mercy ; peter ballard

31. s w e e t

"got it! it'll be done in a hot second!"

peter opened the front door, smiling at his wife.

"peter!" she exclaimed, walking to embrace her husband. his arms wrapped around him. "i missed you."

peter chuckled as they pulled apart, "i missed you, too, my dear."

he places a sweet kiss onto her lips before they walk into the kitchen. with a snap of her fingers, a large pepperoni pizza appeared on the table.

"boys! lunch!" she called, turning to the direction of the stairs so the boys can hear.

"be down in a second!" will responded.

peter and bea sit down at the table, waiting for the boys as tilly laid in her dog bed in the
living room.

"can we talk?" bea asked, playing with her hands.

peter looked at her, concerned. "of course, dear. what's wrong?"

bea loved the boys, but she still felt like one
more thing was missing. she feared that she was too old or something.

"have you thought about having kids? like more than the boys?"

peter nodded. of course, he did. how could he forget about them. their dear elodie and sawyer. if you would've asked him a couple months ago he probably would've hesitated, but the boys and tilly really grew on him.

"of course, dear." he waited for her to finish her thought.

"do you think we could have them again some day?"

"whenever you're ready for our own children, i'm ready. i still hope they will be as beautiful as you, my love. i think the boys will adore the little ones."

"i mean i feel like i'm ready, but i'm also terrified, peter. what if they get to me again? what if they harm the baby or one of the boys? they could've killed me, what's stopping them from trying to hurt the children?"

bea's breathing grew heavier. her eyes began to water. she felt like she was suffocating. it reminded her of when eleven almost crushed her throat, making her panic a little more. the more she thought about it, the more it weighed on her chest.

she felt trapped in her situation both literally and figuratively. the overworld group was never going to stop pursuing her until they were dead. no matter what she did, bea always ended up back where she started. locked up and hidden away.

peter rushes to her side, crouching to her level.

"hey. hey," he repeated, softly, holding her hand. "it's alright. look at me." she stared in his blue eyes. "nothing is going to happen to any of you as long as i live. i promise you. breathe. in," he commanded. he always knew how to calm her down. she always felt bad he had to deal with her like this, but he enforced that he loved her and that it's not her fault.

she nodded and sucked in a harsh breath through her sniffling.

"and out." she exhaled.

he repeated again. "breathe in."

she inhaled deeply. her chest rose and fell. she tried to focus on his blue eyes.

"out."

[REDACTED], 1972

bea held the baby close to her chest in the nursery rainbow room. as the children grow, they began to move through the rainbow room stages: the nursery, the playroom, and the big rainbow room. the big rainbow room was significantly larger and housed more mature activities for the children.