*Danny POV*
I've been talking to Rosi for a few days now, yes we are already on a nick name basis.
I've been wanting to meet her, but she keeps blowing me off. Giving me some excuse like 'she's with her grandmother' or 'she has too much homework' I'm getting worried that she is cat fishing me.
We've talked over the phone a few times, so I know that she actually is a girl.
I just don't understand why she doesn't want to meet.
I think we'd have a great time together.
I walked into the kitchen, eyes glued to my phone awaiting her reply, when I bumped into someone. Emily.
"Move" I said harshly
"Okay, calm down, you ran into me remember?" She said
"Yeah well I was looking at my phone you weren't so it's your fault."
"Why are you being mean?" She asked confused and slightly hurt
"I'm sorry em, it's not you, I'm just frustrated." I said setting my phone down on the counter
"Frustrated about what?" She said hopping onto one of the stools
"You know that girl I've been talking to? Rosi"
"Umm.. oh yeah, the comic book nerd" she said happily
"She's so much more than a comic book nerd, she's so smart, and kind, and she has lots of things in common with me and you. She's like, perfect!"
"Okay... so what's the issue?"
"I wanna meet her, but I don't think she wants to meet me. We've talked over the phone a bunch of times and every time I bring up wanting to meet. She either 'has to go' or is too busy. Now I'm scared she isn't who she says she is." I said sitting on a stool
"You don't think it's-" Emily started
"No, believe me it isn't her. Charlene is good, but not that good. Plus we've talked over the phone and she sounds Nothing like Charlene."
"I just say that as a precaution. You never know. " Emily said standing up
"Well I do know, and I'm ready to meet her."
"Okay, then tell her you guys are going to meet, give her a time and place, and if she doesn't show up, then she isn't worth it. Simple." She said with her hands on her hips all sassy like.
"Yeah..." I said pensively "is that to forceful though?"
"Oh my god , why are you over thinking this so much just say "I want to meet you, and I don't want to wait anymore, I'll be at this place at this time and I hope to see you there. See how simple that is?"
"Okay, got it. " I said smiling and typing what my very intelligent little sister just said.
Jason came down and said
"Alright everyone to bed, we need to be up early tomorrow"
We all went to our own rooms and tried to relax and sleep.
___________8:00 am__________
**Jason's POV**
"Everybody up! Now!" I yelled nervously.
This has to go well, otherwise I could lose everything.
I can't let my family down.
I walked into Shane and Danny's room and I saw that they were just now getting out of bed.
Caleb was also just getting out of bed.
I swear these kids are gonna give me grey hairs before I turn 20.
I walked over to Emily's room and I saw her already dressed with her bed made just sitting on her bed.
She looked up and smiled at me.
She would save me from the grey hairs.
The lady would be here soon.
Everything had to be perfect.
I was up late preparing for any possible question she could ask, now all that's left to do is hope she asks them.
A few minutes later my siblings were all downstairs sluggishly moving around
A knock was heard on the door and my heart began to pound.
I had nothing to hide
I have no reason to be nervous.
I opened the door and greeted the short woman
"Hi you must be with social services, please come in"
"Thank You. Im Vanessa Truman, now don't worry kids I know you all probably have me pegged as the big bad wolf, but I promise, I'm not here to separate your family and tear your lives apart. I just need to do a quick run through and make sure everything is up to par with regulations." She said in a non menacing voice
We all laughed awkwardly and just stood there while she began looking around
"You have a very lovely home." she said smiling
"Thank you" Emily said
"Would you like something to drink miss?" said Danny
"No thank you sweet heart."
She continued her search upstairs while we all waited impatiently in the living room.
A few minutes later she came down writing something on her clipboard
"Now that I'm done with the inspection, it is time for me to ask you kids some questions."
we all shifted nervously but we had nothing to hide
"Now some of these questions you've answered before, but its standard procedure to ask them again.
you have inherited this house from whom?"
"Our parents" I said
"Why?"
"They passed away" I answered sadly
she cleared her throat uncomfortably and asked a question she knew was hard for us to answer
"how?"
"A car accident" Emily said looking down at her hands
"I know its hard for you kids to talk about, and I'm sorry for having to put you through these questions again."
"Its okay, we can handle it."
"what was the cause of the crash?" she asked
it was quiet.
it was painfully silent
and then it was broken by the most fragile voice among us
"The music was too loud, they got distracted, and a drunk driver swerved onto our lane. It was fast."
Emily said wanting to rub her hands but not being able to because of the burn.
The woman took notice
"What happened to your hand Emily?" she asked
"I was trying to make a dinner for the guys and I was dumb enough to rest my hand on the stove. I had forgotten to turn it off."
"Okay, and through recent medical records that we have been aware of, Shane, you also sustained a burn injury, correct?" She asked curiously
"Yes, ma'am."
"How did that happen?" she asked suspiciously
What I feared is happening, she thinks I'm burning them.
"We went camping and our camp fire got a bit out of control"
"alright, can I speak to you both in a separate room please?"
Oh my god, its happening
They slowly stood up and looked at me, but it wasn't in a panic.
I don't know why I'm so scared, I haven't done anything wrong.
**Shanes POV**
Emily and I followed the woman to a nearby hallway
"Is there a room we can speak in?" She asked
"Yeah" i said and opened the door to the spare room that we swore was haunted.
"Okay, you both have burn injuries, and that's far to big of a coincidence to ignore in my line of work, so I need you to answer me honestly and unafraid, is your guardian inflicting these wounds upon you?" She asked concerned
Emily and I looked at each other for a brief moment and then we turned to her and started laughing.
She looked confused to say the least
"I appreciate you asking this question Incase that was the case, but our brother loves us too much to ever lay a hand on us. We promise, as dumb as our stories sound we did get these injuries from a stove and a campfire gone wild." Said Emily
"Yeah, Jason looks all tough but he's a big softy" I said
The woman smiled, "okay then, let's get back to your siblings and finish this"
We walked back to see Jason gulping down a glass of water, visibly nervous.
*Jasons POV*
They came back and everything seems to have gone well. The two sat down and the lady asked me to go speak with her in private as well.
We walked to the haunted spare room, I promise it must be.
I sat down and she sat in front of me in an white oak chair
"Jason I can't help but notice how nervous you are, and I need to ask, why? Is there something I should be made aware of?"
"I can't lose them" I blurted out "my siblings are everything to me. We have developed a closeness that just would kill me if it was broken."
"Okay, but I don't understand why you think we are going to separate you, or why you think your bonds would be broken. There's nothing, as far as I can see, to make me want to separate you kids" She said sincerely
"It's not you."
"What do you mean? Jason in order for me to help you and your family, you need to let me know what I'm helping you with."
This is my chance. I can tell her everything. Charlene has nothing over us now. We can finally be free.
"My brothers ex girlfriend- um- didn't handle their breakup very well... to say the least. She attacked Emily, and then stabbed her with needles in the hospital, she set fire to our camp site and threatened Emily by saying if she didn't burn her hand on the stove, Charlene would find a way to separate us. She's been targeting us and making our lives hell. She's the one that called you and made a complaint. We don't know what to do anymore miss." I said taking a big breath as I finished.
I hope this was a good call.