I was screaming and crying, throwing my underwear around the room. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" My head jerked up at the sound of Brody growling.
I sniffled and swiped the back of my hand over my eyes. "They were here this morning and… but they're not now and… I swear I saw them and…" Not only was I not making sense, I had to stop talking when my tears took over.
Brody squatted down in front of me. "Take it from the top, sweetie. But first I need you to count back from ten and take a few deep breaths so I can understand you."
Swiping my eyes again, I counted back like Brody said. When I reached zero, I felt calm enough to talk. "I wanted to wear my favorite underoos. The Iron Man ones with the red waistband. But they aren't in my drawer."
Brody lifted a brow, glancing meaningfully behind me. "I think it's safe to say there is nothing in your drawer since it's lying where you threw it. You're lucky it's still intact and there isn't more than a small dent in the wall." When I stiffened, Brody held up a hand. "At ease, champ. I was just stating facts. Maybe if you pick up the mess you made all over your bed and floor, you might find them. Is it possible you missed them the first time?"
My lip poked out with a perfect pout as I shook my head. "No. I didn't, or I wouldn't have thrown the drawer in the first place. And they weren’t there the second time I looked or the third, either. That's when everything else kinda started getting tossed around instead of staying in a pile."
Frowning, he thought over my words. "All right. It's possible they got lost in the laundry or they haven't made it back into your drawer if Gertie did your wash today. Would you like me to call her?"
I stood up and stamped my feet. "No, it’s not possible! Not unless Gertie has started taking clean clothing out of my drawers. They were in there this morning, I swear. I almost wore them, and then I put them back and promised I would wear them when I got home. I wanted to wear my grownup ones today. But now they're missing! Ugh! Why aren’t you taking this seriously?"
Brody rose to his feet and rested his hands on my shoulders. "Stop yelling, and I will try to do a better job of listening. Use your inside voice, Neil. I understand you're upset, but there is no need to blast our eardrums."
Sniffling, I blinked back a fresh round of tears. "But they were in my drawer this morning, and Gertie knows how important they are to me. She always makes sure they're in my drawer before she goes home on laundry day. You can call her if you want, but I swear she won't know because someone obviously took them."
Brody pulled me against his chest and embraced me. After a second's hesitation, I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him back. The sound of his steady heartbeat made me feel safe. I barely noticed as he walked us over to the bed and sat down, pulling me onto his lap to cuddle me some more. For the first time since I opened my drawer, his deep voice murmuring in my ear made me feel safe.
"I believe you, Neil. And I promise I will do everything in my power to figure out what happened. After you feel steady again, let's get you dressed, and we'll go have our snack."
I talked into his neck, muffling my voice. "I don't want cookies. I want my underoos. I want my Iron Man."
"I know, sweetie. But for now, you can put on your second favorite pair, and we can salvage what's left of our afternoon. I promise you do want cookies. Grown-up Neil won't even be mad because I got you organic oatmeal raisin ones sweetened with honey. There are no difficult to pronounce ingredients and not a sign of hydrogenated vegetable oil. And if you're nice, I might even be talked into a bottle of chocolate milk to wash them down."
As I snuggled against him, I realized I liked this. I was being cared for, which made me feel safer than anything. Smiling, I nodded and leaned back to look at him. "For chocolate milk, I can be really good."
He chuckled and ran a hand over my back.