#aghna

Aghna stood in line, phone in hand, and tried to pass the time. The line at the post office just wasn't moving it and it tested her patience. She just had to wait her turn, but she was still almost the last person in line. She considered leaving, but she really needed to pick up the package.

"Excuse me," the man behind her called out. She turned around with a frown and he smiled nervously. "My name is Bryan. And, well, the line is long and I've been working on a card game, and, well, do you want to play?"

"Um..." Aghna looked around nervously. The line was long and everyone else looked bored and stressed. This guy looked exceptionally nervous but still friendly, so she decided to give it a try. "Sure, what's the game?"

"It's a simple game, lemme show you." He pulled out a packet of six cards and gave three to her. The first had rib bones on it. The second, a hammer. And the third, a top hat and monocle surrounded by money. There was a word on each card.

"Hunger, worker, boss," Aghna read them. 

Bryan nodded. "Hunger beats worker. Worker beats boss. Boss beats hunger. Pick a card and put it down and we see who wins!"

Aghna smiled. The line shuffled forward a single step. "Let's play."

-x-x-x-

Jayne couldn't believe it. She had built the pillow fort for herself, and now her brother and his best friend had taken over it! Her dad always said that she should share with her brother, but this had gone too far! She wanted her pillow fort back and wanted it back now!!

“Come onnnn! Lemme in!!” She pouted and stomped her foot from her place outside the pillow fort. “It’s mine!! I made it!!”

There was giggling from the inside before she heard Cahya’s voice, “Say the password!!”

“I don’t know it!”

More giggles came before Cahya replied, “Then you can’t come in!!”

Jayne scowled at the fort and rolled her sleeves up. Fine. If she couldn’t go in, then she was going to knock the whole thing down! She built it! It was hers!!

“Jayne, can you come help mommy for a second?” Aghna’s voice came from the living room doorway. She turned around and slumped when she saw her mom’s kind smile, properly chastised.

“Coming, mommy.” With giggles at her back, Jayne walked over to her mother. She followed her to the kitchen and grabbed her stepping stool from the pantry then joined her mother at the counter. “What should I do?”

“You should take these.” Her mother handed her a bowl of snacks and smiled warmly at her daughter. “They should help you get inside that pillow fort.”

“Thanks mommy!” Jayne beamed at her mother and hopped off the stool. She scurried out of the kitchen with the snacks and headed to the pillow fort. Once there, she straightened her back and frowned in determination. She was getting in this time!! “Hey! Let me in!!”

There was no reply.

Jayne wanted to stomp her feet in frustration, but she didn’t want to drop the snacks. “I said, let me in!!”

Again, no reply.

She let out an angry sigh and put the snacks down. After that, she went down on her hands and knees and crawled inside. If they’d left the fort then she was gonna take it and never give it back!! And she’d eat all the snacks by herself too!! It was her fort to start with, so that was fair, right?

“I-..I didn’t cheat, dad!!” Gregory cried, “I s-swear!!”

Gregory sobbed loudly into his own hands, glasses askew on the top of his face. Jett felt terrible and could only pat his son’s back while he cried it out. He looked helplessly over to his wife and silently pleaded with her to say something.

“Gregory, honey,” she spoke gently and pulled her son into her lap. She moved her hands away from his face and wiped his tears away. “We both know you didn’t cheat. You’re a good kid.”

“B-b-but the teacher!” Gregory protested, “She-...she said I did!! She-gave me...detention!” 

He started to cry again, so Aghna hugged him close and cooed, “I’m sure there’s an explanation for it. Dad and I will come to school with you tomorrow and talk with her, okay?”

Gregory didn’t reply for a while, still crying and sobbing. He clung to his mother while he cried, and she soothed him as best as she could until he finally calmed down. Once he did, he pulled away and looked between his parents with a tearstained face.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized, “I’m sorry I got in trouble at school.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Jett reached over and wiped his tears away then brushed his messy hair out of his face. “We know it wasn’t your fault. Your mom and I--we’ll fix this, I promise.”

“Okay,” Gregory nodded and sniffled, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Jett scooted over until he could kiss his forehead. “Now why don’t you go wash your face and play a bit? I’ll get dinner ready.”

“Okay.” Gregory nodded again then climbed off his mother’s lap. Jett watched him while he ran up the stairs then looked back to Aghna with a weary smile. She smiled back to him then gave him a quick kiss before following her son upstairs, and he was left alone to prepare dinner.

Jayne smiled when she saw the broken down house. She took a deep breath of the fresh air from the area and headed towards it. It was spring, and the area was littered with flowers of all colors. 

She stepped into the house and her smile waned. The forget-me-nots were as beautiful as ever. She sat down in front of the flowers and took a deep breath before she started talking.

"Hi, mom," she smiled, "how have you been? I hope last winter treated you well. We've been good. Dad's good. The twins both got accepted into university. They're planning to visit you soon. But I...."

She trailed off and looked around. It was beautiful here. The weather was lovely today. Lots of sunshine and a gentle breeze.

"I'm leaving, mom," she said, eyes on the flowers outside, "I got a new job outside of town. This is gonna be a new start to... everything. I'm gonna be on my own, without anyone." She bit her lip and looked to her lap. "No... family, no boyfriend. No friends. So it's... a fresh start. A chance to make new friends, to..... find myself again." She said that last part with a soft whisper. 

A cloud passed over the sun and dimmed the sky. Jayne took a deep breath and forced herself to smile. 

"Keep looking out for us, mom. And wish me luck!" She stood up. "I'm gonna keep doing my best. So you gotta do too! Anyways, I'm gonna take a walk around and come back, okay? My legs are gonna fall asleep!"

Jett's eyes snapped open when he heard sobs. He thought it was Gergory at first, having another nightmare or unable to breathe, but the voice didn't sound right. It didn't sound like Gaius or Jayne either. He panicked, afraid it was an intruder, until he remembered the child Aghna brought home with her and the kids today. 

His wife was already up and heading to the living room. Jett followed her and the two of them found Galang sitting on the couch crying. Aghna sat on one side of the kid and he awkwardly sat on the other while he watched her comfort him. 

Once he calmed down, Galang wiped his tears away and said, "I'm sorry for waking you up. I can go."

"You don't need to go," Jett replied immediately, "we were just worried about you."

"I see." The boy sounded too mature for his age. "I'm sorry for worrying you."

"You're safe here, I promise," Jett smiled at him and patted his head. "You can stay as long as you like."

Jayne walked out of the store holding her mommy's hand. She carried a little bag full of yummy snacks for herself and her little brothers. They passed the pumpkins out in front of the store and she scrunched her nose at the smell. They smelled bad.

"Mommy, why do the pumpkins smell gross?" She asked with a grossed out frown. 

"Hm, well, sometimes, when food gets too ripe, it starts to smell," her mom answered. "Those pumpkins are overripe, so their smell is strong."

"They smell gross!" Jayne exclaimed, happy with the explanation. She kept walking with mommy until the two of them got home. It wasn't too far, so Jayne didn't get tired the way. She had enough energy to help her mommy put away the groceries and hide the candy. Her little brothers were gonna have a huge surprise tonight!

Once she was done, Jayne went out to the backyard. Her daddy was playing there with her brothers. 

"Daddy!!" Jayne ran to her dad. He kneeled down with a big smile and she hugged him tight. "Hi, daddy!"

"Hey there, Princess. Welcome home."

Jayne suddenly smelled something gross. Something bad. She made a face and turned her face to follow the smell. It was coming from her daddy. 

"Ewwww!" She exclaimed and pulled away from her dad. She turned around and ran towards the house. "Mommy, mommy! Daddy is overripe! He smells gross!!"