Returned to Sender - Scarlett Johansson

Part 34

Scarlett's POV

Today, we are supposed to be decorating Sawyer's room, although I don't think she's all that keen. She had another terrible nightmare last night; she woke up screaming bloody murder and hyperventilating, which is rare. 

I know most of the time, I miss waking up with her because she stays deathly still and silent through them unless they are particularly horrific. I'm pretty sure she never went back to sleep after that. Instead, she just curled up into a ball and laid on my chest all morning; I had tried staying up with her but must have dozed off at some point.

It's been one of those days where I had to pull her off of me so I could pee forcefully. She is not having a good day, bless her, and it's only nine a.m. I'm hoping that she will cheer up when Hunter gets here to help paint and build the furniture for her room. 

I had decided to get rid of everything that was previously in the guest room and get her all brand-new things. She deserves to have something that is just hers, and I want her room to represent that. I just can't understand why she seems so against getting her own room; I thought she would be excited.

"Come on, baby, finish up your breakfast so we can start painting your room," I encourage. "It's your favourite princess, rainbow bagel," I add as she just stares blankly at her plate, not even eating half of it. She is currently perched on my lap and turns to snuggle into my chest instead of eating her breakfast, and no matter how much I comfort her, the nightmare still seems to be lingering. 

"Baby, do you think you could explain to me what happened in your nightmare? It was worse than normal, wasn't it?"I ask softly when I get no reply on the breakfast request. I run one hand through her hair while the other rubs circles on her back, trying to calm her down as best as possible. At first, I thought she was going to continue to ignore me; after all, she had been her regular mute self after this morning's episode. But instead, she slowly nodded her head against my chest before taking a deep breath.

"Mummy threw me a party on my fourth birthday without telling fake Daddy. It was the first and only party I ever had. I didn't have any friends my age because I was just finishing my A-Levels at the time, something no other four-year-olds were doing, so Mummy just invited her friends, their kids, and the neighbours. She didn't have any family and didn't invite fake Daddy's family because all he had was Cooper. That morning, she gave me a present; I never got many presents because fake Daddy said I was a waste of money, but Mummy had saved up secretly to buy it. It was the comic you all signed for me. She said I was her little Black Widow, that fake Daddy was like Strucker, and Cooper was like Dreykov. I didn't know what she meant at the time, but now I do, and she was more right than even she thought." Sawyer chuckled a little, looking up at me before continuing to look at her hands, which she was playing with nervously.

"She made me hide it immediately and said fake Daddy was never to see it, which I agreed to, knowing how bad he got at little things. As the day went on, the party started, and for once, I got to act like a child and not the child genius who had an abusive father. Fake Daddy was at work, and Mummy didn't invite Cooper, so it was peaceful and calm. Until someone must have let it slip and told fake Daddy. Just as the party was coming to an end, he and Cooper turned up. They were both furious; I had never seen them that angry before. They kicked everyone out before Fake Daddy took Mummy somewhere, and Cooper took me up to my room. That was the first night Copper beat me; it was before I learned not to cry. As time went on with Cooper, I learnt that he found pleasure in my begging to stop. Anyway, after what felt like a lifetime, Cooper left, and I crawled up onto my bed and got my comic out, thinking fake Daddy was too busy with Mummy to disturb me that night. I was wrong; he barged into my room without warning and saw the comic in my hand. When he saw it, he flew into an even bigger rage and grabbed me by my hair. He literally dragged me into the car before getting Mummy. The whole trip, he was screaming at Mummy about buying me something, cursing at her and saying we were returning the comic. He went to hit her, and I screamed at him to leave her alone. I had never stood up to him before, and he was clearly shocked. He turned to me and, at that moment, ran a red light. We got hit by a truck, and the car rolled. When the haze in my eyes cleared, I could smell smoke; the front of the car was on fire. Mummy's head was bashed in, you couldn't recognise her face anymore, and Daddy was muttering things under his breath. I climbed out of the car and ran, hoping I could find somewhere safe." She explained, tears falling down her face as I realised this must be the day of the car crash.