Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Thank you guys for the great reviews. They really, really helped. I got two votes for long chapters and one for short ones so I'm going with long chapters. Or as long as I can without going too far. No school today because it snowed a lot and the roads are bad. Anyways, next chapter! I hope you like it.
Ashley's POV
Knock Knock KnockI couldn't move from the couch, but it didn't matter because Jerry has a key to get in. Camille and him insisted that I stay the night at their house; maybe they thought I would go back to my old ways.
The shock of Mom's death was yet to set in and at that moment I sat on the couch trying to clear my mind. Shootings happen all the time in Detroit but I never thought it would happen to us. I should have known better. As Jack would say, things were going too well. Everyone was happy for too long. Mom, Jack, and I were, at least.
The screen door screeched open and footsteps came to the living room. The lights flickered on and I turned my head to see Camille standing in the doorway. She was trying to hide her tears for me; perhaps she felt she had to be strong for me.
"Are you ready sweetheart?" She moved closer and pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I shrugged but got up and she handed me my coat. I went to walk out of the door but she stopped me. "You can stay as long as you like. You know that right?"
I gave her a faint smile, "Yeah I know." She hugged me and then we left.
The ride to their house was shorter than usual and the only noise was the radio that automatically came on. Snow had begun to fall and Mom's voice came to my mind. She always worried about us. Bobby even went as far as to say she had WW (Worry Wart) Syndrome. I can still hear her voice on those cold days.
"Ashley, where did you put your scarf? You're not taking a step outside without it on."
It got to a point where we would see who could sneak out with the least amount of clothes on. I giggled at that thought, one day Angel managed to creep out of the back door with just boxers on. Then Mom saw him walk around the corner of the house and was so shocked the iced tea she was drinking came out her nose.
Tears welled in my eyes; I would never hear her sweet giggles and laughter again. Whoever said remembering the good times would help lied. The memories don't help! They make you hurt because you know that there won't be any new ones. Mom wouldn't live to see her grandchildren grow up and have babies of their own. She wouldn't be at my wedding like she promised. She wouldn't sit in the front row of Jack's first big concert like she promised.
If you've lost a loved one you know how bad this hurts. Your heart wants the knife to be taken out. Your stomach feels like it's going to fall out. It's unbearable. If you live a life with everyone in your family and nothing happens, no deaths, you can't begin to imagine the pain. You don't truly feel lost until you loose someone who is close to you.
Jerry greeted me with a warm loving hug and brotherly kiss. "Sorry I didn't pick you up. I was talking with the police and trying to get a hold of everyone."
"Have you called…?"
"Jack's at a gig. And I don't know where Angel is. Bobby, well, I'm trying Ash." I nodded. "Why don't you sleep in our bed tonight?"
"Eww…I'm not sleeping in that bed, Jerry. I have two nieces, and I know what you two have done in that bed." That made them both laugh.
"Gosh you are like Bobby more and more each day." Camille joked. "Don't worry nothing has happened in that bed yet, remember we got a bed room set a few weeks ago."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Where are you going to sleep?" I asked him.
"I haven't talked to Jack or anyone else. And the police are coming back later. I have to go to the morgue to ID her…the list is endless."
"If the police talked to you earlier why do you have to ID her?" Camille asked as she turned the heat up.
Jerry shrugged and put his head in his hands. "Why don't I help you? I could go to the hospital and…" Jerry shook his head. "No." He said firmly.
"Why not?" I exclaimed.
"You don't need to see her like that."
"But-"
"He's right sweetheart. You should stay here. And by the way what's wrong with your leg?" Jerry's wife asked and my brother nodded, a way of showing he wanted to know what was wrong.
"It's nothing. I got hurt in practice." I waved it off like it was nothing but to tell you the truth it really was hurting at this point.
"Let me take a look at it." I sighed, not in the mood to fight, and rolled up the pant long on my pajama bottoms. My knee was swollen and a beautiful shade of yellow and green.
"Oh yes, that's nothing." Jerry rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen to grab some ice. Camille rubbed my back again and I laid my head on the table, sleep was overcoming me again.
"Go lay down on our bed and relax." She told me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I nodded and limped to their room. The bed was unmade so I slipped into one side and a few minutes later Jerry came in with a towel and a bag of ice for my leg.
He handed them to me and I began to ice my knee that at this point was pounding. I was asleep before he left the room.
I woke when I felt the bed moving. Actually it wasn't the bed that was moving: it was the mattress. My eyes peaked open and I saw my oldest niece lying next to me. I smiled and pulled her close to me. Her little body wriggled until she was comfortable under my arm and then she relaxed.
"Someone died didn't they?" Daniella whispered and that's when I realized she had been crying. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and I couldn't lie. She was a lot smarter then she looked. Both of them are, and it's funny how easily kids catch onto things. It's like they can read minds or they just have the ability to grow up and be little again. Daniella was being a grown up now.
"Is Grandma in heaven?" My heart broke all over again. Mom picked up Daniella and Amelia every day after school and brought them to our house until either Camille or Jerry got off work.
"Yes, baby. She's in heaven. And she misses you and your sister." I pulled her close to me and she clung to me too.
"What will we do now?" She asked and that's when it really sunk in. Mom was gone and she wasn't coming back.
"Maybe I'll pick you up from school. I have my license and maybe I could get you two from school. Well hang out and have fun and you could go to my practice until your parents get off work." That's when she really started to cry. "We'll be ok, baby. It'll be alright."
"Will they take you away? Like they took Annie away?"
"What are you talking about? Who is Annie?" I asked and wiped her tears away. She sat up and rubbed her tear-streaked face on my shirt.
"The orphan Annie. The movie you got me when I went to the doctor and didn't cry when they took my blood from me."
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" I asked her.
"You don't have any parents. Will they throw you in an orphanage and make you clean the floors?" She started to cry again. In all truth I didn't know what would happen to me. That scared me but I had to put on a brave face.
"I'm not sure but don't worry, I'm stronger then Mrs. Hannigan I can take her and her brother." She giggled at that.
"Well, Rooster is a stupid name." I laughed at her. She curled closer to me then rolled away real fast. "Auntie Ashlee isn't you a little old to be wetting the bed?"
"What?" I pulled the covers back to find that the bag of ice had broke that my half of the bed was soaked. "Oh no." I groaned.
"Oh ok. That wasn't you." I moved to the other side of the bed with her and we fell asleep almost at once.
When I woke up, my oldest niece had curled into a ball against me and the youngest was on both of us. I untangled myself from them and left the room.
Jerry was still awake and sitting at the kitchen table pounding on the calculator. Camille was asleep on the couch with a flannel blanket draped over her. "Hey sleepyhead."
"Did you get any sleep?" I asked and poured orange juice for both of us.
"No." He stopped cramming numbers when I sat down and slid the glass to him. "But I did get a hold of Jack. He's bus will be coming in later tonight."
"That's good. Is there anything I can help with?" I asked and drank deeply. He shook his head.
"Not at the moment. But could you take the kids out later? We haven't told them yet."
"You only need to tell Amelia." He looked at me funny. "Daniella knows. She asked me last night if she was in heaven and I told her yes."
"Oh, how did she take it?"
"How do you think she took it? She just found out that her Granny died." Jerry rubbed his eyes again and sighed. "Don't worry. We talked and she seems ok. She understands. Do you want me to tell Amelia?"
"No that's ok. We should explain this to them?" His last comment shook me.
"Jerry, I wouldn't have told her but she asked. She wanted to know. I couldn't not tell her. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. I know you hadn't planed to tell her. How's your leg?" He changed the subject.
"Well, how long does it take to dry a mattress?"
"What?"
I took the girls to the park and a movie later that day so Jerry could get things straightened out and Camille could clean the house up some. Amelia was tried when we came back so I put her down for a nap and asked Daniella that play quietly or watch a movie so I could help Camille. She settled for watching Annie and that made me think about last night.
Camille was in the kitchen washing dishes when I came in. "Thanks for taking them Ashley."
"Don't worry they were perfect angels and sorry about the your mattress." She laughed softly.
"It'll dry out. Do me a favor, sweetheart. Dry those dishes and put them away." There was a pile of clean dishes the size of Mt. Everest.
"How do you guys go through so many dishes?" She shrugged and smiled. "Have you heard from Jack?"
"No, not yet."
"Oh." She heard my tone and hugged me again.
"Don't worry, he's coming."
"Camille?"
"Yeah?"
"Where will I go? Will I go back into the system?" She stopped washing dishes and looked at me.
"We won't let them put you back in the system. Evelyn adopted you; you're here to stay. We'll figure something out..." She would have gone on but Ann, Camille's Mother, interrupted us.
"The girls are staying with my parents tonight." Ann walked in and gave me a hug right off the bat. I've always gotten along with her.
"I'm so sorry dear. Your Mom was a Saint." Is a Saint. I corrected her in my mind. I gave her a smile. "Do you two need a helping hand?"
"Actually, we are almost done. Amelia is sleeping and Daniella is watching TV." Camille and Ann left to get the girl ready while I finished putting the dishes away. I didn't mind. Cleaning helps keep my mind off of things.
The bed was dry by 8:00 later that night and Jerry and Camille went to bed early. I took the couch and was still awake at ten after one. I just kept thinking about what Ann had said, Mom was a Saint. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard her say that. Just because she was gone doesn't mean…heck I didn't know what to think! She's still my mother. The only one I've ever had. Patty and Brad were never my parents. They were a nightmare.
I continued to think about that until I heard the jiggling of the front door handle. Someone was trying to get in. I searched franticly around for a weapon but only came up with one of Amelia's toys I had tripped over earlier. If it hurt to stub my toes on it, surely it would smart if you got hit in the head with it.
Creeping over to the kitchen I hid behind the door just as it swung open. A tall man stepped in carrying a suitcase and shook off his coat. This guy was tall but not real bulky, I could take him. Staying hidden, I watched him grab a glass of water. Wait…how did he know his way around the kitchen? That's when I realized it was Jack.
I slammed the door shut and he was so shocked he dropped the glass: it shattered on the floor. "Jack!" He spun around and gaped when he saw it was I.
"What's going on?" Jerry walked in with a baseball bat. Camille had another toy. I laughed and Jack smiled at them.
"Wow, so this is how you welcome back your favorite brother…"
A/N: Ok that was really long. I hope you enjoyed. Please tell me what you think!
Thanks to:
OTHlover04: Here's a long chapter for you.
Serious Fan: I hope this wasn't meaningless
Breiscrazy: Thank you so much. That helped a lot!
Typokid: Sorry. I'll try to update when I can
Diesel31: I wish I could have seen the movie three times.
Icy-dropletz: Your story is really good. I'm glad you enjoyed!