Four Beating Hearts

18 - free

Penelope POV

The last bell of the day had rang and I sighed in relief. Beth was cleaning up her desk and I walked into her office wanting to lay down on the couch. Beth noticed me get up and immediately followed me.

I went to sit down on her couch, but she picked me up and sat down with me in her lap. I laid my head on her chest as she rubbed my back.

"I really tired Bethy." I whined before hiding my face in her neck and she cooed at me.

"I think little Penny wants to come out. Come on, why don't we go home where you can be as little as you want sweet girl." Beth said as she helped me off her lap.

As we were walking out, Ms. Geerling stepped out and stopped us. "Penny, glad I caught you! I wanted to talk to you," She looked up at Beth before back to me, "Privately."

I furrowed my brows and quickly shook my head, "Beth stays," I told her, little me still wanting to come out.

Ms. Geerling looked at both of us with confusion, but Beth cleared it up for us. "I'm Penny's guardian. Whatever you have to tell her, you can tell in front of me." Beth told her and Ms. Geerling nodded, still looking a little confused.

"Well one of the things I wanted to tell you was that I read the piece you wrote. Your words are so creative and your thoughts are very concise. I think you're going to do well in my class. The other thing was I wanted to tell you I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. If you ever need someone to talk to, then my door is always open for you." Ms. Geerling hesitated somewhat before speaking once more.

"You also mentioned this summer being one of the worst of your life," I tensed up at that. "I assumed you had wrote it because you lost your sister, but you said you were gone all summer. I just wanted to check and make sure you're okay. I knew you were gone for awhile, but we never learned what happened." Ms. Geerling finished.

I looked up at Beth and she instantly knew I didn't want to talk about it. I know Ms. Geerling is just trying to be nice, I mean she's an English teacher, but I have three women I can talk to about it with and I did not want someone else knowing.

"Madelyn, I get where you are coming from, but right now is probably not the best time. I mean, we just got Penny back on Friday. This is still kind of fresh for her and she's not ready to share. She has me and my wives as her support system." Beth told Ms. Geerling who nodded slowly before looking to me.

"You live with Mrs. James?" Ms. Geerling asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, and with Mari and Bella." I told her a little confused on why she was asking.

"How did you meet them?" Ms. Geerling asked again and I was starting to get frustrated.

"Mari was best friends with my sister Ana." I told her flatly before looking up to Beth, "Bethy, I wanna go home." I slightly whined and she quickly nodded.

"Madelyn, if you'll excuse us, we really do need to be getting home. Today was Penny's first day back and she is quite tired from it." Beth told her dismissively before shuffling me outside.

Beth knew I was close to slipping so she had me sit in the back seat as she drove us home. We pulled up into the driveway and Beth came around to my door to lift me up into her arms. "Bethy, I slip now?" I asked her and she chuckled while nodding.

"I think you've already slipped a bit, but of course sweet girl." Beth told me and I giggled a little and hid my face in her neck as we walked up to the door.

Walking in, I looked up and saw Mari on the couch. Bella must be at work. Mari saw me and I immediately reached for her. "Mar Mar!" I shouted with a happy smile.

Mari shot Beth a concerned look, but Beth shook it off with a smile. Mari quickly picked me up and held me tightly in her arms. "Hi pretty girl, how was school?" She asked and I shrugged with a giggle. I didn't want to talk about stupid school.

"Onesie?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

Mari smiled a little at me, "You want one of your onesies?" Mari asked and I nodded. I saw Beth disappear upstairs and within no time she was back downstairs with a onesie and pacifier in her hand.

Mari sat on the floor with me as Beth handed her the onesie. She helped me get undressed before slipping the onesie over my head and doing the snaps at the bottom.

"Here's your paci sweetie." Beth said as she handed me my paci and I plopped it into my mouth.

"T'ank you Bethy." I mumbled out from around my pacifier causing both women to coo at me.

Beth disappeared into the kitchen as I cuddled up into Mari's arms. She kissed my forehead and I smiled at the action.

"I missed you at school today baby." Mari whispered to me.

"I missed you too Mar Mar." I mumbled out and she smiled while squeezing me a little tighter.

Beth came out of the kitchen with some apple slices and handed them over to Mari who took my paci out and started feeding me the apple slices.

Beth smiled at the action before she spoke up, "I'm going to go grade some papers, okay baby? I'll be back in a little while." Beth told me and I nodded.

Part of me wanted to go be with her since I was still feeling what I felt over the weekend. I just wanted to be near her, it's worse since I was little. But the other part of me wanted to stay with Mari and spend time with her since I haven't seen her all day.

I let Mari continue to feed me apples as she put on a cartoon on tv. I wasn't really paying attention to it, I just focused on Mari holding me and basking in her comfort.

Once I finished my apples, Mari spoke up. "Why don't we get on the couch so we don't have to sit on the hard floor?" Mari asked and I nodded while standing up.

Mari laid down on the couch and I laid on top of her with my head resting on her chest. She was rubbing my back and my head which was just enough for me to slip into a slumber.