*Ding-dong!* chimed Kelly's doorbell.
"I've got it, Kel," Silver said as she jumped up from the couch. She jogged over to the door and opened it with the chain still on. Standing on the front stoop was Debbie. Silver smiled at her before shutting the door briefly to remove the chain and let her in. Opening it again, she welcomed her inside. "Hi, Debbie," she said pleasantly.
"Hi Silver," Debbie said sympathetically as she reached over to hug the girl. "How are you doing?"
"Um, I'm okay, you know," Silver answered with a shrug.
Debbie nodded knowingly. "It'll take some time," she suggested. "Listen, if you ever need anything Silver, our door is always open for you," she offered.
Silver smiled gratefully. "Thank you Debbie, I really appreciate that," Silver replied.
"No problem honey," Debbie said as she rubbed Silver's arm affectionately. "So, where's this sister of yours I've heard so much about?"
Silver laughed. "In the kitchen, cooking dinner. I'll take you in," Silver said as she led the way.
"Silver – who was at the door?" Kelly called out as they approached the doorway into the kitchen.
"It's Annie's Mom, Debbie," Silver replied.
Kelly turned around, startled when she heard a reply coming from directly behind her.
"Debbie! Hi, please excuse the mess," Kelly said as she hurriedly untied the strings of her cooking apron and moved to embrace Debbie.
"I'm lucky if my kitchen looks this good after the clean up," Debbie scoffed, returning the hug.
"It's nice to meet you, Debbie. Can I get you a cup of coffee?" Kelly asked.
"Sure, thanks," Debbie answered.
Annie returned to the living room where she'd left Silver a few minutes ago to go to the bathroom to find the room empty and the TV still on. Deciding on a previously proven course of action, she yelled "Marco!"
Silver laughed loudly. "Polo! Kitchen!" she answered.
Debbie looked at Kelly in mock horror and amusement. Kelly simply shrugged and laughed.
Annie ran into the kitchen. "I was wondering where you'd- hey, Mom," she said as she saw her Mom standing in Kelly's kitchen. She quickly went over and hugged her.
"Dumb question, but don't you usually play Marco-Polo in the pool?" Debbie asked looking from Silver to Annie in amusement, which sent the girls into a fit of giggles.
"Never mind, Mom. You had to be here," Annie said through her laughter.
Here you go, Debbie," Kelly said handing her a steaming mug of coffee.
"Thank you, Kelly," she replied.
Sammy came rushing into the kitchen clutching a Lego creation. "Mommy, Mommy! Look what-," Sammy cut himself off when he noticed Debbie standing next to his mother.
"Mommy! Psst, Mommy!" Sammy whispered loudly.
"Yes, Sammy?" Kelly whispered back just as loudly.
"Who's that lady?" he followed up.
"That's Annie's Mom," answered Kelly.
"Oh!" Sammy said with a smile. He turned to Debbie. "Hi!"
Debbie knelt down and smiled at the child. "Hi there! You must be Sammy!" she said.
"I'm going to take Annie home soon, if that's okay with you, Sammy," she told him.
Instantly, Sammy's bottom lip protruded into a childish pout. "Can she come back?" he asked sadly.
"Of course she can!" Debbie exclaimed.
"Okay then, you can take her," Sammy replied. He ambled over to Annie and hugged her legs. "Bye Annie!"
"Awww!" Annie said as she hugged the child back and grinned at her Mom and Kelly over his head. "You are so sweet Sammy… I'm not going just yet though. I've got to pack up my school stuff," Annie said loudly in an effort to make it appear that she'd done some schoolwork while she was here.
"And your shopping bags! Don't forget all your new clothes!" Sammy piped up.
Debbie smirked and raised her eyebrows at her daughter who now looked slightly sheepish.
"Shopping bags? Sammy, you must be confused buddy," Annie said as she ruffled his hair. "There was no shopping… Let's go, Silver," Annie said as she rushed out of the kitchen escaping her Mother's amused glare.
"Okay... Confession time," Kelly admitted. "We had a little shopping spree on our Mother today, and we found a dress that Annie just had to have," she explained.
Debbie laughed. "It's fine, so long as it'll fit me too!" she joked. Debbie's demeanour became serious quickly and put her hand over Kelly's. "I understand things weren't easy for either you or Silver when you lived under your Mother's roof," she prompted.
Kelly sighed. "No, they weren't. Although Erin has had it much worse than I ever did," she replied choking up once more.
Debbie shook her head sadly. "As a Mother, you wonder what could possess a woman to be that way. Well should either you or Silver need anything, you know where to find us," Debbie offered.
Kelly smiled. "Thank you so much, Debbie. I really appreciate that."
The women embraced before they heard a noise from behind them. Annie and Silver were standing in the kitchen doorway and Annie dropped her bag to the floor. "Ready when you are, Mom," Annie announced.
Silver wound her arm around Annie's and leaned gently against her. Annie automatically rested her head on Silver's shoulder. Debbie smiled at the sweet scene.
"Okay then, lets get you home Annie," Debbie said. "Oh, I almost forgot – Harry brought home some schoolwork for the pair of you so you wouldn't miss anything," she added as she retrieved a folder from her purse. "Here you go Silver," she continued as she handed it to her.
"Thanks Debbie," Silver said as she put it on the table. She would look at it after Annie left. Silver leant down and picked up Annie's bag for her. Annie untangled herself from Silver's arm and moved in front of Kelly.
"Thanks for letting me stay over, Kelly," she said as she hugged her.
"Anytime sweetie... Silver's house is your house okay? Thank you for everything," Kelly replied as she gently squeezed Annie before pulling away.
"Ahem!" Sammy said loudly with a pout. All four women tried to refrain from laughing. Annie turned to Sammy and knelt down.
"Thank you for letting me stay over, Sammy. I'll see you soon," she said as she opened her arms. Sammy ran into them and nearly knocked Annie backwards, causing her to giggle.
"Bye Annie!" he replied.
Annie caught Silver's eye while she embraced Sammy. "You look after your Aunty Erin for me, okay?" she said while holding Silver's gaze. Silver smiled softly and dropped her eyes so no one would see them welling up.
"I will!" he exclaimed.
Silver touched Annie's arm to get her attention. "Come on, I'll walk you out," she said softly.
Annie grinned. "Thank you, friend," she replied as she casually threw her arm around Silver's waist, resulting in a sharp intake of breath. Silver stopped in her tracks, grimaced in pain and hunched over, away from Annie's touch.
Kelly's eyes immediately misted over with tears and Debbie brought her hand to cover her mouth which fell open in pity. Annie instantly realised her mistake and was beyond horrified.
"God, Silver, I'm sorry I'm sorry!" she spluttered as she grabbed Silver's hand.
As the pain subsided, Silver straightened up and blinked back tears. "Its okay, Annie. I'm okay," she said with a forced smile.
Annie's eyes were firmly trained on Silver's, searching for any hints that she was lying for her benefit. Finally convinced that she was alright, Annie threaded her arm through Silver's and they continued out the front door. Debbie lay her hand on Kelly's arm as she collected herself. Kelly exhaled deeply and closed her eyes momentarily as anger flooded through her again. Upon opening her eyes, she felt Debbie's eyes on her and shot her a grim smile. "It'll take awhile," she conceded.
"Of course, poor girl," Debbie agreed as she and Kelly followed the girls outside. They found them leaning against Debbie's car, arms still linked and heads pressed together deep in conversation. The women kept their distance to give the girls some privacy. Moments later, Silver threw her arms around Annie's neck, pulling her tightly against her. Annie responded by hugging Silver as tightly as she could while being mindful of the lingering bruises on her body.
Debbie smiled softly as she watched her daughter whispering in her friends ear, no doubt reassuring her that it would all be okay, and to call her if Silver needed her. The girls released their hold on each other and reluctantly separated. Silver looked up and saw Debbie and Kelly watching them and smiled when Debbie winked at her.
"Alright my darlings... I'd better get this one home before she turns into a pumpkin," Debbie said as she moved behind her daughter and rested her hands on Annie's shoulders.
Annie turned her head to look at her Mother and rolled her eyes with a laugh. Annie caught Silver's hand and looked her in the eye. "Bye Sil... Call me okay?" she said seriously.
Silver squeezed her hand and replied with a smile. "I will... Promise."
Debbie reached over and embraced the girl. "Take care sweetie... Don't be a stranger," she said warmly.
Silver beamed at Debbie. "I won't... You'll get sick of me quickly," she predicted.
Debbie laughed before turning serious. "Never," she assured her.
Debbie smiled at Silver once more before turning and waving goodbye to Kelly as she got into the car. Annie paused by the car and waved to Kelly and Sammy over the roof of the car. "Bye Annie... Come back soon!" Sammy yelled, jumping up and down on the porch. Kelly simply smiled and mouthed 'thank you' to Annie. She grinned in response and shook her head, as if to say it was nothing. Then she took a final look at Silver and blew her a kiss. Silver beamed in return and pretended to catch the kiss as she made her way over to where Kelly was waiting for her.
Annie joined her Mother in the car and they reversed out of the driveway, beeping the horn as they drove away from the house. Annie stared at Debbie for a long moment. "Mom," she said to get attract her Mom's attention.
"What sweetie?" Debbie replied as she Annie a quick look.
"I love you Mom," Annie began. "I might not say it enough, but I do. And I might not show it as much as I should, but I know how lucky I am to have parents like you and Dad and I appreciate it so much – I promise, I won't take you guys for granted anymore," she gushed sincerely.
Debbie looked at Annie, surprised. "Well, I love you too, Annie. Was this motivated by what Silver and what her Mom did to her?" she asked.
Annie looked down at her lap. "I guess so. It's just not fair, what she did to her, Mom. You didn't see the bruises all over her," Annie said choking up.
Debbie checked her rear-view mirror before quickly pulling the car over. Turning off the engine, she turned to Annie and sighed.
"Come here sweetie," she said opening her arms for Annie who readily jumped into them and finally let herself cry.
"Shh.. Annie, it'll be okay," Debbie tried to soothe her daughter.
Annie sniffed and pulled away. "I know, she's safe with Kelly now but I couldn't cry for Silver last night or today because I wanted to be strong for her," Annie explained.
Debbie brushed the hair out of Annie's face. "I'm so proud of you honey, you are such a good friend. All you can do now is be there for her if and when she needs you," Debbie told her.
Annie wiped her eyes. "I know. I plan to be there for her," she said firmly.
Debbie smiled. "Good. How about we go home, huh?" she offered
"That sounds great," Annie agreed relaxing back into her seat.
"Clearly you've forgotten about the homework that is waiting for you there," joked Debbie.
Annie laughed. "No, I haven't forgotten. Silver and I are going to do it online together later."
"Ahh, I see," Debbie commented as she started the car. Indicating and checking her mirrors, she pulled back out into the street. Before long, they were pulling up in their driveway.