𝙎𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙎; 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣

𝘚𝘪𝘹: 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦

"Yes" Iris whispered as a yawn escaped her mouth. 

And Mark stayed back and rubbed his head, cursing under his breath that from all the people around him, he snapped at Amber. Amber who was the first person that made him feel like a father. Amber who was nothing but supportive since the moment she met him. And then he realised that he could play the strong dad to anyone around him, but there was always someone who we'd show our vulnerable selves. And in Mark's case that was Amber. The girl who understood the pain he was going through better than anyone, his step-daughter. 

❀

"Amby?" Iris said quietly. Her eyes were heavy and she was half asleep. But the toddler had a question to ask. Something that her mind couldn't quite understand. "Is mommy an angel?" She asked. Mark was talking about Natalie a lot to her. And Iris liked looking at the photos of her mother around the house. But she couldn't understand where her mommy was. Or why she wasn't there. She couldn't remember the woman that used to put her to sleep at nights. She couldn't remember the person that could calm her down when she was a baby. She only knew that her mother was an angel, up in the sky, watching over her.

Amber took in a shaky breath. She knew that she was always going to be the one who her siblings would ask about their mother. And she hadn't quite taking up that role yet. She needed more time to heal. "She is." Amber confirmed. 

"What angels do?" Iris questioned with her baby voice. 

"Angels look after the people they love. So mommy is looking after us. She is protecting us." That wasn't something Amber actually believed. She didn't believe in angels. But that's the only thing her sister needed to know at that point. 

"Mommy protect me from bad dreams?" Iris held her blanket tightly against her body. She was barely awake at that point, but she still had some questions. 

"She will. She always will." Amber said and gave her sister a kiss on the forehead. "Just sleep little sister. We will all protect you from bad dreams." She whispered and then she realised that Iris was already asleep. So she took one good look at her and walked out of the room quietly. She was holding her tears back. She was waiting to be out of the door before she'd break down. 

As she closed the door behind her, she came face to face with Mark. "Is she asleep?" He asked her and Amber only nodded her head, not able to speak. "Amber, I shouldn't have snapped at you before. I just really wish your mother was here, because I feel like I am doing everything wrong." 

"It's okay." Amber said and then a sob escaped her mouth, "I can't do this. I can't. I can't." She kept repeating. "I can't do this without her."

Mark hugged her, "shh," he tried to calm her down. "You will be fine." He whispered. "We will be fine."

❀

"Here." Mark handed her a cup of warm tea, minutes after she had calmed down. Amber was sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her. She looked lost in her head, but she quickly snapped back to reality when Mark spoke to her. 

"Thanks." She gave him a weak smile. Mark took a seat next to her. "Blanket?" She questioned. 

"Yeah." Mark agreed and let her wrap the blanket around him. They sat closer to each other, none of them speaking, but both of them enjoying the company only family could bring.

And then Amber blurred out the whole reason she was back home. The whole reason she dropped everything and left her classes behind. "I broke up with Tom." She announced and Mark looked at her shocked.