Re: The woods
"We don't go out a lots," she whispered conspiratorially when he said her daddy was right, sharing something she was obviously supposed to be quiet about. "Maman is all growed up, and she don't go out a lots either," she added, with the childish tone of someone who had just managed to win an argument. If they couldn't go out much, then his invisible friend needed to be careful too. "Your friend needs to be very careful too. He can't be too twisting, like me," she added, the giggle that followed the very serious admonishment indicating that they were just words to her, things she'd heard without very much meaning, as further evidence by the misuse of the word trusting. There was one thing for certain, she wasn't scared of anything. In that, this child was nothing like Gus.
"I'm sooper brave. I even walk downstairs all by myself now, and I help maman make smackeroni and cheese without being afraid of the stove neemore," she informed him proudly. She nodded when he asked if she missed her father, the quick and cursory kind of agreement that came from not even needing to think. "I want to drive things when I growed up," she explained, "but I'll bring my family with me all the time, and my toys, and even Sparrow now. Being repsonsyllable is important." she said with a severe little nod.
"Nooooo," she said, all pout and wail. "You have to stay for a teaparty. A special one since you rescued Sparrow!" she informed him even as she disappeared around the corner into the living room.
Rhett just blinked again, and he stared sleepily at Luke's fingers before trying to copy the wiggling fingers by himself. He managed it fairly closely, and it made him giggle around his pacifier a little, even as he reached his chubby little fingers for the dog beside him. He stood, once he had the dog in his possession, and he teetered unsteadily for a moment, before giving up and crawling into the living room, blankie and stuffed dog in hand.
In the living room, Stella was pointing at a tiny dog grate with a bow on top, and she was doing it in a very exaggerated, jumpy manner, all while holding her finger to her mouth and saying shhhhh over and over.
The reason for all the silence became evident just as Rhett sat down and began tugging on Luke's shoelaces, which caused Stella to whisper loudly. "Don't! He'll eat them!"
But, amazingly, it wasn't the hissing that woke the woman on the couch. Because, oh, yes, there was a woman on the couch. This sleeping version of Wren looked exactly the same, save for one thing - she was visibly pregnant.
If there was any variance in age, it was only a month in either direction, but even that seemed unlikely. Her hair was the same pale blonde, and it fell past her shoulders in precisely the same manner. She wore grey leggings and a white shirt with long sleeves. There was an elegant, understated engagement ring on her finger, and a simple band behind it. And, quite obviously, Stella was trying not to wake her.
But the cellphone balanced on her hip rang, and she didn't even open her eyes as she reached for it, obviously accustomed to it ringing often. "Hello? What? No, we haven't been out. The kids are- I don't know why the door was- Silver, calm down. I'm sure everything's fine. They're napping. No one's inside- Let me-" she said, sitting up a little awkwardly. And then her grey eyes went wide as she noticed the stranger in the living room.
But before she could scream or do anything else, Stella was climbing up on the couch and putting a hand over the woman's mouth. "No, don't tell daddy. He saved Sparrow. Silly voo play, silly voo play, maman. Lookit! He even lets Rhett eat his shoelaces." Which was precisely what was happening just then.