SPRING || ROSALIE HALE

T W O

"Morning mom."

Raymond awoke, sensing the women's hand running through his hair as his eyes adjusted to the gloomy day. His bed was creaky, not the usual plush mattress he had become accustomed to overtime but instead the old one his father had kept for him since he'd been five and traded in the car bed for the mattress.

Maria gave her son a soft smile, plopping down on the bed beside him as he adjusted and pushed upwards. He sat upright, sucking in a huge breath.

"I don't want to do this." Ray muttered under his voice. "I don't want to continue pretending I'm okay."

"Oh baby..." Maria cooed to her son, bringing his head into her lap as she continued to run her hands through his hair. His mother smelled different, not the usual amount of lilacs and hairspray she would rush around with in their old apartment, now there was an overwhelming sense of cold. "You have too."

"Why?" He murmured, eyes shutting as he let sleep once more cloud his mind. He needed to sleep, to get away from his problems.

Maria watched her son, small dimples relaxing as his eyes shut. She leaned down, pressing a kiss to his temple softly. Her lips were ice cold, something that made Ray twitch but never completely bothered him. In his mothers arms he felt safe, there was no history and no future it was just what he wanted.

Maria's lips moved to his ear, "because I'm dead."

Raymond's eyes blew wide open the same moment his father burst through the door to his bedroom, the man was dressed in his uniform, buttons to his shirt still undone as he brought light into the room. There was a toothbrush hanging from his mouth, as he began to speak, "Raymond, son it's time to get up Bella's done in the shower and she offered to help me with the pancakes, get your lazy ass up though you know she hates waiting."

Raymond lifted his head, finding that his head was no longer on his mothers lap but instead cradling a plush pillow and there was not even the scent of her left but he was used too this. His mother was dead, and only in his dream did he ever get to witness her. This was the reason he never cried, the very reason he was so sane considering the situations presented at him.

He might have been slightly crazy but it was okay, he was fine with it.

|•|•|•|•|

Raymond came downstairs in his jean jacket, the inside was a very thick zip up jacket and underneath that all he still had a flannel. His boots were loud against the steps alerting his father who looked up from the newspaper.

"Morning." Marcus and Charlie smiled at their son, sipping the steaming coffee from their cups slowly. The couple were sitting at the dinner table, one watching the news from the tv angled perfectly towards the table and the other reading the newspaper, they would eventually trade off however.

"Morning, what's for breakfast?" Raymond walked into the kitchen, following the trail of a delicious scent. He found Bella serving herself juice , a pile of bacon hefty on her tray along with two pancakes doused in syrup already halfway demolished even before she'd reached the table. She smiled at him, the girl had never really been much of a talker before breakfast so he didn't bother to say anything.

"Figured we should welcome you the right way, Charlie here tried to help but burned the eggs. Luckily Bells didn't inherit that from her father. " Marcus stated, winking at the brunette female who sat down next to him with a warm smile. If there was one thing Marcus was good at besides being a cop it was cooking, he was rather good at the craft and when his son came to visit every year he had someone else besides Charlie to feed. Bella had taken a liking towards the hobby as well, often calling him up to ask just how something was made. "Pancakes bacon, and sausage although you might have hustle since you decided to take a long time in the shower."