Chapter Four

Nigel and Kyle were confused. Why the house so quiet? Why was their parents' bed still made? They wandered into some of their siblings' bedrooms, finding that many of them were still asleep. They knew that something was wrong.

"Sarah?" The five year old twins found their sister lying in her bed in silence, staring at the ground.

"Sarah? Where's Mom and Dad?" Asked Kyle, quietly. The girl looked at them, but did not reply, instead rolling over and turning away from them.

"We're going to be late for school!" Insisted Nigel. Sarah said nothing and kept her back turned.

The boys, still dressed in their matching pyjamas, walked out into the hall. There was not a sound, and no sign of movement. Nigel and Kyle headed downstairs into the living room, where they sat and resolved to watch TV.

Nora opened her eyes and sighed. She was exhausted, having been awake for most of the night, simply tossing and turning and trying to forget. Lorraine was still asleep, and the house was silent. Nora expected that not many of her brothers and sisters would want to get up today. Rolling over and forcing herself to get up, she grabbed some clothes and picked up her phone to check the time. It was late.

As Nora headed down the stairs, she heard the sounds of a children's television programme. She walked into the living room to and saw her youngest brothers sat in front of the TV. The redheads turned at the same time. They looked at their sister with confusion on their faces. They did not remember what happened the night before during their brief awakening.

"Nora?"

"Why is everyone still in bed?"

"Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Is school cancelled?"

"What's wrong with Sarah?"

"Why are-"

"Guys, guys, listen. There's something I need to tell you." The boys' sister kneeled in front of them.

"What?" The twins said in unison. Nora took a deep breath. She didn't want to do this. They shouldn't have to deal with this. Too young, she thought, for their parents to die. Only five.

"Mom and Dad… They got hurt. Last night." Her words came out clumsily.

"Did they go to the hospital?" Nigel asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes, and the doctors tried to help them, but…they couldn't."

"Are they gonna be okay?" Kyle asked, frowning. Nora slowly shook her head, tears began to fill her eyes.

"Mom and Dad are gone."

"Where did they go? I thought they were at the hospital?"

"Mom and Dad are dead." Nora forced herself to say. There was silence for a few seconds. The two boys looked confused.

"What's dead?" The oldest Baker child took another deep breath. She knew if she didn't, she would burst into tears. They didn't need that.

"Um, dead… means… that a person doesn't wake up. Mom and Dad's car crashed, and they got hurt really bad. And their bodies were so broken… That they stopped working." Nora couldn't help it. Warm tears spilled from her eyes as she tried to blink them away. She raised a hand to her face, trying in vain to hide the tears.

"Why are you crying?" Nigel asked, simply.

"I'm just really sad that they're gone." She replied, giving up on hiding the pain from them.

The two boys looked at each other, frowning, then looked back to Nora. They stood up and hugged their sister. She wrapped an arm around each of them, and the three were silent for a while.

Mark quietly slipped into the kitchen, where he saw Nora cooking. After a long night of crying, he had finally accepted sleep, and had woken up later than usual, without the noise of everyday life. The sounds of his busy family were gone. The sounds that felt like home. He stood for a minute, watching her pour cereal and milk into a bowl. She turned around, about to head out, and was shocked to see him there.

"Are you hungry?" She asked, awkwardly. He nodded, sitting on a stool that was lying around.

Nora grabbed another bowl and filled it with Mark's favourite cereal and some milk. She picked up two spoons and gave Mark his bowl. The two headed to the dining room in silence.

Before long, most of the siblings arrived downstairs. They sat silently around the dining room table, eating cereal for breakfast, despite it being closer to lunch. Charlie had explained to Mike what had happened on his own, before he came downstairs. He understood more than his younger brothers and the eight year old could not control himself from crying into Charlie's shoulder. He joined Nigel and Kyle, who were still watching cartoons. Lorraine and Jake did not come down at all.

As they sat around the table, there was no sound, except from the clinking of their spoons against the bowls. Nobody wanted to break the uncomfortable silence that surrounded them, and most avoided looking at the empty seats at the heads of the table, where their parents usually sat. Mark, Jessica, Kim and Sarah were still in their pyjamas, whilst Charlie was still dressed in his clothes from the day before.

After they had eaten, the children left their bowls in the sink and retreated to their rooms. Even Nigel and Kyle had returned to the security of their room. Nora headed to Jake's room. Having not seen him since the night before, she was worried, so knocked on his door and entered with his reply.

"Hey."

"Hey." Jake replied to his sister. He lay in his bed under the covers. Staring at the ceiling, he sighed as his sister shut the door behind her. "What's up?"

"You didn't come down for breakfast." Nora pulled up a chair from his desk and sat to face him.

"Not hungry." Jake said, keeping his eyes on the ceiling.

"Do you want some eggs?"

"No."

"Soup?"

"No."

"What about-"

"Nora, I'm not hungry!" He shouted, turning to her as she jumped. For a few moments, there was only silence. Jake sighed again and looked down. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." His sister said, quietly. The two said nothing. A minute later, Nora got up to leave.

"Nora?" Jake asked in a small voice, as Nora opened the door.

"Yeah?" She turned back to him.

"Why did this happen?" It took a moment for Nora to reply.

"I honestly don't know, Jake." She said before leaving and closing the door.

Nora knew that there were many things that she must do. She was the head of the family now, and the mess of their parents' death was up to her to organise. She knew that she had to contact her aunts and uncles, the hospital, a funeral home amongst others. But today was their day, to accept, to grieve and to try and make sense of what was going on in their heads.

I'm so sorry this took so long, I had some VERY important exams, which I'm just about to finish, so I'll have more time to write :D Thank you to the people who reviewed. It makes me so happy to read reviews :) Hope you like this chapter, it may seem kind of awkward, and not much happens, but I kind of wanted it like that because I think it really shows the difficulty of the situation. It's a bit longer due to a suggestion by a reviewer. (P.S. I'm having a bit of trouble with page breaks, so if anyone could help, I would be very grateful.) xxx