Hidden Burdens (working title)

Resurrecting Fear

Once it re-occurred to Kimmy what Claudia had suggested, she began her quest to find the courage to ask Ben or Kayla if she could have her tablet unblocked. Since she was given the device, Netflix, Hulu, and even YouTube had parental locks on them. Anything not considered family-friendly for her age was blocked. However, a lot got through on YouTube anyway since the algorithm wasn't perfect and was mostly run by a data system. Kimmy would be rewatching one of Stephen's old Let's Play series and a random video would get skipped or wouldn't play, and Stephen was a lot cleaner than his friend Josh was. Though he had his moments during his Twitch streams when someone gave "bits" for Stephen to sing an improv song on the spot, and sometimes words just flew right out of his mouth that made his wife blush and/or laugh.

Netflix and Hulu weren't too bad either when she could watch some of the cartoons she liked, including shows like Pokémon and other kid-friendly anime shows, and not being able to watch her other shows encouraged Kimmy to give other cartoons a try. When no one was around, she had finally given Disney Plus a chance. One of the first shows she watched was Bluey, to see why Miguel liked it so much, and ended up watching more than she meant to. The cartoon was sometimes comforting, and the parents reminded Kimmy of Ben and Kayla a little.

It would be nice to watch some of her favorites again, though. So one afternoon when it was just her and Ben, Kimmy took her tablet downstairs. Ben was in the kitchen, following a new recipe he found on YouTube.

Kimmy slowly slid along the wall leading to the kitchen, stopping at the end, and cautiously peered around the corner. She ducked back as if Kimmy was trying to be sneaky when she just wanted to get his attention.

Kimmy breathed hard, willing herself to go in there. She asked Ben for a favor before when Kimmy wanted to draw Miguel that picture and it worked out. Why should this be any different? It shouldn't be!

She stole another look around the corner.

This time Ben spotted her. "Need something, kiddo?" He called when Kimmy yanked her head back out of sight again.

Her heart raced so fast that Kimmy chickened out and dashed upstairs again. She dropped on her bed, defeated, burying her face in her pillow.

So far, Ben and John were the only ones she hadn't spoken a word to. Both Kayla and Claudia had heard her speak. It was becoming easier with Claudia, though Kimmy wished the teen hadn't discovered the strategy where all she had to do was pull the words out of her. It may help Kimmy to talk, but it wasn't her favorite. It felt like she was being shoved out of her comfort zone instead of stepping out herself. Though she wouldn't admit it, a push sometimes helped.

With Kayla, however, it was as simple as watching TV together. Now that Kayla let Kimmy join her in something she was familiar with and loved, it helped Kimmy drop her guard. Kayla still never expected Kimmy to talk and still responded to head motions. Kimmy managed a word or two here and there.

As for the guys, it was a different story. Kimmy just could not muster the words to come out no matter what. She figured it would at least be easier with John. The two had already spent so much time together. If Kimmy needed to tell him something, she would write a note. Sure, she was still a little hurt when John took over when she and Ben had been playing basketball outside together. It didn't make her mad anymore and just accepted it.

Eventually, Kimmy ended up waiting for Kayla to get home and asked later that evening after she took out the trash. Though it was still a struggle for her to push the words out, Kimmy managed enough for Kayla to understand.