Cheryl's P.O.V:
"Mike, she's fine. Calm down." I told him as I saw how scared he was looking.
"But-...what was all of the crying and the screaming and the-..." He said but I cut him off.
"She had a bad dream. She's telling me about it right now. I think that her Mother and her boyfriend killed her brother..." I said as I then looked over at Olivia.
"It's my fault." She said as she laid her head down on the table and started to cry.
"Brother?" Mike silently mouthed to me. I nodded my head.
"Olivia..." Mike said as he then walked over towards her and sat down in a seat next to her. "Why do you feel like it's your fault, sweetheart? They're the ones who did their horrible things...not you." He said to her as he rubbed her back.
"I was supposed to protect him. I let him down as a big sister and-....it's too late. I-...I couldn't move...I didn't know what to do." She said as she looked up at Mike with her red, puffy eyes. "It's my fault. No matter what anybody says." She then added as she put her head back down. Mike then looked over at me.
I looked back at him with the same look of frustration and compassion. He knew I related to that all to well.
"Come tell her." He mouthed to me as he tried to soothe her.
"Olivia baby girl I know how you feel I really do." I said as I sat down next to her on the side opposite of Mike.
"No you don't no one knows what it's like to lose their baby brother because you couldn't do anything, but you should have." When she said that I knew I had to tell her my story. I quickly got up and went to get a picture that was in the living room.
"Look baby girl." I said as I showed her the picture.
"Wh-...who is that?"
"That's my baby brother Elroy-... he died a long time ago."
"He-...he did?"
"Yep... and he had 4 children so it was up to us to raise them... you'll meet them soon." I said as I tried to fight back my tears.
"Were you upset when he died?"
"This sounds like a mother daughter conversation I'm going to-... head out." Mike said as he stood up.
"No Mr. Mike please don't leave not yet." Olivia said as she grabbed him.
Mike looked at me confused on what to do. I just motioned for him to wait in the living room.
"Okay baby girl how about this I'll wait for you two in the living room okay?" He said as she agreed and let him go.
"Now mommy-... how... how did he die?" She asked me. I took a deep breath and sighed. Telling this story wasn't gonna be easy, and there's gonna be tears.
"Well, uhm...he died from a specific type of bone cancer when he was 20 years old. Once I found out, I was...deviated. Him and I were....best friends, I mean- I was his big sister and I wanted to always take care of him. I think that it broke my heart into a million pieces and sometimes I felt like I should have done something. I blamed myself and asked myself why wasn't I there for him when he needed me the most? I was out on tour, I was just now getting myself out there to promote my music to the world and that's when I found out. I don't think that there's a day that goes by when I don't think about him." I explained to him.
"So...you do understand how I feel....." She then said as she wiped her face.
"Yes. I do. Were you and your brother best friends?" I asked her.
"Yeah...i'd say so. We always played together and he always called me Liv. I miss him a lot." She said as her tone started to slope even more. I felt her pain. I've been through it.
"I miss my baby brother too but you know what? They're both in a much, much better place now."
"Heaven?" She asked me.
"Yep, heaven. And guess what? I bet you that your brother is happy that you're starting to get back to being happy too." I told her.
"Yeah...sometimes I feel like this happiness won't last. It always happens like that. Mommy and her boyfriend would be nice to me for a few days and then the pain would come back. My happiness never lasts....never." She said as she stared at her hands.
I wiped my face and reached for her hands. I held her hands in mine. "Baby stop thinking like that alright. Now Mike and I are here to make you as happy as we possible can, and that babygirl is gonna be a strong permanent happiness I promise."
"I know but what if they come for me and ruin it... I know you said they wouldn't but they could." She said.
"Get them out of your head they don't matter in our lives anymore. Now baby it's late and Mikes waiting on us." I said as I stood up held her hand and made our way to the living room where Mike seemed to have fallen asleep.
"Go on up to your room baby I'll be right there." As she let my hand go I went to wake Mike up.
"Mmm..." he grunted as he got up.
"Wake up you fell asleep on the couch."
"Ha brings back a lot of memories doesn't it" he joked.
"Oh so you got jokes now... cute." I said as I laughed at him.
He and I just laughed for a little longer. "Alright let's tuck this little princess in so you can head home." I said as I made my way upstairs to Olivia's room.
Once we made it to her door we saw that she was already on her way back to sleep all that was missing was her being under the blanket.
Mike was heading to tuck her in but I stopped him. "Bring her in my room please. I want her where I can see her you know Incase she has another bad dream."
Next, Mike picked her up and slowly began to walk towards my room.
"Be careful." I said as I watched him walk down the hallway.
"I've got her, Cheryl." He said as he continued to walk.
"I-...I know. Just...making sure."
"I've done this before..." he reminded me as he then slowly laid her down in my bed and started to tuck her in. Olivia started to wake up a little bit and noticed that she was in my room. I saw a sign of relief on her face as she then turned on her side and closed her eyes once again.
"Goodnight, baby girl." Mike said as he then kissed her forehead. I watched as he did this and kinda smiled to myself. I loved it. The sight made my heart smile.
"Alright, I'm gonna get going." Mike said as he then looked at Olivia and next over at me.
"Alright, ill walk you out." I said as I followed him down the stairs. "Thank you for coming... you know that you didn't have to." I said as I looked at him.
"Of course I had to. I wanted to make sure that everything was okay and....the both of you mean a lot to me. No matter what time, I'll be here." He said as he then opened the front door. "Get some rest. We both need it. Also, you and I need to get together to talk about this school stuff for Olivia. In addition, I'll make her next appointment to see Ms. Mary....after tonight, she'll need it." He said as he touched my shoulder. I nodded my head.
"You're right. Goodnight." I said as he then smiled and nodded his head as well.
"Goodnight." He then said as he left out and closed the door behind him.
Tonight was a very crazy night. At least...we know one of the reasons why she's still hurting on top of all of the other stuff. Maybe school starting soon would help her feel better....hopefully.
STAR/VOTE 💗
Trying to start this book back up again. If only Ressie would cooperate with me 🙂