A/N: Well, this is yet another Cricket story. She's my favorite to write if you haven't figured that out yet. This is her life around when she's in junior high. Deals with what happened around the time her parents separated. Hope you guys enjoy! Please leave me a review and let me know!

CARUTH HOME

SATURDAY MORNING

Clint really wanted to make this day special for Cricket, since she never really got to spend a day with just him. He had made her breakfast, and was about to go wake her up when he heard her crying from behind the door. He opened it and gently knocked, "hey kiddo"

She tensed up and sighed when she heard her dad's voice. "sorry"

He walked into her room and realized she was already in her blue cheer uniform but her unruly hair was hanging in her face and she was holding a brush. He sighed, he knew Delilah had always done her hair but this was the first competition that she wasn't here for. He was mad at himself for not realizing this and not planning ahead to call Elizabeth.

"what's the matter hon?" he asked, walking closer.

"I dunno how to do my hair…." she whimpered. He almost told her that it wasn't worth crying over but he decided not to.

He sat by her, "why don't I call Amanda's momma and have her come by and fix it for ya?"

She shrugged, Amanda was still mad at her for always wanting to be around her parents, and she didn't know what to do about it. "whatever" was all she could think of to reply.

He rubbed her back, "I know she'll help ya fix it, she does a good job when ya come home with it all curly"

She was a little surprised, her dad never noticed when Elizabeth did her hair, and it hurt. "Manda's mad at me…." she sighed, she didn't know what to do and she just wanted her friend back.

"why's she mad?" he asked, he couldn't think of a reason that Amanda would be mad at his daughter.

"she said somethin bout how I was stealin her momma and daddy…" Cricket explained, with beady tears in her eyes.

"what'd she mean by that?" Clint thought it had something to do with the fact that Elizabeth said Cricket got really upset all the time she was there, but he wasn't sure.

Cricket shrugged, "I dunno" She was kinda confused when Amanda said that, Elizabeth and Troy were just nice to her.

He rubbed her back, "it'll be okay, how about you come see what's for breakfast and I'll call Elizabeth and see what's goin on"

She realized she was hungrier than she was when she got up and nodded. She didn't hesitate to eat the chocolate chip pancakes her dad had set out for her, and Clint stepped aside to call Elizabeth. The woman agreed to come help Cricket get ready and she promised Clint she would talk to Amanda.

By the time Clint came back in the pancakes were gone from his daughter's plate and he smiled, "she's gonna come do your hair hon, and she'll talk to Amanda about what you told me"

Cricket just nodded, and walked off to her room. About ten minutes later Clint let Elizabeth in the house and told her Cricket was in her room. The redheaded woman smiled, and made her way to the young girl's room. She gently opened the door and sighed, Cricket was on her bed clutching her teddy bear. "hey"

The preteen sighed, "hey Mrs. Stopper…."

"your daddy told me you needed some help with your hair" she said, smiling.

Cricket just nodded, and got up and grabbed her brush and some blue ribbons. Elizabeth smiled and started gently brushing the preteens long hair. Cricket was quiet but Elizabeth could see the beady tears that she was struggling to hold in. "what's buggin you kiddo?"

"momma won't be there…." She quietly mumbled.

Elizabeth squeezed her shoulder, "I know, but your daddy will. And I'm gonna make sure he stays the whole time and doesn't answer his phone"

"really?" Cricket asked, squeezing her bear.

"yeah, I know you want him to watch ya" Elizabeth said, starting to braid one side of Cricket's hair.

"mmk…" she mumbled.

Elizabeth knew the young girl was still upset and just let her be while she finished the braids. "are ya all ready?"

Cricket just nodded, but she was still struggling to hide her tears. She didn't know how well she'd do without her momma there, she never missed a single competition. "yeah…"

Elizabeth knew Cricket well enough to know that something wasn't right. "you sure?" she gently asked, she didn't want to force the young girl to talk.

Cricket shook her head and hugged Elizabeth. The redheaded woman knelt down to Cricket's level and rubbed her back, "what's wrong hon?"

"I can't do it…" she whimpered. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to go, but her daddy had promised to take her riding after the competition, so she was gonna do it anyways.

"what can't you do kiddo?" Elizabeth asked, still rubbing Cricket's back.

"the competition…" she mumbled. She was just way too scared to tell anyone about it and was going to pretend that she was okay, but Elizabeth being there made her want to open up.

Elizabeth sat on the floor with Cricket and held her hands, "I know you're upset about not havin your momma here, but I know you're gonna do just fine. I bet she's gonna be watchin ya"

Cricket looked at Elizabeth like she was crazy, her mom was dead. "how….."

The older woman sighed, "even though she's not here anymore she's still gonna be watchin over ya. Maybe if you pretend like she's there you'll do a great job, like you always do"

Cricket thought for a minute, she often pretended her dad was in the audience, so she might as well pretend her mom was there too. She worked so hard incase her dad was there, to make him proud. "I guess… sometimes I pretend my daddy's there when I know he's not"

Elizabeth squeezed the preteen's hands, "he's gonna be there today. And it's gonna be just fine. I heard he's takin you to see the horses later"

Cricket nodded, she wasn't sure what that was gonna be like. "yeah"

"I bet that'll be fun. But we've gotta do this competition first before that. its gonna be okay" the woman calmly said, trying to reassure Cricket that she could do the competition.

The preteen sighed, "I guess so…"

Elizabeth helped her up and hugged her, "it's gonna be just fine, I can talk to your daddy if ya want me to"

Cricket just shrugged, and grabbed her duffle for the competition and her bag for the ranch later. "got everything?" Elizabeth asked.

The preteen nodded, and forced a smile. They made their way downstairs and Clint was waiting on the couch. He got up and smiled when he saw his daughter struggling with both bags. He took one from her and smiled, "Hey pretty girl, you ready?"

She just nodded and walked away, towards the garage. Elizabeth sighed, "she's missin Delilah, she also told me that she sometimes pretends you're in the audience watchin her, so I really think it would be best if you stayed the whole time"

He sighed, "I'm going to. does she have her stuff for the ranch? I think we might stay out there tonight. She needs to be outta this house for a while"

"yeah, I think she's a little apprehensive about that though… she doesn't know if it's really gonna happen"

He sighed again, he knew he'd made empty promises to his daughter before, and he hoped he could change that now, she needed to know she could trust him. "I'm takin her. I told her I wouldn't take any calls from work"

Later that afternoon Cricket's competition was over and they had won, it wasn't the first time they won but it was the first time Clint had seen his daughter's team perform. He smiled when his daughter ran over to him, the bright blue bows bouncing in her hair. "hey kiddo, you did great"

She shuffled her feet a little, she was taken by surprise by that compliment. She wasn't sure if he was just saying that to have something to say or if he actually meant it.

He sighed, he knew this was hard for her, but he hoped it would get better. He knelt down by her and smiled, "why don't we go get something to eat, anything you want, and then we'll go to the ranch…"

She just nodded, "Italian?"

Clint smiled, and squeezed her shoulder, "alright kiddo, I want you to try takin a nap in the car so we can ride a little bit tonight"

She tried to hide a yawn and nodded, it kept her from having to talk to him so she was definitely going to be sleeping on the way to the ranch. She hoped things wouldn't get worse between her and her dad. She loved seeing her horses so she was happy to go to the ranch. She just sighed as she walked to her dad's truck and climbed in.

A/N: Sorry it's been a while! But real life got in the way and I don't want to study for midterms. I hope you guys like this!