urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:mrs_bree_v_d_k It`s all about keeping up appearences... mrs_bree_v_d_k 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:mrs_bree_v_d_k:10819 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z "My substitude for love" By Madonna Rating: PG<br />Disclaimer: Not mine<br />Spoilers: 7/3<br /><br />"A mother´s love"<br /><br />Summary: Takes place after Nora is dead and Kayla is desperate for a mother substitude.<br /><br /><a name="cutid1"></a>„Orson?“ Orson Hodge turned around and found himself face to face with Tom Scavo. “Tom, hey- how´s Lynette?” “She´s better but she´ll have to stay at the hospital for some days- how´s Bree?” “Not that good, she´s still blaming herself, I´m really worried about her.” “I´m sorry to hear that- no one thinks-“ “Of course not.” Orson´s voice sounded a bit harsher than he had intended to be but this was about Bree and Orson had very little tolerance when it came to anyone not being outspokenly positive about his wife. Tom looked taken aback for a moment, then said “Actually I wanted to ask a favour of you- I want to take the kids to the hospital to see Lynette but Kayla doesn´t want to come- she- she´s in a right state, actually, she´s shut up in our guestroom all the time and she cries and says she doesn´t want to stay with Lynette and the kids- to be honest, I have no idea what to do with her anymore.” Tom looked desperate and Orson felt himself giving in. Even though he would have liked to keep every kind of stress away from Bree he could hardly deny their neighbour to look after Kayla for a few hours when Tom wanted to visit Lynette. “So you want to bring her over here? Are you sure she´ll be ok with that?” “I don´t think she´ll mind, all she cares about is not having to see Lynette- at least not now. Nora and Lynette didn´t get along very well and of course Kayla knew, so it´s all a bit much for her. Besides I´d rather have her stay with you, I don’t think Gabby would be the right company and Susan and Julie will need time for themselves and....” “Just bring her over here, I´ll see if I can get Bree out of her depression for some time, if not I´ll find something for Kayla to do.” “Thank you so much, you´re saving my life right now.” <br /><br />“Bree?” Her husband´s soft voice made Bree look up. She felt Orson´s arms close around her and pressed herself against his chest, beginning to sob. “Hey, it´s ok, I´m here- Lynette is a lot better, I just talked to Tom. He´ll be visiting her with the kids this morning.” “Is he mad at me?” “No, of course he isn´t- no one is, Bree, it hasn´t been your fault. How could you know that Carolyn would react like that.” “But-“ “Darling, don´t do this to you. It hasn´t been your fault.” Orson kissed her hair and Bree relaxed a bit. “What else did Tom say?” “He asked if we would look after Kayla for a few hours- apparently she doesn´t want to visit Lynette.” Bree sighed, straightening up. “Of course not, it must be so hard for her, Lynette and Nora did nothing but fight in front of her, she must think that Lynette hated her mother.” “Yes, that seems to be the problem. I said we would, I hope that is ok with you.” “Yes, of course- will Tom bring her over here?” “That´s what he said- if he can get her out of her bedroom, that is.” <br /><br />“Kayla?” Tom opened the door and found his daughter sitting on the bed, her teddy bear in her arms and her eyes unfocused. “Kayla, Sweetie – “ Tom sat down next to her and finally the girl looked up. “Look, we´ll go to the hospital now- I know you don´t want to come but you can´t stay here all alone, do you understand that?” The child nodded slowly. “Ok.” “So is it ok if you go over to Mrs. Hodge?” “Ok.” “Good- is there anything you want to take with you, a book or something to play with?” Kayla shook her head and Tom sighed, then got up from the bed. “Shall I carry you?” “No, I want to walk.” She hadn´t let anyone touch her since her mother´s death and Tom began to feel worried, it surely couldn´t be normal that an eleven year old girl wouldn´t look for someone to hold her in this situation but every time he offered it to her Kayla refused. <br /><br />Bree opened the front door and looked down at the small, dark haired girl in front of Tom. She felt like starting to cry all over again when Kayla looked into her eyes, the girl looked so small and lost and Bree could imagine that this was exactly what she felt, too. “Hello, Kayla.” “Hello, Mrs. Hodge.” “Hi Tom-“ “Hey, Bree- look, I just-“ “Shh.” Bree shook her head and nodded towards Kayla who had walked past her and into the hallway. “We´ll talk when you get back, ok?” “Yeah- thanks so much again, I really appreciate what you´re doing.” “Anytime Tom, I mean it. Now go and see Lynette and tell her I´ll come and visit her as soon as she´s well enough.” Bree closed the door and put her hand on Kayla´s shoulder. “Have you had breakfast?” The girl shook her head. “But I´m not hungry.” Bree led the child over into the kitchen and made her sit down in one of the chair at the kitchen table, then sat down next to her. “I know you´re not- but perhaps you could eat something anyway, what do you think? You can have whatever you want, pancakes or waffles or muffins-“ Kayla hesitated and Bree knew she was on the right track. “Look, while you decide I´ll make you some cacao, what do you think?” “Ok- thank you.” Bree smiled warmly at the little girl and gently brushed the long dark hair out of the child´s face. <br /><br />When Orson entered the kitchen he found Bree standing at the stove with an apron tied around her waist, showing Kayla how to flip pancakes the right way. The child´s face was glowing with the effort and Orson smiled to himself, glad to see that Bree had somehow managed to get the girl out of her misery for now. “Hey, Kayla.” “Hi, Dr. Hodge.” Bree smiled at him, then turned back to Kayla and Orson poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table, not wanting to disturb Bree and the girl. Bree helped Kayla putting the pancakes on a plate and opened the fridge. “Do you want chocolate sauce?” “Yes, please.” Kayla led the way over to the table and sat down on the bench and Bree put three plates and cutlery and the chocolate sauce down. “Do you want more coffee, Darling?” She asked, leaning down to kiss her husband´s cheek. “No, thank you, I´m fine.” Bree sat down next to him and began to serve the pancakes, then poured Kayla some more cacao. Orson watched the child´s eyes follow Bree´s every movement and he realized that Kayla was desperately trying to find some adult to open up to but that she had no chance between not trusting Lynette and having to compete against four siblings when it came to Tom. He finished his breakfast quickly, then got up and announced he would leave for work, thinking it would be good to give Kayla some time alone with Bree. <br /><br />“So have a good day.” Bree gently kissed her husband and Orson responded, then looked at her very seriously. “If it´s getting too difficult with her call me, all right? I´ll come home and help you then.” “Thank you- but I´m sure we´ll be fine, don´t worry.” They kissed again, then Bree watched Orson walk down the garden path and get into his car before she returned into the kitchen where Kayla was still sitting at the table, painting dots on her pancake with the chocolate sauce. “Hey.” Bree sat down next to the child and Kayla looked up at her. “Hey.” She hesitated, then said “Are you mad at me?” “What?” Bree had no idea what she meant and the question shocked her somehow. “Why do you think that?” “Parker says you and Lynette are best friends.” “Yes- so?” Kayla avoided Bree´s gaze. “I wouldn´t go and visit her with Dad.” “Oh, Sweetie, just because you don´t want to visit Lynette doesn´t mean I´m mad at you- how could I.” Before she knew what she was doing Bree had reached out and put her arms around the small girl and Kayla pressed herself against her, her arms wrapping around Bree´s waist as she began to sob hysterically. Bree just held the child to her, she knew that she couldn´t make it easier for the girl by telling her that she would be all right again for she knew that Kayla wouldn´t believe it anyway. <br /><br />Kayla wasn´t sure what had made her chose Bree Hodge to hold her as she finally allowed herself to break down completely but somehow she trusted her father´s neighbour, she was the only person she had met since she had moved here who had treated her without prejudices, everyone else had been cautious because of her mother not getting alone with Lynette and her being between it all the time. All she had wanted had been to get to know her father and her siblings and she had really liked Lynette when she had met her but then she had realized that to her she would never been anything but her mother´s daughter- and something that messed up her family life. And now her mother was gone and she was all alone and it was just too much to bear… She felt Bree´s arms tighten around her and buried her face in the woman´s lab, now she had started Kayla had no idea how to ever stop crying again. <br /><br />Bree felt her heart break as she looked down at the child in her arms, Kayla´s whole body was shaking and Bree felt reminded of herself after her own mother´s death, when she had been sitting on her window sill for hours at a time, wishing someone would just pull her close and hold her and let her cry and no one had- they had all been too busy to deal with their own misery to think about her. She soothingly stroked Kayla´s hair, patiently waiting until the sobs eventually subsided and when the girl finally straightened up again Bree reached into the pocket on her apron and got a handkerchief out of it. “Thank you” Kayla whispered as Bree carefully dried her tears and then cupped the small face in her hands. “Anytime, Sweetie- look, I know what you are going through, my mother was killed in a hid-and-run accident when I was five and my Dad was so occupied with his own feelings that he didn´t find any time to talk to me or to comfort me and it hurt so much.” <br /><br />Kayla felt even more drawn towards the woman in next to her now she knew that Bree so accurately understood what was going on inside of her. She didn´t offer resistance when Bree pulled her into her lab, instead she buried her face in her neck, deeply inhaling the sweet fragrance of her perfume mixed with the rose scent of her shampoo. She had loved Bree Hodge´s looks from the first moment she had seen her, the bright red hair, fair skin and the elegance she was moving with, the classic clothes and shoes- Kayla whose own mother had always dressed and acted a bit strange and for whom Kayla had often felt a bit ashamed had thought her father´s neighbour was adorable. She had been sad when she had learned from Parker that Bree Hodge happened to be his mother´s best friend but had been pleasantly surprised when she had been in the house while Lynette had been playing poker with her girlfriends there and Bree had treated her just like Lynette´s other kids. <br /><br />Bree didn´t know how long she had been sitting there with Tom´s daughter in her arms when the doorbell rang. Kayla lifted up her head and Bree studied the girl´s bright eyes, pale face and tousled hair and suddenly she felt a strange desire to protect her and comfort her that had nothing to do with feeling guilty about her mother´s tragic death anymore. “That will be your father.” “Please, I don´t want to go over there- not yet.” Kayla´s voice was quiet but there was a strange note in it, almost like fear and Bree frowned. “Ok- if you don´t want to I´ll talk to Tom- but you will have to tell me why you don´t want to go, ok?” “Ok.” Bree waited until Kayla had climbed out of her lab, then got up from her chair. “Do you want to come to the door with me?” She asked, taking off her apron. “I- can you carry me?” Bree lifted Tom´s daughter up into her arms, amazed how fragile and small the girl was, Danielle had been much taller and heavier at Kayla´s age. She walked over to the door and opened it, wondering what to tell Tom. <br /><br />Tom could hardly believe his eyes when Bree opened the door with Kayla in her arms, Kayla who had let nobody touch her ever since her mother had died. He felt a bit hurt, he had tried so hard to talk to his daughter, to comfort her but she hadn´t reacted at all and here she was with her arms wrapped around Bree´s neck and her face leaned against her cheek, apparently full of trust for this woman she had barely spoken to until this morning. “Hi- Uhm, I just wanted to say we´re back now.” He smiled at his daughter and Kayla gave him a tiny smile in return, then he looked at Bree. “Lynette asked if you´d like to come and visit her tomorrow, she´d be really happy to see you- uhm-“ His voice trailed away and Bree nodded. “Of course, I´ll go and see her tomorrow- Tom, can Kayla stay a bit longer?” “Uhm- yeah, sure- just call me when I shall pick her up.” He looked at his daughter who was absentmindedly toying with a strand of Bree´s long, red hair and realized that he was intruding upon a very important moment for Kayla- she had finally found someone she trusted and even though it hurt that it wasn´t him, he was grateful for that.