Hearts Need Love

Chapter 5

Nico finally got Bianca to stop crying and fall back asleep when his phone buzzed from his bedside table. This in turn woke Bianca up, who started sobbing again at the noise.

Trying to keep a curse back from slipping through his lips, Nico grabbed his phone while rocking Bianca again to see the cursed text. He wasn't expecting to read what he did.

From: Unknown

5:50 AM: Good morning!

5:51 AM: this is Will, btw

Will... Nico rolled his eyes as he made the contact in his phone before texting back.

To: Will Solace

5:55 AM: Who the fuck wakes up this early?

Bianca was falling back asleep in his arms, but he knew by now that he wouldn't get any rest before school.

From: Will Solace

5:56 AM: Not a morning person, huh? Then why r you awake?

Nico didn't answer, instead silencing his phone so it didn't wake Bianca again before tossing it on his bed. He peeked through the curtain and saw that the sun was rising, edging over the horizon.

Yeah, he wasn't getting any sleep.

Nico laid Bianca in her crib and grabbed the baby monitor and his phone before heading downstairs. If he wasn't going to sleep, he might as well get breakfast done.

The house was silent save for his soft footsteps on the wooden floorboards. The others were still asleep, something he wasn't surprised by given the time of day. No one in his family was a willing morning person, unlike a certain Will Solace.

Knowing he had time to kill after he drank two cups of coffee, he started a hot breakfast for the others. After some time, Persephone came down with her robe wrapped tightly around her. The house was always cold, it was older than all of them combined.

"Nico." Persephone looked at him for a minute in surprise before moving to get her own cup of coffee. "Is everything alright?"

Nico nodded as he stared down at the batch of pancake mix he was making. "Bianca was up all night crying. First, she was having nightmares. Then she woke up at every little noise. I gave up on sleeping and decided to make breakfast."

Persephone hummed for a minute before grabbing the eggs out of the fridge. "I'll help. Do you know what the nightmares were about?"

Nico shook his head. "She just kept saying 'bad dreams, bad dreams'. Refused to say what they were about. I'm thinking Percy must have shown her something or another."

"I don't think he'd show her anything that'd scare her," Persephone said. "He really cares about her. So do all of your friends."

"I know," Nico grumbled. "I just don't have anything else to blame. I'm already worried sick about her."

"Her talking still?"

"Yeah." Nico sighed, his eyes starting to burn, begging to close and rest and damn did he want to fulfill their wishes. "She's hit most of the milestones, but not all of them." He got his phone out and pulled up his notepad. "I made a list. She should be able to run but she always falls. She should be able to kick a ball, she should be able to walk up and down stairs, should be able to climb up on furniture... And she should be able to be understood, should be able to speak a four word sentence. But I'm basically her translator for everyone."

He put his phone back in his pocket and flipped the pancakes. "I just...I'm worried. Something's going on."

"I know you don't like taking her to the doctor," Persephone said. "And I know you just took her for the strep and they didn't say anything... But I really think you should take her again and talk to her doctor. Please."