"I PROMISE, JUST trust me."

Hallie didn't know what she was expecting, her mother has never been good with promises and she always ends up breaking someone's trust. Sitting in the back seat of her mother's beat-up old Toyota, Hallie watch was the trees fly by, the sound of her brother's music ringing loud in her ears. She hated that car, she always had. There was trash all over the floor and gum was stuck to the sides of the doors. The radio barely worked and one of the back windows couldn't be rolled down at all.

Her father hated the car as well. Back when Marie first bought it, it had been fine, a little old, but fine. Marie was so proud, she had just gotten her licenses and now she had her first car. Donavon and Hallie told her they loved her brand new baby, but behind her back they laughed about the old car. Nothing mean of course, Donavon loved Marie more than anything but even he had to admit she had terrible choosing skills.

Now the car was in even worse condition than when Marie first bought it. Hallie's brothers didn't mind the car, they were usually the ones who trashed it in the first place. Liam sat in the passenger's seat next to his mother, head resting on the head rest and eyes closed lazily. It was his music on the radio that he kept turning up every few seconds, only for Marie to scowl, flick her cigarette butt, and turn it down again. Samuel sat beside Hallie in the back seat, invested in whatever book he was currently reading, it was always a different book each week. Occasionally he would hit Liam on the shoulder to try and get him to turn down the music and would calm down whenever Marie would do it for him, or for herself most likely.

The car rolled to a stop in the middle of an unknown neighborhood. All the houses looked old and worn down. Confusion marred Hallie's face as she watched her mother and brothers get out of the car, herself following after them. The house in front of them was a two story white house with the ugliest green color she'd ever seen, matching the ugly green shutters. The steps were cracked and the roof looked like it was about to fall off.

"Am I missing something here?" Hallie questioned, looking around. Just down the street was a group of people and a few houses down were kids playing in their yard. "This isn't Joe's house."

"You're right," Marie said, taking a hit from her cigarette. "It's ours."

"Huh? But what about our house?"

"Mom had to sell it," Liam grunted, kicking a stray pebble. "She had Aunt Carrie pack up the house while we were gone."

As if on cue, a moving truck rolled up to the house and her adoring Aunt Carrie stepped out of the truck. Her husband, Uncle Robert, and their two kids, Nathan and Miranda, got out of their own pick-up truck that parked right behind the moving truck.

"But dad-"

Hallie was cut off by Marie's dismissive snort. "You're father isn't here, but if he were, he would understand. We just couldn't afford the house anymore."

"But-"

"It's already done," Marie huffed.

"Yes, but-"

"Hallie," Marie snapped, tossing her cigarette down and crushing it under her foot. "Just drop it, will you?"

Hallie nodded her head mutely, turning away from her mother and rushing over towards her aunt.

Carrigan Norman was Donovan Perez's older sister, older by only three minutes as they use to argue in their younger years. She was a beautiful women with tanned skin and dark, flowy hair. She had been best friends with Marie in high school and had ultimately set her brother and best friend up. Carrie was proud of her match making skills, then and now. Her matching had resulted in a happy marriage between Marie and Donovan, and her three beautiful nephews and niece.

However, despite her matching skills, Carrie had always been oblivious to those who had a crush on her. Despite being younger by only a few minutes, Donovan had chased the boys away from his sister. Robert had been Carrie's friend for years, strictly friends. They had chemistry, that much was true, but they denied it, not wanting to ruin their friendship. It wasn't until one drunken night and an accidental pregnancy did they admit their true feelings. Major complications with Carrie's pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage, yet Robert and Carrie stayed together through it all. Many years, a wedding, and two darling kids later, Carrie and Robert were still going strong. The same couldn't be said about her brother and his wife, however.

Carrie smoothed down her niece's silky hair, soothing Hallie's aching soul. It broke her heart to look at Hallie, her striking resemblance to her father hard to bare, but the child needed her comfort and Carrie was always willing to give it out.

"There, there child," Carrie whispered, shooing Robert off to help their children carry things into the house along with Marie's two boys. "You're mother is just going through a rough patch, she'll get over it."

"She's been going through it forever," Hallie mumbled in the crook of her Aunt's shoulder. "Daddy loved that house, he loves it!"

Carrie sighed, "I know baby."

During the early stages of Donovan's marriage with Marie, when they were expecting their first child, a son, Donovan had spent seven months of Marie's pregnancy building them a house, secluded and away from other houses. It had been their dream house, the one they would grow and raise their family in. Marie had brought Liam into the world and for three years, they raised him in that house until their second child came along. Not even a year later and they got a surprise pregnancy with their last child and only daughter.

It had been the house of dreams, and even after sixteen years, Donovan had still loved the house, as did his daughter. Hallie's connection to the house was strong, she grew up there her whole life and now she was forced to part with it.

Carrie patted her niece's back in a comforting manner, "Come on, little one. Let's go help unload."