She was very worried, and she couldn’t exactly contain it. “Are you sure?”
“We’re sure,” Mike affirmed, causing her to bring her eyes towards him. “Trust me on this. By the time summer is over, you won’t even remember what had you so upset at the start. Because Nancy and I will help you have fun.”
Her eyes went wide in astonishment. “You will?”
He grinned, moving up a bit more to ruffle up her blonde hair. “Of course we will, Holly.”
Holly giggled, a toothy smile on her face. “So, everything will be fine?”
Mike nodded firmly, matching her smile. “Everything will be fine.”
“If it wasn’t,” Nancy chimed in, lips turned up, “then we wouldn’t even be here. I wouldn’t even be here, guys.”
“And she’s still here, so,” Mike shrugged, “how bad could it get, right?”
With those last words, Holly took them in a stride of comfort. She was no longer dwelling on how upset their parents seemed to be towards one another, she wasn’t worrying about what it would mean for them. Her mind just took her to a happy place where she was with her brother and sister, having fun and being taken care of by them during all of this.
And Nancy was right. They were only there to help protect Holly from any negativity that may come across her way. It was their right to be there as her protectors, to keep her happy through all this. Really, what else was there to stick around their home for in all this?
• • •
There was a strange calmness when he woke up that morning. No loud shouting, no arguing, no angry clank of dishes in the kitchen sink, no television blaring to drown out other voices. There was none of the usual noises he had began to grow accustomed to.
It was eerily calm, such a contrast to what they had previously been awakening to in the past week. Still, he decided he would just go about the day normally.
Maybe he could take Holly out to spend some time at the playground in the park nearby.
He got dressed into some typical summer clothing, just some stringed blue shorts and a button-up yellow shirt before slipping on some sneakers. He left his room, heading down the hall towards Holly's room. The door was shut, so he knocked.
Silence was all that met him. With a frown, he knocked again. But still nothing.
"Holly?" he called out.
Maybe she was still sleeping?
Mike turned the doorknob, creaking the door open a bit. She wasn't in bed, and her room seemed pretty normal. Too clean, though. Something felt off but he merely brushed it off, leaving the room.
He noticed that Nancy's bedroom door was still shut, but he could hear the muffled sound of her voice. Probably on the telephone, as usual.
Mike went downstairs and searched around for Holly, only to find his dad sat at the dining table drinking his coffee but with no newspaper oddly enough. Again, he brushed it off, walking around in search for either his mom or sister. But, nothing.
chapter six.
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