Keeping to the Family

The two family’s had always been close. Bailey Everleigh never thought too much about it until the summer that everything changed. She had been raised with her own family, and theirs was always nearby as well. They did almost everything together. She had always thought it was because both were large families. They understood the way things were done in them that people who didn’t have eight-plus kids could never.

The day she moved out of her parent's house was the day she had broken free from the pack. She had watched the rest of them all end up running back to the fold. She swore she would never. Out of the seventeen kids from the two families, she was the third youngest, with only two from the other family younger than her. Ana and Lance, and she was older than then by six years or so. At least that was between her and Lance, who was the youngest.

They had been family to her for most of her life. She had thought of them as cousins at best. Sometimes closer than brothers or sisters. It was just a good way to grow up.

When she left, though, she lost that safety net of being near them. Bailey moved across the country and was completely alone. She was finally on her own, and in the process, she said goodbye to the drama that was caused by someone in the family or the other one.

So when she moved back to the area six years after she left, she wasn’t all that surprised when everyone tried to bring her back into the folds with the drama. She ignored them and continued with her own things. She didn’t mind basically cutting them from her life.

She had run into some of the others that were so close in age when she had been on dates or had gone out to see if she could find someone who interested her. They would find a way to drive her away from her original idea. The men would find something wrong with whomever she was with. They wouldn’t be quiet about it either.

So when the day came that her brother called her to give her the news, she didn’t care. “Bay, Mom, and dad are getting divorced.” Her brother Justin said over the phone. She had him on speaker as she walked around picking up the clothes that somehow didn’t make it to the hamper.

“Okay.” She said.

“Aren’t you upset?” he asked, puzzled.

“Not really. “Bailey said with a chuckle.

“Mom said dad was having an affair!” He said, trying to make a point. She knew what was going on. She was not going to take a side. She knew her mother would say something like that to gain supporters within the family.

“And?” Bailey asked. “I am not going to pass judgment because mom said so. Maybe she was as well. Who knows? I only hope that they both can be happy.”

“Wait, you’re not going to pass judgment?” Justin asked. “Why don’t you care that dad hurt mom?”

“Because I have my own stuff to do.” She replied.

“What is more important than this?” Justin whined over the phone. Bailey could actually see him in her mind as he dramatically flopped onto his couch and sighed that someone didn’t care or wasn’t getting upset over the same thing he was.

“You really want to know?” She asked, and she could see him starting to perk up, thinking that she was going to say something juicy and that could be used against her at some point.

“Yes.” He said, “Please tell me what is more important.” Justine said. She could hear the drool starting to form in her brother's mouth. She chuckled to herself with the picture in her head that her brother was giving her.

“I am stocking my bathroom with toilet paper.” Bailey said. “to me, that is more important.”

“What?” He asked.

“Exactly.” She said with a laugh, and then she hung up the phone. She tossed it on the pile of laundry that she needed to put away. She looked down at the cat at her feet. “Well, Spot, I hate to say it, but I have a feeling the drama found us again.”

The cat looked up to her and make a squeak to speak. “Yes, I know,” Bailey said as she went back to work. A few hours later, her phone rang again, and she knew she didn’t want to answer it until she saw that it was Ana. “What’s up, kid?”

“My parents are getting divorced!” Ana cried into the phone.

“Hmm, that is interesting,” Bailey said and then realized that her thought probably wasn’t a good one to have at the moment.

“What is?” Ana asked.

“My parents are as well,” Bailey said with a sigh. “Justin called a little while ago.”

“Well, my dad was having an affair,” Ana said. Bailey thought about the statement and almost started to laugh. Though it could seem that the two best friends could have possibly had an affair together, Bailey knew both her father and Ana’s. They were not that type. However, she could see them having an affair with each other’s wives.

“Apparently, mine was too,” Bailey said with a sigh. “Don’t let it get to you, though.”

“How can I not?” Ana cried.

“Sweetheart, this is on them, not you,” Bailey said as she thought of the younger girl. “You will be fine. Both still love you. That is what matters.”

“Am I going to have to pick one?” Ana asked.

“No.” Bailey responded. “don’t do that either way. They are both your parents, and they both are flawed as well. Just stay in the middle lane, and be you. That is all you need to do.”

“Bailey, how did you get so smart?” Ana asked.

“I moved away,” Bailey said as she hung up the phone. She didn’t want anything to do with anyone else for the next few days. She knew how this was going to be. She had enough on her own to deal with. The bathroom wasn’t going to finish stocking itself.