Chapter Text
The first thing that Trinity thought when she woke up the next morning was, the wolf was loyal. Roya was still lying next to her, right where she was when she fell asleep last night. The second was that she managed to sleep through the whole night, no tossing and turning, actual deep sleep. The third was that there was no panic either once she woke up. It’s rare but it seems like something about being in Baran’s home has settled some of that anxiety in her mind. Just as Trinity was about to grab her phone to doom scroll for a little bit, she heard a yell from the living room. As quickly as she could, Trinity got herself out of bed, slipped her phone into her pocket, grabbed the crutches and made her way down the hall, her heart already racing.
What she found took a few seconds for her brain to catch up with. Ehsan was standing on the couch wearing a blue soccer jersey with a game going on the TV on the wall. When Trinity got to the front of the couch Ehsan had his hand on his head, eyes glued to the TV, but he looked perfectly fine.
“Where’s the fire?” Trinity asked.
“What?” Ehsan asked, pulling half of his attention away from the TV to look at Trinity.
“You were yelling, are you okay?” Trinity asked as she started to calm down seeing he wasn’t in danger.
“I’m fine, France just let up another goal!” Ehsan said and pointed at the TV like it personally offended him. Trinity took a stuttering breath, letting her heartrate come back down to a normal range before sinking down into the couch next to him. It took another few seconds for the grip of panic to finally slip free from her chest and she was able to relax to take in the game. Trinity watched the ball get passed back and forth by the French team in blue a few times before the team in white stole the ball away and ran up the field.
“I thought the premier league season was over?” Trinity asked turning her attention to Ehsan.
“It ended a few weeks ago, this is the World Cup. Every morning Maman lets me watch a group stage game before she wakes up.” Ehsan said and finally sat down on the couch.
“So what game are we watching then?” Trinity asked trying to make out where the other team was from the abbreviation on the score bug.
“France against Norway” Ehsan said and put his elbows on his knees and leaned in, looking very much like an old man watching if his favorite sports team was about to betray him.
“Ehsan!” Both Trinity and Ehsan turned and found Baran standing on the landing at the top of the stairs in a cream-colored fluffy robe, hair up in a bun that was barely holding her curls in, her face free of makeup, the morning light hitting her in just the right way making her glow and Trinity’s insides warmed. The only thing she could think of was that Baran looked like a goddess.
“But Maman” Ehsan whined but Baran cut him off.
“No buts, I told you, you would have to be quiet because Trinity is sleeping downstairs. If you can’t respect that, there will be no more early morning soccer games.” Baran said and finished coming down the rest of the stairs. She stood with her hands on her hips in front of the coffee table, Roya appearing next to her, making her looking even more imposing. Ehsan shrank a little bit more into the back of the couch before nodding and apologizing.
“Baran it’s okay” Trinity said, trying to take some of the heat off of him, already not liking how sad he looked after getting disciplined.
“It’s not, we established some ground rules and he broke one, he needed to be reminded that actions have consequences. You’re okay right? You didn’t hurt yourself getting out here?” Baran asked, her eyes rolled over Trinity, trying to assess if she needed to medically intervene, but Trinity just shook her head.
“I’m fine, I woke up a few minutes before hand, but I’m good, I promise.” Trinity said, trying to talk her down.
It took Baran another few seconds before she let out a deep breath and Trinity could see the heat of the moment finally fall off her shoulders before rubbing her forehead, like she was trying to fight off the start of a headache but failing. When their eyes met again, Baran nodded towards the kitchen and walked off. Trinity slowly got to her feet and crutched over behind her. Baran was walking around the kitchen, collecting pill bottles, dropped those off before getting two glasses of water and a packet of stapled papers.
Once standing next to Trinity, she looked down at all the little orange bottles in front of them before reading each label and sticking them either in front of herself or pushing them towards Trinity. After they were all divvied up, Baran pushed the paperwork towards Trinity and she could easily see that it was her discharge paperwork from the hospital. It only took her a few seconds to grab the paperwork and flip through it to find the medication schedule and the corresponding pills in front of her. Antibiotics twice a day for the next two weeks, pain medication for at least the first week to cut through the worst of the healing, then over the counter as needed.
As she took her pills, Baran did the same next to her. Trinity had questions about her medication regimen but didn’t want to ask unless it was necessary. But, almost like she was a mind reader, Baran spoke after she threw back three pills.
“The only dosage in my pill cocktail that was changed was the Keppra, everything else stayed the same. I started it yesterday and already woke up with a bit of a headache.” The explanation came followed by Baran drinking the whole glass of water before looking back at Trinity.
“What do you do for those headaches?” Trinity asked quietly, not knowing how much Ehsan knows about his mothers medical conditions, but not wanting to spoil it.
“Right now its not too bad, I’ll just hang out on the couch with Ehsan and try to relax but if it gets worse, I go lay down in the dark for a while.”
“Does Ehsan know?” She had to ask, Ehsan was smart and perceptive, it wouldn’t take much for him to figure out something was wrong. Baran sighed and gave Trinity a look that told her all she needed to know. He knows, but I hate having to burden him with this. There is still more about this that you don’t know, that he doesn’t know and will never know.
“Okay, how about I make breakfast then?” Trinity asked and moved around to the other side of the island to look in the fridge, to see what she is working with.
“You’re recovering Trinity, you shouldn’t be standing for too long.” Baran said and pushed herself away from the island.
“Sit, I can handle some eggs.” Trinity said and pulled the carton from the fridge.
Baran looked like she wanted to put up a fight but didn’t and slowly sat down on one of the stools at the island. She watched as Trinity moved around the kitchen, opening up cabinets and draws, looking for different pans and utensils and other ingredients to add to the eggs. Ten minutes later, there were scrambled eggs with peppers, tomatoes and spinach in them along with a piece of avocado toast plated in front of Baran, a second plate with just regular scrambled eggs was left on the edge of the island for Ehsan and a one more plate matching Baran’s was placed next to her.
Ehsan materialized a few seconds after Trinity sat down on the island and took his plate to the living room to finish watching his game. Baran and Trinity ate their breakfast in the quiet moment with Roya settled in between them, looking back and forth at both of them, hoping someone would give her a bite of their breakfast.
Baran ended up giving her a little bit of her eggs then she ran off to the living room, to try and steal some more from Ehsan. As she finished her breakfast Baran took her plate to the sink and started doing the dishes before yelling something in Farsi to Ehsan who came running in, dropping his plate into the sink before going into another cabinet near the back door. He came back out with a bowl full of dog food and set it down next to the water bowl on the floor. Roya sat patiently, watching as Ehsan got her water bowl, dumped the old water out and replaced it with fresh water. Once it was returned to its original place on the floor, Ehsan said something in Farsi and she started to eat her breakfast.
Ehsan returned to the living room while Trinity went back to watching Baran. She moved around the kitchen, putting clean dishes away, drying a few others before sitting back down next to Trinity. Her hand went back to her forehead and Trinity could tell that the headache that Baran woke up with was quickly turning into a migraine.
“I need to go back upstairs, the world cup is going to have games on most of the afternoon so Ehsan will be able to keep himself occupied so you don’t have to worry about him. Please feel free to do whatever you want, make yourself feel at home. If you need me, just call my cell, I have the ringer on.” Baran said.
Trinity could only nod and watch as Baran slowly stood from the island, making sure she had her balance before slowly making her way to the living room. She did a little pit stop by the couch and affectionally ruffled Ehsans curls before making her way upstairs, Roya not far behind her. Trinity stayed at the island for another few minutes, trying to gage how concerned she should be for Baran with the headache. But with readjusting to the new dosage, she was most likely bound to side effects for the rest of the week. It’s just making sure they don’t escalate. Trinity reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone to start a new note. Baran did ask to keep her honest. She wrote down the date and the headache that started Barans day before she saved the note and pinned it to the top of her notes app.
When she closed out of the app, Trinity saw someone has been blowing up her phone, 49 new messages were sitting in her messages and she sighed. Looking back, Ehsan was sitting on the couch still fully absorbed in the soccer game.
“Little man” Trinity called out to him. He turned to look at Trinity and gave her a smile. “I’m going to go out back for a little bit. If you need something, come get me first before bothering your mom okay?”
“You got it” He called back and flipped Trinity a thumbs up.
Grabbing her crutches, Trinity made her way out the back door. The backyard was peaceful this early in the morning as she made her way down the back steps to the patio table and chairs, claiming one that is in the sun and the one across from her so she could prop her leg up. In the time it took for her to get outside, another ten messages came through her phone. Most of them came from a new group chat called Trintiy Santos’ Wellbeing. In the chat was Dennis, Victoria, Samira, Mel and herself.
The chat was created earlier this morning by who looks like Victoria demanding to know when she could decorate Trinity’s cast after Dennis sent a picture of the ear of corn her drew in the chat. It warmed something in Trinity to see the four of them argue about what they wanted to doodle and where and how much space they could each take up on her leg. That’s when she finally answered, stating that they would only get to draw one thing, no bigger than a baseball. But that seemed to be a mistake, now that they knew she was awake and actually responsive to the idea of them each getting to add something, they started fighting over the prime real estate along the cast.
As the girls were fighting it out, an incoming call from Huckleberry flashed across her screen. The photo still made her smile, it was from the Pitts Halloween party from last year, it was the first big party they went to with work and Dennis got so wasted Trinity had to wrap an arm around his shoulder to help hold him up at the end of the night. In the photo, Dennis dressed as a scarecrow was draped around Trinity in her Spider-Man costume, her mask pushed up on her forehead because she couldn’t see through it any longer. The photo was her favorite the two have ever taken and it also has a place taped too the fridge. Trinity swiped accept on the phone call and put the phone to her ear.
“So I guess I have you to blame for them trying to divvy up my leg like cuts of meat.” Dennis let out his little huff of a laugh and it made Trinity smile.
“Sorry about that, Victoria asked to see it, she wanted ideas.” Dennis answered.
“I’m surprised you didn’t draw a cow.”
“The corn was easier, trying to draw Maybell would have been an insult to her.”
“Ah yes, we shall not disrespect her with your lack of artistic skills.”
Dennis huffed out another laugh and then the line went silent. Even though they have spent more time apart these last few months, these last few weeks especially, something about the distance right now has made a rock sit in her throat.
“How’s the leg?” Dennis finally asked.
“Why does everyone keep asking?” Trinity asked and rubbed her eyes.
“Because 72 hours ago people were able to see your tibia and fibula outside of your body.” Dennis reasoned.
Trinity sighed and looked down at her leg. The white cast reflecting brightly with all the July sunshine this morning, but sitting there at the top of the cast is the yellow ear of corn. A reminder that even though he isn’t physically here, Dennis is with her and will always be with her.
“I’m okay Den, thanks for the bag of clothes, though did you happen to pack any normal shirts?”
“I thought you would appreciate the levity of reading the lines of your favorite shirts.”
“Huckleberry” Trinity said with a groan as Dennis laughed at her misery through the phone connection.
“I promise I did give you one normal shirt and one nice shirt, you just have to dig hard enough to find them.”
“I’m going to change your name in my phone to Fuckleberry.”
“No, you won’t” Dennis said in a singsong voice.
“Says you” Was the only response she could think of.
“How has Al-Hashimi’s house been?”
Trinity paused before answering. It felt like a loaded question, one she wasn’t sure how she wanted to answer. For some reason, being here in Barans house with Ehsan and Roya have made her feel at peace. For the first time since she was a child, before everything went bad, she had been able to sleep through the night, there was no nightmare waiting in the shadows of her subconscious. Baran has been nothing but kind and patient with her, never pushing for anything more than Trinity could give. But she couldn’t say that to Dennis though, not now anyway.
“Did you see she has a wolf?” Trinity deflected instead. The comment caught Dennis off guard and sent him into hysterics and it put a proud smile on her face. It took him a few minutes to recover from the comment but when he did he finally spoke.
“Roya is definitely a majestic creature, I still don’t know if she approves of me yet though, she hovered next to you the entire time I was there, almost like she didn’t trust me around you while you were asleep.”
“She has good judgment then, just not enough to stop you from defiling my cast.”
“Hey! My ear of corn came out accurate, my artistic ability is bad, but not that bad.”
“It looks like a yellow circle” Trinity answered while looking down at the perfectly drawn ear of corn.
“Blasphemy!” He yelled and it had Trinity laughing.
“I have to go, trauma incoming, I put the pack of colored sharpies in the bag so you have them if you’re bored. Call me if you need anything okay?” Dennis said.
“Thanks Dennis”
“Anytime Trin”
The line disconnected and Trinity put her phone down on the table to turn her face into the sun. The knot in her stomach started to loosen as she caught up with what the girls were saying and she laid down the rules. You each get a baseball sized spot on the leg, take it or leave it. Everyone quickly agreed and started setting up when they could come over to draw. Samira had off tomorrow so she was going to come over first. Then Mel and Victoria are going to come over with Dennis as they all had the same off day on Thursday. A new feeling started to worm its way through Trinity’s chest and she was trying her hardest to process it. These people cared, they were going to show up and draw some stupid little picture on the cast that is holding her leg hostage for at least a month. They were coming out of their way to see her, make her feel included in what she is already missing the in Pitt.
Then there was the whole Al-Hashimi thing of it all. How she freely gave Trinity a room to stay so she wouldn’t be trapped in her apartment by herself. That she has cared and helped Trinity since her leg snapped. How she showed up when she needed someone after the fight with Garcia. Trinty also isn’t blind. She has seen Barans eyes on her for a second longer then needed. There was something else under the surface.
Before Trinity could think any harder about the subject, the back door opened and Ehsan walked out. He looked around for a second before he came and laid out in the grass not far from where Trinity was sitting in the deck chair. He put his arms under his head and sighed as he closed his eyes to relax in the grass. Trinity couldn’t help but smile at him before getting up from the chair and going down to the grass. It took her longer then she wanted to admit to lay out on the grass next to him but once she did, Ehsan moved so his side was touching Trinity’s. A peace settled over Trinity as they just laid there in the grass together, Baran’s little mini me.
“How was the rest of the game?” Trinity asked, wanting to make sure he was okay.
“France tied, it made them lose the group” Ehsan said and before he rolled over to lay partially on Trinity. At first she froze, unsure what she should do. But when he didn’t move for another few seconds, Trinity ran a hand through his hair.
“There will always be another game, they’ll try again.” Trinity said and watched as he popped his head up on his arm to look at her. Even though they are similar, Ehsan’s eyes are lighter than Barans. Flecks of gold standing out in the summer sun now.
“I know, they already moved onto the next round, it’s just annoying they couldn’t hold onto the lead.” He said and picked a few blades of grass out of the ground to hold onto them. His mouth pursed to one side and his button nose twitched as he looked at Trinity again before returning his attention to the blade of grass still in between his fingers.
“It looks like you have something on your mind” Trinity said breaking the silence but wanting to let him know that she sees him. That she is here if he needs someone to talk to. Ehsan nodded and put his head down on his hands. It took him a minute to find his words and Trinity would have waited all day if she had too.
“I know something happened with Maman, she was sad when Baba and I picked her up from work the other day. When Baba said I was going to be here instead of our normal switching he told me that Maman might not be feeling well and to be good for her. I know you’re here because you hurt your foot, but you’re a doctor to right? You work with Maman, are you here because things are bad again?”
It was such a loaded question that it left her speechless. When Trinity asked, she thought Ehsan would be upset about his team losing the soccer game, not about how worried he is about his mothers wellbeing. Even for just being 8 years old, Ehsan knows more then he lets on. Trinity tried to keep her face even, not wanting to let it show how much this has thrown her for a loop and to try to give her a few more seconds to response.
“How were things bad before?” Trinity needed to see what his baseline for Baran being ‘bad’ was before she thought through an answer.
“A few years ago. She was sad all the time, I stayed with Baba and Baba Kamal for most of the summer. Baba just said that she was sick and needed some time to get better. But Maman is sad again and she’s never sad.” Ehsan explained and Trinity sighed. It was helpful but still not enough for Trinity to get the full picture.
“You are right, your mom might seem a little sad right now, but you don’t have to worry about that. Her doctors are giving her all the care she needs and if something is wrong, they would step in to help right away. Your mom was nice enough to help me because I broke my leg and I would have to climb a lot of stairs to get into my apartment. We are friends and friends help friends. But I am also a doctor and I’ll be staying for a while, so if she needs help, I’ll be right here.” Trinity said, wanting Ehsan to know that if something were to really go wrong, she would step in right away. He shouldn’t have to worry about Barans health.
“Thank you Trinity, I’m glad you’re here.” Ehsan said quietly before putting his head down on Trinity’s shoulder. Trinity had to swallow the lump in her throat as she ran her hand through his hair again, trying to comfort him, but also herself in a way.
“Me too buddy” She finally answered.
The two of them stayed laying in the grass for a little while longer before it started to warm up too much for Trinity. Ehsan had to help pull her up from the grass though and the two of them made their way inside. They ended up on the couch together, Ehsan put on another soccer game that pulled him in right away and even managed to capture Trinity’s attention too. By half time, she felt her personal loyalty is now attached to the Scotland national team while Ehsan was rooting for Brazil. The second half got underway and Trinity almost jumped off the couch when Scotland managed to score a goal to bring the score to 2-1 Brazil. When they came to the hydration break, Ehsan got up off the couch and ran over to the kitchen, he came back with two cups of water and handed one to Trinity. She could only smile at him before bringing the cup to her lips and taking a few sips before putting it down.
The game picked up again for the rest of the second half. Ehsan jumped onto the couch again when Brazil scored another goal, bringing the score to 3-1 before Trinity pulled him down so he doesn’t hurt himself. After the game ended Ehsan was already complaining about being hungry so they got up off the couch and made their way to the fridge. After looking through it, Trinity was able to find the last of the food Princess and Perlah made for her and warmed it all up. Between the soup, chicken adobo and the last of the lumpia, they had a little fest for themselves. Trinity did end up setting most of the soup to the side for Baran though. After they were done, Ehsan went back to watching another soccer game and Trinity pulled out her phone and sent a text to Baran asking if she wanted something to eat. Trinity was in the middle of washing the dishes before she got a simple yes in response, followed by another message saying that she’ll be down in a few minutes.
Trinity put the soup back in the microwave and warmed it up for her so it would be ready and already cooling when she got downstairs. She just finished the dishes when she turned around to find Baran standing at the island. Her hair was down in messy waves, exhaustion clear on her face, like even though she tried to go back to sleep but wasn’t able to find any. Her robe was still tight around her waist as she sat down on the same stool as this morning.
Moving around the kitchen, Trinity took the bowl of soup from the microwave and set it down in front of her then double backed for a spoon. It took opening a few wrong cabinets to find glasses but when she found them, she filled one with water and then came to sit down next to Baran, pushing the glass in front of her.
“How are you feeling?” Trinity asked softly, not wanting to make the headache worse.
“Like I got run over by a truck.” Baran answered before lifting the spoon to her mouth for a sip. They sat quietly for a few minutes as Baran slowly alternated between the soup and water, Ehsan suddenly quiet on the couch. The conversation from early still ringing through Trinity’s mind, something that she is going to need to bring up with Baran later, not when she is clearly not having a good day.
“How has he been?”
“We have watched two soccer games so far and spent some time outside, your grass is comfortable by the way.”
It got Baran to laugh and Trinity thought it was the best sound she heard all day. The two continued to sit side by side as Baran slowly ate her soup. After it was gone, Trinity brought the bowl over to the sink while Baran went to the couch and sat down with Ehsan. He changed the channel from another soccer game to a documentary on the Twelve Olympians and cuddled into Barans side. Roya came out of nowhere and was suddenly behind Trinity. She nudged the back of her good leg towards the couch and wouldn’t move unless Trinity did. The pair made their way to the couch and sat down, Ehsan left Barans grasp and helped move pillows in place for Trinity to put her leg up while Roya curled into her side. Once she was comfortable, Ehsan moved closer so he could hold Trinity’s hand over Roya while also still be in Baran grasp.
Trinity looked over at them and found Barans eyes already on her, they were warm and soft and feelings continued to churn in Trinity’s chest. At how right this felt, at how at peace she felt sitting on the couch with both of them. Then the scarier thought came, how much she found herself not wanting to leave.
The rest of the day past slowly. They all ended up falling asleep sometime during the documentary, Trintiy waking up some time later to find that Ehsan and Roya were missing from the couch. Slowly sitting up, Trinity took in the living room around her, the TV was now playing the local news station on a low volume and the sun was coming in low from the front windows. After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Trinity looked over and saw Baran still asleep next to her, a blanket thrown over her legs. The sight had Trinity stilling to really look at Baran. Her hair was fanned out on the couch around her, and while her face looked peaceful, there were still bags under her eyes, giving away how tired she has been. Her normal color replaced with a shade paler, giving off a sickly look. It made Trinity’s chest ache.
Before she could dwell on it for much longer, Baran’s chocolate eyes opened. For a second she didn’t move, then all of a sudden, she was pushing the blanket off of her legs and scrambled to get up. Shit. Trinity pushed herself up, grabbed her crutches and followed after Baran down the hallway towards the bathroom. Just as Trinity got to the doorway, she heard Baran throw up. She watched for another second before she went into the bathroom and slowly sank down onto the cold tile floor behind her. Carefully, Trinity gathered Barans hair so it wouldn’t be in the way as another wave went through the older women.
Trinity knew she was probably crossing ton of personal boundaries, but she couldn’t stay away. She rubbed Barans back as she was rocked with another wave of nausea that had her dry heaving into the toilet. When she was done, Baran slowly sat upright while Trinity let down her hair. Another second past, like Baran was weighing the costs in her head before her body relaxed and she slowly leaned back into Trinity’s chest. Trinity didn’t move, she didn’t want to startle her and didn’t know where she could put her hands. When Baran put her head into the crook of Trinity’s shoulder and neck, she finally moved. She wrapped her arms around Baran’s stomach loosely and that only settled Baran more to put her forehead against her jaw. Trinity could feel her warm clammy skin against hers and she was concerned.
“The first two days are always the worst” Her voice was rough, gravely even, like speaking was using energy she didn’t have.
“Is there anything I can do?” Trinity asked, still feeling a little out of her depth, all of her medical knowledge flying out of her head with Baran suffering in her arms.
“I just have to ride it out, if doesn’t ease up by the end of the tomorrow then I have to make a phone call.” Baran answered.
Baran didn’t need to say anything else for Trinity to know who she would be calling so she just gave her a gentle squeeze to show her she was here and listening. They pair stayed on the bathroom floor for a few more minutes before Roya pushed her way inside, she gave both of them a look before slowly coming over and sitting down next to them. Roya leaned her head down and gave Baran’s cheek a lick before putting her head on her shoulder. The move made Trinity smile as Baran reached her hand up and ran it down the middle of Roya’s head for a few minutes.
“Can you help me up?” Baran asked after she pulled her hand away from Roya.
Trinity nodded and slowly let go of Baran. It took a few seconds, but she was able to push herself up off the floor and get her balance against the counter before holding her hand out. Baran took it and slowly got to her feet and moved in front of the sink. She looked at her reflection in the mirror before turning on the tap splashing some water on her face before using some to rinse her mouth out. Once she was done, Baran went to leave the bathroom but stopped when a wave of dizziness crashed into her and had her putting her hand out against the doorframe.
With her crutches under her again, Trinity moved right behind Baran and put her hand on her lower back.
“Lets just get you to bed” Baran didn’t say anything and just closed her eyes before leaning her head against the doorframe.
“I don’t think I can manage the stairs right now.”
Trinity didn’t think to hard about it, wouldn’t let Baran know that this made her almost more nervous then finding her throwing up a few minutes ago.
“Lets get you to bed then” She said quietly, her hand pushing against the small of Baran’s back toward the guest room she slept in last night.
Baran went willingly. Once she got to the bed, she moved to the side Roya slept on last night before getting in, robe and all while Trinity closed the blinds to leave the room in darkness. After they were closed, Baran let out a little sigh of relief and sunk into the mattress.
“I’ll be back in a little while, if you need anything just yell out okay?” Trinity said, wanting to make sure Baran heard it as she tucked her under the blankets. When she got a nod in response, something in Trinity’s chest loosen a little bit and then she walked out of the room.
The living room was quiet with Ehsan upstairs and Trinity didn’t know what to do with herself and the quiet. So she sat down on the couch again and put her head in her hands. What is she doing? Helping, that is what she is doing. It’s what Baran said when she suggested this to her in the hospital. They would help each other out. But this feels like more then just helping. The pit in her stomach is having her jump to the worst cause scenarios, the worst she could think of is having to call 911 because Baran goes into a full tonic-clonic seizure and stops breathing.
Stop. Trinity takes a deep breath and settled back into the couch, picking up her phone as a distraction. The group chat is going off again but she ignores it to reply to Samira directly when she asked what time is good to stop by tomorrow. This time when Samira asks if she needs anything, Trinity asked her to bring over some Pedialyte, ginger ale, soup crackers and some anti-nausea medication. After she sends the text she hears a crash come from upstairs followed by a low ow. She was just about to get off the couch to try and attempt the full flight of stairs when she hears Ehsans feet thunder down the stairs.
“I’m okay!” He said as Trinity looked him over to find a red spot on his cheek. She raises an eyebrow and he plastered a bigger smile onto his face.
“I promise I’m fine, did Maman go back to sleep?” Ehsan asked after looking at the couch.
“Yea little man, she’s not feeling great, her tummy is upset. Are you hungry for dinner though? I was thinking of ramen.” Trinity asked, she didn’t want to hide what was going on with Baran but handing bad news with something good always went over better with kids.
“I’ve never had ramen before” Ehsan said and Trinity’s lit up.
“Oh prepared to have your world changed.” She said and hit the couch next to her. Ehsan looked excited, the momentary worry about Baran out of his mind already and took a seat next to her as she pulled out her phone. Together they went through the whole menu of her favorite ramen shop and helped Ehsan make a choice. With dinner ordered, Ehsan gave her the remote and asked her to pick a movie to watch. Trinity took her time, moving through the different streaming services Baran pays for, but once she saw she has Disney, Trinity pulled up Hercules and hit play. She thought it would be a hit after watching the Olympians documentary earlier and she was right.
Ehsan hasn’t seen it before and it took everything in her not to sing along too all of the musical numbers like she was a member of the Muses. Just about halfway through the movie, the doorbell rang. Trinity got up and headed to the front door. When she pulled it open the delivery was waiting for her on the stoop so she called Ehsan to come and grab it for her and they brought it over to the island.
Just as she thought he would, Ehsan loved the ramen. The pair ate together while Trinity kept trying to show him how to properly use chopsticks. It worked for a little while but then after splashing himself with soup a few too many times, he switched to a fork. As they were finishing dinner, Roya made an appearance and sat at the back door. Ehsan hopped up off the stool to let her out before coming back to finish off the ramen. After he was done, he threw away his bowl and put the fork in the sink to be washed then prepared Roya’s dinner. Just as he finished, Roya was waiting at the back door and was let inside.
She went to eat her dinner as Trinity finished hers and threw away the bowl and washed the few utensils in the sink before she joined Ehsan on the couch and they finished the movie. When the movie was over, she could tell that Ehsan was tired so she told him it was bedtime. He didn’t fight it, just picked himself up off the couch and started to walk towards the stairs before she shook his head and turned around and came back to stand in front of Trinity. He looked at her for a few seconds before throwing his arms around her. Trinity melted into the hug and held him close for a long minute. When he pulled away he looked Trinity in the eyes and spoke.
“I’m really glad you’re here Trinity and that Maman has you as a friend.” The words almost made her tear up.
“I’m glad I’m here too little man, if you need anything tonight, we are having a sleep over in my room down here okay?” When Ehsan nodded, he gave Trinity a sleepy wave before making his way upstairs. Roya stayed with her for a minute and gave her a look, almost like she was torn about who to stay with.
“Go with him little wolf, he needs a buddy tonight.”
Roya nudged Trinity’s leg like she understood and then followed Ehsan up the stairs leaving Trinity alone on the couch. She hated how quiet the house was now that she was alone with her thoughts. Instead of sitting alone for long, she got up, made sure the house was locked up before returning to the guest room. When she walked inside, she found Baran sitting up against the headboard with her eyes closed.
“Hey” Trinity said and crutched over to her side of the bed and sat down. Baran opened her eyes and looked a little more with it now then she did earlier, taking Trinity in.
“Hi” Baran said and gave her a small smile. “Thanks for letting me crash in your bed” The comment made Trinity’s cheeks get hot and she had to duck her head as the blush continued to rise.
“It’s technically your bed” Was the only retort she could come up with.
“When you’re here, this room is yours Trinity” Baran said and the force with how she said it made her look up. Baran wanted Trinity to feel at home here, that includes taking over her guest room as her own. Trinity could only nod, accepting it.
Trinity needed to move, her skin was hot and her face was warm and didn’t want Baran to see how much that meant to her, along with Ehsans words from before he went upstairs either. She got up from the edge of the bed and went over to the duffle bags that she left on the floor last night and hauled one of them up onto the bed. She dug through it for a minute to find a fresh pair of boxers and pulled out a new shirt, this one white with the saying ‘More Spaghetti Less Upsetti’ with a fork full of spaghetti running through it then turned to look at Baran.
“I’m going to take a shower, I feel like I smell like the grass I laid in earlier today.” Baran only nodded and pointed to the closet Trinity had yet to open yet.
“There is a small chair in there that you can use to sit in the shower.”
Trinity found it easily and made her way over to the bathroom. Taking a shower was a project but she felt so much better afterwards. Before making her way back to the guest room, Trinity stopped in the kitchen and took her medicine for the night. When she got back to the guest room, she found Baran still sitting up, robe gone, still tucked into the blankets, the TV on, Guys Grocery Games playing on the TV. The grey shirt she was wearing caught Trinity’s attention when she read it, Protect Trans Kids with trans flags on either side of the words. As if Trinity needed another thing be left in awe about when it comes to Baran, she supports trans kids too. Fuck, she’s in trouble.
“Your shirt is very funny” Baran said with a quiet chuckle.
“Dennis thinks he’s funny by packing all of my tee shirts. Do you need anything?” Trinity asked and put her dirty clothes into a pile on the floor to be delt with later.
“How is Ehsan?” Baran asked instead as Trinity walked over to the bed.
“We had ramen for dinner, the kid loved it, also you’re depriving him of all the Disney classics. We watched Hercules and then I sent him upstairs to bed, told him we were having a sleep over if needed something in the night, Roya is with him.” Trinity answered, giving her a run down of the rest of the day.
“I owe you big time for taking care of him today. I wasn’t expecting the side effects to be this bad.” Baran said as Trinity sat on the edge of the bed.
“You don’t owe me anything, we’re helping each other out remember?” Trintiy said softly.
“But you still didn’t sign up for literally taking care of my son Trinity” Baran tried to argue and looked over at Trinity, her eyes red, looking like she was trying to keep tears in.
“Ehsan is a good kid, I barely had to do anything, just made sure he ate and didn’t fall off the couch when his team scored. I promise it’s okay” Trinity said looking right into her eyes, trying to convey just how fine it was to hang out with the energic 8-year-old all day. If she was at home, she would just be sitting on her couch miserable and alone, thinking about the accident and the aftermath of what happened with Garcia. Being here today has helped her mental health more than Baran would ever know.
They stared each other down for a few long seconds before Baran finally caved and laid down in bed. Trinity gave her a half smile before getting up off the edge of the bed to turn the lamp off and get into bed. There was a respectful amount of distance between them and it took everything in Trinity to not want to pull Baran into her. Holding her in her arms in the bathroom is still fresh in her mind and she would do just about anything to be able to do it again.
The pain killer she took was already starting to make her drowsy as she got herself comfortable in bed with her leg propped up on the pillow. When she was settled, Trinity looked over at Baran and found her already looking over at her. Baran moved a little closer now that she was settled and reach out her hand, her fingers gentle as they tucked some loose hair behind Trinity’s ear. But even after the hair was behind her ear, Baran didn’t pull her hand back. She brought it up and ran it along her eyebrow, the peaceful action making her eyelids start to droop.
“Sleep sweet girl” Trinity barely heard before her breathing evened out as she fell asleep.