Mrs. Avery

Chapter 13

They were clearly not okay.

"Come here." Agnes sighed as she went to the couch. They slowly came down the stairs. Liam's hair was still wet and he didn't even have a shirt on yet.

Liam was crying and Juliana didn't look too far behind. Agnes had called them down the stairs confidently, but after seating them in front of her on the coffee table she had absolutely no idea where to go from there.

"Okay, so..." She tried to start. "That," she gestured towards the door. "Will never happen again and I'm very sorry." She didn't know what they had heard or really understood so she didn't want to go into anything else about it. "Come here." She said pulling Liam into her arms. "It's all going to be okay. Okay?" She said. She rubbed his back. "I promise."

"Uh huh." He mumbled as he wiped his face.

Juliana's mouth was stuck open slightly as she stared at the kitchen table. "What happens if Dad doesn't have a place for us after a month?" She burst out suddenly.

"I guess, you'll just have to keep staying with me." Agnes smiled lopsidedly.

"But you just said..." Juli started to shout.

"Hey Juli," She said harshly. "One.... Do not raise your voice at me again. I don't know if Gramma tolerated that, but it's not going to fly now. Two... I would never abandon you guys. I know what I just said. I was also fighting with your dad and I didn't mean it so I shouldn't have said it. I'm trying to give him a timeline because he works best that way."

They were all silent for a moment.

"Do you understand me?" Agnes asked shattering the silence.

"Yeah." Juli said, her tears finally breaking. It made Agnes break a little bit too looking at her.

"Will you please come here?" She said reaching a hand out to Juliana.

Juliana considered it for longer than Agnes had expected her to before taking her hand and sitting next to her on the couch. Liam had settled into the side of her neck and was only sniffling now.

Agnes sighed to compose herself and then said. "I miss Gramma too. And I know that she would have had all the answers, but I'm doing my best, okay." Her voice broke and tears filled her eyes too. "And I'm not going to let anyone separate you two from each other or your dad." She paused. Juliana was holding her hand tighter now and crying steadily as she stared forward. "But," Agnes continued firmly through her own tears and Juli's face whipped around to look at her. "I need both of you to work with me."

Juli nodded her head and then leaned into Agnes's shoulder. Agnes wrapped her other arm around Juli and they all sat together for a while.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't here before and I know we'll have to work through that, but I'm here now and I'm not going to let anything bad happen."

The closeness was short lived. Juli retracted to her distant self not long after the tears had subsided and Liam tried to be bouncy again. "You know." He said standing up and walking over the kitchen. "Gramma would have had you by the hair because you cursed like that."

"Oh did Gramma still like a good hair-walk to the bedroom?" Agnes asked.

"It was her favorite." Juli added. She wasn't chipper, but any form of communication from her at all could be considered an improvement. Agnes could feel the hesitation radiating from Juliana. She wasn't completely comfortable with the exchange that they had just shared, which seemed fair. Agnes wasn't entirely comfortable either. Liam on the other hand was warming up faster and Agnes wondered if he was just an outgoing child. She didn't seem to remember Momma describing him that way, but she wasn't about to question the motives of her only ally in this house.