Little Miss Maisy; Deleted Scenes

Three.

Three:

Fireworks

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"That's a very nice dress, monkey." Miles commented as he glanced down at his baby sister. She was grasping his middle finger, her hand not quite large enough to hold all of his hand.

"Thank you, Miles. I think 's nice too." Maisy also looked down at her dress, she picked it out just for today. A navy dress with little jeweled fireworks on it.

As a little tradition, the whole family is going to a firework show together. To celebrate Independence Day. Every year, they lay out a few blankets and watch the fireworks together.

Miles and Maisy were in the middle of the group, leaving it up to Amber and Cassidy to scout out the perfect spot.

"Are you ready to see some fireworks?" Miles made little exploding sound effects, excited to see the colorful embers in the sky.

Maisy wasn't nearly as excited as her brother. Although her memory is a tad fuzzy, she can kind of remember last year's fireworks when she was three.

But, she didn't remember liking them. She remembered crying because the loud booms hurt her ears. "Um-"

"M' not so sure," Maisy wasn't sure how to feel about this tradition they told her about. The only thing she was truly excited about, was the popsicles Beau brought in their mini cooler.

"What about Teddy?" Miles grinned down at the bear snuggled in her arms, trying to lift her spirits. "Is he excited?"

Maisy glanced down at Teddy, also wondering what he thought of this. "Only a little bit."

"Only a little?" Miles echoed. He caught on that Maisy was a bit uneasy about this event. To her, this whole ordeal seems iffy.

Maisy nodded, her focus on the little area they had stopped. Everyone started prepping their area, spreading out the large blankets and snacks as night began to transcend.

"You wanna come sit with me, Mais?" Amber sat down on the first blanket, patting her lap to encourage the small girl.

"I don't know-" Sawyer caught Maisy's attention from the other blanket, patting her own lap. "-My blanket seems a whole lot cooler."

Maisy looked between them, back and forth as she tried to make a decision. She loves Sawyer . . . and she loves Amber.

Then she took a glance behind her at everyone else, before deciding just to sit down exactly where she was. Teddy likes it here better anyway, no feelings are hurt.

"Aw, Mais!" Amber feigned a hurt expression, pretending to be deeply hurt by her decision. "You don't wanna sit with me?"

"Or me?" Sawyer imitated Amber, sadly patting the blanket beside her.

"M' fine over here, thank you." Maisy folded her hands and placed them in her lap, with a polite nod towards both of them. Instead, she decided to focus her attention on the upcoming fireworks.

She was still unsure of how to feel. Scared, happy, somewhere in the middle? Who knows.

Luckily for her nerves, Beau and Eric sat on both sides of her in the middle. They smacked on a few popsicles before the show started, only making light conversation as they waited.

As the anticipation became more intense, she found herself becoming more and more anxious about the fireworks. Soon, she drifted to Beau's lap as the booms began.

Each one shook the sky.

"Beauy, the sky's breaking," Maisy's voice cracked as she grasped Beau's shirt in her hand. Teddy secure in the other.

Desperate to escape the awful noise, she buried her face in his chest. If anyone could make it better, it would be Beau. He can fix anything.

Just last week, he sewed a hole Teddy had in his paw.

Beau protectively wrapped his arm around her, shielding her from the scariness. "The sky isn't breaking, love. That's just how the fireworks sound."

"Exploding," Eric added to Beau's sentence, causing a surge of panic to go through Maisy. The glint of fear was even stronger in her eyes now. "Just wait until the finale. That's when they really light 'em up!"

Excitement seemed to radiate from the teenager. He loved fireworks, it was something he looked forward to every single year. It was his favorite family tradition.

"Beauy, I'on want the sky to explode!" Her anxiety blossomed into hysteria, frantic tears glistening in her eyes after hearing Eric's unfiltered input.

Exasperated with his siblings, Beau flashed Eric an unamused stare. "Thank you, Eric."

Eric didn't even bother glancing away from the sea of blackness in the sky, mesmerized by the large and bright explosions.

"Maisy, I promise it's okay." Beau put his other arm against her head. Partly to soothe her with gentle strokes, partly to cover her ear. "It's just loud because . . . because-"

He didn't know how to rationally explain the concept to a four-year-old. Maybe she would understand some technological terms, but that was a stretch.

Then he got an idea, not the best, but at least an explanation that would seem fit. He remembered a picture book he recently read to her about pirates.

It was a story she greatly enjoyed, so Beau hoped it would work.

"It's like the pirate cannons from your book," Beau tried to depict it as something harmless, but it caught him off guard. "But, they don't hurt anyone. They just . . . paint colors in the sky when they explode."

Beau awkwardly finished, but his steady voice was enough to put Maisy at ease. The pirates in the picture book were friendly, but they used cannons on another ship with bad pirates.

"Really?" She looked up at her brother with big trusting eyes. It made sense to her, only because Beau told her.

Maisy looked up at the sky, and for the first time this evening, without fear. The fireworks were just little paint-filled cannons, bursting in the sky to create pictures.

"Really." Beau confirmed as he watched with her among the whole family. Keeping a careful protective arm around her, although she wasn't afraid anymore.