“Jaxon-bear!!!!!!” Lexi squealed as she wriggled around like a slippery little fish in Dominic’s arms. Dominic quickly set the child on her feet before she could fall from his grasp and hurt herself.

Lexi launched herself into Jaxon’s hospital bed…only to come short and simply ram herself into the side of the cot. Jaxon chuckled and leaned over to haul his baby sister up.

“So…what’s this I hear about you having a boyfriend squirt?” Jaxon teased his baby sister.

Lexi was too young to detect the slightest hint of disdain in her brother’s voice.

Jaxon may have just woken up, but he was definitely not happy about any boys in the vicinity of his little angel.

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

“You told me you thought he was cute.”

“You were listening?!”

“Course I was silly girl! I listen to everything you whispered into my ear. Included how you thought Dom is too nit-picky and how Steph is a terror and that all the boys in school are afraid of her.”

“Lexi! Is that what you tell Jaxon?! You talk about us behind our backs?!”

“Only when you annoy me.”

“Which seems to be all the time…she complains about the two of you incessantly. Almost talked my ear off. But…Steph?”

“Yea…?”

“Way to go with those boys. Kick ‘em all to the curb. I know Dom and I share the same sentiments concerning those ‘stupid erted teenaged boys’ as dad used to call ‘em,” there was the unmistakable glint of tears in Jaxon’s eyes.

Jaxon never cries.

 Dominic and Stephanie felt the air get knocked right out of their lungs, their hearts constricted so tight the sinews felt about ready to snap in a burst of blood and muscle.

Jaxon knew.

Lexi was, of course, unaware of the pain that was welling up inside all three of her older siblings. Being seven, she was not detailed enough to realize that Jaxon was now expressing the grief of losing both his parents that he had been unable to articulate and convey for two years. For Lexi, she was just simply happy her brother was awake.

And Dominic, Jaxon, and Stephanie were thankful for that.

Ignorance really is bliss.

Oh to be a child…

Dominic knew deep down that Jaxon was closer to Stephanie than to him. He had been gone for too long. And besides, even when he was still here, Jaxon had always heeded Stephanie’s words more than his.

If Dom asked his brother to stop fighting at school, Jaxon would try to reason with Dom. If Stephanie asked the same thing, Jaxon would tease Stephanie for being ‘such a girl’, but he would stop immediately. If Dom tried to convince Jaxon to be more civil to his drunkard of an ‘old man’, Jaxon would react quite bitterly, spewing sarcastic comments left right and center. If Stephanie tried, Jaxon would press his lips into a thin line, furrow his brows, clench his fists, but in the end…heed Stephanie’s plea.

Dominic picked Lexi up from Jaxon’s bed.

“Come on buggy-boo, let’s give Stephanie and Jaxon some time alone together.”

“But why?! I wanna talk to Jaxon too!”

“You will. Just a little later. Come on.”

“No…please?”

Dominic ignored Lexi’s whining and carried her out.

…

…

…

“Did they suffer?”

“No.”

“Don’t lie to me Short-Stuff.”

“I’m not. They didn’t suffer.”

“Tell me how they died.”

“Jaxon…it’s not –”

“Tell me how they died Stephanie.”

“Mom…mom was in pretty bad shape…like really bad…she…died soon after the crash Jaxon.”

“How bad was it?”

“Please…don’t do this to me…”

“Oh Stephanie…I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make this hard for you. Don’t go into it. I’m sorry. What…what about dad?”

“Daddy…he took a while longer…but I don’t think he was in pain.”

“You were with him?”

“Every step of the way.”

“Oh god Stephanie…baby…I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have had to go through something like that…no one should.”

“Dad…he died happy Jaxon. He died thinking mom was still alive and you were only slightly hurt. He never saw his own death coming. He died happy.”

“Come ‘ere,” Jaxon extended on hand out to Stephanie, beckoning for her to lay on the bed beside him.

Stephanie had always loved Jaxon’s hugs, but they had mostly been initiated by her and ‘tolerated’ by Jaxon. He always put up a grudging front, but deep down, both brother and sister knew Jaxon enjoyed their hugs as much as Stephanie did.

He would always be there to step up when she needed him to though.

When she had fallen from the tree she was climbing and twisted her ankle. It was Jaxon who had wiped her tears away and carried her back to the cabin. Mom had scolded him about letting Stephanie climb the tree when in truth, it was Stephanie who had snuck off and done it even after Jaxon told her the tree wasn’t safe. Mom had made him wash dishes for two weeks. But Jaxon never ratted her out.

When she had scalded her arm trying to make tea. She had only been five and mom and dad had said she was to never touch anything in the kitchen and always needed to ask for help from mom or dad or her brothers. But Stephanie had really wanted to show her parents she could be trusted, so she had climbed the countertop and tried to make mom a cup of chamomile tea because mom was sick and had trouble sleeping. Instead, she had ended up pouring boiling hot water over her forearm and scalding it horribly. But being the stubborn little girl she was, Stephanie refused to scream or cry out because she knew that would mean that she had just proved to her parents she really shouldn’t be allowed in the kitchen.

Ten-year-old Jaxon had come in and immediately sensed something was wrong. His baby sister’s face was scrunched up and red with the effort of keeping her pain to herself. At first he thought she was constipated, but then he saw the spilled water and the tealeaves on the countertop and immediately surmised that Stephanie had not heeded the orders of their parents. He had quickly ran his sister’s arm under cold water, but he could see that it was already starting to pock-up and a huge red water-filled welt was already forming. Jaxon himself was often one for keeping his injuries from his parents, but when it came to his baby sister, he would never take that chance.

“You can cry now Stephanie. Mom is going to find out anyways because we need to get this treated,” Jaxon had told Stephanie austerely. He didn’t want his sister to think that this was ok; that what she had done was not wrong.

Little Stephanie had stared at Jaxon, she bit her lip and scrunched up her face, silently trying to beg her brother to not tell mom. But she saw the seriousness in the normally twinkling mischievous eyes of her brother, and then…she couldn’t hold it anymore and had bawled her eyes out both for the pain she was in and the sense of betrayal from her brother.

They ended up having to bring Stephanie to the hospital because the burn turned out to be quite bad. Mom and dad had been mad, but above all else, they were worried and anxious over their daughter. Stephanie had wanted to ignore Jaxon, because even being as young as five, she somewhat understood the act of disloyalty Jaxon had carried out. Of course, she wasn’t able to understand that this was for her own good. Little Stephanie just knew she felt hurt that Jaxon had told on her.

But she couldn’t stay mad for long because the moment the doctor said he needed to cut away the burned dead skin before he applied the ointment, Stephanie had begun to cry anew, terrified of what was happening. Mom, dad, and even Dom were trying their best to comfort her, but Jaxon stood off to the side. When the doctor approached, Stephanie leapt of the bed and squirted through all the adults, determined to run away from the scary doctor with the scary scissors. She could hear her parents crying for her to come back from somewhere behind her. She ran through her tears, crying out in pain when her movements jostled her scalded arm. She was almost at the end of the hall when someone had scooped her up, being careful enough not to brush past her arm and yet firm enough to stop her from struggling.

“Shh…shh…you’re such a baby Stephanie…always crying…shh…shh…don’t cry Stephie, it hurts to see you cry. I love when you smile baby. Can you smile for your Jaxon?” Jaxon cooed into the little girl in his arms. He was only ten, but strong for his age. Jaxon loved to hold Stephanie. He used to be the youngest and being the former baby of the family, he never had to take care of anyone. But when Stephanie came along, he felt protective over her. He felt he was needed.

He loved to hold her.

Little Stephanie continued to cry.

“I’m sorry I had to tell mom, but you’re hurt bad and we needed a doctor to make it all better. You see all these people walking around in white coats? They’re doctors and they are supposed to help sick and hurting people. Sometimes it hurts when they are fixing our boo-boos, but in the end, we always feel better.”

“How bad is it gonna hurt?”

“Bad.”

Stephanie started to cry again.

“But you can grip onto me like you’re gripping onto my shirt right now. I’ll hold your hand and you can squeeze it as tight as you wish.”

“Even if it hurts you?”

“Even if it hurts me.”

“Then the doctor will have to take care of your boo-boo