Dark Red|| Rumpelstiltskin

Chapter 8

She hung up the phone before he could reply, after hearing she had an urge to call he would probably try and convince her to come and sleep over, or at the very least try and come over so she wouldn't be alone. She was hoping he was way too tired to call back, much less drive through the middle of the night with a prosthetic foot that he couldn't move on for more than 2 hours just to comfort her. She threw her phone back into the opened drawer, collapsing back onto the sheets and disturbed comforter. Here she was, all alone with her thoughts.

——————

K A T R I N E

I walked down Main Street, the sound of the gravel hitting the metal foot I wore as I took step after step. It was a lovely day outside, the cooling air gently wrapping itself around me. All the leaves from the trees had fallen to the floor, the trees prepared for the weather that comes with winter. I wasn't using the wheelchair, grocery shopping hadn't taken more than 45 minutes and if we stayed in the chair for too long we might never be able to make progress.

I sighed, the outprint of my breath being visible in the air. If Peter fronted before I could get back inside, he would surely have a fit. I wasn't wearing anything more than a flat, a flattering form fitting t-shirt and some skinny jeans. I loved the cold, it was like eating some comfort food. The rest of the system, bar Flower and Lovely, couldn't stand the cold and always asked if I could cover up before leaving during cool weather. I usually obliged to their wishes, but today I needed the comfort it gave me more than usual.

Henry had called from a pay phone, absolutely out of his mind about Emma trying to convince him to leave Storybrooke in the middle of the night. It had given me quite a big scare. There was a lot a mother would do for her child, but trying to kidnap them because you can't get along with their adoptive mother was a new low Emma had achieved. Just because Emma had given birth to him, doesn't mean that she was his mother or had a right to him. She had signed for a closed adoption, she quite literally couldn't be responsible for him anymore. Regina was his mother, and we had done a great job raising him together. I let out another breath, watching as it became visible in the dry air.

Opening the door to the large house me and Richard called home, I was greeted by the sight of Henry playing with Daisy, the next door neighbor's dog. The sweet old lady was the only one to even consider letting Richard near her pet, and made it a frequent habit to drop Daisy off with him for a while. He never made her pay in cash, he much preferred the amazing muffins she baked for her grandchildren. She always makes an extra batch for him in exchange for watching her dogs. Richard sat on the couch, a glass in his hand as he watched over the boy and the large dog. The floor was covered in padding, we both hated when Daisy's fur got all over the furniture. She was like a large dust machine, her fur got everywhere no matter how many precosions we took, and we just learned to live with it.

"I got the ice cream." I announced, moving to put the non perishable groceries on the kitchen counter. "They didn't have Rocky Road, but there was Salted Caramel swirl and devil's chocolate so I got both." I looked over at the two boys, their eyes both following the bag with the ice cream inside. It was like watching a cat wait for their human to give them a treat. "No," I said before they could even voice their thoughts, "Not one tub of ice cream will be opened until we've eaten lunch." Henry pouted, and Richard looked less than pleased. For the most feared man in town, he sure had a weakness for ice cream.

"Please." Henry dragged on, scrunching his bottom eyelids to make himself look even cuter. I had grown a resistance to the puppy dog eyes, but every once in a while I gave in. Plus, he had just been almost kidnapped by his birth mother, so having some ice cream with his lunch wouldn't be the worst thing that had happened to him. "Fine, but only if you promise to at least try and eat what I make." Henry hated vegetables so much that he never even tried anything new, so it seemed like a fair bargain that he tried something new in exchange for the ice cream. "Alright." He agreed, hopping up from his spot on the floor to bound his way over to the counter, grabbing some of the bags to put away.