No... No she can't be gone... She can't be gone... She can't be gone...

A whisper that seems as if it's coming from another world reaches my ears.

"Gen? Gen, wake up."

I sit up suddenly, startling Bridget, who's kneeling at my bedside. Her clothes for school are laid out on the edge of the bed. I notice my cheeks are tear stained again.

"Lacy..." I whisper.

She's gone isn't she? The cancer took her from us...

I stare, horrified at Bridget until I finally fully wake up and am met with relief. Lacy is perfectly fine.  I had just had another nightmare....

"What about her?" Bridge asks.

I shake my head and rub my eyes. "Nothing," I mumble to my lap.

She licks her lips and scrunches her eyes together. Then, sighing, she pushes herself up off the floor and grabs her clothes hesitantly.

"Gen, you want me to stay home with you today?"

"Why?" I ask.

She turns her head towards the door before tossing her clothes right back on he bed and looking at me again. "Cause you have me worried."

"So I had a bad night-"

"You woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. Something I've only seen happen in movies." She grumbles the last part and I sigh. I try to think up a response but my thoughts are interrupted by the doorbell.

"Who in the blazin-?" Michelle's voice cuts through the quiet morning. I laugh at the fact that we can hear her so clearly from her room next door. Bridget stares in the direction in the front door with a curious expression.

She closes the door and quickly changes. I'm used to her just throwing on her clothes while I'm still there with her, and it's ok with me. Bridget's not one for elaborate hairstyles so she grabs her brush, pulls it through her hair literally two times and rushes out the door.

I catch a glimpse of the twins out in the hall, peeking down the stairs to see who our early morning visitor is.

"Can't we just have a normal life?" I hear Michelle grumble.

"Apparently not," Megan scoffs.

Intrigued, I throw off the comforter and greet the twins saying, "Hey."

They whip their heads around. In doing so Megan's ponytail whacked Michelle in the face. She sputter and sends Megan a mock glare while Megan stifles guffaws.

"Who's at the door?" I ask, once they regain their composure.

"Yours truly," Michelle mutters.

I raise an eyebrow.

"Your aunt," Megan sighs.

The old uncomfortable feeling arises in my chest. I swallow a limo that has formed in my throat and manage to say, "Oh."

Why am I hesitant to trust her?

With that I wheel back around and head into the room to get changed. I'm
guessing she'll want to see me. If I'm going to cry again I might as well look decent doing it.

I close the door and throw on some jeans and a plain yellow shirt. I quickly braid my hair over my shoulder. I do a quick sign of the cross before kissing my hand and pointing at the ceiling as my quick way of saying, "I'm giving all this to you, God."

I hear Megan and Michelle furiously whispering in the hallway. I hope they're not fighting again.

I pull out my book called "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay to get my mind off of my current situation. And to try to forget the nightmares and shadows of my past. It's not helping though... It's making it worse. This character lost her family too, in a worse situation then mine.

Eventually I give up and slam the book closed. I really should read nothing but Dr. Seuss.

Sucking in a deep breath, I make my way out of my room and down the stairs. I see Aunt Cassie sitting with Mr. and Mrs. T at the kitchen table. Michelle is shaking her hand with what anyone could see is a fake smile plastered on her face. Then she, Megan, Liam, and Lacy all file out the front door to head off to school. Bridget stops in front of me and whispers, "I can stay home for a day."

"Go on," I insist. Bridget looks like you couldn't pay her to go to school right now. But Megan pops her head back in the house and calls for her to hurry up in a frustrated tone. So with one final glance my way, Bridget races out the door and I'm left alone with the adults.

Aunt Cassie is giving me that same, regret filled look. I stare back at her for a few moments before Mr. T beckons for me. "Come sit next to me, Honey," he calls.

I stare at my shoes as I make my way to the table. I can feel Aunt Cassie's gaze, always present and it's starting to make me uncomfortable. I sit down at the head of the table, between Mr. and Mrs. T.

"Gen, dear, we know your Aunt here would love to take you home, and ummm..." Mrs. T pauses and swallows here. "Well we'd miss you if you went but... Ummm ultimately the decision is yours. And it's not an easy one but your Aunt here called and said she needed to talk to you some more."

She reaches over and squeezes my hand. "We'll figure this out, Baby."

And with that, they leave me. They're off to there room and I'm here with s lady I'm starting to become afraid of for reasons I don't know why... Which makes the fear all the worse.

"Hey, ummm," Aunt Cassie begins awkwardly. I refuse to make eye contact and continue to stare at my lap. She takes in a deep breath and starts by saying, "Well, there's... A lot I need to tell you. A lot I wish I didn't have to, but it would make dishonest to..." she sighs. "... to keep these secrets. To keep them and expect you to trust me as your guardian. Granted telling you may break your trust in me but..." She rambles. "But I digress," she continues.

"Baby there are things you don't know... About your mother..." my head jerks up but she keeps going as if nothing happened. "About your father... Well... About how I tore them apart..." she chokes back tears and pushes herself to go on. "About.... what I did to them before Elena was born... I..."

And she breaks down in front of me. Crying, and crying, her head in her hands. I'm not sure what to do but wait for her to go on.

"I've made mistakes," she sobs. "Your family has some kind of bad luck, let me tell you. And I made it worse."

Well gee, thanks for the salt in the wound.

She wipes her eyes on her shirt and takes in a shaky breath.

"Well... Here it is..."

I don't think I want to hear this. It's all I can do to make myself stay in that seat.

Yola lovelies! So I'm just curious... Who trusts Aunt Cassie???? How about Josie? Lol. Anywho thanks for reading and God bless!