A/N: I don't love this one, but I'd like to take the time to thank the guest who's been leaving such kind comments on every single one of my fics. I really appreciate you and all of your feedback :)
The house was eerily quiet when Kate returned.
It was unusual for her to come home to a silent house, with the rambunctious six and three year old duo she had living under her roof, especially when she'd left them with a much older kid: their favorite uncle, uncle Sawyer.
Whenever he came around, it was almost guaranteed that she'd find her children playing outside, caked in mud, scrapes on their knees — and she had no trouble with that. If anything, she liked it that Sawyer had a similar perspective to hers and just let the kids be kids.
That night, however, she'd left him with specific rules about their bedtimes and state of cleanliness for when she arrived. She knew she'd be coming back later than she would like, later than was normal for any of them, and she needed them to stick to their routine, especially on a school night.
Dinner was to be had by six and, as a treat, she'd left money for pizzas. Then it was bath time, after which Sawyer was supposed to read stories to both of them, but only Sammy was supposed to sleep. Aaron could stay up and have some TV time before bed, at eight.
It was dark as she made her way in and headed straight towards the kitchen, parched after so much time stuck in L.A. traffic. If not for the blue-ish glow of the TV, Kate wouldn't even have known it was on. She was so used to the loud superhero cartoons and Disney Channel comedy shows Aaron was obsessed with that the lack of sound struck her as odd.
She figured James must be watching T.V. on his own, and perhaps even fallen asleep on the couch. She'd been known for doing that on nights when she took care of the boys on her own. Tania, her nanny, was always a great help, and on her days off Kate was always extra grateful that she had her around at all. She didn't know how she'd do it alone, with Jack so often pulling long shifts at work.
Sawyer had been a lifesaver when he'd offered to stay with the boys that day so she could go to a check-in meeting with her lawyer that had lasted a lot longer than she'd expected. She hadn't thought her mother would've lasted as long as she did, after all, they'd only given her six months to live and that had been many years ago. And she definitely hadn't even considered that her mother would've left her with so many things she didn't even know she had.
Alas, it had taken multiple meetings to figure out what to do about all of it and how to sort out the sale of her mother's home and belongings and funeral plans from multiple states away, without being allowed to leave, but she'd done it and she was just glad it was all over.
She was startled by a loud growling sound coming from the previously nearly silent screen across the room from her, the glass she held in her hand instantly slipping and scattering over the floor by her feet in a million pieces. "Son of a bitch!", she squeaked, jumping back, trying not to step on any shards that sprinkled the linoleum around her like little stars in the sky.
Looking up, she saw two pairs of eyes looking at her sheepishly, behind them a giant eyeless alien tried to find a woman hidden amongst cables. Sawyer turned back around and paused the movie right on the alien's face, making her squirm in her spot.
Kate hated that movie. Kate hated any movies that even alluded to horror, in any way and that one in particular had traumatized her when she was a child. She couldn't understand why people enjoyed horror movies so much when there was so much bad in the world already. She'd lived through so much darkness and pain that all she wanted was light-hearted movies, or, at best, some action now that her life was mostly peaceful and still. The last thing she wanted was to be reminded of what it felt like to be scared.
"That's my line, Freckles.", Sawyer joked as he approached her, winking at the giggling boy on the couch. Aaron loved it when Uncle Sawyer used nicknames around the house. "You good?"
She nodded, giving him a stern look, which he avoided by looking into the small laundry room for a broom to clean up the glass with. Aaron expertly dodged his mother's wrath, making his way towards the stairs, yelling a "Good night, mommy!" as he climbed the steps two by two.
"What the hell were you thinking, Sawyer? He's too young for that movie!", she barked as he started to sweep around her.
"Relax, Freckles. It's just a movie."
It angered her, the way he talked, so dismissive about it.
The last time Aaron had been scared of something, he'd clung to both her and Jack for months. She hadn't even been able to use the bathroom on her own for days, because he was too scared of being in any room of the house on his own, no matter what time of day and the last thing she wanted was a repeat of that. Granted, he'd been four at the time, but the occasional nightmares still had him seeking them at night and it took them at least a few days to get him back to sleeping in his own bed.
"It's not just a movie! It's not your bed he'll be crawling into for a week!"
"That's not fair, you watched Bambi with Victor and he slept in our bed for over a month.", he responded, more jokingly than anything, trying to appease her. "Relax, the kid was laughing at the special effects the whole time. He'll be fine."
"He'd better, or I'm shipping him off to live with you and Juliet until he can sleep in his own bed again!" It was an empty threat, and they both knew it. The awkward laugh that came out of her was enough of an indication to him that her desire to fight about it had waned.
"Maybe I should take you up on that. She always makes her special banana muffins when he sleeps over and I've been craving those!", he told her, bending down to scoop up the glass, his classic cheeky smile on his lips.
"Maybe next time I'll ask her to come over. She can even bring Victor. Then I get someone who follows the rules and banana muffins. It's a double win for me."