In The Bird Song | TWD

chapter 43 - Rosebud

Harlow pov

I wake up with a start to the sound of screaming which despite not being an uncommon occurrence in the unit, becomes increasingly concerning once my sleep addled brain deciphers that I am not in fact under a stage but rather in carls bedroom. Shit.

"HARLEY! HARLEY!" Izzy screams louder and louder which paired with posy's frantic barking, creates a cacophony of sound. "ITS OKAY IZZY IM STILL HERE!" I shout back to her as I stumble out of bed and down the hall to our room. I throw open the door and run over to the distressed child who is sitting up with a tear-streaked face clutching posy's fur in a death grip. "Hey little love, I'm here, you're okay." I sooth, scooping Izzy up onto my lap so she can bury her face in the crook of my neck. "w-woke up and you were gone!" she chokes hysterically as I rub calming circles on her back.

"I'm sorry little love, I was just in the other room I didn't mean to scare you." I apologise before promising "you don't need to worry about me disappearing. I swear I will never choose to leave you on your own. It's me and you remember?" Izzy's cry's fade away into small sniffles and her trembling becomes less violent. "Me and you" she reiterates and I smile "always."

After a short pause Izzy mumbles almost reluctantly "I dreamed 'bout mummy." My heart sinks. "Was it a good or bad dream?" I ask gently brushing the hair out her face. Izzy pulls away to look at me, scrunching up her face into her thinking expression before sniffling "both."

"You wanna talk about it?" I ask but Izzy shakes her head so I don't push. "Alright then how about we go get some breakfast" I offer trying to sound up beat however Izzy just looks at me funny and tilts her head "breakfast?" she questions slowly like she is testing out the word on her tongue.

My eyebrows furrow in disbelief "You must remember breakfast" I say, not quite able to process the idea of a six-year-old not knowing what breakfast is. "Its..." Izzy trails of deep in thought like she is trying to dig up some long-forgotten memory before saying questioningly "morning food?" Izzy bites her lip looking at me for confirmation and I am suddenly struck all over again by how little Izzy remembers. "Yeah, you got it" I praise lightly whilst masking the sadness that has rooted deep inside me.

Izzy grins proudly and climbs of my lap so she can confidently stride to the door and hold her hand out to me. "Hurry Harley, we got to catch breakfast!" she insists impatiently causing me to role my eyes at her bossy tone before I walk over to take her hand in mind "As the princess wishes."

However, the doorway is quickly blocked before we can go anywhere by posy who darts between our legs and promptly plants her giant bum in front of us with a waging tail and head held aloft obviously waiting for her good morning scratches. I chuckle fondly apologising "Oh I'm sorry did I forgot about you?" before crouching down and planting an exaggerated kiss on the ridiculous dog's nose making sure to give her a good scratch behind the ears as I do so. once posy decides she has received a sufficient amount of love from me she gives my face a sloppy lick which I happily allow because it's her way of saying she loves me. I stand back up so Izzy can wrap her small arms around the bear like dog the same way she does every morning and night before I retake her hand in mine and the three of us begin our trek down to the kitchen.

As we walk I briefly consider waking carl up but decide to just let him sleep after such a late night, on the way down the stairs Izzy starts jumping down each step instead of walking like a normal person for seemingly no reason other than that impulsive spontaneity all children seem to possess. I smile softly at her childlike antics that have become rare in the weeks since I killed her mother feeling both apprehension and contentment. On one hand I am relived that freedom has given Izzy back a bit of her old self, but on the other hand her happiness only makes me dread telling her about Annette even more than I already did. My hands shake as the name crosses my mind and my heart lurches like its trying to break free of my chest and fly back to my baby girl in her wicker basket casket.