ATARAXIA • BELLAMY BLAKE

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Freya clutched the stuffed animal closely to her chest, her other hand carrying its torn off arm as she knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" asked a faint feminine voice from the other side.

"It's me," she replied.

"Just a second."

Freya waited patiently as usual while some shuffling could be heard inside. It always took them a while to answer the door, something Freya recently had noticed to be unparalleled in other households she had visited.

When the door finally opened, she was met by the sweet grin of her friend. "Hi," he greeted happily with a squeaky voice.

Freya wasn't as happy herself, though, and Bellamy's eyes soon fell to the teddy bear in her arms. He opened the door a little further for her to walk inside. "Mom."

Aurora walked over, immediately sending the girl a warm smile as she crouched down to her level. "Let me take a look."

Freya handed over her teddy, a frown on her face. "Don't you worry, sweetheart. I'll sew Mr. Snuggles back together in no time, hm?"

She went towards her closet and grabbed the box that contained her sewing kit before sitting down at the table. Freya stood beside her, watching intently as Aurora got to work like she had so many times before.

A light tapping noise could be heard coming from underneath them, but Freya didn't seem to notice. Aurora cleared her throat to conceal the noise a bit before patting the seat next to her as an invitation.

"Dad didn't mean to," Freya told her. She then sat down on the chair and rested her head in her palm while she watched Aurora finish up her stitch.

She nodded in understanding just as Bellamy sat down on a chair opposite of them. "Yes, he did."

"Bellamy," Aurora warned.

"But, mom—"

"There," she interrupted him, handing Freya the teddy back. She sent Bellamy a stern look that Freya didn't notice.

The girl pulled at the bear's arm a little, earning a small laugh from Aurora. "See? It's back in place as if nothing ever happened."

Mr. Snuggles was a very special bear to Freya. Her mother had gotten him for her when she was a baby, but Freya hadn't used it much until after her mother had passed.

He was missing an eye and had stitches sewn in places that wouldn't normally be sewn as the result of having been pulled apart from time to time. Freya's father thought that she ought to throw the bear out — that she had been too old to sleep with it ever since she had started school earlier that year.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Freya excitedly just before what sounded like a whine could be heard.

She immediately looked at Bellamy, having thought that he had been the one to make the sound. "Are you okay, Bell? Do you want Mr. Snuggles to cheer you up?"

She got up from her seat to walk over to Bellamy, handing him the teddy, but he didn't take it. "It's okay, you can borrow him for a bit," she assured.

The look that Bellamy sent his mother across the table was one that went straight over her head. Bellamy then looked at Freya once more.

"No, thanks. I feel better already," he told her, relieved that the girl thought it was only him.

It was then that a choked sob could be heard, but this time Freya thought it sounded as if it had come from the floor.

"What was that?" she asked curiously, holding her teddy by only its arm as she took a few steps away from the table.