Rose petals

Chapter 18

She's been awfully silent since we came home from the arcade. My chatter box little girl has barely said a sentence to me and I'm not sure why. Cassidy and Rachel came to pick the kids up while I took Kai, Elle and Emerson home. Athena had called during the day to let us know she wouldn't be home till tomorrow morning and so we decided to go to our house and have a sleepover there instead.

The entire car ride there I played Elle's favourite playlist, but not once did she sing along to the them. Her eyes were glued to the window while the boys spoke among themselves.

By the time we got home, the boys were fast asleep but Elle was far from it. After helping her out of the car, I picked up both boys and unlocked the front door before carrying them into the lounge. I laid them down on the couch and put a blanket over them before walking back outside and bringing all their prizes inside.

I may or may not have had to make the guy open the claw machine a few more times but a prize is a prize. 

"Elle, baby are you hungry?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen to see a fully stocked fridge, courtesy of my sister.

I didn't get a response. She's usually the loudest but she didn't say a single word to even let me know if she heard me. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I walked out of the kitchen and looked around for her. She wasn't in the lounge where the boys were sleeping, she wasn't in the dining room, and she wasn't in her teepee in the corner of the lounge.

Making my way upstairs, I poked my head into my bedroom and looked around for her, nothing. Walking into her room, there was no sign that she even breathed in here. If it weren't for her discarded pink sneakers that she wore earlier today, I wouldn't think she came here at all.

Silently opening her closet door, I saw a soft light coming from the little door that lead to her 'secret room'. I made sure not to make a single noise as I slowly opened the door to see her cuddled up in the corner with Everly's phone in her hands, watching videos. 

"Hey baby, what's up?" I asked softly as she jumped in surprise and glanced at me before turning away. "Cmon Ellie bear, don't make me get you." I teased as I gently tugged her foot.

"Go away." She mumbled as my smile instantly disappeared.

"I will absolutely not go away when you're sad, come on." I said as I moved further in and tugged her foot again.

Pulling her foot back, she pulled her legs up to her chest and kept her eyes glued to the phone in her hands. The sound of Everly's laughter filling in the momentary silence.

"You'll just forget about us too." She whispered, almost inaudibly.

"What makes you say that, baby girl? How could I ever forget about the two cheekiest kids in the world?" I asked hoping to lighten up her mood a little.

"You forgot about mommy." She said as I looked at her in confusion.

Before I could ask anything further, she sat up straight and pushed my head out of the doorway before closing the door. I tried to push it back open but I felt something against it and figured she was probably sat in front of it to stop me from opening it again.

Sighing, I knocked on the door and patiently waited for some sort of response. When I didn't get one, I knocked once again and this time I heard sniffles.

"I won't come in, love, but you gotta tell me what the problem is so I can fix it." I said softly as I strained my ears trying to hear something...anything.

"You were talking to a girl on the phone before and you looked like Aladdin when he talks about Jasmine. And...and you always said that you'll always love mommy and you'll never ever love anyone else because you can only have one queen and she was your queen, but you're finding another queen." She cried as I gently pushed the door open.