(Untitled)

[dumbassbastards]

It wasn't the first time Rollie'd woken up to hear Josiah crying. In fact, for a while it had been a fairly regular occurrence-their homes were all close together and Josiah, though he was a remarkably even-tempered baby, had an impressive set of lungs on him. But it was the first time that it hadn't been joined by the sounds of Shadow either

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[goingtodorking]

Karen is concentrating very hard on being grown-up. This is horrible enough without her making it worse. Where there had been floods of tears when Ainsley was gone, now she's just quiet. She pauses in tidying and sits on the step, looking out at the jungle.

"Now what do we do?" she says, quietly.

[dumbassbastards]

"I don't know," says Rollie, and it's a fair bet she's not talking about which shelf might need laying out next. "I don't know what we're supposed to do next." He wishes he did, but sometimes he doesn't have all the answers. Josie is quietly playing pony on the floor, not understanding yet that Shadow's absence is a permanent thing, but Karen understands all too well, and she's lost too many people already. "But we're going to be okay."

[goingtodorking]

"You keep saying that," says Karen, heaving a little sigh as she draws in the dust with the tip of a stick. She sniffs, trying to hold back tears.

"You said that when Ainsley went. And when Dieter went. You keep telling me that."

[dumbassbastards]

"And it's true," says Rollie, keeping one eye on Josie as he sits down next to her. He's going to have to get used to doing that. "We've been okay so far, and we're going to keep being okay. Even when it's hard. We've just got to get through this."

[weary_head]

It's not his shift, but ever since Pete took leave from all his classes, Dean's been studying doubletime, afraid of being left behind. It's not any easier to find time to study now than it was before, though, with his shifts at the Club, and, more consumingly, now that he's pulling daddy duty with Cori. With her on his hip and a book bag on his back, Dean figures the clinic will be thematically appropriate for biology. What he doesn't expect to find is a full house upon walking through the door.

"Whoa," he says, pausing in the door. "Guess I came prepared for bring your kid to work day."

[dumbassbastards]

"Yeah, it was sort of unscheduled," says Rollie, and hates that little crack in his voice at the end that belies his attempt to sound nonchalant. He looks back, as he's been doing every couple of minutes for the entire time they've been here, and sees Josiah still playing on the floor and Karen still staring at a book without turning the pages. Plenty of room for Cori there too. "We're...we woke up a parent short this morning."

And now Rollie's all these kids have. God help them.

[weary_head]

Dean's expression instantly darkens, not enough resignation in him yet, it seems, to bear news of a new loss in complacence. "Son of a - " he starts, but doesn't finish, not in the presence of so many small ears.

He doesn't ask if Rollie's sure. Never does, anymore. After a while here, a person just knows when the people they care about are gone. Still. "You want me to take Dog, look around?"

[dumbassbastards]

"Might make Karen feel better," says Rollie quietly, looking at her yet again. She's not reacting, so he assumes she can't hear him. "But Shadow wouldn't have ever left Josiah on his own like that. Not for anything. No idea what the hell I'm supposed to do now." Then he glances at Cori. "Whoops, sorry. Heck."