#ness shaw

“Oh shit hey kid been a minute! And alright I guess. Had a fucking EpiPen stabbed into a thigh tho”

“Yeah that was not fun Sweetface. And good! The kids are off for the summer”

“Yeah been sleepin in and catching up on some shows”

“Yeah I’m over here waking up at like 12pm. How you been?”

“Hey what’s up! And everything on our ends good!”

“Yeah how have you been? I think you’re off for the summer right? Hope you’re having fun!” (Anne)

“Hiya we’re just heh tired. The twins never really ever settle. They love being active”

“Yeah thankfully Ness loves to help out with his baby sisters. Other than ya know sleep deprivation we’ve been great”

He loves his baby sisters. They love their big brother. Didn’t know he was adopted till they were 12.

Chuck: Don’t worry I got this…*Sticks head out door*…NESS! YO MOM IS A BITCH! YOU WELCOME BACK ANYTIME, BUT DON'T BRING HER ASS!

Tiffany:….

Chuck: Fuckin nailed it

The blanket of obsidian cast over the sky and town. The zephyr breeze clipped at the trees and windows. The homes all fell to a quiet hush in the luminous glow. All except in the Shaw residence, where a faint hum came from a lamp that sat on a desk beside a couch that had been holding the resting Billy Shaw. His arms rested on the armrests as he lingered in his thoughts.

The wind brushed against the windows again. Not harsh. Just enough to remind him the world outside was still turning. That she was lurking in the depths and shadows. Waiting and watching him and his family. His brother, who’d been resting in his son’s room, was quite literally living proof of it. His mind a blur, still trying to piece together what exactly happened the other night. His knee bouncing up and down trying to sync with his thoughts. Till his ears caught a noise. A faint creak in the floorboard. Quiet but most certainly there. He whipped his head around, fist curled slightly and knuckles flexed, only to recoil as fast as he turned. His eyes softened. It was Ness. Standing in the hallway, his Blue Whale pjs got caught in the moonlight. 

"Dad," he called out, clutching his whale plushie to his chest. 

"Ness." Billy nodded, shifting his body towards him, extending his arms outward, and motioning Ness over. 

The boy scurried over, welcoming his father's embrace and returning it gleefully. “Couldn’t sleep, bud?” 

Ness nodded. "Yeah, I couldn’t sleep," he whispered, pressing his head against Billy's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“Nightmares?” he asked, raising a brow. 

Ness shook his head. “No, I just couldn’t sleep…but I can’t really say the same for Uncle Russ." 

Billy tilted his head, pulling him closer. “Whatcha mean?” 

“He’s been having really bad nightmares, Dad… "Like, really bad," Ness murmured, hugging Billy tighter. “And when he wakes up in the morning, he says he’s okay, but I know he isn't."

Billy’s gaze drifted to the curtains, thinking for a moment before letting out a quiet "Hm." 

“Does it scare you?” Billy asked gently, holding Ness.

“No, I’m just worried for him. H—He doesn’t scream or anything. He just tosses and turns, and I can hear his breathing quicken before it dies down.” He said, hugging Billy. “Then he leaves my room because he doesn’t want to wake me or scare me, I think. 

“Leave your room?” Billy tilted his head.

“Yeah, he goes into the hallway and sits down and tries to catch his breath." Ness added, "Dad, what happened to him?”

Billy’s eyes blinked a few times as he tried to figure out exactly what to say. He couldn’t bring himself to tell him the full horrific truth about his mother or all the god-awful things she had made her children do…especially Billy… Or what any form of disobedience meant. His jaw locked at the sheer idea of it, his throat losing all sense of moisture.

"Well, Ness, sometimes bad things happen to people. Sometimes from people that are supposed to care about us," Billy managed to force out.

“Like with my mother," Ness let out quietly, hugging Billy tighter. 

"Yeah, kinda like that," he nodded, “which is why he’s with us now. We just have to be patient and make sure he feels safe. He’ll come around eventually."

Billy rested his chin against Ness’s head, breathing slow and steady so the boy could match it.

The lamp hummed softly beside them.

Outside, the wind sighed again against the glass.

Ness stayed quiet for a moment, listening to his father’s heartbeat. 

“Dad?” he whispered.

“Yeah, bud.”

“Do you think Uncle Russ thinks he’s still in trouble?”

His jaw tightened for a second before he answered.

“…Yeah,” he admitted quietly. “I think he does.”

Ness shifted slightly, looking up at him. Moonlight painted half his face silver. “Is he?”

“No,” Billy said firmly. “He’s not.”

Ness nodded, but his brows stayed furrowed.

“He says sorry a lot,” the boy murmured. “Even when nothing’s wrong.”

Billy gave a faint, humorless smile. “Yeah. He does.”

They sat like that for another long moment.

Then, a faint sound down the hallway.

A subtle scrape of fabric against the wall. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. 

Billy’s eyes shifted toward the dark corridor.

Ness followed his gaze but didn’t move.

“See?” Ness whispered. “He does that.”

Billy gently eased Ness back from his chest.

“Stay here a second,” he said softly.

Ness clutched his whale plush tighter but nodded.

Billy stood slowly, careful not to make the floor creak. He moved down the hallway, the dim glow from the living room stretching behind him.

And there, halfway between Ness’s room and the bathroom, sat Russell.

Back against the wall.

Head bowed.

Gloved hands clenched tight against his knees.

His breathing was uneven but quiet.

Billy crouched down in front of him.

“Russ.”

Russ flinched.

He quickly tried to compose himself, wiping at his face with the heel of his glove.

“I’m fine,” he said automatically.

Billy didn’t respond to that.

He just stayed there.

“You left the room,” Billy said gently.

Russ kept his gaze on the floor.

“I didn’t want to wake him,” he murmured. “He needs sleep. School tomorrow.”

“You need sleep too.”

Russ swallowed.

“I don’t…” His voice faltered. “I don’t like closing my eyes.”

Billy’s chest tightened.

Russ flexed his damaged fingers inside the gloves.

"Russ," Billy spoke gently, sitting beside his older brother. 

“I can't,” Russ managed. "Every time I try…she’s there…she’s always there…”

"Russell, look at me." Billy adjusted himself, looking into his eye.

He tilted his head upward, tears threatening to bubble out.

“You’re okay. I know things are hard right now. Especially what you went through."

The hallway light barely reached them. Shadows stretched long along the walls, and for a split second Russ’s gaze darted toward the dark end of the corridor like he expected something to step out of it.

“She’s always there,” he whispered again. “When I close my eyes… I hear her voice. I feel her hands digging into my eye socket.” His gloved fingers trembled against his knees. 

Russ shook slightly. “When I couldn’t bring you back… when I froze… I thought maybe she’d just punish me. I didn’t think—” His breath stuttered. “I didn’t think she’d leave me out there...”

Billy’s expression softened.

“She’s done that before,” Billy said quietly. “Left us out in the cold. Waiting to see if we’d crawl back…well, the lucky ones…or she’s just put us in the upstairs room.”

Russ’s chest tightened. The upstairs room. No one ever came out of that room. 

“Rosey went up there… Mother dragged her…and I can’t get the sound out of my head." Russ swallowed. "Why me…why couldn’t it have been me…she should’ve been the one living here…safe…happy…but it’s me…” 

Billy went still. Oh, Rosey. His baby sister. He shoved the thought down… just for a moment before his chest boomed. He took a breath. A steady one. Leaning on Russ. 

“I should’ve done something," Russ huffed. 

“You would’ve gone up there too.”

“Maybe that would’ve been better!” Russ’s voice cracked louder than he intended, echoing down the hall. He lowered it immediately, horrified. “Maybe it should’ve been me.”

Billy grabbed his shoulder firmly.

“Don’t.”

Russ’s eyes brimmed over.

“She was kinder than me. She would’ve been good here. She would’ve known how to talk to Ness. How to help Carlis. She deserved this life.”

Billy's grip tightened, holding his own tears back. “Don’t do that to yourself. That type of thinking will kill you from the inside." Billy took Russ by the wrist, placing it against his brother's chest. 

"Do you feel that?” 

Russell paused, feeling the rhythmic thumps in his chest. Easy beating. Thump. Thump. Thump. Feeling it in his ears and in his skull. His breaths matching each beat

Russ nodded faintly.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It was steady. Warm. Certain.

Billy kept Russ’s gloved hand pressed firmly against his chest.

“That’s yours,” Billy said quietly.

Russ swallowed.

The rhythm pulsed beneath his palm. 

It was beating.

“I can feel it in my head,” Russ whispered. “In my ears.”

“Good,” Billy murmured. “Focus on it.”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Russ’s breathing began syncing with it without him realizing.

“I used to have nothing there,” Russ said softly. “Just… hollow.”

Billy’s jaw tightened. “You’re not hollow anymore.”

Russ’s eyes drifted shut as he concentrated. The steady percussion beneath his hand. His breathing calmed with each thump. 

“I’m sorry," Russ whispered through sniffled huffs, leaning closer to Billy.

Billy wrapped an arm around his brother, pulling him into a side embrace, gently rubbing the side of his shoulder and giving it a gentle tap. “Don’t be." 

Russ inhaled slowly.

“I’m tired,” he admitted.

Billy nodded. “I know.”

“I don’t want to go back in there if I’m just going to wake up again.”

“You might,” Billy said honestly. “But you won’t be alone when you do.”

Russ looked at him.

Billy gave his shoulder one more steady squeeze.

“If you wake up, you will come get me. Not the hallway. Not the floor. Me. Alright?” 

Russ shifted, "I—I can’t do that. Don’t want us both losing sleep." 

"Russ, I’ve been where you are right now. The last thing I want you to do is to do it alone. Besides, I’m usually up around this time anyways," Billy reassured.

“Why?” 

"Well…nerves, I guess. Carlis doesn’t sleep easy anymore,” he admitted quietly. “Not with the twins coming. She’s uncomfortable. Restless. I wake up every time she tosses and turns.”

Russ blinked. “Twins…”

“Yeah.” A faint, tired smile touched Billy’s mouth. “They kick her a lot at night,” Billy continued, voice low. “So I’m up. Checking on her. Checking on Ness. Walking around the house to clear my head."

Russ gave the smallest huff through his nose.

“I don’t mind being awake,” Billy added. “What I mind is you sitting out here thinking you deserve to.”

Russ’s fingers loosened where they’d been digging into his knees.

“I don’t know how to stop expecting it,” he whispered. “All that…pain”

Billy’s arm tightened around him.

“You’re not there anymore,” Billy said firmly. “You’re here. In my house. And I promise I’m going to do everything in my power to keep everyone safe." 

Russ gave a calm nod, wiping away the remaining tears on his cheeks. “Thank you and Billy."

“Yeah?”

Russ pulled back slightly, raising his head, meeting his eyes, “You’re a good man…thank you."

Billy kept his hand on Russ’s shoulder, offering a shy smile with a quick nod. 

“I think I’m okay…for now at least," he said, pulling himself up alongside Billy. 

Ness was waiting near the doorway, still clutching his whale plush, eyes wide but not afraid.

“Is he okay?” he whispered.

Billy nodded once.

Russ crouched slightly so he wasn’t towering over him.

“I’m okay,” he said, his voice softer than it had been all night. “Sorry I woke you.”

Billy rested a hand on Russ’s back.

“Get some rest,” he murmured, then looked over his brother's shoulder, catching Ness’s eye. “The both of you."

Russ stepped back into the room, taking his spot on the bottom bunk as Ness climbed back onto the top bunk. Billy lingered in the doorway for a moment longer before making his way back to his bedroom.

He slipped into the room, eyes softening when they landed on Carlis, who had stirred slightly. She was propped on her side, one hand resting protectively over her rounded stomach. The blanket had slipped down, and Billy gently pulled it back over her shoulder. He softly tucked a loose curl behind her ear, tenderly kissing her cheek, before he lay down. 

“You okay?” she mumbled sleepily, not fully awake.

“Yeah,” he sighed as he ran a hand lightly over her hair.

“Russ?” she asked.

“Mhm, he’s okay now."

Carlis gave a soft hum of relief and settled again.

Billy lay down beside her, careful not to jostle her stomach. He placed his palm lightly against it.

For a moment, nothing.

Then a small thump against his hand.

He happily huffed quietly. “Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re in there too.”

Another faint kick.

He let out a tired breath, staring at the ceiling, “Give your mama a break in there."

Carlis smiled, setting her hand over his. “They know their daddy’s here."

She shifted closer, slow and careful, her belly pressing gently against his side. Even in the dark, he could see how tired she was. Pregnancy had softened her in some ways, with rounder cheeks and slower movements, but she stayed as stubborn as ever.

She shifted again, wincing slightly as one of the babies rolled.

Billy noticed immediately. “Easy. You okay?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “They’re just stretching."

Billy hugged her a little tighter, careful of her middle, “I love you." 

“I love you too,” she smiled, squeezing his hand, pausing, and feeling his hand slightly tremble. 

"Wilbur, you’re shaking." 

She slid her hand from his and brought it up to his cheek, turning his face toward her gently. “What’s wrong?"

“I found out one of my sisters is dead…”

His voice thinned, "I—It just hit me that she’s…” He swallowed, forcing back any tears that threatened to spill. “Sorry, I—I shouldn’t have said anything. I—I don’t want to stress you or the babies out."

Carlis’s hand didn’t leave his face.

“Wilbur,” she said softly, firmly, the way she did when she needed him to hear her. “You are allowed to grieve in your own bed.”

He shut his eyes for a second.

“I just—” His breath shook. “You’re already carrying enough. I don’t want to put this on you too.”

She shifted carefully, rolling a little more toward him despite the weight of her belly. It took effort. He could feel it. Still, she did it anyway.

“What was her name?”

“...Rosey… Mother never gave her a real name…so I named her Rosey…”

"That's a pretty name,” she answered, lightly stroking his damp cheek with her thumb. 

"...yeah, it is," he breathed, placing his hand on top of hers, gently intertwining their fingers. 

“She would’ve liked this house,” he said softly. “Ness. You. The babies. She would’ve laughed a lot here.”

Carlis smiled faintly. “Then we laugh enough for her too.”

That finally broke something gentle inside him. He let out a quiet, breathy huff that almost sounded like a laugh.

“I don’t know how you always know what to say,” he murmured.

“I don’t,” she replied honestly. “I just love you.”

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, lingering there.

“I love you,” he said again, steadier this time.

The babies shifted once more, a soft roll beneath his palm.

“Easy,” he murmured to them. “Mama needs sleep.”

Carlis smiled sleepily, her hand slipping down to rest over him again.

“You should sleep too,” she whispered.

Billy nodded faintly. His eyes were heavy now, slowly coming to a close.

Morning came, and Billy awoke to a sliver of sunlight peeking through, striking him in the eye. Carefully he exited the bed, making his way downstairs to make breakfast: pancakes for Carlis and waffles for Ness, making enough of both for Russ to help himself to either, while he made himself some scrambled eggs. After he helped himself to the platter, he poured a bowl of dog kibble for P.T. and, in the other room, two other bowls for his two cats, Whiskey and Whisper. He let off a slight yawn as he went to his office, where Rascal, his pet rat, and snake Rosa slept, giving Rascal his breakfast and greeting Rosa with a light wave as she had already eaten the day before. He let out another yawn, lips pulling back, revealing his sharp canines and fleshy scars on the inside of his cheeks that stretched as his jaw opened. 

“Morning, Dad!" Ness smiled with a wave.

Billy paused a moment before returning the smile. "Morning, Bud. Have a good sleep?”

Ness gave a thumbs up, motioning for Billy to follow him as he skipped toward the kitchen, giving P.T. a light pat before helping himself to the waffles and syrup.

Ness climbed onto his chair, legs swinging, syrup already pooling dangerously close to the edge of his plate.

“Careful,” Billy warned automatically.

“I am,” Ness said through a mouthful.

Billy huffed softly, a smile on his lips, and grabbed a napkin, wiping a stray drip before it hit the table. He set his eggs down and took a seat across from him.

Before Billy could add anything else, slow footsteps creaked down the hallway.

Russ appeared at the edge of the kitchen.

He’d kept the gloves on. 

They were black and snug, covering the worst of the damage to his hands. His hair was slightly messy, and his eyes were tired but clearer than the night before.

“...Good morning," he said, fiddling with his fingers, rocking slightly on his heels. 

"Morning, Uncle Russ!”

"Morning, Russ, grab a plate and help yourself."

Ness perked up immediately. “There’s waffles and pancakes! You can pick. Dad makes them really good."

“Good to know my time at culinary and pastry school paid off." Billy smiled.

Russ blinked at him.

“Pick?” he echoed quietly.

“Yeah,” Ness said like it was obvious. “Whichever one you want.”

Russ looked down at the table again, slowly stepping forward and pulling out a chair. He flexed his gloved fingers once more before reaching for a plate.

He chose a pancake.

He took a bite.

Paused and slowly chewed

His brows pulled together slightly.

Ness leaned forward. “Good?”

Russ swallowed. “It’s… warm.” He chewed a bit more. “It’s tasty." 

A minute later, Carlis appeared, one hand braced against the stair railing and the other supporting her belly.

“Smells good,” she said, her voice still thick with sleep.

Billy was on his feet instantly. “Hey, hey, easy. You’re up early; I was going to go get you.”

“I can walk,” she muttered, but she smiled anyway.

Russ stood halfway up like he wasn’t sure if he should move out of the way entirely.

“Morning, Russell,” she greeted gently as she lowered herself into the chair Billy pulled out for her.

“…Morning,” he answered quietly.

There was still a flicker of guilt in his eyes when he looked at her. At her stomach.

At the life she was carrying.

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly.

Billy and Carlis both looked at him.

“For what?” Carlis asked.

“For… showing up like that. For bringing… everything here.” His jaw tightened. “For last night. For the hallway. For—”

“Russ,” Billy cut in firmly.

Carlis reached across the table, resting her hand lightly over his gloved one.

“You didn’t bring it here,” she said. “It followed you. That’s not the same thing. So we’re good.”

“But I—" Russ tried to add.

“Russ, you’re fine," Billy cut him off, patting his brother's shoulder.

He lowered himself back into the chair.

They ate.

Forks scraping plates. Syrup being poured. Billy reminding Ness to take it easy on his waffles and Carlis humming under her breath.