Counting To Fifteen [Grey's Anatomy]

chapter eight - first days & blue toyotas

Daisy hadn't had a normal first day of school in years.

Last year, when she had first started middle school, her and Calypso had been living with the Walters. Naturally, that was a nightmare.

The year before that had been Mrs. Price. Mrs. Price was an elderly woman that had fostered Daisy and Calypso for a few months. She was super sweet, but the girls got to be too much for her. They were way too rowdy, and she couldn't really keep up.

The year before that, when Daisy was starting fourth grade, they hadn't had a placement at all. They were in a holding facility, waiting for their new foster assignment. The only person they really kept in contact with was Octavia. Calypso had only been three, so Daisy really was on her own during those times.

And then the year before that was with Dad, of course. But even that year was bizarre. Mom had been gone for eight months, and they were still majorly struggling to get through life without her. Daisy remembered that entire ride, how her and her father drove in a depressing silence to her first day of third grade while a baby Calypso napped in her car seat.

Daisy so desperately wished she could go back to the old days. Mom making pancakes while Dad brewed the coffee in the kitchen, all while Daisy begged to try some of the caffeinated beverage that her parents claimed was only for adults.

Mom and Dad used to laugh together in the kitchen too, joking about things Daisy didn't really understand. Dad used to spin Mom, like they were ballroom dancing or something, and Mom would smile so widely her dimples poked out.

The thought of her parents dancing in the kitchen made Daisy all warm inside. She could hear her mom's laugh, she could picture her dad's grin. That grin had always been his signature. But he stopped using it after Mom had died.

Daisy hated that her father had died, but it almost comforted her in the aspect that he got to be with Mom again. Truthfully, Dad didn't die when the truck hit him. He died as he sat in one of those uncomfortable wooden chairs, holding Mom's hand as the heart monitor freaked out and her face got paler and paler. For his last eleven months after that, he had only been a physical body walking around, nothing else. He was dead inside.

Daisy shivered at her old memories flooding in, wrapping her arms around herself.

"...You okay?" Mark asked as he instinctively reached over to turn the car's heat on, thinking the girl was shivering because of temperature.

Daisy only nodded, keeping her eyes fixated out the window as she watched the passing scenery.

They were in the car, riding to their doom. Daisy's nerves for her first day were through the roof; she was beyond anxious.

Calypso was as excited as ever though, humming a song softly as a set grin was on her face. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about Seattle, but she still drank it all in. The people, the cars, the buildings. It was all so fascinating to her six-year-old eyes.

The car eventually rolled to a stop outside of a big brick building covered in wide glass panes. The steel roof reflected the rare Seattle sunshine, and the shrill shrieks of children yelling in the courtyard made Daisy wince.

Daisy turned back in her seat to face an eager-looking Calypso, whose wide eyes were set on the courtyard of kids.

"If something happens, tell me...okay? And...and be careful. Only use safety scissors. Don't run during recess. Make sure your shoes are always tied. Be careful not to-"

Mark listened as Daisy listed rules on and on, and he was seriously convinced that if given the opportunity, Daisy would send her little sister out into the world fully clothed in bubble-wrap.