Surprise chapter! Merry Christmas!
Snow was as lively as before, and she was as busy as a bee for the rest of the day. Her bright smile and shining eyes were a balm to the Dwarfs, who thought to never see her like this again. They had a merry time, and Snow, feeling playful, made cornbread as a side for supper, leading to Happy being bewildered by the fact that it tasted just like Grumpy's cornbread. After he fretted for a few minutes, Grumpy finally revealed his secret.
"Jest add a bit a sugar," he said, taking another piece.
Happy threw his hands up. "Sugar! Of course!"
Snow laughed so hard that she had to sit down and wipe her eyes. Grumpy had a wicked grin on his face as Happy joined her. Supper was pleasant after that, and afterward, Snow sat by the fire and finished the mending while the Dwarfs chatted and Sleepy told stories. After awhile, it was time for bed, and they went upstairs and put on their nightclothes. Snow's smile was a bit dim as she pulled back the curtain to bid them goodnight. Grumpy squinted at her, but the link was curbed, and he figured they'd invaded each others' privacy enough. He'd remove the link when he had the chance. So they said goodnight and went to bed.
Grumpy was sleeping and having a normal dream for the first time in almost a year when it turned into the most twisted, terrifying nightmare he'd ever had. The fear was stronger than he'd ever felt in his life as he ran, knowing he couldn't get away from the reality that was sneaking up on him. As the fear reached a fever pitch, he jerked awake with a gasp and still felt terrified.
"Snow!" he shouted, suddenly recognizing that it wasn't his own fear. The brothers awoke with yelps and gasps as he bolted out of bed and over to her.
"What's going on?" Sleepy asked blearily.
"Ouch! Give us some light!" Sneezy yowled.
"Just a peck ant, erm, second!" Doc barked.
There was the scritch of a match and the candle was lit, and the brothers all scrambled out of bed to peer around. Grumpy was by Snow's bed, and her face was as white as her namesake. She looked completely petrified. Grumpy had ahold of her hand, and he looked slightly panicked and flustered.
"What's wrong?" Doc asked, hurrying over and handing Bashful the candle.
Snow looked at him, her large brown eyes terrified. "I can't sleep," she whispered, looking ashamed. "Don't make me, please."
The brothers looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"Get some tea," Grumpy ordered. "Put honey in it. We still gots some. Stoke up the fire, and get a blanket."
The brothers obeyed, leaving Doc and Bashful standing there while Grumpy patted Snow's hand.
"Why can't you sleep?" Doc asked.
"She's afraid," Bashful said quietly.
"But why, Snow?" Doc asked. "What's there to be afraid of?"
Snow's eyes filled with tears and she looked away. Grumpy answered for her.
"Cuz the last time she fell asleep, she couldn't wake up."
Alarm spread over Doc's and Bashful's faces. Then Bashful softened and walked over. "Come on, Snow. Let's get ya down by the fire."
Snow stood and followed him downstairs while Grumpy sat very still on the stool beside her bed.
"What do we do?" he asked gruffly. "She's so scared, Doc."
Doc patted his back. "We're going to calm her down and help her fall asleep."
"She ain't gonna sleep," Grumpy argued.
"She can't avoid it," Doc said. "Come on. Let's go help."
They went downstairs to find Snow wrapped in a quilt and sitting by the fire. The light glinted off of two tears on her rosy cheeks as Sleepy carried her a mug of tea. Bashful had clearly explained what was wrong to the others, who were doing their best to soothe her. Doc walked over and sat down.
"What was it like?" he asked.
Snow glanced over at him and wiped her cheeks with the quilt. "What?"
"Not being able to wake up."
"Stop that," Grumpy said. "She needs ta calm down, not be riled up."
Bashful shook his head at Grumpy and passed out more tea.
"What? She does," he argued.
"Let him talk," Sneezy said, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
Grumpy looked around at the brothers, wondering how they could put Snow through so much terror again. But the brothers all looked solemn as they quietly sat around and watched. Bashful pulled Grumpy onto the bench and sat beside him. Grumpy opened his mouth to complain, but Bashful spoke low enough that his voice didn't carry. "Don't. Doc knows what he's doin'. Jest watch."
Grumpy took the tea Bashful offered him and watched Snow, who still hadn't spoken. Doc waited patiently, leaning back in his chair. Snow finally shifted.
"Have you ever had one of those dreams where you can't quite wake up even though you need to?"
"Yes," Doc replied. He adjusted his glasses. "I suppose it's worse for you since it lasted for so long."
"I can't sleep."
"You can't avoid it."
Snow began to cry again, and her terror leaked through the link. Grumpy fought back the panic and fear, clenching his hand against his side. Bashful gently took it and squeezed it until Grumpy grasped his hand.
"I can't," Snow murmured.
"You must," Doc repeated, and there was no room for argument in his tone. "But we'll help as much as we can. What can we do to help you, Snow? What do you need?"
Snow shook her head. "I don't know."
"Well, then we'll figure it out." He turned to sweep his eyes around the room. "Suggestions? We're trying to help her steep, erm, sleep.
Nobody answered for a few moments. Then Dopey snapped his fingers and hurried upstairs. He came down with a large stuffed cat. It was old and soft, made of an exquisite fabric that looked worn but sturdy. The brothers all softened when they saw it. Grumpy knew why. It had been the only thing their mother had made for Dopey. She'd finished just before he was born. But a few weeks later, their parents had died, leaving Doc and his brothers alone at the start of a long, hard winter. Dopey treasured the stuffed cat, a precious gift from the mother he'd never really met. Dopey hurried over to Snow and held it out, his smile kind.
"Oh! How adorable!" Snow said. She took the cat and stroked its face then hugged it to her chest and smiled. "Wherever did you get it?"
Sleepy stood up at once, his tiredness melting a little. "Stories always help," he said.
"I'd love a story," Snow said. "But if you want to sleep…"
She trailed off as Sleepy suddenly looked wide awake. He hurried forward, stood in front of them and looked around. "Anythin' in particular?" he asked. When everybody shook their heads, he turned to Snow. "Then I guess I'll tells ya about our first winter alone."
Grumpy sat bolt upright, his breath catching in his throat. He'd always wondered about the events surrounding their parents' deaths, but he'd always been too afraid to ask. Bashful raised his eyebrows, and Grumpy noticed. He flushed and looked away. Bashful simply squeezed his hand then released him and slung an arm over his shoulders.
"What happened?" Snow asked after a moment.
"Dopey was a few weeks old," Sleepy said. "And Mama finally felt strong enough ta take a walk. She hadn't been outside fer so long cuz she'd been so sick. Dopey's bein' born was hard on her. So's she wanted ta go and visit a friend. They went out, and a couple hours later, a blizzard started howlin'."
Snow stared at him. "They were out in it, weren't they?"
"They'd left afore the storm hit, and they gots lost on the way home. Neighbors found 'em in the spring. Tweren't pretty," Sleepy said. "But we'd never been alone afore. So when they didn't show up after the storm stopped, we gots worried. But we couldn't jest go ta see if they was at the neighbors. They lived so far away, and another storm was comin'. So we waited."
"They didn't come," Snow whispered.
"No. And we didn't have much food," Sleepy said grimly. "Winter surprised us. It was real early that year. We started runnin' low perty quick."
"What did you do?" Snow asked.
"Me an' Doc started goin' out ta catch critters," Sneezy said. "We'd seen Papa make the traps and we went out and set some. Didn't get much, but we did get a bit," Sneezy said.
"I tried ta make as much as I could with as little as we had," Happy said. "And we had ta feed Dopey on top a that. Thank the Good Lord we had been shelterin' a cow fer some human neighbors, and she calved but it died in the cold. So we had milk fer Dopey. Gettin' near that thing was right scary. Cows are bigger than ya think." He shivered then grinned. "But I did it. And I managed ta stretch the food out until the snow started meltin'."
Bashful sighed, and Grumpy glanced over to see that he was crying.
"Uncle came jest afore things got real bad," he said. "He sent out the neighbors ta find our parents, and he got us food. The neighbors all came and helped. Even the ones who lost the calf. They was real nice." He looked over at Grumpy and scrubbed his sleeve over his cheeks. "That's why we don't like thinkin' bad about humans, ya know."
Grumpy stared for a moment then looked away, ashamed of his assumption that the brothers were just naive when it came to humankind. "No. I didn't know that," he said softly.
"Yep," Bashful said. He paused and stroked his beard. "How long was it?" he finally asked.
"Eh?" Grumpy squinted at him then noticed that Snow was dozing and everybody was looking at him. Some time in between the start of the story and the end, the brothers had stopped speaking to Snow and started speaking to him.
"How long since ya wanted ta know?" Bashful clarified.
Grumpy squirmed under their curious gazes. "Awhile," he finally admitted.
"Why didn't ya ever ask?" Sneezy asked, leaning on the table.
Grumpy shrugged and began playing with his beard. "Ah, ya don't want ta 'member that stuff," he muttered.
"That ain't the point," Bashful said.
"It most certainly isn't," Doc agreed. "You could have asked any time."
Grumpy shrugged, aware of their gazes and his burning cheeks. "Ya never ask 'bout me, so's I didn't know if ya wanted me to or not."
"Can we ask ya stuff?" Bashful asked, his entire face lighting up. Then he looked surprised and giggled. Everybody else exchanged sheepish glances. Bashful nudged Grumpy and grinned "Okay. I guess it makes sense ya wouldn't ask."
"After eleven years, you'd think we'd have all this figured out," Doc mused, a crooked smile on his face.
"Eleven years…" Grumpy said softly.
"Course, ya ijit," Sneezy teased. "Ya came here in spring. Been eleven years." He reached over and tugged affectionately on Grumpy's beard.
Grumpy jumped like he'd sat on a hot coal and jerked away, panic flashing across his face. The brothers paused as Bashful grabbed his shoulders and steadied him.
Doc looked concerned. He opened his mouth, shut it, shifted, then tried again. "If we can flask, ah, ask…?" Grumpy looked a bit frightened but said nothing so he continued. "Why do you do that?"
Grumpy hesitated, unsure about opening up to the brothers about that part of his life, but as he looked around at their kind faces, he gained a bit of courage. He looked away and ran his fingers through his beard.
"Calida'd yank it if I did sommit wrong," he finally said, keeping his eyes trained on his lap.
"Calida?" Sneezy asked. "Who's that?"
"Woman who raised me," Grumpy replied. "She didn't like me much. And when she didn't like an answer…" He trailed off, a lump in his throat. He felt so stupid for admitting this out loud. It shouldn't still bother him after eleven years, but it did. He squeezed his eyes shut and shivered.
Doc sat down on the other side of him, and his arm slipped around his back. "That's awful, Grumpy," he said.
"Gosh, I'm sorry," Sneezy said. He looked remorseful and put his hands behind his back. "I wouldn't a done it if'n I knew that."
"I don't want ta mind," Grumpy said huskily. "But…" His breathing hitched, and he fought back tears. He hated crying in front of them.
"Ya don't have ta explain," Bashful said. "S'okay, Grumpy." He squeezed him and shook him gently.
Grumpy couldn't hold back anymore, and he began to cry quietly. He was embarrassed that he was crying over such a ridiculous thing, but he couldn't stop himself now. He wanted to flee, to hide from the brothers until he was okay again, but after eleven years, Bashful could read him like a book, and he turned to hug him, effectively stopping him from being able to get away.
"S'okay, Grumpy," he repeated, a bit more firmly.
Grumpy hiccuped and hid his face in Bashful's shirt as he wept even harder. Why were they so kind to him? He didn't deserve it. He'd stolen so much from them, and he never asked for anything, just grateful to stay with them and be included. But they kept giving to him, and he didn't understand why.
Doc and Bashful held him tightly as he stifled his sobs in Bashful's shoulder, and it took several minutes for him to get ahold of himself. After swallowing, he sat up and swiped at his cheeks, feeling very silly. Bashful didn't give him the chance to pull away.
"Jest so's ya know," he said, swiping at a stray tear. "We'd never yank it."
"Mebbe…" Grumpy stopped, uncertain and shy. It was stupid to think they'd have the patience to do what he had thought of. But apparently he wasn't the only one who thought of it.
"We can help you adjust if you'd like," Doc said, smiling.
Grumpy hesitated then nodded. "Sure." He glanced up at them to see them smiling at him. He felt silly again. "Aw, stop yer starin'," he grumbled.
They all laughed, and a sleepy voice spoke. "I need to try and go to bed. But how do I know I'll wake up, Doc?"
"We'll wake ya," Sleepy said, and Dopey nodded, giving her a thumbs up.
"Then let's get to bed," Doc said.
They all headed upstairs, and the Dwarfs made sure Snow was comfortable before going to their beds.
"If you need us, don't hesitate to wake us," Doc said. "Even if it's just to sit with you until you fall asleep again."
Snow's smile was full of gratitude, and she nodded. "I will. Thank you so very much."
Everybody climbed back into bed then Doc blew out the candle. As Grumpy turned over in the dark, he was surprised to feel the link widen, and he heard Snow's thoughts.
"Close it when I'm asleep. Please?" she asked.
Grumpy could feel her fear. "Course. Just rest."
He closed his eyes and felt her drifting to sleep. Several times she started awake again, her fear flooding his veins and making his own tiredness vanish for a few minutes. But eventually, she fell asleep. He carefully curbed the link again then relaxed and began to fall asleep. But a stray thought tickled him.
'I thought their parents were cursed…'
Then he fell asleep and lost the thought.
