Closer 2

158.

"Do you wanna help me with breakfast now, Li-Li?" Eddy asked, his voice shaking. He was still feeling the adrenaline pumping through him from seeing his youngest on the play mat, lips blue and struggling to catch his breath. Hadn't it been for Elise's quick reaction and his own first aid course from way back when he had odd teaching jobs in uni, their little boy may not have made it.

Elise looked up at him with a tilted head as if considering it. Or, that's what Eddy thought she was doing until she stood up and walked over to him.
"Gonna be okay, daddy," she said softly, taking a hold of his little finger. He almost lost it, but gathered himself enough to squat down next to her and pull her into a hug.

"It's gonna be okay, I know it is. It's gonna be okay because of you, baby, because you told us Aidan wasn't okay," he explained softly. "Thank you so much."

"Brekkie now?" Elise asked, and Eddy sighed a bit. Of course she wouldn't understand the importance of what she had just done, but that was okay. They'd tell her about this when she was older.

"Yeah, we can make breakfast now," Eddy said, kissing her forehead. "Let me just grab Benjamin so he can come too, okay? We don't want him to be on his own," Eddy said, definitely not wanting to let him out of sight. He immediately regretted saying it when he heard Elise's sigh and felt her pull away.

"Oh," she said quietly before turning and just walking away from him. She grabbed Sharkie from a pile of toys, headed towards her room.

"Don't you wanna come help me?" Eddy asked, feeling his throat tighten with sadness. He couldn't leave Benjamin out of his sight, just the thought made him freak out, but she didn't seem to understand that it just meant he'd sit in the little bouncy chair while they spent time together.

"No thank you, daddy," Elise said a bit sadly before disappearing into her room, leaving Eddy not knowing what to do.

...

"Why can't I land this... stupid... jump?" May asked out loud, frustrated with herself. She had been in the studio for four hours with only fifteen of those being spent on a break. The last two had been spent trying to land this one jump without falling or having to sidestep to avoid it, but her balance was way off. It wasn't even a difficult jump, and before she was sick she had been so close to getting it. Now she was back at square one. A prolonged break from practicing was never a good idea, but it wasn't really her fault so it didn't feel fair that she'd be punished like this.

She decided on one more attempt and if that didn't get any better than the previous one she'd give up and go get herself the white chocolate cake she had seen in the window of a café on the way to the studio. She has been craving it all day.