A week and half passed fast. Castiel didn’t come to school, so Sarah went to visit him every day to deliver his homework. That wasn’t the only reason for the visits. Ares was recovering well, but Castiel didn’t want to leave him alone. Every time he needed to go out, Castiel called Sarah to keep watch over Ares if she wasn’t at his house already. Sarah’s mother had noted how much time Sarah spent at Castiel’s house but since she came home for the nights, went to school, and did her homework, Grace didn’t find much to complain about. The circumstances were unusual so maybe she could allow a little bit more freedom.
It was one of those days when Castiel was out. He had gone to a band meet up with Leon. The month had changed, it was December now and the contest loomed closer than before. To Sarah’s understanding, Castiel still struggled with the song. Every time Castiel came from his room from one of his brainstorming sessions, his brow was creased, and mouth was just a tight line. Sarah wished she could’ve helped but she didn’t know much about music.
But today Leon and Castiel were holding a meeting to put their heads together and hopefully find a solution. Castiel had threatened he wouldn’t come back before they had a song ready. She had wished them luck and prepared to stay dog sitting for a while.
Sarah closed her math book and stretched her back and arms. She had finished all her homework and glanced at the topics of upcoming lessons, but Castiel wasn’t back yet. Ares slept in the kitchen, based on the silence in the house. Only the clock ticked on the wall, sounding unnaturally loud in the quiet rooms. Sarah rubbed her eyes and stood up. She packed her books in her bag. She should check on Ares and get a glass of water, maybe a little snack to eat.
She tip-toed to the kitchen and peeked inside from the door. Ares was sprawled on the floor. His back was against the gate that blocked his access to the living room. An inflatable cone around his neck made his head flop to the side. Castiel had got rid of the plastic cone as soon as possible and replaced it with the inflatable one he said would be more comfortable. Sarah believed it was true, even though her experience with neck pillows on holiday flights kept her from believing in total comfort of this new arrangement. Sarah smiled softly while watching the sleeping dog. Ares looked peaceful. He would wake up if she went to the kitchen now. She could get her water from the bathroom.
The doorbell rang and made both Sarah and Ares jump. Ares stumbled on his feet. His loud bark and flashing teeth made Sarah’s skin prickle, but more so she was concerned about who was at the door. Heart thumping in her throat she headed to the door just as the doorbell rang the second time, launching Ares into louder barking. Sarah wondered if the dog remembered to breathe at all.
Sarah creaked the door open just enough to see who was outside and was ready to slam it shut from the slightest sign of something being wrong.
“Oh, Sarah! Hi!”
Sarah’s shoulder sagged in relief when there was no axe murderer politely trying to enter the house. She opened the door for Castiel’s mother, Audrey, who had both hands full with boxes and bags. Franz stood behind her with even bigger box in her hands. Sarah swiftly moved out of the way, so Castiel’s parents could manoeuvre inside.
While Castiel’s parents unloaded their car to the hallway and living room, Sarah hurried to calm down Ares who was still barking and whining. Sarah tried to scratch him behind the ears, but Ares dodged the attempts bouncing in place and trying to see Castiel’s parents.
“Shh, you can’t jump. Calm down Ares, please.”
“Where’s Castiel?” Audrey asked, pulling Sarah’s attention from the dog.
“He went out with Leon to talk about band stuff.”
“And he left you here alone?”
“Well, I more so volunteered. He doesn’t want to leave Ares alone. He didn’t know you’re coming today.”
“We wanted to surprise him. The job lasted a lot longer than we thought,” Audrey sighed. She grabbed three bags full of groceries and made her way towards the kitchen. Franz moved the big box in the middle of the living room.
“Oh, Ares. Sweet baby. How are you doing?” Audrey cooed at the dog when she got to the gate. Ares whined and squirmed. He licked Audrey’s hands when she tried to pet him.
“He’s clearly missed you,” Sarah smiled and tried to usher Ares away so Audrey could get inside with her shopping. Franz came to greet Ares as well.
“How is Ares doing?” he asked and turned his grey eyes to Sarah.
“He isn’t as sore as he used to be. The leg still needs to be in cast for another six weeks minimum. Castiel has put him in a bit more restricted diet so he doesn’t gain too much weight.”
“Poor baby. Did you find out who the driver was?” Audrey asked while trying to fit all the milk cartons in the fridge. She had assumed Castiel hadn’t done much shopping and had been correct. He only went to the store for necessities and nothing else, so he wouldn’t need to be away from Ares too long.
“No. We didn’t see the license plate because everything happened too fast.”
“That’s a shame. It would’ve been nice to get the driver take some responsibility.”
“Yeah. But hopefully this scared them enough to start driving more responsibly. Although I doubt it.”
“Well, if I ever catch them, they’ll learn their lesson,” Franz said and straightened himself. Sarah smiled softly. Castiel really was his father’s son.
“Have you had anything to eat yet, Sarah?” Audrey asked.
“I haven’t yet. We were going to eat when Castiel comes back. But I should head home. You probably want to relax after the journey.”
“Nonsense. We’d love to get to know you better. Castiel never tells us anything about you.”
That didn’t surprise Sarah at all, but she couldn’t help a little jab of disappointment in her gut.
“Well, if you don’t mind…”
“Definitely not. I’ll get started on dinner right away.”
And with that Audrey busied herself in the kitchen, pulling out the ingredients she had just put in the cupboards. Ares hovered around her, inserting himself in the way as much as possible before settling to lay at Audrey’s feet when she started working at the stove.
“Could I get a little bit of your help, Sarah?” Franz asked and waved towards the box sitting in the living room.
Sarah agreed with a nod. Franz stepped over the gate to grab scissors from the kitchen and then followed Sarah who already inspected the box, brimming with curiosity.
Franz cut the tape on the box with the scissors and opened it. Sarah could only see colourful foam peanuts. Franz started to move them out of the way, and soon Sarah could see something green in the box. She helped with the peanuts and soon they had uncovered half of a jade green mermaid statue.
“Woah,” Sarah gasped. “It looks beautiful.”
“Doesn’t it? We found it from a street market, and Audrey just had to get it. It is heavy though. Can you grab it from that side? Sarah reached down to the box and managed to grasp the base of the statue even though the edges of the box tried to burrow into her sides. Franz counted in three and together they lifted the statue and placed it down on the soft rug, crushing a few peanuts under it.
“I love it,” Sarah couldn’t help but sigh.
The statue was tall, with the tip of the mermaid’s tail reaching to Sarah’s waist. The base of the statue was shaped as coral, and the mermaid was attached to it with just one, thin rod, making it look like the mermaid floated above it.
“Me too. I resisted at first when Audrey wanted it, but I can see the appeal in it. Where do you think it should fit? Or did you have any ideas, honey?” Franz raised his voice, so it’d carry in the kitchen.
“About what?”
“Where to put this statue?”
“I don’t know. Just find a place from somewhere.”
Sarah chuckled when Franz sighed and shook his head.
“So, what do you think?”
“Hmm, would it be too distracting next to the tv? It would get some natural light from the window.”
Franz looked at the empty spot next to the tv stand with brow in contemplative furrow. He tilted his head to the side and walked around to reflect the place from all angles. Sarah grew nervous and cleared her throat.
“Some other spots could work too. It was just the first suggestion.”
“No, no. I like it. I think it could work. Let’s try it out.”
They lifted the statue and wobbled towards the tv. Muscles in Sarah’s arms strained, and she hoped they wouldn’t need to lift the statue again.
They placed the statue down and stepped back. Sarah tried to calm her breathing.
“I think it looks great,” Franz said and clapped Sarah on the shoulder. “You have an eye for this.”
Sarah couldn’t help blushing when she muttered a thank you. They started cleaning up the foam peanuts and finished just as Audrey called them to dinner.
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