I probably only got four hours of sleep after all of that. Since it's a school day, the hustle and bustle of everyone trying to get ready arouses me a lot earlier than I would've liked.

Arguing downstairs in the kitchen spikes my curiosity. Slumping groggily down the stairs I hear,

"My gaaaah, Bridget, I literally said good morning to you, what is your deal?" Michelle whisper-screams

"I'm not in the mood, ok?" I hear Bridget's voice snap back.

Oh boy. She's trying to bury her grief from last night and it's just turning into anger.

"You're not in the mood for a friendly wake up call??"

"Just don't talk to me!"

"Guys!" Megan interrupts just as I enter the kitchen.

That's all she has to say to get the two others to set their lips is a stubborn mouth and stop fighting.

Megan sighs with annoyance and turns to look at me. "Oh hey, Gen."

Then she looks over her shoulder and grumbles, "Nice goin guys, you woke up Gen."

Bridget glances up from the PB & J she's making to give me a blank look. Michelle nearly flings the butter knife she's using to spread mayonnaise across the room as she opens her mouth to protest. I quickly stop her by saying, "AH! Ah, ah, it's no big deal. Probably would've been up anyway. Had a bad night."

Bridget flicks her attention back to her sandwich as if she's embarrassed about what happened last night.

"Did Bridge have a bad night too?" Michelle mumbles. "Cause she is the grumpy old troll today, I swear to... Martha Washington's second cousin..."

Bridget sends a death glare her way as I struggle to push away the fact that Bridget could very well have died last night. That mustang was not taking its time getting where it was going and Bridget's emotions had her disoriented.

Biting back the harsh words I want to throw at Michelle, I remind myself that she doesn't know about anything that happened last night.

"As a matter of fact, she did have a rough night. So if you please, just let her be?"

"Because she couldn't sleep she has the right to be rude to me???" Michelle snaps.

Bridget slams the butter knife down and makes a move towards Michelle but Megan grabs both her arms and restrains her. The shouting that ensues inevitably brings Mom in, dragging little Liam by the hand.

"Girls!" she scolds. "What in the name of anything decent is going on in here?"

Megan roughly lets go of Bridget who scowls and crosses her arms. Everyone stands there in stubborn silence until Mom finally gives up.

"Whatever," she sighs, pinching her nose. "Get in the car you four, or Liam's gonna be late."

She pushes everyone excluding me towards the door and as she the exit it, she calls, "No more squabbling! Especially in the car!"

Shutting the door with a tired sigh she lets her gaze rest on me. Trying her best to offer me a smile while she's at it, she ask, "What provoked all that?"

"Uhhh... Bridget was just being kinda cranky... I- Iiiiit was a long night for her."

Mom raises her eyebrows slowly and curiously, like she knows that the bad night involved more than just not being able to get to sleep because of caffeine or something. But in the end, she decides not to question it. She just shakes her head and sighs.

"Where are Ben and Lauren?" I ask.

"Oh! They're spending a couple days up at Lauren's family's place."

"Oh, ok. Cool," I reply.

After a little stretch of silence I struggle to find the right words for my next question.

"Are- Are you-? I mean- Lauren seems nice and all but, umm- Do you- uh..."

Mom laughs as she goes and pours the leftovers of the coffee into her mug.

"What I'm trying to say is, how do you feel about the fact that the first time you met Lauren was when Ben announced they were engaged?"

The early morning sun and the dim kitchen lights combine to catch the sparkle that dances in her eyes before she answers. With one last swallow from her coffee, she sets the mug down and says,

"Funny story, actually. Those two were best friends in middle school. Went to separate high schools, I thought that was the end of that but-" she lifts her shoulders and lets them drop- "they found each other in college and are getting married in nine months!"

My jaw drops to the center of the earth. "What??? No way! That's adorable!" I practically screech.

That childlike sparkle returns to her face and the playfully says, "I thought you might find it cute."

My body suddenly warms at that simple statement. Just the simple idea of Mrs. T once again feeling like Mom. The fact that she knows well enough to know I'm a sucker for a cute love story.

I shake my head to get out of my daze and my thoughts are suddenly all over the place. It's as if there's a going checklist of things I need to take care of and pray about or just... Worry about.

Lacy, Josie, Bridget- heck, I need to find out how Liam's taking all of this. I need to help plan a wedding in whatever way I can! I need to find out when they're holding Lily's funeral...

I try to focus on just Josie and her family for now.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Dear?" she asks, the bubbly spirit still so alive I hate to drench the mood.

"Can I talk to you about something? Something serious I- need your help with?"

Her face slowly falls and she pushes herself off from where she was leaning on the counter.

"Of course," she says, pulling out a couple of chairs from the dinner table.

The butterflies begin to bounce around in my stomach. So, I dive into the whole story about Aunt Cassie and her family, and my family before I get too nervous and talk myself out of it again.

By the time I'm done, those gosh darn tears that I feel like cursing out right now have once again escaped their prison and are running down my cheeks like a herd of buffalo.

Mom sits quietly for a while, taking in everything I told her. Then a single tear escapes her eye, and she pulls me into herself.

"Life's been nothing but nasty to you so far, hasn't it, Gen? Well, mark my words, that's gonna change."

Her words are touching and well meant. But I can't help but remember the gut wrenching fear for Lacy and have a hard time believingthat statement.

I gently untangle myself from her grasp and sit back in my own chair.

"Now... About your Aunt... First of all, we need to help her find a steady job that she likes, that supports her and her family, and maybe most importantly, gives her a sense of purpose," Mom says, counting the criteria on her fingers.

Then her face goes solemn again and she asks, "Now Gen. Has she hurt the kids?"

"No!" I exclaim almost a little too quickly. "At least... I don't think so..." I mutter.

She nods slowly. "Ok. Make sure that the kids are safe and we can leave them with Cassie."

"Mom, you can't take them away from Aunt Cassie, I promised Josie that we wouldn't have to-"

"Ssshhhh... I don't think we'll have to do that. As long as no one's getting hurt ok?"

I nod as I swallow the lump in my throat.

"I'll go talk to Josie now," I say quickly standing up and heading for the home phone.

I race to my room and reach for the number so I can dial it.

I pray someone will pick up; preferably Josie...

"Hello?"

Score: It's Josie.

"Hey! Josie! I've got to talk to you. I think we have a start on how we can help your Mom."

"Oh ok! Spill, she's at work right now."

I knit my eyebrows together. "What does she do?"

"She's just a waitress right now. She hates it. The only reason we don't eat food from the soup kitchen is because my grandpa left a bucketload of money to us when he died."

I lick my lips nervously. "Oh. Well, there's our first step of action. Your mom needs a new job."

"Dude, no one will hire her," Josie sighs. "She has the death of a child on her record."

I swallow. "Surely someone can find it in their heart to forgive her, if she proves herself trustworthy."

Josie scoffs sadly. "Gen, you have too much faith in the humanity."

That stings a little, I have too admit, and gets me thinking more than I really want to right now.

So, I shake my head and say, "Listen. We'll help look for good jobs over here and somehow you've got to encourage your mom to look down where you are."

"Ok, ok!" Josie sighs. I hear her scold Franklin quickly before she starts back in with, "But don't look for jobs in Omaha! That'd be such a long drive for her and we can't afford a new house right now."

"Oh, ok. Well, we can check out the Interwebs for some Lincoln jobs. It may take a while but keep helping your mom out and I'll be praying for you."

"K. Thanks," she replies shortly.

After a little bit of an awkward pause, I ask, "So! What does your mom like to do?"

I can practically feel her face falling through the phone.

"I... Uh... Huh," she says, thinking.

"What did she love to do before your dad left?" I ask gently.

"Gen, I don't know! I was so young when he left! I'm not even sure if the memories I have of the times he was still with us are actually memories or merely scenes I dream up when I..."

She trails off, and I feel bad for hitting a tender spot.

"Ok... That's alright. We can learn about her as we go through the process of-"

A loud knocking on the other end of the line cuts me off.

"Ignore that," Josie says. "It's probably just a-"

"CASSIE???" someone calls loudly.

"What the...?" I barely hear Josie mumble.

"CASSIE!!! JOSIE???" the voice calls again.

I hear a whimper that must've been Franklin and start to get really concerned.

"Josie? Is everything-"

"Gen? I'm gonna have to call ya back," Josie says, sounding conflicted, confused, scared and faraway all at once.

"But Josie, what-?"

"Thanks for the advice on help with Mom, we'll start job hunting."

And then the line goes flat and the phone starts to drone steadily. I hold it to my ear in shock for a few moments before my arm goes limp and the phone falls out of my hand and onto the bed.

I bite my lip nervously and slowly avert my gaze to the phone as if I'm about to look at some monster.

It's as if my brain can only think two words:

What the...?