This Love

Chapter 49

SCARLETT PARKER

Sixteen Years Ago

My ears perked up as I heard the wailing sound of a baby crying, and it took me a minute to remember that Seth and I had a new sister. I lifted my head from my pillow to see that he was still asleep on the other side of the room, but I couldn't help my own curiosity. I hadn't seen much of Hailey since she came home, mostly because our mother was positive that I was going to get her sick for some reason.

Just as I was about to open the door, I heard footsteps in the hallway, followed by the sound of another door creaking open nearby. I waited for maybe fifteen seconds before I proceeded to silently slip out of my and Seth's room.

I tip-toed to the crack of light halfway down the hallway to the nursery, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the sound of my mother. She was singing to Hailey, something about a mockingbird. I thought it was a strange song, or maybe it was just strange to hear her sound like such a...mother.

Part of me knew I should have just gone back to bed, but when I couldn't quite help myself, I took two steps forward to peek through the partially open door. Inside the dim room, I saw my mom in her silk nightgown holding the swaddled baby in her arms. She had a smile on her face that I had never seen her wear before, and she was looking at Hailey like she might as well have been Jesus Christ.

"My sweet baby," she said, hanging her head to brush the tips of their noses together. "I love you, darling."

Watching her press little kisses all over Hailey's little face made me feel both uncomfortable and sick as I started silently backtracking to my room. It was a feeling in the pit of my stomach–one reminiscent of when I had a bellyache from not eating.

My and Seth's room felt colder both colder and darker than it did before I left it, and I felt scared once the door was shut and we were in the pitch blackness. I walked all the way to my bed before I changed my mind and grabbed my pillow to take to Seth's bed.

He grunted and whined as I carelessly climbed on top of his body to get to the other side of the bed. "What are you doing, Scar?"

"I'm scared," I whispered and wiggled to get under the blanket with him.

"You're so annoying," he muttered, but he didn't fight me when I took his hand to hold it up by our pillows. And instead of telling me to leave, he pulled the duvet up higher and hugged me until my breathing started to slow. Even as I squeezed my eyes closed, I felt them start to moisten behind my lids as I wondered if our mom had ever sung to us like that. I doubted it very much.

***

"Okay, so...when it says boil water...what do I do?"

Confused as fuck, I lift my gaze from my phone and slowly turn my head over to see Harry blinking at Hailey as he absorbs her question. My brows are raised as I wait for him to come up with some kind of answer without making her feel like an absolute idiot. I don't even eat half the time and I know how to boil water.

"So, you fill the pot with water and then you put it on the burner, and when the water starts to bubble up, then the pasta is ready to go in."

"Oh, duh," Hailey laughs. "But don't we have to break up the spaghetti before we put it in the pot? The noodles are too big."

"No, when they hit the boiling water then they'll loosen up and they'll sink into the water," he explains. "You'll see when we do it."

Curiously still, I watch them from the couch as Harry takes the heavy pot of water and sets it on the burner for her. He laughs at her as she squeals from the burner flickering on, and she exhales a laugh of her own as she lightly smacks his back for scaring her like that.