Gracies POV (6 Years Old)
"Have you definitely got everything you need?" Will asked for the hundredth time and I nodded in confirmation as he shut the front door and put the key in to lock it,
"WAIT" I shrieked and Will looked down at me "I forgot bunny" I said in panic and Will sighed as he gave me a pointed look,
"Quickly" he urged as I ran inside to find my prized possession that was sitting on my bed,
"Got him" I announced as I ran back in to the hallway. Will shook his head as he finally closed the front door and locked it behind him. I bounced down the stairs a few steps in front of him before pulling open the doors and walking down on to the pavement and looking to asses if there where any cars,
"Don't even think about it Gracie" I heard Will warn behind me and I waited for him to catch up before taking his hand and crossing the street to Jays truck,
"Took you long enough" Jay commented from the drivers seat as Will lifted me in and I sat in my car seat,
"I forgot bunny" I informed and he shook his head with an amused smile,
"You sure you still wanna come with us?" He jokingly asked Hailey who laughed in reply "sorted?" He turned to Will who nodded, and with that, he began the drive.
"I need the bathroom" I announced after an hour and I heard Jay sigh slightly,
"Of course you do" I heard him mumble "I'll pull over at the next stop" he told me as I shuffled about in my seat,
"Where's my water?" I asked as I tried to look for it,
"You just said you needed the bathroom" Will said shaking his head,
"I do" I exclaimed "but my mouth doesn't know that" I added making him scoff before passing me the water.
Ten minutes later Jay found a stop to pull over at and Hailey quickly took me to the bathroom whilst my brothers took the opportunity to stretch their legs,
"Better?" Hailey asked me as we walked out of the bathrooms hand in hand and I nodded,
"Yeah" I replied "how much longer 'til we're there?" I asked curiously,
"I'm not sure exactly, maybe another hour or so" she replied "why?" She asked,
"Because I feel sick when I'm in the car" I told her and she nodded in understanding,
"Awe hunny, I'm sure we'll be there soon" she assured as we made it back to the truck,
"Sorted?" Jay asked once he saw us and we both nodded,
"Jay, I feel sick" I told him and he sighed,
"I'm sure you'll be fine kiddo" he replied "I'll open the window for you like we always do, ok?" He asked and I nodded slightly sadly.
We once again started the drive and I could feel the sickness come over me as soon as we started moving and let out a little groan as a result. I felt Will begin to stroke my hair soothingly as he encouraged me to close my eyes which I did and eventually I drifted off.
I woke up and the car was no longer moving and fluttered my eyes open to see that we had arrived at the cabin. I was on my own in the car but the trunk was open and I could see Will, Jay and Hailey sorting things out. I let out a huge yawn as I arched my back in a bid to get rid of some of the sleepiness that had overtaken me as I saw Jay walk over to the truck and open my door,
"Morning sleeping beauty" he smiled and I smiled back "how're you feeling?" He asked as he unclipped me and lifted me out of the car, holding me on his hip as I rested my still sleepy head on his shoulder,
"I don't feel sick anymore" I replied as he carried me towards the cabin,
"Good" he smiled as he put me down on the porch and I begrudgingly let go of him,
"Feeling better?" Will asked when I wrapped my arms around his waist. I nodded in confirmation "I don't know how you manage to get bed head when sleeping in a carseat" he comment as he ran his fingers through my slightly knotty hair and I shrugged, still feeling a little bit out of it "you're still tired, why don't you go and lie down on the sofa" he suggested and I did so with no complaint.
After a little more time to come round I was feeling much more awake and full of energy, whereas everyone else was not.
"Hailey watch" I exclaimed as I successfully jumped over my skipping rope without falling,
"Well done Gracie" she smiled as she took a beer bottle from Jay before he sat down with her and Will. And that's pretty much how the night was spent. I played lots of different games whilst the grown ups sat a talked for hours.
"Right missy" Will spoke causing me to look up at him from the drawing of the tree I was doing "it's way past your bedtime" he said "I think it's time you wrap that up and get ready for bed" he told me and I whined,
"I'm not tired" I complained,
"Gracie it's nearly 10pm" Jay agreed with our older brother,
"I don't wanna go to bed" I frowned,
"C'mon" Will insisted "I'll come with you and once you've got sorted you can choose a book, how does that sound?" He bargained and I sighed,
"Ok" I agreed and he gave me a wink,
"Good girl" he praised,
"Night Jay" I said as I went over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug,
"Night baby" he replied as he gave em a kiss on the head,
"Night Hailey" I said sweetly as I did the same to her,
"Night sweetie pie" she replied before Will led me inside to get ready for bed.
The next morning
"Rise and shine Graciekins" Will greeted as he walked in to my bedroom and opened the curtains for the sunlight to come streaming in,
"G'morning" I said as I stretched my hands up above my head before rubbing the sleep away from my eyes. I went to the kitchen with Will and he handed me a glass of orange juice before making himself a cup of coffee "Where's Jay and Hailey?" I asked,
"They're still in bed" Will said in to his coffee cup,
"Why're they still sleeping?" I asked confused,
"Let's just leave them to have some time on there own" Will suggested, dodging the question in the process,
"You can't be on your own if there's two of you" I told him matter of factly,
"Well let's leave them to spend some time together then" he corrected himself "how about we have some breakfast and get ready, then we can go for a walk" he suggested and I nodded my head excitedly at the idea,
"Can I have the chocolate cereal?" I asked hopefully,
"If that's what you want" he agreed before setting about starting breakfast "why don't you go and get dressed whilst I sort the breakfast" he suggested "but don't go in Hailey and Jays room" he added seriously.
I ran back to my bedroom and got changed before walking back to the kitchen,
"My love, you can't go walking in that" Will sighed as he saw my pretty sun dress,
"Yes I can, look" I exclaimed as I began to walk at different paces through the kitchen,
"That's not what I mean" he shook his head in slight amusement "get your cereal eaten then you'll have to go and change" he said as he ushered me to sit down.
We ate our breakfast in a comfortable silence before Will found me some more 'suitable' clothes for me to change in to, then leaving to do so himself.
"Ready to go?" He asked and I nodded in confirmation. Will put the backpack on his back and I grabbed bunny "maybe you should leave bunny here" Will suggested, but I held him tightly to my chest,
"No" I whined "he want's to come as well" I added and Will sighed in defeat before nodding in agreement,
"Ok, fine" he said "but keep tight hold of him" he warned before leading me out of the cabin.
We began our walk down the uneven jagged paths through the woods and about half an hour in we found a small lake,
"Will, look" I exclaimed as I ran towards the water,
"Don't go too close" I heard him say from behind me and I stopped a few steps before the edge.
"Is this the same lake that we went swimming in last time?" I asked with a concentrated frown,
"No it's not" Will shook his head "I don't think anyone would wanna swim in there" he added, referring to the dark brown colour of the water.
Will sat down on one of the tree trunks that had fallen over an pulled out two bottles of water and handed one to me,
"Thank you" I said before sitting down next to him and taking a generous gulp before handing back to him and heading straight over to some stepping stones at the edge of the water,
"Careful kiddo" Will said as he watched my movements. I hopped happily from stone to stone until I came across one that was much slipper than the others and lost my balance. I fell on to the rock covered floor next to me and let out a startled scream "are you ok?" Will asked as he ran over to me but I couldn't reply through my sobs. My brother was quick to lift me up off the wet floor and carry me back over to the log we had previously been sitting on. He sat me down on the log before grabbing his backpack and crouching down in front of me "ok sweetheart" Will soothed as he tried to find what he was looking for "you're ok" he assured as he pulled out the small first aid kit. It was then that I looked down and saw that I had scraped both of my knees on the rocks on my way down, as well as scuffed up my hands in the process.
"I-It h-hurts-s" I sobbed,
"I know kiddo" he replied "I know, but I'm gonna make it better" he assured.
Will was quick to clean up my knees and put two bandaids on before wiping away my slightly subsiding tears,
"There we go" he said once he was finished and I wrapped my arms around his neck and he held me close. I gasped out loud making Will look at me in alarm "what?" He asked as fresh tears sprung to my eyes,
"Bunny!" I exclaimed and a look of realisation flashed across his face "I had him before I fell" I added and he walked over to where I had been playing,
"It's fine, he's here" he shouted "I think he's gonna need a wash though" he added making me frown,
"What'd you mean?" I asked and he walked back over with my dirty, soggy bunny rabbit "nooo" I sobbed,
"He's fine Gracie" Will comforted "he just needs a wash and he'll be good as new" he assured as he tried to squeeze some of the water from my toy,
"Stop! You're hurting him!" I exclaimed,
"I'm trying to get some of the water out of him" he replied,
"I wanna go back" I sobbed sadly and Will nodded,
"Ok, we can do that" he sighed. So he packed up his backpack and took my hand in his, holding my extremely soggy bunny in the other.
I cried all the way back to the cabin despite Will trying to cheer me up and when we walked inside, Jay was stood in the kitchen,
"What's the matter?" He asked with a frown when he saw my red puffy eyes and the bandaids on my knees. I ran over to him and told him all about how I had fallen over and dropped bunny in the lake. Jay did his best to assure me that my bunny would be fine but I was too upset to hear any of it,
"Look" Will said as he walked back in "he's fine now, he just needs to dry" he said as he showed me the now clean toy as he placed it on the table outside in the direct sunlight,
"See, Will's fixed it" Jay said and I nodded with a little sniffle "so no more tears now, ok?" He asked and I nodded,
"Ok" I agreed as Jay gave me a gentle kiss on my temple,
"Good girl" he praised "how about you go play outside" he suggested as he placed me on the ground and I nodded silently before running outside.
Time skip
"I don't wanna go to bed" I screamed at Jay as he continued to try (and fail) putting me in my bed "I'm not going without bunny" I screamed,
"Gracie" Jay tried to stay calm "he's still wet kiddo, he needs more time to dry" he tried to explain but I shook my head,
"I don't care" I insisted determinedly,
"You can't have him" Jay denied making me scream even more in frustration "c'mon, you've had a long day. Look, why don't you sleep with teddy tonight instead" he suggested as he grabbed my teddy bear and handed it to me,
"NO!" I screamed before throwing it across the room,
"Hey" Jay scolded, gradually loosing his patience "you don't throw things" he warned and I stamped my foot "it's bedtime now Gracelyn" he said in a stern voice but I shook my head silently "yes it is" he replied as he lifted me off the floor and put me in the bed making my screams intensify to a new level. My mouth flew shut when I felt Jay smack my butt sharply "enough with the screaming" he warned,
"What's going on sweetie pie?" Hailey asked as she walked in to the room,
"I don't wanna go to bed" I told her tearfully "not without bunny" I added as she walked over to my bed and sat down on the edge before stroking my hair comfortingly,
"But your bunny still needs time to get better" she said gently "he needs a good nights sleep on his own where someone won't roll over him" she added and I looked at her thoughtfully,
"Then he'll be better?" I asked hopefully and Hailey nodded with a soft smile,
"Then he'll be better" she assured and I nodded "so how about you do what your brother says and get some sleep, then when you wake up in the morning you'll be able to see bunny" she said and I nodded,
"Ok" I agreed,
"Good girl" she smiled before moving to the side for Jay to tuck me in,
"You sure you definitely don't want teddy?" He questioned and I nodded holding out my hands for him to place it in before holding him close to my chest "right, n'night" he said before leaning down and giving em a kiss on the forehead,
"Night, love you" I said,
"I love you too" he replied with a comforting smile.