Neighbors

S I X

The next morning, Sadie woke Bryce and I by rushing in and obnoxiously singing her versions of popular Disney tunes. Bryce sleepily grumbled from his spot on the floor where he fell asleep. He pulled his blanket over his head in an attempt to drown out the noise. I glanced over at the clock on my wall and saw what time it was.

"Princess, what are you doing up? It's 5:30." I mumbled tiredly.

"It's time to get up and play," she chirped gleefully.

"No it's not. It's time for you to be sleeping," I told her.

"But I don't wanna go to sleep. I wanna watch cartoons!" she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sighing, I pulled her up onto my bed and turned on the TV. I flipped to Boomerang where they were playing reruns of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Wacky Races. She sat contentedly staring at the screen with her stuffed frog that she cradled in her arms.

Once Sadie had settled down, I laid back down and shut my eyes before falling back asleep.

***

A few hours later I woke up to find Bryce awake and on his phone and Sadie fast asleep on my bed. Sitting up, I threw my matted hair in a ponytail before hopping out of bed, careful not to wake the sleeping child. I got dressed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair. By the time I returned, Sadie was just waking up.

"Good morning, Princess," I greeted her with a lazy smile. "You wanna go out and grab some breakfast?"

She sleepily nodded and rubbed her tired eyes. I held my hand out to her so she could grab it. I led her to the bathroom and sat her on the counter so she could brush her teeth.

"Did you have any interesting dreams last night?" I asked her once she was done cleaning her teeth.

She nodded. "Brubby and that girl got married and she didn't like me so Brubby didn't like me anymore," she frowned.

"Oh Sadie, that's never gonna happen. I promise you, Beckett loves you very much. He could never not like you."

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

"Positive," I nodded, holding out my pinky finger.

She intertwined her tiny pinky with my own and gave me a weak smile.

"Let's go get dressed so we can get some breakfast." She sleepily nodded before I lifted her off the counter. I held her hand as we walked back to my room.

When we arrived there, Bryce was laying flat on his stomach on my bed his nose stuck in a book.

In order to catch his attention, I snatched the book he was reading out of his hand.

"Hey! I was reading that!" he squawked.

"What are you even reading?" I asked, taking a peek at the cover. "You're reading my journal!?" I hit him with the diary.

"Not really reading, just looking for something in particular," he casually responded.

I scoffed in irritation. "And what might you be looking for?"

"Evidence that you're jealous of Gabrielle and have a thing for Beckett," he shrugged and reached for the book again.

I snatched my journal away before glaring at him. "You're absolutely ridiculous."