Chapter 424: Tree Hill Hall

Monday, February 13th, Morning

It's a full house this week at Tree Hill Hall, clicked as she looked in the mirror. She brushed out her long thick brunette hair. She'd been up since her husband got up to go to work, and she wouldn't see him until tomorrow. After a sigh, she looked in the mirror; she saw the twitch in her eye told her that something long-dormant was still there. Every day, every morning, she got up and re-affirmed her life and commitment to it, but even after sixteen years, it was still there.

Chastity "Chase" Burke brushed her hair, then pulled it back into a low ponytail. Next, she took a bandana and tied it to cover her hair. Chase got up from her dressing table and headed downstairs. Slowly, she walked by five kids' bedrooms to make sure she was as quiet as possible not to wake them.

As Chase descended to the main floor, she looked out of one of the many glass windows. The panorama of the local woods, and in the distance, Murphy Inlet, played out before her on this chilly morning. At the wood line, Chase saw a doe who was grazing. Chase wondered if she had her fawn yet.

Shaking it off, Chase pushed into her kitchen, started the coffee pot, and got out the pans for breakfast. It is known that Chase did like to have her children start every morning with a good breakfast.

Chase learned the hard way the importance of balanced meals as she started cooking. Checking her watch, she knew she'd have to give herself her injection soon, as well as test her sugar. Those were the breaks of being an insulin-dependent diabetic. It was her own fault, she reflected, catching the corner of one of her eyes in the reflection of a shiny surface. That long-dormant aspect rattled its cage. As she cooked her family breakfast, she studied the simple wood sign near the range.

Don't waste your time looking back, you're not going that way.

Chase finished with breakfast and made up seven plates. She carefully brought each plate to the table, including glasses of juice. Chase checked her watch and knew her kids would be getting up soon.

Chase took a deep breath, went to a nearby bathroom, and did her morning routine to help with her diabetes. Once finished, Chase returned to the kitchen and found her oldest, her stepdaughter Brett Pierce-Burke, sitting at the table.

"Mama Chase," Brett said.

"Morning, Brett," Chase said.

"Daddy Huck, went to work already?" Brett asked.

Chase nodded, "Yes, he is working his usual shift at the rescue," she said, "What do you need to talk about?"

"I don't know, well, it's sort of a lot," Brett said.

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Chase said.

"You do?" Brett asked.

"I've walked that stage many times," Chase said.

"As Chastity Davis?" Brett asked.

"Yes, and younger than you. By the time I was your age, I was the face of a company," Chase said.

"How did that happen?" Brett asked.

"You know your Grammy Brooke, but don't blame her. It was Victoria, my grandma; she had an ambition of having the business head, her creative head, Grammy Brooke, and the public face of the company, that would be me, all have the name Davis," Chase said.

"Your name wasn't Davis," Brett said.

"That didn't matter to Victoria," Chase said.

"Why didn't you complain?" Brett asked.

"Because I hated my dad. Also, walking on the runway being the center of attention, even for those few moments…." Chase started to say.

"It's a rush," Brett said.

"Yeah, a natural high," Chase said, "For me, with what I went through before that, it was like a drug."

"I felt so much like when I'm on the basketball court," Brett said.

Chase nodded, "Yeah," she said and looked out the large glass window. Chase watched the deer walk into the tree line.

"I can't imagine how you dealt with all that," Brett said.

"Benzos," Chase said.

"Benzos?" Brett asked.

"Benzodiazepines," Chase said.

"What?" Brett asked.

"Xanax," Chase said.

"They needed to proscribe you Xanax?" Brett asked.

"Who said anything about scripts," Chase said.

"What?" Brett asked.

"What?" Chase asked.

"How did you get the Xanax?" Brett asked.

"There are ways, and believe me, with money and notoriety, there's a lot you could get away with," Chase said.

"Why would you do that?" Brett asked.

"It took the edge off at first, but later as Trent Reznor would sing about, became a Downward Spiral," Chase said.

"Are you telling me this to keep me from doing the runway work again?" Brett asked.

"No, not at all," Chase said.

"Then why?" Brett asked.

"I've not even told you the worst of it," Chase said.

"But why tell me at all?" Brett asked.

"To let you know why I walked away from it all," Chase said.

"I heard you had several overdoses," Brett said.

"Three, two on benzos, and one with alcohol," Chase said.

"How does something like that happen?" Brett asked.

"Accidental, and on purpose," Chase said.

"Huh?" Brett asked.

"Just how I said it. It's hard to explain. When you're in such a fog and darkness, you lose track of how much you take, drink, feel, and the darkness around you. Eventually, you don't know what is real or fake. Who the lady in black is?" Chase said.

"Were all your ODs accidental?" Brett asked.

"No," Chase said.

There were footsteps on the stairs. Chase and Brett looked at the stairs to see the four younger kids on the stairs. Chase and Brett smiled as the three girls and one boy came into the kitchen and took their spot at the table.

"Momma?" Paige "PJ" Burke, Chase's oldest daughter, asked.

"Yes, PJ," Chase said, looking at the tall, dark brunette hair eleven-year-old.

"Where's daddy?" PJ asked.

"It's his workday today," Chase said.

"Do you know what that means?" Bridget "BB" Burke asked, Chase's youngest daughter.

"Yeah, Momma takes us to school," Keelan "Key" Burke, the middle girl, said.

Chase nodded, studying Key and PJ. The girls were different in age, but close too, just like Chase and her sister Izzy. The difference was PJ had stayed back and was in the same grade as Key, just different classes.

"Yay!" BB said, "Momma takes us to school."

Chase smiled and looked her children over. Colin, or just Col, the baby, and only boy, stayed quiet. Chase noted Col was very much a mini brunette version of his dad. Chase looked down the table to Brett, the only redhead at the table.

Huck had the most beautiful ginger red hair. Chase always liked playing with it and fell in love with Brett's ginger locks. Chase always wanted o give Huck a ginger child, but her genes were so dominant that all the children she bore had her dark hair.

Chase reflected it wasn't just her; her sisters Izzy and Trin also had dark brunette children. Chase let out a nasal sigh.

"Eat your breakfast and get ready for school," Chase said.

"Work today?" Brett asked.

Chase nodded, "Day shift, Amy will be there tonight," she said.

"I'm at Punk'd and Disorderly tonight," Brett said.

"Tell Mags I said hi," Chase said.

"I will," Brett said, and with a nod, they returned to eating breakfast.