When the kids spent time with Perry, Maureen always stayed home. She didn't feel that she should leave her mother alone. Maureen always told Perry that she had this huge paper due and needed to work on it. One night when it was just Maureen and Della, the teen was making dinner when she heard a thud. She ran in the direction of the sound and found her mother lying on the stairs at the bottom. "Oh my God," Maureen became worried, "did you fall down the stairs?"
"No," Della mumbled, "I slipped on one of the last steps," she slurred.
Maureen took her mother's hands, "here, let's get you up." She pulled the woman to her feet and noticed her place a hand on her lower back while wincing. "Did you hurt your back?" Della just nodded. Maureen took her mother to the living room and sat her on the couch. "I'm going to finish dinner. Don't get up on your own. Yell if you need me." Della started crying. Once dinner was ready, Maureen went back to the living room and found her tearful mother. She sat next to her on the couch, "hey, what's wrong?"
"I'm so sorry that you have to put up with this."
"It's okay," Maureen said.
"No, it's not. I'm the mother. I should be taking care of you. Instead, I'm falling apart and a mess. I'm just so pathetic."
"You're not pathetic. You're falling apart because of how devastated you are by what's happened between you and daddy. You'll get through this. We all will."
Della smiled at her daughter, "you're a wonderful daughter," she hugged the girl for a moment.
"Now, let's get some food in you." She helped her mother to her feet. Della gasped in pain. "Maybe we should have someone look at your back?" Della didn't say anything. They sat at the table and ate. While Della didn't eat a lot, she ate more than she had at lunch. Maureen took her mother to the doctor a few days later. Nothing was broken or out of place, but her tailbone was bruised. It would take a while for it to heal.
Della had needed a bit more help after her fall. She wasn't able to move around as quickly or as easily. As a result, she didn't really drink. She couldn't move well enough to get to the alcohol and her daughters weren't going to give it to her. It didn't appear to affect the woman. Maureen told her father that her mother was under the weather so she could stay with Della and not get into an argument. Della didn't want Perry to know she had hurt herself because he'd probably insist on coming home and she knew it was too soon. Della agreed to let Maureen stay home from school to help her because her back hurt so bad. Maureen kept up with her work. It had been a week since Perry and Della separated. Della wasn't drinking anymore. Instead, she took to her bed as she sank into a deep depression. Maureen sat with her mother all day. She'd sit on her father's side of the bed and work on her homework. Every now and then, Della would start crying and Maureen would do her best to comfort her. She was so depressed and so out of it that she didn't even know the date or time. It's as if everything passed by in slow motion. It took a lot to get Della out of bed. Maureen did her best to make sure her mother ate, but she wasn't always successful. "Mom, dinner's ready," Maureen told her mother two weeks after the fall.
"I'm not hungry," Della said softly.
"You need to eat. Come on," Maureen said, "we all want you to sit with us."
Della sighed, "oh, alright."
Maureen helped her mother out of bed and down to the kitchen. It was difficult for Della to take the stairs because of her back. Everyone was quiet when Maureen and Della walked into the dining room. Max pulled out his mother's chair while Maureen helped her sit. "You okay?" Maureen asked.
"I need a pillow for my back," Della said as her face showed the pain she was in. Vinny retrieved a pillow for his mother and placed it behind her, "thank you, sweetheart."
Maureen and Vivian went into the kitchen to get everything, "are you going to ask her?" Vivian asked her sister.
"No," Maureen said.
"Come on," Viv said, "it's spring break. Sure we'll be going with dad, but it's better than nothing."
"You know that mom won't go and I just don't feel comfortable leaving her alone. I can go to the beach anytime, but mom needs someone to be here and I want to be that someone."
"What the hell happened to you?"
"You didn't see her the day we left. She was devastated. I was a bitch and she was understanding."
"You're always a bitch," Vivian pointed out as her sister glared at her, "and she's always understanding."
"The next day, when I went to apologize, she was so lost and broken. She's always been so strong. I'll just tell daddy that I decided to stay with mom this time. He'll understand and probably be happy someone is staying with her."
"That's true," Vivian agreed, "but it's you, so he's probably gonna be suspicious."
The girls took everything into the dining room and the family started eating. While Della ate, she didn't eat much. Everyone went their separate ways after dinner. The boys took Nova out for some exercise while the girls hung out in the living room with Evie. Maureen cleaned up and went back to the dining room where her mother was. "The boys are outside. Do you want to go out there or to the living room?"
"Bedroom," Della answered.
"How about a hot bath?"
"Not right now."
Maureen helped her mother to her feet and up to bed. Her mother was drowning and she wasn't sure she could save her.
Spring break was the following week. While Perry took most of the kids to Santa Monica, Maureen stayed with her mother. Perry understood and told his eldest he'd make sure she and Della got away at some point. During the night, Maureen had gotten to go to the bathroom. When she checked on her mother, she noticed that the woman had never gone to bed. The teen went downstairs and found her mother asleep on the couch with an empty bottle of scotch in her hand. Maureen nudged the woman, "mom, wake up. You need to go to bed."
"I'm fine here," she mumbled.
"You'll make your back worse. Now, come on, I'll help you."
Maureen helped her mother to sit up and took the bottle from her. She placed the bottle on the coffee table and helped her mother to stand. Maureen held on as they went to the bedroom. That night, Maureen stayed with her mother.
