Ulterior Motives II

Disaster

When they reached the RV door, Toni collapsed into the side of it, gasping for air. Cheryl sat next to her on the grass and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, the other one holding Ivana's hand.

"You're okay," Cheryl told her girlfriend, trying to calm her down, "I'm here."

Cheryl started to rub small, slow circles onto Toni's shoulder as she sobbed into the older girl's dress. Ivana noticed that Toni was upset, so she walked over to her and opened her arms, so Toni picked her up and sat her on her lap.

"Mommy?" Ivana asked, kneeling to match the height of Toni's face.

"Yes, baby?" Toni replied.

"Am I hideous?" The young girl asked, referring to the phrase that Toni's father had used to describe her.

"No, some people just don't know what true beauty looks like, come on, let's go inside," Toni suggested, standing up with Ivana.

Cheryl followed them, relieved to see that Toni was less upset than she had been.

'Do you want some pasta for lunch?' Cheryl asked Toni.

Ivana began to clap her hands. She liked pasta.

'Sure,' Toni smiled, sitting down on the bed and pulling her daughter up with her.

Cheryl reached into the cupboard above the oven to get a saucepan and set it down on the dark oven. She poured pasta into it and then filled it with water. After turning the hob (the top of the oven, I'm not sure if Americans use the same word) on, she went and sat on the bed towards the back of the RV with her family.

'What's that smell?' Toni asked, sitting Ivana on her knee to keep her from running around in the small van.

A burning smell filled the air. Both parents turned to face where the smell was coming from.

Large flames engulfed the entire kitchen area, blocking the door. Toni gave Ivana to Cheryl and smashed the glass of the window behind her before climbing out of it.

Cheryl could feel the immense heat that radiated from the fire, and the smoke was filling up her lungs more and more with every breath.

She passed the small child out of the window into her girlfriend's arms before climbing out herself, being careful not to cut herself on the glass beneath her.

'You okay?' Toni asked, engulfing her wife in a hug, warming her in the same way that the flames did, except this time no one was in danger.

Cheryl mumbled a 'yes' into Toni's, long hair, before pulling out her phone and calling the fire department.

Within a few minutes, blue lights filled the other wise grey, smoky sky.

'Is anyone injured?' A fireman asked, after jumping out of the driver's side of the fire engine.

'No,' Cheryl and Toni responded at the same time.

The fireman went straight into the RV and the girls stood back, Cheryl holding Ivana.

After a few minutes the fire was out, but the van was unrecognisable. Smoke patterns made the once white walls now an old grey colour, and the oven had a gaping hole from where the fire had started.

Cheryl, Toni and Ivana stood outside looking at the vehicle in shock. They were still trying to process what had happened, it had all been so fast.

Cheryl wrapped her arm around her girlfriend's shoulders, still keeping her other one holding her baby.

~~~

Author's Notes:

Sorry for not posting for a while, school has been starting up again so hopefully once I'm settled into a routine again I'll be able to find more time to write.
What do you think Cheryl and Toni will do now?
How will they get home?
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!! 💛💛