This is my first fic so please leave a review and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Ann
Ann got home from the funeral to find a note that said:
"Ann I'm sorry to have do this, but the new tenant needs to be able to move in by the first of next month, so I need you out before the end of the month. If there was any way I could let you stay, I would, but the lady who's moving in has three kids and already gave notice that she was moving and will have nowhere else to go. I'm Sorry about your family.
Mr. Jackson,"
Ann collapsed into a chair; she wondered how she would get through this. A week earlier her parents, brother and sister had been going to sign the final papers for the house they where going to buy. But, they where hit by a drunk driver while on an overpass. She was told that the car went over the edge and came down on top of a road sign. One of the signposts had punctured the gas tank and it exploded. The only comfort she had was knowing that her family would have died instantly, and not suffered.
They had asked her to come with them but she had said she would rather spend the day at the museum, than standing around waiting for papers to be signed. Now, she wished she had gone with them, maybe if she had, the timing would have been different, and they wouldn't have been hit, or at least, she would have died with them.
She had no idea how she was going to survive without them, she was only twenty-three and the closest things she had to real jobs were: babysitting, volunteering at the museum and some of the nearby archaeological digs. Her parents had said that as long as she was getting good grades she should concentrate on her education, in result, she would be allowed to stay with them.
Now she had to figure out what to do. The landlord had found someone to rent the house within a few days of her parents telling him they where moving out. The money that would have gone for the house they were going to buy had to be used for the funeral. What was left wasn't going to last long. And she hadn't heard back from any of the few places that she had, had time to turn applications into, while trying to plan the funeral.
She stood up and walked over to one of the piles of boxes and picked up one of the pictures of her family. Most of the stuff in the house had been packed right after they had found out they where going to be buying the new house. They had just ended up having to wait to sign the paper work because, the old man who had owned it, had ended up sick and went to stay with his daughter until he was feeling better. So they had to wait to sign the paperwork until he was able to come back. But they had gotten everything packed except what they would have to use before they moved, her mother had refused to pack up any of the family pictures until the day they moved. When they had taken down the shelves that the pictures had been on, she had set them up across the tops of the boxes.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, making Ann jump. She still hadn't gotten used to the house being so quiet, and any sudden noises seemed to startle her.
When she opened the door there stood Doreen Nickle. She had been a friend of the family's as long as Ann could remember and, since the accident, she had been checking on Ann every day and bring her dinner.
Ann said, "Doreen you really don't need to bring me dinner everyday."
"Well someone has to make sure you're eating. I saw the kitchen when I was here the other day, you don't have enough food out there for a mouse, let alone a young women who's already too skinny. Now, is there anything else you need?" Doreen asked.
"Not unless you know of anyone who would give me a job or has a cheap apartment to rent."
"You still haven't found a job?"
"No. The museum doesn't have any job openings, and I can't do anything but volunteer work at the local dig sites until I graduate. All the other places I have applications in at said they don't really need any one else at the moment, but they would call me first if anything opens up. And it took all of the money that we had saved up to pay for the funeral. What I have left might pay for food and stuff for a few weeks, but there's not enough to eat and get an apartment. I just don't know what to do," Ann finished fighting back tears.
"Well that settles it, you are going to come stay with us."
"I couldn't, you have already done so much for me. I'd feel like I was taking advantage of you. I just have to find a job and I'll be fine."
"Well until you find a job and a nice place to stay, I don't want you ending up in some dangerous neighborhood, because you can't afford something nicer. Anyways, if you are staying with us, I won't have to worry about you all the time, or use the gas to come check on you. Fred and I already agreed that if you hadn't found anything by today, we would have you come stay with us. We have that huge basement that we set up for Fred's mother before she moved in with us, and then she ended up taking the spare bedroom instead. So we have all that space that's just being wasted. If it makes you feel better, I'll put you to work, helping with the chores, to earn your keep until you get a job." Doreen said. Giving Ann a look that said she wasn't going to back down.
Ann finally said. "Alright, alright, I'll stay with you but just until I get a job and find an apartment."
"Good we'll be here in the morning to help you get your stuff moved."
Ann looked shocked. "Tomorrow? I don't have to be out of here for almost two weeks. Don't you think we should wait a few days? I might be able to find a job by then."
"And this way if you do find a job you won't have to worry about moving until you have time to find a nice place, and you won't have to finish packing while adjusting to having a job. Anyway, we are leaving on vacation this weekend for two weeks and I want you to know where everything is that you might need while we're gone."
"I forgot about that. I'll finish packing the last few things tonight."
Doreen smiled and told her, "I'll see you in the morning. Get a good nights sleep, you'll need the energy tomorrow."
"I will. Thank you for everything; I don't know what I would have done. I don't think I can ever thank you enough."
"Don't worry about it. Your mom and I promised each other a long time ago that if anything ever happened to one of us that we would look after the others family and help them through it. I'm just keeping that promise. Now go, eat dinner and get to bed."
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."
The next morning Doreen, Fred and their thirteen-year-old son, Lucas, showed up to help move Ann's things.
After getting everything moved Fred took them all out for ice cream.
After deciding what they wanted, Doreen sent Ann and Lucas to find a place to sit. While she and Fred waited in line. It was a hot day and everyone seemed to have thought ice cream sounded good; considering the long line.
When they had found a seat, Ann said, "Thank you for helping today Lucas. It made it go a lot faster having you there."
"Mom said you could use all the help you could get, and I didn't have anything planned today, moving all that stuff was a lot of work for just three people."
"Most kids your age would have tried to make some excuse to get out of the work or expect to get paid for it."
"Well I have some friends that taught me how important it is to work together and help others just because it's the right thing to do, not because you'll get something for it."
"They must be smarter and nicer than a lot of people are these days."
Lucas smiled, "They are."
Doreen and Fred came over and passed out everyone's ice cream.
That evening Doreen was helping Ann get her bed made while telling her where everything was that she might need until she had finished unpacking.
"Ok, I think that's everything you need to know. Oh, one more thing, don't kill any ants."
Ann looked at her and said. "Ok. Why not?"
"I don't really know it's just about a year and a half ago I stepped out onto the front porch, Lucas was sitting out there and there where a couple of ants heading right at his leg I was afraid they might bite him. So I tried to step on them before they could get to him, I missed one, probably because of the ridges in the bottom of my shoe. Before I could get it he yelled at me to stop. I told him I didn't want him to get bitten and he said it wasn't going to bite him. Well, I went back in to the house and few minutes later he came in the house and ran to his bedroom crying and wouldn't talk to me for two days. He never would tell me why he was so upset. I don't know if some thing happened after I came in or if he was that upset about the ant. But I have avoided stepping on ants since then."
"Wow I remember him trying to destroy that ant hill in the front yard several times when I was babysitting. I can't imagine him being that upset about you killing one ant."
"I know. But it was the only thing that I could think of that I had done that might have upset him."
