Between The Roses

The sound of my heels clicking on the pavement of the walkway in front of my sister’s house was the only sound that entered my ears. Never in my life did I think I would actually hate my mother so much that I would want to file a restraining order against her, but here I am. When I got to the front door of the house, I quickly knocked and waited for someone to answer. My sister wasn’t home right now, I made sure of that before coming over. She doesn’t need to know I’m doing this. The door in front of me opened and revealed my brother-in-law Matt, clad in a pair of black sweats and a baggy green t-shirt. He smiled at me and let me in.

“You know, you can come over anytime? You’re welcome here,” he chuckled as he closed the door. “You don’t have to call first.”

“I know that. I just wanted to make sure Lauren wasn’t here,” I said and he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why?” He asked as we walked into the living room and took our seats on the couch, facing each other.

“I want to file a restraining order against my mother but I don’t really know how,” I admitted and he nodded.

“I get why you wouldn’t want Lauren to know. But you do know that we are defense lawyers, right?” He asked and I nodded.

“I know, but you probably also know how to file a restraining order or at least know someone I can speak to about it,” I said.

“Well, I could do that. Or I could file it myself through my firm instead,” he smiled before standing and leaving the room for a second. When he returned he had a laptop in his arms and a packet of papers.

“You do restraining orders?” I asked.

“Most lawyers do, no matter what they specialize in. When a person goes to law school, we learn about all of this and how to file them,” he explained as he sat down and opened the laptop. I bit the inside of my cheek and swallowed.

“Does Andy know you’re doing this?” He asked and I nodded.

“Only Lauren and our mother don’t know,” I told him and he nodded.

“Okay, what you need to do is fill out this form as accurately as you can and I will submit it. While you fill it out I’m going to quickly call one of the other lawyers at the firm so he can print out the official form and fax it to me,” he said as he handed me the laptop and then left the room. I looked at the form on the computer screen. It was asking all the basics; name, address, age, blah blah blah. Then it asked for information about the other person and then a reason why. As I filled it out, I could feel myself getting emotional about it. She’s my mom, so of course I would sorta doubt myself, but she’s put me through so much shit that she deserves this. Just as I finished the form, Matt walked back in, on the phone.

“Yeah, she’s done filling it out. I’ll quickly email it to you and you can file it and do what you need to do. Yeah. Thanks. Just fax it back to me when it goes through. Bye now,” he hung up and looked at me.

“Okay, my assistant at the firm is going to file it with a judge and will fax it back after it goes through. He will also mail a copy of it to your mother so she knows about the restraining order and all that jazz,” Matt explained and I nodded.

“Thanks Matt, for doing this. Lauren would have tried talking me out of it,” I sighed and he nodded.

“She would’ve. Even though she also hates your mom,” he agreed and then looked at the clock.

“Shit, I have to go pick up Cienne and Claus from school,” he got up from the couch and went to get his shoes on.

“Hey, if you want, I can go get them and bring them home. I haven’t seen them in a while,” I suggested and he raised one eyebrow.

“Really?” He asked.

“Yeah, I can do it,” I smiled.

“Thanks. I knew there was a reason you were my favorite sister-in-law,” he chuckled.

“You have more than one?” I asked.

“You and my brother’s wife Jenna,” he answered and I nodded.

“Well, I will go grab them and come back,” I told him and then left the house.

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When I arrived at the school there were already kids coming out of the school and walking towards their parent’s cars. As I watched them I began to feel sort of emotional. One day I’ll be here picking up my own child and it really brought a wave of emotions over me. I wiped my eye quickly and watched for Cienne. Matt said he texted her phone telling her to look for my car and I hope she got it. My eyes fixated on the door to the school and waited for the two to come out of the building. When they did, Cienne was holding Claus’ hand and they walked quickly to my car before getting in.

“Hey guys,” I greeted them as they buckled themselves.

“Hi Aunt Sadee!” Claus greeted me excitedly and I smiled as I put the car in gear and pulled away from the school.

“How come you picked us up and not Matt?” Cienne asked and I shrugged.

“I was visiting Matt and I decided to come get you guys since I haven’t seen you in a very long time,” I responded and she nodded.

“Are you gonna stay for dinner?” Claus asked and I smiled.

“I don’t think so, Uncle Andy wanted to make the two of us dinner,” I answered and he pouted.

“When can we come over to your house again?” He asked me and I took in a deep breath.

“That’s up to your mom. But I will talk to her about it,” I said as I pulled into the driveway of the house and stopped the car. As the kids piled out of the car, I remained inside. Cienne turned back and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Are you coming in?” She asked and I shook my head.

“Nah, I think I’m gonna head on home. But I will talk to your mom about you and Claus coming over to my house sometime,” I told her and she nodded before pausing and then running towards me and around the car to my side. She then opened my door and smiled up at me.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I know it’s been like two years since Charlie died, but sometimes I really miss him and then I remember that you and him were really close,” she admitted and I sighed before unbuckling.

“I think I’m gonna ask Matt if it’s okay for you to come to my house tonight for a while,” I said as I climbed out of the car and quickly went inside. Cienne had a big smile on her face as she set her bag down and run off to get Matt. When the two of them came back into the room Matt had a confused look on his face.

“Cienne said you have a question,” he started and I nodded.

“I was wondering if it would be okay with you if Cienne came over to my house for a while,” I said and he smiled.

“I don’t care. Lauren is working late tonight so, go for it. As long as she gets her homework done while she’s over there,” he looked directly at her and she nodded.

“I promise to do my homework!” She exclaimed and I chuckled.

“Then alright, but she has to be back by eight, because that is her curfew and bedtime is at nine,” he said and I nodded.

“Will do, thanks Matt,” I smiled and he nodded before turning and going back into the kitchen. I looked down at Cienne, who had her backpack in her hand and was waiting for me to say let’s go.

“Well, you heard Matt, homework first then we can hang out. And I believe Andy is at the house so you might get to hang out with him too,” I told her as we left the house. She smiled as she climbed into my car. It has been too long since I’ve either watched or hung out with my niece and nephew, and I know that once I have this baby it’ll be even less time. I just want to cherish this time while I still have it.

Notes

A new chapter that starts out fantastic but ends up being sorta suck-y. I tried, I did, but once I got through the big thing for this chapter I lost steam. But I still hope you like it.

And I was going to see how long it took you guys, but I've been using different song titles from a variety of bands for the chapter titles. Usually it has something to do with the chapter itself but not always. :3

Sadee's Outfit:
http://www.polyvore.com/sadee_between_roses_chapter_16/set?id=197477875

Peace <3