Hannibal

Frankie skipped into his room and went straight to the closet.
"We can play princesses if you want!" Frankie shouted from within the walk in closet.
Theo brought me over to the closet to look inside. It was full of dresses just like my closet.
"Papa! Frankie has dresses!" I thought it was slightly odd, but I liked the idea of having someone to dress up with.
"I like jesses!" Frankie had a big smile on his face.
"We were surprised too." Hannibal said. "But whatever makes the kiddos happy. Right?"
"Yeah." Theo agreed with a smile on his face.
I wiggled to be put down and looked inside the closet with Frankie.
He had all sorts of dresses and outfits.
Some were sparkly and a lot of them were pink.
"Can I wear this one?" I took a dress down and showed it to Frankie. It was a long poofy pink dress with dark pink sequins at the bottom of it.
"Of course! The most beautiful princess can wear whatever she wants!" Frankie smiled.
I blushed at what he said.
"What are you gonna wear?" I asked him.
He looked at my dress once more then looked at the other dresses again. He took down a similar dress that was blue with dark blue sequins at the bottom.
"It's beautiful!" I said to him.
"Alright pretty princesses." Theo said. "Let's get your dresses on."
Daddy helped me into mine and Theo helped Frankie into his.
When Theo was taking Frankie shirt off, I noticed large scars and gashes on his back. I actually gasped. It was hard not to. They looked like something out of a movie.
I started to cry and felt very protective over my brother.
"What's wrong, sweet pea?" Hannibal asked.
He followed my line of sight then said, "Hey. Frank. Can you come over here please?"
Frankie turned around and ran towards us.
"Yeah?"
"Do you mind showing sissy your back?"
Frankie looked a little shocked by the question. "Not gonna happen again. Right?"
"No way." Hannibal kissed the boy's head.
Frankie hesitantly turned towards Theo and lowered the dress to show me his back. I reached out to touch one, but quickly pulled my hand back. I didn't want to hurt him.
Frankie must of known what I was doing. He looked over his shoulder and said, "You can touch. It doesn't hurt anymore."
I gently touched his back. There was warm tears falling down my cheeks.
I stopped on a particularly large one and quickly hugged him from behind.
"I'm okay." Frankie sounded like he was beginning to cry.
"I'm sorry." I just hugged him tighter.
Frankie turned around and hugged me back.
"It's okay, sissy." Frankie wiped my eyes.
I smiled lightly and kissed his cheek.
He smiled and said, "Let's watch a princess movie!"
I just smiled at his immediate change back as he went back to Theo to get his dress on properly.
Hannibal helped me the rest of the way then lifted me up.
I laid my head on his shoulder and allowed him to take me to his room. "Why are we in here, dada?" I lifted my head and he set me down onto the bed.
"We're gonna watch a movie, sweetie."
Theo came in with Frankie and set him on the bed.
"Before you got here, me and our daddies had movie nights." Frankie explained to me. He had a big smile on his face as he watched Hannibal get the tv set up.
"An' after. Daddies let us sleep in their room!" Frankie giggled.
"That's right, buddy." Hannibal said. He had it all set up and went to the bed. He sat down and left room between himself and Frankie. The bed looked big enough to hold at least 3 more people.
I crawled up to the head rest and sat down between Frankie and Hannibal.
Theo was leaning on the headrest and had a book in his hands.
"Papa not gonna watch?" I asked him.
"No, baby girl. I gotta read this." He said with a smile.
"Papa has a go back to work tomorrow."
I didn't like the thought of that.
I said nothing at the time, just let Hannibal play that movie and watched it silently.

-

The next morning, I woke up and saw Theo getting dressed into a button down and khaki pants.
I shook Hannibal until he wrote up.
I looked from Theo to Hannibal.
"Daddy. Papa gonna leave?"
"He'll come back, but yeah. He has to work. He'll be home before dinner."
I pouted. "Don't want papa to go."
"I know, sweet pea, but papa has an important job."
"What does he do?" I looked at Theo for an answer.
"I'm an English teacher."
"Not important. You has to stay home."
Theo chuckled at that.
"I have to go to work. I can call you on my lunch break though, princess."
"No!" I whined and thrashed a bit.
Frankie didn't seem to mind, he just rolled in his sleep and mumbled something incoherent.
"Princess. I need to go to work. That's my job."
"But I don't want you to leave." I whined more.
Theo came over to Hannibal's side of the bed and lifted me up.
"I'll be back before you know it."
"But I don't want you to go." I wrapped my arms tightly around him.
"How about this," Theo started to speak. I looked at him. "If you be a good girl, I'll bring you gone a present."
"What kinda present?"
"You'll have to wait and see." Theo smiled.
"Can we eat brekky together before you leave?"
"Of course." Theo looked at Hannibal and said, "We're gonna go get a change and some breakfast."
"Alright. Me and Frankie will be down there soon."
"Okay." Theo turned towards the door and brought me to my room.
"Papa. Why do you have to work?"
"Cause. If I don't, we wouldn't have any money to spend on you kiddos." Theo laid me down on the changing table and unbuttoned the onesie I had on. Someone must have changed me while I was sleeping last night.
"Do you like work?"
"Yeah. Actually. I do. It's really relaxing. I think you would be surprised."
"Don't like school." I mumbled.
"I know, princess. That's why you're here with me and daddy. You never have to leave if you don't want to."
"Never ever?" I asked.
"Never ever." Theo leaned down and kissed my head.
"We love you so much, princess."
"I love you too, papa."
Theo smiled and lifted me up again. He had made quick work of changing me and brought me to the small dresser in my room.
He opened the top right drawer and got a shirt then opened the top left drawer and got some pants.
"What are me and daddy and Frankie gonna do while you're not here?" I whined just a little as I was set down to get my clothes on.
"Well. You'll have to ask daddy. Maybe Frankie can show you the rest of the rooms of the house. There's a lot you haven't seen."
"How many, papa?"
"Well. We have a gym and a game room down in the basement. We have a small library on the first floor. We also have an office on this floor that is daddys."
"That's a lot of stuff, papa."
"I know. Do you think you'll wanna see them all?"
"Maybe." I shrugged. "When are you gonna be home?"
"I should be home at 5:30 if I don't get held up at the school."
"Don't want you to leave."
Theo lifted me up again once he was done putting my clothes on me.
"Papa. I'm gonna really miss you." My lip began to wobble.
"I know, princess. And I'm gonna miss you too."
"What time is it?" I asked him.
"It's only 6 o'clock, sweetie."
"Why do you have to leave so early?"
"Cause I gotta get there before the kids." Theo explained as he walked down the stairs.
"Papa. Do you have a mommy or a dada?"
"Of course, baby. What makes you ask?"
"I never knew my grandma or grandpa." I said.
"Would you like to meet my parents so you can know your grandma and grandpa?"
I thought for a second then said, "I think so."
"Well. I'll have to see if they can come over sometime soon."
"That would be nice." I said as Theo strapped me into the high chair.
Theo went to the fridge and said, "What kind of eggs would you like, princess?"
"Scrambled." I said. "Can I have some juice, papa?"
"Of course, honey. Apple or Mango?"
"Apple please."
"Of course, baby."
Theo got me some juice in a sippy cup and handed it to me. He went back to the stove and began cooking the eggs.
Hannibal came down not long after with Frankie in his arms.
"Hi, sweet pea." Hannibal said as he leaned down and kissed my head.
"Hi, daddy."
Hannibal slid the tray off of Frankie's seat and helped him into it.
"Daddy. Can I have some juice?"
"Sure, pal." Hannibal ruffled Frankie's hair.
"Papa. Can we call Sally when you get home?"
"Sure, buddy." Theo said with a smile.
He brought two plates of eggs over to me and Frankie.
"Do you want me and daddy to both be with you?"
"I wanna do it alone." Frankie sounded unsure.
"Who's Sally?" I asked.
"Sally is Frankie's big sister." Theo answered.
"Oh." I didn't know how to respond.
"She's my old sister." It sounded as if Frankie was trying to correct Theo. "She's not my sister anymore. She's just Sally."
"She can still be your sister even if she's not around anymore."
"We don't need to call her. Never mind." Frankie quickly said.
"We can talk about this when I get home. I gotta get going." Theo kissed Frankie's head. "She's still your sister. We can call her when I get home. Okay?"
Frankie didn't say another thing about it. He just stayed quiet and refused help with eating.
"Alright, babies. I gotta get going." Theo leaned over and kissed my head.
"Love you, papa." I said to him.
"I love you too, princess."
"Bye, Theo." Frankie said with a stubborn tone. "Hannibal. I think I would like to be big today."
Hannibal didn't respond. "Call us at lunch, babe." Hannibal went to Theo and kissed him.
"Okay. I will. I love you." Theo said with a sigh. He looked at Frankie and said, "I love you, buddy. Please don't be mad."
"I'm not mad. I just need a break." Theo reached down and slid the tray off of Frankie's chair.
"Go to your room. Come back down when you're feeling better."
Frankie looked like he didn't want to leave, but he left anyway.
"Is Frankie in trouble, papa?"
"No, sweetie. He just needs to be big for today."

-

It was lunch time now and we still hadn't got a call from Theo and Frankie hadn't joined us.
"Daddy. Can we go check on Frankie?" I asked him.
"Sure, baby. I'm sure he'd love for you to see him."
Hannibal stood from the sofa and switched the tv off. He picked me up and said, "Lets go get you changed then we can go find bubba."
I didn't even notice that I had wet myself. I blushed and just let Hannibal carry me upstairs.
He took me into my room and laid me on the changing table.
"Daddy. Do you think Frankie is okay?"
"Of course, sweetie. He just gets like this sometimes."
"Is Frankie still big sometimes?"
"Yeah. This is the first time he's been big in three months. So we just need to be patient with him."
"Okay."
I hadn't realized that Frankie could possibly be big still.
Hannibal walked down the hall and opened a door.
I was confused to see Frankie laying in a bed made for a big kid.
"Hey, bud." Hannibal set me down by the door and went to the bed.
He sat down beside Frankie and ran a hand through the boys hair.
I stood by the door, not knowing what to do.
Hannibal's phone rang and he quickly went to answer it.
I could only hear his side of the conversation, but I could tell it was Theo on the other side.
"You wanna talk to Frankie?"
"Yeah. Okay. I'll put him on."
Frankie was handed the phone and he mumbled a "Hello."
"I'm okay."
"Yeah."
"Can we still call Sally?"
"Okay. I love you too."
Frankie handed the phone back to Hannibal.
"Yeah. I'll put her on." Hannibal looked towards me and held out the phone.
I went over and took it.
"Hi, papa."
"Hi, princess. How is everything?"
"Everything is good. Frankie hasn't come out of his room yet though. Will you be home soon, papa?"
"A few more hours, princess."
I sighed. "Okay. I'll see you when you get home." I felt the sudden urge to cry again.
"Can I talk to daddy again?" Theo asked. I handed the phone back to Hannibal.
Hannibal pulled me close and let me sit on his lap.
"Okay. Yeah. See you later." Hannibal had a smile on his face. "I love you too."
"Alright. Let's leave Frankie alone."
Hannibal stood up and lifted me up.
"Bye, Frankie." I frowned.
"I'll see you later, Nel."