Daughter of Elizabeth Olsen

Chapter 5

Alexa's POV

"I can't do it Lexa!" Rose says with a cute little pout, as she tries to work out the word 'people' in her book. "This is a tricky one, what are the first two letters?" I ask covering the rest of the word. She thinks really hard, sticking her little tongue out the side of her mouth. "Puh and eh." She answers sounding out the letters.

"That's right or you can say P and E, what does that make together?" I ask, before I realise what I've said Rose starts giggling. "It says pee!" She says between laughs. I roll my eyes and smirk at her. "It does, okay so what about these letters?" I cover the P, E and O, just leaving P, L and E.

"Puh, umm... ull, and eh!" She says proudly. I nod my head and she keeps saying them. "Puh, ull, eh. Puh, ull eh. Puh, ul. WAIT, I KNOW IT!" She shouts right down my ear with excitement. She moves my hand and points to the word. "P, E, P, UL. PEOPLE!" She smiles and claps her hands!

"Good job, Rosebud! People." I say proudly, holding up my hand for a high five. "But Lexa, whyyyy is there an 'o' if you don't say it." She asks pointing it out. "I have no idea! It just sits there" I say because I literally have no idea, the English language is weird.

We finally finish the book and she did so good! After our little nap earlier, Aunt Scarlett left to pick up Rose and then we all came home for dinner. Mom didn't feel like cooking she just wanted to chill out, so I helped Scar make some spaghetti.

Mom kept apologising for scaring me, even though I tried my best to tell her it was okay. She looks really tired, I'm glad I didn't tell her what happened today she doesn't need that on top of everything else.

Lizzie's POV

"Oh god, I needed this." I sigh as I take a sip of the beautifully chilled sauvignon Scarlett pored me. I'm feeling a bit better, I'm just now extremely tired even though we napped for a while. "You've definitely earned the next couple of days off after today, that's for sure." Scar says pulling my legs across her lap, as she gets comfortable beside me.

The girls are currently upstairs, Rose wanted to show Alexa her new books and, as much as I love Rose, a 4 year old running around is not helping. Instead, I just want to sit on my couch with Scarlett and drink my my wine.

"It's okay Lizzie, no one's going to take it off you!" Scarlett teases as I take a couple of big gulps, pretty much emptying my glass. I playfully glare at her and rest my head on her shoulder. "I'm spending all day tomorrow in my garden hiding from everyone. That's acceptable right?" I ask looking up at Scar.

"You're weird, but yes if that's what you need. You're lucky your kid is older and more independent, keeping Rose occupied on a quiet day is a mission." She replies resting her head on mine, I could stay like this all day.

"We're both a real mess, aren't we?" I laugh ironically, it's tough balancing life and work and being a single mom, while looking after yourself too. I never truly realised until today, my panic attack this morning has been building a while and I didn't realise. "Yep. At least we're a mess together, besides Evans is somewhat functioning right now, so it balances our trio out." Scar jokes, making me giggle, I snuggle more into her shoulder and finish off what's left of my wine.

"Do you think I should talk to Alexa about therapy for everything she's been through?" I ask after a couple of minutes of silence. "I don't know, would it help her to talk to someone or will it just drag her back into that place? She hasn't has a nightmare for a while, would it just bring them all back?" She replies with the exact same concerns I have.

"That's what I'm worried about, she still hasn't slept by herself since we moved in here." I admit. Don't get me wrong it doesn't bother me, in fact when she finally stops sleeping with me I'll feel a bit lonely, but she's 14 and I know encouraging it is not the right thing for me to do.