Prompt - Hide
Title: Hide
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Characters: Willow, Dagny, Vivienne, Laurent, Laura
Prompt: 141 - Hide
Word Count: 686
Rating: PG
Type: One Shot
Summary: Ready or not, I'm coming.
Featuring Sims by: alfredaskewthe_caaah, and trappingit
"6....
...7....
8...."
"9....
10! Ready or not, I'm coming!"
"She's coming, Laurent! Get down!"
"She'll never find us!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"...ahahahaha..."
"Sounds like the kids are having fun," Vivienne chirped as she crossed her right leg over her left. Her attention stood, for a moment, towards the backdoor before it drifted to the kitchen sink.
"It does, doesn't it?" Willow agreed as her hands washed under the flowing water, gently gliding the small specks of grime away, "Dag was very happy when she found out you all were coming to visit."
"So were Laura and Laurent. They just love coming over."
Willow turned the faucet, the water ceasing its drumming against the porcelain. There was a silence then. The women were trapped in the suppressing weight of words left unspoken. Willow remained at the basin's edge as Vivienne's eyes roamed the room, as if to find a sign. Finally, she could not longer take it. "...You haven't told her, have you?"
Willow stiffened, her shoulders tensing up and rising to almost greet her ears. "What...do you mean?" She asked in an attempt to play coy. But Vivienne wasn't in the mood for games.
"You know what I mean. You still haven't told Dagny about Cai."
"Oh," Willow's voice faltered. She could feel the anxiety rise. Quickly, she went to wipe the sweat away from her brow. "That. Um. Yes."
Vivienne sighed deeply, she had expected this. The child went about, blissfully unaware. Vivienne's own children knew, of course, but were told not to speak of it for Dagny's benefit. But it was becoming perfectly clear that if they or Vivienne didn't speak the truth, no one would. "Will..." Vivienne shook her head wearily, "She has to find out sometime. It's not right, keeping this from her..."
"I'm not keeping it from her. I'm just...waiting for the right time," Willow insisted, snapping almost. But it did not faze Vivienne. This was a reaction she had come to expect. She stared at the woman. She, too, was clearly tired from holding this secret. Yet, she continued.
"Willow, I know. I know, it hurts. He i-...was my brother, after all." Vivienne choked slightly as the memories flushed back, "But not telling her won't bring him back. She has the right to know. She is expecting him to just walk through that door any minute..."
Willow glared slightly at Vivienne, trying to stand her ground. The panic began to build. Why, why did she bring this up now? The day was going so well! Willow huffed out a slight growl as she turned away from Vivienne, rubbing the back of her head. There, a headache nested. "I know...I know!" She repeated, as if trying to convince herself, "I...ugh."
In defeat, she slumped to the kitchen table and plopped into a chair opposite Vivienne. "I know, okay?" She said weakly.
"I just don't know how to tell her, Viv. How can I tell her? How? I...I can't tell her that her daddy died in some desert in middle of nowhere, in a hail of gunfire. I can't. Oh, Cai..."
"Daddy?" The two older women immediately turned their focus to the small red-haired child who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "What about Daddy, Mama?"
"Uh...Dag, honey, I thought you were playing outside with your cousins."
"Laura and Laurent kept fighting over the swing, so we came inside to watch Spongebob. Did you get a letter from Daddy, Mama? Did you?"
"Oh, no, dear," Vivienne played it off, "No letter. But I'm...sure one will come soon."
"I hope so! It's been so long! Daddy said in his last letter that he was going to a different place, one with a big hospital for him to work in. He is a doctor, right, Aunt Viv?"
"An army doctor, yes."
"I can't wait for Daddy to get home, Mama. We're going to have so much fun! We'll go to the park and the movies and he'll take me riding in his truck and and and!"
"We'll be a big happy family again! Right, Mama?"
"...Of course, dear. We'll be a family again."
