Mimi's Demons

Chapter 59: Family Suffers Together

 Duke knew the fear demon sat outside the door still, despite his orders to back off. He'd allowed his nightly vigil over Mimi ever since he reported the presence of scuttling spider demons throughout the house at night when he and Mimi had been gone on their camping trip and every night since he'd been allowed to patrol the house. Spider demons were apparently whisperers of dark secrets hidden in webs of lies. They were demons that had little consciousness of their own, worn down over time by their time away from the light, which was also a form of knowledge. Light, truth, and knowledge were interchangeable, according to the fear demon. It sounded too much like high-minded philosophy to Duke, but he'd accepted that there were disgusting pests roaming around when he was asleep and gotten the teenage Batman on the case guarding Mimi's door at night. He didn't have to worry about him being seen by Mimi. Honrye wanted to be seen by Mimi as much as Duke wanted him to be seen.

Which meant, ever since, he'd been woken in the night by messages from the demon's extremely simplistic burner phone that Mimi was having nightmares. Her fear had seeped in through the door. He'd only gotten up enough to make sure Honrye wasn't getting any stupid ideas of having a midnight snack. Something in him was afraid that if he acknowledging Mimi's nightmares by appearing at her bedside she would draw into herself again and disassociate. It had been Cromwell's questions that had triggered her last episode.

But tonight, he couldn't justify it anymore. He was tired, he was worried, and he was wholly unpracticed in the art of feeling like this for anyone. Parental concern wasn't an emotion that one could slam down into the chest with all the other unproductive feelings.

He still tried to so he could stay calm when his drowsy little daughter stiffened at his question.

She didn't answer. Probably wanting to pretend she was asleep already and couldn't hear him.

He brushed her hair behind her ears. She was still so little. "Was it about that man who kidnapped you? The one with the stuffed animals?"

Mimi shuddered. "How do you...?"

"You told me. Indirectly." He debated for a moment whether it was worth lying to her, ever since he learned lying attracted demons like a sirens call. But his 'aura' should be enough, surely. He'd lied to her before and she hadn't mentioned anything, but, then, would she have mentioned anything? "I did some digging into the time and area you were a year ago. Crime reports and such. Found a body."

She violently jerked back. He stopped her with a tight hug, pulling her back to his chest.

"I know it wasn't you, I know it was a demon, you were just protecting yourself."

But her breathing was picking up again. She'd begun to shake and her hands jerked worryingly towards each other.

He had never been the panicking type, but everything changed when it came to Mimi. He had to fight to keep himself calm as he made shushing sounds and rocked with her, desperately clawing at his mind for every bit of psychological information he had read in the past months. It had all been highly analytical and not at all applicable about talking to a kid about the trauma that gave them wild panic attacks at the mere mention.

"Shh, darling, kitten, it's okay. You're safe, you're okay, you're not in trouble, you're staying right here, I'm just trying to help. I'm not putting you in a mental ward, you're not going to see doctors—" Did she know what a mental ward was? She was so educated on medical things, but if the stupid demon called it 'the crazy house' Duke wouldn't put it past her to avoid everything psychological. "You aren't going to the crazy house. No orange juice, no meds, I just want to help. Breathe."

Oh my god, he was so out of his depth.

Just as he was gathering her up to go to the piano, she finally spoke.

"I was a bad girl. Mom wanted me, and I didn't go."

Duke tightened his embrace. There had been something about weighted blankets and anxiety, maybe hugging her tighter might simulate that? Ugh, he needed to refill Doc's place. Even a manipulation and torture expert would have a better grasp on this than him. Why couldn't they write a manual for this?

"You don't need to go. You aren't going. You're home is with me now."

"I should have gone back." Her voice was a high whine that made his throat tighten.

"No, you didn't. You know how it's been since you left? You said your mother remarried right before you did, right? Cromwell dug up reports on physical abuse and domestic disturbance reports from the cops and social care workers."

He had hoped that would calm her, but instead Mimi flinched violently.

"I should have—I should have—I wasn't there to protect her!"

"You don't need to protect her—"

"She's my mommy, I should have—I wasn't there—"

"It was her choice, she wanted that man."

She gave a closed-mouthed wail.

"I was a bad sister—bad daughter—I-I-I'm bad, I'm bad!"

"That's not your job. You're just a kid, Mimi, and she wasn't even that great of a mother," Duke was grasping at straws now. "She neglected you, she didn't go out to search for you herself—do you really think hiding in a parking garage could have stopped her?" It sure as hell wouldn't have stopped him. Nothing would. "I know how she raised you, I've heard enough and watched enough, she didn't do right by you."

"Stop it," she whimpered.

And because he was so desperate, he actually obeyed.

When her short little breaths broke into choking, half-born sobs, Duke swallowed hard through his tight throat. God, this was so hard. Why was this so hard? He was fine. Mimi was fine. She wasn't hurt, she wasn't sick, why was this affecting him so much?

"Mimi," he kept his voice low, actually afraid it might break. "I'm your parent now. I'm your dad. You're okay now. You didn't do anything wrong. You can't go back to her anyway, even if you wanted to."

But it didn't help. She was still shaking, still gasping, still wetting his nightshirt with tears.

So he finished what he started by picking her up and going to the piano room.

Out in the hallway he just caught the tail end of big wings vanishing around the corner. A pop of rage towards the demon came and went. If Mimi had seen—but she hadn't. And Duke was here. Duke would have broken the monster's neck if he had so much as looked at her.

Duke made sure to grab the small trashcan in the living room before situating Mimi on his lap on the piano bench. It was unwieldy, but he'd make it work.

He played just loud enough for her to hear over her frantic noises.

After just one song he found himself hiding his screwed up face and stinging eyes on the top of her head, still playing, though his fingers stumbled over each other. 

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My youngest son (4) has no mercy on his brother (9), who is easily annoyed and offended. He found that chanting 'King Kai!' the other day made his brother writhe in displeasure, since he had this grand fanfiction-like dream in his head of being an emperor of China instead. So when big brother begged him to stop, younger brother just said: "Heh heh, naw." He knows who holds the power in the house, and it isn't his big brother. And it's hilarious.