Chapter 37

Maeve's POV

A few droplets of cold water woke me from my sleep and what started as slow dripping quickly turned into pouring heavily, startling me as my whole body shot up which resulted in me getting directly into the heavy stream of water. I screamed while my hands fumbled for the faucet to turn off the ice cold water before ripping the headphones off my head.

My head shot to the door where I heard Nicolas' mischievous laugh from the hallway as his small feet quickly ran away.

"WAIT UNTIL I GET YOU!" I yelled before climbing out of the bathtub. When my feet touched the floor, they nearly slipped away but I caught myself by the nearby sink.

To avoid any accidents I carefully walked out the bathroom with water dripping down on the tiles.

Nicolas was standing by the stairs, nervously jumping from one foot to the other while a huge grin covered his face. I looked down at my feet as I dried them off at the carpet.

"You better run" I warned my son before sprinting full speed in his direction. To be fair, because of my previous injuries I am no good runner, I wasn't sure if I could compete with a five year-old.

Nicolas eyes widened as he turned around and rushed down the stairs when I quickly realized he was in fact faster than me.

When I entered the kitchen, I stopped. Charlotte sat on the table, eating toast while Bill sat next to her, reading the newspaper. His eyes jumped to me, scanning me from head to toes.

"Good morning" he said dryly before continuing reading. Bill was a professional, he nearly never comments on anything. I guess he's seen a lot while working with Michael.

"Mama's wet" Charlie said pointing at me. I laughed and looked down. Water from my hair dropped down creating a small puddle.

From the other side of the kitchen I heard my mother's giggles. My head shot in her direction and with my best death glare I stared at her warningly. She pretended to be busy cooking but I could still hear her giggles.

"Where is he?" I questioned.

"I don't know who you're talking about!" She said but with the wooden spoon she pointed into the direction of the living room.

A smirk appeared on my lips as I slowly entered the living room, finding Nicolas, hiding behind the door.

"Got you!" My hands reached for him but he escaped running back into the hallway.

With me following close behind he took a quick turn to run to his grandma in the kitchen.

My hand reached for him but my feet slipped in the puddle I created moments before. My reflexes kicked in and I tried to hold my hands in front of me to catch my fall but unfortunately I was too slow resulting in me landing with full force on my left arm, the one that was injured before.

During the fall, I let out a yelp and nearly instantly I felt a pain shot through my arm.

As I laid on the floor the room went quiet. Charlie and my mother were covering their mouths while Nicolas stared wide eyed at me.

Bill, who was still concentrating on the article he was reading, quickly glanced at me. He raised an eyebrow at me before looking back into the newspaper.

My head fell to the floor as I rested my forehead on the cold wet tiles.

"Ouch"

*****

Countless hours and a trip to the ER later, I returned home with my left arm in a cast and when Nicolas saw it, he burst out crying.

He ran over to hug me tight. My hand softly stroke his back while he cried against my waist.

"I'm so sorry mommy!" He said in between sobs.

"Hey" I kneeled down to be at eye level with him. "This is not your fault, okay? This was an accident and accidents happen!"

With the thumb on my right arm, I wiped away his tears. I held his cheek and smiled warmly at him.

There has to be something to make him feel better...

"Would you like to sign my cast?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him, indicating that it'll be fun.

He nodded unsure and with his small hands he wiped his eyes as I got up and searched for permanent markers in the drawers.

Since my left arm is handicapped anyway, I am used to mainly use my right arm but now my left arm is completely unusable for weeks, well not completely. My fingers are free to move, I can hold things with that arm but that's all. They had to cast my whole arm, leaving my elbow and wrist without a possibility to move.

"Ah, here it is!" I held up the package of markers in all different colors.

"Nick, I do need your help for the next few weeks alright? You need to be my left arm, can you do that?" I asked him as he looked up at me with his big brown eyes and nodded.

"Okay, great, can you help me make some hot chocolate for all of us before we paint my cast?"

"With little marshmallows on top?" his eyes lit up.

"Of course and whipped cream as well!"

While he got the milk out the refrigerator, I grabbed a pot, and 5 mugs, one by one, out of the cabinet.

Nicolas poured the milk into the pot and after it was hot enough he added the cocoa powder before filling it into the mugs with a dipper.

However, it was only enough for about 4 and a half mugs because he spilled some but I didn't mind having only a half filled mug.

Nicolas and Charlotte were peacefully painting my cast. Well, Nicolas was the one who did most of the painting that could be recognized, while Charlotte mostly drew lines and shapes.

I drew my attention back to my mother who was telling Bill all about her plans for this year's Christmas that mostly consisted of working, since I took the time off to be with the children.

"Will Michael be home for the holidays?" I asked, hoping Bill would be up to date to Michael's plans.

He shook his head before taking another sip of his hot chocolate.

I frowned while staring down at my empty mug. This would be the first Christmas we aren't celebrating as a family of four and the thought of it made me sad.