Chapter Text
Mama Creel POV
Virginia Creel couldn't help the tears of relief from falling as she stared out the window of the kitchen while washing dishes.
As she absentmindedly scrubbed off a particularly stubborn stain off a plate, her eyes remained glued to the two small figures sitting in the garden.
One was her own son, Henry, and the other was their new neighbours daughter, Pandora.
For so long Virginia had felt like their was something wrong with her little boy. She had felt awful for thinking it, but she couldn't help it.
Henry was nothing like his sister, Alice.
He was too quiet. He avoided social events like the plague. His closest friends were disgusting spiders.
And he looked at everyone like he was staring at them through a microscope. There was a coldness to his gaze. A sense of detachment. Like he didn't belong with them.
Virginia was a horrible mother to think this way about her little boy. But.....it was the truth. Henry was too different. She couldn't understand him. No one could. Not her husband. Not her daughter. Not even the kids at school.
As each day passed, she watched Henry's eyes grow colder. Like he was losing more emotion each day. Whatever warmth he had was replaced by something unsettling. Something Virginia didn't wish to name.
Her little boy was becoming a stranger to her and Virginia feared the day he would eventually snap.
Shame welled up in her at these thoughts. What kind of a mother was she? Scared of her own son?
But her gut told her otherwise.
Alarm bells went off in her head when she started finding dead animals in the garden.
Which were conveniently found after Henry was there.
Virginia shuddered, remembering how Alice had screamed after finding a dead bunny.
Her son was becoming a monster. She had no proof but her (survival) instincts told her otherwise.
She feared the day he'd switch from dead bunnies to dead people.
Virginia admitted to herself that she was a bad mother. She'd failed her son. He'd chosen to become a monster and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
And that's when the Braddocks moved in to house nearest to them.
They were a family of three and came from the UK.
By then, Virginia had lost all hope for her son. She thought it was too late for him to find his way back on the right path.
Then, in one last ditch effort to help him socialise, Virginia had dragged a reluctant Henry with her to greet the new neighbours. She'd even made cookies for them to compensate for her son's dour attitude.
The Braddocks were lovely people.
Arthur Braddock was prettiest man she'd ever seen. He looked like Prince Charming come to life with his perfectly coiffed blond hair, icy blue eyes and heart-stopping smile.
If Arthur was Prince Charming, then Catrin Braddock was Snow White. She had lips as red as a rose, skin as white as snow, but her hair was silky brown instead of black and her green eyes put emeralds to shame.
Virginia found herself charmed by their British accents and charismatic personalities of the couple.
But not as charmed as her son was by their daughter.
Little 11-year-old Pandora Braddock was just as beautiful as her parents. It was easy to tell that she going to be a stunning girl as she grew up. She had her father's light blonde hair, her mother's green eyes and both their pale skin.
At first, Virginia had been alarmed at the way Henry's gaze remained glued to young Pandora Braddock. She feared the worst and thought he was dissecting her with his gaze. Like he did with the dead bunnies.
It was only after the two kids spent some time alone together and had come back after the adults had finished talking, that Virginia had realised something had changed in her son.
It was after many, many playdates the two had together, that she finally caught on to what changed.
Virginia felt like an idiot for not noticing sooner. But can anyone really blame her? Her son was not normal. He did not have normal reactions.
Staring at them now, huddled closely together in the garden, she felt dumb for missing the obvious signs. Even her usually-oblivious husband noticed before she did.
Watching the way Henry looked at Pandora, she could see the new softness in his gaze. The way he stared at her mouth as she spoke. How his cheeks flushed whenever the girl caught him staring. They way he leaned closer to her and used every excuse to touch the British girl. The way he smiled at her. Only for her.
To say had Henry had a crush on the girl was an understatement. Despite his age, her son looked one step away from proposing on the spot. Or eloping. He looked absolutely besotted than any 11-year-old boy she'd seen.
Virginia wanted to curl up on the kitchen floor and cry in relief and gratitude.
Pandora had saved her little boy.
Her son was finally behaving like a normal kid.
No more dead animals around the house. No more shutting himself away in his room with the spiders.
Now? Instead of dead bunny corpses, their garden had gorgeous flowers mysteriously blooming in random spots. Flowers that her son conveniently gifts to his new, pretty friend whenever she comes over.
Henry rarely spent anytime his room now. These days, he's usually at the Braddock's house with Pandora or at the park with Pandora or in the garden with Pandora or at the library with Pandora.
He'd have taken her to his room too if Mrs Braddock hadn't forbidden it. Though they were young, the girl's mother didn't want her to be left alone with a boy in the his own bedroom.
A month ago, Virginia would've scoffed at the thought of her Henry and a girl in his room being a concern.
A month ago, girls weren't important to her son. Back then, she doubted he had any feelings at all.
But now? Virginia was delighted to see that she was wrong.
Her little boy had feelings! Actual feelings! For a girl!
Her Henry had a crush!
In the back of her mind, Virginia didn't think "crush" was the right word for what her son felt.
It looked more like the beginnings of first love.
How cute!
As Virginia finished up washing the dishes, she took one last glance out the window and unashamedly watched the way her usually antisocial son blushed and held Pandora's hand as they talked.
While Henry looked at Pandora like she was the Sun, the girl in question appeared oblivious to her son's pining.
Virginia couldn't help but giggle to herself at the sight of them.
With Henry finally acting like a normal pre-teen kid with a massive crush, Virginia and the rest of the family had jokingly taken bets on how long it takes for them to get together.
With the way her son looks at that girl, Virginia knew there'd be no one else for her boy.
Some time in the future, she knew Pandora Braddock would become Pandora Creel.
Mama and Papa Braddock POV
Catrin gritted her teeth as she stood next to the window, her gaze fixed on the two figures sitting in the garden, talking. Her little baby and that Creel boy.
"Are you really going to stand there and stare at them all day, my love?"
She sent a glare towards her amused husband, wanting to strangle him. How dare he look so relaxed while that boy was drooling all over their little girl!
"Are you seriously alright with this?!" Catrin hissed at her pretty-boy husband, gesturing sharply towards that boy in aggravation. "We were lucky enough to get a second chance at life with our baby and now we have this boy trying to steal her away!"
Arthur merely stared back in fond amusement at his angry wife, finding the furious blush on her cheeks adorable.
His gaze flickered towards the two children outside and then back to Catrin's angry face.
He shrugged, feigning his disinterest at her concerns and felt his lips tug up into a smirk as his wife scowled at him. Before she decides to kick his ass, he quickly reassured her.
"Relax, love!" Arthur placed his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "There's literally nothing to worry about. He's just a little boy with a crush."
Catrin's glare shifted from the Creel boy to him at that.
"You were once a little boy with a crush," she snapped back at him with a deadpan look.
Arthur blinked and only stared back at her innocently.
"So?" He asked with fake confusion, holding back a laugh as her cheeks flushed again in anger.
She was so easy to tease! And so cute!
"So?!" Catrin repeated incredulously. "And we're married now, you idiot! What do you think that means for our little girl?!"
"That I should start sending out wedding invitations?" He asked with a laugh, unable to stop himself from teasing his pissed off wife.
She shrugged off his hands and punched his right bicep in retaliation.
"Ha.Ha.Very funny, pretty boy." Catrin rolled her eyes, calming down after all his stupid teasing.
"You think I'm pretty?" Arthur fake gasped, batting his eyes like a maiden.
She rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile at her goofy husband as she playfully shoved him.
"You know you're pretty. Stop fishing for compliments, idiot."
"But I'm your idiot." He winked at her, smirking.
Pandora/009 and Henry
Meanwhile, 009 had finished discussing different training methods on Telekinesis with her new friend Henry and had walked back to her kitchen to grab some snacks.
.....Only to be met with the sight of her parents flirting heavily with each other. It looked like they were having a moment.
009 made a face and felt her appetite instantly disappear. She loved her parents but did not want to see that right in front of her eyes. They looked like they were going to eat each other.
Ew.
Thanking God that they hadn't noticed her and Henry near the doorway, 009 absentmindedly took Henry's hand and gently lead him back to the garden with her.
"Come on," she whispered to him so her parents don't notice them. "We'll get something to eat later. You do not want to be in the same room as them right now. Trust me."
As 009 held Henry's hand and gently tugged him along, she never noticed the blush on his cheeks or the longing on his face.
"Okay." Henry agreed with her, his mind more focused on the feel of her hand in his.
He glanced back at Pandora's parents, who were still gazing into each other's eyes and leaning towards each other with soft smiles on their faces.
Henry's gaze returned to Pandora once again, admiring the way her long, blonde braid swayed on her back.
One day, he vowed, that'll be us.