Out Of Reach

3: Daylight

"Woohoo!" A loud voice cried before there was a loud thud.

Rosa ran from the kitchen to find a beanbag at the bottom of the stairs cradling a small boy.

"Rachel, it worked!" He called up the stairs as he scrambled out of the beanbag.

"I can't believe you jumped 5 steps." Rachel replied from somewhere above.

"I'm gonna make it 6." Lance replied confidently. He hopped up another step then turned.

"No, no, no!" Rosa cried out and Lance haunted having to catch the rail by the stairs. "Don't mi hijo, por favour."

"Oh." And Lance looked so disappointed at the idea of having to stop. "Please mama?"

"Honestly you're going to be the death of me." Rosa said gently as she met him halfway. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"But I didn't." Lance argued.

"But you could have." She reminded.

"But I didn't." Lance frowned. "I want to be brave."

"You are the bravest child I know." Rosa whispered. "But please, please don't give your mother a heart attack."

"Okay mama." Lance nodded softly.

"So we're stopping at 5?" Rachel asked as she joined them on the stairs.

"Yeah." Lance sighed solemnly.

"Hold on, did you try this?" Rosa asked looking at Rachel.

"Nope, I was being the officiator." She answered proudly. "I don't want to jump down the stairs into a beanbag, it could hurt."

Rosa offered her youngest daughter a flat stare. "And you thought it was a good idea to let Lance do it?"

"Yeah, he's an idiot."

"I am not!" Lance protested.

"Alright you two, I know you don't like being cooped up, but can you please find something else to do?" She asked softly. "Literally anything else."

The twins shared a glance.

With Lance sat on the window sill colouring and Rachel helping Rosa cook the house seemed fairly quiet.

The other McClain's were out either on the farm or heading into town to work.

It had been tough recently on not just them as a family but on the entire planet.

Ever since they came.

"Why do the Galran's stay?" Rachel asked as if she could read Rosa's mind.

"Because our planet is good." Rosa answered.

"And pretty." Lance grinned brightly.

Rosa smiled back. "That it is."

"But I want to go outside!" Rachel complained. "It's boring in here."

"But mama said-" Lance had turned too quickly on the sill and his body had pitched backwards.

His small hands scrambled to catch the window frame but he disappeared swiftly out of the window entirely.

"Lance!" Rachel screamed.

Rosa leant out the window as far as she could to see Lance laying on the grass, he winced as he sat up and looked slightly dazed, but that was to be expected.

"I'm okay." Lance grumbled blinking slowly.

Rosa held her hand out to him. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Si mama." Lance assured and got to his feet when a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him up.

"What are you all doing?" André asked as he placed Lance on his shoulders. "Rolling in the grass, leaning out of windows."

"I fell out the window." Lance explained.

"You have to be the clumsiest boy I know." André chuckled. "But let's get you back inside now, okay?"

"Okay papa."

~~~

Rosa stirred.

Something had roused her from sleep, an old instinct, a mother's instinct.

She shuffled down the stairs, the house that her children had grown up in until the Galran's came in full force.

A house that didn't take them long to restore and now they were back home.

Home.

She stopped in the kitchen and her eyes widened.

Lance was leaning against the counter taking harsh rapid breaths.

"Lance." She breathed.

His eyes snapped to her and he actually held his breath, his grip on the counter tightened and she was worried for an instant that he was going to have a stroke.

"Hey, mi hijo." She moved slowly and cautiously toward him. "It's okay, you're here. You're here with us."

Lance just stared at her. He still wasn't breathing.

"Lance, please."

"Ma?" Lance's voice sounded as if he was young again, small and her and... And when he hadn't seen the pain of the world.

She nodded. "Si mi hijo, lo siento."

And he crumbled. It was like his legs had given out as he lowered himself to the floor.

She went after him, kneeling by his side.

"M'sorry." He mumbled shaking his head. His forehead pressed into the heel of his hand as he rocked himself. "It was just a dream."

"Don't you dare apologise." Rosa warned taking a gentle hold of his wrist. "I'm just so sorry that you have been hurt."

Lance met her gaze. Something dark lingered behind the watery look. "I didn't want to wake you."

"I'm a mother." She said softly. "I wake with ease."

The two sat in silence for a while. Waiting for Lance's breathing to level out.

He appeared exhausted.

"We wore you out today." Rosa smiled brushing his hair from his face. "Made you over tired."

Lance gave her a fleeting smile as he caught her wrist leaning into her touch. "No I... I really enjoyed it."

"We can do it all again." She assured. This was where he should have been all along.

The sound of a car stopping on the drive had Rosa glancing toward the door.

Lance had tensed slightly but he quickly relaxed.

"No Galran drives a car." Lance explained softly. "Not as far as I'm aware anyway."

"Let's go see who that is." Rosa rose to her feet and held her hand out to Lance.