y'all, life is hitting me like a truck but I'm hoping to get the next real chapter out soon. have this cute series of flashbacks
BABY ELLIE AND CONNOR
BABY ELENORA WAS A TROUBLEMAKER.
Never in front of Beatrice, and never in the eyes of Charles.
But to everyone else? Elenora was a hell-raiser. She was just pretty good at hiding it. Sweetheart Connor was usually the victim of her attacks, but she strategically timed them so absolutely no one would know what made him cry.
Devon knew that the black-haired, blue-eyed child was the reason his brown-haired green-eyed son was upset, but he said nothing; just tried to intervene before Connor could get upset.
As much as she loved terrorizing Connor by taking his toys and knocking down his towers, Elenora absolutely adored him; she was always trying to help Devon feed him and when he cried she would give him hugs.
That's part of the reason no one believed that Elenora could be cruel - she was so sweet to him, and honestly, Connor loved being by her. Even if she pulled his hair and pushed him, Connor didn't stop trying to share his cars and blocks.
There was one time when Beatrice wasn't feeling well, and Charles had a meeting, and Devon was nowhere to be found, and Professor Logan was babysitting.
For a while, he just sat on the couch of the central living room of the Insitute - it after lights outs, so it was empty - and the two children were situated on a blanket in front of him, and as he dozed off, the two of them played with a puzzle or something.
He woke up to the sound of wailing.
Half scared for the children's life and a half for his own - Bea was scary when she was angry - Logan leaped up, and immediately gawked at the situation in front of him.
Elenora Charlotte Rogers had thrown a puzzle piece right at Connor's face. Like right at him. And as the little boy clutched his face and cried, Elenora sat there for a moment before rushing forward and hugging him.
"No cry," she said, drawing out the words and she patted his head, surprisingly calm. "Con, Con, no cry."
Logan literally stared at Elenora before reaching forward, picking up a puzzle piece and saying, "You can't throw things at people. That hurts them." He felt like an idiot talking to a child, but Beatrice told him that they had to speak to the babies so they'd learn to speak and listen.
Elenora, despite knowing exactly what he was saying, cocked her head and stared at him, confused.
Sighing, Logan tried again, shaking the piece in her face. "Elenora, you can't throw things," he told her again, motioning to a still crying Connor. Extending his arms, Logan reached forward to pick up Connor but instead was greeted with a puzzle piece thrown in his face.
He stared down at Elenora, irritated, and she hugged Connor tighter.
"No!" she exclaimed defiantly, her nose scrunching.
Logan was ready to start losing his cool, but before he could, Beatrice was strolling in the room.
"I thought I'd find you here," she said softly, her voice laced with fatigue, and the bags under her eyes emphasized by the glow of the fireplace.
When her mother came into view, Elenora started to wiggle around, holding arms up with a huge smile, and Connor watched her curiously, mimicking her actions.
Picking up Elenora in one arm, asking, "How was my baby girl?" as she learned to pick up Connor with the other. Logan could tell that the weight of two children was a burden for her, but she didn't let either of them know it, smiling to both of them.
Worried they were gonna fight again, Logan to take Connor from his arms, but he was already relaxed against Beatrice's shoulder, smiling at Elenora who was playing with her mom's hair.
"She hit Connor," Logan told her, not taking his eyes off of how sweet she was acting. "And then threw something at me."
Eyes furrowing, Beatrice looked down sternly at Elenora. "Is this true, Elenora Charlotte?"
Mimicking her confused expression with Logan, Elenora reached forward and touched Connor's face.
Beatrice looked to Logan, but he just rolled his eyes. He warned Beatrice, "She's gonna be trouble when she's older."
BABY ELLIE AND UNCLE CHARLES
Even at a young age, Elenora Rogers absolutely adored Charles. Sure, Connor had the same affection for the man, but Elenora was different.
Charles could never say no to Elenora, and he never really would.
Even when she would escape Beatrice's watchful eye and follow the sound of her uncle's voice to the middle of his lesson, Charles wouldn't say no. He would continue teaching, holding her, as he pointed out syntax and punctuation and symbolism in any sort of book he was reading to a class of teenagers who were watching the little girl fall asleep on his shoulder.
Even when she was crying late at night, Charles wouldn't say no; he'd pull her out of her crib, and bring her out to his office, letting her play with dolls and stuffed animals until Beatrice found the two of them and forced them both to sleep.
Even when she already had three bowls of ice cream and wanted more.
He didn't like saying no to her, and it never happened after Logan told him he'd have to leave her in a big city with no family.
BABY ELLIE AND STEVE'S VISITS
Elenora was four, and a nice man came to visit Mrs.Austin's foster home.
He was very nice, actually, and young Elenora was so intrigued she paused playing with dolls to watch as Mrs.Austin opened the door, allowing the nice man in.
"Thank you, for having me, Ma'am," the nice man spoke as he nodded his head in a sort of greeting. Little Elenora placed her doll on the ground and turned slowly to get a better look at the stranger.
He had blonde hair and blue eyes. Elenora thought he looked a lot like someone in her foster brother's, Michael, comic books. Like a superhero or something.
Elenora looked back at her dollhouse because maybe he was a prince or something, and she was not going to give up any of her princess dolls, even if he needed a princess.
"Of course, Mr.Rogers," Mrs.Austin said in her very nice voice. Elenora liked that voice. That voice usually meant hugs and ice cream. She really liked ice cream, and Mrs.Austin had the best sherbert Elenora had ever had. The young girl looked back to the two adults and noticed the expression on her foster mother's face.
While Elenora liked it very much, Mrs.Austin's smile dulled in comparison to this nice man's. His smile was soft and very different from what Elenora knew Mr.Austin's to be. He didn't have the nicest smile. He wasn't a nice person, Elenora thought.
But this man looked very nice.
The young girl had stared so long at the stranger's profile, she jumped a little when he broke away from his conversation with Mrs.Austin to see the young girl who he'd distracted. His smile fell, for a second, and Elenora, confused, titled her head. He turned back to Mrs.Austin and said somethings in a hushed voice so Elenora couldn't hear.
Saddened by the lack of response from the man, Elenora turned back to her doll sent with a frown.
Maybe the man noticed how he made her felt. Maybe he felt bad and asked Mrs.Austin for her name.
"Elenora?" the man called. Elenora, surprised by her name, spun on her knees instantly. The man had a smile now. Mrs.Austin looked sad, instead. Elenora knew that look meant that Mrs.Austin knew something she didn't want to say.
He smiled and spoke some more. "My name is Steve," he told her, squatting down next to young Elenora. When his blue eyes met Elenora's, she got nervous and looked away. Seconds later, she looked back to see if Mr.Steve was still looking at her, and he was. Then his eyes flickered over to the dollhouse. "You like playing dolls?"
Elenora was too young to know what skeptical was, but Elenora was very skeptical of this man. So instead of saying anything, she nodded, and her blue eyes flickered down to her crayon-marked Ariel doll she'd gotten from one of the older girls.
Mr.Steve followed her eyes down to the doll. He looked back at her. "Is that a princess doll?"
Oh, Mr.Steve was a prince and he was going to steal her Ariel doll. Elenora knew it, she knew it, and she reached for the doll, grabbed it, and clutched it to her chest. Tears starting welling in her eyes.
Steve didn't know what to do. He looked back for Mrs.Austin, but she had gone into the kitchen, trying to get a drink for her visitor.
"Don't cry, Elenora," he told her, his eyebrows furrowing as he raised his hands to prove he meant no harm. Unconvinced, the girl held the doll even tighter to her chest, a single tear escaping.
Before another tear could fall, Steve promised, "I don't want to take your doll from you, I promise."
Elenora didn't fully believe him, but his blonde hair looked a lot like her other princess doll. For a few seconds, Elenora's eyes darted between Steve and Ariel, and then, in a quick motion, she reached for her Belle doll and handed it to Steve.
"Mrs.Austin says to share," Elenora mumbled like a recitation, turning back to her dollhouse with minimal thought. Steve sat bewildered, looking from the doll to the girl to the house. While the man stewed in his own thoughts, Elenora continued to brush through the red hair, still hesitant to talk to the man but somehow comforted by his presence.
Steve, unsure of what to do, just said there, his legs crossed under him as he watched his daughter play with a toy. It had been almost a year since he'd seen her, and he knew it was going to be long until he saw her again.
Much to his fear, she really was growing on him.
The silence made Elenora turn back, staring quizzically at the man and his awkward hold on the doll.
She paused, watching him scrutinizingly, before pulling the doll out of his hands, and putting them nicely in the dollhouse.
Not sure if he offended her or something, Steve began to say something, but before he could even think of words, Elenora was turning back to him with a puzzle, placing the box in front of him, and staring at him expectantly.
"Mrs.Austin says I need a big kid to play with me," she explained, tugging off the lid of the box. "You're a grown-up."
Steve nodded, unsure of what to do.
Elenora did not take her eyes off of him, staring expectantly yet again, and not breaking the stare.
Steve, bewildered, just stared back.
"Show me," she said, pushing the box to him.
Watching her carefully, Steve's tone was light as he pulled the pieces out of the box. "You've never done a puzzle before?"
Tucking her hair behind her ear, Elenora shook her head. "The bigs kids don't like to play," she told him as she reached for a corner piece, observing it before handing it Steve, waiting for him to start.
So he took the piece, and placed it down; when he looked up, Elenora's big blue eyes were on him, and she had another piece offered to him.
As Steve would find out, Elenora didn't care much about actually doing the puzzle as much as she was curious to see it done; her eyes never left Steve or the puzzle.
The end result was a dog. Elenora liked it a lot, and she gave it a lopsided smile before she grinned up to Steve.
"Do you like it?" she asked, scooting closer to Steve, despite the puzzle in between the two of them.
Steve nodded, watching as Elenora stared back down at the puzzle before standing up, and reaching for his hand; Steve didn't hesitate to let her hold his hand and tug him up.
"What's wrong, Ellie?" he asked, testing the nickname out almost absentmindedly. He was shaken up when Elenora looked him up and down with her bright blue eyes, a serious expression on her face. "Are you okay?"
She paused but nodded. "I'm thirsty," she said, taking him to the kitchen. It was clear she wasn't gonna let him out of her sight.
Unsure of what to do, Steve stood awkwardly at the doorway while his four-year-old daughter grabbed orange juice from the fridge, and placed it on the counter.
Natasha was right. He needed this. He needed to see her.
Steve was quickly snapped out of his happy daze when he saw Elenora jumping on the counter, pulling herself up to balance; in a second, he was behind her, arms outstretched.
"What are you doing?" he asked, watching her worriedly as she turned to him with a puzzled expression. Mrs.Austin never got like that when she went to get a cup. She felt like she was in trouble.
Elenora's blue eyes got glassy and her bottom lip stuck out.
"No, no, don't-" Steve started, but realize ordering her to stop crying would not help the situation. Instead, he took a deep breath, setting his palms against the counter, and recovering. When he looked back up, Elenora was still staring down at this. "It's not safe for you to climb up here, Ellie."
She said nothing, though Steve got the impression that she did that sorta stuff a lot.
"C'mon," he urged, offering his hands out to her to help her sit on the counter rather than stand. "Where are your cups?"
Elenora pointed at the cabinet.
Looking at the assortment of colored cups, Steve wondered if the kids here had special colors. He looked down to ask Elenora, and she said, "Mine is orange."
Nodding, Steve pulled down the orange cup and began to close the door again.
A hand on his wrist stopped him.
"You need a drink, too," Elenora said, opening the cabinet again, and showing him where his cup would be.
He left a sobbing Elenora later that afternoon - she begged him to stay and play longer.
Steve was trying to cry as he drove home.
That was the last time he visited Elenora.