WHO: Shane and Cassie. WHAT: She gave him some news and he's coming home to her. WHEN: Now. WHERE: Their new trailer. RATING: TBD.
Cassie wrapped her arms around Frankie as she held him in the towel after his bath. She gently rocked him as he fussed about being cold and wanting another towel which she did give him, wrapping it around him as she walked him through the trailer toward his bedroom which was honestly the only room that had a full set of furniture in it. His bed the centerpiece to a room that Shane helped her decorate with old truck parts and different signs for route 66. It was honestly the sweetest thing Shane had done surprising her with that along with Landon who helped him install it.
Franke was Cassie’s life. She knew that she was traumatized by her sister’s death and was clinging to him in an unhealthy way. She often sat up at night, even after everyone slept and watched him sleep for fear that he would be taken from her too. With both her parents locked up, Cassie had been what Frankie knew most of his life. Now he called her ‘cassie’ like everyone else, but she may as well have been ‘mom’ for all she did. Not that she would replace their mother, but those instincts to protect him and love him were there.
“Okay Frankie,” Cassie said as she finally had him out of his towel and in his PJ’s and in bed. She pulled his blankets up around him and handed him his stuffed truck. “I love you. It’s bedtime okay?” Okay Cassie-lassie? She smiled feeling tears form before she leaned down and kissed his head a few times. “When you wake up I’ll get your cereal and we’ll walk to Miss Becky’s so she can watch you while she’s off with the baby and you can play with the boys.” Night Night?
She gave him one last kiss on the head before Cassie put on his nightlight and stepped from the room, heading back down the short hallway through the kitchen and into the living room area where she sat down on the carpeted floor, leaning back against the wall, staring at the empty-ish room. There was a TV and she had tape down where she wanted things put, but furniture wouldn’t be fully delivered until the next day so it was one more night of it being empty.
Eventually, she put the TV on and while she started out watching Netflix, she began tuning it out and stared off into space until she heard her name snapped. Cassie blinked and looked up startled, showing that she hadn’t heard Shane come in. A smile formed on her lips when she saw him and she stood up from where she was sitting. Where was Frankie? “In his room. He had his bath and went down for the night….how was your time with the guys?”
She moved to get him a drink from the fridge, handing him the bottle before moving to lean on the counter. She’d felt more tired lately and a lot more out of her head. It was like she could just sit there and fall asleep if she wasn’t careful. Probably why she zoned so far out before his arrival. But with him here she had something to focus on and listening to him about what they did made her nod. “Maybe you should plan more boys days. Give you something to do that doesn’t force you to be suck in here with me.”
Seeing his face though her head shook, “I didn’t mean anything bad about me.” She promised, “I just mean, you’ve been here basically babysitting me because of what happened with my sisters. You could use time with our friends. Or just the guys even. Give you some time to talk shit about me or talk shit in general about whatever you guys talk about.”
Cassie trailed off as her stomach turned over and she turned away from him, trying to stop herself from heaving in front of him. God, she hated that feeling. Hers wasn’t in the morning! What a stupid name. It should have been ‘sickness any time of the day, whenever she felt like breathing’. Fortunately, she never threw up she was just forced to endure the nausea. But better that than throwing up, right?
Turning back, she saw him look at her stomach and she moved her arms across it, hugging herself a bit. “Do you want to keep it?” She found herself openly asking him as she caught his gaze again. “I don’t want to force you into something you don’t want. It was an accident, neither of us expected….I mean we’ve had scares but never been real. I don’t want to trap you or make you feel trapped.”