Being eighteen, raising a baby mostly on her own was draining for Amelia. But the violence Carolyn exhibited towards Royal was enough to keep Amelia on her toes. It wasn't until Royal was of age to be crawling that she worried more so. She'd been sending out college applications for hours, and Royal had been on the floor playing with toys while she did so. So when she put the papers away in a folder, and looked down at her blanket, Royal was nowhere to be found. Her heart felt as though it had stopped beating, her throat closed. "Shit. Shit, shit shit!" She got on two feet and began to search the room. "Baby!? Baby, where are you. Don't hide from Amy. Come on. Don't hide from your sister." She called out, her heart palpitating. "Baby!?"

Her room was clear and that only scared her more. She looked around and saw her door was open and she groaned, running out of it and looking down each end of the hallway. She searched every room on the floor, including the bathroom. She couldn't find her. That's when the tears came. She was sobbing uncontrollably, seeing as she couldn't find her baby sister, and she was probably terrified out of her mind. She ran straight for the phone and dialed Derek's number.

"Derek!?" Amelia sobbed.

"No, it's Addison. Amy what's wrong?" She asked softly.

"I can't find Baby! She was on my floor and th-then she was gone." She gasped for breath. "I've looked everywhere and the door was open and now she's missing and she's probably scared and I don't know-"

"Amy take a deep breath." Addison said calmly. "Did you check your closet?"

"What closet! I don't-"

'Amelia." Addison's tone was sharper this time. "Stop talking, and listen. Did you check the closet in your bedroom?"

Amelia gasped. "N-No!"

"Go. Tell me if she's there, and if not, then we can worry." Addison said.

Amelia dropped the phone and ran to her bedroom, throwing open the closet door, Royal was chewing on one of her shoes, giggling happily. Amelia burst into tears again and picked up her baby sister in her arms, cradling her close to her chest. "Never do that again!" She cried into her sister. "I thought I'd lost you."

Royal was paying no attention. Amelia's necklace was a lot more interesting according to the young girl.

Amelia walked quickly to the phone and picked up the phone. "She was there."

"Is she okay?"

"She was chewing on my heels." Amelia muttered.

Addison chuckled lightly, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank G-d. Amy, why don't I come over? I can give you a little bit of a break. You seem stressed."

"It's just...yeah. Can you come?"

"I'll be there in fifteen."

They hung up.

Amelia pressed her hand to her sisters head and kissed the girls chubby cheek. "You're giving me grey hairs and I'm not even an adult yet..."

The two waited downstairs for Addison in the kitchen. Amelia was warming up some milk when the red head walked in.

"Addie, we're in here." Amelia called out.

Addison walked into the kitchen garbed in casual clothes. Jeans and a sweater were her favorite attire when there wasn't any work to be done. She came in and grinned at the baby that rested in Amelia's arms. "Baby! Come here!"

Amelia gladly handed the child to Addison and the red head hugged the baby close to her. "You want me to give that to her, Amy?"

"Would you mind?" Amelia's under eyes were splotched with dark spots, and her eyes were beat red.

"Of course not." Addison took the bottle from Amelia and began to feed the girl nestled in her arms. "Amy, what's up? You look half dead."

"Look? I feel half dead." Amelia groaned, sitting on the counter. "It's just that, well. I'm raising her all on my own. You and Derek are great with baby sitting when you can, but you're busy with college and stuff, so most of the responsibility is on me. I never realized how much work a baby really is. It isn't like mom is much use...she looks at her and seethes and it disgusts me. How can someone hate their baby that much?"

"I mean...maybe it isn't hatred. I think she just regrets having her." Addison shrugged, grinning down at the baby who was giggling at her, playing with her red tufts as she gulped down warm milk. "I mean, honestly. At her age, having another kid was hard on her, and especially after a drunk one night stand-"

"Don't remind me." Amelia rolled her eyes. "I don't want to think about how she was conceived, thank you."

"You have a rag?" Addison asked. Amelia took one out of her waist line and threw it at the red head. Addison caught it and threw it over her shoulder, waiting for Royal to finish so she could burp her. "You're doing great, Ames. She's healthy, growing like she should be. Carolyn will warm up to her."

"You don't see the way she looks at her, Addie." Amelia shook her head.

"Trust me, I think it's just the exhaustion from never sleeping." Addison said, putting the empty bottle down and hoisting Royal over her shoulder. "You'll see. Once you're gone for college, Carolyn will be the great mother you've always known."

"I hope." Amelia muttered, looking over at her baby sister.

Addison had nice intentions, but the reality was much darker than that, and Amelia leaving for college the month after was a very big mistake.