Okay... Austyn went to a cheerleading competition in Ocean City fer like a week, so I didn't write, and well... I've been bad... we did go tho... we got honerable mention... go Spartans! woo-hoo! okay... I hope you enjoy... I thought I painted a pretty picture.

A u s t y n

Chapter 16 - Oblivious to the World

Just because you are oblivious, does not mean it is not happening, That's just what happened in this tragic turn of events, a problem with serious consequences, nobody knew. No number of apologies could fix this. Irresponsibility does have it's consequences, and not just for you, but for people around you.

She knocked on his door, on the verge of tears, holding a sleeping little girl in her arms who was oblivious as to where she was or what was happening. He answered the door, mumbling something, "Do you have any idea what time it is-" and he saw who it was, crying, in the middle of the night, "Haley, what happened, come in, what are you doing here, don't you have work tomorrow? Why don't you go put Meredith upstairs and I'll make coffee and we can talk," he said calmly. She simply nodded and walked upstairs to the guest room. She knew the house pretty well, since they had gotten it together, over a month ago, and visited regularly. She walked back downstairs and into the kitchen.

"What happened?" he asked, handing her a cup of coffee.

She took it and drank some, "It's Taylor. She came home from work, drunk, and passed out, to the point she wouldn't wake up. I called an ambulance, and the paramedics were annoyed and saying not her again, I asked at the hospital, she has been in there so often for being drunk, had a police record a mile high of DWIs and DUIs. I had no clue. I let her watch Meredith, she was in charge. She could have been drinking or drunk and I would have never known. I have court cases about my custody of Meredith, I could lose her because of this. Nobody else will let her have her zoo, or would Taylor, when she gets out of rehab, let her take them, and they've actually grown on me," she was breaking down.

"Haley, calm down, take a drink, breathe. So, Taylor's an alcoholic and this could effect you keeping Meredith?"

"Yea," she said, taking a drink, "And I'm scared."

"Of?"

"Losing Meredith. She lost her mother, and her father, if she loses me and Taylor, it would be devastating, I can't let that happen, but if anyone finds out, they'll take me to court and I'll loose her. It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"What was it supposed to be?"

"Well," she said, calming down a little, "We were supposed to get married, you and I, and we were supposed to raise Meredith together, and have some of our own, but treat them just like Meredith, no one's special, and Meredith would have a stable family. That's all I ever wanted for her, is to have a stable family, one where no one leaves."

"Hales, why don't you stay here with me tonight, okay, and we will find out how bad this is with Taylor in the morning. You need sleep, Hales, you look tired."

"Thanks Nathan, really, I just- I, I can't believe Taylor. She's going to have to find a new job. I can't let her be a bar tender anymore. She should join like AA or something. I have to find her information on this. How, seriously, how did I let this go on for so long?"

"Hales, look at me, this is not your fault. You couldn't have done anything to stop it. This is Taylor's fault. If she's old enough to start drinking, she's old enough to know when to stop. You can't baby-sit her, her whole life. You're going to hurt yourself, Meredith, Taylor, and everyone else."

"You're right, you're right. Let's just go get some sleep. You have work tomorrow, I don't want you to be late, or tired at work," she smiled a little.