Holding On

Chapter 4

Match Made in Hell

"She wasn't looking for a knight, she was looking for a sword." – Atticus

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"Mom!" I groaned as she took the duffle bag out of my hand. "Stop fussing. I'm fine!"

"I will fuss all I want." She glared at me over her shoulder, making her way down the stairs. I had no choice but to follow, seeing as to how she was hell-bent on doing everything for me.

It's been three weeks since I got released from the hospital, and to say that my mother was treating me like a two-year-old would be an understatement. She wouldn't even let me get up to put my own bowl in the sink because she didn't want me to over exert myself.

"Hey Mrs. S." Brooke greeted my mom when she opened the door, bouncing a fussy one-year-old on her hip.

"Hi sweetie." My mom replied before tilting her head and making funny faces at Chrissy, Brooke's daughter.

"You ready?" Brooke nodded towards me.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. I was eager for a weekend away from my mother. I love her to death, and I know I scared the shit out of her, but I haven't had a single moment to myself since I got discharged from the hospital. It's like she was afraid that if she left me alone for more than ten minutes, I'd somehow just collapse right then and there.

Because of everything that happened, Lucas and Caroline were forced to cancel their wedding last month. Instead of fussing and trying to plan another big wedding for next year, the two of them decided to get married this weekend instead. They invited their closest family and friends to Michigan for a beach ceremony, followed by a small reception at the lake house.

I can't say I was too thrilled to be going back to the lake house because it held bittersweet memories, but I was willing to do just about anything at this point to get a break from my mother.

I didn't even have the distraction of my job anymore to keep me same. HR had been surprisingly accommodating with the whole nearly-getting-killed situation. My time-off technically ended while I was still unconscious in the hospital, and when I did finally talk to Jessie from HR, she told me to take as much time off as I needed because my job would still be there when I got back.

Of course, I wasn't getting paid anymore, but it was a welcome break I didn't realize I needed.

"Okay mom," I rolled my eyes when I saw she was still making funny faces at Chrissy. "Leave the poor child alone. Go torment your own. He's been playing video games for way too long."

"Oh hush!" She pursed her lips in a thin line, pinning me with a playful glare. "You gotta soak it all up while their young, Brooke. Before you know it, they grow up and forget who gave birth to them."

I stuck my tongue out at her playfully as I bent down to grab my overnight bag. Mom narrowed her eyes on the bag, but didn't say anything when I raised a challenging eyebrow in her direction. It was literally just clothes.

Brooke and I decided to make a girls trip of our time in Michigan, so I packed a couple of extra things I knew I would need. While Caroline and Lucas would be going off on their honeymoon right after the reception, Brooke, Chrissy, and I were going to stay at the lake house until Monday morning. Brooke's husband, James, was currently on deployment in Afghanistan and I think she needed a little human interaction that didn't come from a baby.

The plan was to eat our weight in leftovers and sit on the beach until we were red.

Just like old times.