#leapsecond

Gloomy clouds covered the sky like a heavy blanket. The leaves shook each time the rain left its mark on them. The wind howled, shaking the branches. There was no way Rosie was going out in this weather.

Every so often, Rosie would change her position on her bed. Maybe flopping down this way would help her focus on her book. Nope. Maybe this way? Nothing worked.

She let out a frustrated huff, turning another page of the book she’d checked out from the library yesterday. Normally, books kept her attention, especially when they’re about ducks. She glanced away for a second, fiddling with the corner of the page.

“I guess it’s just going to be that kind of day…” She frowned.

Her brows furrowed as she noticed a particular scent coming from the kitchen. Her eyes lit up once she realized. The day just got significantly better.

“Cookies!” she exclaimed, hopping up from her bed, forgetting about her book as she set it down. She practically raced to the kitchen, nearly crashing into her mother.

“Hey, be careful! These just came out of the oven; they’re really hot,” Marigold warned. She placed them on top of the stove, taking off her oven mitts and putting them on the edge of the tray.

Rosie chanted ‘cookies’ over and over, practically bouncing up and down with excitement. “I. Want. To. Eat. Them. Right. Now!”

“You’re going to burn your mouth if you do,” she pointed out, crossing her arms.

“Nah, that’s my new power.” Rosie joked.

“Invincible mouth powers…?” Marigold raised a brow.

“I’m just joking, actually, but I wish…”

Her mother chuckled. “Well, even if you did, you still can’t eat them yet.”

“But… why?” Rosie whined, giving her best sad puppy eyes.

“They’re dessert, after we eat supper.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Aw, man…”

“Hey, supper isn’t that far away anyway, okay?” Marigold gave her a sympathetic smile.

“Okay…” She sighed dramatically.

“You can go tell your dad I made cookies.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t know already.” Rosie lowered a brow in confusion.

“He was watching something boring on the TV to make himself fall asleep to get past the storm. We’re all annoyed with this weather.” Marigold explained.

“That’s right, I didn’t see him go on his morning run.” Rosie thought aloud.

“To be fair, no one would’ve seen him go on his morning run,” she couldn’t help but chuckle at her own joke, “but yes, you’re correct.”

“I’ll go tell him the good news now!” Rosie quickly went to leave.

“Make sure to add that they are for after supper.” Marigold reminded Rosie as she ran out of the kitchen.

---

Rosie quietly slipped into the living room, noticing the TV was faintly buzzing with some commercial playing. She grabbed the remote next to the couch and turned it off. She turned to see Peter sprawled out on the couch, a blanket haphazardly thrown on him.

“Dad… Dad…? Dad…” She kept poking his arm.

“Y’know, it was cute when you were a toddler… but a ten-year-old waking me up by repeatedly poking me? it’s starting to lose its charm…” He grumbled, dramatically draping the blanket over his face.

“Dad…” She gave him a look, frowning.

“Must you wake-th me up from my slumber?” His voice was muffled.

She furrowed her brow in confusion.

“I was watching a boring documentary about the medieval ages so I could nap.”

She made an ‘oh’ expression once she understood. “Mom made chocolate chip cookies.”

He instantly sat up, his hair slightly a mess from sleeping. “You should’ve led with that.”

“We can only eat them after supper…”

He sighed. “Of course…”

“If only we knew someone who could turn invisible at will.” She smiled mischievously.

“My only advice is to not get caught.”

“That’s practically your life motto.” She crossed her arms.

He shrugged. “You have a point.”

Rosie took a breath and then focused on her powers, turning invisible in front of him. He could barely see her shadow as she crept away. He then reached for the remote, sinking back against the couch as he turned the TV back on. Surely something was on.

---

Making sure Marigold was no longer in the room, Rosie carefully tiptoed her way to the baking sheet of cookies. Her mom had to leave the kitchen at some point, leaving the precious cookies unguarded. They had finally cooled to the perfect temperature, making it easy for Rosie to pick them up.

She grabbed two cookies, one for herself and one for Peter.

“How are these cookies I made floating…? I was hoping you could tell me, Rosie.”

She froze mid-tiptoe at the sound of her mother’s voice, balancing in place with one foot still up.

“What? How can she see them? I thought I had—oh…” She’d forgotten to turn the cookies invisible as well. “Dang it!”

She turned around and became fully visible again. “Hey, Mom…” Rosie smiled sheepishly, hiding the cookies behind her back.

“Care to explain what you’re doing?” Marigold put her hand on her hip, raising a brow in disapproval.

“I was just, uh… practicing my powers…?” she said.

“Practicing your powers?” Marigold repeated, frowning.

“Yeah, yeah! Looks like I still need to practice turning objects invisible, too! Heh…” Rosie chuckled nervously.

“That’s what it looks like to me,” Peter sped into the kitchen and took a cookie from Rosie.

“Real mature…” Marigold scoffed.

“What? I saw what I saw.” He shrugged, taking a bite of the cookie.

“Don’t you dare take another bite.” She glared.

Rosie swallowed nervously, eyes darting back and forth between her parents.

Peter stared straight at Marigold and finished eating the cookie in one bite.

“Pietro! ¡Ladrón de galletas! Tu avaricia me da asco,” Marigold uttered, exasperated.

Rosie gasped. Her father’s birth name and her mother’s native tongue? Peter had just dug his grave.

“You’re both cookie thieves!”

“Can you blame us? They’re cookies!” He emphasized.

“So, we’re forgetting the powers practice cover?” Rosie murmured to him.

“I think we’re well past cover-up stories, Duck.”

Marigold sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, muttering something under her breath. “Just put the remaining cookie back, and I’ll let you off the hook this time.”

“What? But I earned it!” Rosie defended.

“No, you did not.”

“But you and Dad are always saying to practice powers, and it was kinda a test to see if I could turn the cookies invisible, too. Guess I need to practice more, though…” she explained, holding the cookie in front of herself.

“Why are you such a smartypants?” Marigold huffed.

“She gets it from you,” Peter interjected.

Marigold glared up at him. Peter closed his mouth and stayed silent.

“Okay, smartypants, if that’s really the case, I want you to try turning the cookie and yourself invisible at the same time. If you do it, you get to keep the cookie.” Marigold proposed.

“Yes!” She grinned. She could do that. Simple… hopefully?

Rosie focused her energy on her powers. She closed her eyes in concentration, muttering, “Please turn invisible at the same time,” under her breath. After a second, she finally turned both the cookie and herself invisible.

“Well, would you look at that.” Marigold had a small smile on her face, still feeling proud despite her thief of a daughter.

Rosie turned visible again; cookie as well.

“Good job, Rosie!” Peter ruffled her hair affectionately.

“I… I did it? I did it! Yes!” she cheered.

“Now, you’ve earned that cookie fairly.”

“But I did before—”

“Drop it,” Marigold interrupted. “Just enjoy it.”

“I’d take her advice, duckling,” Peter added.

Rosie smiled, savoring the sweet chocolate chips with each bite.

Marigold glanced up at the clock. “Looks like you’ll be getting more cookies soon. I have to cook supper right now.”

“Do you hear that?”

“Only the sound of a cookie being eaten,” Peter said.

“It stopped raining! We can go outside again!” Rosie headed for the backyard.

“Perfect timing, I need to go for my run. By the way, the cookies are amazing as usual.” Peter complimented his wife. “I’ll see you later.” Peter kissed her cheek and sped off.

Marigold pulled the blanket closer as she curled up against Peter’s side, resting her head on his shoulder while they watched TV. The evening was quiet for once. They had the house to themselves while Rosie was at a sleepover.

Despite their relaxing night, the phone had other plans. Peter held back a sigh, pressing his lips into a line. Not exactly a frown, but his thoughts started to reflect his anxiety building up.

Marigold placed her hand on his arm, attempting to get him to untense his shoulders. “Do you want me to go see?”

“No, no, I can handle it,” he murmured, already speeding to the phone before he could see her reaction.

“Please let Rosie be okay.” He thought.

He picked it up, instinctively saying hello. His brows furrowed in concern, and he frowned at hearing Rosie sniffling.

“Rosie, what’s wrong?” He kept his voice steady, trying to remain the calming and mature adult she needed him to be.

Panicking wouldn’t help, he knew that, though knowing that didn’t stop the dread he felt in his chest.

Dad, I need you to come pick me up. Please. I want to go home.

“I’ll be there soon, I promise.”

He heard what sounded like a shaky sigh of relief, imagining her probably nodding on her end.

Okay. Love you.

“Love you too, bye.”

She hung up before he could. He placed the phone down and immediately went to put on his jacket and grab the car keys.

All Marigold could see was the usual fast blur. She fidgeted with her hair, twirling a curl around her finger as her nerves worsened.

“What’s going on?” She stood and walked over to him.

“Something happened. Rosie wants me to pick her up.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Did she say what, exactly?”

“No… she sounded like she had been crying.” He looked at her, frowning from worry.

“Do you want me to come with you?” she asked, reaching to hold his hand. It was a way to ground both of them, but especially her. She couldn’t anxiously pick at the skin around her nails if she was busy holding his hand.

Peter shook his head. “No, it’s okay. It’s pretty late, anyway. Just wait for us here, if that’s alright.”

“Okay.” She had a small smile on her face, trying to convince herself that everything would be okay. She took a breath, trying to ease herself.

“Oh, um, actually, can you make Rosie some mashed potatoes for when she gets back? I know it’s odd, but I think she’ll need some comfort food,” he asked.

“No problem, there’s some instant in the pantry already. Go bring her home.” She let go of his hand, touching his arm instead.

Peter nodded and gave her a quick goodbye kiss. He opened the door and sped out, closing it behind him.

Normally, he would just run over there, but he wasn’t exactly sure about the state Rosie was in. She wouldn’t want to be sped back if she wasn’t feeling well. The car would have to do. And besides, a drive back home would hopefully give her enough time to calm down.

---

Peter pulled up to the two-story house Rosie was at. Richer neighborhood. Not that he and Marigold were doing bad by any means, Charles wouldn’t allow it otherwise, but you had to be a certain type of person to live in a gated community, and he and Marigold weren’t that. The more he thought about it, the more he wished he would’ve just told Rosie ‘no’ to the sleepover.

He parked and got out, speeding up to the front door and knocking. He sighed, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he waited.

The mother of the girl who hosted the sleepover answered the door. She had a neutral look on her face, as if she didn’t want to fully frown, but wasn’t in a smiling mood either.

Rosie stood next to her, holding her duffle bag in her hand. She looked down at the floor, staring at her shoes.

“Hey there, Pete…” The mom greeted.

“I prefer Peter.” He chuckled humorlessly.

“Peter, my bad.” She corrected. “Thanks for coming on such short notice. I’m sorry it’s so late.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He shrugged, tapping his foot anxiously.

“Thanks for coming to pick her up. I tried convincing her to stay, but she kept insisting that she needed to leave and that her dad would pick her up.”

“Course, that’s what I’m here for,” he said.

“Being a parent is like being a taxi service 24/7, isn’t it?” The mom lightly joked.

“Uh, yeah.” Peter chuckled shortly, just deciding to go along with it. “What happened?”

The mom sighed, glancing at her nails. “Well… there was a little… squabbling between the group. You know how girls are.” She lightheartedly scoffed.

Peter nodded slowly and kept his face in a neutral expression. “Uh-huh…”

“The other girls were kind of… bullying Rosie…?”

“Bullying?” Peter’s eyes widened for a second.

“Bullying’s a harsh word. I meant teasing. I think it was probably a lot of teasing gone too far. I’m so sorry, I’ll have a talk with Zoey about it,” the mom explained.

“Rosie, are you okay?” He glanced down at her.

She nodded and shrugged slightly, not looking up.

Peter sighed, biting back some harsh words. “Okay.”

“Do you want a glass of water? Or maybe some cookies before you leave?” She offered.

“No thanks, I think we should go now,” Peter said. He placed his hand on Rosie’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Rosie nodded and followed him to the car.

“Oh, uh, okay! Thanks for coming! Again, sorry for the trouble, goodbye!” The mom waved and closed the door.

Peter sat in the front seat of the car. Rosie had already climbed into the passenger seat next to him.

Peter glanced over at her and let out a sigh. “Rosie, you know you shouldn’t sit up here yet...”

She wiped her eyes and sniffled, clearly not wanting to move.

“Fine, just this once,” Peter said, giving in. “Don’t tell your mom.”

Rosie faintly smiled before it disappeared. He started driving back home.

“So, are you going to tell me what happened or am I just supposed to believe that… soccer mom, let’s just say,” Peter asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

Rosie faintly smiled at his joke. It faded when she remembered the sleepover. “One of the girls was a prankster, and I guess tried to scare me by popping out behind the door… I lost control of my powers and accidentally turned invisible in front of them.”

“When they found out, they called me a weirdo and other names and locked me in the closet for a long time... it felt like a long time.” She shut her eyes for a moment before opening them again, blinking and frowning. “Until Zoey’s mom found out and made them let me out. I thought they were okay with mutants, but I guess not…” She looked out of the window, watching the passing landscape.

Most of Rosie’s friends were other mutants from the school, but recently, she made new friends at a local park, getting to see them whenever she went to the playground. They were human, and they had eventually invited her over for a sleepover. Rosie had begged her parents, and they reluctantly agreed.

Peter sighed, frowning. “I knew it was so much worse than what that mom said.” He felt his guilt rising the more he thought about it. He could’ve prevented this. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“Only emotionally…” She mumbled.

Peter let out another sigh. “I’m so sorry…”

“It was so crowded and dark in there… I was starting to think I’d be in there the whole night.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

He should’ve protected her more. Made sure it would’ve been safe. He couldn’t help but feel like he failed her. He knew that he couldn’t protect her from everything, but she was only nine, and this had been preventable.

He snapped out of his ruminating thoughts when Rosie spoke up.

“I never want to see those girls again!” She exclaimed, crossing her arms.

“I don’t blame you. What they did was totally messed up. I don’t want to see that mom again, either. She couldn’t even get my name right the first time.” He scoffed.

“They’re all meanies.”

“Yeah, they are. Rosie, please don’t think that the things they said about you are true, okay?”

“I know,” she replied, fiddling with her hands.

“Good, I just don’t want you taking any of that to heart. Y’know?” He shrugged.

She nodded.

“I know it doesn’t magically make the hurt go away, but do you think maybe a bit of mashed potatoes would help?”

“Mashed potatoes?” Her eyes lit up somewhat.

“Your mom’s making you some for when we get back. You can stay up with us and watch movies and… play board games, all sorts of fun stuff, like our own sleepover. What do you think? Sound fun?” Peter suggested.

“Yeah.” She had a small smile on her face.

“Great, we’re almost home. As soon as we’re back, we can start the party.”

“Okay.” Rosie nodded, feeling a little cheered up.

---

Once they had arrived home, Rosie ran up to the door first, realizing Marigold had just unlocked it right as she’d heard them in the driveway.

She opened the door and practically ran into her mother’s arms. Marigold immediately hugged her back, holding her close.

Marigold glanced up for a moment when she heard Peter come in and lock the door. He sighed and placed the car keys down on the hallway shelf.

Rosie eventually pulled away, feeling tears coming to the surface again. “The girls at the sleepover were so mean to me! They locked me in a closet because they found out I’m a mutant! And the mom said Dad’s name wrong.”

She placed her hand on Rosie’s cheek, wiping her tears. Her heart ached to see her daughter like this. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. They sound terrible… I guess they dropped the nice facade.” She grimaced.

“They’re more than terrible, they’re all ass—” Peter started.

Marigold shot him a look, causing him to close his mouth.

He hung his jacket back up. “Um… they’re all… assumed to be jerks.”

She gave him a quick nod of approval.

“Yeah…” He cleared his throat. “Anyway… Rosie, why don’t you go look at the mashed potatoes, and see if they’re ready yet?”

Rosie grinned, forgetting about the conversation and already running to the kitchen for the food.

When she left, Marigold moved closer to Peter; crossing her arms and shifting weight onto one leg as she stood.

“So… is there anything else I should know? Because it sounds like I got the full story from her.”

Peter sighed and fidgeted with his hands. “No, I guess that’s it. I really wasn’t expecting for her to get bullied at her first non-school friends sleepover… I mean, of course, I wasn’t expecting it, but you know what I mean. She told me she was worried they’d leave her in that closet all night. But then the mom found out and made them open it.”

Marigold clenched her jaw, becoming more upset by the minute, but she continued letting him speak.

“You should’ve seen the way she looked when I went to get her. I think it really scarred her.” He lowered his voice. “We should’ve checked these people out more. I feel like such an idiot… I know that we can’t protect her from everything, but…” He trailed off, not meeting her eyes.

Marigold reached for his hands, holding them in hers. “We’ll try harder next time, be better. That’s all we can do at this point, right?”

“I know, but I’m still so mad. Rosie’s never done anything to anyone. Why does she have to suffer?”

“I know… you’re right.” She swallowed down the lump she felt in her throat. Now wasn’t the time to cry. She had to be there for both of them.

“I should go back and TP their yard,” Peter grumbled.

Marigold reached her hand up and touched his cheek. “Don’t you think it’s more important to be here for Rosie?”

He sighed and nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry… I got carried away with the vengeance stuff… I think I get why my dad does the things he does, or did, more accurately.”

“Peter…” Marigold lightly chastised, but there was barely any heat in her tone.

“Come on, don’t you feel like you want to hurt them for hurting Rosie?” he spoke theoretically, never actually planning on doing anything.

“I don’t think hurt’s the right word, but I wouldn’t mind messing with the mother,” she answered immediately. “But I also know that’s not what I should be focusing on right now. Also, I don’t want to get in trouble.” She shrugged.

He chuckled shortly at her abrupt answer. “Yeah, you have a point.”

“Maybe we should go check on her and the kitchen…” Marigold changed the subject. “I think I heard her getting stuff out of the pantry.”

“I told her we’d have our own sleepover once we got back,” he explained.

“Good idea.”

“I’d be surprised if there're any potatoes left at this point.” He muttered.

She chuckled. “Yeah… but they’re for her.”

“True.” Peter smiled.

“Come on,”

He followed her to the kitchen, seeing Rosie holding the bowl of potatoes as well as one of the big spoons. To his surprise, they had remained mostly uneaten.

“Guys, can we watch The Dark Crystal? Or Never-Ending Story? Ghibli? I’m thinking fantasy!” She grinned, raising the big spoon in her hand.

“I thought those first two gave you nightmares? Or at least The Dark Crystal. Those bird monsters are creepy…” Peter remarked, wincing.

Rosie scoffed. “They don’t anymore! And they’re called Skeksis. And Chamberlain’s more funny than creepy…”

“Chamberlain? You remembered one of their names? Hmm… I don’t think you’ve watched it enough times,” he said sarcastically.

She giggled and ate a spoonful.

“It’s up to Rosie what we watch. We have plenty of options to choose from.” Marigold chimed in.

“Yes!” Rosie grinned.

“You can go put something on. We’ll catch up in a second,” Peter said.

“Does this mean I get to eat a bowl of mashed potatoes on the couch?” Rosie gasped.

“Yes, because I know you’ll be careful, right?” Marigold raised an eyebrow.

She nodded and quickly ran to the living room, making sure not to drop the precious mashed potatoes. Marigold watched her leave and smiled before she turned to look at Peter again.

“I think we still have a lot more to discuss, but it’s really late already, and I think we should save it for later… focus on the good for right now.”

Peter nodded. “Rosie seems to be feeling better, at least.”

“You’re a genius for coming up with the ‘sleepover at home thing’. Come on, or she’ll be watching something without us.” She joked slightly.

“You’re welcome. And I hope she’s saved some potatoes for me!” He raised his voice at the end so Rosie would overhear.

“No! They’re all mine!” She faked an evil laugh.

“Aw, man!” Peter pretended to be upset, walking into the living room.

Dannie Karim: Honestly probably thinks either they're really tired or misheard something because how could you possibly explain that? And their service dog Missy isn't alerting at all so it's not a weird medical thing.

Silas Petersson: Tries to just ignore it. He knows that there's odd stuff that happens in the Ministry, but minding his business has worked so far. He might try to avoid Copia more for a while but eventually figures that he can make his own choices, and he chooses to be more close to him, because he's a good friend #denial

Arith: He doesn't know what to make of it. Sure, he finds her attractive, but that's it. There's absolutely nothing else. Either hell is playing tricks on him and trying to 'test' his loyalty or... something else. He tries to not let it affect him and keeps on doing his own thing for the most part. Eventually, when they are together he remembers and thinks about how odd it was. He might get a little existential about it, but he chose to be in a relationship with her, and his feelings are real.

Iriel: Honestly she's a little disgusted and frightened. She can definitely not fall in love with a demon. She tries to gaslight herself into thinking she didn't hear anything, "it was the wind", etc.

Kaia: Is mostly confused. She always knew she was different but she'd never gotten voices before. Or at least like that. But she likes Odel. So if it's true is it even that bad?

Odel: She was already having doubts about spying on Kaia, and now this happens? It probably somehow pushes her more to leave heaven.

Marigold Rosales: At first she thinks it's some sort of telepath messing with/teasing her, though she doesn't recognize the voice. Since voices in the head aren't the biggest shock, she tries not to let it get to her and moves on.