Jason ran into the house with Piper close behind. As soon as they got to the girls, they each picked up one and held them close. Protectiveness. That parental feeling. Yet, even so, Jason held Maddie to his chest as Piper held Katie to hers.
Both adults looked at each other, noticed what kid they had, broke out in grins at the situation.
"Maybe I was wrong..." Piper kissed Katie's head before walking over to Jason. "That was instinctual and we grabbed who we could get to first."
"Let me go!" Katie protested before Jason could agree. She tried wiggling out of Piper's arms, her hands clasping the toy she had been playing with. "You made me mess up my Barbie house!"
"Sorry, sweetheart." Piper set her down but made sure to keep her eyes on her. "Why are you two all the way up here?"
"Maddie wanted to," Katie replied. "She say she has friends up here."
"Friends?" Jason looked around them for the first time to see where they were. An old bedroom, it looked like, with a bed just as used as his and Piper's. "Pipes...if this was the window that kept opening..."
"I know. Let's go downstairs." Piper kneeled by Katie. "I'll help you carry your toys down. Come on, your dad got us good food for dinner."
"Really?" Katie perked up. "What'd he get?"
"Let's go look." Piper helped the little girl gather her toys before leading her downstairs. "We can help bring the bags in and then look at all the stuff he got."
As they left the surrounding area, Jason looked down at Maddie. Her small head rested against his chest, her eyes stared at the bed. For a minute, he watched the bed also in hopes he could see what she saw. But he never did.
"Maddie, is Will here?" he finally asked. "Is that who you see?"
Maddie nodded her small head. "And Nico."
Jason cursed silently before regaining his composure. "Two people? You see two people in here?"
She nodded before pointing to the bed. "There!"
"What does Nico look like?" Jason asked. "How old is he?"
"I no know that." she tried getting out of his arms. "He black hair and black eyes and loves Will."
Will looked over at Nico. "True."
Nico scowled as Jason set his daughter down. "Whatever, Solace. It's your fault they're in here."
"My fault? You're the one that kept opening the window." Will looked down at Maddie as she stood against the bed. "Hey, sweetheart." He glanced up at Jason, saw him watching silently. "What can I do for you?"
"I wanted a breeze." Nico defended himself as Will made room for Maddie on the bed. "Not my fault stupid Jason thinks we're ghosts."
"We are ghosts." Will reminded him as Maddie climbed onto the bed. "His daughter is the only one who can see us. That's why he's acting like that."
"He's still stupid," Nico muttered.
"Daddy no stupid." Maddie sat as close as she could to Will but kept her eyes on Nico. "He smart!"
Nico rolled his eyes. "Doubt it."
Maddie went to speak again before Jason came and scooped her up. "Let's go down and eat, sweetheart. Nico and Will can wait till later to talk to you."
"They no talk to me," Maddie replied as he carried her out of the room. "They talk to each other. And kiss!"
"Do they?" Jason glanced back into the room once more before carrying her downstairs. As he left, Will looked over at Nico and leaned in for a kiss.
"Not a chance." Nico pushed Will's face away.
