Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight related.
This chapter actually became much longer than I anticipated, but once I started it just sort of wrote itself.
December 10, 2011
Tanya's POV
"Come on girls, we have to get ready to leave." I said to my daughter's as I walked into the living room.
"Where are we going, mama?" My five year old, Samantha, asked. To look at her you could see her father, with her dark curls and bright blue eyes. Sometimes my heart hurt just looking at her, but it also made me love her even more that I could see him every time I saw her.
"We are going to go to the daycare you might go to." I answered as I helped her slip her shoes on.
"Do we have to go there?" She whined.
"We talked about his, remember? Today we are just going to go look around." I explained.
I talked about this with her over the past few days. I told her I had gotten a job and I needed for them to go to daycare so that I knew they were safe while I was at work. She didn't want me to go; she wanted me to stay home with her. Which broke my heart, because I would love nothing more than to stay home with her.
I scooped Alexis, my two year old, up off the living room floor and headed for the door. Alexis looked more like me, but still had her father's bright blue eyes.
Alec's eyes was the first thing I noticed about him, I was glad the girl's had his eyes.
Alec and I had first met in college. It was basically love at first sight. As hard as that saying is to believe, it really was. One look at him and I knew I had met my soul mate. He felt the same. We started dating and were inseparable.
Alec was majoring in criminal law; it was his dream to become a detective. I was majoring in child education. I wanted to be a teacher; it was a dream since I was a child myself.
Before our second year of college, we got married. Everyone said we were too young, and moving to fast. We disagreed. We knew there was no one else for either of us. At the end of our second year of college we found out I was pregnant. I finished that year out, and then didn't go back.
I became a stay at home wife and mother. We welcomed Samantha into our family, and I couldn't have been happier. Alec felt guilty that he was finishing his education and I wasn't. But I wouldn't take any of it back even if I could. I loved being a mom and I didn't want to leave her.
"We're here." I said as I pulled into the parking lot of the daycare. I got out of the car and opened the back door, letting Samantha out and taking Alexis out of her car seat.
We walked into the daycare and were greeted by a friendly looking older woman. "Hi, you must be Tanya Denali. I'm Maggie." She held her hand out and I shook it.
"It's nice to meet you." I smiled. "This is Samantha." I said as I patted Samantha's head, who was wrapped around my leg. "And this is Alexis." Who I still holding.
"Hi." Maggie said to the girls. "What gorgeous girls." She smiled.
"Thank you." Samantha said. "My daddy always says we are his gorgus three."
We both chuckled at her mispronunciation of the word.
Maggie took us on a tour of the building showing us the different play rooms, the gym, the playground that was out back. Samantha's eyes lit up at the sight of the room she would be in. She was looking around and then at us anxiously.
"You can go play if you like." Maggie said. Samantha didn't hesitate; she took off finding a group of little girls playing dress up.
I let Alexis play with kids her age as Maggie and I went to her office.
Maggie sat at her desk and pulled a folder of papers out.
"Here are the papers you will need to fill out." She said as she handed them to me. "Do you know what hours you will need child care?"
"Mainly mornings and afternoons." I answered.
I had recently started back to college. I wanted to finish getting my degree so that I could get a good job to support the girls. Being a single mother, I was approved for financial aid. Unfortunately, nothing else in life was free, so I had to get a job because the bills were starting to stack up.
"I attend school at night, but I have a babysitter for those hours. I just started working at the diner, and my babysitter is in school during the day." I said.
"Well, we are open all day, and even at night, we have a few kids whose parents work over night. So any time you need them to be here, we are here." Maggie said.
"That's good." I said.
"Here is the financial sheet, with rates and payment options."
I took the paper from Maggie's outstretched hand and tried to keep my eyes in my head as I looked over the price.
"Alright, well I have this weekend off so I will stop back in on Monday." I said as I stood from the chair.
"Great." Maggie smiled. "We look forward to having the girls here."
I sat in the car after I got the girl's in their car seat, and sighed as I looked over the prices again.
"Are we going to come here everyday?" Samantha asked. "I like it here. They have cool toys, and a big fish tank, and my new friend Laura said we could play on the bikes when I come back."
"I don't know yet, sweetie." I said. It would figure that the one that was against it was now all for it. "Do you want to go to Aunt Sue's house?" I asked.
"Yeah!" They both cheered.
"Can we go fishing with Uncle Charlie?" Samantha asked.
"It's to cold to go fishing." I answered.
When Alec finished college he started working as a deputy at the Forks police station. Charlie, the Chief of police, and Alec became great friends. We would spend time with Sue and Charlie and they loved the girls. They became Alexis and Samantha's pseudo aunt and uncle.
"Aunt Sue." The girls yelled as they ran up the front steps and into the awaiting arms of Sue.
"How did it go?" She asked me as I walked into the house.
"The daycare is great." I answered. "The staff is friendly, the place is really nice, and the girls even loved it."
"But?" Sue asked.
"But, it's a lot more expensive than I expected." I sighed.
I handed Sue the papers and she didn't stop herself from letting her eye's bug out of her head.
"Wow." She said.
"Yeah." I said as I sat down at the kitchen table. "It's just so frustrating. This wasn't part of our plan." A quickly wiped away a tear that escaped.
Our plan was for me to be a stay at home until both of the girls were in school and I would go back to college, if I wanted. At the time I wasn't sure if I wanted to. Now it's a necessity. We were doing great financially with just Alec working. I know most people worry when their spouse is a cop, but I always figured, this is Forks, how dangerous could it ever get. I will never ask that question again.
"I see my favorite munchkins are here." Charlie yelled as he walked in the door.
"Uncle Charlie!" The girls yelled as they ran toward him and jumped on his legs.
Charlie walked into the kitchen with a kid attached to each leg. He plopped down in the kitchen chair and sighed. "These shoes are so heavy." He said.
"I not shoe." Alexis said.
"You're not?" Charlie asked. "Then what are you doing on my feet?" Alexis laughed.
"Uncle Charlie, mom says it's to cold to go fishing. But we really wanna go." Samantha said as she held her hands under her chin and fluttering her eyelashes.
Charlie groaned and said, "You know I can't say no to that face. But it really is to cold. But, I'll tell you what." Charlie moved in close like her was telling them a secret. "Go up in my closet and get your fishing poles and we will fish for Aunt Sue's pillows in the living room."
The girls took off heading toward the stairs to get to Charlie's room.
"You put a hole in one of my pillows and I will kill you." Sue threatened.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Charlie said. "So what's going on?"
Sue passed the financial paper to Charlie and said, "Daycare."
Charlie picked up the paper and gave a low whistle. "This is for daycare? What are they feeding these kids for snack? Gold bars?"
"I don't know." I said. "I don't see how I'm going to swing it. As a waitress I could never afford this, even with Alec's benefits I don't think I could do it."
Charlie stood up as we heard the girls coming back down the stairs. He held up the paper and said, "You don't need this. You know we are here for you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a hot date with not one, but two chicks." Charlie bent down and kissed Sue on the cheek and said, "Sorry, Hun."
Sue laughed and shook her head.
"Let's go fishing." Charlie yelled as he walked out of the kitchen. "That couch carp is calling my name."
Charlie was great with the girls. He could never deny them anything though. Partly because he loved them and partly out of guilt. He blames himself and feels guilty that he was the last person to see Alec alive.
Last year a low life criminal was hitting banks in small towns. No one thought he would come to Forks, but he did. Charlie and Alec reported to the bank after their alarm system went off. Together they were quick to get the robber unarmed and under arrest. As Charlie was putting the cuffs on him he pulled out a second gun and shot Alec point blank, he died instantly, leaving me a widow, and my girls without a father.
Charlie blames himself for not patting him down before he put the cuffs on him.
"Charlie's right, we are more than happy having the girls here while you work." Sue said.
Sue has been watching the girls during the day while I work, but she also has to work. So I thought daycare would be the best choice. Who knew it would cost so much.
Over the weekend I didn't think about the daycare situation. I just enjoyed the time with my girls. Once Monday rolled around I had to think about it again. I had two options, quit my job and be here with the girls, or shuffle the girls between neighbors while I worked. Neither choice was a good one. I couldn't quit my job, we needed the money. And I hated using my friends and neighbors. No one ever complained and said that they were happy to help, but I didn't like doing it. Every once in a while yes, but not every single day.
The only thing that was clear was that daycare was out of the question. I could never afford it. I dropped the girls off with Sue and headed toward the daycare to give them my decision.
Maggie smiled up at me as I walked into her office. "What perfect timing." She said. "I just finished up your paperwork and I just need your signature."
"Oh, umm…I have decided to not put the girls in daycare." I said.
"Oh." Maggie said losing her smile.
"Yeah, the daycare is great, I love it. And everybody is so nice here, but I just can't afford it." I explained.
"But," Maggie started looking confused. "Your childcare is already paid for."
"What?" I asked. "I haven't paid anything. I don't have any money to pay with."
"Somebody came in this morning and paid a full year's childcare for both girls." She said.
"Who?" I asked. "A full year?"
"Yes, a full year." She smiled. "With no restrictions, so they can be here as many hours as you like over the next year."
"Who?" I asked baffled. "Who would pay this for me?"
"Actually it was a kid." She said looking even more confused. I was even more confused than she was. "A guy came in with a kid, but then he left before I could get a good look at him; he was wearing a hat and sunglasses. The kid then walked in here like he was a little business man and plopped down in the chair and handed me a cashier's check and said it was for the girls' daycare bill. He explained that it was for the whole year and then left. It was really cute actually."
"A kid paid for it?" I asked.
"Yeah, I called the bank to ask about the check and it's legit. So it has been added to your account. I thought it was weird too." She laughed. "Oh!" She said as she dug through some papers on her desk. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. "He also gave me this and asked that you get it."
I took the envelope from her and opened it, pulling out a Christmas card. The inside of the card was written on.
Tanya,
You are a must stronger woman than you believe you are. But, there is also no
shame in asking for help when it is needed. We all love you and would do anything for you. Along with your daycare,
your mortgage has been paid off. You don't need any more stress than you already under. Just enjoy your girls and have a Merry Christmas.
Santa
I wiped away the tears that were pouring down my face and smiled at Maggie who was watching me with tears in her eyes.
"I guess the girls will start tomorrow." I said.
A/N: I am really nervous about this chapter. I hope nobody is going to hate me for killing Alec. This happens in real life with cops, fireman, soldiers, and I can't even begin to imagine what the families left behind are dealing with especially during the holidays. So, to everybody who goes out everyday and puts their life on the line to save others, I give you my respect!
Hug a hero today! Then leave a review and I will see you tomorrow.