HAPPINESS I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR

Chapter 72

Today is the day Elia is gonna meet with The Drew's.

With her parents of course.

They've discussed that they should do it maybe 2 or 3 days before going back to Atlanta but Elia said she wants to do it sooner rather than later. She can't keep it anymore.

So, after last night's conversation at dinner with the grandparents. They agreed to go today.

When Elia gets back home from her Grammie's, she locks herself up in her room once again. She did say to her parents that she misses them, she wants their hugs and everything but if she didn't know everything yet, they have to hold it.

They took everything at Elia's pace.

But what worries the parents is that they're gonna have dinner with a whole lot of Olsen's today. What if something goes wrong when Elia comes visiting The Drew's? Well if it goes wrong, Lizzie and Seb will surely cancel their presence at dinner because Elia always comes first.

Elia awakes from her nightmares again this morning. She slept for 2 hours only. Day by day, the amount of her getting a good night sleep cut short and it was exhausting. Mentally and physically.

So, here she was

eating her cereal in the kitchen at 9 in the morning. Alone with her own thoughts.

It's always the same nightmares. It's always about 'that day' and after knowing that The Drew's was the culprit behind it, they are also the main one in her nightmares.

"Good morning baby"

Right. Not alone anymore.

Elia looked in front of her and saw her mother staring at her lovingly and concerned. Elia knows that face expression all too well.

Elia just smiles in return.

"I was just about to make breakfast. Do you want anything?" Lizzie asks after looking at Elia's cereal bowl subtly.

Elia just shakes her heads no in response

"I'm full already"

Lies of course.

"Please? Your cereal looks soggy already and it's half full than your normal portion. You must have just 2 or 3 spoonfuls of your cereal. It's not making you full and you'll get sick if you keep avoiding eating" Lizzie pleads her case.

"How long did you sleep?" Lizzie asks once again as she notices the exhaustion and the dark circle under her daughter's eye.

Elia just looks down and stares at her cereal bowl.

Lizzie softens at the realization that hitting her

"Do you get your nightmares again?" Lizzie asks softly as she walks over and sits next to Elia, turning Elia to face her in the face.

After Elia's confession last night at the dinner table, she knows how her daughter struggles to sleep. And it didn't ease her mind at all that Elia couldn't come to them. She wants to come to them but she doesn't want to.

All Lizzie wants to do right now is to hug her Adelaine but she can't. She doesn't want to spook Eliana. She's worried if she tests the boundaries then all of the progress they make will have a setback.

It's so hard to reach this level just to make Elia have dinner with them in the same room and to even look them in the eye.

"Can you do me a favor? I know we're not in the best term right now but you're my daughter, my everything. So can you come to me every time you have nightmares again? Your health is so important Eli. I don't want you to go through this. It's not healthy"