"That's precious," Chelsea whispered.
We were standing in Alex's doorway. He was laying in his bed as usual, but, instead of being alone, Quinn was with him. We almost didn't notice it, Quinn was so small that we didn't even see the bump in the sheets at first. If it weren't for the faint light from the hallway, we definitely wouldn't have. The cute scene was also showing how much progress Quinn had made. She's getting better, and that makes so many other things better.
I walked into the room and looked at Quinn's face. It was calm, not a single trace of worry could be seen. Her scar was easily seen, though. It was a jagged line that went from her hairline down her right eyebrow. The knife had somehow missed her eye, but continued down onto her cheek.
I traced it gently with my finger and wiped a tear from my eye. How could Marissa do this? She was such a kind and gentle woman. She would cry whenever Josh and I came home with deer during the hunting season, feeling pity for the poor animals. She always laughed through the pain. She always wore a beautiful smile. But now, I can't picture her as anything other than a deranged murderer. One with ice in her veins, and eyes that show no emotion. I have actually had dreams of her, she was in a prison cell, wearing an orange jumpsuit. Good, I thought. That's where she belongs.
Quinn stirred in her sleep and her big blue eyes looked up at me tiredly. I smiled softly at her, smoothing down my daughter's messy blonde hair. "Good morning, sweetie. You can sleep more if you want, okay? Dad was just checking up on his girl. Sorry for waking you up."
Quinn only nodded before shutting her eyes and snuggling into Alex more. I kissed her temple and stood up to tuck her in.
I walked back over to Chelsea when Quinn was once again fast asleep. I hugged her for comfort as she quietly wept.
"You think she was scared of the storm?" I asked after a while.
"Probably, poor thing," Chelsea whispered pitifully. "We should let them rest." I nodded and held her hand as we went downstairs.
"Morning," Camryn said from the kitchen. Devin and Mason were both with her, all sitting down with bowls of cereal.
"I could have made breakfast," Chelsea said to them.
"It's okay mom," Devin said while stuffing his face. "I've got to go in ten."
"I need to get ready for my decathlon," Camryn added.
"Alright," I said. "Mason? Do you have anything going on?"
"No," he smiled. "I was hoping that I could just hang out with Quinn until the decathlon today."
"Speaking of Quinn," Camryn mumbled. "She's normally down by now, I'll go check on her." She stood up to leave, but I cut her off.
"That's alright honey," I smiled. "I already checked in on her, she's fine."
"Okay," she nodded, sitting back down.
It's probably best that the kids don't know about Quinn sleeping with Alex. Camryn might get the wrong idea, Devin will make fun of him, and who knows what Mason will think.
Quinn and Alex came down after another half-hour. Devin was gone and Camryn was putting on her shoes by the door.
"Hey Quinn," Camryn said. Quinn didn't notice her, she was still rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Quinn?" Cam asked. Quinn blinked out of her trance and looked up at her tiredly.
"You alright?" Mason asked. She put her hand over her mouth to yawn, then nodded. "You slept in pretty late," he laughed. She nodded and walked over to the couch.
Quinn sat there and groomed her bear. She didn't do anything else but that. Her sleepy eyes focused on her little bear, then slowly drooped as she almost fell back asleep. she jumped and popped her eyes back open, then continued to groom the bear.
"Did she really sleep?" Whispered Camryn in shock.
"Yeah," Alex replied softly. "It was around one when she went to bed. She got scared of the storm so she came into my room and ended up falling asleep."
"I'm glad," she sighed with relief. "I know she hasn't been sleeping well."
"What's going on?" Mason asked.
"It's nothing buddy," Alex smiled. He ruffled Mason's hair and walked to the kitchen. He grabbed a bowl and poured in some cereal.
"Awe, tell me," Mason whined.
"Don't worry about it, you're too young to understand," Alex said in between bites.
"I'm only a year younger than Cam," Mason persisted.
"Just don't worry about it," Camryn sighed. "It's nothing, really."
Mason sighed and dropped the topic. I was pretty glad about that, I don't want him knowing those kinds of things. He was too innocent and kind, and Quinn's struggles are scary.
"Oh, Quinn," Chelsea gasped. "I almost forgot that you have a doctors appointment. It's on Monday, so I'll pick you up from school, okay?"
Quinn nodded. She picked at her bandages and sighed. We know that Quinn hates doctors, I don't blame her, but she needs to be checked over.
Camryn went over and pulled Quinn's hand away from her bandages. "Let's not pick at those," she whispered with a pitying smile. Quinn nodded and pulled her sleeve down. "So what's her appointment for mom?" Cam asked, turning to Chelsea.
"Just a checkup," she said.
"I heard that Adam is a doctor now," Alex called while putting his bowl in the sink.
"Adam? Really?" I asked in shock.
"Yeah, he's the same age as Nora, right?" Conner asked.
"Yeah that's right, he was pretty good friends with Nora too. Guess he's following in his mom's footsteps," Chelsea chuckled.
"Who knows," Mason smiled, "he may just be Quinn's doctor."
"That'd be pretty funny," I laughed. Quinn looked up at all of us like we were crazy. I had forgotten that she didn't know who Adam and Nora were.
"Oh Quinn," Cam realized, "you don't know about Nora and Adam, do you?" She shook her head no. Her expression was still confused.
"Nora is one of my oldest daughter," Chelsea explained. Quinn nodded. "She had been injured like you so she went to a doctor a lot. The doctor had a son the same age as her, and the two of them became close friends. That boy was Adam, and now, as you just heard, he's a doctor." Quinn nodded again.
~~~
The kids drove to school and I drove to the office. After work I picked up the kids and took them home to get ready. Devin had to stay after school for practice so he kept the car.
"Okay, we've got to go now," I called. "Everybody ready?" The boys and Camryn nodded as Quinn walked over to put her shoes on. After that, she gave me a thumbs up.
We all piled into the van and drove to Camryn's competition. It was being held at the Groomsburg meeting hall. The place was three hours away, and we had to drop Cam off at the school first. We were able to make it on time and found some pretty good seats.
While the competition was going on everybody was asked not to talk, which was easy for Quinn. Mason and Quinn both communicated via notepad, since that boy had to find a way to talk. The announcers said that the competitors needed total silence, and apparently everybody enforces that rule like it's a sacred text or something.
Alex would write something too from time to time. When Devin came from his practice he did the same. Quinn didn't pay much attention to what the boys were saying, though. She was watching Camryn.
I could tell that she didn't know a lot of the things they were talking about. Even I didn't know half of it. She would clap for Cam and her team, and would try to figure out the problems herself.
Camryn's team ended up winning after four hours of decathaloning. Is that the right word? Well, anyways, we all clapped and cheered. It was fun, and I swear I even saw Quinn smile when Cam got the last question right.
After the tournament we met up with Camryn and walked to the car.
"That's my baby girl!" I called loudly, giving her a bear hug. "My daughter won the decathlon!"
"Dad," she whined through her little giggles. She's always been embarrassed by her laugh, but I love it. It reminds me that my mature baby girl is still... well, my baby girl.
"Good job, Camy, I got loads of pictures," Chelea said proudly while hugging Cam.
"Nice job, nerd," Devin said next, hugging his twin and teasingly giving her a loud kiss on her cheek.
"Thanks," Camryn said sheepishly while rubbing her cheek.
"Congratulations," Quinn wrote. The paper was decorated with drawings of confetti, and the 3D word was surrounded by a big explosion. Cam smiled and hugged her, then Alex put Quinn on his shoulders. He looked back at her and smiled, she squeezed her bear and notepad to her chest.
"You did good, robo," Alex complimented. When they were little, Alex was convinced Camryn was a robot because of how smart she was, so ever since then he's called her robo.
"Thanks, Al," she replied bashfully.
We started walking back to the car after that, Devin keeping his arm around his twin as he teased her about being a nerd and her retaliating by calling him meat-headed.
Quinn's hat slipped off of her head and she gasped. She almost fell off of Alex's shoulders while trying to grab it, and Camryn just barely caught her and pushed her back up. She held her hips until she was sure Quinn was steady.
"You alright?" Alex asked. Quinn shook her head and pointed at her hat. Her eyes were filled with tears.
"I got it," Devin called. The hat landed on the other side of the road. Devin ran straight through without looking and was almost hit by a car. It screeched for a stop right in front of him.
"Watch it!" The driver yelled. "You Millvillers are the dumbest people I ever saw!"
"And yet we still beat you in the decathlon!" Cam called smugly.
"Shut up!" A person called from the passenger seat. "We all know that you guys paid off the judges!"
"There's no proof!" Alex retaliated. "Innocent until proven guilty! Isn't that one of the questions you got wrong?"
"You piece of trash! You have no reason to be celebrating! I'm going to Harvard! You all will be going to community college!" That passenger yelled. "I'm the next Albert Einstein! Just you wait and see! I'll be the one laughing at the end!"
"Hah!" Camryn huffed out proudly. "My baby sister knew that answer, and she's only eleven years old!"
The driver cursed and sped off. Devin handed Quinn her hat and she hesitantly took it. She pulled it down on her head so that it covered her eyes. She looked down, her lip quivering a little bit.
"Somebody's a sore loser," Devin mumbled.
"I'm sorry," Quinn wrote.
"Ain't nothing to be apologizing for," Devin smiled. "Those guys just have bad attitudes."
Quinn nodded and pulled her hat down on her head harder.
"Ugh," Camryn grumbled, Golding her arms over her chest and scowling at the car. "I'd recognize that nasally voice anywhere."
"Who is it?" I asked.
"Robert Schuester, the brattiest high schooler in Groomsburg. He's already a senior, and he thinks he's hot stuff, but not even his own team likes him. I don't blame them either. Every time his team messes up, he goes and has a tantrum."
"Definitely not Harvard material," Quinn wrote, underlining the 'not'.
We all laughed and agreed.
"Where's the after party at?" I asked, opening Chelsea's door.
"Shake It Up," Camryn said, as she pulled Quinn off of Alex's shoulders and helped her onto the ground. "It'll be pretty late when we get there, though, so we don't have to go."
"Oh sweetie, it's fine," Chelsea smiled. "I know that you kids want to go."
Camryn nodded and smiled brightly as she climbed into the car.
We drove to Shake It Up cheerfully. Music was playing and everyone smiled. Quinn's version of smiling is her eyebrows lifting a bit. When we got there, Cam was dragged off by her teammates. They all hung out and messed around together, while the rest of us found a booth and ordered our food.
Maddie had somehow known Quinn already. She had tried to get Quinn to eat something, but got turned down. She did get a water, though. I was glad that Quinn had gotten something.
We all laughed and played and even Quinn seemed to enjoy the noise.
A lot of the parents spoke to Chelsea and me about Quinn. Many of them asked about her scar. I wasn't very sure how to respond, so I just said that there was an accident.
Quinn found herself with the decathlon kids' younger siblings. The kids were all a bit older than Quinn, but she was way smaller than even the ones closer to her age. They'd all talk on Quinn's notepad, and one of the kids actually got Quinn to try a little bit of their ice cream. She loved it and thanked the kid in all caps.
At one point the decathlon kids crowded around her too. I came over to see what was happening, and smiled widely. Quinn was drawing the party in complete detail. It was beautiful, and many of the kids asked for her to draw caricatures of them. She did her best, but there were a lot of kids. Quinn didn't really like the attention either. She was shy, and tried her best not to meet their eyes. They all thought Quinn was adorable, and tried to get her to come out of her hard shell.
One of the girls, who had beautifully braided hair, asked to play with Quinn's hair. She promised to be gentle, and to make it look really good. Quinn nodded and turned for the girl to braid her hair. She looked tense, but relaxed as time went on.
She was still drawing through the entire thing. People liked the art and always complimented it. One of the decathlon kids was planning on going to an art school, and told Quinn that her skills would easily allow her to get into the college now. Quinn blushed, but still seemed happy to hear the compliment.
Everything started to die down after a while. People began to leave, and soon, we did too. Alex carried Quinn through the parking lot. She pulled her hat down on her head harder every once in a while. She obviously didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier. That hat was something important to her. It didn't fit very well with her braid, but she made it work.
Devin decided to put Camryn on his back, which, although she'd never admit it, Cam was obviously grateful for. She nuzzled her face into my back, but grumbled about walking on her own.
Quinn started nodding off in the car, and I had to carry her inside. I sat her on the couch with a kiss to her forehead. She cradled her little bear and did everything she could to stay awake. Mason went to bed after a while, and soon, even Chelsea and I were heading to our room. Alex, Camryn, Devin, and Quinn were all still in the room, but I decided to leave them. It was a Friday night, they could stay up. Can was probably still excited about bee win, and I'd allow my baby girl to stay up on a school night with how good she did.
"Quinn seems to be doing better," I whispered. I rolled over and kissed Chelsea's cheek. "She's been acting a lot more cheerful since that visit from Debra. What's up with that mysterious hat though? Where did it come from?"
"I called Debra and asked," Chelsea whispered. "She said that it was Sammy's hat. It was pretty messed up in the fire, but she had a cousin who fixed it up."
"That was sweet of her," I smiled. "Quinn was horrified whenever her hat blew off, it makes sense why now."
"She and Sammy were always so close," Chelsea sniffled. "And the fact that she had to watch him die, she'll always have that with her. And the guilt she feels for him dying protecting her..."
"Quinn understands that she can't do anything about what happened to Sammy," I sighed. "She'll come to accept that he's gone someday, and that it wasn't her fault."
"I know." She gave a shaky sigh. "We'll just have to help Quinn the best we can."
"That's right," I nodded. "For now, it's all we can do."
She nodded and curled up with me. I kept a strong arm around her, holding Chelsea close to me. We fell asleep, both asking the same question: what exactly is the best way to help Quinn?
Bonus Easter Special (the chapter above is in November! This is just a little extra special I put together for an Easter present and isn't truly part of the story!):
Quinn opened her eyes to see she wasn't laying in her bed anymore. Now, she was laying in her old bed in Georgia. Sammy burst through the door and hugged Quinn with all of his might. Tears welled up in her eyes as she relaxed into the familiar comfort of her brother's arms.
"Happy Easter, Quinn," he whispered into her ear.
~~~
Quinn woke up in her normal bed to see all of her siblings standing around her. Smiling, they shouted, "Happy Easter!"
Quinn cried tears of joy and hugged them all. She saw him. Sammy came to her and was there for her. There was no greater gift on Easter than that.
"Sammy is still with us all," she said to not only herself, but to everybody who has mourned and grieved over our lost friend. Fly high, Sammy, we all miss you.