Chapter Two

May June is a single mother living with her four year old daughter Lady and her little brother Mason.

She works hard to keep her family afloat but she's so overworked that she doesn't even get the time to spend with her own family.

She wishes could have just one day that she could have to just herself and her family. But she knew that money was much more important than wishes. She needed to keep working.

June looked at the clock on the wall of her tiny apartment and sighed. The night shift at the diner was always the longest shift. She'd been up since 5am and now it was nearing midnight. She still had more cleaning to do before she could even think about going to sleep. She put on a smile and went over to her daughter's bedroom. Lady was fast asleep but Mason was still tossing and turning. "Mase, what's the matter buddy?" she asked as she sat down on the edge of his bed.

Mason peeked at her with one eye. "Buddy?" He giggled. "I'm sixteen sis not a little kid anymore. "

June shook her head and laughed softly. "You'll always be my little Mase. Come on, tell me what's going on. Is it just the late night or is something else bothering you?" Mason sighed and sat up. "I guess it's just everything. I'm just having a hard time lately with everything going on at school. I can't wait until we move somewhere else." June's heart broke a little. She knew Mason didn't like their current apartment. She just wished she could do more for him.

"Yes." She played around.  "And we'll move into a mansion won't we?" She laughed.

Mason smiled at his sister's antics. "Sure we will. And we'll have a pool and a huge backyard. And a butler to make us food whenever we want!" June laughed even harder. "You're getting a bit too carried away buddy. I'm not sure a butler is in the budget." Mason shrugged. "It can be a pretend butler then. We can pretend all the time. Just like we used to when we were kids."

June sighed with a smile on her face. " You miss mom again?"

Mason's face fell. "I miss her so much sis. She would've loved to see us grow up." June sat down next to him and put her arm around him. "She would have been so proud of you, you know that right? You're such a good big brother and such a smart kid. Mom always knew that." Mason wiped his eyes. "I know. I just wish I had more time with her."

"I know buddy. I know."

"Can I ask you something?" Mason asked. June nodded. "What was mom like before she got sick? You're older than me so you must remember more of her." June thought for a moment. "Well, mom was always so full of life. She loved to laugh and have fun. And she always made sure we had everything we needed, even if it meant working long hours. She always made time for us though. You must remember the games we used to play? And all the silly songs she would sing?"

" She worked hard like you. June please don't be like her. You know leave me"

June felt tears well up in her own eyes now. "I would never leave you Mase. I promise you that. And I won't let myself get too wrapped up in work either. I promise to always make time for you, just like mom did. Okay?" Mason smiled through his tears. "Okay. I trust you. You're the best sister ever." June smiled back. "And you're the best brother a girl could ask for."

"So uh..." Mason cleared his throat. "Can you please leave now this is getting too emotional for me."

June shook her head as she stood up. " Well okay then cool guy I'll leave but I'll be back if you haven't slept after I'm done with those dishes."

"Ugh dishes?!" Mason groaned. "So uncool of you sis. But fine." He watched as June left the room with a grin on her face. He flopped back on his bed. "Girls." He sighed as he closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. He knew deep down that he was lucky to have June. She always took care of him and he knew she always would. He could count on her for anything. He thought about their mother, and the fun times they'd had as kids, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

***

After May June was done with the dishes. Which was another job she had taken for herself. To wash all of her neighbours' dishes. It was a deal between her and the landlord. He was a kind middle twenties man that told June that she could just pay for the rent of her room by doing the chores of the flats.

She loved this deal. She would have done all the chores even if the landlord didn't ask her to. It gave her a sense of purpose. But right now it was way past midnight and she was very tired. She lay in her tiny little room and thought about her brother. He was growing up so fast. He didn't even want to talk about his emotions anymore. They were growing apart.

And her daughter Lady was also growing. Soon she would ask for more than her pink bows.

Lady had always been such a special child. She was so intuitive, more than any other child her age. And May June knew that it would be difficult to keep up with her. But May June would try. She wanted to give Lady the world. Maybe it was because she had lost her own mother so early. She knew that Lady deserved so much more. May June would try to give her the world and then some.

But how? How she going to do all this? "Oh my..." June held her hands together and started praying to whoever who would listen, to get a miracle. "Oh please. I just want this Christmas to be great for my brother and my little baby Lady. I want them to have so much fun that they don't even remember all our troubles. I know I'm asking for too much but please just this once. "

May June felt a little bit of peace in her heart when she finished praying. She decided to get ready for bed. Maybe she would find a solution in the morning. She changed into her favourite pajamas and got into bed. As she closed her eyes, she remembered the old woman's words. "Keep hoping my dear. There is always a way." May June smiled as she finally let herself drift off to sleep.

The morning came too soon. She had to get up even though she hadn't really gotten much sleep. As always she was tired but pushing herself because there was nothing else she could do but go work for her younger ones.

The morning came too soon. She had to get up even though she hadn't really gotten much sleep. As always she was tired but pushing herself because there was nothing else she could do but go work for her younger ones.

She took a deep breath as she washed her face and put on her clothes. She couldn't think of what to do for her kids today. What could she do that would be special enough for them? She sighed, as she made herself some coffee. She sat down at the small table she had and sipped her coffee. The caffeine made her feel a little more awake and alert. And that's when it hit her. She had an idea. A brilliant idea.

That would make the Christmas celebrations so nice for her brother and sister, her kids.

She grabbed her bag and her coat and ran out of the door. She got on the bus and headed to the city. She stopped by the grocery store and then the dollar store. She ran around buying things. Things that she thought she needed. As she rushed back to her home, she hoped her idea would work. She was worried it wouldn't. But she had to try. It was the best idea she had. When she got home, she was out of breath. She put her things down and sat down. She had to think about what to do next.

But Christmas was still in thirty days so she still had time to do this.

She started to write on a piece of paper. She thought and thought until finally she had written down all the steps to her plan. She smiled when she was done. This was a good idea. A very good idea. She just hoped it would work. She would need help though. She pulled out her phone and called her closest friends. After explaining to them what she wanted to do, they agreed to help. It would be fun they said. May June was relieved. Now she could start working on her idea.

Now she needed to go to work though. With quick thinking she shoved all of her things in the lower cardboard to keep them from being found by Mason who would probably ask her about them. 

"Oh God," she looked at the time on her wristwatch. "I'm so late!" She really had to rush to her first job of the day. The job that paid her the best.

She sprinted out the door and jumped into a cab. She let out a huge breath of relief when she got to work, right on time. She quickly clocked in and rushed to the back room. She kept thinking about her plan as she started work. She couldn't wait to get home to start it. She worked as fast as she could. The time seemed to drag by as she kept waiting for the end of her shift.

Finally, her shift was over. She ran out of the store and jumped on the bus. She could hardly sit still. She got off the bus at her stop and ran but stopped abruptly. 

That's when she remembered that she still had another job to go to. Her second job of the day. She hit her forehead. "Oh my God!"

The plan could wait. 

She looked at the time. She was already late for her next job. She would have to work extra fast to make up for it. She rushed into the store and quickly clocked in. The hours seemed to last forever, but eventually the shift was over. She ran out of the store and jumped on the bus again. She was finally going home. She was so excited she could barely sit still. Her plan was going to make Christmas so special for Mason and Lady.

But the bad news couldn't end. The minute she stepped inside her flat she knew something was wrong. Mason had his hands on his head and he was sitting on the small couch they had and Lady was paging through her colouring book. 

"Mase what's going on?" 

Mason's response was to quickly turn around not facing his sister. "Nothing."

"Mason what is wrong?"

Mason looked at Lady. "Lala dear please go get your uncle some crayons so I can colour too huh? " 

Lady smiled happy. "Uncle will colour? " 

" Yes dear". Mason nodded. 

Lady ran to her mother's room to go find the crayons she had kept there.

Now Mason faced his sister. "Sis it happened again."

June slowly walked to the couch. "What happened?" 

"He is out of prison. He is trying to fight for Lady's custody."

"Wha-what?!" June's bag fell on the floor. Shock evident on her face. "He's out?! No-no! It's impossible. They said thirty years!"

"Well sis thirty years now seem to be three. He's out. And he's trying to get his daughter he said."

June felt a tear fall from her left cheek. "How do you know this? Who told you?"

Mason pointed at the door. "The fool got inside this flat! He got inside this flat and he was shouting and ranting that he was gonna fight for what was his. It took everything in me. It's all your upbringing that made me stop myself from punching him right on the face."

"He... He came here?" June was shivering with fear now. She ran to clod and lock the door. "How did he even know that we live here. How did he... What is happening here.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out sis. We have to figure this out. If we don't do this quick, he is gonna win. I know it." Mason looked at his sister who was shaking with panic. "Hey hey hey. It's ok. Come sit down. You're not doing anyone any good if you go into panic mode right now."

"What will I do? What am I going to do Mason? I worked so hard to make sure that was far away from us. Now how did he find us? "

"First of all," Mason said. "We're not going to panic. Take a deep breath. Look we're gonna think of a solution and we're gonna work it out. Okay? First let's find out how he found out about us." 

"Okay. But how do we do that?" 

"If we figure out how he knows, we can probably guess why he's doing all of this. Let's think of what you've been doing recently that might have let him know where we live."

"I do all that I always do. I work. Why would that lead him to find us?!" June had a hand on her chin as she panicked more. " What we need to do right now is just run. Run far away. Where he can't find us. "

"With what money sis?"

June stopped for a minute as she processed what her brother had said. "Oh no you're right. We don't have the money for this. We can't run right now."

Mason sighed trying to think what was going to happen now. "But we do need a safe place for our little Lady."

"We need to tell the authorities about this. We have to. We have to report him. If we don't then he's just gonna keep doing this. He's not gonna stop unless we make him stop." 

"Yeah but what if he..." June held back tears. She didn't want to think about the worst. "We can't let her be alone with that man. Not for a second. Not for a second." 

"We won't let him anywhere near her. We're gonna fight this. We're gonna fight for our family." 

June felt relief for a second.