𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 || 𝒄.𝒙𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓

II

"You gotta be very quiet." Madeline heard her sister. "Can you do that?"

"Yeah!" the little girl quickly said. She was practically jumping for joy as they quietly opened the door. Madeleine tried her best to hide her smile and pretend to still be asleep. In reality she had been awake for the past hour hearing some form of cooking going on.

The little girl made it her mission to carefully hold the full glass of water in her hands as she walked to her aunts bed. She made it to her dresser and successfully placed the cup on the wood before clapping and jumping up and down. "Shh. Sweetie, you gotta be quiet." her mom laughed.

Madeleine pretended to wake up and be surprised at her niece. "Birdie! Did you put that there?" she asked in shock. The girl nodded with a bright smile as she tried to climb into the bed. "How sweet." Madeline said pulling her the rest of the way.

She adjusted them to be fully sitting up in bed as her sister set the tray full of food in front of her. "You heard us in there?" she asked.

Shrugging her shoulders she took a piece of bacon and ate it. "I don't know what you're talking about." she said earning a laugh from her sister. "What's this for?"

Her sister became silent, unable to get her words out. "It's.. that day." she said with a sadden smile. Madeleines smile softened. Once she looked at the girl by her side, she picked up her attitude. "I thought you'd want to come with us to.. get your mind off of it? Or even just talk about-"

    "I have plans." the girl smiled.

    Taken back, Evangeline crossed her arms. "Really?"

    Madeleine only nodded. "Yeah, i got a whole to-do list so you two can just.. have a mommy-daughter day. It'll be good for you." she tried to say distractingly.

    "Good for me or good for you?" her sister asked in a bit of annoyance. The two stared each other down. Elizabeth couldn't tell what was going on but used her little hands to grab one of the pancakes she helped flip and handed it to her aunt breaking the staring contest.

    Evie watched as Maddie took the food and walked out. "Evie?" she called after her sister. "Evie," she said getting up from bed and following her sister. "It's not that i don't want to spend time with you, i-"

    "You just want to forget them. I know." she said as she frustratedly put dishes away. Madeline was hurt. She never heard those words come out her sisters mouth.

    "Evie, you know good and well that what happened to us is something we share." she said.

    "Then why don't you want to share this with me?" the woman cried out as she turned to her sister. Seeing the worry cloud her sister, she tried to think of what else to say. "For years i have been.. letting you grieve and handle this your way. But it feels like you buried them for the second time and letting me watch as you tear yourself apart."

    She could see the pain in her sister's eyes. She could even feel her fear inching its way out. "Evie.."

    "I can't make you do anything you don't want to but soon you'll be in a position where you need to confront it and.. i might not be there to help you." she said.

    Madeline watched as Evangeline took her daughter who stood in the doorway to their room to get ready for their day.

...

    Madeline of course lied about her list. She never followed a list. At least not one she'd make. Instead she sat in a park watching people have picnics, play together, or just talk on a bench.