From Yours Truly, Edie

Chapter Forty Two: What's Normal?

Trigger warning: contains mentions of s*xual abuse. You have been warned.

June 2007
Part One

Upon their arrival, Edie and her siblings were greeted at the airport by a burly red headed man who bore a striking resemblance to Hank. He had the biggest, friendliest smile and held a small welcome home sign. Nolan was the first to receive a hug, followed by Melanie. Edie smiled politely at her uncle, hoping to avoid a hug.

"Ahh, Edythe. You probably don't remember me. The last time we saw each other, you were still in diapers and learning how to walk. It's great to see you again." He smiled and patted her on the back fondly. To her surprise, she instantly felt a strong connection to her uncle. As if she had known him all her life. It somehow almost made her feel safe, like Hank had when she was a child. "Did you know that your father asked your Aunt Lynn and I to be your godparents?"

"He did? I never knew that. Cool."

"She's very excited to meet and get to know y'all. Now, let's get your luggage loaded in the van. We have a good hour of driving ahead of us!" Uncle Rick led them to a dark blue minivan, a certain black haired blue eyed boy sitting in the front seat anxiously waiting for his best friend. They'd both grown up so much since they saw each other last and he was now a good foot taller than her.

"God, I missed you so much!" Edie tried not to cry as she hugged Brian for the first time in what had felt like an eternity. They sat in the very back of the van, laughing and catching up. It was if nothing had changed, like no time had passed since they saw each other last. Edie couldn't even remember the last time she'd laughed and smiled so much, and her face was a little sore when they pulled into the long gravel driveway leading to Uncle Rick's property. The second the van had parked, Nolan jumped out, and was instantly greeted by three lively border collies. Nolan was on cloud nine - he absolutely loved dogs. He loved all animals, but dogs especially. They weren't allowed to have any animals back home.

"Wait till he sees the baby chicks." Brian smirked, nodding towards a small yellow building to their right. "They just hatched like early this morning."

-/-/-

Several days later, after seeing the clothes her nieces had, Aunt Lynn decided they needed to take a trip to the mall. They desperately needed jeans, and, well, a new wardrobe. All they owned were dresses and formal wear, which was in no way practical for farm life. Edie was absolutely thrilled that she wouldn't have to wear dresses every day of the summer.

"I do have hand me downs from the twins in the attic that I believe will fit Nolan, so we'll just need to find him some shoes." Aunt Lynn explained as they were getting into the car. She had noticed some odd behaviours in her nephew and wanted to ask the girls if they knew what was going on.

"He does get constipated and I know it hurts him." Mel told her. "He's been that way for a while, maybe a year or two."

"And Charles doesn't believe in pain meds so he won't let Nolan take anything for it. Which is stupid." Edie frowned, looking out the window.

"I do remember your mom mentioning that he was a bit strict." Aunt Lynn pulled out of the driveway.

"Ha, that's an understatement if you ask me." sighed Edie, rolling her eyes. The night before, Brian let her use his laptop so she could send Bill a couple emails. And he also helped her create her first social media account on a website called Facebook, where you could instant message people, accept friend requests, and post photos. She thought it was insanely cool.

Twenty minutes later Edie was pushing a shopping cart through the mall, searching for a shoe store. She knew exactly what she wanted - black high tops, like her two best friends wore. Aunt Lynn told them they could pick a couple pairs, as well as rubber and steel toed boots for the barn, which were being ordered by Uncle Rick. Edie spotted a pair of green and blue shoes that she absolutely knew her brother would love. His favourite colours were blue and green, but he wasn't allowed to express himself because of some moronic rule Charles had come up with about self expression being a sin. Mel chose a pair of the pinkest shoes she could find and Edie could just tell by the way her eyes lit up that she was overjoyed, although she didn't show it.

Next up was a cool little store called Ardene's. The girls were in awe at everything they saw - clothes, accessories, bags, makeup... all the things they touched and looked at would have given Charles both a heart attack and a stroke at the same time. Edie was absolutely mesmerized by the jewelry; everything was so colourful and dark, she knew Bill would love it too. He was obsessed with chokers and necklaces, rings too.

"Would you girls like to stop for lunch once we're done here?" Aunt Lynn asked. She was beginning to feel a bit hungry and she knew they would be, too.

"That would be great!" Mel smiled and took off the pair of sandals she'd been trying on. Edie was still over in the jewelry section, looking at earrings. She wished she could get her ears pierced but she knew Charles would absolutely lose his shit and go off on her so it just wasn't really worth it. She settled on friendship bracelets for her and Brian, and friendship necklaces for her and Bill, hoping her friends would like her choices.

"We haven't been allowed to have fast food in so long that I don't even remember what I liked." Mel sighed somewhat sadly as they made their way to the food court.

"I so just want to stuff my face with onion rings and poutine. God, I missed the smell of grease sooo bad!" Edie groaned hungrily, looking around for a Dairy Queen. It had been her absolute favourite place to eat as a kid. She turned to Mel, "I'm pretty sure you were obsessed with garlic fingers and the gravy from KFC."

"Gosh, I guess that explains why I've been having super frequent dreams garlic fingers." Mel half frowned, causing their aunt to laugh. They were quick to discover Aunt Lynn had an amazing sense of humour, and they all made each other laugh quite easily. Edie knew that she was going to have a hard time going back home at the end of the summer, and was dreading it.

Once they'd finished eating, they loaded the trunk with their many purchases and headed back to the farm. Brian and Logan, the eldest of the three cousins, helped bring everything inside.

/-/-/

Caleb and Miles, the twins, were nearly a year older than Nolan and soon the three were practically attached at the hip. Edie was so glad, because she knew Nolan wasn't allowed to have friends back home. None of them really were, except for Charles. He was the one exception to every rule, and Edie had a sneaking suspicion that he felt he was above the law.

One night Edie heard her brother ask the twins why they were allowed to play video games and watch tv everyday. She was about to head to bed when what she heard come out of Nolan's mouth next made her feel absolutely sick to her stomach.

"Does your dad do stuff to you that makes you really uncomfortable?" He asked, but the twins were confused so he tried again. "Like does he make you touch his, umm.. his weiner?"

"No, that's super inappropriate." Caleb said instantly. "People can go to jail for that, bro."

Edie ran to the nearest bathroom and locked the door behind her. She wanted to scream, to hit Charles. Hot angry tears rolled down her face - Charles had sworn to her that he wouldn't touch her siblings if she let him have his way with her several times a week. It all started to make sense, now that Nolan was away from home and not around Charles. He wasn't in pain, nor was he withdrawn and down.

Edie knew exactly what she had to do.

She needed help.

So she quickly wiped away her tears and washed her face, and went searching outside to find her aunt. Edie knew she'd believe her, because Aunt Lynn had her own suspicions about Charles. She found her in the stables with Brian, feeding the horses a night time snack that consisted of carrots and apples.

"Aunt Lynn, I really need to talk to you. It's super important."

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Ok so I was really busy last month but I'm somewhat back now. I'm spending the summer with family and I'll write when I can, probably at night when everyone is asleep lol
How did you like this chapter?
I kinda miss writing little kid Edie lol she was fun
Pic in the thing is what Brian looks like (Andy biersack was hot af)