Growing Season (MxM) Complete

Ch. 29 Fear

A/N: Mature content

CH 29

The rest of the day without Daisy was jarring. Franny and Gabe worried, Gareth was distracted, and Phillip fretted. When Gareth returned from dropping her off, he went into the bedroom and sobbed. It just wasn't fair, Leeann didn't love her children, and she certainly didn't deserve them. He was so completely worried about Daisy; there was no motherly feeling at all when he dropped her off, not that he expected there would be. After a few minutes, the door quietly opened and shut, and Phillip came to sit next to him on the bed.

Phillip didn't know what to say, there really wasn't anything he could say. He couldn't offer false platitudes guaranteeing Daisy's safety, because he certainly didn't trust Leeann, and he really didn't want to lie. All he could offer was comfort and sympathy, his hand softly rubbing slow circles on Gareth's back.

And it was enough, for now.

Gareth sat up and wiped his face. "She's so smart, and so strong. I hope to god that everything's okay."

"She is smart, and she is strong, Gareth. And we can file an appeal," Phillip stated, giving Gareth a hug.

"You're right, and god help me if Leeann touches a hair on her head, I will do whatever I can to make sure she gets no where near the kids again," Gareth said with resolve.

Phillip nodded in agreement and rose from the bed. "We just have to keep it together for Franny and Gabe." He offered Gareth his hand, and the now much calmer man took it, Phillip pulling him up to standing and giving him a quick kiss.

They filled the time for the rest of Friday and Saturday with trips to the park, running around the yard, using the sprinkler, and some Netflix. Gareth even did a little bit of cooking with the younger two, allowing them to pick a recipe and supervising the mess. At bed times, Gabe opted to sleep with Franny to keep her company, and neither man could bring themselves to argue.

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"Hello?" Gareth answered his phone all gravelly voiced and grasped it tightly in his sleepy haze, still somewhat groggy from the shock of being woken at the crack of dawn. Well, five thirty in the morning on Sunday to be more exact.

Phillip was roused from sleep, too, unable to make out the words of the person calling, but from the timber of the voice, he could tell it was male.

"Yes." Gareth quickly sat up in bed, Phillip's arm had been wrapped around his waist and was quickly flung aside. Phillip rolled slightly, still tired, gently stroking the smooth skin of Gareth's lower back in a soothing manner. A phone call this early in the morning was never a good thing.

"Do you have any idea where she went?" There was panic in Gareth's voice and Phillip could feel everything about the man tense. Phillip stopped rubbing and sat up, suddenly fully wide awake, too.

"What about..." Gareth paused to listen. "Okay, we'll be out looking right away." He rose from the bed, phone wedged between his ear and shoulder, while fumbling to pull on pants with his shaking hands. Phillip knew something had to be very, very wrong, so he stood to dress right away, handing Gareth a shirt. "Thank you, Kyle." Gareth hung up the phone and turned to Phillip in distress.

"Phillip, Daisy's missing." Whatever semblance of control Gareth had maintained on the phone was gone. His arms were quaking and tears were making their way down a face stricken with fear, his nightmares realized. "Leeann was drinking and yelling a bunch in the middle of the night. Apparently she was pretty out of it. When Kyle woke up to go to work today he noticed Daisy's door was open and she was gone. It's been at least three hours. He wanted to let me know before he left for his shift so we can look right away." Gareth took a deep breath. "Leeann's not even fucking awake yet, he tried to wake her but she's still passed out."