Here We Go Again
Disclaimer: I only own my OC's
Eleven years earlier…
"Mommy, I don't want to go to school."
It was Friday morning. Juliet gazed across the kitchen, where she was just finishing making their lunches for the day and let her eyes rest on her clearly upset six-year old daughter. Sierra looked perfectly fine; her brown hair was fixed in two neat braids and her red and blue-striped dress only slightly clashed with the bright green rain boots she adamantly refused to take off.
"What do you mean you don't want to go? The other day you told me that school was your favorite."
Sierra's little eyes narrowed in frustration. "I hate it."
"What did I tell you about that word?" Juliet finished spreading grape jelly on bread and dropped the knife in the sink before making her way over to the couch where her daughter sat.
"That it's a mean word, and not to use it."
"Exactly." Having made it to the couch, she plopped down next to her daughter and gathered her tiny body in her arms. Now that she was close enough, Juliet could see tears rimming her daughter's eyes, threatening to spill over. "Why do you not want to go to school?"
"The kids are mean and they make fun of me."
Juliet felt her back stiffen as her maternal, protective instincts took over. "What do you mean? What do they say?"
Sierra buried her head in her mother's lap and mumbled something unintelligible.
"You have to speak up, sweetie." Juliet sighed, picking Sierra up by the arms and bringing her in for a hug. "Tell me again."
"They make fun of me because I don't have a Daddy."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Juliet felt as if she had just been punched in the gut. She knew she'd have to deal with it someday, but a small part of her had thought that, just maybe, she'd be able to put it off for a few more years.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"Where is my Daddy?"
Juliet looked at her daughter for a long moment, taking in everything about her. There was so much in this little person that was Shawn- her brown hair, animated facial expressions, and obsession with pineapple, for instance. That was all him. Even her middle name- Madeline, Shawn's mother's name- was chosen to tie Sierra to a family she would probably never get the chance to know, a life she would never get to live. Suddenly, it was very clear what needed to be done- what Shawn would have done.
"You know what, bug? Go put your pajamas back on while I call your teacher. We're going to start the weekend a little early today."
Sierra's eyes lit up. "What are we gonna do?"
"Well," Juliet lifted her off the couch and set her down to stand on the floor. "I thought we might make some pancakes..."
"With pineapple?"
"Yes, lots of pineapple." Juliet sighed wistfully and brushed a stray lock of hair from her daughter's face. "And then I have a special story to tell you."
"A story? About what?"
"You'll have to wait and see." She reached across the coffee table for her cell phone to call Mrs. Royce, Sierra's kindergarten teacher, and after that, Maggie. "But I'm pretty sure you're going to love it."
"Yay!" Sierra clapped and planted a kiss on Juliet's cheek before skipping off to her room.
It was time for Sierra O'Hara to learn about her Daddy.