CtD: Chapter 4

It was now a new morning here in the little town of Peach Creek. We zoomed in on a Cul-De-Sac neighborhood, where we could see Double D exiting his house, locking it behind him as he did. He was currently heading over to Eddy's house to visit with him and Sophie, who was still living there for the time being. Ed was off work both yesterday and today since it was the weekend, meaning he would be coming by as well. The three Eds decided to meet up at Eddy's house before deciding what to do that day.

It had been two days since the incident with Sophie and her parents. When the police tried to call her other family members on her mother's side, they either did not pick up or flat out refused to take her in. They also tried to contact relatives of Sophie's biological father, but they had all severed ties with Sophie's mother when her husband died, and that sadly included Sophie herself. She was pretty much abandoned by her family on both sides.

According to what the police found out after looking into it (and because Double D wanted to know her background a little more), Sophie was living with her mother and father like any normal kid, around the suburbs outside of Atlanta; they were both very loving parents to her. She was diagnosed with Autism about two and a half years ago when she was 9 and was also going to elementary school at the time. Everything was fine for them.

But then, Sophie's real father died in a hit-and-run car accident a few months after her diagnosis. Sophie was also in the car with him that night; she came out unscathed and alive. Sadly, they never found the person who hit their car, even when Sophie heard their voice and saw a glimpse of the person who did it; the trauma of the accident made the details about the driver blurry in her memory. Sophie said the person driving the van stopped for a moment, seemingly like they wanted to help, but went back to their van and booked it, getting away from the scene.

The loss of her husband made Sophie's mom lose her mind and eventually led her to start doing drugs to cope with her loss. It was during then that she found and married Sophie's stepdad, who was also in the drug scene. That's when everything changed for the worse for Sophie, who did not understand what was happening and could not get away from them for the longest time. Because they were moving around so much to prevent the police from catching them and their drug dealing business, Sophie was unable to go to school at all. It's honestly a miracle that she had survived in that kind of environment for so long until she decided to run away from it.

Since then, Sophie has met Eddy's dad and everyone else in the neighborhood. Eddy's dad told her she could stay with them for as long as she wanted, much to Eddy's mother's relief as well as Double D's that he was very understanding of the situation. When Ed got home from his job that evening, he called both Eddy and Double D's cell phones to check on them after hearing about what happened. It was the next day that Ed went to visit his two friends and to meet Sophie. He was super happy to meet her and that everyone was alright, even telling them that he could volunteer to be her babysitter if they needed one. It was while Ed was over and hanging out with them that Double D noticed Sophie started to smile more and looked a lot more cheerful. He knew it would take a long time for her to mentally recover from the things she went through, but seeing her start to smile more made him feel relieved, 'No child should go through any of the trauma she had to endure,' he thought.

Double D soon arrived at Eddy's back door; he had a feeling he would still be asleep since it was still a bit early in the morning. He took out the spare house key that Eddy gave him a while back (way before they started dating) before slowly opening the door, hoping to not wake him up. He could see Eddy was asleep in his bed, just like he thought. Double D smiled at him as he came inside his partner's room, looking around to see that he had left some of his clothes on the floor.

He rolled his eyes a little at the sight before proceeding to pick up the clothes to put them in a laundry basket nearby, 'Why is he always doing this?' Double D thought to himself with a sigh, 'Eddy needs to try and pick up after himself a little more if he wants to set a good example for Sophie.'

Double D paused at what he was doing when the previous thought crossed his mind, 'Wait, why would I even think that?! Sophie isn't… She is NOT our child! S-She's not…'

The joke that Eddy's mom made about Sophie being her grandchild suddenly came back to him. He began to blush at the mere thought of it once again as he looked back to Eddy, who was still sleeping in his bed, 'Would Eddy even consider something like that for us one day? Knowing him, I highly doubt it, but…'

Double D noticed that Eddy was starting to wake up, making a small, tired groan, "Good morning, Eddy," Double D said to him with a small smile.

"Yeah, mornin', Sockhead…" Eddy replied with a yawn, stretching his arms as he did, scratching his face a little on his cheek; the injury from the bullet that struck him did leave a small, but still very noticeable scar on his right cheek, "It's kinda early for you to be over here, you know."

Double D chuckled a little, "Don't worry, I know," he stated, "I wanted to come over early anyway to check on Sophie."

Eddy lazily stared at his partner for a moment before fully waking up, "Oh, right! My mom wanted to talk to you when you got here."

"Really?" questioned Double D, "What does she want to talk about?"

"I don't know," Eddy replied with a shrug of his shoulders, "Might as well go find out."

"Very well then," Double D stated with a small chuckle before walking out of Eddy's room, going out into the hallway as he did.

Double D started to head toward Eddy's living room to see if Eddy's mom was there. He could see that she was there, watching the morning news before everyone else in the house would wake up for breakfast.

Double D could see what was being talked about right now, about the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia. He was never one for reading or watching about politics 24/7 and was indifferent on the subject most of the time, he mostly just stuck with the local news. But it always hurts to hear about how many innocent people get caught up in the crossfire on both sides, no matter what the reason.

"Good morning, Daisy," he said to her with a smile, calling Eddy's mom by her first name for once.

"Oh! Hello Eddward dear," Daisy greeted when she noticed he was here, muting the TV so they could talk, "I assume you came in from Eddy's back door?"

"Yes ma'am," Double D replied, "Eddy told me you wanted to speak to me about something?"

Daisy nodded her head, "It's about Sophie."

"… About Sophie?" Double D questioned with a bit of cautiousness.

"Yes, I contacted the junior high you all used to go to yesterday so I could enroll Sophie there for school this year," Daisy replied, "I asked them if she could go there, despite not having gone to school in a long time due to what happened to her. Being with kids around the same age group would be better for her than holding her back by a grade or two…"

"I see," Double D stated before making a concerned face, "What did they say about that idea?"

"They said they would be willing to give her a chance, but they would need to evaluate her math and reading skills before making that kind of call," Daisy continued to say, "They suggested I try to sign her up for some sort of summer class or hiring a tutor for her before she takes that test. But when I looked up to find anyone that could help, they were already booked and couldn't take in any more students."

"Oh… That's rather unfortunate," Double D said with a sad look, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"… And that's where you come into play!"

Double D widened his eyes, "Pardon?"

Daisy made a deep sigh before making a smile, "Listen, Eddward. I know you are very busy and stressed about going to college in a few months, but I want you to help me with this. Sophie needs help to pass that test, and I feel you're more than qualified to help her with that. I won't expect you to help every day; only whenever you are not busy, alright?"

Double D looked at her with shock before nervously nodding his head, "Y-Yes, I understand. I'll do my best to help."

"Oh, thank you so much! You're such a sweetheart," Daisy sighed in relief to him, "Just tell me when you have the time to help, just so Sophie can visit your house to study."

"Okay, I will Mrs. McGee," Double D replied with a smile.

The rest of the morning passed by very quickly, with it now being lunchtime. Both Double D and Eddy were waiting for Ed to arrive from his house while Sophie and Eddy's mom were in the kitchen. Yesterday, when Sophie told her that she used to draw a lot, Daisy went and bought some pencils and printer paper, as well as some coloring books and crayons for Sophie to color with; just to pass the time and to help her with the stress she was having, "Draw whatever you want to draw, dear!" Daisy said to her with a big smile.

Double D was reading a book he brought from his house to pass the time before Ed arrived. He then glanced over to his partner on his left, seeing that he was looking at something on his cell phone, "… Eddy."

"Hmm?"

"Do you mind if I can talk to you about something?"

Eddy turned to Double D, who was putting down the book he was reading to his right side, "Sure. What's up?"

Double D turned back to Eddy before asking, "I assume your mother told you about what she discussed with me this morning, correct?"

Eddy arched an eyebrow at him, "Yeah, it was about Sophie taking a test so she could skip a grade or something to get to junior high. What about it?"

"I was very curious to know how you felt about that idea," Double D stated to him, placing his left hand against his upper right arm, "While I think it is a good thing to be with people her age at school, I can't help but feel a little nervous about it."

"Uh, I think it'll be good for her…" Eddy replied as he arched his eyebrow a little, "Why would you feel nervous about it now?"

Double D gripped onto the sleeve of his red-orange shirt a little before continuing, "Well, Junior high isn't exactly the most pleasant place, remember? It makes me worried that Sophie might encounter problems with trying to fit in, especially with her being on the spectrum. Not to mention the trauma she went through with her parents; being stuck in that situation could have had negative effects on her social skills…"

Eddy made a sigh to him, "I get that, but we won't know if that'll be the case until it happens. I wouldn't worry about it right now."

"… You're right," Double D said with a small smile.

Suddenly, Double D's cell phone started to ring, surprising the two Eds. Double D reached for his phone that was on the table beside him, looking to see who was on the caller ID. The number said it was unknown, but it was honestly kind of rare to see Double D receive any kind of call that wasn't from his friends; spam calls usually never come through. Thinking it was too unusual, Double D quickly answered it before it went to voice mail, "Hello, this is Eddward Johnson speaking."

"Hello Eddward, my name is Quinn," the male voice on the other line said to him, "I'm an assistant nurse that helps your parents on their job."

Double D widened his eyes as he got up from where he sat, "A-An assistant of my parents?!" He gasped before walking away to talk on Eddy's front yard to speak to the other person in private, much to the confusion of Eddy, "It's been so long since I've heard anything from them…"

"I know, Aiden and Wendy always talked about you when they were not working on helping the injured wherever they went somewhere," Quinn stated, "They've always said how proud they were of you, even when they couldn't be there."

"Really? That's… Umm, good to hear," Double D muttered a little to himself before brushing that comment aside, "I assume you've called me for a reason, yes?"

"… Yes, I have some news you need to know."

Double D's smile slowly started to fade because of the tone of voice Quinn used when he spoke before a sense of dread started to set in. Eddy, in the meantime, started to open his front door to check on Double D. He could see his partner standing in his front yard, still on his cell phone.

"I assume you know about the conflicts going on with Ukraine and Russia, correct?"

"… Yes sir, I do know about it."

There was a heavy silence on the other line before Quinn finally broke the ice, "Eddward, your father was killed after an air strike hit both him and your mother where they were working in Kherson. Your mother is still alive, but the attack took a toll on her as well."

Both Double D's body and heart froze at the news that was delivered.

"Your mother will be transported back home soon… along with your father. I'll keep you up to date when that transfer happens," Quinn continued to say before making a small pause, "I'm so sorry about this, Eddward. Your father was a very good friend to me…"

Quinn could hear a small 'thud' sound on his end, Double D had dropped his phone in shock. He then began to run back home, much to Eddy's surprise, "Sockhead…?"

Eddy saw that Double D left his phone behind as he walked over to it, noticing he had not hung it up, "Uh, hello?" Eddy questioned the other person on the line after he picked his partner's phone back up off the ground.

"Oh… hello? Is this one of Eddward's friends? I assume he ran off just now, right?"

"… Yeah, he did," Eddy replied before making a small glare, "What's going on? Who are you?"

Quinn made a small sigh before replying, "I'm sorry for making him run off. I'll tell you what's going on as well…"

Quinn started to explain the news that he told Double D a moment ago. The color in Eddy's face began to grow pale as his expression turned from angry to upset, "Oh."

"I'm really sorry for Eddward's loss, I truly am," Quinn stated to Eddy with sadness, "If there's anything else you or Eddward need to know about, feel free to contact me whenever you want, okay?"

"Okay, I'll tell him that… Thanks," Eddy stated as he then hung up. He could only stand there in silence from the news, looking back towards Double D's house with worry, "I-I should tell Mom this…" he said to himself before rushing back inside his house.

Daisy and Sophie looked at Eddy as he came into the kitchen, noticing the panic on his face, "Eddy? What's wrong?" his mom asked.

Eddy's face turned from panicked to sad as his mom came over to him, "Double D just got a phone call, a-and…"

Eddy then told his mom about the news he heard from the person on the other end of Double D's phone. Sophie was nearby when she heard Eddy say that Double D's dad was killed while doing his job in another country.

"O-Oh my goodness! Poor Eddward…" Daisy gasped in horror, "Just as he's trying to prep for college. This is awful!"

Sophie looked back at her art supplies on the kitchen table with an upset look on her face. She then grabbed a pencil and a few crayons before she began to draw something.

A few minutes passed by in the kitchen, Eddy and his mom were discussing things they could do to help Double D out. It was while they were talking that Eddy saw Sophie get up from the chair she was sitting in, holding onto a piece of paper in her right hand. She then began to dash off towards the front door.

"Hey, wait!" Eddy yelped to Sophie as he ran after her. Once he got to his front door, he could see her running towards Double D's house. Eddy made an irritated sigh before he began to walk over to Double D's house as well, making a sad face as he did.

Sophie ran up to Double D's front door, only to see it was slightly open; he had not even closed his door behind him when he ran back home in a panic. She slowly opened his door to see if he was in his living room. He was nowhere around, at least not in the proximity of his living room. Sophie walked inside Double D's house; she could hear him upstairs. Sophie trailed towards where she could hear him; Double D had gone to his room, also leaving his door cracked without realizing it. He was lying on his bed, facing away from the door so no one could see him. Sophie could see Double D was crying, his body was violently shaking.

She started to walk over to him, "U-Umm… Mr. Eddward?"

Double D gasped a little before turning to see Sophie was now in his room, "Sophie…?" he muttered weakly as he sat back up, wiping away the tears in his eyes, trying to regain his composure, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to give you this…" Sophie stated to him as she went over and sat on his bed, handing him the picture she had just drawn, "C-Can this help you?"

Double D took the picture she handed him to look at it closer. It was a drawing of a heart with the words "I'm sorry Mr. Eddward. Please get well soon," written on it. He started to smile a little, his lips trembling still from how upset he was; he could tell she was trying to cheer him up, "Thank you, S-Sophie," he replied to her, making a bigger smile.

Sophie came closer to him to give Double D a tight hug, trying to help him feel better. He could see that she was also crying, making him remember that she had also lost her father; she could sympathize with how he was feeling.

He decided to hug Sophie back, "Everything's going to be okay," Double D started to say, "I-I was just, umm… overwhelmed by the sudden news."

Double D felt a hand being placed on his left shoulder, surprising him slightly. He turned to see Eddy was there, now sitting beside him to his left. He did not hear him come in at all. Eddy could only grip his partner's shoulder, trying to comfort him that way, "Let it out for now, Sockhead," Eddy said to him, "It'll make you feel better in the long run."

"… Thank you, Eddy."

Author's Note (December 27th, 2023): Finally got this chapter done! It took a while to figure out what direction I wanted to write things down in...

Also, I felt I should address this, just in case. I usually NEVER bring up politics in my stories; at least for any current happenings in the world at the time I'm writing any fanfic. The only reason I decided to bring up a current conflict in the world (at the time I'm making this fanfic) is because of what I chose Double D's parent's job to be; they're international doctors that help out people in various countries that need it the most.