"Wake up sleepyhead!" I said while shaking Gracie in her bed the next morning. She'd had a hard time getting to sleep the previous night, since it had been the first night sleeping alone in months. It had been a tearful goodbye, and Gracie was miserable after Jashanna rode her bike back to her house. Now it was a little before 6am, and school started just after 7 so I needed to get my youngest up.

"Do I really have to get up? Why can't you just homeschool me?" Yeah, Gracie wasn't a morning person.

"Because I would have no patience doing that, and you're doing great in school. You just have to get back into the routine you had before and you'll be fine," I assured her. "You want some avocado toast?"

"Mmmm, yes please!" she said while sitting up. "I'll take a quick shower and be down in a minute."

"Okay, don't take too long!" I knew the first week would be rough, adapting to the new schedule and missing Jashanna would be a rough combination, But I was pretty sure that given a few days we'd be looking better. Avocado toast was one of our more popular breakfasts because it was quick, easy, and healthy. It also gave Gracie some energy to get through her morning classes.

I got the water boiling for the tea that we'd both need to get caffeine in us, and then heated up a skillet for the eggs. The avocado was mashed up while the skillet got hot, and I added salt to make sure it had a little more flavor. Gracie was downstairs and dressed in a nice dark blue skirt and white top for her first day of school before the eggs were done, and she started in on the tea with a happy sigh.

"Oh, I needed that!" She groaned in appreciation, and I slid a plate over to her as soon as I put an egg on the avocado covered toast. "Thanks, mom."

My own plate was ready seconds later, and I sat next to her at the counter eating in a comfortable silence. When we were done, I put everything in the dishwasher, then went to brush my teeth while Gracie did the same. A few minutes later, we met by the door that led from the kitchen to the garage.

"Did you already text Jashanna to see if she's ready?" I asked as we headed out to the car. I pressed the little button on the wall, and the garage door opener hummed to life, pulling open the door behind my car.

"Yep. She's awake. Hopefully, she's ready to go when we get there, and her mom and brother aren't being a pain in the ass."

"Perfect. I got behind the wheel, while Gracie got in the back seat so she could sit next to Jashanna when she got in. They'd been doing that all summer, so I wasn't shocked.

Jashanna's house was on the way to the school, and right by our old house, so it was easy enough for me to drive in and pick her up. Unlike ours, their neighborhood didn't have a gate, so there was no issue getting in either. I pulled up into the driveway, noticing that the grass was much higher than it should be, and beeped the horn. A minute later, Jashanna came around the side of the house, as if she'd come out the back door.

"Hey!" she said wearily as she got into the back seat.

Gracie leaned over and gave her a kiss good morning as Jashanna buckled up her seatbelt. "Good morning, Shanna baby."

"Good morning, Jashanna. Did you sleep okay? Or were you like Gracie, and up all night?" Judging by the bags under her eyes, I knew the answer to that question.

Indeed, she snorted, and leaned her head back on the seat. "No, I didn't sleep well at all. I'm glad we won't be doing much on the first day, because I'm going to be useless." She looked to have had a worse night than Gracie, and I hoped she'd adapt quickly to the schedule.

I pulled out and got back on the road to the high school. When I looked in the back seat, Jashanna had tipped over, her head on Gracie's lap as my daughter gently ran her fingers through the dark curls. Fuck. There weren't enough words for how much I hoped they would end up together forever. I don't think I'd ever had that kind of relationship, and it was something I hoped they cherished.

I didn't disturb them, and just kept my eyes on the road for the rest of the way to the school. It took a minute to wake up Jashanna when we got there, though thankfully there was a line of cars dropping other kids off, just like I was.

"I'll be here after school, okay?" I told them as they stumbled out of the car. I couldn't always get them after school, sometimes they had to take the bus, but I made sure my schedule for the first week allowed me to pick them up. Oh, and I had time on my schedule to fit in an appointment with a lawyer tomorrow too, so that would be knocked out. I just needed to hope they had a little time to see me too.

"Thanks mom!"

My day went well. The sales folks got us another client up in Atlanta, which meant that a couple of the people we had on the bench would be able to be reassigned, and the current projects were running well. I worked a little on my speech for a conference that I'd be attending in the spring, over spring break actually, in Orlando, and felt good about that too.

Orlando had been good to us, with contracts at Advent Health, the University of Central Florida, and the City of Orlando itself. Elliot was supposed to have been the account manager on all of those, but they'd all been taken over by either the project leader or me, which is why he wasn't giving the speech. The clients that would have recommended him didn't even remember him working on their projects because he was never there.

Clients don't usually give you great reviews for doing nothing but fucking their secretaries.

An hour before I had to leave to get the girls, I made a quick call to the lawyer I'd chosen to represent me in the divorce. It rang twice before it was answered. "Monique Wiley's office, may I help you?" The voice was that of a young man and was quite soothing. I assumed he helped people remain calm depending on the circumstances.

"Hi, yes. I was hoping to get an appointment with Monique tomorrow. I have an impending divorce that I was hoping that she could handle."

"Hold on, let me check her schedule." He was quiet for about 30 seconds. "We can fit you in tomorrow around 1pm if that works."

I had planned to make time whenever she was free, so that worked perfectly. "I can do that, yes. Do I need to bring anything? We have a prenup that I can bring a copy of, and anything else that might be relevant."

"A copy of that would be perfect. She'll give you a list of anything else that she needs at the meeting."

"Excellent. I'll be there tomorrow then." I instantly felt lighter after the talk. Things were being set in motion that would allow me a much better future than what it would be without changes. If I was lucky, when the girls were off to college, or maybe moving for new jobs and lives, I would no longer be alone, but with someone who could love me like I wanted.

I was in good spirits when I drove to the school to get the girls, so even the long line of other parents with similar plans didn't upset me. It took thirty minutes for me to get through the line to pick up Gracie and Jashanna, and then my smile fell. They were obviously upset, and not talking. Hell, they weren't even looking at each other as I pulled out of the parking lot to head to Jashanna's house.

"How was your first day?" I asked them, trying to get a feel for what was wrong. Gracie just grunted, while Jashanna turned and looked out the window as she fought tears. Were they picked on for being a couple or something? "Hey, come on, what happened? This morning you were fine and now you're both angry or sad or both."

Gracie turned to Jashanna, leaning over, and whispering in her ear, which just made the other girl shake her head. Obviously, Gracie knew what was wrong, but Jashanna didn't want to discuss it. Maybe once Jashanna was home, I could get Gracie to talk to me. I didn't like the two of them arguing, they should be working together! But they stayed quiet, stubbornly so, the entire way to Jashanna's house. Once more, I pulled into her driveway, and she almost vaulted out of the car, running around the side of the house again.

"Shit!" Gracie muttered, getting out of the car, and chasing her girlfriend.

What the hell was going on? With a sigh, I got out of the car, following the trail they made through the deep grass around to the back of the house. When I got there, I had a quick glimpse of Gracie's feet disappearing through a window on the first floor, and I raced over there in surprise.

"Gracie!" I yelled into the window. "Jashanna! What the hell is going on?" I would have kept yelling, but then I looked around the room the window led to. Judging by the size, it looked like the master bedroom, but I noticed it was completely empty. I went over to the sliding glass doors that should lead to the kitchen and living room, and looked within, noticing those rooms were empty too. Where did everything go? I banged on the glass, over and over, not wanting to have to crawl in the window, and finally Gracie came down the stairs and let me in.

"You have to help me mom," she said with tears in her eyes. "She doesn't want to leave, but they abandoned her here."

I stepped into the kitchen, noticing a piece of paper on the counter that said, 'Foreclosure Notice' and sighed. I knew her mom wasn't the best, but if they really abandoned her, that was a new low for her. "Where is she?"

"Up in her room. What's left of it anyway." She turned and led the way up the stairs, and I followed her up, noticing that every room was as barren as the others I'd seen. I was overcome with anger, and I had to fight myself to tamp it down. That wasn't what Jashanna was going to need right now. She was going to need support, and hopefully she'd let us help. She needed to leave the house, if the foreclosure notice was any indication, and she needed to know she was more than welcome to stay with us again. Forever if need be.

Gracie pulled me down the hall to an open door, where Jashanna was curled up in the corner, the clothes we'd bought her still in their bags nearby along with the few things that she'd brought to our house at the beginning of the summer. There wasn't even a mattress in here! No wonder she'd slept horribly the night before. I sat on the floor next to her, and put my hand around her shoulders, pulling her into me. "Are you, okay?"

She nodded, then sniffled. "I'll be fine. They'll come back, right?"

I sighed, and then shrugged. "Jashanna, they moved everything out, even your furniture and clothes. Do you know where they went?" I know she didn't really have a great home life, but it would still suck to feel like you were abandoned like this.

She shook her head. "Maybe to my aunt's house in Georgia, or my grandmother in South Carolina. She didn't even tell me they were leaving. She just stopped answering a month ago."

"Come stay with us, okay? We loved having you over the summer, and I know Gracie would feel better knowing you're safe."

"The electricity doesn't even work, so there is no hot water," Gracie chimed in from the doorway. "And there's no food. She had to take a cold shower this morning, and then jump around until she was dry because there aren't even any towels."

"I don't want to impose. You shouldn't have to take care of me like that," Jashanna protested.

"Jashanna, I already think of you as another daughter..." I started.

"Eww, I don't wanna think about me kissing a sister!" Gracie interrupted.

I glared at her to shut up, it wasn't the right time to joke. "I love you, okay? You've been a part of our life for a long time, and nobody wants you to be hurt. How are you going to handle school if you have no hot water or electricity or food?"

She shrugged, then buried her face in my shoulder as she started to quietly cry. I let her cry herself out as I kept holding her, and Gracie knelt down to join us. After a few minutes, she got herself under control and looked at the two of us. "When I got home last night, the house was empty and the door was locked, but my key didn't work anymore. I guess the lock was changed when it got foreclosed on, and I had to come around to the back. I got lucky, the lock on my mom's window has always been broken, so I was able to get in there. I texted her, but she never answered, so I just stopped using my phone because I had no way to charge it. You've already done so much for me, and I felt like I'd be taking advantage of you if I went back."

"She wasn't even going to tell me," Gracie told me. "But she was starving at lunch, and I gave her most of mine before she admitted she hadn't eaten and told me what was going on. I just want her to come live with us again, until we know what's happening."

I closed my eyes, trying not to scream at a mother who wasn't even there to hear my anger. Jashanna was the sweetest girl in the world, and certainly didn't deserve this. There was no reason she couldn't come to our house to stay, though I had no idea if her mother would try to make her leave and join her at some point, wherever they were. But, wouldn't they have taken her with them in the first place if that was what she wanted?

"Jashanna, get your stuff, okay? You're coming to live with us, and you can stay as long as you want to. I'm not letting you say no. This is for us as well as you, because there is no way either of us will sleep knowing what you'd be going through here alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure."

And so, we had Jashanna living with us once more. This time, for a lot more than a summer.