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It was about 6:00 in the evening when the shouting started. Winter could hear it from her room where she had been lying on her bed reading. Quickly she slid of her bed and hurried out into the hall in search of her siblings.
Every since Weiss’ Birthday dinner where Father had revealed his true intentions behind marrying Mother they had fought much more frequently. It had become routine for Winter to seek out her younger siblings during these fights to ensure they were kept out of the crossfire. It pained Winter to think about the time Weiss accidentally knocked over a glass during one of their fights the twelve year-old shoved the memory out of her thoughts with a grimace.
Finally she reached Weiss’ room which was closest to hers. Winter knocked softly and waited as she heard shuffling behind the door. Finally after a few moments the door opened slightly to reveal Weiss peeking her small head out the door. Weiss let out a sigh of relief when she saw Winter in the doorway and opened the door fully to reveal Whitley curled up in a ball on the bed. Weiss stepped aside to let Winter in before quietly shutting the door.
“Are you both okay?” Winter asks once all three of them were comfortably settled on Weiss’ bed.
“We’re okay.” Weiss answers quietly sending a small glance her brother’s way. Whitley hadn’t made a sound since Winter arrived.
“Whitley?” Winter questions looking over at the four year-old. The boy remained silent. “Whitley look at me.” Winter says and the toddler lifted his head to show the tears that were streaming down his face. Winter’s heart broke at the sight no expression like that had any place on a four year-old’s face. “Whitley, what happened?” Winter asks softly. Whitley stayed quiet for a moment before letting out a loud sob.
“It was my fault!” He cried “Mommy wanted me to play for her but I messed up and Daddy got angry and it’s my fault they’re fighting!” The boy continued to cry and rubbed the palms of his hands against his eyes.
“Shhh, Whitley don’t cry it wasn’t your fault!” Weiss tried calming the younger child down but it wasn’t working. Seeing her little brother so sad had brought tears to the eight year-old’s eyes. Winter having dealt with this far more times than any twelve year-old should have knew exactly what to do. She gently brought her arms up and wrapped them around her sobbing brother pulling him into a hug.
“It wasn’t your fault Whitley.” She whispers gently rubbing a hand up and down his back. “Shhh, you’re okay you did nothing wrong.” After a few more moments Whitley had calmed down some and Winter lifted her head to look at Weiss who was sitting next to them with tears built up in her eyes. Winter removed one arm from Whitley and reached over to pull her little sister into the hug as well. “We are all going to be okay.” Winter whispered softly. Whether it was more to her siblings or herself she wasn’t sure.
The three of them stayed like that for a long time until after the shouting stopped and Winter felt the steady breathing which meant her siblings had fallen asleep. Gently she maneuvered so that Weiss and Whitley were comfortably lying down and she sat up and grabbed the throw blanket from the edge of the bed and curled up next to them pulling the blanket up and over all three of them. Winter knew this wasn’t going to be the last time this happened but the future could wait because what mattered was they were safe right now. So Winter snuggled up against her siblings and fell asleep knowing that whatever happens they would have each other.