Bless the Broken Road that Lead Me Straight to You

Chapter 16

Erin actually managed to sleep a few hours, spread diagonally across Jay's queen size bed. Not nearly enough, she thought, as she groggily snoozed her alarm. The day before had been completely draining. Receiving a call at the end of the day from the Chicago Public School System about a child who was left at school was the worst way to end the day. It was her first time handling a case like this, but Rachel had given her the low-down on the procedures. She hadn't, however, prepared Erin on how devastated the 12-year-old boy would be. She had taken him for dinner, treated him to ice cream, and then put him in protective custody at one of the foster homes Rachel had designated for such situations. It had been an extremely long day, and today was going to be even longer.

When she stood from bed, she rolled her neck and shrugged her shoulder slowly. She was so tense. She had been tossing and turning for the first half of the night, and it had certainly left a mark on her muscles. She dragged herself in the shower, allowing the hot water and steam to momentarily relieve the soreness. She hadn't wanted to get out, and by the time she did, she realized she was already running late.

She dressed quickly and put on the pot of coffee. She opted to make the same amount that she usually did for both her and Jay, because today she was definitely going to need it.

"Maddie, Grace!" She flipped on the lights and walk towards the closet to pick out clothes for the girls. "It's time to wake up!" Jay had gone a little crazy filling the closet with clothes for Grace. Now that he was actually feeding her a normal amount of calories, she was essentially the same size as Maddie. They could have easily shared clothes. When she had told him as much he had just smiled and said, I want her to have her own things. And so, Erin pulled out two similar sized outfits from opposite ends of the closet.

"Erin?" Grace spoke groggily, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?" Even when Erin was there in the morning, she usually brewed the coffee while Jay came in here and woke the girls. It was his special time with them, and she never wanted to interrupt.

"Where's Daddy?" Maddie asked, seemingly just as confused as Grace. She slid out of her bed and began walking towards Erin, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light.

"Daddy had to go to work, and that means I am going to take you to school today!" She tried for enthusiasm and excitement in her tone, and she hoped the girls couldn't sense the nerves in her voice.

Ever since the debacle that morning when the girls found in her in Jay's bed, everything had actually been fine. More than fine, actually. Whatever Jay had said to Maddie seemed to pull her on board, and she had welcomed Erin happily since then.

But still, Erin had forced herself to stay a little bit on the sidelines. She was a visitor, after all. It wasn't her family. Even taking the girls to school this morning felt like she was encroaching on their family, their territory.

"Really?" Maddie asked, her voice high and excited.

"You'll get to meet Ms. Annie!" Grace yelled, her voice just as high.

"You know," Erin began helping the girls get dressed in the clothes she had picked out for the day. "Ms. Annie is actually one of my very best friends." She pulled the blue sweater over Grace's head, it had white butterflies on it, and Erin was pretty sure it was her favorite.

"She is?" Maddie said dramatically, as if she couldn't believe it. She was slowly putting her white sneakers on, on the wrong feet, of course.

Erin walked over to help Maddie fix her shoes, and then she tied the laces into two matching bunny ears. "She sure is." She found two headbands on the dresser and placed one in each of the girls hair, combing their curls out with her fingers.