A nice long chapter for ya'll.
How are you all doing this fall?
Without further ado... here is the next installment that I know you've all been dying for!
May startled awake at the sound of a scream.
She sat up quickly in bed, taking a moment to get her bearings. The clock dimly blinked at her, telling her it was only 3:48 am.
"Was that one of the girls?" Phil sat up beside her. She could barely see his face in the darkness but she could clearly imagine his brow furrowing with worry.
"I'll go check on them," Melinda grabbed a sweatshirt and threw it on over her tank-top.
"I'll stay here. Call me if you need me," Phil got up and turned on the bathroom light, dimly flooding the bedroom with light. They both knew that the fact that Phil was a man would probably make his presence unhelpful in this situation.
Melinda hurried to the girls' room, turning on the hall light as she went, trying to mentally prepare herself. A feeling of worry swept over her suddenly as she quietly made her way down the carpeted hall. She didn't know what she was doing. They were in way over their heads.
The thoughts quickly disappeared as the sound of soft crying became apparent.
Slowly, May eased the door to the girls' room open.
Skye was clinging to Natasha, frantically sobbing, as the older girl tried to calm her down.
"What's wrong?" Melinda asked quietly as she slowly walked closer. Natasha jerked at the sound of her voice, blue eyes wide. Skye didn't even seem to register her presence.
"She had a nightmare," Natasha said protectively, pulling Skye closer. "She can't help it!"
Suddenly, May realized that Natasha thought they were going to get in trouble for waking her up.
"I just wanted to make sure you two were alright," Melinda told Natasha, staying respectfully at the door.
At that, Natasha turned away and ignored her, focusing back on her little sister.
Skye kept sobbing, one hand clinging to Natasha's oversized pj shirt. Natasha leaned over the smaller girl and whispered soft murmurs, kissing Skye's head and cheeks. Nothing seemed to be working.
"She's going to make herself sick," Natasha finally said, looking up at Melinda, voice tinged with worry.
Carefully, May entered the room.
"Nightmares are really scary," was the only thing Melinda said as she slowly sat down on the bed beside Skye.
Natasha was looking at her suspiciously but didn't tell her to go away, which was a large victory. The girl was probably just too tired to put up a fight.
May was going to try to prove to Natasha that she could be trusted to help them both.
Melinda hadn't been sure that Skye was aware she was there but as she began talking, Skye turned slightly to look at her, large brown eyes filled with tears, tiny chest heaving with hysterical sobs.
"Hey sweetie, it's okay," Melinda said quietly. "Can you try to do something for me? I want you to take deep breaths in and out with me. Ready, we're going to take a big breath in... now let it out... Let's try again."
Skye let out a shuddering breath, choking on her sobs.
"You're okay. Let's breathe in again... now out. That's great. Now in again..."
Slowly yet surely, Skye's wracking sobs slowed as she copied Melinda's breathing.
"I... I had a d-dream that J-John was here..." Skye hiccuped. "H-he was going to h-hurt us..."
"John is never going to get to you two again," Melinda wanted to rub Skye's back, but she knew there were dark bruises there. "You're safe now. But I'm sorry you had such a scary dream. Sometimes Phil and I get nightmares too."
"You?" Skye looked up, dark eyes wide. "I thought grown-ups didn't get nightmares."
"Nope, we still do." Melinda smiled slightly, brushing a limp strand of hair out of Skye's face. This was the most interaction she had ever had with Skye. She could practically feel Natasha's scrutinizing gaze drilling into her. "But that's okay because even though nightmares are really scary, they can't hurt us when we know they aren't real."
"What are your nightmares about?" Skye asked innocently, sniffing and wiping the tears off her face.
Again, Melinda was very aware of Natasha's stare.
Quick images of a small girl's face flashed through her mind.
"My nightmares are about losing people I love," Melinda said quietly. It was silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry," Skye said, reaching out to pat Melinda's hand, face sorrowful and understanding. For a second, May actually felt like she might cry, but she quickly pushed the feeling aside, moving the conversation on.
"Thank you, love. You know what Phil and I like to do when we have nightmares?"
"What?" Skye asked quickly.
"We make mint tea. Do you girls want some?"
"Yeah!" Skye said eagerly then paused. "What's tea?"
Melinda laughed, and out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Natasha smile slightly.
"Come with me, I'll make you some." She watched as Skye looked over to Natasha and waited for the other girl to nod before sliding out of bed. It took Natasha a second to stand up, Melinda could tell that her ribs were bothering her even if she wouldn't admit it, and reminded herself to check and see when the girls should take their next round of medication.
She led the girls downstairs and into the kitchen and motioned for them to take a seat in the dining room while she made the tea.
After pouring the tea into three cups, she carefully walked into the dining room, placed two cups in front of the girls, and sat across from them.
She smiled slightly as she watched both of the girls study the cups in front of them, Natasha even sniffed at the tea.
"Be careful, it's hot." At that, both girls leaned back a little.
Melinda blew on her tea before bringing the cup to her lips and sipping from it. Both girls followed her lead.
She could tell that Skye and Natasha didn't like the tea. They did a good job of disguising it though.
Skye waited for Natasha to take a sip first and the older girl's nose scrunched up after she swallowed her first sip. The look of disgust was quickly replaced by the blank look that Natasha frequently wore.
Skye took a sip next and the little girl had a harder time of hiding her displeasure at the drink. Her lips puckered up and she drew her eyebrows together. She looked at the tea like she was personally offended that it didn't taste good.
Even though it was pretty obvious that the two girls didn't like the tea, she was surprised to see that both of them went to take another sip of the drink. Before their lips could reach their cups, Melinda stopped them, "It's okay if you don't like it."
Skye shook her head, "But you made it for us."
Standing up, she slowly walked around the table and took the cups from the girls, "I'll get you something that you like to drink instead. I don't mind."
Skye looked uncertainly at Natasha. Melinda gave her a small smile, hoping that the little girl understood that she really wasn't upset that they didn't like it, "It's alright Skye."
She brought the cups back into the kitchen, set them in the sink, and poured the girls each a glass of milk instead. This time, when she set the glasses in front of the girls, they both looked much more content.
It was quiet and as everyone sipped at their drinks, she could see Skye's eyelids start to droop. She could tell that Natasha was tired too but the older girl was doing a better job of disguising it. She was satisfied that Skye had calmed down and that her nightmare was behind her but both girls had been through a lot recently and with their injuries, Melinda thought that she really should be getting them back to bed.
"Ready to go back to bed?"
Skye's eyelids were still drooping and she nodded sleepily. Natasha stood up and led her little sister back upstairs and Melinda followed after them, leaving the dishes to clean in the morning.
She watched as Skye unceremoniously flopped onto her bed and, even though she and Phil had moved the two beds in the room so that that were up against the same wall and close to each other, Natasha climbed into bed after her.
Melinda hovered by the door for a second before deciding to walk over to the girls. She saw Natasha tense up a little bit so she didn't get too close, she just leaned over so that she could see both girls, "Goodnight girls, sweet dreams."
Skye mumbled something incoherent as a response and Natasha made eye contact with her for a second before rolling over and curling around Skye.
The first thing that Skye thought of when she woke up was that her body hurt really badly. She was sore and her arm was aching.
The second thing she thought of was how warm Nattie was next to her. Even though it hurt her legs, she kicked the blankets off of her.
When she finally opened her eyes, she realized that the room was very bright and that the sun was streaming through the curtains. The room was way brighter than it should have been and she knew that meant that they were late for school.
Hastily, she sat up and nudged her sister, "Nattie! Wake up!"
Her sister groaned and moved away from her.
She poked Nattie on her cheek, "Wake up! We're late for school!"
Nattie's eyes flew open and Skye watched as she struggled to sit up. She hoped her sister's ribs were okay.
After hopping out of bed, Skye rooted around in her unpacked bag and pulled out some jeans and a shirt and saw Natasha doing the same. She quickly got dressed and grumbled when the cast on her arm made it impossible for her to button her jeans by herself. She hadn't brought any hair ties with her and neither had Nattie so she ran her fingers through her hair and hoped that it didn't look too bad.
She followed Natasha out of the room and as they were both heading towards the bathroom, she heard voices from downstairs.
She hoped that Mrs. May and Mr. Coulson wouldn't be mad at them for waking up late.
After they brushed their teeth, they both stopped at the top of the staircase.
Skye had no idea what to expect.
When she looked up at her sister, she saw that Nattie had her brave face on. She could be brave too.
Straightening up, she grabbed onto Nattie's hand and tugged her down the stairs, ignoring the soreness in her muscles.
Her bravery didn't last too long. When they reached the bottom of the stairs and headed towards Mrs. May and Mr. Coulson's voices, they both stopped when they saw their teachers sitting around the dining room table, talking lightly with each other and eating breakfast.
Skye stepped back so that Nattie was in front of her. She wished that she could be as brave as her sister was.
Their teachers noticed them and Mr. Coulson smiled, "Good morning girls."
Skye saw Nattie straighten up before saying, "We don't have our backpacks."
Mr. Coulson looked confused, "What?"
She heard Nattie sigh, "We don't have any of our stuff for school."
Skye leaned forward and whispered, "Or hair ties."
Natasha glanced down at her before saying, "Or hair ties."
Before Mr. Coulson could reply, Nattie kept talking, "And Skye's arm is hurting her and she shouldn't do a lot during class."
Skye briefly wondered how Nattie knew that her arm was bugging her. It was like her sister knew everything.
Mrs. May shared a look with Mr. Coulson before saying, "No one's going to school today but we'll get your guys' school stuff before you go back. And hair ties."
Skye's surprise had her momentarily forgetting to be nervous, "Why?"
"Because you're both still recovering and we don't want to put any extra strain on you, so you guys are going to be taking a small break from school."
It just occurred to her that Mrs. May and Mr. Coulson should be at school too, "What about you guys?"
Mr. Coulson smiled at her, "We have some vacation days saved up so we took some time off of school so that we could look after you guys."
Nattie crossed her arms in front of her, "We can look after ourselves."
Mrs. May gave her a sad look, "We know Natasha."
Mr. Coulson cleared his throat, "Are you hungry? We weren't sure what you liked so we made a little bit of everything."
Skye waited for her sister to make the first move and waited patiently for Natasha to decide what to do. After a couple of moments, Nattie slowly moved towards the table and sat in the chair that was the furthest away from their teachers. Skye followed after her, grabbed a chair, scooted it as close to Natasha as she could, and sat down.
Once she was situated, she looked at the table and her mouth fell open.
There was a lot of food.
Skye saw scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, a bowl full of fruit, and several boxes of cereal sitting on the table. There were so many options and Skye's mouth watered.
She wanted so badly to just reach out and grab the thing closest to her, it happened to be bacon which was her favorite, but that would be rude and bad, and bad girls had to be punished, so she stayed still. Natasha did too.
When it became obvious that they weren't going to do anything but stare at the food in front of them, Mrs. May and Mr. Coulson both grabbed a plate and started stacking it with a bunch of food. They set the plates in front of them and Skye felt her mouth water even more.
Biting her lip, she clasped her hands tightly together so that she wouldn't reach for the food before she was allowed.
"You can eat if you're hungry, girls." Mr. Coulson's voice sounded strained and weird when he said that but Skye was so busy focusing on her plate that she didn't bother to look up and check if he was okay.
Quickly, she reached for her plate with both hands before realizing that one arm was completely useless in her cast. Setting her hurt arm on the table, she grabbed a handful of scrambled eggs and shoved them into her mouth.
As she hurriedly chewed, she looked over and saw that Nattie's cheeks were stuffed full and her sister was still trying to take another bite of her pancake.
She giggled and grabbed the pancake out of Nattie's hand and took a bite out of it before reaching for a piece of bacon from her plate and handing it to Natasha as a replacement for her pancake.
"Slow down you two, if you eat too fast, you'll get a bellyache."
Skye tried to listen to Mr. Coulson, she really did, but she just couldn't. She wanted to eat everything before it got taken away and it all tasted so good that she just couldn't stop.
After swallowing her first bite, she grabbed a piece of toast and ate some of it. The jam on top of the toast was a different color than anything she had ever tasted and she was surprised to find that she liked it even better than grape jam. She took another bite and then shoved it into her sister's hands, "Try this!"
She licked some of the sticky jam off of her fingers before eagerly picking up a piece of bacon and stuffing half of it in her mouth.
It had only been a couple minutes since they had started eating and Skye's tummy was starting to feel full but she couldn't get herself to stop eating.
As she was reaching for a strawberry, her plate suddenly got pulled away.
Apparently Natasha's plate had gotten pulled away too because she heard her sister angrily say, "Hey!"
Skye felt her lower lip start to wobble, looked up, and saw that it was Mrs. May who had taken their plates away from them. She gave them an apologetic look and held up her hands, "I'm not taking your food away forever, I just wanted you to take a moment and see how your tummies feel. Are you full or still hungry?"
Tearing her eyes away from her half-finished plate, she glanced down at her belly and noticed how full and uncomfortable it felt. She shook her head and gently placed a hand on her tummy, hoping that would help the uncomfortable feeling go away.
She looked up at her sister, to see if she was feeling as bad as she was, and could tell by the look in Nattie's eyes that her tummy hurt too.
Trying to ignore her bellyache, she pitifully said, "I'm full."
She waited for her sister to say something but when she didn't, she spoke up for her, "Nattie is too."
Mrs. May gave her a smile, "Okay, when you guys are hungry again, let us know."
Skye thought that Mrs. May had a nice smile. She hadn't really had a chance to see it before and honestly, she really didn't know that much about Mrs. May, but she had been really nice last night and Skye thought that she liked her.
She nodded because it didn't look like Nattie was going to say anything.
Mrs. May gave her another smile, "Why don't you two go put on some comfy clothes for the day? I'll get your medicine."
Nattie stood up, grabbed her hand, and led her back upstairs so that they could put their pajamas back on. When they were far enough away not to be heard, Skye leaned in and whispered, "This is kinda weird."
Nattie nodded, "I know."
Skye glanced back to where Mrs. May and Mr. Coulson were watching them walk away before turning back around and grinning, "A good kind of weird though."
Her sister squeezed her hand, "We'll see."
Melinda wasn't an expert on providing childcare, but she didn't think it was supposed to be this easy. Well, the physical side of providing for Skye and Natasha was easy. All day, they hadn't asked for anything, not for help, not for snacks, and not even for help turning on the difficult tv that she still had trouble turning on… they just figured it out and did it themselves. It was a little disconcerting. The two girls complied to their every request silently and quickly.
Melinda wasn't delusional enough to believe that their perfect behavior was due to anything good. In fact, as she watched the two girls, her blood was beginning to boil with anger.
It was clear that Skye and Natasha were acting out of fear. She had never seen them act so skittish, even at school. Something, or rather a certain someone, had taught them that home was not safe. And Melinda wanted to punch that someone in the face. Hard. Repeatedly.
"Hey girls, do you want lunch?" May leaned against the couch, sitting on the arm. Skye was busy putting together a puzzle, while Natasha sat close and watched, occasionally offering a suggestion.
At May's question, Skye glanced at Natasha, as if looking for guidance.
The older girl shrugged noncommittally but Mel caught how Natasha shifted so that she was closer to Skye.
Clenching her jaw, she decided to change tactics. She tried not to let her anger show, the girls didn't need anymore of that, and attempted to give them a small smile, "I could really use some help getting lunch together…"
She knew that Natasha probably wouldn't be affected by her plea for help but Phil had told her how much Skye liked to help others and where Skye went, Natasha followed.
Sure enough, Skye looked up at her, studied her with an intensity most five year olds lacked, and stood up, "I can help."
She gave the little girl a smile that grew when Natasha sighed and stood up too, grumbling something under her breath.
Ushering the girls into the kitchen, she pulled up two chairs that they could stand on and pulled out all the things they would need to make sandwiches. Unsure what the girls preferred, she pulled out all of the lunch meats and condiments they had, which wasn't a lot. They needed to go grocery shopping soon.
Setting the food down in front of the girls, she reached for the cabinet above them and pulled out the bread. When she turned to offer it to the girls, she caught them staring intensely at the cabinet door. She had caught the same look yesterday when Natasha had first seen the kitchen and went and pulled open the cabinets.
She wasn't exactly sure what the look meant but she had a sinking suspicion. Trying to play it off, she gave the girls a smile, "Do you like our cabinets?"
Natasha averted her gaze and Skye looked from her to the cabinets and back again before taking a deep breath and saying, "You don't need a key to open them."
Melinda felt like she had just been sucker punched in the stomach.
She wanted to go punch John Garrett in the face but there were two little girls staring at her and carefully watching her reaction. This was important. While Natasha and Skye weren't exactly opening up to her, she could use this as an opportunity to show them that they can.
Facing the girls, she made sure that they knew that they were getting her full attention, before leaning down a little so that she was closer to their height and earnestly saying, "No, you don't need a key to open our cabinets. You can open them whenever you want and you can eat what's inside them whenever you want too."
Skye and Natasha shared a disbelieving look and didn't say anything.
"I mean it, you can eat anything in here whenever you're hungry. I know we don't have that much right now but when we go grocery shopping, you can pick out your favorite foods so that it's here for you."
The girls didn't look like they believed her. She resolved that she would prove it to them that they would never go hungry in this house.
Deciding to lower the intensity of the conversation, she glanced around to make sure that Phil was still out of earshot before stretching up and fishing around on the top shelf of a cabinet, "For example, Phil's favorite food is Oreos and he always has some in here." She left out the part where he tried to hide them from her.
She finally grabbed onto the junk food and offered some to the girls, "Want some?"
Skye stared longingly at the bright blue package, "But they're Mr. Coulson's. Won't he get mad if we take some?"
Skye started her question out strong but by the end, she was looking around nervously and her thumb was making its way towards her mouth.
Shaking her head, she pushed the cookies closer to the girls, "He won't get mad, we share our food here."
Both girls continued to stare at the cookies without reaching for one. Even though she hated the processed, too-sweet taste of the cookies, she grabbed one and took a bite from it before pushing the package even closer to the girls and focusing on making lunch.
While she started making her sandwich, she was aware of the girls watching her. She kept her focus on preparing lunch and after a few long minutes, she saw Natasha slowly grab a cookie and hand it to Skye. From the corner of her eye, she could see that the girls were studying her but she kept her focus on the sandwiches in front of her. Skye slowly brought the cookie to her mouth and took a small bite from it, all the while both girls were studying her closely.
When she didn't react, Skye quickly shoved the rest of the cookie into her mouth. And when Natasha grabbed a cookie of her own and took a bite out of it, Mel had to turn away a little so that they didn't see her triumphant grin.
Phil collapsed onto the couch and scooted over so that his wife could sit next to him, "I would say that went pretty well."
He watched as Melinda twisted around to glance at the girls, who were coloring at the dining room table, where they had just cleared the dinner plates, before facing him and raising an eyebrow, "Of course dinner went well, they'll eat anything."
He nudged her arm and sighed dramatically, "Don't downplay this victory, Mel."
She rolled her eyes at him and he cracked a grin.
Things had been a little rough today. The girls had been perfect, probably a little too perfect, but seeing them outside of school had given him and Melinda a chance to see just how scared and skittish they were of everything. He could tell that Melinda was just as angry at John and Rebecca Garrett as he was but he thought that they had done a pretty good job of hiding their anger in front of the girls.
He thought back to how Skye and Natasha had been able to entertain themselves all day. It was alarming to see just how capable they were of taking care of each other.
Wrapping an arm around Mel's shoulders, he let out a deep breath, "Kids aren't usually this self-sufficient."
His wife didn't say anything but he knew she was listening.
"We need to show them that it's okay to act like kids but I'm not sure how." He scrubbed a hand over his face and rubbed his temples. He had a new respect for parents. He had only been one for a day and he was already afraid he was screwing everything up.
Melinda looked up at him, "I don't even think they know how to act like normal kids. Especially Natasha. She's like a thirty-five year old mom trapped in a nine-year old's body."
They both stared unseeingly at the television in front of them and tried to figure out where to go from here. It had only been about ten minutes but when he glanced back to check on the girls, his stomach dropped when he realized that they were no longer sitting at the table.
"Where're Skye and Natasha?"
Melinda whipped around and he threw his hands up, "How did we already lose them?"
He was already rushing towards the stairs as Mel said, "You cover their room, I'll check the bathroom down here."
His heart was beating so fast that he thought it was going to explode and when he frantically rushed into the girls' room and saw that they weren't in there, he started to feel nauseous.
One day as a parent and he had already lost Skye and Natasha. That had to be some kind of record.
He was about to rush back downstairs to see if Mel had found them when he saw that the bathroom door was halfway open. Without thinking, he pushed the door open and rushed inside.
He was greeted with a startled scream from Skye and an angry glare from Natasha. The redhead was gently running a wet washcloth over Skye's face and she quickly dropped the cloth so that she could put her hands on her hips and step in front of Skye.
Leaning over, he set his hands on his knees, tried to catch his breath, and attempted to push his panic away. He had honestly thought that he might have lost the girls and those few moments had been the most terrifying of his life.
Once he caught his breath, he turned and yelled out the door, "They're up here May!"
It only took a second before he could hear his wife's light footsteps jogging towards him and then her hand was on his arm and he finally felt his heartbeat calm down a little.
He imagined that the look of stark relief on Melinda's face was also reflected on his own. Mel took in the scene, "What're you guys doing up here?"
Skye looked unsure of herself and Natasha took one hand off of her hip so that she could hold Skye's hand before fixing them with a glare and saying, "We didn't know how to turn your bath on and it's bath time."
It was silent for a beat and Melinda acted before he could, "Oh. Let me show you." She walked over to the bath and showed Natasha how to twist the handles to get the water running.
His wife made his way back to his side and then they were locked in an uncomfortable stare off between them and the girls. He wasn't sure if they needed help or what to do.
He was happy to see that Melinda was just as stumped as he was, "Do you… need help?"
Natasha gave them a look that clearly said that she thought that they were crazy just for asking.
He gently pulled on Melinda's arm and took a step towards the bathroom door, "Make sure you don't get your cast wet, alright Skye?"
He watched as Skye leaned around her sister and gave him a shy nod.
Smiling at her, he tried to diffuse some of the awkward energy in the room, "We can read you a story after your bath. How's that sound?"
He was a little caught off guard when Skye scrunched up her nose and shook her head, "No."
Sharing a confused look with May, he focused back on the little girl, "No?"
Skye looked more unsure of herself than ever and she quickly stuck her thumb in her mouth. When she spoke again, it was slightly muffled and hesitant, "Bath, pajamas, brush teeth and hair, and then story. It's the rules."
"What rules?"
Natasha stood up straighter, "My rules."
He already knew that Natasha had stepped up where taking care of Skye was concerned but he was still realizing just how much of the caregiver role the nine-year-old had taken on. Most children fought their parents each night when it came to bedtime but Natasha had stepped up and made sure that Skye not only went to bed at a decent time, but that she was clean as well. He couldn't even imagine the type of weight that rested on Natasha's shoulders.
His voice softened as he regarded Natasha and Skye, "Can I read you a story after you get everything else done?"
Skye looked like she wanted to say yes but before she did, she looked at Natasha for approval. When the redhead nodded, Skye turned back to him, gave him a tiny smile, and nodded.
He smiled back at her, "Okay, we'll be right out here. Don't be afraid to ask if you need any help."
When it became clear that the girls weren't going to respond, they both stepped out of the bathroom and Melinda firmly shut the door. They took a couple steps down the hall so that they could talk without being overheard.
Melinda gave him a look that translated to her asking him if he could believe what just happened.
He shook his head, "It's supposed to be our job to tell them that it's bath time and to remind them to brush their teeth. I used to whine and make a giant fuss every single night when my parents said it was time to go to bed."
"I know."
Letting out a frustrated breath, he said, "I just want them to be able to be kids, you know? I want them to be able to enjoy their childhood."
"I know, me too."
He put a hand over hers, where it rested on his arm, "We can do this."
Melinda squeezed his arm, "Hell yeah we can."
Also, thank you for the well wishes on the cold - it's lingering but on it's way out! Finally...
Stay healthy, friends! You all are the best - keep being you!
Until the next chapter,
~silverlining