The call came at five o'clock the next day. When she reflected back on it later, Skyler would try to tell herself that actually they were incredibly lucky to manage four nights and five days at the cabin, including two days, the weekend, when she didn't have to fear the arrival of a phone call at any moment. Despite the arguments at the start, to her, they were four nights and five days of heaven. Four nights and five days of relief. Four nights and five days of remembering what laughing and having a normal heart rate felt like.

But despite all that, when the phone call came, four nights and five days was not nearly enough.

The one good thing about Marie having lost her job was that she didn't have to leave on Monday, and Flynn had decided to skip class, so at 5 p.m. on Monday evening the entire family was still there having a hilarious time playing pre-school level Pictionary (that meant simply that no-one was allowed to draw anything that Holly couldn't identify, which, somewhat surprisingly, made the game more challenging and amusing).

"How can you not see that that was clouds?" Flynn was demanding of Marie.

"I thought it looked like sheep!"

"Sheep? W-where are their legs?"

"There!"

"That's lightning!"

Skyler heard her phone ringing, and stood up to get it.

"Mom, does that look like lightning to you?"

"Yeah."

"See!"

"But Mommy's not your partner," said Holly.

"Yeah, so we get the points and you don't." Skyler pointed a finger triumphantly at Flynn and Marie as she left to find her phone. It was plugged into the charger in the kitchen. It had stopped ringing by the time she got to it.

"I can see it's lightning now!" said Marie in consternation.

Skyler's heart rate rose when she looked at her phone screen and saw, '1 missed call - Kim Wexler'. Her brain felt foggy, like she had forgotten that there was this other problem her life was embroiled in down in Albuquerque. She had trouble focusing her eyes as she unlocked the screen and hovered her finger over the call back button. She's just calling to give me an update, she told herself. Only an update. She took a deep breath and dialled.

"Hi, Skyler," said Kim hesitantly.

"Hi, you called me?"

"Yeah. Are you still with your family?"

"Yeah, we're still in the cabin."

"Ok. Well, I'm afraid it's over. The jury has a verdict."

Skyler could say nothing in reply as her heart threatened to burst her eardrums with banging.

"It's too late in the day to announce it now, so they're doing it tomorrow morning. Need you in court at 9."

Due to Marie and Flynn's argument about clouds and sheep, the only person who saw the look on Skyler's face was Holly. "Mommy?" she said anxiously, standing up and walking towards her.

"Skyler?" said Kim. "You still there?"

Skyler met Holly's eyes and quickly composed her features. "Yeah. Yep, understood."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, ah, yeah - I'm with the right people here, so. We've been having a wonderful time, thank you so much for the suggestion."

The banging in Skyler's ears became louder as she realised that Flynn and Marie had gone deathly quiet.

"You're welcome. That's good. Well, I'll see you at 9 tomorrow - it won't take long. If it's a guilty verdict, you won't be permitted to take anything with you, so anything you would rather not be kept in a sealed locker for however long you should give to your family beforehand."

"Ok." Skyler closed her eyes as Holly came into the kitchen, and turned towards the wall.

"If it is a guilty verdict, there… won't be time for goodbyes. They'll take you straight away. I'm sorry, I don't know how to say that other than matter-of-factually. It is better to be…warned about it in advance, so."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Any questions?"

"No."

"Call me if you think of any."

"Sure. Thanks."

"Skyler, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met. No matter where it goes tomorrow, you have the metal to hang on, to get through it and to be alright. You can do it, I know you can."

Skyler's voice broke. "Thanks." Holly touched the side of her leg and it was all she could do to stay standing and breathing.

Marie came into the kitchen, bending her neck to try and see Skyler's hidden face.

"See you tomorrow," said Kim.

"Bye."

Kim hung up the phone, and Skyler kept holding hers to her ear, frozen like a moth in amber. Flynn stood in the living room, also frozen. Marie put a hand on her shoulder. "It's happening?"

"Yeah." Skyler's voice was rough, raspy.

"It's too late for today, isn't it?"

"Tomorrow morning 9 o'clock."

Marie nodded and breathed in. "Good that we get tonight to prepare, then." She looked back at Flynn. He met her eyes, but didn't move.

Holly was still standing by her mother's leg, her tiny hand pulling on first her pants and then her shirt with growing strength, and for the first time ever, Skyler's hand didn't come down and stroke her hair. Instead, the hand still held the phone to her ear. After a few long and empty moments, the hand brought the phone down and placed it on the counter, which it gripped the edge of, the fingertips going white

"Ok," said Marie practically. "Do you wanna go there from here in the morning, or should we go back now? It's not that far away but I guess you wouldn't really wanna risk being late, plus there's traffic that time of the morning, and… but we could leave really early if you wanna do it that way."

"Then how would you get my car back?"

"Oh yeah."

Skyler turned around, picked Holly up and began rubbing her back. "Plus we decided before that we'll leave Holly and Flynn at your house when…" She looked at Flynn. He, like her, seemed to have been unfrozen by this practical discussion and was slowly walking towards them. "I don't wanna leave them here," she finished. "I don't want Flynn to have to drive after that. And have to get Holly into a car seat." Her hand moving on Holly's back became faster and more rigid. "After that."

"Yeah," said Marie quietly. "Go home now, then? Or after dinner? Given that we, all three of us, have to drive, I kinda prefer the idea of eating together after. Rather than eating in a rush and then going down there alone and then going to bed, I mean that wouldn't be very good. Do you think?" Marie looked between Flynn and Skyler. "Am I talking too much?" Flynn nodded slowly, and she looked at him.

"S-sorry no, I'm not nodding because you're… talking too much, I'm n-nodding because I agree with… what you said."

"Yeah," said Skyler.

"Ok. Pack up now, then?"

"Yeah."

The three of them packed in complete silence. Marie started on the kitchen, and Flynn did the board games in the living room. They belonged there at the cabin, but he packed them up neatly and put them away. Skyler took Holly into the bedroom, put her down on the bed, put her suitcase on it and filled it quickly. Not even Holly said anything.

Marie washed the dishes and then packed all their food. Flynn went into his bedroom to pack his things. Skyler passed him in the hallway and went into the bathroom to get hers and Holly's toiletries. Marie went into her bedroom. Skyler pulled her suitcase into the living room. Holly followed slowly behind her, dragging a teddy bear along the floor. Flynn went into the bathroom to get his toiletries. Skyler looked all around the kitchen and living room, wiped all the counters and dried and put away the dishes Marie had washed. Flynn came into the living room, a large backpack on his back. Marie cleaned the bathroom. Skyler took her suitcase to the front door and opened it. And then Holly screamed, "No!"

Skyler turned, and Holly ran forward and grabbed hold of the suitcase. "No, no!" she yelled. "Let's stay here!" She tried to pull the suitcase out of Skyler's hands. "Mommy, come back! We stay here!"

Marie came out of the bathroom and rushed along the hallway. Skyler froze.

Flynn stepped forward. "We can't, Holly."

"No no no no no!" Holly screamed, becoming more distressed by the second. "We stay here, Mommy! Mommy stay here!"

Marie rushed forward and knelt down next to the child, taking hold of her arms and pulling them away from the suitcase, which slipped out of Skyler's shaking hands and fell over on the floor. Having the suitcase pulled away from her made Holly's arms begin to pedal, each in turn hitting and grabbing at the corner of the suitcase she could still reach. It shuddered and wobbbled as she continued trying to pull it back. "Holly!" said Marie.

"We stay here, Aunt Marie!" said the child breathlessly. "We stay here and Mommy can stay here with us and then they won't take her away!"

"It doesn't work like that, sweetheart."

"We just have to stay here!"

The front door banged shut as Skyler collapsed against it. Flynn looked at her. Her eyes were fixated on Holly but she didn't seem able to say anything. Her hands were twisting around and around and her fingers were rubbing together. He stepped towards her.

"We can't stay here, Holly," said Marie.

"Yes we can! We just stay here and then Mommy doesn't have to go!"

Marie's voice began to break. "They would come and get her. They would come here and get her and then they would keep her for longer."

"No no no no!" It was squealing now, squealing and tears.

Flynn saw a tremor shoot through his mother's body and he rushed to her side and put his arms around her. She didn't lean into them. She stood completely rigid, her body making syncopated shudders as Holly continued to squeal.

Marie's voice grew louder. "They would come and get her and take her away and then keep her for longer!" Marie was trying to hug the child, but all she could do was steady her as her legs began pedalling as much as her arms. She screamed and kicked and her arms continued grabbing at the suitcase and at Skyler's legs. "I'm sorry, darling, it's horrible, but this is the best thing we can do. She needs to go in there and -"

"Marie, stop!" Skyler gasped.

Holly let out a harrowing wail, followed by several high-pitched gasping sobs.

Skyler's eyes snapped shut, her face furrowed and her body shrank as if someone had punched her in the stomach. "Stop," she gasped, "You can't reason with her, y-you -"

"Mom, come with me," said Flynn, pulling her towards the bedrooms.

"No," she gasped, her hands reaching for Holly but her fingers involuntarily curling away before they could touch her.

"Mom, y-you can't help her when you're like this."

Skyler flopped towards him and allowed him to guide her through the kitchen. Holly gave a piercing squeal when she lost contact with her mother's legs, and Skyler gave one along with it. "I'm coming back!" she sobbed. "I'm coming back, Holly!"

Marie picked Holly up and attempted to pat her back. Her squeals grew even louder. Marie turned so Holly could see Skyler and Flynn. "They're just going to the bedroom, Holly; look, you can see them, they're not going far away and they're coming straight back."

Skyler and Flynn reached the hallway. Flynn's left arm was firmly across her shoulders and his right hand was slipping sweatily around his crutch handle. Skyler suddenly took off and pelted down to the bathroom. Flynn nearly fell over because he'd left his left crutch by the door. He steadied himself on the wall and followed her. The bathroom door slammed, and then he could hear the sound of retching.

Marie sat on the sofa cradling Holly, rubbing her back and trying to make soothing noises. "Mommy will be back. It's ok. Shhh shhh shh."

Flynn arrived at the bathroom door and placed his left hand on it. That palm was as sweaty as his right. He stopped. He waited.

Holly stopped wriggling and pedalling as her sounds became deep, regular sobs.

"Everything's gonna be ok," whispered Marie. "Mommy's going away for a little while, but then she'll come back and it'll be alright."

Skyler finished vomiting and sunk onto the bathroom floor. A big fluffy mat reached from above her head to halfway down her arm, and next to it were cold hard tiles. The line between the two dug into her arm just above the elbow. Her body shrank in upon itself and shook. She pulled her knees into her chest and held on.

"Mom?" said Flynn through the door.

Holly gradually calmed. Marie kept rubbing her back, stroking her hair and making soothing noises. When the sobs had subsided, she put her finger under Holly's chin and pulled it towards her. "Holly." She stroked the child's cheek with her thumb. "Listen. I need to tell you something very important. I need to ask you to do something for Mommy."

...

"Mom, c-can I come in, a-are you…"

"No!" Skyler rasped.

"Can I help? I-I wanna help."

"No." Her voice squeaked, then slid down and descended into silent sobs.

"I'm… gonna stay right here. I'm-I'm right here, Mom."

Skyler sobbed harder.

...

"Listen darling, there's nothing we can do about this; we just have to be strong and get through it."

"Will they really come here?"

"Yes, if we stay here they'll just come and get her. And they'll keep her for longer than they will if we take her back to Albuquerque and she goes in there by herself. That is the only thing Mommy can do. She doesn't want to - the last thing she wants to do is leave you, but she has to. And I don't know if you noticed, but Mommy also got very upset just now and broke down, and Flynn is now comforting her in the other room while I am comforting you here."

"I-is she crying?"

"Yes."

"I don't want M-Mommy to cry."

"I know, it's horrible, there's nothing we can do about it now, but it will be temporary. It'll just be a little while, and then she'll come back. It's, well, we don't know how long it will be, but it's not forever, it's just for a while. But listen, I need you to do something for me which is very very very important. You got really upset just now and Mommy got really upset, and that wasn't very fun, was it?"

Holly shook her head and hiccupped as more tears ran down her cheeks and snot ran out of her nose.

"Tomorrow morning, I will take Mommy to the court and you and Flynn will stay at my house. Tomorrow morning, you will have to say goodbye to Mommy for a little while. But if you did it like that just now, and if she was taken away when both of you were screaming and kicking and yelling, that would make you both so much more upset. That would make it so much harder. And you know Mommy hasn't been well recently. That would make Mommy more sick if you did that tomorrow. Do you know what I mean?"

"Is Mommy sick now?"

"Flynn's looking after her. She goes up and down a bit - sometimes she gets better and she seems ok, but then she can fall down again quite easily, and one of the things that does that to her is if you get really upset, because she doesn't want you to be upset because she loves you so much. So if you are upset, and if you scream and carry on like you did just now, she will be even more upset than you are, and that can make her sick. So this is what I'm gonna ask you to do. Tomorrow morning, Holly, you need to be very brave. You can still cry - I think we'll all be crying - but please don't scream and yell and kick like you were doing just now. It'll make Mommy sick. Please don't do that."

"I don't w-want her to go."

"I know. I know. I'm so sorry, it's so hard. But there's nothing we can do about it. What we can do is try and have a nice night together tonight as much as we can - we'll go back to my house and have dinner and maybe play another game. It's Mommy's last night with us, so we should try and make it fun. Make it a good night if we can. And then tomorrow morning, we will hug her very very tightly and kiss her and tell her how much we love her and how much we're gonna miss her, and it is ok to cry, you can definitely cry, but it's a lot less painful if you don't scream and kick and yell. It is less hard and less horrible and less painful if you stay calm and just hug her and tell her that you love her. Ok?"

...

Suddenly, Skyler was calm. She stood up, flushed the toilet and straightened the mat. She rinsed out her mouth, washed her hands and face and patted them dry. Then she opened the door. "My darling," she said, and took Flynn into her arms. He resisted at first because he was trying to read her face, but she pulled his head onto her shoulder and began to stroke his hair.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"How can I not, y-you -"

"Just don't, just don't. I'm ok. And this hug is making me more ok, thank you darling."

Flynn sighed and squeezed her.

"Hey, Flynn?" called Marie from the living room. "How you doing?"

"Alright."

Skyler left him abruptly and rushed back to the living room. She found Marie walking across it with Holly in her arms. "Mommy!" yelped Holly, and held out her arms to Skyler, who couldn't grab hold of her fast enough. She held her close, rubbing her back and kissing her hair, and rocking her whole body back and forth like parents do with newborns. "I'm sorry I went away. I came back, see! I told you I'd come back."

Marie met her eyes behind Holly's back, and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I'm fine," said Skyler, her heart hammering.

Flynn appeared at the end of the hallway, still leaning on the wall.

Skyler moved quickly towards him. Marie tried to meet his eyes as well, but Flynn could look only at his mother.

"Sorry, I ran away on you too. Twice." She hugged him close. "And then I came back."

She couldn't feel anything. Her own voice rang around inside her head, over and over. "I'd rather have them think I'm Bonnie Whatsername than some complete idiot." Skyler stroked her son's hair as his father's voice came to her now, "You should just take this money that I give you and not look too closely at it." It was my fault, she thought. Not his fault. Mine.

Skyler gritted her teeth and with gargantuan effort pulled her consciousness back to the present, and to the two precious people in her arms. She stroked Flynn's face. "Listen, both of you, you mean the world to me; you are the reason I fight, you're the reason I get up in the morning, you're the reason I do anything at all. I love you so much I can't even describe how enormous it is; my heart skips a beat every time I look at you, and it swells with a pride so strong it threatens to burst out of my chest, because you are both such wonderful people; you are so strong and kind and smart, and you don't need me for that at all, you just do it all on your own because you are such strong and capable people. I swear, so much pride my heart threatens to burst out of my chest every time I look at you."

She held Flynn's eye for a moment, and he put his hand on her shoulder. "W-we don't need a goodbye speech, Mom," he said.

"No it's not, I'm not saying goodbye to you because I'm never going to leave you - that's what I'm trying to say, I'm…" She breathed deeply and swallowed twice. "I would never voluntarily leave you. Holly, do you know what voluntarily means? It means a choice. If I had a choice, I would never leave your side. Never. But I don't have a choice now."

Flynn nodded and watched the tears pool in his mother's eyes.

"I don't have a choice - if I had a choice I would never leave you. I would do anything for you, you're my reason for living, and I am so sorry. I'm so sorry." Her voice finally broke and she swallowed a few more times.

"It's ok, Mom. W-we know. We know you don't have a choice and it's… not your fault. And w-we know all the other stuff too, because you're the best mom ever. I-I've always known that I can… rely on you, y-you're-you're amazing, and Holly, you know that too… don't you, th-that you can rely on Mom for anything - sh-she'll always be there for you, and -"

"Mommy's like a superhero," said Holly, nestling into Skyler's shoulder. Skyler choked out a giggle and smiled.

Flynn smiled too. "Kids s-say the truth, right? You're my hero, Mom, you - w-what you've done to keep us together and… keep us going is incredible. Th-there were times when you didn't even have enough money to feed yourself, but… y-you would feed us."

"I would do anything for you. So if you ever need anything, just ask, ok? Please. I can't be there for you in the standard way now, but I am here and I am yours." She hugged him again. "Every single piece of me is yours."

The tiny family closed their eyes and held each other. Marie watched them for a while, then looked around the cabin to see if anything was amiss. She picked up Skyler's suitcase and righted it. She picked up her own suitcase and a couple of the food bags and carried them to her car. When she returned, she saw Flynn's crutch lying on the floor near the doorway and she picked it up and took it over to him. He didn't react. She picked up the other food bags and Skyler's suitcase and retreated to her car.

"You know what else?" Skyler mumbled contentedly into Flynn's shoulder. "You two make me feel so good. Everything is better when I'm with you. You make everything better."

"M-Mom, I know you were…lying before when you said you were fine. P-please don't lie to me. Are you ok?"

Skyler stroked his cheek. "You make everything better." She gave a half smile and looked around. "Where's Marie?"

"M-Mom, I…" Flynn sighed. "I don't know."

Skyler saw the open door and walked towards it, moving Holly to her opposite hip, the arm that had been supporting her crying out with a pain she simultaneously repressed and embraced, because it made her emotional pain recede. Looking through the door, she saw her sister sitting in her car with the door open, playing on her phone. "Marie?" she called.

Marie looked up. "Hey!" she leaned out of the car. "Are you guys nearly ready? I was thinking I'll go back first and start making us dinner."

"Oh. Thanks."

"I've got all the food and your suitcase and mine. Are you alright to drive?"

"Yeah."

"Can you sit next to me in the car, Mommy?" mumbled Holly.

"Well unfortunately all three of us grown-ups came up in different cars, which means we all have to drive, including me. Which means I have to be in the front seat." Skyler saw the look in the child's eyes and reconsidered. "Are you sleepy? You look a bit sleepy, and you like sleeping in the car, don't you?" Holly nodded. "How about I keep holding you until you fall asleep. And then I'll put you into your car seat and drive you down the mountain and when you wake up, we'll be at Aunt Marie's house."

Holly nodded, and flopped her head onto Skyler's shoulder, her arms splaying across her chest. Skyler rubbed her back and stroked her hair.

Flynn stepped out of the cabin and closed the door. His backpack was on his back and he was holding Holly's teddy. Skyler took it from him and placed it on the back seat of her car.

"Are you ok to drive?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying, you... you really helped."

"Bye you guys," said Marie. "I'll head straight back and get the dinner on."

"Thank you," said Skyler.

"You're welcome. See you there." Marie let off her hand brake and drove away. Her teeth clenched and her knuckles went white as she gripped the steering wheel.

"You go on too," said Skyler to Flynn. "I'll sit here and relax until Holly goes to sleep."

"I'm not sleep yet, Mommy."

"No. I won't let go of you until you are. I promise."

"There's n-no way that I'm leaving you here," said Flynn.

"Oh no it'll be nice, I'll just sit and listen to the birds and the breeze in the trees."

"I'm not leaving you alone."

Skyler took a deep breath, looked away and then back at him. "Sit with me, then."

Skyler stepped back onto the verandah of the cabin and sat on a low wooden bench there. Flynn sat next to her and put his arm around her. She fell asleep on his shoulder as Holly fell asleep on her.