Comfyvember 10

Story: clone sister (original) Prompts: Overcoming fear — Sharing a bed — Lullaby

Lightning flashed. Thunder growled. Lily sighed and rolled over, squinting at the light from her phone as she checked the time. Four hours until she had to get up for work, and she couldn't sleep. Tomorrow was going to be just wonderful.

Another crash of thunder. It wasn't just how loud the storm was. She hadn't been able to sleep through a storm in five years.

With a defeated sigh, Lily sat up and turned on the lamp on her bedside table. High time she admitted defeat and just did something useful. She picked up her phone and scrolled through a few playlists before picking one filled with soft, soothing music. She just needed something to focus on instead of the rain pounding the windows.

Loving and fighting Accusing, denying I can't imagine a world with you gone

Hmm. Not her favorite, but....

Lightning flashed again, and beneath the sound of the thunder that shook the whole house, Lily heard the sound of a tiny squeak. Looking up, she found that the door to her room stood ajar, though it was hard to tell if the squeak had come from the hinges or the small girl peering through the gap.

“Ivy? What are you doing up?” Another roll of thunder answered her question. “Are you scared?”

Ivy's round eyes glistened in the golden light of the lamp. “My heart is pounding very hard....”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that means you're scared. Why didn't you go get Mom and Dad?”

Ivy shrank back a little into the shadows. “Your light is on. They are asleep. I do not know why...but I did not want to be alone.”

Hold on, I still want you... Come back, I still need you...

“Well, come in, then,” Lily said impatiently. “No sense in just standing in the doorway.”

Ivy slipped inside and carefully pushed the door shut behind her. She didn't come any closer, just stared at Lily with that flat, unnerving stare. Not for the first time, Lily wished they'd had enough to afford some kind of personality conditioning before they brought her home, even if it wasn't Rose's personality.

The next blast of thunder came an instant after the flash of lightning, deafeningly close. Sounded like the storm was right overhead. Since Lily was already looking at Ivy's face, she saw the exact moment her face scrunched up with fear, eyes going wide, forehead furrowing, breath catching....

They pull you in to feel your heartbeat Can you hear me screaming, “Please don't leave me”?

Rose used to be scared of thunder. When she was Ivy's age, she would run crying into their parents' room on a night like this. She never went to Lily for comfort.

But...Ivy wasn't Rose.

Lily pulled the covers aside. “Come on. You can sleep with me tonight.”

Ivy darted forwards, vaulting up onto the bed and diving under the covers. Lily couldn't suppress a small smile as she tucked the blanket around the little bundle of warmth curling up against her side.

I don't wanna let go I know I'm not that strong I just wanna hear you Saying, "Baby, let's go home."

As she lay down beside Ivy, Lily wondered if she would get any sleep at all this night. But maybe at least Ivy would.

Comfyvember 4

Story: clone sister story (original) Prompts: Bed rest — Mug of tea — Soft music

The door creaked open just as Lily's playlist hit “Into the West.” Sticking her bookmark into Eight Cousins and setting it aside, Lily reached over and turned down the volume on her phone until all that could be heard was a faint breathy voice singing, “Sleep now, dream of the ones who came before....”

Moving slowly and with painstaking care, Ivy eased into the room, carrying a tray with a mug of something steaming hot and a whole package of Oreos. The little girl stared unblinking at the liquid in the mug, as if willing it not to spill as she carried it over to the bedside table.

Lily shifted her phone, water glass, and various bottles of pain meds out of the way so Ivy could place the mug of...tea, Lily thought. It was the black one with the Christmas lights that appeared when it got hot, so she couldn't tell what color the drink was, but she would have smelled coffee or hot chocolate. And you know me better than that anyway, she thought.

Ivy looked around uncertainly for a place to put the Oreos, but Lily held out her hand with a smile. “Thanks. That's just what I needed right now.”

After handing over the Oreos, Ivy hugged the tray to her chest, staring down at her feet. She looked like she wanted to say something; she even opened her mouth a couple times, then closed it again in defeat.

Lily felt awkward too, fiddling with the crinkled corner of the Oreo package. The two of them hadn't really talked since the...accident. That wasn't really the right word for it, but she didn't know what to call it instead. Ivy had been around in the hospital, and had helped out when she could at home, but their parents were usually around too.

The last thing Lily had said to her little sister one-on-one was “Don't be stupid.” She wasn't sure how to act normally after that.

Finally, Ivy just whispered, “Sorry,” and scurried back to the door.

“Ivy, wait!”

Though she half-expected Ivy to keep going, she actually hesitated with her hand on the doorknob. She peeked over her shoulder through long strands of blonde hair, and Lily realized she wasn't wearing her usual pigtails. She hadn't since the accident.

She looked even more like Rose than usual. Not like five-year-old Rose, but like Rose had at the end. Lily wondered if Ivy were doing it on purpose.

With a hesitant smile, Lily said, “I can't eat all these cookies myself, you know.”

Ivy ducked her head, letting her hair swing forward. “I am sorry. I will go to the kitchen and find a more suitable snack—“

“No, silly,” Lily said, rolling her eyes. But for once, Ivy's quirks were endearing rather than annoying. “I mean I want you to stay and eat them with me.”

Ivy's head snapped up, staring at Lily with wide eyes filled with wonder and joy, like she'd never dreamed of something as wonderful as the prospect of eating a cookie with her sister. The intensity of the emotion sent a pang of guilt through Lily's heart. She really hadn't been a good sister lately, had she?

Slowly, as if she could hardly believe it, Ivy closed the door and walked back over to Lily's bed, setting the tray down on the floor. Lily carefully scooted closer to the wall and patted the bedspread next to her. “Here, come join me.”

Gingerly, Ivy clambered up onto the bed, obvious from her movements that she was trying not to jostle any of Lily's injuries. She perched precariously on the very edge of the mattress, until Lily wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close against her side. Ivy sat very still, her round cheek resting in the space between Lily's shoulder and collarbone. Lily wasn't sure if she were afraid of hurting Lily, or just listening to her breathing or something.

Lily didn't speak any words of apology or forgiveness. Those words probably needed to be said at some point, along with things like you're just as much my sister as Rose ever was and you don't have to try to be anyone other than who you are. But for now, she just peeled back the flap on top of the Oreo package and let Ivy take the first one.

As they munched on the cookies in silence, Lily realized that the playlist on her phone had circled back around to the beginning, and the jaunty tones of “Concerning Hobbits” was now softly filling the air. She brushed a few crumbs off the cover of Eight Cousins, then noticed Ivy's gaze was directed to the picture on the front of two girls sitting and reading together. One with dark hair, one with blonde. And the blonde girl's name was Rose.

“You probably haven't read this book, have you?” Lily asked quietly.

Ivy shook her head. “Mother only reads me picture books. This does not look like a picture book.”

“No, it's not. But it was one of Rose's favorites. I find it comforting to read sometimes.”

Strange. It didn't hurt to say Rose's name now, not even when Ivy looked up at her with Rose's eyes, Rose's face...and yet not. Because Lily could see now that it was Ivy looking up at her with those eyes. Just Ivy.

Lily smiled down at her baby sister. “Would you like me to read it to you?”

Ivy snuggled even closer and whispered, “Yes, please.”

With her arm still around Ivy's shoulders, Lily opened the book and flipped back to the beginning, ignoring her bookmark in the middle of the birthday party. She thumbed through well-worn pages until she got to the first chapter, titled “Two Girls.”

“Rose sat all alone in the big best parlor, with her little handkerchief laid ready to catch the first tear, for she was thinking of her troubles, and a shower was expected.”