Disclaimer is back in Chapter One, but I'll reiterate that I don't own any character from the show "CSI."
Thank you all for reading! Please review!
Teenagers made Sara's head spin. Everything had been ramped up and was occurring in the fastest pace possible. There was so much to do, so much to plan, so much to merely think about—especially in the first few days. They all just wanted to get everything settled, so that life could continue until the next major upheaval—the one nobody would mention—twisted their lives. Bedrooms needed to be decorated first. Jules had decided to sponge-paint hers a pale turquoise and arranged pictures of her friends and stuff on the wall in the shape of a large fish. Grace wanted to paint hers a serene mauve and set up a meditation corner where she could read and think. They began to immediately rotate through the rooms—painting one, going on to the next room, and going to the next, until the house reeked of paint. But they all got painted in three days, with Jules, Grace, and Sara working nearly round-the-clock. Lilly insisted they just leave her walls white for the time being. They then set up the bedrooms— both the girls had desks with computers and iPods and iTunes in their room, and music was constantly in the background. They had a huge range of tastes—everything from The Shins and Ben Folds to John Mayer and Five For Fighting to hard rock and a little hip-hop and R&B to The Stones, The Beatles, and Dylan. Jules was apparently going through a U2 phase.
Downstairs, they planned how they would decorate the living room, family room/den thing, and dining room, and they decided to leave the other rooms, like the screened-in porch and the rec room, for later. There was a television in the living room and another one in the kitchen, and VH1 or Bravo was usually on at least one TV. They called back and forth to each other—talking, laughing, joking, arguing, crying. Both girls spent a great deal of time on the phone back to Sacramento. Grace had a boyfriend back there she had broken up with because of the move but wasn't quite past him, and they talked a lot. Jules always had a friend to call and would spend several hours rocking back and forth on her bed and drooping around the house as she talked to people. Sara's life hadn't been this noisy since college.
There was so much to remember. They all went to St. Christopher's on Thursday and the girls registered for classes. Grace, who liked sciences more than anything else, took AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Calc, and AP Lit in addition to orchestra, Materials Art, and nutrition. She was especially excited about Materials Art—they would create things like jewelry and furniture. Jules liked social sciences and literature classes and signed up for AP Calc, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Comparative Politics, AP Psych, and AP Macro plus band and a vague class called Modern Novels. The girls, who had attended a large public high school, were thrilled by the prospect of uniforms—until they saw the knee-length green plaid skirts. Still, they convinced their mother to purchase all the 'optional' parts of the uniform—wraparound skirt, polo shirt, embroidered oxford shirt, tie, hair band, and a vest. (The sweater, bow tie, pleated skirt, blazer, vest, and khakis were mandatory.) Lilly and Sara had a meeting with the administrators and Lilly calmly laid down the situation. They talked to college counselors about taking the SATs again, when the girls would find out Merit standing—Jules had scored four points higher on the PSAT and they both wanted Finalist—and found a tennis coach for Grace and a swim team for Jules. Both girls started practicing immediately, and Sara was never quite sure when they needed to be at practice. Grace was also put in touch with the advisers for the Science Club and the Art Club, and Jules was put on the yearbook staff as a writer and proofreader immediately. They met with the NHS and Quill & Scroll advisers and got meeting schedules. Lilly needed to find them dentists and optometrists and gynecologists, so they took a trip to Sara's clinic on Friday. A contractor had been hired for the kitchen and Sara's eyes looked like saucers every time she signed a bill. Lilly had treatments or counseling sessions pretty much every day, and somebody needed to drive her to Grace House and pick her up. There were sessions for family members, too, and Lilly signed up Sara, Grace, and Jules. Lilly made a calendar of events for the next few weeks and gave Sara her old BlackBerry to organize different appointments.
It was extremely stressful. Whenever she woke up, she went on a run. She knew that if she ran hard enough, she could force her mind into oblivion and operate on reflexes and pain. When she wasn't running, she forced herself to operate on autopilot, coaching herself to just get through the next day until things were a little easier. She constantly worried with a passion that wouldn't subside about the days when Lilly would gone—what would the girls be like? What would she be like? It was all so new to her—she was nervous and scared about every move that she made. She felt like she was running on eggshells filled with sharp glass over fire.
On the designated Friday night, Warrick and Nick and Greg came over. The girls decided to make it a dinner party and had Sara call them ahead of time to request that they wear suits. They pondered for hours over the menu. To Sara's delight, both girls called themselves 'semi-veggie,' meaning they only ate poultry and fish. This was great, but hard to reconcile with the boys' tastes. Finally, they decided on Caesar salad, an herbed chicken, several side vegetables, and triple chocolate cake. Jules wore a tight black dress that made her curvier than Jennifer Lopez with a plunging neckline and a sexy ruffle running down the center with the fabric ruching towards it. Grace wore a black-and-white 1950s starlet dress with a strapless bodice top that flared into a tea-length skirt that she'd recently purchased from Banana Republic. They giggled and cajoled Sara into throwing on an asymmetrical navy blue silk dress she had purchased for the last Christmas party she felt obligated to attend. Even Lilly dressed up, in linen pants and a wraparound sweater. She sat through the whole dinner with a beaded blanket thrown over her lap.
The dinner went wonderfully. The boys dressed up in suits without ties and she felt a surge of maternal pride when they walked in. Warrick got them a smoothie maker, Greg brought an assortment of coffee beans, and Nick gave the girls CDs that they had mentioned to him, and gave Sara flowers and a forensics book. They laughed a lot—the girls were charming and sweet and talkative, but not overly flirty or remotely skanky. Sara snorted into her water several times when the guys told jokes, and tried not to notice how small Lilly's—she was next to her—wrists looked. Sara could have almost sworn she could see the individual carpals shifting past each other every time Lilly's hands moved. Greg hit it off immediately with the outgoing, offbeat Jules, while Warrick liked the artistic, sweet-tempered Grace. Nick just spent the entire time grinning dopily at both—Sara knew he thought they were amazing. The girls were urged to come and visit the lab, and the guys promised to take them out to breakfast, to see Vegas, and to come over whenever they were welcome. As they were leaving, Greg kissed Sara's cheek and whispered, "They're completely awesome, Sar. I love 'em."
Sara was due to go back to work on Sunday, so Lilly called a family meeting at about eight o'clock Saturday night to organize a schedule of work, sports practices, and music rehearsals for the week. There was a high-profile swim competition in town that Jules really wanted to go to that was occurring throughout the week. Sara used the BlackBerry to schedule in the girls' stuff and when Lilly was going to need to be at Grace House. "Who do you want to give you rides there?" Sara asked.
"Meredith will pick me up and drop me off and everything," Meredith was Lilly's personal counselor. It was sort of macabre—a personal counselor for dying. But Meredith was very nice, with strong, chubby hands. She had found the family a minister on short notice and had promised to help with the grocery shopping. Lilly liked her immediately. Lilly smiled, "Now, what about you, Sara? When do you work? When do you sleep and things?"
Sara raised her eyebrows. "Well. It depends. Like, my shift's supposed to be from eleven to seven, but there's overtime a lot when a case is hot. I have to pull doubles. And sometimes, even triples. When I'm upset, or engrossed I guess, in a case, I just nap at the lab. It just depends. Sleep does, too, I guess." At the girls' raised eyebrows, she said quickly, "Don't worry. I'll try and get home as soon as I can."
"Oh, no, I want you to keep your normal routine." Lilly said. "Anything else that you do weekly? Remember, Sara, just be normal."
"Well—I take yoga classes—at seven on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But I'll just do it from home when I have time."
"No, it'll be fine. Don't worry." Lilly said assuredly.
Sara rubbed her eyes. She was dog tired, her internal clock off from trying to get things done during the day and still maintain her nocturnal schedule. "Dammit Lilly." Her voice was lower and sharper than she intended. "Please stop acting as if you're being an imposition. I know we've only skirted on this, but I'm here for the long run. You're not an imposition. If anything, I'm returning the favor. So, please, quit thanking me and asking me to stick to my former schedule. There is nothing abnormal happening here. It's just changed, Lilly, and it's just about adjusting to the changes. Finding a new yoga class and coming home to sleep once in a while are the minor changes around here. Don't get bent out of shape since I'm trying to be a contributing member here. Now, please—when do you need me here? What hours do you want me sleeping, at home, when do I need to be around? You asked me to be more than a guardian and I'm trying to do that but I need a little guidance. I'll take orders. Hell, right now I need orders."
There was an unnerving silence, and Sara immediately regretted her outburst. "Listen—Lilly, I'm sorry. I shouldn't've said those things…"
"No—you were right." The voice wasn't Lilly; it was Jules. Her face was scared but resolute, and compassion and sadness beamed through. "Mom, we need to talk. All four of us, I mean. I mean, Sara's so lost…she's got her own stuff, and we're here and all of our stuff's already established and all, you know? Like, we might be on Sara's turf but she's the one that's living with three of us. We…we kinda need some…I guess I'm thinking boundaries. Not necessarily rules. Just boundaries. Expectations, even. I mean, I know you were just going to feel through it to not step on toes…but Mom…" her stoic face crumpled like a paper napkin. "You're dying. You're flipping dying. What are we supposed to do? What do you want us to do?"
Understanding and sympathy spread across Lilly's face as if they'd been slapped on. "Oh, Julie." She said, tears flickering in the corners of her eyes before wobbling down, "Come here, sweets." Lilly, so remarkably tiny and frail, spread her arms as far as she could to envelope the sobbing, strong, lanky teenager. "You too, kitten." She said to Grace. "C'mere, Gracie," Grace fell into her arms too, her body beginning to writhe with silent sobs. Sara, sitting awkwardly next to the mother-daughter bonding tear fest straight out of Steel Magnolias, wiped her eyes inconspicuously. "Okay, girls, chins up," Lilly said, leaning backwards and wiping her eyes. "We've got to." She clumsily pushed Grace off of her lap so that the girl stumbled slightly, and Sara lunged forward to catch her under the armpits. "Sorry, kitten." Lilly looked momentarily freaked.
"It's okay," Grace got up, dusting off of the plaid-print boxer hot pants she used as pajamas. Sara noted that both the girls looked very disheveled; it was really the first time she'd seen them outside of their chic, coolly professional wardrobe entirely from Express, Gap, Banana Republic, and all the other better-line clothing shops for twentysomethings they seemed to love. "Jules is right. We should talk things out."
"I mean, Lilly, when do you need me here? Honestly." Sara said.
"Well," Lilly said, "I don't want you to give up anything at work—if you need to work overtime to solve a case, do so. Just—call ahead, will you? Both girls can drive, have cars and all, but call."
"Of course," Sara said. "I'll try to come home more often—instead of sleeping at the lab, I mean. I can get home. I'll keep my yoga classes and things, but I'll transfer my Y membership—there's one about a mile or so from here, I think. It shouldn't be too hard. I can also switch to the Saturday afternoon yoga class, instead of a Tuesday evening one."
"Okay." Lilly said. "If it doesn't work out too well, I guess we can revisit it. Now, Sara, what are your rules?"
"My rules?" Sara was confused, "Like, house rules?"
"Yeah. This is your house. The girls should abide by your rules. I've noticed that they've sort of been doing their old chores—Jules loads the dishes, Grace sets the table—but you can make us do whatever you want." Lilly said.
"Oh. Well," Sara said, "I guess just do whatever chores you normally do. We'll make Friday laundry day—that's the day I've always done my laundry. I do sheets and towels on Thursday and I clean on Saturday."
"The girls will help with those." Lilly said firmly. "What do you want for curfew rules?"
"I don't know. What were yours?"
"Nine o'clock on school nights, ten if they're working. On weekends, one at the latest, but I must know plans."
"Let's keep those, I guess. Everyone has to be at home before I leave for work. I—there's an alarm system I had installed on Monday. I can set that before I leave. And no house parties or crazy crap like that."
"Sara," Jules rolled here eyes, "We just moved here. We don't know anyone to have over for a house party."
"Well, just in case." She looked nervously at Lilly, "Is that enough? Do I need to make more rules?"
"No," Lilly said, "You're fine. And, girls, remember—you still clean your own rooms." They rolled their eyes.
"You know what?" Jules said suddenly. "We should get a dog."
Lilly laughed. "Maybe later, honey. Let's wait until school starts."
"Fine," Jules mock-pouted, causing, for some inexplicable reason, everyone else to dissolve into giggles. Grace stuck her tongue out at her sister, and the two started giggling again. Sara's lips curved upward, tentatively, sadly. Everyone might—just might—turn out okay.
A/N: Anushka: The whole deal with Lilly's and Sara's families will come out in a few chapters!