Dap, you're finally getting your comically large carnival lollipops /pos

The beginning of this chapter is flashbacks to Jimmy's and Lizzie's childhoods with Daniel and their mom.

CWs/TWs: sick/dying character, character death, grief/grieving, PTSD, referenced/mentioned sh

(I promise there's fluff at the end)

.•°*°•.

"Dad, Dad!" nine-year-old Jimmy said, tugging on his father's arm. He had cotton candy in his other hand and all over his mouth and cheek. He wiped at it, rubbing off a bit of his lion facepaint. "We gotta go to Ferris wheel!" He pointed toward the attraction, hopping up and down.

Daniel chuckled as thirteen-year-old Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Sure, why not?" he said.

Lizzie sighed as they started to walk toward the Ferris wheel, then gasped a bit when she spotted a stall that sold really, really big lollipops.

"What?" Daniel asked, startling her.

"Nothing," she mumbled, glancing back at the stall.

Daniel looked around her to see what she was looking at, then laughed a bit. "You want a lollipop, don't you?" he asked teasingly, nudging her shoulder as Jimmy whined about his fingers being stuck together from the cotton candy.

She blushed and turned her chin up. "No, I'm not a child," she huffed, to which Daniel snorted.

"You're only thirteen."

"Wha- Still!"

"Come on," Daniel said, nudging her and her brother toward the stall. "We can get those and have them while we go on the Ferris wheel." He smiled at how Lizzie's face lit up. "See, you are a child."

"Dad!"

.•°*°•.

Daniel paused a moment, staring Lizzie down, before slamming down a skip, another skip, a reverse, and finally, a plus four card, throwing his hands in the air as he celebrated his victory. "In! Your! Face!" He pointed at his daughter and laughed lightheartedly as she rolled her eyes.

"You only won because I let you," she huffed, mixing her cards with the rest of the deck to shuffle them.

They'd been playing Uno for the last forty minutes, and it was the most intense game Jimmy had ever played. Joel, Grian, and Scar had come over as well as fWhip, Gem, and Sausage. Jimmy was the first one out, much to everyone's surprise, and they were all shocked when Daniel wasn't out earlier on. The man was a champion at Uno.

"Yeah, yeah, say what you want," he teased, Lizzie swatting at him.

"Macarons, anyone?"

The group turned to see Jimmy and Lizzie's mother standing in the doorway with a tray of macarons. She looked sickly, all pale and tired, and she was shaking a bit.

Daniel gasped and rushed over to take the tray from her. "Josie!" he huffed, handing the tray to Lizzie, who sat it on the table. "You need to go lay down-"

"I feel fine," Josephine said with a soft smile. "I want to be with you and the kids."

"Honey, you're sick," Daniel said seriously, and Josephine's smile dropped. "You need rest."

She sighed. "I know, I just..." She glanced at her kids. "I want you guys to know I love you. I wish I could be with you more."

.•°*°•.

"Mom!" Lizzie sobbed as she rushed to her mother's side. Josephine had been admitted to the hospital after she fainted and fell all the way down the staircase. "Mom, you're okay!"

Daniel and Josephine exchanged looks, Josephine smiling whilst Daniel looked nervous.

"Yeah, I'm alright, sweetie," she said hoarsely. "Where's Jimmy?"

"Daycare," Daniel answered, and Josephine started to look panicked. "I don't want him seeing you like this. It's probably traumatising enough for Liz. Imagine a nine-year-old walking into the hospital to see his mother dying on-" He stopped himself when Lizzie let out a quiet cry. "Oh, fuck."

Lizzie hiccuped. "Mom's dying?" she whimpered, and Daniel wrapped his arms around her. "I don't want Mom to die."

"Shh, no, she's going to be just fine," Daniel whispered. "She's going to get better, and she'll come home with us soon-"

"Daniel stop lying to her."

Silence filled the room, then Lizzie began to wail. She shoved Daniel away and rushed over to her mother's side again to hug her, babbling upset nonsense as she sobbed uncontrollably. Daniel started to cry after a few moments, letting himself fall to his knees on the floor and allowing all of his walls to come crumbling down. Before they knew it, a whole hour had gone by and all they did was cry.

Eventually Daniel left to get food and bring Jimmy to see Josephine since she wanted to him to see her one last time before she inevitably died, and Lizzie was left all alone in the room with her mother.

"You're so beautiful, Elizabeth," Josephine said, making Lizzie tear up again. "Tell your bother how much I love him, and tell your father to move on. I love you all so, so..."

The room went quiet as Josephine exhaled for the last time and Lizzie let out a heartbroken scream as she watched her mother die.

.•°*°•.

"Lizzie, please come eat something," Daniel said after knocking on his daughter's bedroom door. "You've locked yourself in there all week. I'm worried about you."

"I woukd rather die!" Lizzie screamed, then Daniel heard something thunk against the door. "Leave me alone!"

Daniel sighed, feeling tears build up in his eyes. "I'm being serious, pumpkin," he said. "You need to take care of yourself-" He jumped when the door opened to reveal a very exhausted and ill-kept Lizzie. "Oh, Liz..."

"You're one to fucking talk," she huffed, looking him up and down. "You're a mess."

"I'm trying."

Lizzie took a deep breath. "Did you already make something or do I have to do the cooking myself?" she sighed.

Daniel let out a little breath of relief. "I, uh, made some lasagna," he said. "Thank you for coming out."

"Whatever." She moved past him and went down the stairs.

Daniel watched her for a little bit, nervousness settling in his stomach. He knew that she could very well end up like her mother if she didn't take care of herself and that thought terrified him.

Breakfast was quiet. Jimmy hardly ate anything and Lizzie left as soon as she was finished. Neither of them had been to school in the past week, and Jimmy decided he wanted to go back whilst Lizzie rejected the idea immediately.

Daniel sighed as he sat down at his desk in his office. "What am I going to do with these kids?"

.•°*°•.

Lizzie sobbed, squeezing Joel's hand as tightly as she could as her cramps seemed to get worse and worse.

"Could it be early labor?" the nurse asked Doc, who shook his head.

"I doubt it," he said. "It's very rare for such an early delivery. Perhaps it's a mis-"

"No!" Lizzie screamed, her grip tightening on Joel's hand. "No, no, no, no-"

"Liz," Joel said, putting his other hand on top of hers, and she shook her head. "Liz, look at me." She shook her head again. "Look at me, babe." She hesitantly listened. "It's going to be fine, miscariage or not. And we can always try again-"

"Don't want to try again," she cried, and Joel pulled her into a slightly awkward side hug. "Hate being pregnant, hate it, hate it."

Joel nodded. "Okay, we don't have to," he assured her, though he was sure she was just upset and moody from the pain. "Just relax, love. You'll be okay. I promise."

"We'll have to check on the baby with an ultrasound," Doc said calmly. "Maybe a transvaginal exam as well. In the case that it is a miscariage, then you'll have to deliver the baby. We can talk about burial or cremation options when you're more emotionally stable if you want."

"No," Lizzie breathed. "I want-" She cut herself off with a shout of pain, curling her arm around her stomach. "Fuck!"

"Liz, you need to relax," Joel said, glancing down at his hand, which was turning red from how hard Lizzie was holding onto it.

Lizzie only sobbed in response. "Can we just do the damn ultrasound?" she groaned. "Please-"

Doc nodded. "Yeah, I'll get that ordered right away," he said. "Try to relax while you wait."

Lizzie sobbed as Doc and the nurse left the room, murmuring, "I want my mom."

Joel pursed his lips and held her close, rubbing her arm, not saying anything. For the first time, he didn't know how to comfort her.

.•°*°•.

Scott was allowed to leave the hospital early since their symptoms were improving significantly, though they still weren't feeling all that great.

"To bed with you," Nathan said when they got back home. "I'll make some lunch and bring it up to you."

Whining, Scott reluctantly obeyed, dragging Jimmy up to his room with him. "I hate being sick," they grumbled, and Jimmy chuckled.

"Yeah, it sucks," Jimmy said, then helped Scott get cozy under the covers. "There you go. Do you want me to stay? Or I can leave if you want-"

"No, stay," Scott said, reaching for their boyfriend's hand. "I like your company. You make me happy."

Jimmy smiled softly. "Okay." He sat down on the bed and watched as Scott shifted into a strange position that looked oddly comfortable despite him looking like a starfish. He yawned.

"I'd offer cuddles," Scott said, "but I don't want to get you sick, too."

"Fair enough."

Jimmy played on his phone for about forty minutes while Scott snored away until Nathan finally brought them lunch. Scott was extremely reluctant to wake up and eat, but got there in the end when Jimmy promised him a kiss on the cheek.

Nathan made a vegetable soup since it would help with Scott's stuffy nose, and Jimmy had to admit that it was probably the best soup he ever had.

Scott fell back asleep not long after eating, so Jimmy went to go use bathroom.

He was startled a bit when he rolled up his sleeves to wash his hands, forgetting all about what he'd done to himself. A big part of him regretted doing it and he was especially upset with the fact that he hasn't found a good reason to stop doing it, meaning he hadn't been able to stop from hurting himself more.

I dug myself a bigger hole than I thought I did.

.•°*°•.

Grian blinked, holding noise canceling headphones on his head as Scar read off a card to him, very confused. He wasn't the best at lip reading. "Uh- I drew..." He earned a nod from Scar, so he kept going. "On my pants?"

Scar shook his head and repeated the sentence, making Grian even more confused.

"I drew on my pants," Grian repeated. "Is that not it?"

Scar laughed, shaking his head. He repeated the sentence a third time.

"I drew on my pants!" Grian's exclamation made Scar double over, cackling and struggling to breathe between laughs. Grian took off the headphones, laughing a bit now. "What was it?"

"I drew a llama with pants," Scar said, sighing happily. "That's one point for me. Hand over the headphones."

Grian gave Scar the headphones and drew a card from the deck, waiting for Scar to put the headphones on before reading the card. "Penguins are the only thing I don't have," he read, and Scar snorted.

"Pens and glue can only find my adult bag?" he said, rather loudly but that was only because he couldn't hear himself.

"No, no," Grian said. "Penguins," he repeated slowly, "are the only thing I don't have."

"Uhhh, put those shoes back, I don't like them?"

Grian sighed with a smile. "Penguins are the only thing I don't have," he repeated, trying not to laugh.

"Oh! Oh!" Scar clapped his hands together. "Penguins don't choose the pancake life!"

Grian shook his head and Scar whined as he took the headphones off.

"Was I at least close?" Scar asked.

"I mean, you got the penguin part," Grian said as he took the headphones from Scar. "It was 'Penguins are the only thing I don't have.'"

"Ohhh," Scar said with a laugh, then picked up a card from the pile on the table. "That makes a little more sense."

Grian shook his head. "You're so silly."

Scar cleard his throat and read off the card. It was a long one.

"Uh... Do I drool when clowns beat up test dummies?" Grian guessed, tilting his head. "Do I- Wait, repeat the sentence." He watched Scar's mouth carefully, then nodded. "Okay, okay- Is it true that, uh... something, something- clowns beat up test dummies?"

Scar shook his head and repeated the sentence.

"Is it true... that cannibals eat up clowns that beat up test dummies?"

Scar laughed, shaking his head some more, then Grian gasped.

"Wait! Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?!" he exclaimed as he took off the headphones. "Did I get it right?"

"You already had your three guesses!" Scar said. "It's still my point, G."

Grian whined. "Jeez, I only realised what it was because you've said that to me before," he said with a giggle. He handed the headphones over and drew a card from the deck. "Okay, let's see." He waited for Scar to put the headphones on, then read out loud, "Are you a plain bagel, because I like you with nothing on." Oh, god.

"Do you like peanut butter, because I like goo in no ponds," Scar said, making Grian snicker.

"Are you a plain bagel, because I like you with nothing on," Grian repeated.

"Oh! Are you a plain bagel because I like you with nothing on!"

Grian blinked. "How did you get that?"

Scar took the headphones off, smiling. "Did I get it?"

"Yeah, how?"

"Because I'm the best with pick-up lines and I can recognise one anywhere," Scar said triumphantly. "And it's true, at least for me. I do like you with nothing on." He winked, making Grian turn bright red.

"Scar!"

.•°*°•.

The end is my favourite part of this chapter <33

Scarian owns my heart fr