#wave 008

sleigh bells ring, are you listening?

Fiona laughed at that one. If her sister thought she was at all discreet about anything when it came to Jude, clearly she wasn’t taking a good look in the mirror. “I would imagine someone who looks like Jude would be high on the list in the single dad department,” she told her, taking a bite of her macaroni. “So it doesn’t surprise me. But the audacity,” she winked, highly amused at Waverly’s reaction.

“I, however, think you do get it. You’ve been territorial your whole life; Sure, it’s been three years without him, but did you really think the way you react to him would be any different?”

For as much as she’d grown up, especially lately, some things about Waverly would never change. And this would be one of them.

She turned her attention back to the macaroni and figured she should probably eat something more hearty, what with her healing stitches and all. But, she figured she could indulge herself, and did so, taking another bite.

“I don’t think you were wrong to kick him out,” she said, small smile on her face as she nudged Waverly’s arm with her foot. “There’s no need to confuse Eleanor if it isn’t meant to be more than what it currently is. But I do think the fact that you’re having… sleepovers… warrants a conversation you need to have.”

There were a thousand things they needed to talk about, things Jude had already hinted to Fiona, but clearly didn’t want to talk about without telling Waverly. And while she’d love to be the middle man and fix everything, she knew for a fact that she couldn’t.

discover some new truth...

“You know… you’re still allowed to ask why he chose now to show up,” Fiona said softly. She raised her legs, drawing them up to her chest. Despite her soreness, the position was surprisingly comfortable. “I mean, I know we’re all glad to see him, and I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve been feeling, but you’re still allowed to ask.”

Problem solving for other people was her strong suit, and while she wanted nothing to do with her own drama, this… this she could handle. “I understand what happened that day for both of you, but in three years he didn’t reach out. You’re allowed to have questions about that, even if you don’t get the answers straight away.”

Hell, she had questions. She couldn’t exactly blame Waverly for feeling the same way, granted, she wasn’t exactly sure she should be leading Waverly down this rabbit hole.

“For his birthday next month. We can send them away from all this drama for a bit,” she nodded, lip quirking as she thought of her little brother. Auggie had been such a rock his whole life, even before he was mature enough to understand. So this… everything going on with their little world being turned completely on its head, he’s been nothing short of amazing in handling it.

And he deserved to be recognized for it.

there’s so much i’ve longed to say

As Waverly spoke, Fiona’s eyes shifted to the puppy in her arms, looking just about as sad as she currently felt. Still, there seemed to be a glint in her eye, one that told her she was coming to steal the hearts of everyone around her. She supposed they could all use a little extra joy in the form of something small, considering.

She looked back up at Waverly who was clearly tying herself in knots to try and justify her sweet gesture, and it made her realize she’d been way too hard on her sister as of late. And maybe it was everything she’d just been through, or her broken heart, or the warmth of the holidays, but whatever it was, she found herself feeling apologetic for making her feel like she had to justify even the good things.

Sure, all she’d ever wanted was for her sister to own up to her messes, but she also wanted her to be happy. And it wasn’t lost on her how Waverly wanted the same for everyone else.

“C’mere,” she said, shifting the pup to one arm so she could wrap her other one around her sister. She held her close and hugged her tight, hoping to make up for the week of silence, and the tension prior to that, and everything that was unspoken between them. “Thank you,” she told her. “I love her already.”

Fiona pulled away to get a good look at her, and gave her a small smile. “This is really sweet of you.” She bent slightly, wincing some as she felt the pull of a couple of stitches before setting the puppy down on the floor.

“I think I’m too tired to feel any kind of way about that,” she admitted, lip quirking. “Although, so long as they don’t burn it down, and if Cece says it’s all right, I think we’ll be okay.”

She took Waverly’s hand and led her over to the couch, needing to sit in that moment, but also wanting to be with her sister, too. She slowly eased herself down onto the couch behind Eleanor and sighed as she caught her breath.

“Still sore,” Fiona told her, settling back against the couch. “But getting better. I took my meds this morning with Auggie’s help, so I should be good to go.” It’d been a week of trying to get her to eat enough food so the pain killers and antibiotics wouldn’t burn a hole through her stomach.

Even she was relieved she could do it by herself this morning.

who knows where our limits lie? we won’t discover ‘til we push it…

By some miracle, the revolving door of people in the apartment doesn’t interrupt Fiona and Auggie’s quiet breakfast. It’s nice for it to be just the two of them for a little while, at least while she got acclimated to being a person again, and not just a lump in her bed.

She knew she was allowed after everything, but she still felt kind of shitty shutting everyone out.

As they ate and chatted about everything she’d missed during the last few days, she felt a little reminded of the days it’d be just the two of them back at their childhood home, or even when he’d come stay with her when she lived in her first tiny apartment in the city.

He told her about Waverly, and what had really been going on with her. From the nightmares, to the sedatives Charlie had put her under.

She guessed she understood, especially since she hadn’t been the one having to deal with her first hand, but she couldn’t hide the disdain for Charlie and his choice to once again keep Waverly in the dark from her own feelings.

Mostly because she was still of the firm belief that if she hadn’t been at any point in her life, she wouldn’t have had to go through everything she had.

Still, there was nothing she could do about that. He seemed to get a free pass usually.

He also told her about Jude hanging around the apartment with Waverly and Eleanor, and about how nice it’d been to have their friend back. How much he’d missed him. It reminded her of how close Auggie himself had been to him, too, always following Jude and Quincy like a shadow from the moment he’d met them.

He told her about the revolving door of family who’d come to see her and take care of her, and everyone who’d had her back.

She’d forever be grateful.

After breakfast, she’d kicked him out to go do something fun. He’d been hesitant, but she’d promised she’d be fine. That she just needed to shower and wash her hair after a week so she could feel like herself again.

“Before everyone comes back. You don’t have to watch me. Promise.”

He’d also made her promise to call if she needed anything at all, and to call Teddy if she couldn’t reach him before heading out to meet said girlfriend.

-

Getting a moment to herself in the bathroom, she took off her pajamas and took a moment to get a good look at herself in the mirror. It felt like forever since she’d gotten a chance to take herself in.

Her hair felt greasy. Andi and Cece had been alternating in giving her baths, to make sure she wouldn’t get sick, but she didn’t remember them washing her hair.

Her face was more pale than usual, donning dark circles and eye-bags accounting for the days of rest she didn’t get. There was a pimple on her cheek she hadn’t been aware off that started to itch the more she stared at it.

Her abdomen was still somewhat swollen, remnants of pregnancy left behind along with stray stretchmarks here and there. She still felt sore, but much less so than she had since having the baby.

She ran her hands over her body, feeling all the places where she didn’t feel like herself anymore, where she was still left to figure out what was left of her.

It stung a bit in her chest. But she realized she couldn’t linger, because the longer she did, the sooner she’d start to pick herself apart. So she climbed into the shower, letting the hot water soothe the physical and emotional aches and pains she was carrying in her body.

And then she cried. Again

-

The knock on her bedroom door followed by the shout of her niece startled her from where she stood, having just pulled on a long-sleeved tee shirt. She was grateful they’d chosen now to come in and not earlier, considering her shower had progressed with her hyperventilating for a bit.

Thankfully she was breathing a bit easier now.

“Just a minute, kiddo,” she called softly. She pulled down the towel from her hair and ran her fingers through it, before slipping on a pair of fuzzy socks onto her cold feet.

She made her way to the door and opened it, eyes widening at the sight of Eleanor standing at her feet. The mini version of Jude glanced up at her, wide grin on her face as she held a tiny black puppy in her hands.

“Surprise, Auntie Fi! It’s a puppy!”

“A puppy?” she asked, brows raised high. She poked her head out to the hallway, hoping to see any signs of Jude or Waverly behind her.

“Yeah! For you! Mama and I picked it out today!”

Waverly.

She should’ve known.

“For me, huh?” Fiona carefully squatted down to her level, taking in the sleepy pup in her tiny, chubby arms and she couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t know who was cuter.

“Yeah, you was sad so…” she shrugged before holding her out to her. Fiona’s heart squeezed. Apparently, her spiral hadn’t been lost on her, either. Reaching out, she grabbed the little puppy from her arms, and she squirmed some before settling.

Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to Eleanor’s forehead. “It’s sweet of you, El,” she told her. “Where is your mom?”

“Over there, c’mon!” she made a mad dash down the hallway, and it took Fiona a second to get back to her feet and follow her down the hallway.