×Jamie×The loud and consistent ringing of my phone had me groaning as I pulled the covers over my head. Despite my many attempts to ignore it, the calls persisted and I had no choice but to see who it was. Reaching out, I grabbed my phone, which was on the nightstand, and looked at the screen with squinted eyes. Kate's name was on the screen and after rolling my eyes, I ended the call. No sooner had I cut the call, than a message from her popped up. "We are downstairs," it read and I couldn't be more confused. Looking at the top of the screen, I saw that it was past ten in the morning and I immediately stood up as all the sleep left me. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and splashed some water on my face before rushing down. I paused at the bottom of the stairs when the sound of laughter streamed into the hall. Seeing that the joy was coming from the kitchen, I went there and was greeted with a sight of Kate, Natalia and my sisters. They all sat around the granite island, talking

×Higan×"I want to go straight to bed," Jamie said as we entered his house. "I'm exhausted.""I bet you are, but you have to have dinner first.""I'm not hungry.""What do you mean you're not hungry?" Kate asked as she walked out of the kitchen. "The girls and I have just finished adding some extras to the pizza that we ordered.""I didn't expect you guys to arrive earlier than us," I said to Kate and glanced at the large red stain on her shirt. "Were you cooking or commiting a murder?""I didn't carry the gravy properly so, some spelt on me. Nevertheless, there is still enough for everyone.""Thanks," Jamie said before entering the kitchen."How are they?" I asked Kate."They have stopped crying and they didn't argue while we were cooking so, they must be feeling better." She sighed. "I know that everyone has their own share of hardships to go through but isn't this too much?""It's overwhelming.""And we aren't even in their shoes." She looked thoughtful for a moment before asking.

×Jamie×"Tired?" Higan asked as he leaned against the counter next to the sink. "Not really," I answered with a yawn and wiped the last plate dry with a kitchen cloth before putting it away with the other dry dishes."We had a long day. It's okay if you want to take a nap.""We arrived not too long ago. I can't sleep yet." After bringing the conversation home, Higan suggested that we have an early dinner so, we did. Marcela and Darcy stuck to Dad by the hip as he told them different stories about the places that he visited and the funny things that he experienced. I thought that he might have come back because he was having money problems but he seemed to be well settled. He had a cool job that paid well and even owned two cars. Although the stories that he shared sounded pretty interesting, I spent most of my time on the table ignoring him.Everything was cute and the air was much lighter, but I still couldn't forgive him. Despite that, I was sincerely glad that the others were ge

2 years later...×Jamie×"Is that everything?" Higan asked and stood up straight before stretching his arms over his head. "Not really," I answered as I turned to look at him.A year after my mom was admitted to a mental asylum, my dad moved in with us and I got a little used to having him around. I would be lying if I said that I didn't hold a grudge against him, but I wasn't going to be ignorant about his efforts. Apparently, his job wasn't too far from us and he spoiled my sisters and I plenty.It took more than half a year for us to get used to living without Mom. We made sure to visit her a lot and I loved how much Darcy and Marcela looked forward to such days. The only person who I felt bad for was Dad since he wasn't allowed to see her and it will probably take a while until he can. Right now, I was in the middle of packing my stuff with some help from Darcy and Higan. I trusted that my dad would take care of my sisters in my absence, so I chose to move in with Higan . It was