The White Queen (S.Rogers)

Chapter 29

Brooklyn put the last glass into the dish drainer, sighing in disgust at the pan soaking in the sink, still. The caramel she had tried to cook, which had turned to charcoal, had been a bad idea. She had seen something about it on TV, and figured that caramel and apples sounded good. She liked caramel. She liked apples, so combining the two made sense to her. So she had tried to make the caramel, following an 'easy' recipe found online.

It had not gone to plan.

Instead, now she had a pan that she would have to deal with in the morning.

She rinsed out the sponge, squeezing it dry, before putting it on the side of the sink, drying her hands on the towel, before hanging it back on the handle of the oven. The jaunty Hawaiian theme music for the DVD Juliana had chosen was now on a loop, the screen showing the menu options, a blue alien thing smiling with a native Hawaiian girl in a red dress with flowers on it. The movie had been off for a while now, making her wonder why Steve had not turned it off.

Going into the living room, she walked around the end of the couch, coming to a stop when she saw the scene. Steve was laying, mostly down, on the couch, his head and shoulders propped up by the end of the couch, Juliana stretched out on him. He was rubbing her back, watching as she slept, her finger in her mouth. Brooklyn came around the front of the couch, picking up the remote, and turning the DVD off.

"She sleeps so...." Steve shook his head. "I don't know the word for it, without sounding trite."

"Innocent." Brooklyn supplied. "Like an angel that doesn't know she's on earth, yet."

He nodded. "Yeah, that's a good description for it."

"I look at her, sometimes, and I think, this is proof. Proof that there is real goodness on this earth. And that is enough to keep it going. Then I realize, life is going to get to her, one day, and that light is going to shine just a little bit dimmer. My only hope is that it never goes out." She smiled fondly down at her sister.

"It' something worth fighting for, isn't it?" Steve asked, smiling at her. "Something to keep in your back pocket, on the rough days."

Brooklyn bent down, and brushed some hair out of her sister's face. "Be that as it may, our little light here, needs to be put to bed. School starts the day after tomorrow."

"I can take her." Steve shuffled, holding Juliana with one arm, while pushing himself up with the other and swinging his legs to the floor. "I need to use the restroom, anyhow."

She watched as he raised himself to his feet, holding Juliana close. Her hands were held out, ready to catch her sister, not that she actually thought that Steve would drop her. It was second nature, she figured. Her sister looked so small and fragile against the large body of the super soldier. A flash of rage rose in her, that the arms holding her sister belonged to the wrong soldier. For a moment, she wallowed in the feelings of resentment towards her father, who had left them.

Juliana should be put to bed each night by her Papa. He should be the one here, to take care of her.

But Brooklyn had to deal with what was, and not what wasn't. Steve may not be the father that Juliana needed, but he was close enough to be the man that she could have, if only for right now.

Taking a deep breath, watching as Steve padded down the hall on sure, bare feet, she pushed the feelings down, locking them away. They would help no one, least of all her or her sister. Steve may not be the male that she wanted to have in her sister's life, but he was the one who was here, willing to do the job.

She turned off the TV, following them down the hall, her feet moving silently over the worn, wooden floor. Leaning against the wall across from her sister's bedroom door, she watched as Steve gently put Juliana down on her bed, before pulling the blankets up over her sleeping form, using the hall light for illumination. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to her head, before turning on the night light, and coming out of the room, shutting the door gently behind him.