A Home Filled With Love

Chapter 3 - A Safe Home?

Ughhh... what is that? Stop it... The ticklish feeling comes back again, running across my chin, up to my cheek and over my forehead. Whining, I lift my hand to swat it away, thinking it was a bug, but I don't hit anything. When the feeling comes back, I grunt a little, opening up my eyes a bit.

Sitting beside me is Bailey with a grin on his face. "Hey, there, sleepyhead. We're home now." Glancing at his hand, I see that he has a piece of fabric in his hand; grunting again, I glare at his hand. "Sorry, I thought it would be the easiest way to wake you up without scaring you." He apologizes as he hides the fabric in his jean pocket.

Huffing, I nod. I'm so tired... I just want to sleep. "You're adorable when you're sleepy," Bailey cooed beside me, cupping my cheek in his hand. Whining, I nuzzle into his hand, but before he could say anything more, my car door opens, making me jump as Nathaniel's face pops into view.

"Sorry for scaring you, little one. We are at home now. I have already told everyone inside to not overwhelm you or crowd you. However, I don't think that that will be a problem considering you look exhausted, so you'll be going straight to bed sleepy. Later on, I'll get Bailey to bring you your supper, and you can meet all of the boys tomorrow if you wish." Nathaniel says with a big smile. I slowly nod my head. Exhaustion starts to creep up as he slowly reaches in with his big hands, picks me up bridal style, and gently places me in my wheelchair.

"T-Thank you," I whispered shyly. Bailey quickly crawls out of the car, reaching for my hand with a big smile on his face. "Don't worry, darling, if you want, I can stay with you tonight so that you are not alone in a new environment?" Bailey crouches down and looks at me with his head tilted sideways, he kind of looks like a little puppy. I giggle slightly at my own thought and nod my head at Bailey. "O-O-Ok, thank you." Bailey has such a proud facial expression on his face.

I know I should be feeling anxious, but the exhaustion isnt letting me be. I'm so tired.

"Wait, why did you laugh? Did I say something funny?" that once-proud facial expression turns into the confused tilted puppy face again. I giggle again and finally explain myself, "You l-l-look like a-a puppy w-w-with your head t-tilted like that." "Oh, I get it. Well..." without a second thought, he quickly reaches for my neck and starts to tickle it. "Ah, s-stop it" I giggle loudly, and we only stop when Nathaniel speaks up.

"As adorable as you both are, I'm going to have to stop you there; I must bring you both in before it gets too dark. I don't want either of you getting sick" he gently starts wheeling me towards the huge house that I didn't notice before because of Bailey.

Yawning, I gasp in awe at the massive house in front of me. After scrubbing my eye to get the tiredness out of it, I look back at the front window, only to see four boys a little older than me standing there. "W-Who are t-t-they?" I choke up to Nathaniel. "They are the other four boys I told you about. The one with the chin-length curly black hair is Ryan; he is 19, the ginger is Robert; he is 19. The one next to Robby with short curly brown hair is Julian; he is 18, and our oldest boy here at 20 years of age with the just-got-out-of-bed black hair is Sam."

I giggle tiredly at the last one; Sam does look like he just rolled out of bed with the way his hair is literally all over the place. But I quickly cover the giggle with a cough don't want them to think I'm rude or anything.

Nathaniel and Bailey quickly stroll me towards the front door, and it is now that I realize that I'll be living with complete strangers, and the thought makes me slightly dizzy and my hands clammy. What if they don't like me? What if they turn out to be like my father and hit me? With every thought, I could feel the blood leaving my face and my breathing picking up.

"Hey Kai, darling, what is wrong? What happened to my giggly little darling?" Bailey asks, stepping in front of me and stopping Nathaniel in his tracks. "W-Well I-I-I-I-I-" I gasp, gripping the wheelchair arms hard. "Little one, I'm going to need you to breathe for me." Nathaniel pops into view all of a sudden, making me flinch back. "Sorry, love, can I see your hands?" Reaching out, he grabs my hands and puts them on his chest.

"Remember before? Following my breathing, love. Breath for me, little one." He says while holding my hands firmly to his chest. I can faintly feel Bailey stroking my hair. "Good job, good boy. Keep doing that" words of encouragement are sung gently around me as I slowly come down from my panic.

Looking up at Nathaniel shyly, I nod to let him know I am ok. "Good job, baby, you did so well! So proud of you. Are you feeling up to telling me what happened now?" Nathaniel praises as he crouches down to hold my hands properly. Smiling encouragingly, he rubs his thumbs over the top of my hand.

I can still feel Bailey rubbing his hands through my hair, which surprisingly calmed me down instead of freaked me out. Taking a couple of shaky breaths, I voiced my concerns, "I-I-I'm sc-sc-scared that t-th-the others w-w-onxt like me"

"Oh darling, there is no need to worry, my love. The boys will love you. You should have seen how excited they were when I told them you were coming." Nathaniel chuckled. "Remember I did say that you can meet them tomorrow morning, you can go to bed for now if you like, and Bailey will bring you up food and stay with you. With that being said, I'd rather you not get cold after such a wild night; let's head in, yes?"

Nodding, Bailey and Nathaniel smiled and pushed me towards the front door. I held my breath when Bailey swung open the front door, half expecting the other boys to be there, but surprisingly they weren't.

After rolling into the foyer and stripping from his jacket and shoes, Bailey comes back in front of me with a smile, gently taking my shoes and jacket off. I gently whispered my thanks. "Hey Natty, where is his room going to be if he can't sleep upstairs?" Bailey asks while placing my shoes by the closet and hanging up my jacket.

"Ah, yes. I actually asked the boys while I was in the grocery store to set up the guest bedroom downstairs as Kai's temporary bedroom for the time being." Nathaniel explains as he sets a light grocery bag on my lap and wheeled me down the hallway.

As we go down the hallway, I peek around only to realize the living room was right beside the front entrance, which means the boys are in there. However, as we go by, there is no one in there. Farther down the hall, past paintings and the huge kitchen, which was once again empty. We arrive at what I am assuming to be the temporary bedroom I'll be staying in.

"This little one will be your room until you feel better and can move upstairs; while you stay down here, you can have Bailey is here to keep you company and comfort. I'll stop by a couple times throughout the night and in the morning to see you both." Nathaniel says as he opens the door and walks in. Bailey pushes me through the threshold of the room. I gasp in shock; I can feel the sting of tears behind my eyes.

"Hey, darling, what's wrong?" Bailey says as he wipes away my tears that start falling, and Nathaniel crouches down too. "I-I-I'm just very ov-ov-overwhelmed, I n-never had such a-a big r-r-room before. Thank you" I sob out into my hands. Bailey coos, gently petting my hair back. I can hear both Nathaniel and Bailey cooing at me and telling me it's alright and that I'll be safe and happy.

I don't know how long I cried for, but I know that it must have been for quite some time because my eyes were starting to droop and become even heavier than before. As it gets harder and harder to keep my eyes open, Nathaniel brings me to the bed. Gently asking if he could touch me, after a nod, he places me on the bed.

"Go to sleep, little one; we can talk more in the morning. Do you want Bailey to sleep on the bed with you or on the floor?" Nathaniel whispers to me while brushing the hair from my forehead and pressing a kiss to it. I pat the bed to let them both know that I want him on the bed. Sleeping on the floor would not be comfy, and I know that. Im also way too tired to feel any anxiety towards this idea anyways.

I also wouldnt want him to hate me because I forced him on the floor.

"Ok, good night, little one; this is your home now, ok? You're safe here and wanted, my love. Good night Baby" soon enough, after saying good night to both Bailey and me. I ultimately pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Wait, did Nathaniel say this in my home?! I'm safe here?!