Her Last Plea✨

Chapter 54

Ara woke up to Papa Will's loud snores, suppressing a giggle at the noise. She wiggled around in his grasp, another stuttered snore escaping his nose as she curled into him. She vaguely remembered being disrupted from her bed by Garrett, driving over here, confused, but she had settled once Nana Faith said she could sleep with them. She was never allowed to sneak into bed with her Mommy and Daddy when they were in the same room because Mommy didn't like it. If she had a bad dream, Daddy would come to her room instead and stay with her. But, whenever she spent the night at Nana and Papa's, she was always excited because they slept in a big bed and didn't mind if she slept in between them.

She looked up as Papa yawned, and she mimicked his actions, dramatically yawning as she placed her hand over her mouth just like Papa did. "Are you mocking me?" he asked, his eyes twinkling through his exhaustion.

Ara giggled. "Nooooo....."

William used his free hand to tickle her belly as she laughed. "I think you were mocking me!"

"I wasn't!" she squealed. "I wasn't!"

He stopped tickling her and dropped a kiss on the tip of her pointed nose. "Did you sleep well, Ara Bear?"

She nodded. "I don't know why we came here though. Where's Mommy and Daddy? And Lexi?"

William sighed. He wasn't sure who was telling whom what at this point. The entire situation wasn't fair at all, and his heart ached for the children. Sitting up a bit in bed, Ara followed suit, still snuggled in the crook of his arm as she looked up at him, waiting for an answer. "Ara…"

"Where's Mommy?" she asked again, singling out the parent she was more concerned about.

He sighed again, scratching his beard that was about a day or two away from a trim. The squeak of a door hinge saved him from the question temporarily as Alexis poked her head in.

"Princess Ara, good morning," she said, a smile plastered on her face. "Nana is making waffles if you want to come and help."

Ara thought about this for a moment, but was unfortunately unfazed from her previous question. "Lexi, where's Mommy and Daddy? I want to see Mommy. Please?"

Alexis walked into the bedroom and sat down on her mother's side of the bed, tucking her legs underneath her crisscrossed as she looked at her father for a moment, then back to Ara. She wanted to wait for Mike to return with Mira, but she knew Ara, and so she knew that the girl would continue to ask the question until someone cracked.

"I'm so sorry, princess," Alexis said quietly as her voice wavered a bit. "But…your Mommy - who loved you very, very much - was just so tired from the germs and her cancer that she went to Heaven, where Grandma Ariana is."

Ara's lower lip trembled as a big fat tear slipped out of her blue eyes. William tightened the hug he had around her as her breathing quickened. "No!" she wailed, turning into William's pajama shirt, her sobs muffled as she cried.

"Mommy!" Alexis heard her cry. "I want my Mommy."

"Ara," William whispered, comforting her as he stroked a hand over her wild, bed head curls. "I'm so sorry, princess," he said, controlling his own tears.

After a few moments, William picked her up and placed her on his lap, her bird legs wrapping around his waist as she sobbed into his shoulder. He let her cry, kissing her temple every now and then as Alexis watched, a few of her own tears falling. As her sobs subsided into smaller cries, Ara pulled away from William's shoulder, wiping the tears from her face with a uncoordinated swipe of her hand.

"Everything will be okay, I promise," William whispered to her. "And granddads don't make promises they cannot keep. It's against the rules."

Ara sniffled. "I just didn't want her to die."