Him & I

Chapter 32

Cora's POV

While I helped rose cook, my mind kept on going back to Mitch. How could me and jace look after a three year old as well as two one year old? "Where is jace anyway?" Rose brought me out of my head. "Resting. He said that killing people makes him tired," I chuckled. "That's jace for you," rose laughed. When rose was putting the food on the table, I got Arorah and Kieran to put them in their high chairs. "I'm gonna go get jace quick," I spoke up. Rose smiled at me then I left. I walked up the stairs and quietly went into the room seeing jace and Mitch on the bed. Jace's hair was messy, sticking out in different places. Mitch was out of the covers with his foot on Damon's cheek. They both had their mouths open as they snored. "Mitch, Jace. Get up, food is ready," I nudged them. They both jumped looking around the room. "Jesus Christ cora you scared me," Jace put his hand over his chest. "Hey Mitch, how'd you sleep?" I smiled down at him. "Ok I guess," he shrugged. "Come, lets go get some dinner," I told him. Me and jace stood up waiting for Mitch to follow. "Are you alright mate?" Jace looked at him. "Who will be there?" Mitch looked between me and jace. "Our family. They won't hurt you ok. I won't let them I promise," Jace leaned down to him. Mitch nodded his head and jace picked him up. When we walked into the kitchen, everyone gave us odd looks except Damon, Elijah and griffin. "Who's this?" Rose smiled. "Mitch. When I was doing the deal, he was in the warehouse with his parents d-e-a-d. I think people got to them before we got there," Jace explained. "Nice to meet you Mitch. I'm rose and that's my husband Salvatore," she sat back down. Mitch held on to jace and I saw tears start to form in his eyes. "It's alright. They're just confused ok. I won't let them hurt you," Jace whispered to him. We both sat down either side of Arorah and Kieran. I started eating while feeding Kieran at the same time. Jace did the same but with Arorah. Mitch was sat on a chair next to jace, he looked scared and upset. "Do you want anything to eat Mitch?" I asked him. He shook his head and looked down. Jace finished feeding Arorah and left her to play with her toy in her high chair. Jace looked down at Mitch and leaned back in his chair.

Jace's POV

Cora woke me and Mitch up so we could eat dinner. He was scared by all of the people in the room. For a three year old, I could tell he was overwhelmed and didn't want to be in the same room as a lot of people. We sat down and I fed Arorah while cora fed Kieran. I finished with my daughter and started eating myself. "Do you want anything to eat Mitch?" Cora asked him. Everyone was silent while Mitch stayed silent staring at the floor. I put my fork down and leaned back in my chair looking down at the little boy next to me. I started putting a little bit of food on a plate which a small child would eat. There was cocktail sausages, chips (fries), sausage rolls, bacon and crisps (chips). I put the plate on the table for a second so I could stand up. "What are you doing?" Cora furrowed her eyebrows. "Don't worry babe," I smiled at her slightly. I picked up Mitch and took the plate in my hand. I chose to go out to the garden; I sat down on a chair and placed Mitch next to me. "You gotta eat mate," I told him. "Not hungry," he muttered. "Mitch," I said sternly. "Your not my dad," he looked away. "No but I'm your guardian. I'm going to look out for you so you need to eat something," I reasoned with him. "I don't want anything," Mitch frowned. He's acting like a teenager. "Please. Just one thing and I'll be happy," I took a deep breath to keep my anger in. Mitch shook his head and tried to walk away. I quickly grabbed him, making him sit down again. "No," he shouted. "Come on. Even one bite from something. I know you want to eat something," I breathed out. Mitch stayed silent, keeping his eyes on the floor in front of him. 'Send beks to the garden,' I messaged Emilio. After a couple minutes, Rebekah ran out of the house smiling. "Daddy said you wanted me," she giggled. "Will you talk to Mitch into eating something. Even a little?" I asked her. I stood up and took a few steps back so I could still hear them. "Hello, I'm Rebekah," she sat next to him. "Will you eat something. Jace is very worried about you," beks added. "I'm not hungry," Mitch told her bluntly. "If you eat we can have ice cream after. My grandma always gets the best ice cream so if you take something I'm sure my grandma will let you have some," Rebekah smiled. Mitch sighed and took one of the sausage rolls from the plate. After a while, Rebekah got Mitch to eat most of the food. Rebekah went back inside while I sat back down with Mitch. "Feel better?" I asked him. He nodded but didn't look at me. "Mitch, I didn't do it to be mean. I did it so you can be healthy and feel good. Because nothings better than food right?" I chuckled making Mitch laugh as well. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "What for mate?" I got confused. "Because I didn't eat. My mummy and daddy used to shout at me when I didn't listen to them," Mitch sighed and I saw him start to cry. I picked him up to offer comfort. He put him face in my neck and cried. "I will never shout at you for not doing anything. I'm only trying to help you so you don't get sick," I rubbed his back. "Ok," Mitch sniffled. "Should we go get some ice cream?" I smiled at him when I pulled him back. Mitch smiled and said yes. I grabbed the plate and walked back inside.

Me and cora went to bed later on that night. We put Arorah, Kieran and Mitch in their own rooms. Once we were done, we layed down in our bed and breathed out. "How was Mitch today?" Cora broke the silence. "Didn't eat at first but then beks talked him into it," I replied. "That's good. I'm so tired, love you babe," Cora leaned over to me. She gave me a kiss then layed down on her side cuddling into my side. It didn't take long for cora to fall asleep. At around 12am, I heard crying coming from one of the kids rooms. I checked on the twins who were sleeping, Rebekah and Corey were fine. I walked past Mitch's room and heard quiet sniffles. "Mitch," I whispered while poking my head through the door. He looked at me with tears streaming down his cheeks. "What's wrong?" I went inside his room and bent down near the bed. "I had a bad dream," Mitch cried. "Wanna tell me about it?" I asked. I stood up and layed on the bed with him. "I s-saw my m-mummy and d-daddy in that house. A m-man p-pulled out a shiny thing. They b-both fell to the f-floor. They didn't wake up," Mitch sobbed. I pulled him towards my chest and cradled him. "Shh, it's alright. It wasn't real," I rocked him back and forth. Mitch cried into my chest for a while until he went back to sleep. I carefully put him back on the bed and put the covers over him. When I walked out of his room, I was met by Emilio and rose. "Fuck guys," I jumped. "Who's kid is that?" Emilio asked. "I don't know. Like I said, I found him at the warehouse with his parents dead on the floor," I frowned. "Jace what are you going to do? You already have two kids," rose sighed. "I couldn't have left him there. I'm going to look after him until he wants to leave," I told them. "Jace I get that you want to help but he's in danger here. If someone killed his mum and dad they would be after him if they know he's here. Not only is Mitch in danger, your putting the rest of us in that position," Emilio stated. "Then I'll protect him. He's three fucking years old Emilio. I will not let him go to some place where he will get neglected and treated wrong. If you had seen him in that warehouse you would be the same as me," I whispered yelled since I was outside Mitch's room. "We didn't see it but that doesn't mean bring a fucking kid home," Emilio snapped back. "Don't make me fucking angry Emilio because I will fucking go batshit crazy in a minute. He's not leaving my sight, I will leave and buy myself a place for me cora and the three kids. His mum and dad are no longer here to protect him. It's now my responsibility to that for him," I glared at him. "Calm down jace," rose put her hand on my arm. "Don't tell me to calm down Rose. You didn't see what it was like," my breathing started getting heavier the more they spoke to me. "No we didn't but we just have to think about it. We need to think about our safety as well as his," she sighed. "I'm going back to bed. We'll talk tomorrow," I muttered and walked away. I couldn't sleep, the image of Mitch clinging to his dead parents was stuck in my head.

Flashback
I heard a small child crying from the warehouse not that far away. I ran inside and looked for the noise. My eyes scanned the room and landed on a little boy. He had light brown hair and blue eyes that were glossed over. Tears streamed from his eyes as a man and woman layed beside him lifeless. "Hey little man. Can you come over to me?" I crouched down to his level. "They won't wake up," he sobbed. "I'm sorry mate. But I need to take you with me so you can be safe," I smiled at him softly. He ran over to me and cried into my neck. His parents had a bullet put in their heads, a pool of blood was around their head as their hands held each other's. Their eyes were lifeless as they stared into thin air. I quickly walked out of the warehouse so he wouldn't see his mum and dad even more. Damon, Elijah and griffin looked at me oddly but didn't say anything. As the kid cried, I whispered things to him to give him comfort. Soon enough we got home but the image of the people laying dead. It hurt me that a little boy saw that, it was hard to see what seemed to be innocent people dead but a three year old, that was a different story.
End of flashback.