Angel on Earth

Chapter Seven: A Better Place

Axel's POV

I unlocked the front door and sighed. Another long day full of boring work stuff. If I didn't have to take over the company, I wouldn't. It's just like being in school, but somehow worse.

I rubbed my temples as I felt a headache make its appearance. I walked to the kitchen to take some aspirin. As I was about to take a sip of water, my eyes narrowed. It's way too quiet. 

I hurriedly took the pills and speed walked through the house, only to stop in the entrance to the living room. I felt a smile pull at my lips. How cute.

A sleeping Monroe was completely buried under the sleeping bodies of my siblings. Drake was sleeping on top of his chest with his face hidden in Monroe's neck. Robin was resting his head on Monroe's ankles and his legs on Drake's back. Jay was hanging halfway off the couch, with Monroe's grip on her side being the only thing keeping her on the couch. Raven had his injured leg thrown over the back of the couch but otherwise was completely curled into Monroe's side with a small smile tugging at his lips in his sleep. 

I quickly took a picture and quietly walked past them into the hallway and into my room. I changed out of the suit I'm forced to wear to work and pulled on a black shirt and some sweats. I quietly walked past the still-sleeping mound of bodies and into the kitchen once again, this time to make dinner. 

Eventually, I heard quiet footsteps behind me. I turned around and smiled at Jay, who gave me a sleepy smile in return. I watched her silently as she pulled out and climbed on the chair. She folded her arms on the countertop before laying her head on them. "I like him."

"Who? Monroe?" I asked as I did my best to quietly slice the bell peppers for our quesadillas. 

Despite being the youngest of the four, there was no mistaking she was the boss. She was often the ringleader in their mischief, both at home and at school. She was also very hard to please. If you say one wrong thing, it's over for you. So if Jay liked Monroe, that means the others most likely do, too.

She nodded and yawned. "Yeah. He's nice. He's comfy to sleep on, too."

I let out a quiet chuckle as I put the quesadillas in the hot pan. Once they were all cooked, I shook Jay awake, who had fallen asleep again. "Go wake up your brothers, but don't be mean about it. Tell them dinner's ready."

Once she nodded and walked out of the kitchen, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. Let's see, if it's almost eight, and he was here since around three, and it's ten bucks a kid per hour, that's...I quickly did the calculation in my head, ...around two hundred dollars for today. And if he's babysitting five days a week, that's one thousand dollars. Not bad. Definitely cheaper than the other babysitter's I've had.

I walked into the living room to see what the hold-up was and ran into Monroe. I grabbed him by the waist before he could fall and stood him upright. 

"Th-thanks," he said with a blush. 

I smiled at him. "No problem. I've got your pay for today," I said as I followed him outside. 

I handed him two hundred dollars and fought the urge to smile when his eyes bugged out. A frown quickly covered his face and he shoved forty dollars back at me. "You paid me too much."

I shook my head and pushed his hand back towards him. "No, I didn't."

He nodded and pushed the money to me again. "I'm only being paid until you get home around seven. You paid me until eight."

Upon seeing his determined face, I knew he wasn't going to let it go, so I relented and took the money back. Monroe breathed out a sigh of relief and smiled at me. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Axel."

I blinked before smiling back. "See you tomorrow, Monroe."

He turned and waved at me. I lifted my hand in a farewell. Monroe's eyes left mine and he let out a laugh before waving at the window. I looked behind me and shook my head with a soft chuckle. All four of them had their faces pressed against the window, waving vigorously at Monroe. 

I stayed outside until he disappeared from sight before rushing back inside and out of the bitter chill of late October. I locked the door before following the loud voices of my siblings to the dining table. They had already put the plates on the table with their favorite plastic cups. I sat down and the loud chatter stopped. 

I raised a brow at them. "What?"

"Nothing," Robin giggled as he cut into his quesadilla. 

Drake scrunched his nose up at Robin. "Why do you do that? You're supposed to eat them like this," he said as he picked up his food and took a large bite out of it. 

Robin scrunched his nose back. "And make a giant mess? No thanks."

"Doesn't matter," Raven said quietly as he cut his in half and picked up a piece.

Drake and Robin stopped arguing after that.

I made sure none of them had food in their mouths before asking, "So, how was your day with Monroe?"

Drake lowered the quesadilla he was about to take a bite out of. "It was great! He made us apples and peanut butter!"

Jay grinned. "He helped me with my homework!"

Robin smiled and said, "He's nice, too. He let us, well, Raven chose the movie, but he didn't have a problem with what he chose. I like that."

Raven's lips tugged ever-so-slightly at the corners. "Helped me off bus." 

I smiled. "I'm glad you guys like him."

Suddenly, Raven's eyes watered and his lip started to tremble. I frowned worriedly and crouched down next to him as he burst into tears. I pulled him off his seat and cradled him in my arms while rubbing his back. His siblings crowded around us and began to whisper to him words of reassurance as their own eyes began watering. My throat tightened as his wails only got louder.

Somehow through his sobs, Raven choked out, "He reminds me of Mom!"

Everyone froze as Raven began to cry again, harder this time. No one had ever seen Raven cry or heard him speak a complete sentence, so that was surprising enough. But suddenly being reminded of our dead parents pushed them over the edge. Robin was the first to begin crying, soon followed by Jay and Drake. I fought to keep the tears at bay as their soft cries soon turned into screams of grief.

"It's okay guys, shh, it's okay," I repeated as I rubbed their backs. "They're in a better place."

Drake threw his head back and wailed. "I don't want them in a better place! I want them here!"

I pulled him closer and squeezed my eyes shut as a tear streamed down my cheek. "I know, bud."

"I do too."

***

Was that too heart-breaking? Sorry about publishing this chapter a lot later than I normally do. I was watching vines all day and lost track of time lol.