~~

Reece

~~

Talia hadn't looked upset at all until this point right here. Should I be worried? Should I be upset that there are dead people talking to my little girl?

Would it do me any good if I did get angry? Would it help either of us right now if I got scared? Would it benefit my little Talia if I acted like this was something bad or something to be ashamed of?

The answers to all three of those questions were the same. No! No, it wouldn't do me any good to get angry. No, it wouldn't help either of us if I was scared. And no, it wouldn't benefit Talia if I made her feel bad about this whole situation. I needed to be understanding and accepting because she couldn't control this anymore than I could.

"Can you tell me more about the whispering people, Talia? I mean, why do you think they are dead? What did they do or say to make you think that?

"

"Hmm.

"

Talia put a hand to her chin as if she were thinking about something really hard. I could see her eyes scrunched up and her head tilted. She was putting a lot of thought into this right now. I knew that whatever she said next was going to be what she truly thought or felt instead of just whatever came to her mind first.

"Well, I think that I know they're dead because of the things that they say. I mean, some of them talk really funny. They talk like us, but the words sound funny.

" She went back to thinking for a moment. It was like she was waiting to make sure that she got it all perfect before she told me what she was trying to say.

"It's not just the way that they talk. Some of them have actually told me that they were dead. They didn't use that word, but one man said that back when he was alive, there were a lot of things different and that our castle wasn't there. I told him that the castle was there before I was born so I didn't know.

"

"Yes, it's been here for about six years now.

" I agreed with her, letting her know that the castle wasn't that old.

"Anyways, the people that talk to me never show me who they are, they just tell me things I just know that they are dead people. I don't know how else to explain it to you Daddy.

"

"OK, sweetheart. Can you tell me what all they say to you? And when did they start?

"

"Well, they started just before my birthday. When Aunt Glory and Athair mòr were here with Uncle Trevor and Grandma Daci.

"

"They started that long ago?

" I felt my blood run cold. That had also been when my Little Bunny started acting strange.

"Yes. It started with just one whisper person then. She wasn't very nice. She was the only mean one that has talked to me so far. She said bad things but I knew she was lying so I didn't listen to her.

"

"Talia, baby, what did she say? Did she tell you what her name was?

"

"The first lady? Hmm. She said her name, but it was kind of hard to remember. It was something like Hack Tay, or Heck Tay. I don't remember it all that well. I am sorry, Daddy. I didn't want to listen to her. She was saying bad things about Mommy and that made me feel sad to hear it. I think it was making Mommy sad too.

"

I saw that my little girl was getting upset and I didn't want to push her too far, but I needed to know what she had been hearing.

"Talia, sweetheart, I know it's hard, but can you tell me what the bad lady was saying to Mommy?

"

"She was telling Mommy that people were going to get hurt and it would be her fault. She told Mommy that she was a killer and that is not true, Daddy. Mommy isn't a killer. She's a good girl and she loves us.

"

"That's right. Mommy is a good girl and so are you, Talia.

" I hugged her to my side to comfort her.

"Daddy, the bad guy that Mommy is fighting, I think it's the bad lady. When Mommy left, that was when the bad lady left too. Since the bad lady left, all I hear are the other whispering people. The other people said that Mommy went to the underwear world.

"

"Underwear world?

" I was confused for a moment then I realized she was trying to say underworld.

"Daddy, do you think that Mommy is going to be OK? I mean, I know that the whispering people said that she would be, but, what do you think?

"

"Yes, sweetheart, I know she will be OK. She will be home soon and then we will make sure that she doesn't leave us like this ever again.

"

I had heard what I needed to, even though this wasn't the full explanation. I was trying to figure out how to help my little girl and make things easier on her. The problem was, I didn't know how to handle this.

"Talia?

" I had a sudden thought.

"Do you want to talk to some more people who are like you? Some more people that can hear the whispering people?

"

"You know people like that, Daddy?

" She looked surprised.

"Yes, I do.

" I grinned to let her know it was OK.

"I would love to meet them.

"

After the talk, we finished our Daddy daughter date. Talia fell asleep before the movie was over, so I carried her up to her room and put her to bed. She had a good night and I found out what I needed to.

The day after I took Talia out, I took Rika out. She wanted to go to the North Pole. OK, not the actual North Pole, but the amusement park that was nearby. So, I took her. We went and rode all of the rides. I got her junk food and candy galore. She got to play all day long and she also fell asleep, but on the way home.

On Sunday, I took Reagan out for his father and son day. He wanted to be a 'big boy', which apparently meant doing less babying things. The actual result was that he wanted to go fishing and hiking through the mountains.

Reagan and I talked a lot that day. More than Rika and I had. Reagan had been worrying a lot about his mom, and that made me feel bad. I knew that he and Rika were having a really hard time. I did my best to reassure them both and let them know that Mommy would be back soon. They both seemed to feel a lot better by the time that their days were done.

I was just glad that by the time that it was all over and done with, all three of my kids were feeling a little bit better. And they might be feeling a little bit closer to their dad too. I just hated that this was all that I could do for them. These small little outings and silly little days.. I wanted to do more for them.