicken.
"I love this!" Sabrina grinned, helping herself to the vegetables Lydia offered.
"You and your father were always fans of my green bean casserole," Lydia smiled. "And I made the seven-layer salad that Madeline used to love."
Madeline looked up. "Seven layer salad? You made that for me?"
"We made all your favorite foods, little Butterfly," Edward smiled.
"Isn't that better than squirrels and rabbits?" Nell asked, smiling softly at her sisters. "And the best part? I don't have to hunt!"
"We're glad to hear that," Lydia grinned, kissing her cheek.
"That man, that piece of foul never feed any of you?!" Edward asked, staring at his girls, trying his best to calm himself. "I know you meant well Helen but your diet was squirrels and rabbits and berries. Didn't those McDonalds give you anything?"
"Whenever they drank themselves to sleep, I sneaked out and brought the girls any leftover food from the table," Nell tried to explain.
"And you were never caught?" Lydia asked.
"Never," Nell grinned. "Jimmy, Beth, and Robby slept more soundly than we did!"
"And their snoring was louder than Nell's, so they never heard us cleaning up when we were done eating," Madeline grinned.
"Good for you!" Edward chuckled, musing her hair.
"Miranda, can we bath outside?" Nell asked, wiping her mouth. "The girls think that your fountain is a lake."
"A lake?!" Bobby Lee choked, spitting out some of his water.
"Yes. That's where we all bathed together," Nell tried to explain, a little embarrassed. "The fish sometimes got our toes."
"I liked that. The fishies always kissed us!" Madeline smiled as the girls didn't notice the concern looks on Lydia and Edward's faces.
"Actually, you have your own bathroom inside," Miranda smiled.
"An indoor bathroom? Will wonders never cease!" Nell joked. "I'd love to have an indoor bathroom again!"
"Yeah!" Sabrina cheered. "No more fish kisses!"
"I like indoor bathrooms!" Madeline cheered.
"Thank you," Lydia whispered to Miranda who could see tears in her eyes.
"They'll be okay," Miranda assured her with a small squeeze of her hand. "It'll probably be awhile before you get them back to normal and they'll be confused about well what not to do here but they're excited to have you and Edward back."
"We'll just have to take it one day at a time," Edward muttered, kissing Lydia on the cheek.
"That's what we did for two years," Nell muttered softly, biting her lip.
"Especially during Nell's crying and Jimmy doing bad things to her," Madeline shuddered as Sabrina hugged her.
"You'll never have to worry about that monster doing anything to you ever again," Lydia murmured. "He and his worthless sons were caught, and they're going to rot in the castle dungeon."
"And you can be sure that they'll be executed," Bobby Lee promised.
He gave a gentle look at his old friend who had flinched at his touch upon being rescued.
She was calmer now and in better clothing, smiling softly at him.
"Mama, Papa, may we be excused?" Nell asked, glancing at her sisters.
"You just take as long as you need," Lydia nodded. "You know we're all here for you if you want to talk."
"Thank you," Nell murmured, leading Madeline and Sabrina out.
"I'll go with them, but I won't follow too closely," Bobby Lee murmured.
He followed the girls at shadow distance, and stood outside Nell's door when they went inside. He made sure the door was open a crack, so just in case he was needed, he'd be able to hear them.
"This is new," Nell muttered, looking into the mirror of her new room. "Are those circles under my eyes?!"
"We didn't draw them!" Madeline yelled, starting to undress. "Ow..."
"Baby what is it?" Nell asked, forgetting her circles for a moment.
"Burn hurts," Madeline sniffed, looking ready to cry.
"Okay, let's put some cold water on them," Nell murmured, leading her to the bathroom. She was happy she remembered all the remedies Lydia and Bianca had taught her when she was younger.
Madeline sighed in relief as the cold water soothed her. "Thank you, Nell," she smiled.
"Bobby Lee's outside the door, and he can bring us some cream. That helps reduce swelling," Nell smiled. "I'll have him bring some ice and medicine to help heal them. But you always forget the most important rule: Don't touch the burns while they're healing. The blisters pop, and they get worse."
"I'm sorry, Nell," Madeline murmured.
"You don't have to apologize for that anymore, Maddie,' Nell murmured as she sent Bobby Lee to get what she wanted. "Nobody will ever come at you with cigarettes again."
"Promise?" Madeline sniffed, hugging Nell close.
"I promise," Nell assured her, kissing her cheek.
"Get me out! Get me out! GET ME OUT!" Sabrina screamed, kicking at the closet neither girl had realized had closed as Nell rushed towards the screaming before Sabrina found herself hoarse.
"Sabrina!" Nell shouted, opening the door and letting Sabrina fall into her arms. "Oh, Sabrina, my sweet baby girl..."
As she was led out, Sabrina was crying so hard that she didn't know Bobby Lee was sitting on her other side until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She flinched away at first, but then she realized that the touch was gentle, just like Nell's.
At the same time, Edward and Lydia ran into the room. "Why don't we take care of Sabrina, Helen?" Lydia suggested as she inspected Nell's work. "You can help Madeline. And I'm so proud of you for knowing what to do!"
"I didn't know about the cure for cigarette burns at first," Nell admitted, "I overheard Robby say something to Beth about that once."
"And you remembered it," Lydia smiled. "Good for you, Nellie!"
"Who'd have believed it?" Edward smirked. "Those bastards actually had some good ideas!"
"Papa!" Nell smiled, musing Sabrina and Madeline's hair. "Little pitchers!"
"Nellie, Maddie, looks a bit nervous to bathe right in front of us. We'll leave the three of you alone until bedtime," Edward offered with a smile.
"Story?!" Sabrina and Madeline grinned, happily jumping up and down.
"Yes. Only the best for our girls!" Lydia chuckled, covering them in kisses.
"I think I'll be going with Bobby Lee for a walk instead," Nell muttered, blushing a little.
"You go ahead, Helenita," Edward smiled, "We'll take care of your sisters."
"I love you. I love you so much!" Nell said as she hugged them.
"We love you so much too, Nellie," Lydia smiled.
"I'll take good care of Helen while we're out," Bobby Lee promised.
He glanced at Edward's face, destined to hopefully never get on the man's other side. The side where he wasn't a fatherly figure but a bear.
A horrifying bear who wanted to kill anything and anyone that messed with his girls.
Bobby Lee shuddered at the side he had witnessed during Nell's rescue as a small tap on the shoulder brought him back to reality.
"You know he's not angry at you, Robert," Nell whispered.
"I know," Bobby Lee whispered back. "I just hope I never see him that angry again!"
Nell nodded. As Bobby Lee and the guards were taking them to the coach, she remembered how Edward had beaten Jimmy to within an inch of his life all by himself. As proud as she was of him for that, what Edward had done was something she never wanted to see again.
"I'll show you the gardens," Bobby Lee smiled, taking her hand. "They're beautiful to look at during this time."
"Is that where the fountain is?" Nell asked a little confused. "Because I just got Mama and Papa back and I'm just scared of losing them again."
"You never have to worry about that again," Bobby Lee murmured, pulling her close and letting her lean on him. "They're going to be here for you, just like I am."
"Okay," Nell smiled as she let him lead her out.
For the first time in two years, Nell felt herself laughing, smiling, and just enjoying life as a whole.
Yet as she went to sleep in her own bed for the first time in forever, Nell felt trapped, like she was running away from something that already was giving her trauma.
"Helenita?" Edward asked softly, stroking her hair as Nell flinched.
"Papa?" Nell asked with tears running down her cheeks.
"Do you want me or your mother to stay with you tonight?" Edward suggested as Lydia nodded beside him. "I promise we won't go anywhere."
"I think I'll be all right," Nell admitted. "Madeline and Sabrina need you too, and Robert's room is next to mine, so if I need anything, he can help me."
Lydia nodded, but as she and Edward left, she turned to him. "She's putting on such a brave face for us. I know she'll need us during the night."
"So we'll stay with her," Edward agreed. "There are chairs and a sofa in the room with her, so we'll have a place to sleep."
"Nell!" Madeline screamed, running into Nell's arms as tears went down her cheeks. "I couldn't find you anywhere! I thought Jimmy took you and did bad things to you again."
"I'm right here Butterfly," Nell assured her with tears down her own cheeks. "I'll always be here. A-And so will Mama and Papa."
"Come here, Maddie," Lydia murmured. She took Madeline on her lap and began humming as she rocked her.
Nell softly joined in as she remembered the lullaby Lydia had sung to her and her sisters when they were little. "I used to sing that to her and Sabrina too," she smiled. The song had always brought them comfort no matter what.
"We always loved that song," Sabrina agreed. "We'd sometimes sing it to Nell after Jimmy scared her."
"And sometimes you forgot the lyrics!" Nell grinned, hugging her close.
"But it made you better. Didn't it?" Sabrina smiled, accepting the hug.
"Yes it did," Nell mused, kissing her cheek. "Especially after he left me alone, terrified for myself, and without clothes."
"I heard that bastard taking advantage of you Helenita before Robert broke open the door to find the three of you on top of each other trying to escape through a broken window," Edward shuddered, stroking her hair.
"We had to get out somehow," Nell murmured. "I didn't want him to do anything to me again, or worse, to start on Madeline or Sabrina, so we broke the window and tried to escape. I'm sorry it took so long to decide to escape that way; we should have done it the first night!" She was about to continue, but she broke down crying.
"Oh, Nellie..." Lydia murmured. "You had no idea of knowing what he was going to do. I don't care how long it took; I'm just thankful that you're all back with us."
"Y-You are?" Nell sniffed, looking away from her parents. "Jimmy took advantage of me many times. He said to me just before you came that he hoped I would—"
Nell couldn't take it anymore. Her nightmare becoming a reality as Sabrina frowned.
"He hoped she has a baby grow in her tummy," Madeline muttered, stroking Nell's hair. "I heard him."
"And if that's the case, we'll help you take care of him or her," Lydia assured her. "You weren't responsible for what Jimmy did. This is not your fault."
"You won't turn me out?" Nell asked.
"Why would we do that?" Edward asked. "You didn't ask Jimmy and his family to kidnap you and your sisters, did you? You didn't tell him to take advantage of you."
"I didn't," Nell muttered, now feeling ashamed. "I just wanted everything to be normal again! But no! I can't even sleep without him being on my mind! And just today I found out that I have circles under my eyes! Bobby Lee didn't have any under his eyes!"
"That doesn't mean that he wasn't worried for you," Edward recalled as he kissed her cheek. "When it was a year when you three were missing, everyone around us told us to stop searching. They said that you were dead, probably buried in a ditch somewhere. But we never gave up. And today marks two years but we were lucky this time."
Nell started crying again, and Edward and Lydia wrapped her in a hug, just like they did when she had been pecked by the goose. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry!"
"You don't have to apologize about anything, Helenita," Edward murmured, stroking her hair. "We found you, Madeline, and Sabrina. The three of you are safe, and that's all that matters."
"But what about what Jimmy did to me?" Nell asked. "He'll escape, won't he? And what if he goes after the baby, if I really am-?"
"That piece of scum will never set eyes on the child," Lydia promised. "We'll raise him or her in a proper family, and love them as much as if they were one of our own children."
"It's almost close to midnight," Edward grimaced, looking down at his pocket watch. "Come on girls, time for bed."
"But we didn't want you to leave!" The girls shouted together before Nell started to blush.
"Nellie you embarrassed to have us stay with you?" Lydia asked, seeing Nell blush.
"Yes! I mean no. I've been strong for too long," Nell sniffed, burying her face in Lydia's chest. "We all lost our will to be children after the first night. All I really remember that morning is shouting and Madeline screaming."
"You had every right to be terrified then, and now that you're back with us, you don't have to act brave for us," Lydia murmured. "You don't have to be brave for Madeline and Sabrina now. The three of you are back where you belong, and that's all that matters."
"Promise you'll stay with us?" Nell asked at last.
"I promise, Nellie," Lydia murmured, taking Nell in her arms as if she were Madeline or Sabrina, and started to rock her. "Your father and I aren't going anywhere."