//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Dusk'n dawn // Story: Patches // by Fireydude //------------------------------// *** An entire month and a half has passed since Daisy's funeral was held, tears were shed, heads were hung low, and goodbyes were said to her as colleagues and certain family members paid their respect. Around noon, on an autumn day Harold pushes the baby carriage, with his only child sleeping inside all snug in his warm clothes and blanket. The man looks down at his sleeping son, the corners of his mouth rising as he gazes upon him, though the smile was contrasted by his eyebrows in a curved and saddened position. Eventually, they come to a stop as they arrive to where they need to be, the grave where the woman Harold loved is currently resting. The now widowed husband, and currently single father, pushes the carriage over, where he stops and has it parked under a tree, just eight feet away from the grave. Rubbing the back of his neck, Harold slowly walks over to it, where he silently reads the words engraved on the tombstone: - Here lies Daisy Roma Banc Devoted Wife and Loving Mother May she always live in the hearts of those who loved her. - Reaching into his coat without taking his eyes off of those words, Harold pulls out a box from one of the coat's pockets. Opening it up, he reaches in, taking out a silver rose. Harold takes this moment to kiss this plant, and kneels down to gently place it down atop the grave, and places a hand on the tombstone. Looking at it with a sigh exhaled from his mouth, he does the best he can to keep himself from breaking down. Hearing some footsteps reaching his ear, Harold turns around to look at a woman, standing at 5'4, around the same age as he and his late wife. "Bonjour, Harold.." The woman looks at him, her silver eyes showing a glimmer of sympathy. "Bonjour to you too Karen.." Harold stands up; "Though I already told you, you don't have to greet me in my parents' native tongue, just a simple hello'll do.." "S-sure, course.." The woman's light orange hair flows in the wind as she keeps her jacket on with her hands. They stay silent briefly, as the wind's howling while it scatters the fallen leaves about haphazardly. Upon counting to ten in her head, Karen takes it upon herself to break the ice. "Harold, I..." Karen's brow furrows in uneasiness as she looks at the widower; "I'm.. I'm so sorry, for what I've done.. If it weren't for me, she'd still be alive.." Harold raises an eyebrow in query; "Wha-what?" "I was the one who invited her over to my place to begin with.." Karen's head lowers down; "She didn't have to accept my invitation, but she still did it, and what happens? She gets killed, all because I wanted to see her! I was so selfish that I didn't stop to think that the road she'd be driving on would be dangerous at night! If I didn't invite her over, I wouldn't lose a friend, you wouldn't lose a wife, and Alan.." She looks at the carriage, tears pouring from her silver eyes; "Alan wouldn't ever have to grow up without a mother-" "Karen!" Harold places his hands on her shoulders; "Karen, I want you to listen to me very carefully.." Karen slowly turns her head to him, as he wipes away her tears with both thumbs; "I don't blame you, nor will I ever do so. Comprenez vous?" Karen says nothing as Harold continues; "What happened to Daisy was never your fault. If anyone's to blame, it was that drunken idiot who got the bright idea to get behind the wheel when he had no business in the first place!" He takes a minute to compose himself, until he's calm again; "There was nothing you could do to prevent her death..." "But-" "Let me repeat just this once.. There was NOTHING you could've done to prevent it.." Harold shakes his head; "Just as I wish that I could turn the clocks back, and prevent it from happening, but I can't very well do that.." As the two step over to the carriage, Karen's looks down at Alan, smiling a bit sadly as she watches the baby shift his position in his sleep. The woman looks up at Harold; "I.." after a brief pause, she continues; "If there's anything I can do to help, just name it... I'll be there to help out whenever I can, so you won't have to raise your son all alone. I don't have any desire to marry you or anything like that, I mean, let's face it; I could NEVER take her place, and I don't ever want to. But, I'll do the best I can to help you raise Alan, and.. That's all I can really do.." The six foot tall man smiles gently; "Wouldn't have it any other way.." As Alan wakes up from his nap, Harold looks at him; "Say hi to your Aunt Karen, sport.." Karen picks him up out of the carriage, holding him in her arms and laughing as he reaches up to touch her face in curiosity. *** 8:40 pm [Golden Oak's library] Having tucked Spike into his new bed (which she'd bought with her hard earned bits since he can't exactly sleep in a basket forever) , Twilight was now able to spend some free time at night, using it to look for a particular book by levitating a couple over to her with her telekinesis. "No, no, no.." Twilight's gaze fell upon one book, or rather, magazine, with a curvaceous mare on the cover giving a wink while showing off her rump; " 'Plots-a-plenty'?!" It took some willpower for her not to scream that out, and keep it to a whisper; "Note to self: be sure to give the stallion that shipped this over here a stern lecture until he's in a comatose state.. Oh, and have him sit in a corner for good measure.." Twilight then gave out a light whistle, a special one she'd trained Owlowiscious to respond to. Right on cue, the tawny owl flew silently to her and landed on her back, rotating his neck all the way around to loosen some muscles, who gave out a 'hoot' as a greeting; "Could you please take this magazine into the woods and have it ripped to shreds by the other animals? I don't want Spike to accidently find and read it.." With a simple nod, her other faithful assistant carried out his mission by flying up to the levitating magazine, and grasped it in his talons, carrying it out of a window Twilight opened for him and into the dark woods. With a smile of satisfaction, the eggheaded (and quite frankly overly nagging at times) unicorn continued her search until she found what she was looking for. " Disorders Under The Bed: A Guide For Identifying Mental Disorders In Your Child.. Rolls right off the tongue.." Twilight rolled her eyes at the lengthy title as she opened the book and started looking for any mental disorders that could match whatever the little human boy had, until she came upon some pages discussing the anxiety disorder category. Since she wasn't an expert in psychology (considering she mainly specialized in the study of magic despite being knowledgeable in other subjects), naturally she wasn't able to pinpoint the exact and specific disorder the boy had. Shyness aside, he also seemed to have certain symptoms usually found in social anxiety disorder, which were: sweating, shaking, excessive blushing, and difficulty talking to strangers (though this is also found in shyness). After levitating the book over to her bed, Twilight yawned as she stretched her front legs. Just as she stood up, she heard a familiar voice greet her. "Good-den*, Twilight.." Turning around, she faced none other than the Princess of the night herself.. "We have much to discuss, and thankfully, just as much time to discuss it."