What We Once Were

Chapter 3.

The next morning Bridget decided to take her daughter to the Wildflower Diner, her favorite restaurant in town. As she walked into the bedroom Juliet was staying in, Bridget took a moment to admire and appreciate the sight and how adorable Juliet looked when she was asleep.

Her raven black hair was sprawled on the pillow, her little mouth was open ever so slightly and her pink pajamas were hidden beneath the yellow and white floral quilt. Clutched in Juliet's arms was her purple fuzzy covered dream journal, something Bridget had told her about last year when Juliet began having frequent nightmares.

Bridget got them too, she'd had them throughout high school and they'd gotten worse since she'd left Woodland. But as soon as Juliet continued to get nightmares for days, Bridget had to come up with an idea about how to deal with them. Thus, she decided to try the Dream Journal. Bridget had done this before and it had helped to get those nightmares out of her head and on to paper, that way she wasn't dwelling on it as much. 

For the last eight months since Bridget had given Juliet about the journal, Juliet wrote down every dream she could remember, both good and bad. Sometimes at the breakfast table back in New York, they'd share theirs with each other, both good and bad dreams. Of course, Bridget toned her nightmares down because she couldn't bear the thought of plaguing her daughter's sweet and innocent mind with the horrors that lurked in Bridget's own head. Nonetheless, Bridget was happy Juliet wanted to talk to her and ask her questions about her nightmares because Bridget had never, ever told her mom about any of this or the darkness that lived inside her. Bridget cherished that she was closer to her daughter and felt more like a mother to Juliet than Alex ever was to her. She hoped their bond would only strengthen as Juliet grew up.

The other object in Juliet's arms that she refused to sleep without was the hardcover copy of the Nancy Drew book Bridget had gotten her for Christmas last year. Like her mother, Juliet loved mysteries and puzzles, putting the clues together to figure out 'whodunit' was yet another thing they bonded over. Bridget loved that Juliet proudly told everyone that her mom was like Nancy Drew and Scooby Doo but better because the mysteries she got to solve were in real life, not like the fictional books she liked to read. Bridget had been overwhelmed with pride and adoration for her daughter the day Juliet announced that she wanted to be just like her mom when she grew up.

Bridget crouched at Juliet's bedside and gently stroked her gnarly hair from her face. "Jules? Hey, you ready to wake up?" Bridget asked softly, with a smile on her face.
Juliet moaned and rubbed her eyes, "No, I sleepy."

Bridget chuckled, "Okay then, I guess you'll have to wait for my surprise then."

Juliet's eyes opened wide but she didn't move from her position. "What surprise?"

"How about you and I go to breakfast at my favorite restaurant? Just the two of us." Bridget asked, already knowing the answer.

Juliet gave her mother the biggest smile she could, "Just us? Yes! Yes, yes yes! Can we go now?" She leaped out of bed charged with energy to last for the first half of the day.

"Of course, but get dressed and be quiet please ok? We don't want to wake Grandma." Bridget whispered, putting a finger to her lips.

"Oh, sorry Mommy. Can you help me get dressed? Shirts are hard." Juliet whispered back.

Bridget smiled to herself, cherishing these limited moments she had with her daughter about accomplishing simple and everyday tasks. "Sure thing, what do you want to wear?" She took Juliet's hand as they walked over to the closet where Bridget had hung up all Juliet's clothes yesterday.

"Umm," Juliet tapped her little chin, "My flower jeans and my pink shirt, and my jean jacket. The dark one, not the light one, please."

Bridget handed her the clothes and helped Juliet put on her shirt and brush her teeth before they both crept out of the house like spies. Like Bridget, Juliet had an active imagination and Bridget found that if she made any task a game or added a little fun to it, Juliet would excel in her role.