"Dada!!!" Rose crawled over to Ethan who was sitting watching his little daughter do things only babies would find interesting.
"Hey.... hey hon' what do you have here...?" He smiled softly and looked at what Rose was showing him.
"Horsie!" She said excitedly and Ethan took it and moved it across her face like it was walking on air. She laughed and babbled baby noises that only she could understand.
Ethan was exhausted, with hardly any sleep on him from the past two days, he was trying to lay off on the drinking, which caused him to throw up and lose sleep. But he was determined to be there for his daughter as much as he could, since Mia was gone.
Speaking of Mia....
She was right behind him, staring down at him. He was trying to keep his calm.
"Ethan! My sister is here, she's here to watch over Rosie!" Heisenberg walked in the room.
"Karl, I'm still unsure about her being alone with Rose...." Ethan gave the small horse back to Rose, who yelped with joy. Ethan winced from the sharp and sudden noise.
"Ethan, you need to get out and breathe in some fresh air, and I need to let the Lycans out, they're getting restless."
"Brother! Where is this little angel...?" Lady Dimitrescu bent over to walk through the door, and when she stood at full height it refreshed Ethans memory of how fucking tall she is.
"DADA" Rose shouted and Ethan turned around and smiled at the little girl, "Mhm?" He picked her up and she touched his face. "Dada! Dada!"
"Oh she's just glowing with joy!" Alcina smiled.
"Yup, she's a little rascal, c'mon Ethan you look like shit." Karl looked at Ethan, who sighed because he was right. He looked and felt like shit.
"Please be careful with her...." he set Rose down on the floor and looked at Dimitrescu.
"I wouldn't let anything happen to her." She assured.
-
Ethan and Karl walked towards the Marsh, better known as Moreaus old home. Karl hated it there, cause it reminded him of that.... thing. There was no way in hell he would ever call Moreau a man, or a human. However, he knew Ethan felt better there, given his condition, so he managed. The Lycans enjoyed it there too, because they could dig in the areas where the mud was watery, and they could find several living things to eat there.
Ethan was embarrassed about his need for this place, he hated it there too, but his body felt easy and less achey and gross.
When they arrived Karl gave a quick whistle to tell the Lycans they could run around and they bolted away. Ethan and Karl walked around and talked about various things.
"You know, Ethan, you can always ask for me to take you here." Karl smiled.
"But you hate it here, I hate it here. It's disgusting..." Ethan said in a sad tone. "I hate me... I'm plagued... of this, this gross... ugh.." he sat down on a barrel.
"Don't be embarrassed..."
"I'm embarrassed I'm disgusted, I'm the thing that killed Mia...."
"No, you're not. You just have well, you just have what Miranda had. But that doesn't mean you're her." Karl put his hand on Ethans shoulder. Then he crouched down in front of him to meet his eyes. Ethan looked up glumly.
"How about we... play a game....?" Karl tried to change the mood.
"What could we play Karl." Ethan said bluntly.
"Hide and seek, tag, uh...."
"Me and Mia used to play cowboy..." Ethan laughed lightly, "do you know how to play...?"
"Of course, who doesn't?" Karl moved a barrel over, the sounds of mud moving making the silent moment awkward. He sat down facing him.
"Alright, go!"
pat pat
"Bang bang!" Karl laughed. But Ethan shielded "dammit!" Ethan smirked.
Pat pat
"Uh..." Ethan knew he was gonna say bang bang but the sudden drop of alcohol was making his mind a little slow. Karl shielded, "mwahaha" he jokingly laughed.
pat pat
Karl reloaded and so did Ethan, Karl learned all the tricks from Alcina, Ethan was using Mias routine.
pat pat
Mia shot him.
Ethan shot Mia.
Mia crumpled to the ground.
pat pat
"Aw man" Karl sighed. Ethan got up and walked over, holding a hand up to signal Karl that he was okay but he needed a moment.
"You gonna throw up?" Karl yelled out. He got up to get a better view of him.
"No! I just... saw something...!" He responded. But then he did throw up. Black sludge poured from his mouth and nose.
Oh...
This happened whenever Ethan felt sudden paranoia, like the monsters back in Louisiana, he threw up when he felt like he needed to defend himself. This is what Ethan was most embarrassed about, because it was disgusting.
"Here let me help you!" Karl called after him before running in his direction. He got there just in time and caught Ethan before he fell in the mud.
"Oh my god.... ugh..." Ethan panted, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I wanna go home Karl..." he said quietly in hoarse voice. He was shivering.
This is a bad one.... they both thought.
Karl knew already that he hallucinated Mia as Karl, he didn't think much when he said he used to play cowboy with Mia.
"Yeah, let me call the Lycans back." He whistled and heard some howling, a minute later they were all with him.
"Can you walk?" He asked Ethan.
"Not in the mud... I don't think my legs can manage that." Ethan answered.
"Ok, I got you." He supported Ethan and they walked to the solid ground, where Ethan was able to walk. They took their time going back to the factory, and he went to his room to sleep when they arrived.
"Alcina! We're back, you can leave now...!" Karl called out.
Alcina hurried over and silently yelled "shhh! I just put her to sleep!"
"Okay! Jeez... now leave!" He growled. She rolled her eyes and left.
-
Karl suddenly heard Rose crying and he rushed over to her room to see what was wrong. He picked her up out of her crib like a puppy with the back of her onesie and she cried even more.
"Shit! How do I make her stop? How do I hold a baby?!" He panicked. Then he remembered the little plastic horse and put her down before quickly getting the horse and giving it to her. She calmed down and started to chew on the hoof of the horse toy.
"Oh! Teeth! Are you teething?" He asked her, then realized she was a baby.
"What the hell is going on...?" Karl whirled around and saw Ethan tiredly walk over to the crib.
"I think she's growing in her teeth, she won't stop chewing on that horse toy."
"Great.... more crying.." he sighed. "Karl listen, this factory... I can't raise her here, I can't live here either... the smell of the gasoline just makes me feel worse and it's such a hassle to get to the other rooms...." he picked Rose up.
"So... you're saying you want to move....?" Heisenberg finished for Ethan. Who looked like he was about to fall asleep again.
"Mhm...." he nodded, which he thought was cute.
"Well, the village just got cleared of those infected people, so now there's some houses open, but... you can't live alone.... you're sick." Karl scratched the back of his head. "I guess...." he looked outside to the factory, the conveyer belts and machines were empty, there wasn't anything being made here. They were really just living in an abandoned factory. Instead the could be living in the village, in a nice house.
"I'm open to move out if it means it'll make things easier for you." He smiled.
"Okay... well, how do we exactly move.." Ethan looked around.
"Easy, take the crib, our clothes and money and beat it." He smirked and Ethan nodded.