The Sun Will Come Out

Chapter 16

Jess's POV
I couldn't help but feel a wave of anxiety hit me as I watched Iris leave the room. We never slept apart. Most of the very few times in our lives that we've slept in separate rooms, it was before Peter.

The rest of the time, it was because Peter had locked one of us in a room or the closet. He locked me out of the house one time at night, but I managed to shimmy up a tree and Iris opened the window for me.

"Jess?" I heard, pulling me out of my thoughts. I turned to look at Maya who was giving me a concerned but soft look.

I'm not sure why, but her looking at me like that made me break down in tears. She got up and quickly sat on my bed with me, scooting right next to me.

"What can I do to help, lovebug?" she asked me softly.

"Can you just hold me?" I asked, not meeting her eyes. She put her finger under my chin and lifted it so my eyes were forced gently up to hers.

"Do not ever feel ashamed to ask me for comfort, baby. We've talked about this. That's my job as your mom." I smiled at her through my tears.

She wrapped her arms around me, letting me rest my head on her shoulder. She stroked my hair as I kept crying.

"What's got you so upset?"

I shrugged. "I was just really scared but I wanted to keep it together for Iris. And I'm really tired, but I couldn't sleep when Iris was here.

I didn't want to have a nightmare with them being able to see. I figured I'd be more likely to have one since I'm so stressed out."

"Well let's try for good dreams tonight, okay? I don't think your body can handle anything else right now," she said with a laugh.

I laughed too, suddenly realizing I had stopped crying. Maya kissed me on my forehead. I felt my body start to relax at the kiss, my subconscious finally feeling safe.

She started running her fingers through my hair, instantly making me feel tired. I could feel my head start to slip off of her shoulder, so I woke up completely and fixed it.

"Get some sleep, love," she said. "Your body is exhausted, and so is your brain. I'll be right here, I promise."

I looked up at her hesitantly. "Don't leave me, okay?" Her eyes shone with tears that were surfacing.

"I'm not going anywhere, baby," she responded. She kept running her fingers through my hair. "Moms are supposed to stay with their babies," she whispered, mainly to herself.

"You're a really good mom," I said groggily.

"Shh, go to sleep," she laughed. I felt my eyes start to become way too heavy to keep open. Maya noticed this, quietly whispering "sweet dreams, little one."

"Goodnight mom."

Carina's POV
Iris and I closed the door to Jess's room quietly, their little hand in mine. They started to turn left to where the elevator was but I stopped them.

"This way bambine, this way," I said, continuing forward.

"Where are we going?" they asked, suddenly confused.

"We are going to get some X-rays on that wrist of yours," I said, motioning to their left arm.

"Carina, I'm fine, really. Let's just go, I have school in the morning."

"We can go after I make sure my piccolo is actually okay." They gave a dramatic sigh but gave in. I ruffled their hair with my hand. "Thank youuuuuu."

"Yeah, yeah," they said, rolling their eyes but biting back a laugh. At least I had them in good spirits.

"Where are you two off to?" Jo asked happily as we almost ran into her when we rounded the corner.