Promises, Promises

six. youth

Iris sighed softly, stashing another one of her books on her mini bookshelf. She usually read often, but recently she had been too caught up with schoolwork to actually finish a book. And with everything that's happened she doesn't know if she'll get back into it soon.

She glanced around the room. There were still six more boxes for her to unpack. The opened boxes were all stacked together by the door, waiting to be thrown out or stuffed away somewhere until needed again.

A knock was heard at her bedroom door. Iris turned to the door and she called out to them, letting them know it was okay to enter. The door opened slowly.

Sasha stood in the doorway and looked around for Iris, then found her by the bookshelf.

"Is everything alright?" Iris asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion at the unexpected room visit.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to let you know that I made plans with a client today and Ruby is still here. If you don't mind, can you watch her today?" Sasha asked, "You don't need to be with her the entire time, just make sure she isn't doing anything dangerous."

"Oh, yeah sure. I don't mind." Iris said, offering a small smile.

She really didn't. Even if she would've liked to be locked up in her room without interacting with others for the day, this wasn't too bad of a task to put up with.

"Thank you so much, Iris." Sasha smiled, glancing at the watch on her wrist before groaning, "Ugh, I'm gonna be late. Alright, I'll see you both later for dinner, and I'll let Oliver know that you're both home alone." She said, beginning to back out of the room.

Iris nodded, going to stand up and brush off her knees from any dust on them.

"Oh, and Iris," Sasha spoke up again, causing Iris to face her, "Please take it easy. Call me if you need me, alright?" She added with a sincere look in her eyes.

Iris gulped, understanding what she meant. She sent a nod to Sasha who hurried off afterwards. Then Iris sighed softly to herself, standing in the same spot as she heard the front door open and close downstairs. Then the sound of Sasha's car driving off.

She walked over to her bed, plopping herself down on it and embracing her giant bunny stuffed animal. It was a gift on her birthday from her mom before she passed. They named it Snuggles.

Not original. Then again, she was only four and her mom wasn't going to change the name she gave it since it was hers.

As she hugged it to her chest, she caught sight of the ring on her finger. It was her dad's. Well, in a way, it was both of her parents' ring. Iris didn't know if 'college sweethearts' was a thing but that's what they were.

After a year of them dating, her dad got them a promise ring. Y'know, typical dating stuff. But when they got married, they wore their wedding rings and their promise rings.

It was romantic.

Or at least that's what Iris believed. How they could love each other so much. How they continued to love each other. She always hoped for that same bond one day. The story always made her smile.

Even now, she smiled.

Cause she knew they were together again.

It wasn't long before there was another knock on her door, a soft one. Being that there was only one other person in the house, Iris called out to her and let her know she could come in as she sat up.

"Ruby, is everything okay? Are you hungry?" Iris asked, knowing it was a bit past noon and nobody had eaten lunch yet.

"Not yet. I kinda had a lot to eat for breakfast." Ruby admitted, patting her tummy with a small smile. She stepped further into the bedroom, glancing around at everything inside. "I was wondering if you wanted to play. I've got barbies, some race cars, and even a tea set." She smiled wider.