My Promise To You

Necklace

SWEET PEA POV:

"Babe!" Josie looks at me. "You ok?" I ask quietly. "Why wouldn't I be?" She ask quietly. "Well you've been staring at the coffee maker for 10 minutes moping." She looks down at her pregnant stomach. "I miss coffee." She whispers. "Yeah we both do." I stopped drinking coffee when she told me she was pregnant. Only to help her. "Uncle Sweet Pea?" I turn around and look at Jason. "What's up?" I ask kneeling down. "I need help." He whispers. "With what?" He looks at his shirt. "I-I can't button button it." He tells me about to cry. "It's ok! That's what I'm here for." I smile. I go to button it and it's inside out. "Well first of all you put it on wrong." I tell him trying to keep him calm. "Sorry." He whispers. "It's ok!" I help him take it off and fix it. I button his shirt. He hands me his tie. "I need help with this too." I look back a Josie. "Are you serious?" I nod. "Yeah." Josie helps him tie his tie. "Dani! Come on! We need to getting going!" I yell so she can hear me in her room. "I don't want to!"  I take a deep breath and go upstairs. I go to her door and she's locked it. "Dani! Please." Toni told me this would happen. "No!" Josie looks at me. "I'll take Jason to school." I nod. "Come on Jason. Grab your bag." She tells Jason. I text Toni and tell her what's happening.

I lie my head against the door. "Dani." I say calmly through the door. "I know school is hard. I get it." I tell her. "No you don't." I can tell she's been crying. "Yeah I do." I tell her. "I had a really hard time reading in school." I say. She slowly opens the door. "Hey." I look at her. "Talk to me." I whisper. She sits next to me. "Kids don't think dad is my real dad because I said that you were also my dad well biologically." I smile. "Ben is your real dad. We mixed his DNA with me and your mommy's. You have his heart." I tell her. She smiles a little. "He is your dad. No matter what. You call me your uncle because I might as well be your mom's brother I grew up with her." She giggles. "I don't want to go to school." She whispers. "I know but it's mandatory." I whisper. "What does that mean?" I wipe her tears. "You don't have a choice." I smile sadly. "But it's hard." I nod. "I know. It's going to be ok." I whisper. The front door opens and Josie comes upstairs. "Hey." She smiles. "You should talk to her." I whisper standing up.

"Hi, I'm here to drop off Danielle Topaz." I say walking into the office. I look down at Dani. "You're ok." I whisper. She nods nervously. I move some hair out of her face. "She's all checked in." The secretary tells me. Dani holds into me tighter. I kneel down. "You're going to be ok." I whisper. I take off my necklace that I always wear and put it on her. "This will keep you safe. It's not going to teach you how to read but if you start feeling nervous or sad just hold this and it will make you feel better." I whisper to her. "But it's yours." I smile. "Now it's yours." She hugs me. "Don't lose it though." She nods. "Go to class kid." She goes to her class slowly.

TONI POV:

Dani sits at the counter. "How was school?" Sweet Pea told me about this morning. "Fine." She whispers. Jason goes up to his room like usual. "Why does he always go up to his room?" She ask quietly. "Well, it's what he wants to do. He needs time to calm down." I tell her handing her her some popcorn. "Why do you have popcorn every day after school?" I ask quietly. "Because I like it." I look and see Sweet Pea necklace. "Did he give you that or did you take it from him?" I ask quietly. She looks down. "He gave it to me. He said it would help me calm down if I got nervous." I smile. "You know I gave that to him in high school." I tell her. She looks up. "For the exact reason he gave it to you." She smiles. "Why did he need it?" She ask quietly. "Well, he had anxiety. He still does." I tell her. "What's that?" I look up. "Well, you know how sometimes a lot of stuff is happening you can't really breath and you're worrying." She nods. "Well that's anxiety. It's hard to explain." I tell her. She nods. "Where's dad?" She ask quietly. "I think in our room." She starts to get up. "Wait! He needs some alone time." I tell her. Ben hasn't gotten out of bed today. "Why?" She ask quietly. "Because he had a long day at work." I lie.

"Ben." I sit next to him. "Talk to me." I whisper. He shakes his head. I look at Veronica who's luckily here to help out a bit. She smiles sadly. "Ben please." I go down so I can look him in the eyes. "I'm really worried about you." I whisper stroking his hair. "I can't." He whispers. "Ben. Look at me." He shifts slightly. "Is there anything you need at least?" I ask quietly. "My shoulder hurts." He whispers. "Sit up." He sits up and help him up. "Better?" He nods. "Why is Veronica here?" He ask quietly. "Because I need someone emotionally stable." He looks down. "Talk to me!" I insist. He looks at Veronica and she walks out. "Ben." I cup his cheeks. "I don't know." He whispers.