innocence - AHS ✓

episode ten.

Tate appeared in Rosaline's room with a worried expression on his face, confusing Rose.

"What is it?" She asked, moving to sit up until he stopped her, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed and place a hand on her large stomach.

"Rosie, your dad and Violet were talking earlier, and he made her promise to go to school tomorrow. She can't leave the house, Rosie." Tate said, earning a concerned expression from Rose.

"Shit. We have to stop her. Tomorrow morning, when she's getting ready to leave, do something to make her stay. Make up something with the baby if you have to." Rosaline said, glancing nervously around her bedroom.

Nodding, Tate rubbed soothing circles on her stomach, then leaned over and pecked her lips. "I'll think of something." He said softly, smiling at her.

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The next morning, Tate came up with a plan. He appeared just off to the side of the main staircase, waiting impatiently for Violet to come down. Once she did, he quickly reached out, covered her mouth with one hand, and pulled her backwards, shushing her.

"Shh. Shh. Don't be mad. Come spend the day with us. Rosie isn't feeling too great right now, and I think she wants to spend some more time with you before the baby comes." He explains, looking into Violet's eyes. There was a waver there, and that was all he needed. "She's upstairs, right now. She said she wanted to go read to Beau in the attic so she didn't have to go up and down all of the stairs. I was going to get her something to eat." He whispered, a small smile coming to his face when Violet nodded and walked passed him, heading back upstairs.

Upstairs, Rosaline was walking around her bedroom, picking up children's books she hadn't read to Beau yet, some a bit more than picture books, things like short stories, and even a small book she thought he might like. When the bedroom door opened, and she glanced in the mirror and saw Violet, Rose turned around with a bright smile and walked over to her sister, hugging her tightly. Tears were prickling in her eyes, and she saw Tate standing in the doorway, watching them with a sad expression before both of them felt a shift in the house. Someone unwelcome was searching for something. Tate nodded to Rose, then motioned up to the attic before disappearing.

"I'm sorry, I know you were going to start going back to school soon, but I just, I'm not feeling too great today, and I find myself wanting a bit more girl time. I know mom's supposed to be coming home soon, or at least, she's supposed to be let out soon, I doubt she'll want to come back to this house, but I wanna spend some time with you before we're all awake all the time." She said with a chuckle, earning a smile from Violet.

"It's fine. I can just go tomorrow, Dad'll understand you're not feeling good." Violet said, then walked out into the hallway and pulled the attic door down.

Once the two girls were upstairs in the attic, Beau appeared, excited to see the two girls. Violet was surprised at first by his enthusiasm, but smiled a bit and began to look around. A few minutes later, Violet discovered a chess set and pulled it out, setting it up on a few stacked boxes next to Beau's bed, where Rosaline was sitting and reading to Beauregard.

"Do you wanna play a round until Tate gets here?" Violet asked, looking at her sister, who turned her attention to the chess board and smiled.

"Sure. Watch, Beau, I'll teach you a little bit about this game. Maybe one day we can play this kind of game together." Rose said, smiling at the deformed boy, who bounced on the bed in happiness and yelled, "Play!"

About five minutes later, Rosaline and Violet were playing chess, Rose appeared to be losing, and she was explaining about the way the pieces moved to the boy. It was then that Tate emerged up from the stairs with an upset appearance.