He's Not Dead He Only Looks That Way

The next morning I wake up early, Frank still sleeping beside me and I slide out of bed, making my way down the hallway to the bathroom and just as I'm coming back out a few minutes later I hear a soft giggling coming from further down the hall, my face breaking into a smile as I head towards Ruby's room but when I reach the doorway I see the room is empty, the blankets in a pile on the floor and I frown to myself as I step back out and turn, seeing Frank step out of our bedroom with Ruby on his hip, both of them giggling about something and I shake my head, wondering what the hell is going on. "Geegee" Ruby calls out, her face pulled into a massive smile and I force myself to smile back as I start walking towards them, Ruby reaching out for me once I get closer and I take her from Franks arms, Frank stepping away towards the bathroom as Ruby and I share a cuddle before I carry her towards the kitchen.

Breakfast passes uneventfully and while Frank gets ready for work Ruby and I go into the living room and cuddle up on the couch, flicking through the channels until I find kids cartoons playing. We watch for a few minutes, my focus only half on the tv as I listen to the sounds of Frank moving around the apartment getting ready and when I glance down at Ruby her gaze isn't focused on the tv but on the doorway instead. "What's up Rubes?" I ask as I stroke my hand over her hair and she turns in my lap, tilting her head to look up at me as she says "Geegee I don't wanna watch this, can I play?" "Of course you can, what do you want to play?" Ruby shrugs her shoulders before squirming around, trying to climb out of my lap so I help her down and she toddles off out of the room, leaving me sitting on the couch alone and just as I'm about to get up and tidy the kitchen from breakfast I hear a loud bang so I get up, running towards Ruby's room and when I get there I see the lamp laying on the floor broken beside the bed, Ruby standing across the other side of the room staring wide eyed. "Ruby what happened?" Ruby shrugs her shoulders again and I sigh as I walk over to kneel infront of her, her head turning to try and look around me but I gently rest my hands on her shoulders and force her to look at me. "Ruby, did you knock over the lamp?" "No" she says, her voice shaky and I can see her bottom lip quivering. "Rubes it's ok if you did, I'm not mad I just need you to tell me." "No Geegee" she sobs out, tears rolling down her cheeks and I sigh as I pull her into my chest, her little arms wrapping around my neck as I hold her close. "It's ok Rubes, don't cry" I whisper in her ear as I gently rub her back, wondering if this is normal behaviour or not.

An hour later Frank has left for work and I have just finished tidying up the kitchen, Ruby sitting at the table drawing while I cleaned and I turn to her and say "You wanna go shopping Rubes? We can go get a new lamp for your room?" Ruby looks up, smiling as she nods and I smile back as I say "Ok well go get your shoes on and we'll go." A few minutes later Ruby comes back into the room with her shoes on, her teddy bear under her arm and she holds her hand out for me to take, making me smile again as we head for the front door, pausing so I can slip my shoes on too and as we step outside Ruby turns back and waves, saying bye and I turn to look back inside the empty apartment, shaking my head as I shrug it off, figuring it's just a kid thing and once the door is locked we head out, going out onto the street and grabbing a cab to go downtown, Ruby looking around wide eyed at everything as we pass.

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