The sickness had lasted about three days, three days which she wished to forget. She cringed every time she recalled how needy she had been, how she had called out for them, now she was trying to make up for it. Alexa glared at her plate, frustratingly trying to cut her waffle with a plastic knife.
It really wasn't working.
"Do you want help?" Daisy questioned, noting the girl's struggle. Alexa paused briefly, "No." She bluntly stated, "no thanks." She corrected upon seeing the looks she received. She got sick of the plastic knife all together, it didn't help that the women were watched her. Sighing in defeat, she stabbed the waffle with her fork, she took a bite from it whole.
She looked down, not wanting to see the presumed amusement on the women's faces. Alexa was a little glad that the waffle tasted normal at least, and that she didn't feel the urge to immediately throw it back up.
The sound of a chair being pulled back could be heard, "i'll see you later love, be good for mama." Daisy spoke, Alexa turned her face away, knowing what was going to happen. Her action didn't prove to be successful because Daisy merely just kissed the girl's cheek. Alexa rubbed her face with her hand, "well that's a shame." Daisy laughed.
Her cheek was then kissed again, Alexa groaned, covering her face with her hands, "stop it."
Daisy obliged with the girl's request, she walked over to the doorway. 'Good luck' Daisy mouthed to Lottie, who gave a nod in recognition. Lottie peered over to the girl, who had gone back to trying to burn the waffle with looks alone. "It's not going to disappear." Lottie remarked, Alexa picked up the fork again, taking another bite.
"I think it might be a little easier to eat cut up." The blonde pointed out, she had finished her own plate at this point, she went over to the girl. Lottie began cutting up the food for her, "thanks." Alexa murmured, reaching out to take the fork off Lottie- who kept it.
Lottie held the fork at the girls lips, Alexa resisted her eye roll, opening her mouth. The woman used her sleeve to wipe a bit of whip cream off the girl's mouth, "It's not even ten o'clock yet." Lottie pointed out, "so?" Alexa questioned, "no need to be mad at a day that you haven't even lived yet." Lottie mused.
She handed the girl the fork, Alexa begrudgingly ate her breakfast, feeling irritated at the woman's words. She wasn't angry at a day that she hadn't lived, she was angry at the day she knew she was going to live. Along with the fact that it sounded awfully pretentious, even for Lottie.
"I'm not mad." Alexa grumbled.
~~
The girl stared the mesh wall in front her, it was rare she was put on the play pen, and she hated it. If she wasn't in a completely sour mood, sometimes she would observe the toys. This time proved to not be one of those times, so she sat stubbornly against the back wall, hoping that Lottie would feel guilty.
Her plan didn't seem to be working, not that she was doing much to make it effective, besides sighing every few minutes. She wished that she had the willpower to sit there and wait, but she was getting rather impatient.
"Mama can we go outside please?" She asked, doubting that she would be able to actually leave the house, but at least it would give her something to complain about when she said no. Alexa stared at Lottie through the mesh, waiting for an answer.
"Since you asked so politely, we can." Lottie agreed, Alexa couldn't help but grin in satisfaction, it was rare she actually got what she wanted. The girl shuffled forward, waiting for Lottie to come get her. The blonde paused in front of the playpen, Alexa was confused, when she made no move.
She realised what was wanted of her, Lottie wanted her to reach out her arms. Alexa wanted to go outside, and she was easily persuaded. The girl held her arms up, Lottie smiled as she took the girl from the mesh pen.
Another thing the girl had been coaxed into doing, she was sure that by the time she got out, she would have nothing left of herself, having given all to the women. She thought about it glumly whilsr she was put down, "what have I told you about doing that?" Lottie lightly scolded, holding the girls wrist. Alexa was a little surprised, looking down to see her nails digging into her palm, she hadn't even realised she'd been doing it.
Removing her nails, she bit her cheek. "One second." Lottie excused, coming back a moment later. She nudged a pacifier against the girls lips, Alexa had been too distracted to even fight it. When she realised what was in her mouth, she immediately spat it back out, holding it in her palm.
"You're not replacing one bad habit for another, show me you can be a good girl by keeping it in, and be thankful I'm not making you wear your mittens."
Alexa looked at the object in her hand, the thought of putting it in her mouth by herself felt like yet another piece of her soul she'd be losing. "Alexa." Lottie warned, "if going outside is too overwhelming then we can go have some quiet time upstairs."
This had been enough to entice the girl, she quickly shoved the object in her mouth. "Now your mouth won't get so many ouchies." Lottie said. Alexa felt as though she'd been stripped of her armour, she had nothing to dig into, no cheek to bite. Her chest heaved up and down, her breathing was the only thing she could focus on.
"Just breathe in and out love, in and out." The blonde reassured, noting the girls rigid exterior. "I'm fine." Alexa attempted to rebuke, but it became muffled by the rubbery object, making her blush.
~~
Walking into the yard, she gave a quick glance to the very place she'd escaped from, she noted how the hole had been patched back up. Feeling almost embarrassed, she looked away from the area, gripping Lottie's hand tighter. "I've got something to show you sweetie." Lottie promised, an excited smile on her lips.
Alexa knew she had only explored a quarter of the full yard, and a small portion of her couldn't wait to see more, but she didn't want Lottie to know that. Alexa diverted her gaze away from the blonde, looking down at her boots.
Always the stupid ladybug boots.
It felt nice to see dirt on them for once, small specks of mud on the previously pristine boots. They eventually stopped, or well Lottie had stopped, Alexa had attempted to walk further when she felt her hand being tugged back. She finally looked up, she allowed her hand to slip away from Lottie's,
A swing set stood in front of her, two swings. She couldn't push down her enthusiasm, she couldn't pretend that she didn't care. Alexa looked to Lottie for approval, to which the woman nodded. Alexa sat down on one of the swings, looking down at the dirt below her, she got an idea. With her tongue, she pushed the pacifier from her mouth, watching as fell to the grass.
Lottie tutted, picking up the object and sliding it into her pocket, she gave the girl a warning glance, "whoops." Alexa said. The blonde didn't seem to buy her excuse, but she stayed silent nonetheless, going to sit on the other swing.
The girl pushed herself off lightly, unsure of how high she's actually be allowed to go. Alexa closed her eyes, the motion made her recall being a child again, which felt ironic.
"Wanna have a competition?" Lottie questioned, Alexa snapped her eyes open, looking to the woman for answers. "Let's see who can go the highest." She proposed, Alexa furrowed her brows, "that's silly." The girl muttered. "Afraid you can't win?" Lottie teased, Alexa hadn't much an interest for the 'competition', but the implication that she would lose made her wish to prove Lottie wrong.
"Fine." Alexa agreed, "fine what?" Lottie asked, "fine I'll do the competition." She repeated. "Okay but you can't tell mommy." Lottie spoke, the girl was confused and the woman used this to her advantage, getting a head start.
So Lottie played dirty, Alexa pushed herself off the ground, not wanting Lottie to get even more of an advantage. As the girl went higher, she felt the familiar butterfly feeling in her stomach, the one she always got when she went too high. It almost made her stop- keyword almost.
To her dismay, she was losing the 'competition'. After a few moments, she realised she couldn't win, Lottie's height proved to be an advantage. Alexa could've merely accepted defeat, but if she couldn't win the competition, she'd at least go out with a bang. The girl slowed down a little, waiting until she was pushed back forward to jump off.
She'd always been so good at it when she was younger, but she hadn't done the trick in years, and that proved to not work in her favour. Her coordination seemed to be lacking, leading her to slipping on the mud once she landed. Alexa wished she had looked at the ground beforehand, because she hadn't realised there were rocks splayed around.
"Fuck." She muttered, feeling the rock dig into her knee. Lottie was soon at her side, Alexa hissed in pain as she shifted, moving so that she was sitting on the ground, now being able to see her bloody knees. It wasn't bad, but there was small rocks splayed over both of her knees, and it stung.
The tears in her eyes were out of her control, she looked towards Lottie, glossy eyes boring into Lottie's. "It's okay Lexie, it's okay." Lottie shushed the girl, running her hand through the girls hair. "We'll get it all cleaned up." She reassured, Alexa nodded, almost wishing she had the pacifier in her mouth so she could have something to bite down on.
"I'm just gonna pick you up okay? It might feel hurt a little for a moment but you'll be carried just like a princess." Lottie told her, Alexa nodded once more, a little too stunned to speak. She took a deep breath in as Lottie picked her up, she squeezed her eyes shut, the shift in pressure ached for a moment before going back to the previous stinging.
When she opened her eyes again, she was back in the house, Lottie placed the girl on the couch. The blonde began routing through drawers, sighing as she closed the last one. "We're gonna go on a fun trip to go see mommy." Lottie forced a smile, picking up the girl again.
~~
"Do you know where my med kit is?" Lottie opened the door to Daisy's office, Daisy mouth dropped slightly open, seeing the sight of the girl. "What happened?!" She rushed to ask, "we just had a little slip in the yard, everything's fine, I just need my med kit and I can't find it."
"A slip?" Daisy questioned, "we were having a competition on the swings." Alexa answered, "you were?" The woman enquired, Alexa nodded, the tears had stopped but her puffy cheeks were evident. The girl watched as Daisy shot Lottie a look, "well that was very silly of mama to do, especially when you could've got hurt, and you did." Daisy spoke.
Her knees hurt, but Alexa found this conversation to be much more interesting. "Maybe mama needs a time out." Daisy said, Alexa gave a small smile, finding the idea funny. "I will gladly have my time out later but I need my med kit right now." Lottie reminded, "isn't there still one in your office?" Daisy suddenly remembered the situation at hand.
Lottie's face morphed into relief, "let's go get your owies cleaned up." She told the girl, Alexa was led into a room she'd never been in before.
The girl was put down onto a chair that sat in the corner, Lottie went into the top drawer, and scrambled to grab her med kit. She walked over to the girl, placing the kit on the small table before she opened it. "This is gonna hurt, but only for a moment angel." Lottie informed her, picking up a pair of tweezers. "Okay." Alexa said, looking up at the ceiling, trying her best to ignore the pain shooting through her knees.
"There we go, now we can get all the icky blood off." Lottie picked up a disinfectant wipe, cleaning the blood off the girls knees. Alexa couldn't help but hiss as her knees were cleaned, she didn't wanna cry again however, so she looked up. She dug her nails into the chair, feeling the material against her hands.
"Oh I know it hurts so much." Lottie sympathised, picking up a pack of bandaids, "look at these bandaids sweetie." She urged, Alexa looked to see a box of bandaids adorned with puppies. They were cute, and she hated to admit that she liked them.
Opening the box, Lottie showed the girl the selection of bandaids, allowing Alexa choose which ones she wanted. Alexa wished she didn't care to choose, but choosing proved to be more fun than she thought.
The bandaids were placed on the girls knees, Lottie giving each knee a kiss, "all better now." Lottie smiled. The blonde stood back up, gathering the packaging in her hands, she went over to put them in the small trash can. "Why do you have an office mama you don't have a job." Alexa decided to ask, Lottie seemed to laugh at this, "well it's from when I did Lex."
Alexa nodded, she began looking around the room, focusing on the shelving beside her. There was a few framed photos across the shelves, she saw one of Daisy and Lottie together, before looking at the others.
Then she froze, seeing a particular photo. A blonde little girl standing in front of a man, except she recognised the man in the picture, and she could guess who the blonde was. Bile rose in her throat, she rushed up, running to the trash can. The girl fell to her knees, throwing up.
Her body began to shake, jittery legs. Her knees stung yet she couldn't even focus on that, too busy trying to process what she had just seen.
Lottie held the girls hair back, which sent a shiver up the girls spine. Alexa threw up until there was nothing left to spew, she sat up on her knees. "Are you still sick sweetie?" Lottie gently questioned, Alexa's face scrunched in disgust. She immediately stood back up, "you're the sick one here!"