Family Is Forever

9

Sasha and Charlotte had searched the whole house for around 30 minutes before they figured that Hunter wasn't there. Though, they had no idea where he would go to since he said he was working from home all week. He barely left the house and said last night that he would pick them up from school before he put them to sleep, but when Charlotte woke up to find their father passed out in bed, she decided to take matters into her own hand. She doesn't want to say that she didn't trust her father, but he just wasn't always responsible and all he had to do was get them to and from school and yet when she tried to wake him up that morning he wouldn't even budge.

"Maybe he did come to the school to pick us up and now he's wandering around lost at school" Sasha said

"I didn't see his car at school, besides, that was like an hour ago. I'm sure he would've noticed we weren't there and came back by now." Charlotte looked over at the mattress, " Maybe he went to get a new mattress"

Sasha nodded and sat down on the couch to keep watching the cartoons she had put on before while Charlotte inspected the mattress. There was nothing wrong with it, actually, it looked brand new. Well besides Sasha small shoe prints on one side.

"Or maybe he got kidnapped by aliens" Sasha said as she leaned over the back of the couch looking at her sister, "Like in those movies he always watches when we go to sleep"

"How would you know about those if we were asleep?" Charlotte question causing Sasha to stop in her tracks and slide down into her seat on the couch so she wasn't looking Charlotte in the eyes.

"I'm just guessing"

"Yeah...yeah, I got it. Yes babe I went to the store and..." Sasha and Charlotte's eyes looked from each other to the door where they heard their father come in.

Hunter pushed open the door, dressed in a tight fitted black shirt and jeans, with his phone pressed on his shoulder by his ear as he carried a small twin mattress in his arms. He had stopped talking once he got into the house and saw his oldest staring back at him.

"Crap." Hunter groaned and looked at the time on his watch before he quickly ended his call with, "Babe I'll call you back."

After he hung up Charlotte stood in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest as she looked up at him. Giving him the same look Stephanie always did when she was mad and she was furious, not just because her father failed to pick them up from school but because he had scared the crap out of them. For God's sake they thought he was upstairs dead.

"You guys are out of school" Hunter said slowly in almost as if it was a question only to receive a nod by both his daughters.

"For almost an hour now" Charlotte replied, glaring at her father

"I'm so sorry guys I was out all morning. The delivery guy came to the door and they dropped off this mattress but its too big so I ended up on hold with their customer service for hours before I just went to the store to get it." Hunter stumbled as he tried to explain himself to his daughters, "I had to make sure that everything was right and I...time just got away from me. I'm sorry I didn't pick you guys up from school I just.."

"I don't care that you didn't get us, we took the bus, but you scared us" Charlotte said punching her father in the stomach as she let out her anger, "We didn't know where you were"

The punches didn't hurt Hunter being that she was so small but the impact behind the punches and the words his oldest were saying made him visibly upset. He put down the mattress and apologized before hugging Charlotte, "I'm sorry..time got away from me, I'm trying here...I really am princess, I just got a lot of stuff on my mind with your mother being gone, I have a lot of responsibilities around here and I'm not used to doing it all yet."