Summer Jam (gxg)

16. It's Her

The next few days go by slowly. School is starting again in three weeks, and what have I even accomplished?

I lay in bed, quite a few unread messages and three missed calls from Rachie. In a few hours, she will probably be right at the front door to make sure I am okay if I don't call her back. I leave my phone aside, face down. I don't have the energy to deal with any of this.

I roll on my side, pretending I have not seen the time. It is way too late in the day to still be in bed, and my stomach is starting to growl. I pull the covers above my head.

I hear a knock on my door, and I take a deep breath.

"I brought you some soup", I hear my dad say.

I smile a bit, relieved that it isn't my mom on the other side of the door. I sit up against my pillows before allowing him to come in. He brings me the bowl of soup and sits at the end of my bed. Quietly, he lets me eat in silence for a few minutes, looking down at his hands as if he was still unsure of what he was about to tell me.

"I don't like seeing my girl like that", he finally says.

I drop the spoon in my half-finished soup. His voice annoys me, but I try to keep a straight face. My dad never annoys me, and I don't want today to be a first. I stay silent by lack of words, and he takes it as an invitation to keep on talking. I put the bowl aside, and I look down at my hands.

"I haven't recognized my little girl lately. I don't know what is going on, but..."

And he talks and talks until one of his sentences catches my attention.

"It's Rachel, isn't it?"

My face warms up, and I turn my head towards my dad. When has it not been Rachel? Everytime I smile, I cry, I sleep, I wake up. Everytime I succeed, everytime I fail. It's Rachel, it's Rachel, it's Rachel. And my dad has seen it all when no one could, when I thought I was able to keep it all inside.

I nod my head and I reach out to hug my dad, allowing myself to cry in his arms. Biquette comes in the room, her little paws clicking on the ground, before jumping on my bed to lay against my leg. With them both, even with Rachel away, I may still feel empty, but I am not alone.

He kisses my forehead before leaving with the now cold bowl of soup. I want to ask how he knew, but in the end the answer doesn't matter. Instead, I call out his name as I hear him climbing his first steps into the stairs.

"Dad?"

He stops in his tracks, and the stairs stop creaking.

"If Rachel comes by, can you... can you tell her I am sick and sleeping?"

"Of course Jamie."

I lay back in my bed, and I grab my phone to text Sarah. I need a distraction.

***

"Oh dear, she got up!"

I let go of Willy's hand and I look up from the baby to my mom, trying to ignore her smug grin and not to roll my eyes at her comment. She suddenly smiles, her harsh features lightening up, and I fear what is to come.

"Here, why don't you feed him?"

She hands me his warmed bottle of milk, and I understand it was more of a statement than a question. I idly stand there, the bottle awkwardly in my hands, and mom stares at me with her hands on her hips, the smile entirely gone and replaced by a stern expression.

"Oh, you haven't fed him before, haven't you?"

She sighs, grabs my brother's blanket and lays it on my shoulder, gesturing for me to sit down by the crib. The baby seems upset at the loss of his blanket, but before he can cry she grabs him and place him on my lap. He happily puts the blanket back in his mouth before smiling at me.

Mom stays with me in silence until the whole bottle has been emptied. She pats my shoulder before putting Little Willy back in his crib, and I can't help but to smile at the gesture.

"I am assuming I can now count on you to feed him when you are home?"

Again, not a question, but I am happy that she trusts me. I place the blanket on his little shoulders, and I stay with him until he falls asleep. 

♡♡♡

Weird family dynamic, I know... but after all, what family isn't weird?