N-701124 {b. barnes}

XVI

James was jumpy and she couldn't quite figure out why. He refused to look her in the face or even go anywhere near her.

"You're ignoring me." She spoke up as he grabbed the blanket from the floor.

"I'm not."

"You're not even looking at me. Why?"

"Why does it matter?"

She sighed. "Don't tell me why, then. Don't talk to me, see if it matters to me." She grabbed a different blanket. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Where are you going?" 

"You're not talking to me, so why do you care? But if you don't want to be near me I'm sleeping in the other room." 

"Oh."

That was it? No protests? No asking her to stay? Ouch.

She silently slipped into the other room, careful not to disturb Autumn, who slept peacefully in the corner.

Autumn stirred slightly. "Ma?"

"Go back to sleep." Belle murmured. "It's just me." She walked over and kissed her forehead. "I'm just staying in here for the night. Your father is acting weird. I'll be here if you need anything." 

Belle settled down in the opposite corner and wrapped the blanket around herself.

Did she do something wrong? Was that why James was ignoring her?

It seemed like she just barely dozed off when she woke to soft crying. It took a few moments for Belle to realize it was coming from Autumn's corner of the room. She wasn't sure if her daughter even realized she woke her up.

"Ma." She forced out. "Mama."

"It's okay, baby." Belle sat down next to her.

Autumn instantly crawled into her lap and clung to her shirt, sobbing into her chest. Belle held her tightly, rubbing her back.

"I saw them." She sobbed. "They were coming for me, mama, they were coming for me. They were coming for us."

Belle held her tighter. "They won't come for us. They won't get to us, they're not going to separate us. I won't let that happen, I'll do everything I can do make sure that doesn't happen."

Autumn cried and clung to her. All Belle could do was hold her tightly and try to reassure her that everything would be okay.

She eventually stopped crying, but still clung to her shirt. Belle stood up and readjusted her grip on her daughter. She walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

"I'm going to set you at the table, okay?" Belle murmured. "Do you want a glass of water? Fruit?"

"Can I have an apple?" Autumn squeaked.

"Yeah." Belle set her down at the table and kissed the top of your head. "Pieces?"

"Please." She whispered.

Belle took an apple from the counter. "How many pieces?"

"Two."

She cut the apple in half and handed the halves to her daughter. Autumn took them and began nibbling on them. 

Belle looked over at the clock on the wall. It wasn't even five in the morning. The sun would be up soon. It didn't pay to go back to sleep now. She sat down at the table and sighed, putting her head in her hands.

She heard another set of footsteps.

James was awake, too.

He grabbed his journal from atop the fridge and sat down at the last spot at the table. He flipped to an open page and began to write.