Adam woke up to his phone buzzing. He groaned as he reached for it. The sun shining through the blinds made him wince. "I hate mornings." He muttered to himself as he pulled the covers over his head. He swiped his phone and 1:23 was the time on his phone. "Not morning anymore is it?" He rubbed his eyes as he read the text message. It was from Morgan. Not the way he wanted to wake up. Some crap about getting together and catching up. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

Dragging himself out of bed was hard but something told him a good breakfast was going to be ready for him. The circumstances of being home sucked but getting a huge breakfast almost every morning was a perk. The stairs creaked as he walked down them. His mother was emptying out the dishwasher.

"He's alive." She joked as he came down the stairs into the dining room. "I almost went up to check on you. Did you forget you have to go to the Hacks to learn what chores you have to do?"

He totally forgot about it. "Guess that means I don't get breakfast?" He looked pleadingly at his mom knowing it would work.

"Bacon cheese sandwich?" Anita said shaking her head.

Adam hugged his mom tightly. "You're the best."

"It will be done when you get out of the shower. Now hurry. It's quite a drive and you need to be there by three."

He looked around for his sister. "Abby is already ready to go?" He asked surprised.

"I heard that!" Abby yelled from the other room.

"Yes now get in the shower. I don't want you two to be late."

It was impossible for Adam to take a quick shower. The shower was where he did all of his thinking and daydreaming. He often joked on Facebook that he could live in one. This time was no different. He thought of Morgan and if he was going to respond to her text. They didn't end their relationship in the best way. Why couldn't she just stay out of his life? The memories came flooding back like the water flowing down his body.

He finished showering, got ready, ate breakfast, and set off for the Hacks. Abby was strangely quiet on the drive over. She usually had comments about his driving at least. He was even speeding and she hadn't said anything.

"You ok, Abby?" He looked over at his sister. Abby looked like their mom. She was a little bit on the thick side, more so when she was younger, but puberty helped to thin her out. Like everyone in the family, except for Adam, she struggled with her weight. She kept her brown hair very long. She was growing it out to donate to Locks of Love. The thought made Adam smirk because their mom would cry her eyes out the day it would happen. She had the same blue eyes he had and same quiet demeanor. They were actually a lot alike in personality. It was probably the reason they were close and yet still fought like cats and dogs. Adam knew this would be stressful for both of them. They had done this before and fought within the first few minutes.

"Yeah, just tired." She was looking out the window.

Adam shoved her a little. "But you're always tired."

Abby shoved him back a little. "Are you really gonna start before we even get there?"

He laughed and swerved the car jokingly. "Hey you are the one shoving the driver. Do you want us to crash?"

She knew what was going to happen next and Adam did it just to prove her right. He let go of the wheel and held is hands out. "Jesus, take the wheel! Take it from my hands!" He sang it out loud and then took control again.

"I really hate it when you do that." She looked back out the window annoyed.

Adam smirked because his job was done. "I know you do." It was just part of being an older brother. You had to mess with your younger siblings.

When they pulled up to the house they both stared in awe. It was a beautiful house surrounded by a huge forest. They were practically in the middle of nowhere. The house was three stories counting the furnished basement. They had a huge screened in back porch with a hot tub and swimming pool. Huge gardens surrounded the house. There was even a guest house. Mike had three different companies that he started on his own. He had a huge barn/workshop where he kept his equipment and breeding operation.

Karla came out to greet them. Adam always felt uncomfortable around her because she had big eyes and she had a staring problem. She showed them the dogs and how to feed and water them. Abby would be in charge of watering the plants and he would be in charge of the dogs. She also had a pond with the huge fish and lily pad setup. They would have to feed them every other day. They weren't so good at remembering that last time.

After Karla explained everything in detail the three of them stood by Adam's car.

"Now, you can use the pool and hot tub if you like. We just ask that you use care and make sure everything is how we left it. We appreciate you doing this very much and we've left all the numbers you can reach us by on the fridge. Help yourself to anything. We'll be leaving early tomorrow morning. We'd like you to get here before 10 to feed the dogs."

Both of them nodded to everything she said. "Thanks for asking us to do it. The dogs are in good hands. We hope you have a good trip."

"Any questions?"

They both looked at each other and shook their heads. "Nope."

"Here are the keys then. Thanks again."

On the way home both of their phones blew up with missed call notifications and text messages. Apparently they didn't get service at the house.

"That sucks. Looks like we will be watching a lot of movies."

Abby was texting on her phone when Adam slapped it out of her hand. "Don't answer any of mom's texts. She'll be so mad when we get home." They both laughed about that.

When they walked in they got an ear full just like they expected.

"You were gone longer than you said. Plus I wanted to know what food to get you guys. I hate it when you don't answer me."

Abby and Adam both sighed. "Geez! Calm down. Karla was just going over everything in detail. We don't have service out there and we figured answering you wasn't a life or death situation."

Anita still looked worried. "I don't like the fact that you don't have service out there. What if something happens? You saw that news report about those psychos killing people. First they killed that young girl and then that couple. Maybe I should go out with you?"

Adam was getting annoyed now. It didn't take much. "Mother! They have a landline and NO you are not coming with us. Those towns aren't even close to us."

In bed later that night Adam was reading over the messages Morgan had sent him. It was just painful to go over all these feelings again after burying them for so long. Why was she bugging him now after all this time? The door to his room opened and light poured in making him squint.

"What now?" He groaned.

Anita walked in and sat down beside his bed.

"I just wanted to apologize. I'm your mother. It's my job to worry about my kids." She let it hang there before continuing. "Abby saw that Morgan texted you. Is everything all right? I know you've been going through a tough time lately."

Hearing his mom say those things just made him feel worse. This was his problem and now it was causing others to worry.

"I'm fine, Mom. I'll take care of it tomorrow."

She nodded silently and got up to leave. Before shutting the door she smiled lightly. "Good night. I love you."

Adam smiled back. "Love you too."