Marjoreece - Date Night

Autumn Reveals More

A/N - ok, so i did say the next chapter would be fluff,  but it's a bit turned out a bit angsty as I came up with this idea while writing it, and it just sort of happened. I do quite like exploring what could have happened in the siblings' past, though that has made them the people they are.

Reece pulled up in the carpark of Marjories nursery and watched as Marjorie got out of the car. She looked back in at him before asking, "You not walking me in?"
"Not this morning gorgeous, you think Aut had a few choice words for you in those messages, what she sent me was ten times worse. I think it's best you go in without me. Chances are I'd just make the situation worse."
She shook her head and smiled to herself as she walked away to go and face her deputy.
"Marjorie! Thank god you're here!" Char said as she came out of the toddler room with the remnants of snack time. "I don't know what's wrong with Autumn, but she is on the warpath. I have no idea what's made her so annoyed."
Marjorie blushed slightly, "I think it's partly mine and Reeces' fault. I'll go talk to her."
"I don't understand how is it yours and....oooohhhh... never mind, I don't want to know." She said, catching the look on Marjories face while she was mid sentence. "Good luck, Marjorie." She said casually before muttering,"You're going to need it," under her breath.
Marjorie took a deep breath, steeling herself for the storm ahead as she put her hand on the door handle of the office.
"Morning Autumn." Marjorie said in a cheery voice as she walked into the office.
"You're late." Autumn fixed Marjorie with a cold stare.
"Ah, but I'm here. I didn't call in sick."
"Can you and my brother really not keep your hands off of each other for long enough to at least turn up on time? Speaking of my brother, where is he? Didn't bring you in this morning?"
"He did, but he just dropped me off and left. He needed to get to his nursery."
"Hmm, well, if he could get you here on time, he wouldn't need to rush off."
Marjorie rolled her eyes and sat down at her desk to start working, hoping that was the end of the conversation. The more she thought, though, the more she wanted to ask Autumn about Reeces' art. She had no idea he was that talented, and she never would have guessed he enjoyed drawing. It also seemed to be another comfort thing for him. Kind of like the star gazing, and she couldn't help but want to know more.
"Actually, Autumn," she started carefully. "I caught Reece doing something this morning that really surprised me, and that's part of the reason I'm so late."
"Marjorie, I don't want to know what he or the two of you get up to. It's disgusting enough that anyone is even interested in my brother, let alone someone I have to share an office with 9 hours a day."
"Autumn!!! It's nothing like that, OK? When I woke up this morning, he was drawing. I think it was a bit of a self soothing thing after yesterday, like a safety thing like the stargazing, but I just never had Reece down as the artistic type, you know? I just wondered if he did it often."
"I had no idea he still did it if I'm honest, but he did when we were children. It started as something he did for me."
"What do you mean for you?" Marjorie asked, trying to keep her voice level and calm even though she was excited at the prospect of Autumn opening up about something from her past.
Autumn sighed. "Before our mother left, our parents argued a lot. After she left, our father was just a monster. Reece tried to keep me from as much of it as he could, which wasn't easy considering he's only 2 years older than me. When there was fighting downstairs, he would put his headphones on me and turn up music really loudly while he went to come between our parents or after our mother left, he would make up stories for me. As part of that, he would draw the characters he created, do their voices, and everything. It developed from there. He would sit and draw me and my friends playing when he was looking after us, my favourite characters from TV or books. When it was really bad with our father, he used to let me sleep in his room to keep me safe. He never slept those night's, he always felt like he needed to be on guard. He doesn't know i know that, but  I found pictures of me sleeping that he must have done to keep his mind occupied while he was just sat there. He'd hide them before I woke up, but I found a case one day just full of sketches and all the cartoons he'd ever done for me."
"He showed me that this morning after I'd caught him. Some of them are incredible. I don't know why he's never made more of that talent."
"Marjorie, our father, is why he never made more of it. He was always disappointed that Reece wasn't as academically inclined as myself, although I don't think that was Reeces' choice, I blame our father. When he found out he was artistic, our father hit the roof and banned him from drawing. I know he did carry on in secret for a bit, but I didn't know he'd kept it hidden this long."
"Why is it your father's fault Reece didn't do well in school?"
"Reece was forced into doing a lot of sport at school which took up a lot of time, don't get me wrong he did excel at it but his heart wasn't really in it, he would have preferred devoting more time to art or science but wasnt given the opportunity.  He had to be a man and play all these sports. Also, he never had anyone turn up for any sporting event, assembly, parents evening, or anything after our mother left. He didn't want me to experience that, so he was trying to manage his school schedule and mine. He never missed any event of mine, even if that meant missing a class or a practice or game. The amount of punishments he took from our father for cutting school when, in reality, all he was doing was being there for me and our father didn't realise or care was unbelievable. He was a disappointment apparently for throwing away his chance at a top-class education." Autumn rolled her eyes at her last comment, knowing how ridiculous it was.
"Wait, in that manager meeting when Roger told us he'd hired Mia, he said to Reece then about still being a disappointment, much like he was as a child. That's what he was referring to? The fact he didn't do as well in school as he could have because he was trying to be there for you? I know Reece has already punched him, and you took a bat to his Maserati, but he really needs to get what's coming to him and soon."
"Hopefully, once this takeover is done, he will, Marjorie. And hopefully, it will be soon. I really would love for him to be out of our lives before...."
"Before what?"
"Before... the end of the summer. Just so we can get everything sorted and on track, you know." Autumn was cursing herself for almost letting slip about the baby. It wasn't long after that the nausea hit her. "Excuse me, Marjorie, I need to use the loo." She said, leaving the office.
Marjorie watched her rush out, "That's strange. She's been doing that a lot lately."