Daddy spent a total of two weeks in the hospital before he was released. I waited by the window sill and watched as Jim pulled into the driveway. We had become all too familiar with the teal station wagon. Upon parking his Crosley, Jim moved to the passenger door and gave my dad a shoulder to lean on. The senior Dollanganger gripped the man's upper arm and hauled himself onto the concrete, using a new crutch in the process.

Excluding Momma, the whole family hauled Daddy into the living room and placed him lightly on the sofa. Jim lifted his friend's plastered leg onto the footstool, constantly checking to see if he was in any pain. Daddy let out a sigh and smiled at me.

"Man, am I glad to be home! I don't ever want to go near the smell of disinfectant ever again!"

Christopher and I chuckled. We had our father back, and we would be forever grateful for that.

"Will you be alright without me, Chris?" Jim asked my father.

"Aw, Jim, stop worrying about me!" Daddy groaned. "Just go home and be thankful you don't have to babysit me anymore."

"Alright, then. Kids, if you ever need me, you know where I live."

We bid farewell to our loyal friend and showed him to the door. I noticed that the sun was beginning to sink into the faraway hills. I had not realised how late it was becoming. Daddy shifted on the sofa and leaned the wooden crutch against the coffee table.

"First things first: may I talk to Christopher?" Daddy asked us, before adding, "And Cathy too. Cory and Carrie, go and wait for me in the yard. I'll be there in a few minutes."

The twins skipped away to the back door, concerned only about the toys they had abandoned just moments before. Momma still had not joined us; she had been locking herself in the master bedroom as of late. Whenever she did come out and I asked her about her behaviour, she would simply shrug and retreat back up the stairs.

"Now that we're alone, I can talk to you about certain things. Oh, sit down, I may take a while."

Christopher and I did as he asked. We rested ourselves on the two-seater that sat adjacent to the sofa. I looked at Daddy curiously, for I knew that he was going to tell us something important.

"While I was in the hospital, I thought about all the things that could've happened to our family if I hadn't made it."

I felt a lump in my throat. "Daddy..." I whispered.

"Please, Cathy, this is important. You see, your mother and I have done our very best to raise the four of you. We made sure that you were all well-fed, well-educated and had all the things that some people may never have. I am very grateful that I haven't spoiled any of you, but your mother and I have always had a weakness for... material possessions."

I remembered pointing these out to Christopher once. When Daddy bought the Cadillac, I asked him why the family would need a luxury car when he could have bought an ordinary sedan, especially when Momma was still holding onto two squalling babies. Half of the items in the Dollanganger household were only there to make the place look pretty, even though the house would always be beautiful to me.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," Daddy continued. "But if I didn't make it, the whole family would be in debt. Nothing in this house is actually ours. Heck, I still need to pay a hundred more bucks for this sofa."

Christopher leaned forward. "We'd still have the house though, right?" He inquired. When Daddy paused, Christopher turned pale. "Right?"

"Oh, Christopher. I am so sorry, but we've barely even paid off the mortgage. But I didn't bring the two of you here to whine about what we don't have. As far as I'm concerned, we do have everything. But if we're going to keep everything, I'm going to need your help."

The two of us sat up, ready to hear what Daddy had to say next. He paused for a few seconds, his eyes flickering about. Daddy seemed too agitated to be able to form his next sentence. Christopher, as usual, could read his mind like a notebook.

"I could get a part-time job, Dad." He promised. "The hardware store is hiring. I could apply there."

"I'm asking too much of you, Chris," Daddy struggled. "If it might distract you from your studies, then you don't have to..."

"Dad, it's fine. A few afternoons a week won't distract me."

Daddy's face lit up once again. "You're too good to be true, son. Thank you for understanding."

For the millionth time in two weeks, I thanked God for letting us keep our father. I could not bear to lose the house that Christopher and I grew up in.

I moved to the edge of the seat. "What about me? I can help."

"Yes, you can, Cathy," Daddy agreed. "You're not old enough to work, but the family will need someone to help around the house. With your mother working at the diner, we're gonna need someone to look after the twins."

"Momma? Working?"

"Didn't she tell you? She will be working as a waitress starting from tomorrow."

Momma being employed at a diner was the last thing I could imagine. She could barely look after the house. Heck, her cooking was average. Sometimes, she would buy freshly-baked food from the store and pass it off as her own.

"No," I replied. "She didn't tell us anything."

"Because she ain't happy about it," Daddy said. "It's not hard to miss that look she's been giving for the last while or so. When I woke up in the hospital, she was all smiles and kisses. When I told her that we had to start saving our money... well, you can imagine her reaction. Took me a while to convince her to get a job and to stop buying things that aren't necessities."

"Sounds like Momma," I sang sarcastically.

"Don't be too hard on her. She has only ever known wealth. She agreed to go find a job when I said that I didn't want my family to go hungry, at least."

My mind still could not consume the image of Momma in uniform. The last time we had lunch there, she looked at a passing waitress and scowled. The uniform consisted of a sky blue dress with white frills and a grey apron. Frankly, they were maids' outfits. Momma turned and whispered in my ear, "I would not be caught dead in that."

"I don't have to go back to work until next week," Daddy drew me out from my train of thought. "I won't be able to travel for another few months but Bob says I'm too resourceful to be sacked." He chuckled. "I'll be based here in Gladstone until my injuries heal. Even better, I don't have to take a pay cut."

We had invited Daddy's boss for dinner a few times. One could tell that Bob admired my father for his hard work; he once bragged that the firm would not survive without Christopher Sr. Of course, Christopher Jr. would smile just as proudly, knowing that his dad was a uniquely intelligent human being.

"That's great to hear, Dad," my brother beamed. "In fact, I'll go down to the store now."

"They close in twenty minutes," I pointed out.

"Then, I'll have to run." Christopher leapt to his feet and rushed to the door.

"If I get the job, I'll pay off the sofa in a week. You'll see!"

He shut the door behind him and bolted across the street. The sky had darkened from orange to purple. I relocated next to Daddy and hugged him, never wanting to let him go.

"We'll be fine, Cathy. Just gotta pull out weight for the time being."

"I can clean the house and look after the twins," I said. "But I don't know how to cook."

"That's alright, sweetie. We'll hire Mrs. Simpson to babysit for another week before leaving you on your own. I'll get her to teach you how to cook."

"She always cooks cabbage. I hate cabbage."

Daddy laughed. "Me too. But I'd rather eat that than starve. She cooks other things as well; didn't she bake you cupcakes at one point?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Then I'll make sure that she'll teach you everything there is to know about cooking."

In another life, I would have complained about being stuck with all the chores. Cooking, cleaning and babysitting would be the death of me. But I could never part with our home, and it would tear me apart if I had to lose Daddy again.

Two weeks flew by, and boy, had our household changed!

Christopher had been accepted for his new job upon arriving at the hardware store. He told us that to his astonishment, the owner was the father of one of his classmates. Although he had no work experience, Christopher managed to charm his way into the business by expressing his eagerness to learn.

Mr. Baker took him under his wing and trained him as the new stock person. Christopher knew the store inside-out by his second shift. How he managed to learn everything in two days, I would never know. He worked twelve hours altogether during the first week. You could imagine the family's delight when he came home and presented his first pay cheque.

"Mom! Dad!" He called. "The sofa belongs to us now!"

Our parents emerged from the dining room and simultaneously wrapped their arms around their eldest son. Momma jumped up and down in delight whereas Daddy expressed his pride and thanks for Christopher's diligence.

Momma's cheers gradually faded. Then slowly, she walked out of the room like some confused ghost. Her smile faded and was replaced with a look of exhaustion. She had only worked two nights that week, I thought. If anyone was to be exhausted, it would be me.

A routine began as soon as I arrived home from school. I would grab a quick snack from the fridge before escaping to my bedroom to finish my homework. Whenever Momma was working, she would leave by four-thirty, forcing me to take up the cleaning and babysitting. By five-thirty, the cooking began. I would make sure that there were enough leftovers for Christopher, Daddy or Momma; depending on who was working that night.

By the second week, I became an expert on making pumpkin soup. Mrs. Simpson did know how to make other foods apart from cabbage. She also taught me how to bake bread from scratch. Although she was not the nicest person in the neighbourhood, on our last day together, she bought me a cookbook filled with a variety of dinners and lunches.

Chopping up the pumpkin exhausted me. During the preparation, Carrie would interrupt and demand that I play with her. When I refused, she would stamp her feet and demand again that I play with her; to which I replied that if she did not leave me alone, there would be no dinner that night.

Of course, I would then make sure that Cory and Carrie were bathed and ready for bed. Both tasks were a challenge, thanks to my rambunctious little sister.

Slowly but steadily, the furniture and household appliances were being paid off. Momma and Christopher focused on our possessions while Daddy worked off the mortgage, bit by bit. By late June, the following items had been paid off: the sofa, the coffee table, the stove and a vase.

But still, Momma refused to smile.