Lone Star Family Values

Chapter 3

Little Left to Believe in

The world had stopped making sense to Bailey the moment she was old enough to understand what the world was. After all, she'd grown up in such an unconventional manner that it wasn't surprising for her to rely only on what she could touch, feel, and every now and again, what she could see. In her experience what she heard was not reliable, because people lied. So many people always lied. They'd say that this would be her last home only to be moved three weeks later. They'd say that nothing would happen to make them think differently of her, and then she'd have a drop or an anxiety attack and again things would change. There was little left for Bailey to believe in, and she'd grown used to that fact. That was, until she'd met the 126. Though she still remained cautious she could tell that they were true in what they said. They didn't judge her or change their image of her simply because of what happened. After all, the first time they'd met she'd been unconscious (talk about starting off with your cards on the table). Since then, Bailey's relationship with the members of the 126 had only gone up.

            It had been a couple of weeks since Carlos had come to the station the first time and now he stopped by regularly. There was a joking mannerism between him and Bailey that she enjoyed, but there was also an almost fatherly way that he interacted with her. He'd check in with her about things going on with the Hubbards or about how she felt about school starting up in a few weeks. He knew she was happy about being in the same place but still, no teenager enjoyed school, homework and tests weren't exactly a sixteen-year-old's idea of a good time. She was young to be starting her senior year but she was excited, being on the younger end of the spectrum opened up more opportunities to her in a way. She felt like she had more time to get her footing once she graduated high school if she wanted to take a gap year or maybe she'd be able to get more scholarships since people might be impressed with her age, she didn't know but she was okay with being the youngest.

            Bailey had been in her room for a few hours working on a new piece when she heard the Hubbards get home. They'd been gone for a good portion of the morning running errands but Bailey treasured the solitude. It was better than having them home, better than the criticism and the lectures, not better than being with the 126 but she'd take what she could get.

"So you did get the job then?" Bailey heard Rachel's voice first.

"Yeah, they called me this morning. They want me there at the end of next week." Mr. Hubbard, Joseph, spoke next.

"Next week?" Rachel asked. Bailey put down her paint brush and moved to the hall so that she could hear better, the conversation intrigued her. "What are we supposed to do about living? It's not like you can commute."

"Colby starts at UT next month and wants to live on campus and the company has a house set up for us if we want it. I can call a realtor in the morning and we can get this one on the market." Joseph said.

"And Bailey?" Rachel asked. Bailey was surprised that her name came up, they never seemed to care about her before. "The income has been nice; will she be moved?" There it was.

"I called her case agent earlier, if we want to keep her in our care then her case can be transferred to an agent there. Her moving expenses would be covered by the state just like her medical expenses. Nothing would change." Joseph explained.

            Wait, moving expenses? They wanted to move? They wanted to take her with them? Bailey walked farther down the hall, trying to get as close as possible to make sure that she was hearing everything right.

"What office is this again?" Rachel asked.

"The El Paso office," Joseph said. "They're offering me a management position Rach; this is what we've been hoping for."