Disclaimer: Twilight is all Stephanie Meyer, I own nothing Twilight. Though I must say, the amount of characters I do own, is rapidly increasing.

AN: Jeez, I'm such a doofus, I thought I had already posted this chapter! Sorry for the mix up! At least you won't have to wait so ridiculously long for the next one ;)

Thanks so much to my beta, yay4shanghai, she's wonderfully talented, and I'm so lucky to have her as a beta!

Wrongfully made assumptions

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POV: Lily

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Glaring angrily at Seth, who sat at the other end of the table, which had been a smart move because I was so pissed at him I was sure I'd hurt him if he came anywhere near me. That numb nuts had actually invited her over for Christmas dinner! We'd always had Christmas dinner, and I was keeping tradition alive. Ironically it was Mary-Ann who had introduced us to it.

Sue, Charlie, Beth and Caleb, were all here. Caleb had been a regular guest at our place since he imprinted on Maddy over a month ago, I had some difficulty accepting it at first, but as I watched the way he interacted with her, I realized she was like a very special little sister to him. She'd always been a happy child, but now she was thriving, I'd never seen her like this, I could tell he was good for her.

Everybody, even the girls, felt the tension in the room, cutting through the air like a knife. All except her that was, she was just lounging in her chair perfectly content, not having a single care in the world. How is it possible that everyone is walking around on eggshells for her benefit, while she's making no attempt whatsoever to make things easier for any of us?

Without discussing it with me, he had just told her she was welcome too! Then he hadn't told me until this morning, knowing I'd uninvited her if I got the chance. Why he was so set on having her here, was beyond me. He'd know how uncomfortable her presence would make my sisters and me, so I couldn't imagine a good reason for him to pull a stunt like this. When she got up and went to the bathroom, I had to say something, the moment she was out of the room, I dragged Seth off his chair, and pulled him into the kitchen.

"What the hell were you thinking inviting her today?! Have you seen how she's behaving, she's probably high right now!" Fuming with anger, I practically shouted at him.

"Lily, calm down, I'm sure she's not high!" Seth was struggling to keep me calm, but I was too enraged to listen.

"Not high?! Who are you trying to convince?! Shall we have a little look?! After all you shouldn't be taking my word for it!" Ignoring all the stares that I felt burning on my back, I sifted through Mary-Ann's bag, my hand resurfacing within a few seconds, clutching one of those plastic brown-yellowish transparent pill bottles.

"See! What did I tell you, she's high as a kite!" It was sad, but I knew I'd find something, recognizing her laid back was one thing that didn't came natural to her, it could only have been induced.

"Lily, let me see those for a moment!" Sue demanded suddenly, a little surprised I handed her the pills.

"Here, don't know what you're looking for, but go ahead." I didn't give a damn about what sort of shit she was taking now, but if she did, I wouldn't stop her.

"These are really strong painkillers!" Sue said concerned.

"Those usually work best, the stronger the better, that's her view on the matter!" Bitterness coating my words, I hated this part, it was always the same fucking thing with her!

"No Lily, I don't think it's like that, these are prescribed to her…" Sue's voice muted out.

"Wh- What?" All the anger left me, as an air filled balloon that got deflated, I slumped down in my chair.

Prescribed to her? As in a doctor had provided them and told her to take them? Why would she need painkillers, for a moment I contemplated the option of her having tricked the doctor, but at the same time I knew a doctor wouldn't prescribe heavy pain medication without a good reason to do so. Seth placed me on his lap, wrapping his arms around me, offering the little relief he could.

Then she walked back in, her relaxed demeanor had made place for an anxious one. Could she really be that ill? Sensing the upcoming drama, Caleb left the room with the girls, preventing them from being part of it, I would be forever grateful to him for doing that. When they were gone, all hell broke loose.

"What's this?!" My voice pitched high involuntarily.

"God Lily! Why can't you ever leave things alone, you had to go snooping through my bag again, I should've expected you'd get all judgmental, you're always like this! I should never have come here at all, I regret it already!" Pain rifled through me, letting my guard down for a single moment, she'd managed to get a shot in.

"What else could I have done, I recognized the signs, how am I supposed to know you actually need them this time? You still haven't answered my question, why do you need them?" The vague term being ill wasn't nearly specific enough for me.

"Never mind, I'm not mad at you, I understand how you would think that. Besides, I'm taking too much of them as it is, but mostly it's because I don't want the pain to return." Then I saw the underlying fear in her behavior, she was lashing out because she was scared.

"How bad is it mom?" I hadn't called her that in a very long time, but I felt the need to do so now.

"It's my liver, cirrhoses, without a transplant, I won't make it much longer. Which is kinda the issue, they can't put me on the list, since you have to be clean for over a year to be eligible." The world spun around me, as I took in her words, she was dying…

"Wait a minute, what about a living donor? Blood related family members have a good chances of being a match." Sue's expert opinion came rolling out of her, she was a nurse, and knew more about this than any of us.

"Yeah, they explained that to me in the hospital, but I couldn't ask Lily or Beth to do that." She sighed defeated.

"You knew?! You knew there was another option, and yet you kept it from us?!" Sometimes I wonder how much of her brain has been affected by her substance abuse.

"Yes I knew, and of course I didn't tell you, this is exactly why. You're the selfless one of us, you're the one who's put Chrissy and Maddy before herself, they need you more than they need me, I see that now. Can you imagine how horrible it would be if there were complications, what if they lost you? No, even if you were a match, I wouldn't accept it." Oh great, now she grows a conscience, couldn't this have happened sooner?! How does she expect me to stand by and watch her die, while knowing I can stop it from happening?!

"Mary, what about me? I could be a match too, the least I can do, is to get tested, to check and see if I am." Beth had been quiet this entire time, of course she was extremely concerned for her sister.

"Beth I'm really sorry for not telling you, truly I am, but if I did, I'd ask you to lie about it to Lily as I've been doing. It's better this way, I've hurt all of you enough already, this way I can't cause anyone pain anymore." Had she given up already, no way I was accepting this, as Beth said, we should at least get tested.

"Are you going to die mom?" Chrissy's shaky voice broke the silence that had formed after that last statement.

"I'm so sorry, Maddy was upset, I was comforting her, I didn't even noticed Chrissy slipping away from us!" Caleb, had come in rushing after her, but he'd been too late, she'd heard enough.

It wasn't his fault of course, but things could not have gone any worse than they had. Both Chrissy and Maddy were now aware of the situation, understanding it for as far as they could. This had to be the most fucked up situation I'd ever encountered, what were we supposed to do now? My heart broke when I saw their scared little faces look up at me, begging me to tell them it would be alright, that they'd misunderstood, that their mother was perfectly fine. But as much as I wanted to do just that, I couldn't.

Though I felt as if it shouldn't, everything went on, the day turned into night, and eventually everyone left. Beth had gone home with her sister, she refused to let her stay on her own, and I had to admit I was relieved someone would be looking after her. Caleb was the only one who stayed, as Maddy refused to let him go, and right now, I was truly grateful for the imprint I'd feared so much before, she'd need him now more than ever.

But Chrissy, poor Chrissy, that was another story, she didn't have an imprint to hold her during the night. She'd put up a brave face, but I could see her strength falter. Just as I'd been worried about her not being able to handle much more before, this had come crashing down on her as well, and I feared she'd reached her breaking point. She'd refused to talk to mom, the question she'd asked had been the last words uttered towards her, she completely ignored her presence after that.

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POV: Seth

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I knew she'd be mad at me for doing it, but I had to do something, I couldn't bear to watch it go on any longer. Their mother was ill, I just knew it in my guts, so when I talked to her a few days ago, I invited her for the Christmas dinner Lily insisted we were having. Since Charlie would want to celebrate as well, we had invited him and Sue, besides Beth, Caleb would be there as well, then again what day wouldn't he be? But until a few hours ago Lily hadn't known she was coming, she was ready to shoot me for it, though I was sure she'd forgive me eventually.

At this moment, I didn't know if I'd done well by inviting her, because the night had truly ended in disaster, never had I anticipated things to blow up as they did. It turned out she was fucking dying! Not only had we found out, Christina and Madeline had as well, at the most untimely moment, Chrissy had entered the room to hear her mother was dying. Well, if neither Beth nor Lily were matches to her, if they were they'd be able to donate part of their liver to Mary-Ann.

That was the thing occupying my mind right now, everybody had been asleep for hours, Caleb had crawled into bed with Maddy, and Lily had taken Chrissy into bed with us. After they'd fallen asleep, which hadn't taken long, after a day like this, total exhaustion was only to be expected, I got out of bed as silently as I could. Unable to sleep, I stepped out onto the front porch, it was December, which in Washington that meant we were right in the middle of a cold winter, but since it didn't affect me I sat down.

When I found out Mary-Ann was sick, terminal even, I felt horrible of course, it was sad, but mainly I felt bad for them losing their mother. But the moment mom had brought up the suggestion of testing for living donors, blood related family members to be exact, breathing became difficult. When Mary-Ann talked about the girls needing her, therefore the risk of losing her being too great, I wanted to scream at all of them, "what the fuck about me?!"

Torn between emotions, desperate for a solutions I sat there, it was so selfish of me to even think it, but it was there echoing loud through my head. I couldn't ask Lily not to do it if she were a match, I couldn't even wish that she wouldn't be a match, yet I did. Cursing Mary-Ann for not suffering from another illness, one where Lily was helpless or able to help in a non-harmful way, was even worse, but that was another thing I found myself doing.

If she turned out to be a candidate for donation, and made the decision to help her mother, there was nothing I could do to about it, but the idea tore at my heart. No matter how slight they were, there was always a chance of complications, which in worst case scenario meant losing her. But there was no way I could live without her, she was my heart, my life, I might as well be on the table with her if she wouldn't make it. This was impossible, I had to stand by and watch it happen, without having a say in any of it.

The days passed in almost complete silence, neither of us had gone into work, Sam had called me to tell me I wouldn't be needed for the coming week at the very least, Lily had received the same reaction from her boss when she called to explain. Now we all sat around the house, barely talking to each other, let alone about the subject that consumed our total thinking process, we were all ignoring the giant elephant in the room.

Maddy seemed least affected by what was happening around her, which was understandable, death was an obscure concept to a five year old. Besides, she had Caleb, who hadn't left her sight since that fateful day, comforting her whenever she needed it. Chrissy on the other hand was turning into an empty shell of herself, I could see her fading before my eyes, without any clue on how to help her.

A couple of days later, both Beth and Lily went to get tested, I insisted on going with them, while Caleb watched the girls. Driving to the hospital, I felt like throwing up the entire time, I hadn't felt this bad since I transformed into a wolf for the first time. Being there could only be described as torture, I was ready to kill the fucking nurse that drew her blood, seeing Lily wince when she stuck the needle in her arm, almost sent me over the edge.

Lily had to grab my hand with her free one to calm me down, as I started shaking, fighting to keep in the snarl that I was about to direct at the incompetent nurse, inwardly I started laughing manically at myself. Hell, if a little thing like taking blood had this affect on me, what would happen if she actually would be undergoing surgery?!

They told us we'd know within 24 hours, sure, something like this would go fast, unlike any other process in a hospital. Normally with blood tests, it took at least a week to get results, couldn't they stretch this out a little longer, not that it would change anything though. She either was or wasn't a match, but somehow I wanted to postpone finding out, since no matter what the results were, it would be bad news for me either way.

In the mean time Beth had moved in with Mary-Ann, she would stay there as long as was needed, as she described it, which was a nice way of saying she'd stay there until she was better, or until she died. But I could tell Lily was pleased with it, I wasn't sure how she felt exactly about her mother being ill, it was obvious she was upset, but not what was behind it. Was it mainly that she felt bad for her sisters, or was she truly sad, whenever I asked her about it she refused to give me a straight answer.

It had to be unimaginably weird for Lily, she had been truly hating her mother for quite a while now, resentful towards her for the amount of pain her mother had inflicted upon her and her sisters. I don't know if her being sick could take all that away, or even be enough to allow Lily to open herself up to her mother again. Would she be able to move on, try to reconcile, try to forgive the way Mary-Ann had had treated her and her sisters for years?

Thinking back to the first time I'd had the pleasure of seeing her mother in action, my insides turned in disgust, as I remembered the way she'd hurt Lily and her sisters, with her cold harsh words. Being sick had apparently made her rethink her life, but it didn't change the fact that her behavior towards her daughters had been utterly atrocious to say the least.

If Lily's view of her mother hadn't been altered much by her sickness, I would understand, but I didn't think she would herself. She'd feel guilty about not caring more, and guilt was a dangerous emotion, it could make you do something you didn't want to, which was precisely what I was afraid of. How would I be able to tell if guilt was her motivation, or that she really wanted to help her mother? I wouldn't if she wasn't talking to me about it.

Then it came, the dreaded call, the ringing sound of the phone sounding unusually loud. The room grew quiet, all head turned towards Lily, as she reached for the phone, her hand trembling. Picking up her voice sounded shaky as well, no wonder, I tried to listen, but I couldn't make anything out over the loud drumming of my heartbeat. My eyes didn't leave her, watching every move she made intently, I watched her nod and make mm-hm sounds, but I couldn't make out what the verdict was.

AN: Pictures of the sisters, their mother and Caleb, can be found on my blog or my photobucket account.