A Nightmare (Closed to Robert.)
Jan. 31st, 2015 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sweetandripe"I love you, I'm so proud of you" Virginia said, smiling at her daughter and dropping her hand to her daughter's brown hair. Smiling, she ushered her along to go play with the others and watches as they all ran along the beach together. Corry, her bright star, taking her youngest sister's hand and smiling as they played together even as the blood covered her daughter's hands. The stain spreading from one to the other. "Corry... Corry, let go of her."
Her voice raised in panic even as she ran towards her children, watching as one by one they stumbled and fell into the sand. Her living daughter, her bright star, clutching the tiny hand of her daughter as she stumbled too and pulled Corry with her. She had been so small, she'd barely drawn breath when she was taken too. Virginia stumbled, reaching for Corry as she too began to struggle to breath, to live.
"No, no, no, not you too. No, Corry breathe. Breathe for me, please- please-" Virginia began watching her daughter's face turn pale, and cold, and-
She woke crying, gasping for breath before she covered her tear stained face with her hands. Shoulders shaking, she drew in breath loudly as she tried to regain control over herself. But the tears wouldn't stop, she kept seeing her every time she closed her eyes. Red hair tangled in her hands, pale and lifeless just like the others buried in her garden. She couldn't go through that again, she couldn't bury another child.
"I can't- not again," Virginia mumbled, disorientated and grief stricken until she felt something- someone stir beside her. Robert, Robert was home and she couldn't- she couldn't cry when he was here. He couldn't see her like this. Burying her face in her hands, she turned away from him and hid her face. "Go back to sleep."
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Date: 2015-02-01 06:24 am (UTC)If it hadn't been for the fact that he slept so lightly since coming to the house he might not have even heard the crying. For a moment he brushed it off as just his imagination, just the creaking of the house that had sounded like a cry. When he heard it again though he rolled over, remembering that there was a child in the house now that had recently lost their mother.
"Heard crying," he mumbled to Virginia as she told him to go back to sleep. "I should go check on Gabrielle."
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Date: 2015-02-01 08:15 am (UTC)She didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded, the tears fresh on her cheeks as she stubbornly wiped them away carefully. She took a breath in, trying not to shake as Robert mumbled sleepily behind her and shifted in their bed. He had never been here before, never been with her when she awoke in tears or when Corry had, had nightmares. She wasn't used to him being back in her life properly just yet.
Still, she'd just have to wait until he went to check on Gabrielle and then she could sneak out to the bathroom. Clearing her voice, she drew the blankets away from his side and up over her face and mumbled beneath them.
"Go, she'll need her father." Virginia mumbled, trying to keep her shoulders as still as possible even though all she wanted to do was scream and cry.
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Date: 2015-02-02 05:17 am (UTC)Robert sat up in bed, straining to hear any cries again. Not that he wouldn't go, but something about it felt off. Or maybe it was just the fact that he wasn't used to this sort of thing. Robert liked being the hero, the one to banish Corry's nightmares and fears, but it had been a long time since he had done anything like that.
Reaching out he rested a hand on his wife's shoulder, aiming to take strength and comfort from her. She was always so strong and- and something felt off. Virginia was tense and trembling ever so slightly. If it weren't so warm in the house he would have thought she was cold.
"Virginia? Virginia what's wrong?"
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Date: 2015-02-02 07:22 am (UTC)Feeling Robert shift beside her, she turned more away from him as she waited for him to slip out of bed. Taking a breath in, she pressed her fingernails into the palm of her hand and created crescent moon shaped marks in her skin as she tried to control herself. She just wanted to be alone for one moment, to cry in private but she couldn't have that now. She had wanted her husband back more, this was the deal she had to live with.
His hand reached out, brushing against her shoulder and she tensed. A soft gasp, of pain not pleasure, escaped from her lips before she managed to stop herself from sobbing. Her daughter dead, it was just a nightmare. Nothing more. It wouldn't happen, she wouldn't let it happen.
"N- Nothing is the matter, go and see Gabrielle." Virginia replied, her voice thick with tears and grief she dare not shed. Her voice muffled as she kept her hands pressed against her face.
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Date: 2015-02-03 05:43 am (UTC)"Virginia."
It hadn't been Gabby who was crying. Robert hadn't heart or seen his wife cry in a very long time but it wasn't something he was ever likely to forget. Even when he was younger it had cut him to the quick whenever it happened. Fortunately a lot of her emotions manifested themselves as rage rather than sorrow.
"What's wrong?" he asked, slipping back into bed and wrapping an arm around her to pull her close. This sort of thing was always difficult for Robert. There was no physical problem to fix, no mistake he had made that he could charm his way out of. Something had hurt his wife enough to make her cry and it was too late to prevent it. Hopefully it was just some sort of nightmare.
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Date: 2015-02-04 07:09 am (UTC)Feeling his warm, strong arm wrap around her waist, she let out a tiny sob as he pulled her close. Turning, she didn't look at him as she pressed her damp face to his bare chest. Shoulders shaking, she took a few shaky breaths in and tried to banish the thoughts of her children and of Corry joining them. She didn't want Robert to know, not ever. She didn't want him to know how much she'd failed him when so many others hadn't.
"Nothing, a bad dream. That's all." Virginia mumbled trying to distract him, distract herself from it. Wrapping a tentative arm around Robert, she pressed her knuckles against his back and held him tightly. She would have normally had a drink now, to distract her, or a pill but she couldn't. She'd made a promise. "I don't like you seeing me like this."
She had to be strong for him. For herself.
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Date: 2015-02-04 11:25 pm (UTC)"I'd rather see you like this than not see you at all," Robert murmured. His hand reached up to run his fingers through her hair, doing his best to sooth her. He didn't know what could have frightened or upset his wife so much but he wanted to do whatever he could to make it better. What was the point of him being here if he couldn't make his wife happy?
"But it was just a dream. Whatever it was, it's not happening right now," he continued to reassure her. It was tempting to use his power on her but she wouldn't appreciate it. Besides, he should be able to comfort his own wife without his abilities.
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Date: 2015-02-05 10:09 pm (UTC)Her husband, despite popular opinion, was a good man. Loyal, protective, loving,caring- though perhaps a little too much of all those attributes with other women. He was hers, he loved her, and he wanted to keep her safe, but Virgiinia needed to keep him safe more. From the truth, from all those lies she'd told him over the years to keep him from knowing about her, about their children, about everything. He'd never forgive her, the lies perhaps, but not losing his children. It was her fault, she knew it was. The others all had perfectly wonderful children and she... did not.
"I know, I know it was a dream but-" Virginia began, shaking her head and sighing softly as she felt his fingers through his hair. Looking up at him, she wiped her face and sighed. "It felt real. Do you think it's too late to call? Corry, I just... want to know she's safe."
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Date: 2015-02-06 04:39 am (UTC)A nightmare about Corry. That explained why it had hit her so hard. Robert rarely thought about what it must have been like for Virginia, to have a child run away at such a young age after her husband had all but run away as well. He could see how the fear of anything happening to Corry would give her nightmares. Humming softly he continued to stroke her hair, trying to calm her.
"I think Corry would be fine if you called to check up on her," Robert said. Especially if Virginia admitted she had a nightmare and was worried. He didn't know if she would say anything like that but if she did it would certainly help humanize her to Corry. "Why don't you give her a call?"
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Date: 2015-02-06 03:46 pm (UTC)"I'll be back in a moment, go on and check on Gabrielle... please, for me?" Virginia asked, touching his cheek. She'd feel better if he wasn't there to hear her cry and she'd feel better if Gabrielle was safe as well. Swinging her legs out of bed, she picked up her phone with unsteady eyes and briefly touched one of the roses in her vase before going into the bathroom to speak to Corry.
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Date: 2015-02-08 05:38 am (UTC)"I'll go check on her," he said, kissing her back before he rolled out of bed. Padding quietly down the hall to his daughter's room he stuck his head in to check on her. She looked tiny on her big four corner poster bed but she was sleeping soundly. Virginia's crying hadn't woken her.
Still, he had some time to pass before his wife finished her call so Robert moved to the side of Gabrielle's bed. Resting a hand on her head he murmured a soft song while he power moved over her, smoothing out even the smallest of rough edges that represented anything like bad dreams. No nightmares would bother her tonight.
Once the song was done he slipped back into bed and waited for Virginia to finish her call to Corry and come back to join him.
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Date: 2015-02-09 10:58 am (UTC)Bursting into tears, she pressed her hand to her mouth to muffle the sound before turning on the shower to cover it. Tugging off her clothes, she slid into the shower and let the water wash over her for the moment. Leaning against the wall, she took a few long breaths before she slipped out of the shower and closed the medical cabinet. Leaving the pills untouched.
Wrapping a towel around herself, she padded back into the room and straightened Robert's piles of clothes absent mindedly before she came over to the bed. Dropping the towel, she climbed into bed naked and damp before curling up in front of him.
"I love you," Virginia murmured softly, her hand sliding around his waist as she drew closer to him.
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Date: 2015-02-11 04:49 am (UTC)Robert wait until she crawled back in bed before he wrapped his arms around her. It had been a struggle not to go to her but he knew that if she wanted wanted him then Virginia would have returned to the bed right away. Instead he gave her the time to compose herself or whatever it was she was doing. Hoping, praying, that she wasn't drinking or taking any pills. Robert had to trust his wife though that she wouldn't give in, especially not over something like a nightmare.
"I love you too," he said, kissing the top of her head as he held her close. He couldn't protect her dreams but Robert could keep her close and hope that reassured her that all was well. "You're a good woman, a good wife, and a good mother."
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Date: 2015-02-11 07:42 am (UTC)"Corry doesn't think so, she hung up on me." Virginia murmured, the distress evident in her voice though she tried to hide it from him. She didn't want to know how much their daughter hating her, killed her. Because she tried so hard with her constantly but Corrine was always painting her into the role of Villain no matter what. She never listened, she was stubborn and proud like Robert in that way. Or maybe more like her then she cared to admit. "I try Robert, I keep trying but she doesn't... want me."
She had thought about using her powers on her daughter. She was stronger than her and it probably would've worked but what was the point? She wanted her daughter to want, to need, to love her because she wanted to and not because Virginia had made her.
Pressing her face against his chest, she slid closer to his body and tried not to feel quite so small in his arms. "All I ever wanted was our children." Virginia mumbled against his chest, her words muffled slightly.
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Date: 2015-02-13 05:10 am (UTC)"Did you tell her exactly why you were calling?" Robert asked. He imagined that if Virginia had called to say she had a nightmare and was scared or upset, Corry might react differently. If Virginia actually allowed herself to be humanized it might go a long way toward connecting with their daughter. "Because you present yourself as perfect and everyone else needing to be perfect. She doesn't want to connect with that. She wants to connect with a real person."
Even then it would probably be hard. There was years and years of distance and resentment between the two and that wouldn't be repaired overnight. It would probably take years and- ideally- therapy that probably neither woman would be willing to do.
"You did the best you could with Corry," he said. When they were younger they talked about having a big family. Only Robert being away so often and constant cheating had killed that. "I didn't leave you in an easy position and despite what Corry does or doesn't remember you made sure she was very happy for a long time."
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Date: 2015-02-14 02:46 pm (UTC)"No, I tried. She didn't let me get that far," Virginia murmured, tracing her fingertips down his chest. Her fingers sliding over ribs before she brought him closer, sighing sadly as if trying to contain the overwhelming despair she felt at her daughter pushing her further away. "She doesn't want to connect with me at all. I'm the villain in her tales darling, I made my bed with her. She doesn't want... me. All she ever wanted was her father. I was always the bad guy."
He would never know how her daughter's face would be sullen with her one moment and then light up when she thought her father was home. He was always the one she ran to when she was upset or hurt, no matter how hard she tried.
"I didn't, not always. I couldn't, it was too hard." Virginia murmured. Trying to remain in control when another pregnancy test came back negative, and she had had to take Corrine to school. Bright, happy Corry who had no idea how terrified and miserable she was. How lonely she was without her husband there. "I just want her safe. I always have."
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Date: 2015-02-16 04:09 am (UTC)"You just have to keep trying. She'll come around some day. She'll realize you were doing the best you had with the bad situation I put you in," he said. It would likely take both of them to come around but Robert was confident that it would happen. His wife was so accepting of him and Corry was starting to trust him more... surely both women could eventually get along with each other?
"And no one, no parent, makes their child happy all the time. They'd be a terrible parent if they did," he continued to reassure her, running his fingers through his damp hair. It hurt to hear her think this about herself because he knew that she tried her best. "You did well. I want you to know I think that."
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Date: 2015-02-22 09:35 am (UTC)Looking up at her husband, she took a breath the words and secrets almost on her lips as she murmured his name softly.
"Robert... I... I love you." Virginig murmured, tightening her hold on him. She couldn't tell him, he'd hate her. She didn't know if she could forgive herself after all.
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Date: 2015-02-25 04:23 am (UTC)"You are not a terrible parent. She just can't see or appreciate the lessons you tried to teach her," Robert said. Even if they hadn't all been the right lessons he knew that his wife's heart had been in the right place. How Corry could ever doubt that Virginia loved her he couldn't understand. Virginia loved their daughter so much it hurt her.
"And I love you too. I loved being here with you in bed. Having you close. I always missed it but never understood how much until I was back here."