Mother Daughter Talk
The car ride was filled with an uncomfortable silence, Eliza had stated that they would talk at home and that had been it and now Dawn was just sitting there letting her anxiety run rampant inside of her.
“Are you mad at me?” She finally asked when the silence became too much to handle and Eliza squeezed the steering wheel slightly before letting out a soft sigh.
“I’m not mad” She said simply but that did very little to reassure Dawn so she just huddled into herself some more.
“Okay” She mumbled softly and Eliza glanced at her briefly before letting out another soft sigh and pulling over to the side of the road and parking the car which made Dawn tense up fearfully. Was this it? Was she going to kick her out on the side of the road?
“Dawn, sweetie, can you look at me?” She asked softly and Dawn tore her gaze away from her lap so that she could look at her.
“I owe you an apology” Eliza said gently and Dawn blinked in confusion as she let some of the tension leave her shoulders.
“What?” She muttered baffled as she turned to face her properly and Eliza clasped her hands together with a sad look in her eyes.
“Gabriel is my baby brother and I’ve always been very protective of him, but you're my daughter Dawn and I should never have let your feelings fall to the wayside” She said gently and Dawn bit her lip as she glanced away.
“It’s fine” She mumbled only to blink in surprise when Eliza cupped her face gently and turned her head to face her once again.
“No, it’s not, you have been through so much and I should have taken that more seriously. What that man did to you was horrible and I should have been doing more to make you feel safe than coddling my brother” She said seriously but also gently and Dawn couldn’t help but lean into her hand.
“He’s your brother it makes sense that you would want to look out for him” She mumbled softly and Eliza let out a soft sigh.
“Yes but when I adopted you I promised to protect you as well and I haven’t been upholding that promise” She said sternly and Dawn blinked up at her in confusion.
“But he’s never hurt me” She said in confusion which earned her a sad look from Eliza.
“I read your file Dawn I know that that man did more to you than this scar” She said softly as she ran her thumb over the edge said scar and Dawn sucked in a sharp breath as she ducked her head slightly.
“Gabriel has agreed to get real help for his alcoholism, he never wants to scare you or Theo again” Eliza told her seriously and her head shot up in surprise.
“Really?” She asked in surprise and Eliza smiled softly as she nodded.
“He felt awful for driving you away so he decided that he never wanted something like this to happen again and the only way to do that was to get real help instead of just making empty promises” She explained and Dawn blinked down at her lap in surprise.
“It’s not his fault I ran I just… got lost in my head” She mumbled and Eliza hummed softly.
“You can talk to me okay?” She prompted gently and Dawn furrowed her eyebrows in thought for a moment.
“Do you…” She started to say only to trail off as an anxious look appeared on her face.
“Take your time dear” Eliza said reassuringly and she took in a deep steadying breath, if talking worked for Callum then it could work for her.
“Do you love Caspian more than me?” She asked worriedly and Eliza’s eyes widened in shock.
“What?” She questioned baffled and Dawn quickly tried to back peddle.
“It’s just you do so much with him, just last week you went on a hiking trip with just him, and you're both so close that you're practically in sync so sometimes I feel like… deadweight” She explained anxiously only to gasp in surprise when Puffy pulled him into a tight hug.
“I am so sorry Dawn I never meant to make you feel like that” She said remorsefully as she gently pulled away and cupped Dawn’s face with both of her hands.
“When I was going through the process of fostering you Caspian was worried that I would forget about him now that there was a new kid around so I promised him that every month we’d do something special just the two of us, it’s become such a routine thing that I never realized how left out you must have felt” She explained sadly and Dawn’s eyes widened in surprise.
“How about this, tomorrow we can do whatever you want just the two of us and we can set a day aside every month to do it again okay?” She offered hopefully and Dawn smiled warmly as she nodded.
“I’d really like that” She said happily and Eliza smiled brightly as she pulled her into another hug.
“I love you so much Duckling, please never forget that” She mumbled into Dawn's shoulder and she nodded as she hugged her tighter.
“I love you too Mom” She mumbled softly and Eliza squeezed her gently for a moment before pulling away.
“Come on let’s head back to the house, the others are probably wondering where we are” She said gently and Dawn nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go home” She said softly and Eliza smiled as she restarted the car.
“Also I signed you up for therapy, I know you may think you don’t need it but promise you’ll at least try it?” She asked hopefully and Dawn hummed as she thought about what Callum said.
“I think therapy is a good idea” She softly and Eliza let out a relieved sigh as a warm smile appeared on her face only to scrunch it up in annoyance when she had to slam on the breaks because of someone cutting in front of her.
“Watch where your driving asshole!” She shouted angrily and Dawn giggled in amusement which Eliza was quick to join in on.
The minute she walked through the door she was almost bowled over by Theo and Caspian.
“We were so worried!” Theo shouted as he buried his face into Dawn’s chest who hummed softly as she pulled him into a gentle hug.
“I’m sorry for worrying you buddy” She said softly and Theo just nodded as he kept his face buried in her chest. She glanced over to Caspian who was attempting to look stern.
“Never do that again” He said seriously and Dawn couldn’t help but give him a cheeky grin.
“I make no such promises” She said teasingly and Caspian huffed in fond exasperation as he joined in on the hug.
“You’ll be the death of me I swear” He huffed jokingly and Dawn just grinned up at him brightly.
“Probably” She said cheekily and Caspian grumbled playfully as he and Theo finally detached themselves from her, she smiled at them before she turned to look at Gabriel who was standing a little bit away awkwardly.
“Dawn-” He began to say but Dawn cut him off by pulling him into a hug which he was quick to return.
“It’s good to have you back kid” He mumbled softly and Dawn hummed in agreement.
“Okay, mandatory family movie night everyone in the living room!” Eliza announced as she clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.
“That sounds like a good idea” Gabriel said as he and Dawn pulled away from each other.
“I'll go make popcorn!” Theo said excitedly as he rushed off towards the kitchen.
“And I’ll go make sure he doesn't blow up the microwave” Caspian said in amusement as he also made his way towards the kitchen.
“That was one time!” Theo shouted back to which everyone couldn’t help but laugh.