Lunch Fic - Friday
Title: Cookies - A Cousins Fic
Characters: Svea, Cara, Cam
Word Count: 716
Svea stood behind Papa, the small bag with her clothes, one toy and her most special blanket was clutched to her chest with one arm while the other clutched at her father's leg as if she never wanted to let go.
"Again, thank you. Your brother thinks that he's found a different procedure that should help. In four or five days, we should know if works. Unfortunately, it's getting a little hard to discuss things around our house." Papa stroked the top of her head as he talked to Uncle Cam. Both men were too tall to see all the way to their faces comfortably but she was content to stare straight ahead. They were talking about her without really talking about her, after all.
"I have big ears," she whispered, not sure why that was such a huge concern to anyone. Could Uncle Loah fix her after he was done fixing Mumma? Was she going to have to just suffer through this sudden epiphany of hugeness on her own? Would her cousins laugh at her?
All this was swirling around her brain as Uncle Cam knelt down in front of her, his eyes still trained on Papa as they shared one of those looks that they seemed to understand without words. "Well, I don't know about that. I'll have to check and see how much they've grown since the last time I've seen you. What's it been? A week? Could they have grown that much in such a short amount of time?"
She shied away from his large hand as he reached out to smooth back the hair she'd been refusing to wear up lately. No use broadcasting the fact that there was something to laugh about. His touch made her shiver, mostly with pain as he found the wounds where she had tried to repair the damage herself.
"No, these aren't big at all. Not nearly as big as mine." He patted her shoulder, much as Papa had done this morning when she'd said her good byes. Mumma had wanted to come but last night had been long and Svea had sent her back to bed with a stern reminder that she wouldn't feel well without more sleep. What she hadn't said was, If you don't get well, I'll never be able to come home again. It wasn't anything anyone had said to her but she had been hearing things lately that were starting to scare her.
Svea met her uncle's gaze and tried to find a smile for him so that he would smile back. Uncle Cam was a ferocious man when he wasn't smiling and right now, his frown was more sad that anything else. "Yours are big."
"Yes, they are. Well, would you like to go play with the Littles? I think all three of them are well contained in the playroom at the moment. Or Sanne is around here somewhere. We could roust her up."
The very last thing she wanted to do today was to get stuck in the playroom with the triplets that everyone fondly referred to as "the Littles" because it was always a noisy place when they really got going. Neither did she want Sanne to look down her nose at her as she had the last time they had come by. That was the day that Guen had been visiting and the big girls had wanted to play on their own. She'd wanted to stay close to Mumma that day so it hadn't been a huge deal but now she knew that the same gesture would make her cry.
When she shook her head at both suggestions, Uncle Cam smiled. "Well, I think I heard Mrs. Collins talking about making cookies this morning. Would you like to help her? She especially likes little girls who are willing to help her lick the spoons clean."
That suggestion was one that she could live with. Mrs. Collins made wonderful cookies but would never give up the recipe to anyone that asked. Maybe she could remember what she used and share with Mumma... but that train of thought only took her back down the wrong path. Instead, she took a deep breath and put her hand out for her uncle to take as she nodded her head. Cookies, it was.
Characters: Svea, Cara, Cam
Word Count: 716
Svea stood behind Papa, the small bag with her clothes, one toy and her most special blanket was clutched to her chest with one arm while the other clutched at her father's leg as if she never wanted to let go.
"Again, thank you. Your brother thinks that he's found a different procedure that should help. In four or five days, we should know if works. Unfortunately, it's getting a little hard to discuss things around our house." Papa stroked the top of her head as he talked to Uncle Cam. Both men were too tall to see all the way to their faces comfortably but she was content to stare straight ahead. They were talking about her without really talking about her, after all.
"I have big ears," she whispered, not sure why that was such a huge concern to anyone. Could Uncle Loah fix her after he was done fixing Mumma? Was she going to have to just suffer through this sudden epiphany of hugeness on her own? Would her cousins laugh at her?
All this was swirling around her brain as Uncle Cam knelt down in front of her, his eyes still trained on Papa as they shared one of those looks that they seemed to understand without words. "Well, I don't know about that. I'll have to check and see how much they've grown since the last time I've seen you. What's it been? A week? Could they have grown that much in such a short amount of time?"
She shied away from his large hand as he reached out to smooth back the hair she'd been refusing to wear up lately. No use broadcasting the fact that there was something to laugh about. His touch made her shiver, mostly with pain as he found the wounds where she had tried to repair the damage herself.
"No, these aren't big at all. Not nearly as big as mine." He patted her shoulder, much as Papa had done this morning when she'd said her good byes. Mumma had wanted to come but last night had been long and Svea had sent her back to bed with a stern reminder that she wouldn't feel well without more sleep. What she hadn't said was, If you don't get well, I'll never be able to come home again. It wasn't anything anyone had said to her but she had been hearing things lately that were starting to scare her.
Svea met her uncle's gaze and tried to find a smile for him so that he would smile back. Uncle Cam was a ferocious man when he wasn't smiling and right now, his frown was more sad that anything else. "Yours are big."
"Yes, they are. Well, would you like to go play with the Littles? I think all three of them are well contained in the playroom at the moment. Or Sanne is around here somewhere. We could roust her up."
The very last thing she wanted to do today was to get stuck in the playroom with the triplets that everyone fondly referred to as "the Littles" because it was always a noisy place when they really got going. Neither did she want Sanne to look down her nose at her as she had the last time they had come by. That was the day that Guen had been visiting and the big girls had wanted to play on their own. She'd wanted to stay close to Mumma that day so it hadn't been a huge deal but now she knew that the same gesture would make her cry.
When she shook her head at both suggestions, Uncle Cam smiled. "Well, I think I heard Mrs. Collins talking about making cookies this morning. Would you like to help her? She especially likes little girls who are willing to help her lick the spoons clean."
That suggestion was one that she could live with. Mrs. Collins made wonderful cookies but would never give up the recipe to anyone that asked. Maybe she could remember what she used and share with Mumma... but that train of thought only took her back down the wrong path. Instead, she took a deep breath and put her hand out for her uncle to take as she nodded her head. Cookies, it was.