Ivy ( rise of the planet of the apes )

Chapter Three

           

"You promise you'll wake me as soon as Caesar is awake, Dad", I demanded, pointing my finger at him. I was sitting on the staircase, watching Dad put Caesar back in his red blanket and into the box to sleep. He shook his head, grinning at my threatening tone. I furrowed my eyebrows at that. I was being serious here and he was laughing at me!

"DAAAAAAAAAAA—"

"Okay, geez I will. I promise, Ivy, I'll wake you up", he whispered, not wanting to wake the finally sleeping baby monkey. "You're waking Grandad up too."

My mouth dropped open slightly in realisation and slight guilt, but it was forgotten as my jaw broadened further and turned into a yawn. Water sprung up into my eyes as my weariness caught up to me. I closed my eyes slightly, resting my head against the wall.

"Time for bed little Ivy", I heard, as hands grabbed me from under my arms, lifting me off the floor with ease. I let my arms dangle by my sides as I lay my head against Dad's shoulder. The softness of my bed was felt beneath me and I snuggled into the duvet. I brush of my hair and kiss on my cheek later, I was deep asleep.

It was probably an hour later when I woke up, feeling both thirsty and desperate to pee. I tried to ignore it but it didn't work, so I got up from my bed and walked out the door. I winced when the bathroom light turned on, the sudden brightness catching me off guard. Still not being able to close the door properly, I left it open and pulled my shorts down, taking a seat on the toilet. The house was dead silent as I peed loudly. I yawned continuously before cleaning up, and washing my hands.

Now the difficult part. Do I go to sleep or do I go down to drink water? Then, any ounce of exhaustion I first felt disappeared when I remembered what was downstairs. Not what, but who.

I tiptoed down as fast as I could, and ran where I last saw his box. Caesar wasn't here?

I ran lightly throughout the rooms, my eyes darting towards every corner to look for him. And then I saw his box in the living room. I grinned, and ran over, immediately calming when I saw his sleeping state.

I tried hard not to wake him, but I wanted to play with him. Please wake up. Please, please, pleeeease.

I guess you could call me impatient as I figured after a minute of sleeping, he wouldn't be tired anymore.

Reaching my hand in, I stroked his head with my finger gently. Pulling my hand out quickly, I watched as he stirred slightly, but didn't work. I sighed, before trying again. This time, I was successfully met with his bright green eyes, staring at me in wonder.

"Hello, baby Caesar", I whispered, grinning from ear to ear. "Do you wanna play?"

In return, I got a tilted head and a startled face. I smiled at him and nodded in a friendly manner.

And then he started crying.

"No, no, noooo. I'm nice, I promise I'm nice. Don't cry, I didn't do anything", I whispered.

He just carried on, without an ounce of mercy for me. I was doomed!

I racked my brain for a plan, trying to think of ways I could make it out of this alive.

"I'll be right back", I comforted Caesar, as I turned and ran back up the stairs as fast as my legs would carry me. I didn't stop, bolting straight into Dad's room. I was surprised to see him still fast asleep, no idea of what was going on.

"Dad. Daddy wake up", I whispered in his ear, shaking him slightly. He groaned, his eyes opening slightly. I continued to shake him, now more vigorously than before, "Dad."

"I'm awake", he sighed, sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes. Caesar's screeching got louder and louder and could be heard clearly from up here. I jogged towards the door, opening it wide enough for Dad. I waited for him to stand up and start following me before I ran across to the staircase and started descending, one step at a time. I checked behind myself constantly, making sure Dad hadn't slowed down. Reaching the bottom landing, my feet pattered against the laminate flooring as I ran back to Caesar's box. I peered in, watching as Dad came up behind me and pulled him out.

"Okay, okay. What are you crying about?", Dad asked him, holding him next to his chest as he cradled him in his arms. I jumped down from the sofa, craning my neck up to look at them.

"Why's he crying?", I asked innocently, knowing it was my fault he was crying. Dad managed to calm him down slightly, but he was still crying a bit.

"I don't know. He's shaking a bit, probably cold. We need to heat him up fast", Dad replied, beginning to walk towards the stairs again. I followed behind him, eager to know what he was going to do.

"I'm gonna need you to turn the hot taps on in the bathroom, Ivy. We need to generate some steam, make it humid", he instructed me. I agreed and ran ahead to do exactly that. Dad took a seat on the closed toilet, cradling Caesar back and forth slightly. I watched them, taking a seat on the floor next to the bathtub.

The heated room began to make me tired again, so I struggled to stay awake. Dad smiled at me, before looking down at Caesar and smiling at him too.

"Will he be okay?", I whispered, noting that the baby had fallen quiet and fast asleep.

"He'll be fine, Ivy", Dad reassured me. I smiled, standing up to walk over to Dad. He moved Caeser to one arm, opening the other for me. I took a seat on his knee, his arm holding me in place.

"This reminds me an awful lot of when you were young, Ivy. You got sick, when you were four. You had a permanent fever so I had to shower you with cold water, twice every day. Medication wasn't working and your mother had just left", Dad started. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"I don't remember it", I confessed. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head as his smile disappeared.

"Why would you?", he mumbled, looking at me in discomfort. "I just started working at my lab too, and that's when your Grandad started to...lose it. It was a tough time, and he couldn't handle it. I don't blame him."

"Then how did I get better?", I asked. This was only a few years ago but I didn't remember any of it.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before reopening them and smiling at me.

"Doesn't matter. You're all good now, that's what matters", he told me, kissing me on the head before ushering me off his knee.

"Get to bed. I'm gonna stay up a bit longer, then I'm putting him back", Dad stated, holding sleeping Caesar with two arms again.

"Goodnight Dad", I said, standing up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Goodnight Caesar", I whispered, not touching him, in fear he would wake up again and start crying.

I gave them one last glance before going back to my room. I licked my lips, realising I was still thirsty. Spotting a half full glass of water on the table next to my bed, I picked it up and drank it.

It took a few seconds for the stale taste of old water to come through, but I managed to get over it and got back beneath my covers. I was back to sleep in a matter of minutes.

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APOLOGIES FOLKS!

I was signed out of this account so didn't even see that people had been reading my book, let alone commenting.

I only saw them a few hours ago and thought I should write this chapter ASAP.

Leave a comment for the next chapter! I'll need 3 votes and 3 comments people. Thanks to those who commented on the last one.