"Ok, now reach…reach…little higher. There you go."
Angie's fingers only just hooked the next climbing stone and her thin arms shook from the effort it took to scale along the tall wall. Her dad took up the slack in the rope from below and Angie started looking for her next hand hold.
She was focused, determined, exhausted and delightedly happy.
First they'd played around on the bouldering walls. Her dad was her 'spotter', ready to catch her if she fell even though the floors were squishing and nice to fall into. That only happened six or eight times, and each time her dad caught her, controlling the fall back to the ground.
Now she was going up her first big wall with a harness. Daddy had to talk to his buddy who owned the place to let her climb the bigger walls because while technically she was the right age, she was a lot smaller than was typical for her age group. In the end she was allowed when the gym was quieter and there were fewer people.
Stuck again, Angie clung to the wall and called down, "Daddy?"
"There's a foothold just above your knee. Yup. Right there. Almost there."
Fatigue started to get the better of her, and Angie's fingers slipped from the hold she'd just reached for.
With a yelp, she slid off the wall, scraping her forearm on the 'stones' and swinging out as the harness and rope caught her.
Her hands found the rope and she held on to it as she swung in mid air, high above the floor. Big eyes tracked down to the floor where her dad was holding tension in the rope, looking up at her.
"You're fine. I've got you."
Right. Angie let go of a shaky breath and looked back at the wall. Her forearms stung, but she didn't want to look yet. She wanted to get back on that wall and get to the top.
"You gonna keep going?" Scott asked.
"Yes!" Angie wiggled a little in the harness, frowning at the wall and reaching for the stones. Her arms weren't long enough to reach so she had to start swinging to propel herself back close enough.
"That's it," Scott said from below, almost more to himself than her.
Angie glowed inside from the approval she sensed in the man and she started pushing up the wall again. It hurt, and when she pulled herself up part way, she saw some blood running down her arm to her elbow.
Ignoring it, Angie scrambled up the last part, only slightly suspicious that her dad was helping just a little because the rope wasn't as slack as it had been at the beginning.
"I got it!" Angie cheered, only just touching the knot at the top.
"Good job, little ninja!" Scott's pride wasn't hidden as he called to her warmly and he didn't smoother the smile on his face when she looked down at him with her own bright smile. "Ok, I'm gonna lower you down, kick off the wall like I showed you if you need to. Ready?"
"Ready!"
The line paid out slowly, dropping her to the floor in fluid motion. For the most part she didn't need to push off the wall to keep from bumping since it was so flat, but she did once or twice anyway just because it was fun.
She stumbled a little with weak legs when she reached the bottom and her dad steadied her with a warm palm at her back.
"Let's see those arms," He said, taking her small wrist between two fingers and lightly turning it so he could see her bloody forearms.
Looking at it properly, Angie set her jaw and pretended it didn't hurt. The skin was shredded near the wrist along the outside on both arms, dripping blood down towards her elbows. It stung terribly, but Angie was almost proud of the minor wounds. They made her feel tough, especially since she wasn't crying.
"You alright?" Scott asked, as he finished scanning the scrapes.
"Yeah! Can we do another?!"
"Not tonight. It's time to go home."
"Awww," Angie couldn't hold back the disappointed sigh.
Scott shot her an amused look.
"You've been climbing for two hours, kid. If you can move tomorrow and the next day, I'll be shocked."
"Can we come back again?" Angie asked, as he unclipped them both and helped her loosen the straps of her harness.
"We'll talk about it." He answered with a gruff affection that Angie was starting to suspect meant the answer had a good chance of being 'yes'.
"I loved that!" Angie told him, staring up at the walls around them, glowing with excitement.
"You don't say!" Her dad's tone shook slightly with a laugh now and a smile played around his mouth. "I'm glad to hear that."
Once he'd collected everything up, Angie couldn't contain herself anymore and she darted into his side, tippy toed, arms around his middle.
"Thank-you, Daddy!"
One arm wrapped around her shoulders firmly and Scott answered quietly, "You're welcome. Let's get you cleaned up."
Angie followed him to their bag and sat while he returned the equipment. When he came back he rummaged through his pack and produced a small first aid kit. She wasn't really sure why it surprised her when he cleaned up her scrapes with the gentlest of care, making sure it didn't sting anymore than it had to when cleaning up the blood.
"You'll have some good marks for a bit," He commented after silently mopping up the half dried blood and deciding if she needed a bandage or not. They decided to let it air dry instead of covering it since it was already mostly dried now.
"That's ok!" Angie answered, peering at her 'wounds' with undeniable satisfaction.
"It'll make a good story though," Scott said neutrally even though the look he gave her was a knowing one. He tossed the bloodied gauze in the trash next to them.
Angie blushed. He'd known, somehow, exactly what was going through her head. She couldn't wait to show off the marks and tell her friends about it.
"I guess," She mumbled casually, studying her toes.
"Let's head home, ninja."
Not able to help the smile that spread over her face at the nickname, Angie seized his hand without thinking. For the briefest of moments she second guessed herself, wondering if maybe that was too childish and she should be holding onto him, but then when the bigger, rough fingers closed around her own, she relaxed.
They left the climbing gym and went home, stopping on the way to pick up food.
When they got home, Angie was buzzing with happiness and that satisfied tiredness in her bones.
The fort in the living room greeted them when they came in the door, and Angie was reminded that Scott had promised they could sleep in it tonight.
They ate, and went through their usual bedtime ritual, only this time they put thin foam camping mats on the floor with lots of blankets and pillows. To make it even better, Scott wordlessly put on 'outdoor nighttime' sounds over the sound system and Angie could pretend even better that they were actually camping. There was a peaceful sound of the leaves stirring in a breeze, crickets singing and a quiet stream gurgling over rocks in the distance.
Once the story was read, Angie expected that she would have to go to sleep, but instead her father stopped her.
"So, there's something I finally managed to get into and I'm still working through finding everything I want for you, but," He slipped a familiar looking laptop out from under the end pillow behind him. "Your mom wrote me a letter before she passed and I found it when we were at the storage unit. It told me she left something for you on here…and some other stuff that I'll tell you later. For now, this is what I wanted to show you."
Going still as the laptop turned on, Angie waited with air frozen in her lungs.
She had no idea Mommy left anything more for her!
When the screen lit up with a picture of her and Catherine, her mother's arms wrapped around her from behind, grinning and hugging her fiercely, a lump rose in Angie's throat. She wordlessly lifted her dad's arm and slipped under it, snuggling close as she looked at the picture.
"This is the first one," Scott told her quietly, sounding almost unsure of himself as the cursor hovered over a file. "She recorded a lot of them. I'm still sorting through and finding them all, but this is the one she made easiest to find. Do you want to hear it?"
Angie nodded, unable to speak.
The sound file played when Daddy clicked on it, and she felt his arm loop tighter around her, drawing her closer. It was audio only.
-Hi baby girl, it's Mommy. I know this is hard, and I hope it's not too much to hear my voice, but I just had to make this for you. I wanted a way to be with you, so I wrote music to go with that book you used to always beg me to read when you were little. Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You, by Nancy Tillman? You called it the Dancing Bears book. So…this is my song for you.
There was a brief pause, and then keyboard music came through with surprising quality and her mother began to sing.
I wanted you more Than you will ever know, So I sent love to follow Wherever you go
It's high as you wish it. It's quick as an elf. You'll never outgrow it... it stretches itself!
So climb any mountain... Climb up to the sky! My love will find you. My love can Fly!
Make a big splash! Go out on a limb! My love will find you. My love can swim!
It never gets lost; never fades, never ends...
If you're working...
Or playing...
Or sitting with friends.
You can dance 'til you're dizzy...
Paint 'til you're blue.
There's no place, not one, That my love can't find you.
And if someday you're lonely, Or someday you're sad, Or you strike out in baseball, Or think you've been bad...
Just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair. That's me, my sweet baby, my love is right there.
In the green of the grass... in the smell of the sea... In the clouds floating by... At the top of a tree... In the sound crickets make at the end of the day...
"You are loved. You are loved. You are loved," they all say.
My love is so high, so wide and so deep, It's always right there even when you're asleep.
So hold your head high And don't be afraid To march to the front If your own parade.
If you're still my small babe Or you're all the way grown, My promise to you Is you're never alone.
You're my angel, my darling, My star... and my love will find you, Wherever you are.
The music ended and Catherine said softly, 'Goodnight, baby girl, I love you. I'm still right there. I promise.'
Angie gulped down a sob and turned her face into her dad, whispering, "I love you too, Mommy."
The laptop was set carefully aside and Angie quickly found herself scooped close so that she was cuddled into her Daddy's arms. There, she had a good cry.
When she'd quieted a bit, Scott whispered in a suspiciously husky voice, "Was that ok?"
Nodding vigorously, Angie croaked out, "I loved it. Thank you for finding it!"
"Wasn't too hard?"
Gulping back another whining sob, Angie shook her head and managed to say, "No. It hurts…but, in a good way. I was kinda starting to feel like she wasn't there the past few days…I…it sounds crazy, but…but, sometimes I think I can feel her with me, or like, a part of her is there."
Shaking his head carefully while still resting his cheek on her head, Scott said quietly, "That's not crazy at all. You heard her. She promised to be right here, and she is."
Sniffling, Angie whispered, "I wish I could feel her all the time."
"Me too."
They fell silent for a while, letting them both digest the echo that Catherine left behind for them.
After a while Angie stirred and peeked at the computer.
"Can we look at pictures?"
Scott seemed to perk up out of the serious, brooding place he'd been and he nodded.
"Yup. Let's see what we can find. I found some the other day."
"What ones!?" Angie asked eagerly as he brought the computer where they could both see it again.
"Well…I found some very cute baby pictures of you." He opened another file and started scrolling through photos. "These ones, right here."
Bringing up the first ones, Angie saw a new born baby in the arms of her mother at the hospital. Catherine looked exhausted, but overjoyed too. Flipping through them slowly, Angie 'watched' herself growing up and was totally entranced by the experience. She completely missed the soft, almost wistful look on Scott's face as he looked at them with her.
When they started to get into pictures of things she remembered, Angie started talking.
"That's at the cabin!" Angie told him excitedly. "And down there, you can't see it, but over there then there's a path and you can hike up to the top of this cliff and see out for…for forever! And we would go up there and watch the sun go down and then the stars came out and Mommy would point out all the ones she knew! Oh! And that's from when we went to the zoo! I was so excited to see the polar bear! And then…oh that's from when we left the door open and a chipmunk got in and ate all the cereal!"
Every few pictures she had more stories to tell, and without even noticing, minutes ticked by into an hour and she was well past her bedtime. There were nice pictures, happy pictures, funny pictures, and best of all, the silly selfies she and Mommy used to take when they were having a bad day and needed to laugh.
"We're gonna have to get some of these printed and make an album." Daddy said after chuckling at another one of the sillier pictures.
"I want the one she has for the background! Can we put it in a frame in my room?"
"Yup! We can absolutely do that!"
Angie yawned and rubbed her eyes for the third time, leaning her head into Daddy's chest more heavily as he clicked through towards the later pictures. Finally he said, "I think we better leave some of these for another night, little bear."
Sighing when contentment, Angie agreed.
"Ok."
"Time to sleep. Off. Into bed."
"Are you going to sleep too?" Angie asked hopefully.
"Yes. Lay down. I'll be back in a minute."
Angie did as she was told and waited as her dad made his way out of the 'fort' and put the treasured laptop out on the kitchen table. Then he got a drink and disappeared for a few minutes into his room. When he came back Angie was half asleep, still waiting for him.
He muted a groan when he lay down on the floor next to her and got comfortable. Angie waited until he was still to scoot just a little closer, so her back brushed up against his.
There was a long pause, with only the 'ambience' of camping sounds still playing softly. Then Scott let out a long sigh, rolled over, hooked an arm around her and her bundle of blankets, and tugged her closer.
"Better?" He growled softly, like he was pretending to be annoyed and wasn't.
A smile had long since grown over Angie's face and she chirped happily, "Yup!"
"Good. Go to sleep."
Closing her eyes, Angie let contentment simmer in her bones and she let herself drift off.
She slept nearly the whole night through, waking only once in the wee hours of the morning when she was jolted awake by the feeling of her dad suddenly scooping her close to him again with one arm. She vaguely recalled he'd half sat up with a sharp intake of air at the same time and right now she could feel the tension in his entire body through her back.
"Daddy?" Angie mumbled groggily.
Scott took a slow intake of air, exhaled just as slowly, and eased back down again next to her, loosening his hold on her as he did so.
"Shh…it's ok," He whispered. "Go back to sleep."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing at all. Go back to sleep, little bear."
"Ok!" Happy to comply and not paying much thought to the sudden awakening, Angie took advantage of the fact her dad still had his arm around her and she snuggled down into her pillow again.
Once breakfast was over, Angie sadly had to take her fort down. She'd wanted to play in it longer, however her dad seemed to think it had been up long enough.
Together they took everything down, folded the blankets that could be put away and tossed anything that needed it in the wash.
Scott had been quiet all morning and Angie worried he hadn't liked camping out with her, especially since he'd made them take the fort down so soon after. That worry whispered of future disappointment because what if they never actually went real camping? Did he not like it that much that he wouldn't take her after all? Was that why he was so quiet and serious today?
"Angie, there's something we need to talk about."
Stomach flip flopping as she startled out of her wonderings, Angie dutifully climbed back onto the couch and sat cross-legged, facing him. So far whenever he said that it meant it was going to be serious,
He stayed quiet for a few minutes, choosing his words before saying, "You know how you have bad dreams sometimes?"
Angie nodded, heart falling because she was sure he was about to tell her she couldn't come to him in the night anymore, that she needed to be a big girl and stay in her own room. Maybe she'd been too childish with the whole fort camp out! She should have-
"Yeah, so, every once in a while I have bad dreams too, and when I do there are times when I might call out or yell in my sleep."
Blinking, Angie worked to hide her surprise. That wasn't what she expected at all and the idea that her big, scary dad had bad dreams was odd.
Pausing, Scott clenched and unclenched his hands while alternating looking at them and at the blank TV across from them. "I know that might be scary, especially at night, and it might be tempting to want to wake me up, like I do for you when you have bad dreams, but you must never try to. You are not to enter my room if you hear me. I will wake myself up, and when I am ready I will come and find you to make sure you're ok. Am I clear?"
Frowning at her fingers as she picked at her chipping nail polish, Angie braced herself and said, "But…nightmares aren't good. Why don't you want to be woken up?"
"You are right. They are not fun, but there have been a few times where I've been woken up by one of your Uncles and nearly hurt them. Now, they are really big, and could take care of themselves, but you're little Angie and I never want to risk harming you, even by accident. Please, just trust me on this one. Don't come into my room if you hear me dreaming."
"What if I'm already in your room?" Angie whispered, thinking of all the times she felt so safe, tucked happily into her dad's arms as she fell asleep. She loved that.
"Then you slip out and away as quietly as you can and wait in your room. And if you can't, then you just stay still and quiet. I will wake up on my own." Scott tapped her knee so she would look at him. "I know when I'm more likely to have nightmares, Angie, and I'll tell you when because I will not be letting you in my room those nights. We're just coming up with a 'just in case' plan right now. I wouldn't have let you stay all those other times if I wasn't sure you were safe and I promise we wouldn't have been camping out here in the fort if I thought that might happen. Ok?"
Angie chewed her lip, weighing his words before finding she was satisfied that he was telling her the truth. "Ok."
"Are you good?"
"I think so."
"Promise? None of that scared you?"
"Well," Angie frowned and fiddled with the edge of her sleeve. "It's a little unsettling because I don't know what all that will be like and I don't like it when I don't know what to expect."
"That's fair. I can't say what it'll be like, because I don't know, but unfortunately there's always the possibility I'll have points when I'm having nightmares more. I can't control that."
"Is…is it because of your job?" Angie dared to ask, lifting pleading eyes that hoped he wouldn't be upset with her. Like always, he took her question in stride, calming her initial worry.
"Yeah, usually. Sometimes it's because of other stuff. Don't worry about it though, ok? Just needed to make sure we had this conversation sooner rather than later."
Suspicion slipped in and Angie thought about early that morning.
"Did…did you have a bad dream this morning?"
She knew by the flicker in his eye that she was at least a little right. As expected, Daddy answered honestly.
"Not a bad dream so much as just waking suddenly and being a little disoriented. Pulling you in close like that was just…reflex. Nothing to be worried about. You were safe and I knew what I was doing. Promise."
Satisfied yet again, Angie accepted it with a little shrug that she didn't even realize looked just like her dad's.
"Ok!"
Raising an amused brow, Scott eyed her and asked, "Any other questions?"
"Nope! Well, actually yes! Can we go biking?!"
"Yeah, let's go biking."
The rest of the day went perfectly up until dinner. That was when a bunch of Angie's uncle's showed up. Daddy had told her earlier they were going to come over for the evening and initially Angie was eager to see them.
Once they were all there, however, Angie found it overwhelming.
She hovered close to her dad at the start when they all began to show up.
Uncle Sonny arrived with Uncle Clay. They were noisy and Uncle Sonny was boisterous as always. Angie liked him, of course, and she felt better about him now that they had a drowning in common, however she hadn't seen him in a bit. To her it felt like forever since the Pool Party.
"Hey, Mini Metal!" Uncle Sonny called, beckoning her over. "Trent told me you have the coolest lego collection ever! Is that true?"
Flicking a silent question to her dad, who nodded in response, Angie offered a small smile and said, "It's pretty big."
"Well, where is it?! I gotta decide for myself!"
"I'll go get it," Angie trotted off, and dragged her bin back out the living room just as Uncle Trent and Uncle Brock got there.
"Lego!" Uncle Brock cheered even as Angie spotted Cerberus standing beside him.
"CERBERUS!" Angie cried, dropping the edge of the bin loudly and clasping her hands with a delighted gasp.
The dog's tail gave a gentle wag and he looked up at his handler, as if asking permission to go say hi.
Brock came over with him, grinning from ear to ear as Clay and Sonny exchanged a few bills with subtle eye rolls and soft huffs.
"Hi, Angie!"
"Hi, Uncle Brock!" Angie breathed, unable to take her eyes from the dog."Can I pet him?"
"Yup! Let him smell you first, like we did last time, there ya go!"
Angie let loose a giggle when Cerberus headbutted her and wiggled his whole body into her as she stood there, all but climbing into her arms like a puppy.
"Unbelievable!" Sonny grumbled. "We were just about to play with Lego!"
"Oh!" Angie looked up as if startled from a daze and frowned at the bin as she fawned over Cerberus. "You can play with it Uncle Sonny! I don't mind!"
Behind her in the kitchen, both her dad and Uncle Trent had a mysterious cough and Clay didn't even try to hide his grin. Angie couldn't figure out why it was funny. If Uncle Sonny wanted to play with her Lego's, he could!
Lifting his head high, Uncle Sonny got up off the couch and said, "You know what? I think I will!"
Moments later, when Uncle Sonny and Uncle Clay were building at the coffee table, Uncle Ray and Uncle Jason appeared through the door.
Angie was in the midst of dragging Uncle Brock and Cerberus outside so they could play with the dog, so she only just caught the snorts and teasing that came from the last Uncles.
For some reason it prickled under her skin. Why was it a bad thing that they were playing with Lego? Daddy played Lego with her, and Uncle Trent did too! Did they think Lego was dumb?
"Here, Angie," Uncle Brock caught her attention again, handing her the frisbee he'd brought for Cerberus. "You throw it."
"I don't know how," Angie admitted in a small voice, still bothered and rattled by the teasing and fuss over the Lego.
"That's ok! I'll show you!"
The mild, gentle manner of her uncle drew her back into having fun, and Angie focused on learning how to throw the toy for her furry friend instead.
By the time they were called in to eat, the back lawn was torn up from the dog running back and forth, and Angie's arm was sore from throwing.
When she came in, it was loud and the men were all talking. She didn't see them holding beer or anything, which for reasons she couldn't explain made her feel better. Then when she spotted the two Lego creations on the coffee table, she remembered that she'd been upset about all that and it compounded the small feeling in her bones as she tried to figure out what to do with herself in the busy kitchen.
A hand settled on the back of her neck and Angie flinched just before realizing it was her dad.
"You ok?" He asked quietly. It still drew a quick glance from Uncle Jason and Uncle Trent though, and Angie caught the exchange of looks between them all.
Self-conscious, Angie nodded and tucked closer to him, accepting the glass of water he put in her hands.
"Alright. Go sit in your spot."
When dinner got underway Angie stayed quiet and listened, feeling quite forgotten, to the boring talk around her.
Cerberus's nose touched the bottom of her dancing foot, alerting her to his presence close to her as he lay under the table. She peeked under the edge at him and the dog thumped his tail lightly, making eye contact just before resting his head right under her feet again. They didn't reach the floor yet, but if she stretched her toes down, she could rub the dog's ears with them.
Cerberus sighed happily when she did so and Angie's chest didn't feel so tight anymore.
"Make sure you don't feed him." Uncle Jason warned quietly from beside her.
"I won't." Angie promised, a little offended he thought she didn't know the rules for a dog as special as Cerberus.
"Good. Just making sure." Uncle Jason gave her a calculating stare before something Uncle Sonny said drew his attention away again and he said, "Yeah, but who was playing with the Lego's the second I got in the door? Uh huh? This is why we don't trust you with those things!"
"What's wrong with playing with Lego's?"
The question blurted from Angie's lips before she could stop it and she froze the instant she realized she said it out loud, eyes going wide with horror at her own daring. The spot on the table just to the left of her cup became very interesting during the instant silence that descended.
"Absolutely nothing," Daddy's voice broke the awkward silence firmly and she could feel him looking at her. She peeked up just enough to see him across the table from her. He was dead serious when he said, "I love playing with Lego, especially with you."
Uncle Jason cleared his throat and added quietly, "Yeah, Angie, I was just…teasing Uncle Sonny. There's nothing wrong with playing with Lego. It's still probably one of my favorite things."
Face flushed a deep shade of red now, Angie nodded and mumbled, "Ok."
Cerberus's head lifted and his nose touched her shin this time, nearly making her cry because she knew that somehow that dog understood what she was feeling even though she couldn't.
Dinner didn't exactly recover from that one. Angie couldn't be drawn out into conversation and she was dying to slip off to the bathroom so she could collect herself better, but she didn't dare make more of a fuss over nothing. She wasn't dumb. The energy shifted after she'd spoken and Daddy especially was more guarded, alert, and she could feel his gaze studying her almost constantly now.
This wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to be happy and not cause trouble for her dad when he had people over. Mommy rarely had people over and she'd always been on her best behavior for them. That was something she'd always been praised for! Why did she have to open her mouth?! It wasn't even a big deal!
After that, they all settled into the living room and Uncle Ray picked a game from her collection. Angie tried to enjoy playing it, but she couldn't tell if her Uncles were playing it with her out of pity or if they were actually having fun.
Digging deep, Angie mustered up the courage to form a mask, something she only did at school now. She didn't really do it with Daddy anymore. He was safe to show her real feelings to.
She pretended to be Anna, carefree and happy and that Cerberus was Olaf, cheering her on from the side lines. The act was convincing enough that her Uncles got loud again, and started teasing each other again. Still, Angie was perceptive. She got the sense they were boing over careful now in what they said around her and it bothered her just as much as thinking they believed playing with Lego was dumb.
By the time she went to get ready for bed, Angie welcomed getting away to her room. It was quiet there and she could let go.
Down the hall, the voices got quieter the second she left and she had a sinking feeling she was the topic of discussion. It happened too often to her when Mommy was dying.
After she was done in the bathroom, Angie said her good nights, fully expecting her dad to just send her to bed.
Instead, he followed her down the hall with their book in hand.
"Are we still reading tonight?" Angie whispered, staring at the book he held with disbelief.
"Do you not want to?" Scott asked quietly as they went into her room.
"I do want to." Angie answered, faster than she meant to. The idea of going to sleep without it was not appealing, in fact it made her stomach feel upset thinking of it.
"Into bed then. One chapter, then it lights out."
Angie nodded earnestly and climbed into her bed, making room for her dad too and then trying not to seem too desperate when she cuddled close to him once he was settled with his back against the headboard.
His arm came around her and he fiddled with her braids the way he often did while he read to her. It was hard to concentrate on the story with the sound of her Uncle's in the other room, but Angie was just happy to have a break and that she had her dad to herself for a little.
When the chapter was over, Angie was reluctant to move from her spot against her dad.
He didn't nudge her away immediately. Instead he asked, "Is everything ok?"
Angie's tummy flipped and she almost told him the truth. That things felt complicated because she loved her Uncles, but she wasn't sure how she felt about them all at once and she was afraid they wouldn't keep liking her, or that they thought she was too much of a baby just like Sarah and Summer did at school. And then on top of that she knew her dad wanted to spend time with them, and she'd caught the tail end of a quiet sentence between Uncle Ray and Uncle Clay about it being good for him to do something like this for a change, whatever that meant. All if it combined was just heavy for her shoulders and she didn't like it.
"Angie?"
"Yes, everything is ok," Angie lied.
"Are you sure?" Her dad's tone took on a wary edge, like he already knew she was lying and it made him tired. "You were pretty quiet at dinner."
"I'm sure." Angie insisted, trying to reason that maybe it wasn't lying if she could make it be true. "Really!"
Giving one, solid nod, Scott said, "Ok."
He got up and fixed the blankets before leaning down and kissing her forehead. "Good night, little bear. I love you."
"I love you too, Daddy." Angie rolled into her pillow, hoping to hide the faltering in her resolve to be alright. "Good night."
"How did that go?" Ray asked softly when Metal returned from putting Angie to bed.
"She's…fine." Metal frowned as he grabbed a drink. They weren't drinking alcohol tonight and that was one thing he was glad he insisted on. With how off Angie was, he didn't need to add anything more to the plate.
"She seemed fine once we started playing the game." Clay commented.
Grumbling an noncommittal reply, Metal joined them in watching the hockey game.
"You not convinced?" Jason was still kicking himself for having a hand in upsetting Angie about the Lego in the first place.
"No. Pretty sure she was lying when she said everything was ok."
"So, go back in an fine out what's wrong!"
Metal cast a glare at the man. "I think you're forgetting that she's both as delicately sensitive as her mother and bullheaded stubborn as me. She's gonna have to stew for a bit, then maybe she'll tell me what's going on."
"Are we sure anything was wrong?" Sonny asked in a low voice. "Blondielocks here is right. She seemed fine when we were playing with her!"
"No." Brock spoke up quietly, not taking his eyes from the TV. "She wasn't. Cerberus hardly left her side. He knew something was up even when she wasn't acting like it."
"I still feel bad for making her think we were making fun of her through the teasing of Clay and Sonny," Trent sighed.
"Yeah," Metal frowned at the game. "Even I missed that one. Should have caught it. She's sensitive about Lego to begin with ever since the time I stepped on it and got mad."
"Oh, amen, brother," Ray raised his can of soda. "They should use walking on Lego in the dark in bare feet as part of the SERE training!"
Gradually conversation shifted, and they got talking about things that they otherwise wouldn't have around Angie while still keeping as tamed down as possible until they could be sure she was asleep.
About twenty minutes later, Metal got up abruptly and crept down the wall. He turned the handle to Angie's room and slowly opened the door.
Light bobbed in the middle of the room.
Pushing open the door without a noise, he got a clear view of Angie reading in bed with the help of her fairy lights and a flashlight.
"Angie."
The little girl jumped and turned her guilty face over her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" He asked, trying not to growl too much but really not thrilled to see her still awake.
"I can't sleep." Angie whispered, chewing her lip and curling onto her side, hugging the book and flicking off the flashlight.
"Uncle's being too loud?"
"N-no." Angie couldn't even look him in the eye.
"Ok. So what's going on?"
Angie shrugged, still avoiding looking at him.
"It's way past your bedtime. You need to go to sleep."
"Ok." Angie mumbled as she put the book on her bedside table.
"Unless there's something you want to talk about." Metal tried.
There was the barest hint of hesitation in Angie before she shook her head and sighed, "No."
"Alright. I better not find you reading again," Metal warned as he started to close the door again.
Something about the way sudden anger sparked along Angie's brow right before the door closed didn't sit well with him.
When he returned to his team, Jason was smirking and the rest were fighting laughter.
"She's not usually like this." Metal grumbled, shooting a look down the hall towards his daughter's room.
"Emma used to do stuff like this." Jason offered. "She'd get over it. I wouldn't worry too much about it."
"Who says I'm worried?" The growl was automatic and careless, because he was.
"No one."
"Let me just say, that I am glad that you never put me to bed, Full Metal." Sonny shook his head. "I don't think I could take being told I better be asleep the next time you came around."
"I would just put you in a sleeperhold." Metal growled.
"It is kinda too bad there isn't a child friendly alternative to that one." Ray commented wistfully.
"There is! It's called drugs!" Sonny told them proudly.
They all stared at him.
"What?"
"That is not better." Clay hissed.
"I don't mean, like, bad drugs! I mean just slip them a little something. Like benadryl!"
"Sonny, this is why we don't ask you to babysit that often." Ray groaned.
"What! Metal's mom used to put morphine in his sippy cup!"
"Did not," Metal retorted, then he smirked and shrugged, "Maybe once or twice."
They laughed and things relaxed.
Another thirty minutes drifted past.
"Where did the pooch get off to?" Sonny asked suddenly.
Brock sat up, searching the space around them.
"I don't know," He said with a puzzled crinkle between his brows.
They got up, looking around and searching for the dog that was not coming when Brock called for him.
It didn't take long for Metal to locate the animal in a place they all should have first thought of looking.
"Brock, here."
Metal called out softly as he pointed through the partially open door of Angie's room.
When the boys crowded round quietly, they saw both the girl and dog together on the bed.
Angie was hugging the Malinos like a teddy bear, fast asleep as Cerberus snored happily under her chin. Her book had fallen to the floor, giving away the fact that she'd started reading again after Metal told her to go to sleep.
Shaking his head, Metal muttered, "Yeah…that's my kid. I don't know how I'm going to drag whatever it is bothering her out of that stubborn head."
"You'll figure it out." Trent answered, patting his shoulder a little. "Maybe her teacher could help! She sounds like a neat lady!'
"Who, Ms. Finch?" Ray perked up as they made their way back again.
"Yeah! Angie's talked about her a lot! She sounds great!" Trent said, mischief dancing in his eye as he steered suspicion away from his best friend.
"Oh, yeah! Jameelah loves her!" Ray agreed, smiling. "She a great young woman and the girls like to pretend that she's a fairy queen in disguise."
A genuine, "Aw!" escaped Trent's lips and he laughed. "That is so sweet!"
Metal mentally promised to bury Trent later, mostly because he secretly agreed that it was adorable the girls pretended that about their teacher. For now he tried to enjoy being with his team and not wonder what on earth got into his child that evening.
He needed to accept that he might never know and that wasn't going to be easy.