Family Secrets

The room remained silent for nearly a full minute, apart from Juliette's sniffles and whimpers. Kennedy watched the door with a worried expression on her face, and suddenly, Juliette stood in the doorway, staring at her with red, tear filled eyes. The child squeaked out a hoarse apology, still trembling as she spoke.

Kennedy took a few steps forward. She paused for a moment, contemplating, and then embraced the girl tightly before letting her go, unsure if the hug might frighten Juliette even further. "Oh for fuck's sake," she said, her voice still soft despite her harsh choice of wording. "You have nothing to be sorry for. But, I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to upset you. I just..." she trailed off, searching for the right words. "Just know I'm here if you want to talk about anything. And if you don't want to talk at all, then that's okay too."
 
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Juliette's face burned red with embarrassment and self-directed anger. She couldn't meet Kennedy's eyes, but watched her approach with tense shoulders, waiting for what she'd say. But she didn't lead with words. She paused, then suddenly wrapped her arms around her. Juliette was more shocked than anything, but she had to bite her lip hard to choke down a whimper when Kennedy's tight embrace pressed on the bruises scattered about her midsection. She didn't get the chance to even decide to hug back or not before her aunt pulled back. Juliette stared, eyes still a bit bleary.
"Oh for fuck's sake," she said, her voice still soft despite her harsh choice of wording. "You have nothing to be sorry for. But, I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to upset you. I just..." she trailed off, searching for the right words. "Just know I'm here if you want to talk about anything. And if you don't want to talk at all, then that's okay too."
Juliette sighed. She still wasn't used to hearing an apology directed at her, especially a sincere one. Her panicked reaction hadn't been Kennedy's fault at all. She wanted to comfort her, but lacked the voice and ability. She had no idea how to go about comforting another person. She'd never had siblings and any friends she'd ever had were never close enough to feel that vulnerable with her. That was her fault too. Her gaze fell to the floor again, but she nodded. She felt about one inch tall.
She could smell the pasta though, and it made her stomach growl. She didn't know if she could handle a heavy meal at the moment, but she really wanted water. Going downstairs and seeing more people again wasn't worth it though, especially looking like this. She wrapped her arms around her stomach to muffle it, cheeks still rosy with embarrassment.
 
Juliette gave little reaction to being hugged aside from nervously tensing up for a moment or two. Kennedy pulled away, and the child's stomach grumbled loudly, breaking the silence in the room. Kennedy took the plate from atop the dresser and handed it to Juliette. "Here," she said. "You don't have to eat all of it, but you should probably at least try to eat some of it. Have you had anything else today aside from that cookie?"

She looked up and saw Eva standing near the doorway, the tiniest hint of a smile on the other woman's face as she watched the pair interact. "Are you okay?" she asked, repeating her earlier question to Juliette.
"I.." Kennedy started. She trailed off and looked up at her wife again. "Could you grab her a glass of water from downstairs?" she asked. "And then call Jupiter and the twins up for dinner, I guess?" She shrugged her shoulders and held her hands out slightly in an expression of uncertainty.

"I'm sure they've already been lured upstairs by the smell," Eva said as she descended the stairs. "Considering Hugo's response to food is equivalent to that of a rabid dog." She said the last part more to herself, though Kennedy still heard it and chuckled to herself as her wife's footsteps faded.

Shortly after, Eva appeared at the top of the stairs again. She entered the room and held the glass out to Juliette, giving the girl's hair a gentle caress as she pulled her empty hand away. She squeezed Kennedy's shoulder, smiled reassuringly, and then turned wordlessly, heading back down the steps.

Kennedy looked back to Juliette. "Would you like me to stay?" Kennedy asked. And then added, "You can say no. I'll leave you be if you want me to."
 
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Kennedy took the plate from atop the dresser and handed it to Juliette. "Here," she said. "You don't have to eat all of it, but you should probably at least try to eat some of it. Have you had anything else today aside from that cookie?"
Juliette took the plate gingerly, though it felt heavy holding it with one hand. She nodded at her question, remembering a quick breakfast with Ms. Genale that felt like it was ages ago. Things still felt like they were moving in fast forward; she could never seem to catch up. Eva joined them then, and Juliette felt guilty about having ignored her in her terrified state earlier, so she didn't meet her eyes even when she agreed to get water for her. She felt like such a mess, but tentatively moved around Kennedy towards the nightstand where she could set her plate and have a little more personal space until Eva reentered and handed her a class of water. "Th-" she started, the word interrupted by a small breath into her nose at the unexpected touch to her hair. Juliette blinked, feeling strange and wary of new touches that brought no harm. They weren't awful, but they made her nervous all the same.
It seemed like everything made her nervous lately. She didn't know how to fix that, especially when she had so many thoughts whirling in her head, none of which she felt she could process right now.
Kennedy looked back to Juliette. "Would you like me to stay?" Kennedy asked. And then added, "You can say no. I'll leave you be if you want me to."
She knew the right answer was to let her stay, but it would just make her feel worse to let her stay and risk another stupid freak-out over another meaningless detail. She had been on edge all day and it just made her so tired. But she couldn't turn it off. Juliette looked down again, tried to phrase it nicely, figure out how to request something selfish for herself. "I'd..appreciate some time to myself..thank you." she murmured, gesturing to the water in her hand and looking back at the pasta for a moment. The fact that she had still let her eat something even after she'd abandoned helping her with the meal was very kind of her.
 
Kennedy nodded in understanding as the girl quietly responded that she would like to be alone. "All right," Kennedy said gently. "We'll be downstairs if you change your mind. And if you're still hungry once you've finished eating you're welcome to come and take as much more food as you'd like to." She turned and left the bedroom, making her way back downstairs and into the kitchen.

She was correct in her assumption that the teenagers had already been lured upstairs by the scent of food. Hugo stood next o the stove, spooning noodles and sauce onto his plate. Jupiter and Ronan were already seated, watching Hugo pile food on his plate with amused expressions. They knew as well as Kennedy herself did that the boy would wolf it down in seconds.

The boy settled himself at the table and glanced at the rest of his family surrounding him before his gaze travelled to the staircase. "Isn't Juliette eating with us?" he asked quietly.
"She asked to be left alone," Kennedy told him. "She's had a long day." She paused. "And if I recall correctly, on your first day here you didn't even have dinner. You for slept most of it."

Hugo only shrugged in response, and Eva reached out to give him a teasing nudge to the shoulder. Kennedy smiled as she watched them. In addition to Hugo's stunted growth, he had also struggled to maintain an appropriate sleep schedule. She knew that, while in foster homes he and Ronan had often slept in shifts, with one of them keeping watch. Their first night at home had been the first time in years they hadn't been terrified to sleep.

"You've got paint all over your hands." Eva directed this to Jupiter, whose fingers were streaked with red and blue paint. Jupiter smirked as they spun their fork through the noodles on their plate.

"Lucky its not in my hair," Jupiter answered. "It'll wash off eventually."

"Now you have to go get more leather paint from Carol," Ronan teased, his eyes glinting mischievously. "Because you finished the last of it!"
Jupiter groaned. "Not Carol," they complained. "Every time I go to her store to buy anything she's so weird. I bought a wig from her last week and she asked me if her dog bite looked infected. Shit if I know! I'm not a doctor."

Hugo laughed at Jupiter's complaint, nearly choking on his spaghetti as he leaned forward. He coughed several times and then sat up again.
"Be nice,' Kennedy said to Jupiter as she twined more spaghetti around her fork. "Carol's a nice lady and she's the only decent costume place in town. You want to keep getting decent stage makeup ten seconds after you run out of it, sometimes you gotta acknowledge an old lady's possibly infected dog bite first."
 
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Juliette nodded silently again, hoping her suggestion was not an expectation as she listened to her aunt's steps toward and down the stairs.
Her aunt. That wasn't something she'd wanted to think about when she'd been told. To be fair, she had been in a rather subdued state of mind. She'd been intending to continue with that to protect her sanity, but that haziness of the past few days was shattered a little while ago. She shook her head, almost sat on her bed, then sat criss cross applesauce on the floor, too nervous to get spaghetti sauce on the bed.
She drank nearly half the glass of water in one go, then pulled the spaghetti bowl off of the dresser and began to pick at it. It really did smell good and made her mouth water. She took a couple of bites, marveling at how delicious and filling it was. She doubted she would finish it all, but she could at least try. The quiet in her room was comforting on some level, but she could hear the distant sounds of utensil clatter and amicable chatter and wished she had music to listen to to distract her from her thoughts that felt like a spider striking the glass of its container. When the nice lady with the garbage bags had helped her pack that night, she hadn't had enough time to take her music player from its hiding spot. Somehow she was scared someone would figure out she had stolen it from the lost and found even though it had been nearly two years since then.

She sighed. I am so screwed up. She'd had panic attacks in her father's house every so often, but since she was taken from there, which should have been a relief in so many ways, it seemed like everything was heightening to its furthest extreme. She was aware of everything going on all the time so it all felt too much or else it was hazy like a dream and she couldn't quite feel anything. Once Kennedy had actually brought her father up in conversation however, she had to acknowledge that Kennedy had to grow up with him; as a trans woman no less. It made her shiver just to think about it. She didn't want to. She put aside the bowl of pasta now that nearly half of it was gone, downed the rest of the water, and crawled onto the bed to pull out her hidden sketchbook.
It never took long for her to come up with something to draw. Sometimes she started a sketch not even knowing what she was drawing before it took form. Now was not one of those times, probably because she was still a little worried about keeping it small for fear of running out of pages soon.
 
Jupiter only huffed in response. Ronan turned to look at the staircase again. “I like her,” he announced. He was talking about Juliette, though he didn’t use her name. And in truth, he really did like her. She reminded him a bit of Hugo. Hugo was nervous a lot, but he was also great fun on a good day, and Ronan didn't doubt that Juliette could be the same.

Kennedy opened her mouth to respond and then turned to look at Hugo, who had begun to hack, rather violently, into his napkin. The boy nearly always ran out of breath when he ate, because he hardly stopped to breathe in the first place. His coughing fit stopped after nearly a full minute, but he still held his napkin to his mouth for a moment before crumbling it in his fist, his small frame trembling at the overexertion of force on his body. “I’m-“ he started, only to be plunged into another fit of coughing.

“Okay,” he finished finally. “I’m okay.” Kennedy could only stare at him. She knew without looking that the rest of the table were all watching Hugo wide-eyed. Kennedy let out a long, loud sigh.

“Did you take your medicines this morning?" Kennedy asked, gazing intently at Hugo across the table. The boy nodded quickly, and placed another forkful of food in his mouth, though he kept his gaze low. He knew exactly what his mother's next couple questions would be, and he knew she would be able to tell he was lying to her. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair.

“All of them?”
“Yes!”

"And did you do your breathing treatments today?"
"Yes," Hugo answered quickly.
"Both of them?"
The boy was quiet for a moment, and when he finally did speak, his eyes betrayed his lie. "...yes."

Kennedy was silent for several seconds. "And did you use the mask too? Or just the vest?"
The boy pretended not to hear her.
"Hugo?"
The boy scratched behind one of his ears. "I did both."

Eva looked toward her son. "Okay," she said with a sigh. "Then why are you hacking mucus into your napkin? You shouldn't have that much gunk in your lungs. You should've already coughed out most of it."
Hugo sank into his chair, now poking at his empty plate.

Kennedy sighed. Ordinary, she probably would have scolded him. She would have given him a long lecture on the gravity of his situation, asked if he wanted to end up in the hospital unable to breathe for another week. But she didn’t. She didn’t have the energy to. She looked up and tried to meet his gaze Hugo remained staring at his empty dish.

"Go upstairs and take your medicines and then do your breathing treatment," she told him. "And if I come up there and you're only doing the vest again I'll make you do the whole thing over twice!"

The boy had often failed to understand the gravity of his own illness. Perhaps some of it was because of his late diagnosis. If nobody else had cared for so long, and he had avoided death for that time, perhaps it wasn't such a big deal.

But it was a big deal, even if Hugo failed to acknowledge it. All it would take to shove him over the edge was a single bad flu bug. Kennedy had spent a long time worrying over him. He did a less than adequate job taking care of himself, and she wouldn't be around to scold and nag him about it forever.

Hugo’s face reddened slightly, but he responded only with a small nod before scampering away up the stairs, heading for the hall bathroom.
 
She ended up with an old fashioned bird cage sinking in open ocean, a few curious little fish swimming by. The dynamics of water were always hard to get right, so she spent extra time trying to draw the movement of it before she realized she should probably wash her dish. Juliette hid her notebook again, and grabbed her dishes.
Just as she moved to stand, she heard loud coughing from downstairs. That she could hear it from here and that it went on so long worried her a little, so she tried to listen to who it was so she could avoid them. She's always been the type to get sick easily, and she didn't want to inconvenience Eva and Kennedy any further by catching whatever was floating around this time. There were footsteps on the stairs again, lighter, but faster. Juliette stood and tiptoed to her door just in time to catch a glimpse of a sink and someone closing the door closest to the stairs. A little concerned, Juliette wondered if she could do something to help. She didn't catch everything that was said, but she figured she'd find out who it was by checking for who was missing from the table. Just as she stepped forward to walk down the hall, she remembered the cough drops buried at the bottom of her backpack. She hoped they were still there.
She turned and kneeled by the bedpost she had hung it on, put down her plate, then reached into the depths of her bookbag and searched around with her fingertips until she found two halls, lemon flavored. The wrappers had some pencil dust on them, but the cough drops should still be clean. She stuck them in her pocket.
Then she picked up her plate again and set off down the hall. When she reached the closed bathroom door, she crouched low and slipped the cough drops under the door where they clattered softly on the tile on the other side. She stood again, still quiet in her socks, and headed down the stairs back toward the dining room.
When she saw the family from down the picture hallway, they seemed nearly done with their meals, now just talking around the table.
 
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"He never listens," Kennedy said. She had taken her plate from her spot at the table and placed it in the sink. "You'd think by now he'd at least remember to do his breathing treatments." She continued moving empty plates from the table. "I shouldn't have to still be reminding him." She knew the boy hated it, but she also knew he would hate a stay in the hospital a whole lot more. "You think he'd be able to notice when he hadn't taken care of himself after all this time. I assume he enjoys breathing, and existing, and being generally functional."

Her movements had become quick and agitated, and Eva gently nudged Kennedy's shoulder as she drifted past. "He'll learn," she said gently.
"Not fast enough," Kennedy muttered as she took to washing the plates in the sink. Ronan was gazing worriedly at the staircase.

Hugo stood in the bathroom, the door propped open behind him with a plethora of medicines spread out on the counter before him. Some were pills, some inhaled medicines. Hugo sighed, taking the pills from their bottles and eyeing them warily before popping them into bismuth and downing them with water. He gagged at the taste. Some of them, even without chewing, were especially disgusting and bitter.

He turned, jumping nervously at a small clatter on the tile floor. He knelt down and picked the cough drops up off the bathroom floor. He wasn't sure how much they would help, but he would take them anyway. Following his medicines, he popped one of them into his mouth before poking his head back around the door. He caught sight of Juliette heading down the stairs, and blinked in surprise. "Hey!" he called quietly. "Thanks."
 
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"Hey!" he called quietly.
Juliette was about halfway down the stairs when she nearly missed a step at the sound of his voice. She turned to look at him over her shoulder; she honestly hadn't expected him to open the door, but then he thanked her. She nodded politely, then turned and continued down the steps.

he'd be able to notice when he hadn't taken care of himself after all this time. I assume he enjoys breathing, and existing, and being generally functional."

Her movements had become quick and agitated, and Eva gently nudged Kennedy's shoulder as she drifted past. "He'll learn," she said gently.

She heard parts of their conversation as she approached, but stopped walking when she noticed it might not be the kind of conversation she should just walk into. Especially as Kennedy grew agitated, moving more quickly in the space. The whole exchange made her nervous again. She contemplated just going back upstairs and returning when they'd all left the kitchen, but then Ronan turned in his seat and looked toward the steps, and her, wide-eyed and standing at the bottom of them with her half empty pasta bowl and cup in each hand.
 
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Kennedy sighed, resting her hands on the edge of the counter and leaning forward slightly. She remained that way for a moment or two before returning to scrubbing the dishes, probably putting more effort into the cleaning than was necessary. "But will he learn before he gets too sick to come back from it?" she asked. "I won't be able to badger him about it forever."

Ronan caught sight of Juliette descending the stairs, and he stepped forward to meet her. He took the empty plate and glass from the girl, then handing it to Jupiter, who was closest to him. Jupiter then ran the plate over to Kennedy, nudging her shoulder somewhat hard and then loudly clearing their throat, as if trying to let her know that Juliette was listening.

Kennedy took the plates from Jupiter, sitting them in the sink and then slowly turning, her face reddening slightly as she caught sight of the girl watching her. "Juliette..." she started. "I'm not mad at you." She wasn't exactly mad at Hugo either, just exasperated and worried. "I just..." She trailed off, and then sighed again. "Thank you for bringing your dishes down, dear."
 
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Juliette handed over the plates as he reached for them, worried she might not get to do the dishes to make up for her mistake. Her eyes stayed on Kennedy though, shoulders hunched as she leaned on the counter. Juliette's knees tried to lock up, recognizing the posture as stressed. Stressed is almost always dangerous, regardless of where the anger lied.
It was obvious what Jupiter was trying to do, but it just made her feel worse. People have been talking over her head for weeks now, treating her like a toddler, passing her around with caution like holding a breakable vase. And to be fair, she was acting the part of fragile glass doll pretty well, but she didn't want to to be like this.
So when Kennedy turned to face her, Juliette took a small step toward her, putting real effort into screwing her expression into one that didn't scream Scared Baby. It didn't work very well. However, Kennedy looked more defeated than she did agitated. Juliette gave one last tentative effort to not mess up again; took another step forward.

"I could wash them too if you want. You cooked," she said, interlocking her fingers to keep from anxiously messing with them.
 
Ronan paused at the bottom of the staircase again. Hugo had begun to cough loudly again. Ronan looked back to the others around the table. "Do you need my help with anything?" the boy asked. "I figure Hugo might actually do what he's supposed to be doing if he doesn't have to be up there by himself the whole time." He tended not to fret quite as much over his twin as Kennedy did, but he too, often worried about Hugo not properly caring for himself. He didn't like the thought, but he knew, much like everybody else in the house did, that his twin was very likely to succumb to his illness. It was highly likely that Hugo would die long before Ronan himself would.

Everyone acted as though Ronan didn't know. Eva and Kennedy hardly brought up the possibility, but he knew that it weighed just as heavily on them as it did on him. Nobody had ever outright told Ronan much about what was wrong with his twin, except to give it a name. Ronan had, eventually, taken to reading about it on his own. He couldn't help wondering if perhaps, he knew more about his twins illness than Hugo himself did.

Eva waved the boy away. "Go on," she told him. "And make sure he's doing the whole thing. The mask and the vest. And not quitting halfway through."

The boy grinned and flashed a thumbs up to his mother before skittering away up the stairs. Kennedy turned to look at Juliette, smiling at the girl's offer to help with the dishes. "Thank you," Kennedy said. "I'd appreciate the help."
 
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Juliette's eyes flicked back toward Ronan, standing closest to her as he spoke. There seemed to be more weight in this discussion about this illness than Juliette thought made sense for a seasonal flu. She didn't want to ask, but she could see the pressure it exerted on each of them as she looked around at them individually.
There was a small pause, then Kennedy dismissed him and he headed up the stairs she had just descended. She gave him peculiar instructions though. Then she was sure Hugo being sick might be a permanent feature of his. She felt suddenly embarrassed offering simple cough drops.
. Kennedy turned to look at Juliette, smiling at the girl's offer to help with the dishes. "Thank you," Kennedy said. "I'd appreciate the help."
She nodded, glad to feel like she'd done something right for once. She entered the kitchen fully now, heading toward the sink instantly. When she got there, she realized she'd have roll up her sleeves to wash the dishes. Her bruises hadn't healed yet, not even close. She hesitated, then took a small chance and checked the drawer under the sink for gloves. Near the back were a pair of yellow ones that she slid on over her purple sleeves with a relieved breath. They were big on her, the top of them nearly reaching her elbows.
Now she could turn on the sink. She set upon her task with ease now, except when she had to push onto her tiptoes every so often, but this was familiar in a way that wasn't bad, so she hoped it stayed like that.
 
Juliette hesitated to roll up her sleeves, and eventually settled on wearing gloves from the drawer below the sink. Kennedy said nothing about it. If her niece's experiences with Logan had been anything like Kennedy's own, it was likely she was heavily bruised. Kennedy had often taken measures to hide her own injuries during her childhood. She didn't blame Juliette for doing the same.

Eva had finished moving the leftover food into tupperware and put them into the fridge. She looked over to Juliette. "You're welcome to eat any of the leftovers out of the fridge if you want them," she offered as she walked past. Jupiter had gone into the living room and settled onto the couch, taking a small sketchbook from the coffee table and beginning to sketch in it.

Kennedy had continued scrubbing at her dishes, trying her best not to bump into Juliette as she moved. "How was it?" she asked. "Your food, I mean." She hadn't expected the girl to eat quite as much as she had. She had finished most of her meal. Kennedy grabbed the dishtowel from where it hung beside the sink and took to drying the dish she had just washed before placing it off to the side to be put away.
 
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Eva had finished moving the leftover food into tupperware and put them into the fridge. She looked over to Juliette. "You're welcome to eat any of the leftovers out of the fridge if you want them," she offered as she walked past.
Juliette looked up at the taller woman with another small, polite smile. "Thank you," she said aloud, knowing now that she wouldn't dare to do so since Hugo loves them so much.
She went about cleaning the dishes thoroughly then, but stayed aware of the room around her. Her eyes lingered a moment too long on Jupiter as they started drawing on the couch. She felt her chest constrict a little, anticipating the moment someone would take it from them, irritated with the idle activity or too curious to ask permission to see it. She scrubbed the dishes a little harder next to her aunt, then looked up at her for a second when she spoke again, asking about the food. Juliette worried about where this question would go, but pushed it aside, trying to ride this wave of bravery for her sake, even while standing so close to her. "Really good," she answered honestly, but couldn't resist the urge to apologize. "I'm sorry I didn't help with it," she mumbled, almost inaudible with the sink water running as her attention stayed focused on the dish she was washing, which had been clean for a little while now. She passed it gently to Kennedy, always cautious with dishes, which she found prone to falling.
 
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Kennedy gently took the dish from Juliette, drying it off and setting it aside. The pair fell into a steady, quiet rhythm of washing and drying. Juliette, after a few moments of timid silence, complimented the food and Kennedy smiled at her. "I'm glad you liked it," she said. "And don't worry about not helping. I'll survive." She chuckled softly as she spoke. "It's all right. You did a good job separating the meat for me. I'm sorry for scaring you off."

Eva had headed into the living room and settled beside Jupiter, flicking the TV on and clicking through the channels before settling on something. She gently reached out and tousled their hair, and the teenager smirked and ducked out of her way before curling up in the corner of the couch and resuming their sketching.
 
"I'm glad you liked it," she said. "And don't worry about not helping. I'll survive." She chuckled softly as she spoke. "It's all right. You did a good job separating the meat for me. I'm sorry for scaring you off."
Juliette's lips quirked to the side, resenting the fact that she saw it that way. It made sense. She kind of was scared off. She was just getting angrier that they all saw her as this weak, broken child. She knew she was weak and broken, but she didn't like that they knew that and that they've gone most of a day now without correcting her mistakes. It wasn't a good first impression. The longer they all went without snapping at her, the longer she knew she would be on edge. She kind of wished one of them would just slap her already so she could figure out what it would take. She sighed, "Not your fault."

She finished the dishes soon after, then yawned, blinking at the scene in the living room with envious confusion. They hadn't even said anything to each other, but they were both so seemingly happy sitting together. It made her sad for reasons she didn't want to figure out right now. "Can I go to bed? Is there anything else I should do tonight?" she asked Kennedy quietly, pulling off the rubber gloves and laying them neatly on the edge of the sink so they could dry before they were put away.
 
Kennedy raised a eyebrow, and then nodded. If she were Juliette, she would probably want to head to bed early too. It had been a rough day for her. “Nothing else needs done down here,” Kennedy told her. “I have to put the dishes away, but I can manage that by myself. Thank you for helping me. You can head to bed if you want to." She took a small stack of dishes and took to work placing them in a cabinet. "Good night, Juliette."

Hugo was settled on the edge of his bed. He wore a vest attached by tubes to a machine on the floor, and it vibrated at a high speed. Over his face he wore a mask, which, attached to another machine and sent medicine inhaled into his lungs. At regular intervals, the vest stopped its vibrating and Hugo lifted the mask from his face to cough into a tissue, bringing up mucus more often than not. He crumpled the tissues into balls and tossed them into the small trash can near the open door.

Ronan sat on his own bed, or more accurately, hung upside down off the side of it. The pair had originally been talking about one thing or another, but Ronan had now taken to humming the jeopardy theme song, Hugo casting an irritated glare at his twin. Hugo grabbed the nearest thing to him--another balled up tissue--and chucked it across the room at his twin, who let out a panicked shriek before tumbling off the edge. "Ew!"
 
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Juliette knew it was early for bed, but hoped that didn't agitate anyone. She bit the inside of her cheek, having forgotten that they should put the dishes away. Every time she'd done them, she'd left the dishes on the counter because she was too short to reach the cabinets and she had broken them too many times by trying. Nonetheless, Kennedy didn't seem inconvenienced enough or give any reason for her to stay beyond that. "Goodnight," she responded, thinking she wasn't certain of what to call her. The boys called her Kennedy, but would she be allowed the same privilege? She couldn't quite feel the connotation behind the word Aunt, but she'd also been told she didn't have to say ma'am or sir. She'd figure it out eventually.

Juliette waved goodnight to Jupiter and Eva on her way toward the stairs. Her hip complained on the stairs again. Her father's house didn't have stairs. When she reached the top and started towards the guest room, her eye was drawn to the movement in one of the open doorways. Ronan was seated upside down and Hugo was..vibrating. Juliette hesitated outside the door, watching the mask and vest work for a moment, then realized she was staring. "S-sorry," she shook her head, cheeks red, then booked it back to the guest room to get her toothbrush and head back to the bathroom.