Jaxon
The doorbell rang again and this time I knew it was my sister; I took a breath before I opened the door, "Jaxon" she cooed at me as if we have been talking for years. I let her in but just rolled my eyes, she already was irritating me, "I heard you are babysitting" she said, "Addison you know very well what I am doing. You are here to help this little girl if you can't do that then leave" I said. "Jaxon chill" she said following me into the living room, "Hello I am Addison. You must be Ashe" she said as Ashe turned her head and cuddled her dad a little closer. "It's okay Ashe, she is here to help" I said trying to calm her down. "I don't need help" she said, "you do baby girl" Josh said, Ashe started to cry, and I felt so bad for her. I wish I could take her pain and bottle it up and step on it. "I know sweet girl; I know it hurts but this is not healthy. What part of this hurts you?" Addison asked, "NO!" she screamed, I kneeled down and looked at her, "Ashe I am so sorry. I am sorry that you were taken, I am sorry I wasn't there to grab you in time. I wish I could take this pain away. I wish I could make it better. I need you to talk Addison tell her what part hurts" I said. She looked up at me and then to her daddy and he nodded his head. She stared at Addison for what felt like forever, I was afraid this wasn't working. "This isn't working, Addison thanks for stopping by" I said, "Give her time to open up Jaxon, she is trying to comprehend it all, she feels vulnerable" she said. "I don't need you to tell me how she feels" I said, "Same old Jaxon" she said patting me on the back, she was driving me nuts! I know she never did anything, but I felt like she was trying to interfere. I should be able to help Ashe her and I have a bond at least I thought we did.
"It hurts that I didn't listen" Ashe said, "you feel like you were taken because you didn't listen" Addison said, "that everyone is mad at me" she said. "No one is mad at you baby girl" Josh said hugging her, "it is not wrong for her to feel that Ashe why do you think they are mad?" Addison asked, "Jaxon told me to not talk to anyone. I saw the puppy" she said. "Ashe, I get it and I am not mad, I was scared for you but I am glad that I was able to find you and bring you home" I said. She smiled, "you're not mad?" she asked, "not even a little bit" I said, she let go of her dad and leaped into my arms, I hugged her back. "I think we need time to work on the whole who is safe and who is not safe thing" I said, "I agree" she replied, I felt like things were going to be okay. "Well, I guess things are better than" Addison said, "yes thanks you can go" I said, "Wait I need to be sure she is actually okay" she said, "she is fine" I said pulling her up and taking her to the door. "Jaxon come on we are family" she said, "you and I are not family. You might be close with dad, but you and I we were never close" I said. "No because you take everything so personally" she said, "this is not the time I am working, goodbye" I said shoving her out the door. I mean why was I so butt hurt about her, I knew she was dad's favorite. I disappointed him a lot growing up he never felt like I could do this job. I am proving him right most of the time. Dammit I need to do better, "Jaxon" Ashe said walking up to me, I sat on the floor, and she ran to me and hugged me. "I am sorry" I said, "I know, I am too. I won't leave again" she said, "it's not about that little lady. I want you to feel safe that is my job. So, if something to you doesn't feel safe than don't do it" I said. "Gotcha, come play" she said and she grabbed my hand and I followed her to the living room. I didn't want to think my sister was that good, but like her mood changed so fast.
"Is she better?" Sophie asked, "seems like it but how that girl didn't do anything" Josh said, "Nope that was all Jaxon" Sophie said, I mean what did I do? I know I apologized to her and told her I wasn't mad. Was that all it took, for her to know we were there for her, and that we weren't mad. Ashe was a good kid, and she made a mistake it was a big one, but she was trying to figure it out. I admit I made a mistake too, and I needed to figure that out, I needed to be more present and be more attentive to her. I couldn't be taking phone calls or anything. Ashe and her sister were biggest responsibility, and I was going to make sure that they both had my undivided attention. I wasn't going to let my father down, or myself, hell I wasn't going to let this family down. No more failing on anyone's part because, these little girls deserved to grow up they deserved to live their lives. I was going to do everything in my power to make that happen, I was not going to give up on finding these threats, I was growing attached to these girls and I wanted to help them grow up happy and healthy. I played with Ashe the rest of the day, we were going to need to ease back into this, and it was going to be a learning curve for us both. I wanted to do everything I could to make her happy, to help her understand that I was here for her, and I would always protect her. I was going to make sure she had good choice, in men, she didn't do drugs and that she did well in school. I was going to teach her to be a strong independent woman when the time came, for right now I will play with her and make sure she is a happy child. My phone was ringing it was my dad, Ashe was safe inside the house, she was with her dad and mom. I stepped away to take the call. I had a feeling he was going to lecture me but at this point I didn't care.