Part 1: Monday
"I am so nervous," Tess told her mother.
"Tess, I'm sure you will make the team, and if you don't there is always next year," Carol explained.
"Yeah, Tess, it isn't like all the girls in school want to be cheerleaders," Kate remarked. "Only your friends."
"You're just jealous," Tess replied.
"Oh yes, I wish I to had enough talent to stand up in front of the parents at an eighth grade basketball game," Kate said sarcastically.
"Your friend Hannah tried out. If you make fun of me, you are making fun of her too," Tess responded.
"Hannah's mother made her try out. Her mom thinks it will make her a better gymnast," Kate stated.
"Hannah was the best one at try-outs," Tess informed her.
"That does not mean she wants to be a cheerleader," Kate snapped back.
"Are you ready to go?" Doug asked the twins as he entered the kitchen.
"I am, but I don't believe Tess has barfed up her breakfast yet. She'll be a few minutes," Kate answered.
"Kate, enough. One more thing before you leave, and you can forget having any friends over," Carol warned her.
Kate ate one last bite of cereal before grabbing her backpack and walking out to Doug's car.
"What was that about you throwing up your food?" Doug asked Tess.
"Kate is making stuff up. I didn't even eat breakfast today," Tess told him.
"That isn't any better, kiddo. Grab a piece of fruit to eat on the way," he said looking at his watch. "Kate will be honking the horn any minute."
"Beep, beep," echoed in from the garage.
"Good luck," Carol told Tess giving her a hug. "Oh," she said turning to Doug, "remember you are taking Meg to the dentist today. Her appointment is at one o'clock."
"Already have it taken care of, I'm leaving work at twelve," he explained.
"Beep, beep, beep, beep," Kate was honking the horn again.
"Bye," he said giving Carol a quick kiss before leaving.
When Doug opened the driver's side door, Kate was examining her nose in the mirror.
"I would look good with a nose ring," she stated.
"No, you wouldn't," he told her flatly.
"I didn't say is was going to get one or even that I wanted one. I just said I would look good with one," Kate said slouching back into her seat.
Doug drove the rest of the way to Harper's Hollow Middle School in a silent car. Tess was finishing her math homework in the backseat, and Kate was staring gazing out the window. He pulled into the drop off area before he broke the silence.
"I'm picking you both up after school today," he emphasized the both because Kate tended to do as she pleased.
"You're picking up Hannah too," Kate told him.
"All right, Hannah too, but I might be late because I'm taking Meg to the dentist," he explained. "Wait in front of the school."
"We will," Tess said jumping out of the car and hurrying toward one of her friends.
"Bye," Kate said slamming the door.
Doug made his way out of the parking lot and back onto the street. He drove until he reached Hollow-Creek Hospital. He parked is car in the staff parking area and walked inside the medium sized hospital. He showed his ID to security and took the elevator up to the pediatric floor. There was a mountain of charts for him to go over, and it was will into the next hour before he was able to see his patients.
"How are you this morning, Andrew?" he asked a boy who looked about four years old.
The boy stared at him.
"I need to have you do all those things again today. Remember the test I gave you last time?" Doug questioned.
Andrew nodded, and Doug extended his hand and asked Andrew to pull it. He asked Andrew to do several more tasks and concluded there still appeared to be no brain damage. Andrew had been repeatedly slammed into a wall by his stepfather, and he had two broken arms and bruises over most of his body as a result.
"I'm leaving early today, but Dr. Mason will come and check on you this afternoon," Doug told Andrew.
"Where are you going?" Andrew asked.
"I am taking my daughter to the dentist," Doug explained marking a few things down on Andrew's chart.
"How many kids do you have?" the boy asked.
Doug was rather intrigued because the staff had hardly gotten two words out of Andrew in the week had been in the hospital.
"I have three daughters," Doug told him.
"What are there names?" Andrew asked.
"Kate, Tess, and Meg. Kate and Tess are thirteen, and Meg is eight," Doug replied.
"I have three sisters," Andrew told him.
"Really?" Doug had treated two of the girls and released them to social services.
"Yup, Lydia, Olivia, and Courtney. They are far away now," Andrew told him.
"Maybe before you leave the hospital you can meet one of my daughters," Doug said.
"Really?" Andrew questioned.
"Maybe," Doug told him. "Andrew, I will see you tomorrow."
"Bye, Dr. Ross," Andrew said. The nurse who had enter had a hard time believing this was the same boy who had refused to say anything.
Around 12:30 Doug picked Meg up from Beaver Creek Elementary School. She was talking up a storm before they had left the school.
"I have a really big swim meet this weekend, and my coach said if I place well I might make the county team," Meg chattered on. "I want to be on the county team, but it is a lot of work."
Doug sat in the waiting room at the dentist office reading a month old issue of People Weekly. He had just finished finding out which celebrities were obtaining divorces when Meg reappeared.
"I don't have any cavities," she announced.
Doug brushed her head with his hand before he walked over the receptionist. The receptionist gave him a receipt, and he and Meg walked out to the car. It had begun raining while they were inside the dentist office, and the parking lot was covered in water.
"Are we going home?" Meg asked.
"No, we have to pick your sisters up," Doug told her.
"Then are we going home? Meg questioned.
"Possibly, why do you have some place to be?" he asked. The questioned amused Doug, but Meg just stared at him. "I'm not sure yet," he said answering the original questioned.
A few minutes later, Doug pulled up in front of Tess and Kate's school. Kate and her friend, Hannah were sitting under a cover sidewalk. Tess walked out the door of the school when she noticed Kate and Hannah walking toward the car.
"Don't ask Tess about tryouts," Kate said quickly before Tess got into the car. Tess slammed the car door.
Doug gave Meg a warning look, and she launched into conversation about what she had done in school today.
Once they arrived home, Tess retreated to her room.
"Meg, why don't you make some snacks," Doug suggested. "Kate, I need to talk with you."
Hannah went to help Meg, and Doug pulled Kate aside.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Tess made the team, but Hannah said the coach said something to her after practice," Kate explained.
"You don't know what she said?" he questioned.
"No," Kate answered.
"I'll talk to her," Doug said. "Keep Meg downstairs."
Doug went upstairs to find Tess sitting in the hallway. She looked at Doug and said, "It was an accident. I wasn't supposed to make it."
"How did that happen?" he asked sitting down next to her.
"Did I ever tell you there is a girl in my grade named Tessa Rose? Well, there is and Tessa was supposed to make it. But somehow our names were mixed up. The coach says she isn't going to kick me off the team, but there can only be so many cheerleaders so Tessa should be on the team, but she isn't," Tess spilled out.
"Wow, looks like you have something to think about," he commented.
"What should I do?" she asked.
"I don't know. Your going to have to decide if you want to be a cheerleader or if you want to make right a situation you had nothing to do with," Doug told her.
"I need to think," she said.
"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.
"No, I'm need to go for a run," Tess going to her room to put on her running shoes.
Tess normally ran around the block three times, but this time she did not want to stop. Her legs ached, and her throat was as dry as a cotton ball. She stopped suddenly. She knew what she had to do. She had heard it since she could remember. She needed to tell the coach that Tessa should be on the team.
Doug was sitting with Carol at the kitchen table. Tess hadn't realized how much time had passed.
"I'm going to tell the coach to let Tessa be on the team," Tess told them.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Carol asked.
"No, I know what I need to do," Tess said.
Tess was almost out of the room when Carol said, "Tess, we're proud of you."
"Thanks," Tess responded, and she felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off her shoulders. But she still felt a pain inside.
Note from Banana Belle
This is the first chapter of a seven part series going through a week with the Ross family. Hence the title. Anyway let me know what you think, and I'll see what I can do about getting all the chapters up in a timely fashion.