A/N: A little peek at something I decided not to write in Magic at her Fingertips. This is set just after Thanksgiving but before chapter fourteen.

Ages:

Jim - 47
Melinda - 43 (VERY pregnant with Lana)
Katie - 18
Aaron - 13
Mackenzie - 8

Enjoy xx Mariah

It was early in the morning when the house phone rang.

Melinda was in that in-between state of asleep, yet not quite deep enough that things like a phone don't disturb her. Her infant daughter's kicking kept her awake enough, but she was so exhausted that she was almost asleep. She blindly reached for the phone, her eyes just blurry enough that she couldn't read the caller ID. She answered anyway, as her mother was getting older and she was never sure how much she was actually telling her about her health.

What made her sit up though, were the sobs that came from the other end of the line. The sobs were distinctly her eldest, she could tell and she immediately sat up straighter, adjusting the pillows behind her back.

"Katie? Baby, is that you?" She asked softly.

Jim grunted in his sleep and she almost slapped him awake so he could be here for this too, but she waited to see what's going on.

"It's me, mama." The phone crinkled.

"Katie, what's wrong?" She heard the heaving on the other side of the phone. "Katie, talk to me."

"Mama, I miss home." Katie cried into the phone. "Why did you even let me come to the city?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Melinda felt her heartbreak. She immediately flung her arm across to her husband and slapped him repeatedly, trying to wake him up. Unlike her, he was a deep sleeper.

"What happened Katie? Is it Toby? I know you guys were fighting, but every couple fights." She explained, trying to careful with her words. She knew her daughter didn't mean this. She loved the city. "You just need to give it a few days. Give him some space. Your dad can be like that too."

"It's everything, mom," Katie cried into the phone. "I just want to quit, pack up, and come home. I can't do this anymore."

"Katie, I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry." She whispered, hitting Jim again. He didn't move, only slept soundly as she sighed. "You need to finish out this year, the first semester is almost done. Then you can come home for the break and go back refreshed. Okay? And if you feel the same when this year is over you can come home, if you still want too that is."

Melinda's heart broke and she reached over to slap her husband one last time. He finally grunted, rolled over, and almost glared at her.

"Why are you smacking me?" He muttered.

Melinda moved the phone from her mouth and looked at her husband.

"Katie's not having a good day. She wants to come home." She relayed the information to Jim. "I think she and Toby fought again." Katie must have heard her tell Jim because she began to sob on the other end of the phone. "Baby, it's okay. I was just telling Daddy."

"Mom, my heart hurts," Katie sobbed into the phone. "I-I-I love him. Why do I feel so much for him? He doesn't love me."

"I know you do honey," She soothed. "Let me talk to your daddy, hold on." Jim was already sitting up, scrubbing his head, mumbling something about wanting to kill and castrate Toby Sanders. "She wants to come home," she said. "I don't know what to tell her."

He knew what she was asking. Should I tell her she can come home for the weekend? Jim wasn't going to lie, he kind of wanted to hug his little girl right now. He rubbed his forehead. "Can she, though, school..." He muttered.

"School doesn't matter right now, Jim. Her mental health does. Plus it's Thursday, she could stay for the weekend." She whispered, looking at him. "She needs us..."

"Tell her to get some sleep. We'll go drive to the city and spend the day with her." He grunted, compromising. That was better than her driving in her current mental state.

She smiled at her husband as she watched him get out of bed. "Tell Daddy, thank you," Melinda heard on the other end of the line. Katie must have heard what her father had said.

"I will, honey. We'll see you soon." She smiled and pulled herself from the bed and walked toward her closet.

She heard Aaron groan and knew Jim was waking the kids up. She hoped to God Delia wouldn't be too mad, but if anything she could call her mom and stop into Carlton on their way to the City. They could be there by nine if they left soon.

Melinda hadn't been to the city since she brought Hannah and Katie to look for apartments. She hadn't wanted her daughter to have a bad dorm experience as she had. Luckily, when she'd met Andrea, she was looking for a roommate. She waited outside her daughter's apartment, anxiously hopping from foot to foot. She hadn't been able to concentrate since Katie had called this morning, and Jim had driven to calm himself so that if Toby did make an appearance he wouldn't actually strangle and castrate him.

She just wanted to see her daughter, hug her, and help her feel better. She knew what it felt to have her heartbreak, she and Kevin had done it many times to each other in their relationship. She and Jim had at first too. She knew how much it hurt to have someone who you thought loved you, break your heart from just a fight. Hence why she really just wanted to see her little girl, even if it was just for the day.

The door opened and before Melinda could blink, her daughter threw her arms around her. "Oh, Mom," Katie cried as soon as she hugged her. "I'm so happy you guys came. I love you."

"Katie, I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner." She hugged her daughter and kissed her head. "We love you too, bug. Let's go inside."

"Come in. Don't mind the dishes. I haven't had much time in between classes and work, and Hannah has been crashing at Brandon's dorm lately." Katie muttered and pulled herself away to widen the door. "Hannah is still sleeping, she'll be up by ten though. She has a class to go to." Katie sniffled as her parents entered. "Where are my little brother and sister?"

"We left them with Delia since they had school," her father yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, okay," Katie said. "There's some coffee in the kitchen if you need some."

"I'm good, bug." Jim had plopped down on her couch and sighed. "Just gonna rest my eyes for a second."

Melinda knew that Katie would come to her, start talking when she wanted to. She knew that their company was enough as she watched as her husband and Katie sitting together on the couch. She bit her lip as she watched them, before going to the kitchen to start up the kettle to boil some water. Her daughter loved tea, and if they were going to have the big heart to heart she thought they were going to have then it would be a necessity.

She set about making the tea, but when Katie didn't come back after the kettle whistled, Melinda felt her heart sink. She made it anyway, with honey and sugar the way her daughter like it. She left the mugs and walked around the counter to see Katie and Jim asleep on the couch, her head tucked in his arm. Melinda walked further into the room, pulling the blanket from the top of the other couch and laid over the pair before kissing her head and Jim's lips and leaving the room.

Melinda set out to do her daughter's dishes, knowing how much both she and Hannah hated doing them considering neither of them had done the double dink full of them. Just as she was finishing them, Katie walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Melinda smiled at Katie as she came into the room more and leaned on the counter next to her mom.

"Hey," Katie sniffled and rubbed her eyes.

"You okay?" She asked.

Katie sighed and shook her head. "No," her daughter sighed." Melinda set down the last late she rinsed into the drying rack and walked toward her. "It hurts, mom. He won't even talk to me. All we do it fight and I don't like it."

Melinda leaned over and placed a kiss on her head. "It wouldn't be a heartbreak if it didn't hurt." She murmured.

"I just don't get it, Mom. We were...we were happy. We had just talked about everything that went down during Thanksgiving that night in the basement, and everything was fine, but the second we get back here, he gets super tense and just wants to fight. Mom, I don't get it." Her heart broke as she listened to her. She was right, it didn't make any sense. "Did I do something wrong? Was I not a good girlfriend? Should I have done something differently?"

"Babygirl, you did nothing wrong. This wasn't your fault. And unfortunately, you don't know what's going on in his head or why." She said, rubbing her back. "Maybe you will one day, but that answer isn't going to come soon."

"How do I get over this feeling?" Katie whispered. "Everything hurts."

"I know, bug. I know." She sighed, thinking about the time after time in high school when she'd get hurt by so many people. "And I don't know. Just think about the fact that I did all your dishes." Katie giggled and then wiped away her tears. "Put everything into your schooling and just give him some space. I wish I knew what to tell you about how to get him to just talk to you, but every guy is different."

Katie nodded and leaned into her mother. "I just miss him," Katie whispered. "I miss him so much."

"I know honey, and that's perfectly okay." She muttered into her hair. "Nothing is wrong with missing him at all."

They were quiet after that, as they just stood together. Melinda just held her daughter for a moment before walking over to the recliner and cuddling with a sleeping Jim while watching some random Lifetime movie about a hooker with a heart of gold. Katie remade them some tea and found ice cream in the freezer that they both dug into. When Jim finally woke up, the movie was almost over and the ice cream was long gone.

Katie's lip trembled as soon as she heard her father's voice. "Daddy," she lifted her arms, and Jim walked over to her, wrapping his strong arms around his daughter.

"It's going to be okay, Katiebug." He kissed her head. "How about we go out for lunch, take your mind off things and give you a belly full of good food?"

"Can we go to this Italian place called Lucio's? It has the best pasta," Katie suggested.

"Anywhere you want," Jim said, hugging her again.

Hannah had surfaced in some oversized pajamas. "Am I dreaming or are Jim and Melinda here?"

"No dream," Melinda chuckled as she struggled to stand, but Hannah came over to help her up. "You can come with us for lunch if you want."

"Food? I'm down," Hannah said and hugged her best friend's mother. "I think it's time for a big group hug."

Katie smiled a little bit through her tears and walked over to punch her best friend playfully before engulfing her, and her mother into a hug as Jim came up behind and wrapped his much bigger arms around them all.

After dinner, Melinda was concerned that they didn't have enough food in their apartment and took them to Whole Foods and bought them everything they needed. Jim helped them bring all of the groceries up the seven flights of stairs, leaving pregnant Melinda in the car. Hannah, Katie, and her father came up with the last few bags.

"Thanks for all the stuff," she said, smiling at him as they came up the last set of stairs. "We haven't done the best job of keeping good and healthy food in our cabinets."

"You're young. As long as you eat well some of the time you'll be okay," he laughed, smiling at his daughter. That's when he saw Toby was waiting outside their apartment. He'd stopped laughing then, glaring at the boy who'd messed with his daughter's heard. "You. Not now. You can see her later."

"Come on Katie," Toby said, sighing. He looked afraid of her dad, stepping back even a little toward his apartment, but he still preserved. "I want to talk."

"Now you wanna talk," she sighed and pushed the door opened, having left it ajar for when they came up this time. "Of course, now that I'm busy you want to talk."

She closed the door behind them and Hannah smiled at her best friend and they began to put away all the pasta Melinda had convinced them to get.

"Why did we let her get us all this pasta?" She asked.

"She's my mother and convinces people to get things they don't actually want most of the time. Why do you think her store has such a good business?" She laughed, nudging her dad's side. "No. I love pasta and it's the only thing I really know how to cook."

"Very true," her dad hugged her then, kissing her cheek. "If you ever need any help making something, you can always call me. I can whip anything up with hardly anything in the fridge. Trust me."

"I don't doubt your talents dad," she squeezed him. "Thanks for getting him to back off a little."

"Want me to rough him up on my way out?" He teased, going toward the door as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked to see it was Melinda telling him to hurry because she had to pee. "Your mom is making me hurry. She has to pee."

"If he's even still out there," she laughed, knowing he was only kidding. "You scare the crap out of him, dad. Give mom another hug for me and one to Kenz and Aaron too."

"Good. I'm glad I've still got it enough to scare the crap out of that kid," he laughed, smiling at her. "And I will."

"Hey, I've got putting the groceries away," Hannah said, smiling. "Go take that shower you were talking about in the car."

Her dad had excused himself quietly by the time Katie had reached Hannah, hugging her. "Thanks. I really need a minute to myself," she said.

"I totally get it. Despite loving that they were here, you need a minute. I get it," Hannah smiled, nodding to her before she ran to her bedroom, seeing her notepad open on her bed.

"I didn't leave that there," she said reaching for it to find her mother's neat cursive covering the entire open page.

Daily things to remind yourself of Katiebug:

• The world is not against you.

• It's okay to cry.

• You're allowed to be sad, don't let yourself think otherwise.

• Your anxiety does not define you as a whole.

• Not everyone will understand you and not everyone will care enough to try. that's alright. I'm here and I care. I love you.

• One day you'll know your group who care enough to help you, and you'll be afraid when they try to understand you, let them.

• Stop keeping yourself in the dark when it's bright outside.

• Remember to breathe. I know it's hard to talk to that stranger, but even if you mess up they'll probably never see you again.

• The past does not reflect who you are now. We all make mistakes, forgive and forget.

• The future is unknown, stop trying to predict and plan it.

• If you want to cry, then cry. Stop trying to hold in your tears for other people.

• You are not your sadness.

• Learn to love yourself before you expect other people to love you too.

• Stop giving your all to people who give you nothing, it'll only make you tired.

• When you start to overthink, remember that it's literally just you overthinking. none of the things you're telling yourself are true.

• Find alternative ways to help your sadness, healthy ways.

• You're so beautiful Katherine, don't let anyone make you think differently.

• You can call anytime baby girl.

• Your daddy and I love you more than anything.

• And so do your brother and sisters.

• Ned does too, just give him time.

I love you. I love you. I love you. Be good. Have fun. Live life to fullest Katiebug xoxo Mom