Chapter 2

A/N This chapter is a bit shorter. I was going to add more but it just seemed like the right place to stop. Also, I rewrote this at least 3 times before realizing the timeline would be all messed up if I went with this one idea that I had so I had to research a bunch of stuff and move things around but it's finally written and uploaded. Good riddance. Anyways, hope you enjoy it!

" I realize that sometimes life brings you flowers

Then it builds you coffins

And far too often.

We end up falling to our demise"

(Alessia Cara - river of tears)

Chapter 2: "Sometimes love brings you flowers, then it builds you coffins"

England, 2010

"How do you have so much money?" Rachel groaned as she mortgaged yet another property to the bank in order to pay the huge rent she had amassed when she landed on Arianna's Marvin Gardens.

"It's simple, over the last few Monopoly games we've played I took a tally of how many lands each property has then averaged it. I made sure to perfectly position myself so I bought almost all of those major properties and their respective color sets. Obviously, I didn't get everything but I did pretty good for myself" Arianna answered with a self-satisfied grin before taking the thousand dollars and adding it to her ever-growing pile.

"Should have taken the alliance love" David teased, smirking at Rachel as he landed on another of Arianna's properties and instead of paying the original cost he only paid 3/4s of it.

" Um, our alliance has expired for at least a round already so I need the other 300. Didn't you read the Terms of agreement?" The curly-haired girl questioned as she held out her hand for the cash

"Our Alliance has-. Terms-. Agreement- What?" David spluttered as he grabbed the contract Arianna had 'helpfully' printed out. She wordlessly pointed to the 28th term before smirking at him. "This alliance will cease to exist once the owner of the color set has acquired a hotel on each property in the set." He read aloud "Nobody even reads the Terms of agreement" he grumbled as he handed over the rest of the money and ignored Rachel laughing.

"Guess you should start" Arianna commented in a sing-song voice, snickering at the glare he gave her before taking her turn.

"Oop- let me grab this" Rachel told them before standing up, walking over to the kitchen and answering the call

"Hello? Is this Rachel Ackton?" She heard a tinny voice say. Rachel didn't recognize it and was instantly put on edge. They had gotten a bit more relaxed after they had gone 3 years with no word from Hydra about the conversation they had. However, she was still wary when getting a call from anyone she didn't know. Especially, if the person in question already knew her name.

"Who is this?" she asked, her tone cautious.

This is Shyanne Williams, your mother's stay at home nurse. Ava Brooks was your mother wasn't she?"

"Yes, she is," Rachel replied. Her heart sank when she heard the was. The last time they had talked was last week. Her mother had been sick but told her she was getting better already. The green-eyed woman had just chalked it up to common cold and hadn't pressed any further for more information.

"I am so sorry to have to tell you this but your mother died in her sleep this morning"

Rachel breathed in sharply and leaned against the counter. Her mother couldn't have died. She had been fine. Hadn't she? "She died?"

"I really am very sorry Mrs. Ackton" She did sound very sorry but her mother was still dead and Rachel had been all the way in England while Ava Brooks, the woman who had taken care of her her entire life, had been taking her very last breaths. The wavy-haired woman hung up the call and breathed in deeply, collecting herself. She pushed her feelings to the side and blinked back her tears. There was still a funeral to be planned and flights to be scheduled. She would feel the sadness and grief later but she still had plenty of things to do.

Over the next couple of weeks, Rachel Ackton stayed busy planning the funeral and scheduling flights to America. The girls had never been out of the country before so she needed to obtain passports for them as well. She kept occupied and didn't give herself a chance to think about her mother's death or life after the funeral. David was worried about how she was coping but whenever he reached out she pushed him away so he was forced to be concerned from afar. Arianna, who was nine now, was old enough to understand death but Amara, who was 7, still didn't really get it fully. She knew that her grandma was gone but she figured that it was just for a time, not forever.

The girls had been close to their grandma despite only seeing her every other year when Ava Brooks traveled to England to visit them. They usually face-timed her at least once a week and told her all about how they were doing.

Arianna distracted herself from her grandmother's death by throwing herself into her schoolwork and dance, and Amara distracted herself by staying busy with her science projects. Currently, she was working on figuring out a way to make a radon detector that would cost less money but still be on a professional level. Once she figured a cheap way to measure the relative concentrations of radon gas in various locations she figured that it might be able to help people that may not be able to afford to get their homes tested for radon gas or install a radon detector.

Amara would stop by Ari's side of the basement that held her dance studio and various theatre props and watch whatever her sister was working on that day and vice versa. On the whole, despite their mother refusing to talk about their grandmother's death besides which types of flowers they should have at the funeral, the girls were coping well.

"Girls wake up! We're going to be late!" Rachel called from the hallway as her and David carried suitcases downstairs. It was the day before the funeral and they were taking an early morning flight down because Rachel had insisted on checking out the church where they would hold the service and the reception hall for afterward to make sure they were set up perfectly.

Arianna yawned as she leaned over the railing of her bunkbed to check and see if her sister was awake. All she was met with was a messily made bed but no sister. Groaning she laid back down and mentally prepared herself for a day with a stressed-out mom. When her mum was tense the whole family was tense. Hearing another yell from her mother, Ari sighed but got out of bed before quickly making it. She noticed somewhat satisfiedly that her bed, as usual, looked perfectly made while Amara's blanket was crumpled and had at least 10 stuffed animals laying on it. She quickly fixed it the best she could before changing into the clothes her mum had put out for both girls and throwing her thick hair into a messy bun.

"Mum do you need any help?" she asked blinking to stop everything from looking so fuzzy and weird.

"Grab the snack bag and get you and your sister to the car please" she called from downstairs as she bustled around grabbing who knows what.

Arianna glanced at the clock before squinting to make sure the time was right "Hey mum isn't our flight at 7:30?" she asked curiously

"Yep"

"Then why the heck are we awake at 4 a.m.?"

"Language! We need to make sure we get there on time and don't miss it!"

Arianna sighed before heading down the stairs and bumping into Amara "Mara, mum said to go to the car we're about to leave"

"About to leave or are leaving?" she asked knowingly

"About to leave"

"But- but that means that it's going to take mum at least another hour" she complained

Arianna nodded with a resigned sigh before going into the kitchen and grabbing snacks. After she settled into the car she leaned her head against the window and went back to sleep. It was going to be a long day.

Staten Island, America

The Ackton family got to the airport and ready for their flight with plenty of time to spare. Rachel had had no reason to worry, but no one dared to tell her that. Once they landed at Staten Island and checked into their hotel, she checked to make sure everyone was comfortable before calling a cab to take over to the church to meet the funeral director.

David watched with a fond smile on his face as Arianna and Amara stared out the hotel window in awe. This was their first time being out of the country and despite the reason for it, they were excited.

"It's all so big" Arianna whispered reverently and he chuckled as she pressed her face against the glass.

" How about the day after the funeral, if your mum is feeling up to it, we go out sightseeing?"

"Really dad? That would be amazing! I can't wait!" Arianna responded excitedly as Amara nodded quickly next to her. Both girls were grinning from ear to ear. America was unlike anything they'd ever seen and they couldn't wait to explore.

The funeral passed without a hitch and, finally, Mrs. Ackton allowed herself to grieve the death of her mother. David was right there supporting her the whole time and she was grateful for it. She didn't know if she could have gotten through this without him. The girls were well-behaved and somber as well as they listened. It was strange to see their grandmother look so still and uninviting in her coffin. When she had been alive, she would always be moving around cleaning something or cooking. Her and their mum had been a lot alike in that way. Refusing to sit still, always trying to be accomplishing some task on their to-do list. Nevertheless, their grandmother had always taken time to hear about their day or to read them a story. Arianna tried to imagine what it would feel like if she had lost her mum. It would be awful. Suddenly, she felt bad for not helping her mother more as she had arranged the funeral. It made sense that she had been so tense and stressed. Arianna made a promise to herself that she would be there for her mum more, after all she did so much for them and got so little in return.

It was late when the reception finally ended, all Rachel's old friends had insisted on meeting the girls and catching up with her. They were all exhausted when they got into the car, but David offered to drive as Rachel was in no condition for it at the moment.

Eventually, quiet descended on the car as Rachel drifted deserved it and he was just glad she was sleeping peacefully for the time being. David smiled softly as he glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Amara fast asleep as well. She had done well at the funeral and he was excited to take her and Arianna sightseeing tomorrow. Glancing over at the curly haired girl, he saw her focused on something in front of the car "Ari, love? Are you okay?" he asked concernedly. She had been pretty quiet during the funeral and hadn't really said much, other than being polite to the attendees. She took after her mom in the way that she would bury her feelings.

"Dad? What's that?" she asked disconcertedly, watching as a shadow seemed to be moving towards them rapidly. Suddenly bright headlights illuminated the object which appeared to be a type of truck. David's eyes widened as it came towards them and blindly swerved to avoid the other automobile. The bright lights had made him temporarily blind and he prayed that the girls would be ok. Rachel must have woke up when she felt the motion and she reached over and gripped his hand tightly before turning around to make sure Amara and Arianna were safe and secure.

The girls screamed and then the car hit a tree and everything went silent.

It's short AND its a cliffhanger I know and I'm sorryy. I was really just trying to get this chapter out. I promise though the next chapter is going to be exciting! Don't forget to review pleasee. I want to know what you guys think of the story so far. Do you think it's moving too fast? Too slow? Should I write longer chapters? I want to hear your input!