Our Angel

Chapter 3 The Look

Hudson woke at eight the next morning and immediately went to Adien's room, worried he would find him awake, or worse yet, find him draped over his work fast asleep. The later had been more normal lately. He tried so hard to avoid sleep that he fell asleep while working. He would thrash in his sleep when he had nightmares, often undoing what he had worked on. 

Hudson knocked on the door then opened it but Adien wasn't there. Hudson started downstairs. He passed Addies room on the way and found the door wide open. Adien was snuggled up next to Addie, both of them fast asleep. Hudson stared in shock. He could see no evidence of any sort of thrashing. Adien actually looked peaceful. He debated waking him, but Adien never slept, and when he did it was far from restful. He needed this.

 Hudson went downstairs and started cooking breakfast. Hannah would be over around eleven, and his brothers should be up before then. He had made waffles, eggs, and bacon by the time the first of his brothers made their way down to the kitchen. Jesse plopped down on a stool and grabbed a waffle; Asher went straight for the bacon.

"Hannah will be over around eleven." Hudson told the boys.

"Why?" Jesse asked.

"We figured it might be nice for Addie to have a girl around. By the way it's your turn to do dishes Jesse."

Asher and Jesse finished eating and went up stories to change around the same time Adien and Addie made their way downstairs.

"How did you guys' sleep?" Hudson asked.

"Great!" Addie said happily, "Adi saved me from the monsters."

Hudson looked at her curiously, surprised by the amount of energy she had. He turned to Adien. "Adi?" He asked.

Adien nodded, "I've discovered this morning that Addie is quiet the bundle of energy and not nearly as shy as she seemed yesterday."

"Adi?" Hudson asked again, a laugh lingering in his tone.

"If anyone but Addie calls me that they're grounded." Adien grumbled.

Hudson laughed. And turned to Addie. "What do you want to eat? Eggs or waffles?"

"Waffles." 

Hudson made Addie a waffle with butter and syrup and set it in front of her.

She frowned. "Will you cut the squares, Udson. I can't do it by myself." she looked at him with big brown eyes that matched his own. "Please!"

"I got it. " Adien said.

But Hudson waved him off and cut Addies waffle for her. 

By the time they finished eating, Asher and Jesse and reappeared and Jordan had his first appearance, just in time to grab a waffle before Jesse started cleaning up. 

"She made a mess of herself." Asher said quietly.

Hudson looked over to see that Addie had somehow completely covered her hands and face in syrup. He moved to clean her up, but Asher beat him to it taking the young girl to the sink, shoving Jesse to the side, and helping her wash her hands and face.

"Ashy will you help me get dressed?" Addie asked. Asher stared at her.

Adien came up behind him, "I can do it if you want me too." He said quietly.

Asher shook his head and walked up the stairs with Addie.

Adien stared after them a look of surprise on his face, but he shook it off.

"Come on." Hudson said. "Let's get ready to go. I can take Addie with me to pick paint and decorations for her room."

Adien nodded, "I'll take Asher with me to get a new bed and some other furniture for her room, Jesse and Jordan can stay here and move his stuff to your room."