- Part 1 -
Arrhythmia
Hello, Seattle, I am a cold seahorse,
Feeling warm in your sand.
I sing about the tide and the ocean surf,
Rolling in the evening breeze.
-Owl City
Chloe is out like a light. Aubrey glances in the bedroom to check on her on her way to the shower with Sophia. She's sprawled out on her stomach with her face tucked against her arm - clinging to a leg of her stuffed bear with one hand. Aubrey closes the door to avoid waking her. And to keep Sophia from running in there and getting into their things.
"You have to be quiet," Aubrey tells Sophia in a hushed tone as she leads her down the hall, toward the shower room. Not that she thinks being loud would really matter when it comes to Chloe. It's just a matter of being polite. Chloe tries not to be loud when she's sleeping (most of the time). Chloe is just generally a loud person, but it's the thought that counts - at least it is at times other than when she's actually waking Aubrey up. Aubrey almost rolls her eyes at her thought.
"Okay," Sophia whispers in a voice that's more like high-pitched squeaking. It's probably as close to a whisper as a toddler can get. She presses a finger to her lips and tries to walk on her tiptoes, giggling.
Aubrey glances down at her to make sure she isn't touching anything with her sticky hands then pushes open the door to the shower. Yesterday, the shower looked heavenly. (And felt heavenly too. Or maybe that was just Chloe's hands...There is a toddler beside her. She stops thinking.) Now, it looks like a complicated nightmare - because how is she supposed to wash off a little kid in there? It's not as though she can use the showerhead. She tries to be annoyed, but it's hard when she would be up for using the showerhead to do things other than shower again. She scans her other options. The shower jets on the wall would have too much pressure.
She stands there just staring inside. Sophia starts to fidget. This isn't going to work. Plan B.
Aubrey grabs a towel from inside the door and tosses it over her shoulder. She places a hand on the back of Sophia's head and leads her back down the hall, into the kitchen. She drops the diaper bag onto the counter and unzips it then searches through its contents. Baby wipes. Animal crackers. An empty sippy cup. She pulls out a purple sundress and a pull-up then places them on the counter. "Can you take your own clothes off?" she asks and glances down at Sophia as she reaches over and turns on the sink water.
Sophia gives one confident nod. She grips the bottom of her shirt.
"Good." Aubrey leaves her to it and turns around to adjust the temperature of the water to lukewarm. She plugs the sink and keeps an eye on it as it fills up so that it doesn't overflow. She has enough to clean up. Once it's filled halfway, she turns off the water then turns to face Sophia.
Sophia has her arms stretched up over her head and is still gripping the bottom of her shirt. The neckline is stuck around her head - just below her nose. She grunts and tries to stretch her arms in a futile effort to pull her shirt off her head.
Aubrey rolls her eyes good-naturedly. She grabs the ends of the shirt and pulls it off of Sophia. The shirt and Sophia's shorts get folded neatly on the table, despite that they are a stained mess. She is about to toss her pull-up in the trash under the sink before she stops herself. She thinks of the photograph being under there and her stomach gets queasy. The diaper is clean, so she ends up placing that on the table as well. She swallows thickly and wipes her sweaty palms against her pants then turns to face Sophia once more. "Bathtime," she announces.
"Das a sink." Sophia points to the sink.
"We don't have a bathtub," Aubrey informs her, "Come here."
"Why?" Sophia asks and steps forward. She eyes the sink and reaches her arms in the air.
"Because that's how the inn is made." Aubrey lifts her up from underneath her armpits. The way she holds Sophia is a little too much like how Rafiki holds Simba at the beginning of The Lion King - but holding a toddler that doesn't have pants on does not seem safe. She tries to place her in the sink, but Sophia refuses to pull her legs up to sit and instead just stands in the water.
Sophia stomps in the water and splashes some of it over the edge of the sink. How can trying to clean up one mess create an even bigger one? Aubrey tries to recall if she was ever messy as a toddler, but she can't remember. By two years old though, Aubrey could stand still for over an hour, and she'd do anything to avoid her father's hand - so that is probably enough to answer her own question. She grabs a dishrag from the counter. "Sit down, please."
Sophia plops down in the water. The sink is just big enough that she can fit in it with her legs only slightly bent. She slaps her hands down and splashes more of the water. Aubrey jumps back in an effort to avoid the wave, but the front of her shirt still ends up drenched.
"You're getting me wet," Aubrey states matter-of-factly. She realizes quite suddenly that she should be angry. But she isn't. A smile fights to creep onto her lips. Her shirt is now sticking uncomfortably to the front of her, and it shouldn't be amusing, yet somehow it is - despite that she's now going to have to clean up herself and the floor as well as Sophia. She dips her fingers in the water then looks around to make sure Chloe doesn't appear to see such immature behavior before she lightly flicks a few drops of it at Sophia's shoulder. Sophia squeals with laughter and sends another wave of water in Aubrey's direction. A quiet but rather shrill giggle escapes Aubrey's lips before she can stop it and she tries to duck away from the water.
Sophia grins and shakes her hands, sending droplets of water flying in every direction.
"I'm supposed to be making you clean," Aubrey points out. Though, technically, Sophia is cleaner now. And everything else is going to be cleaner too once she wipes the water off of it. (She recognizes that last thought as a 'Chloe thought' and rolls her eyes.) The idea of Chloe wearing off on her is a horrifying thought. Aubrey grabs a rag from beside the sink and dips it in the water. It needs to be the other way around where Aubrey rubs off on Chloe so she'll be more interested in cleaning up messes than making them.
Still, the miniscule amount of positivity she gets from just knowing what Chloe would say to try to make her feel better eases her anxiety about water being all over the counter and floor. She breathes easy and finishes cleaning up Sophia.
xxxxx
"Do you have toys in your bag?" Aubrey asks as she finishes mopping the water up off the floor then places the towel in the sink until she can have time to dry it off. She rests a hand on the counter and looks down at Sophia - who is now clean again and dressed in clean clothes as well.
"Mhm!" Sophia nods eagerly and walks over to the table. She places her hands on the edge and feels around for the strap of her bag until she finally finds it - then gives it a good, hard pull.
Aubrey quickly closes the distance between herself and the table and grabs the bag just before it has a chance to fall on Sophia's head. "I can't return you if you have a concussion," she stresses - only able to imagine what would happen if she tried to give Sophia back to Stacie with a goose-egg. She lifts up the bag then eases it down on the floor beside Sophia.
Sophia pries the bag open and peers inside. Aubrey heaves a sigh as Sophia begins to grab things and throw them on the floor.
"I could read you a book," Aubrey offers as a board book hits the floor. She squats down and begins to gather everything back up into a pile so it can be easily placed back into the bag. "How about I read you a book?"
"No," Sophia hums and keeps digging through her things.
"Are you hungry?" Aubrey asks when the bag of animal crackers joins the pile. She's not sure how Sophia could be hungry after eating ice cream (they really should have eaten lunch first), but anything is better than this sudden reading through the diaper bag.
"No," Sophia repeats.
Aubrey presses her lips together and tries to think. "Do you know what you're looking for?" she inquires.
"No." Sophia grabs the end of the bag then flips it over and dumps everything inside of it on the floor.
"Sophia!" Aubrey scolds. "You're going to have to pick all of that back up," she warns her and stares at the mess. She's not picking it up. It's not her mess. (She has a bad feeling that she will be the one picking it back up though and tries to swallow her irritation.)
"No."
Aubrey groans. Sophia is as bad as Chloe. At least she's had years of practice dealing with this kind of attitude.
Sophia picks up two plastic cars and hits them together. She makes a whirring noise and spins in a circle then stops and looks at Aubrey. "Outside!" she announces.
"Not until you pick up your things," Aubrey replies. She shakes her head and looks down at where everything is scattered. "If you pick up your mess, we can go outside," she rewords herself, hoping that Sophia will listen and do as she's told rather than just respond with a petulant 'no'.
Sophia looks up from her cars and stares at Aubrey for a moment before she looks down at everything she threw on the floor. She bends down and places her cars on the floor then straightens herself back up. "Okay, A Bee," she agrees. She walks over to the bag and begins to place her things back inside of it one by one.
"Thank you." Aubrey watches her for a second then decides to reward her good behavior by helping her. She smiles and tosses a few things into the bag, speeding up the process of putting everything away by a tenfold.
"Outside?!" Sophia questions once the floor is clean. She picks up her cars again and bounces up and down.
"Now we can go outside," Aubrey agrees. She absently brushes her hands together and gets to her feet.
Sophia squeals and makes a beeline for the door.
Aubrey can't help but feel she made a mistake by giving Sophia a bath already. "You can't get dirty," she warns her. There is nothing else for her to change Sophia into - and Stacie still hasn't contacted her back. She folds her arms across her chest and follows Sophia to the door.
"Okay, A Bee!" Sophia agrees again. She throws her arms in the air and presses up against the door. "Out!"
Aubrey sighs. She is at least finally being kept busy and doesn't have time to be trapped inside her own thoughts. She sighs in relief as she opens the door and releases Sophia back out into the wild.
xxxxx
"Here, A Bee!" Sophia offers her one of the cars once they're settled in front of the inn - in the spot that Aubrey and Chloe had been making daisy chains earlier. "You has dis one."
Aubrey takes the plastic car and looks it over. It's about the size of her hand. Rubber. Blue with white racing stripes down the side of it. Sophia's is the same, only it's red. She places the car down on the grass beside her then leans back against her elbows and watches Sophia spin in wild circles with her arms held out away from her sides.
"Vroom!" Sophia yells.
Aubrey pulls a few blades of grass out of the ground.
Sophia stops spinning and stares at her. "Spin, A Bee!" she demands and points at the red car. "You spin!"
Aubrey arches a brow. "I'm not going to spin," she informs her. That is where she draws the line. "I'd probably throw up." Contrary to popular belief, she does not actually get motion-sick (very often), but what if someone were to see her spinning around in circles? She'd probably throw up from embarrassment. "You spin. I'll watch."
"No, you spin!" Sophia insists. She bounds over to her and grabs one of her hands then tries to pull her to her feet.
Aubrey doesn't so much a budge. "You can't be serious."
"I serious," Sophia deadpans.
"I'm not spinning," Aubrey states stubbornly. She pries her hand away from Sophia's and drops it back down onto the grass. Kids.
Sophia points a finger at her. "Spin!" she demands.
Aubrey wrinkles her forehead. "Aca-scuse me?"
Sophia pauses for a moment then plasters on a sweet grin. "Pwease?" she begs then sticks out her lower lip.
Aubrey frowns. That face isn't fair. But there is no way Aubrey Posen is spinning in circles (especially outside in public). "I am not spinning," she repeats firmly.
Sophia drops her hand down in front of her and sticks her lip out further. Tears begin to well up in her eyes and her toy car hits the grass.
Aubrey sits up further and props herself up with her hands. "Don't even think about it," she warns her. She's already made the kid cry once today.
Sophia hangs her head and clamps her eyes shut tightly. She hunches her shoulders and twists the features on her face then lets out the most high-pitched, drawn out sob that Aubrey has ever heard.
"Your crocodile tears aren't going to work," Aubrey informs her. It's bad enough they worked on the ice cream. There is a reason that 'no' is a word - be it to prevent sticky messes or to simply preserve a sense of dignity. She exhales a slow breath and taps her fingers on the ground, looking in the opposite direction of the crying toddler. They're going to start attracting attention if Sophia isn't quiet. She looks at Sophia again and her frown deepens, causing her forehead to crease. It's not as though Aubrey choosing to not spin in circles is going to scar the kid for life, right?
Sophia chokes in a noisy breath then wipes as her face with the back of her hand as tears stream down her cheeks. She sniffles loudly then drops her arm back down and continues to cry loudly - almost screaming as though Aubrey is trying to kill her or something.
Aubrey stares at her for a few seconds before she can't stand to listen to it anymore. She's not supposed to feel bad about saying 'no'. She rarely feels bad about saying 'no' to anyone. "Fine," she relinquishes. She reluctantly grabs the toy car and pushes herself up onto her feet.
Sophia quiets down and stares up at her.
Aubrey shakes her head. She turns in a circle once then comes to a halt. "There," she announces and forces a smile. "Are you happy now?"
Sophia slowly shakes her head.
Of course she isn't. Aubrey scoffs. She purses her lips together and holds her hands out away from her sides. "I spun in a circle," she points out. She feels as though her words are useless though.
Sophia bends over and picks up her car. She holds it out to the side and spins in two circles.
Aubrey scowls. "This is ridiculous," she points out. If it's ridiculous, why is she even considering spinning around in circles? Her lower lip juts out in a miserable pout and she mutters under her breath about just how ridiculous it is as she turns in a few more circles.
Sophia squeals and spins with her.
At least they're alone.
xxxxx
"When can I stop spinning?" Aubrey asks. It occurs to her that she's asking permission to stop turning in circles from a two-year-old, and that only furthers her irritation. 56 spins has got to be enough. That's about 55 spins more than enough.
57. 58.
"No!" Sophia demands, twirling around at twice the speed (and occasionally falling over, but then getting right back up.)
"I'm going to throw up," Aubrey states - and partially believes it.
"No!" Sophia yells.
The noise Aubrey lets out sounds almost like a growl. She half-stomps in another circle.
There is a blur off to the side and before Aubrey can come to a halt, someone sticks their foot in front of hers. Aubrey's feet get tangled up with each other and she yelps as the ground comes up to meet her. She at least manages to turn over and land on her bottom. The pain that shoots up her already injured arm is unbearable, but her first thought is that it's better than falling on her face. "What the hell?!" she explodes (not caring that there is a child beside her). Her gaze follows the foot she tripped over up to the douchebag it belongs to.
Bumper.
He snorts and stares down at her with a sickeningly entertained grin.
Sophia stops spinning and looks up at him and the two Treble alumni he's with. Aubrey doesn't remember their names; she doesn't care to. They don't need labels other than Dick-lick One, Two, and Three.
Aubrey's cheeks flush a light shade of crimson. She's not sure if her face is burning with embarrassment or anger. He laughs as she slowly starts to push herself upright. She's going to kill him. She's going to kill him as soon as the world stops spinning in circles. Letting a toddler tell her what to do was the worst idea she could have ever possibly had. She tries to focus.
Bumper holds his arms out to the side in front of the other two Trebles and takes a step back - pushing them back with him. "Make sure we're out of the 'splash zone'," he warns the others then looks at Aubrey. "If you vomit, do you think it will reach all the way over here, or are we safe?"
Aubrey turns her head in his direction and narrows her eyes at him. The corner of her lip twitches. She ignores the pain shooting up her arm and pushes herself to her feet - fast. Too fast. She regains her bearings relatively quickly then storms directly up to him. If she does vomit, she wants to make sure she doesn't miss her target. "I know what you did," she accuses him - skipping over his immature need to trip her like they're back in elementary school and jumping straight to the photograph (and the music). She no longer has any desire to blame Beca when Bumper Allen is directly in front of her. He is the only other suspect.
"You mean last summer or this summer?" Bumper asks and points in two different directions in front of him.
Aubrey doesn't know what that means. "You stay away from me," she warns him and pushes his shoulder.
Bumper looks at her hand then at his shoulder. He peels his shirtsleeve away from the skin then looks at the other Trebles. "Is there a way to make sure I don't get diseased from that?" he asks them.
He isn't even taking her seriously. Aubrey can feels her breaths getting shallower. She steps into his line-of-view, ignoring the other Treble as he takes several steps out of her way. "Listen, you repulsive, aggravating, abhorrent-"
"I can't hear you insulting me over y-" Bumper tries to interrupt, but Aubrey cuts him off.
"If you even so much as think coming near me again, or going near Chloe, you'll be speaking to your lawyer next," Aubrey threatens him.
Bumper just arches a brow. "Can't I get you arrested for shoving me then?" he asks and looks around. "Harassment!"
"Have I made myself clear?" Aubrey asks, ignoring the thought that maybe shoving him hadn't been the most intelligent move. She steps back and grabs Sophia by the hand.
Bumper exhales a laugh. "Yeah, okay," he replies simply, not really confirming nor denying that he recognizes how she serious is. He smirks. "How is Chloe? Beca's wedding must..."
Aubrey points a finger at him while backing up. "You stay away from her," she warns him. She drops her hand back down to the side and turns around, leading Sophia back to their room.
"I know what you did too!" Bumper calls after her.
What she did? Aubrey does her best not to literally stomp away from him. She retreats back to the safety of her suite (although is it really safe if Bumper can break into it?) with no doubt in her mind that he is the culprit behind all of this.
Hello, Seattle, I am an albatross,
On the docks and moored boats.
I sail above your inlets and interstates,
Through the rain and open wind.
-Owl City
