Happy Endings

10. sick

Warning: some sadness, some depression, some mentions of grief.

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"Man, you really know how to get someone down. Everything was fine until you came around."

☼

Beth Quinn didn't ring the doorbell of her son's house because she had a spare key. She opened it slowly, making sure it didn't make any sounds in case it woke Penny up before she was supposed to. She closed it just as carefully and walked ahead to the living room to leave her stuff on the sofa. She opened the curtains to let the faint morning light through, then turned around to look over the place. She was pleased that the house looked clean and tidy. Except for the few toys laying around the floor.

She headed for the kitchen next, she looked over the fridge and the cabinets, already working out in her head what to make for Penny's lunch box that day. Kellin seemed to have stocked up on groceries not that long ago which thankfully made her task at hand a lot easier. When she knew what to make she nodded to herself and started picking out the ingredients she would need.

The reason she was there that morning was rather simple: it was one of those days. Those days.

Kellin used to make his emergency calls a lot more often before, now they weren't as frequent but it didn't mean his bad days were over. It was always difficult for Beth –and Tay for that matter– to see him so broken. The helplessness that came with not being able to take his pain away was awful all the time. All they could do was be there, letting him know he was not alone in this. They were great at that.

It was still early. Beth knew from her son that Penny woke up at around 7 so she started making her snacks and made some sandwiches for herself too since she ran out of her house without having breakfast first.

After that she went to Penny's room and knocked lightly, announcing herself as she opened the door. Beth saw Penny sitting up on her small bed, she looked sleepy and her hair was a mess, her big eyes squinting with an expression he'd seen in Kellin her whole life. It made her smile.

"Hi, sweetie," she said as she walked to the bed and sat down. "Good morning."

"Glamma?" Penny asked, a little confused, and rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll be taking you to school today," she said softly.

"Where's Daddy?" she tilted her head, a pout already forming on her mouth.

"Don't worry sweetheart, he's not feeling too well right now... like when you know you have a tummy ache?" she pointed to Penny's belly, making her giggle lightly because it tickled her. "He needs to rest right now."

"Daddy sick? Can we stay with him? We need to take care of him!" Penny said, a bit alarmed, she didn't like the idea of her dad being sick.

Beth offered a warm smile and ran her fingers through Penny's hair softly. "Your daddy will be okay, sweetie. He wouldn't want you to miss school."

"I wanna stay with Daddy," she pouted.

"I know you do. But I'll make him company, plus, school is important." Beth replied and stood up, holding out her hand so Penny got out of bed too. "Come on, don't you want to go learn new things?"

Penny kept her pout as she reluctantly stood up. "Not if Daddy is sick."

"Oh sweetheart," she kneeled in front of her. "I promise I'll take care of him while you're gone."