Mummy, Daddy and Me

Left then right (OCD TW)

Phoebe
"Mama no! You're doing it wrong!" Jess screeched, grabbing hold of the box in my hands. I sighed and let her take it. She put it back where I got it from and went to get another. As she turned, she shouted at Carter. "No daddy! Left then right!"
Carter and I shared an exasperated look before Ellie came in and put a box by another set of boxes. "No Ellie! You have to put it on top of it so it makes piles of three!"
There was silence for a second and Jess went over to the box. "If you've got a fucking problem with the way we're doing things Jess, do it yourself." Ellie mumbled angrily, she kicked the box and stalked off outside.
Jess looked like a little dear in headlights and spun her head around, confused as to why we were all annoyed.
"She jus- she needs piles of three so- so I just wanted- hm," she mumbled and shuffled her feet as we watched her.
"Does she need piles of three or do you want piles of three?" Carter asked as Ellie brought in another box.
"We need them." Jess' voice turned hard and her eyes squinted at him. She looked like a bull about to attack. Not to mention her fists were balled.
"We only need them because your brain is wired wrong," Ellie grumbled. She said it quietly but the silence in the room meant we all heard it. My mouth fell open- it was mean. Jess' head whipped round to look at Ellie and she snarled.
"It's not wrong!" She practically screamed.
"'Left then right', 'piles of three!' Jess be fucking normal!" Ellie replied, putting her box next to a pile of two and throwing about her arms. I swear she was winding her up on purpose.
Jess looked around at us, her face red from upset and anger. I sighed. Obviously, her head wasn't wired wrong just differently but sometimes, as much as I adored her and will always adore her, her 'help' was not appreciated the way she wanted it to be. All morning she'd been ordering us around in her way and making sure we all did it 'right' but at the end of the day, we just wanted the boxes in. She hadn't brought any in from the cars or vans. She'd just been bossy and stressing and telling us all off. I knew she was stressed and this ordering was her way of keeping herself calm and it got her involved in the house moving but it was so demanding and stressful. The weather was hot and we had hundreds of boxes so it was just adding more and more stress to the situation.
"It's not wrong," Jess said again- more to herself. Her shoulders slumped and I just watched as she processed the information.
"Ellie, please apologise and tell her it's not wrong." I pleaded and pointed to the upset Jess stood in the middle of the room.
"Why? She's been non stop stressing and bossing all morning and you guys aren't standing up for yourselves! I want to and I will. I'm not apologising." She crossed her arms defiantly.
"I'm not bossy either!" Jess whined, stomping her feet a little. Ellie just laughed which made me upset with her.
"We'll go get more boxes," Carter mumbled and walked out the room, dragging Ellie behind him by her wrist. She was in trouble now.

I watched Jess for a moment as she processed it all. I was unsure on how to proceed. I was upset and stressed because Jess had been processing her upset and stress all morning.
"I'm not wrong mama," she whined, looking at me with tears in her eyes.
I shook my head, "no daring. You're not wrong." I took a step towards her and grabbed her hand. "Let's go sit outside, hm?" I began walking us through the maze of boxes towards the big patio doors. I opened them with ease and she followed me solemnly. We didn't have any outside furniture so I took her to the edge of the patio and sat myself down. She sat next to me and wrapped her arms around her legs- holding them close to her chest.
"Your head isn't wired wrong baby. Ellie didn't mean it like that," I said. "There's nothing wrong with you at all." I brushed my hand through her knotty hair. We'd hardly had any time for baths or showers the last couple of days.
"Hm I bossy," she grumbled.
"You just want things to be right baby. Sometimes, the way you say things come across a bit bossy but you have no ill intentions and that's what is important."
She whimpered and put her head in her knees.
"If nothing is done right then the house is all wrong and I can't live here if it's wrong because it won't be right and it will be scary and it might collapse or we might be broken into. It's not safe if it's all done wrong. I just want to feel safe but everyone makes it so hard." She'd completely come out of her headspace now and I felt so bad for her. She only ever comes out of her headspace in these situations when she feels like she's not being listened to.
"I understand that." I said softly, moving closer to her. "But what you have to try and remember darling is that you ordering us all around. Correcting us constantly and moving things we put down is stressful for us. We're all stressed, struggling. We're hot and sweaty and tired- we've hardly slept and we all need some rest. We aren't purposely making it more difficult for you. We don't want you to not feel safe, especially in a new house but we all just have to be a bit nicer to each other." She sighed heavily and pulled her knees closer to her chest.
"I want to go back to our house." Her noice was small and meek but she was still in her adult headspace.
"This is our house now," I put my head on her back and rubbed her arms in a comforting way. She only sighed.

Half an hour later, Carter came out with an excellent suggestion.
"Hey buttercup," he mumbled and took a seat beside her.
"Hi," she mumbled back, picking at some grass.
"How do you feel about heading up to your new bedroom and helping me sort it out? Or, we could go shopping and get the things to decorate it! I was going to wait til tomorrow but I think you need to get away from the house for a little while." I smiled at him appreciatively. He was so considerate. He winked at me and I blushed.
"Is Ellie coming?"
"Nope, just you and me baby." He sniggered and put some hair behind her ear. Jess stayed silent, thinking about it.
"For my little room or big girl room?"
"Which ever one you want!"
Eventually, Jess nodded and she stood up. Carter got up and offered me a hand to get myself up.

Once they'd left, I walked over to Ellie and just pulled her into my arms. She was a bit taken aback, probably thinking that I'd be upset with her for what she said. Although I was, although I think her words were unnecessary, I completely understood where she was coming from.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled in my chest after a minute.
"Me too baby," I sighed and kissed her head.
"It's so stressful when we just want to get it done."
"I know and it always will be but hopefully, we can get a lot done now she's gone and then start unpacking a bit. Yeah?" She nodded and smiled, pulling back.
"Carter said he's going to bring maccies home." She giggled a little.
"That's good. Let's stick some ABBA on and get to work yeah?"
"Yeah!" She giggled. I held my hand up for a high five.
"Dream team?"
"Dream team!"