One Last Time (COMPLETED)

House Arrest

Close to a month trapped inside of the apartment with the twins taking turns being sick and fussy, I started to feel a fraction of what my sister had. Though I'd tried to help as best as I could, she'd had to take the load of both kids on herself, on top of trying to work and maintain her appearance. Not to mention the post partum depression that had no doubt been eating away at her psyche little by little.

The boys tried to help as best as they could, but they spent most of their time out of the apartment. Whether it was on campus, football, or partying, they were almost never here. Which left me to speak to the bare walls around me, trying to tend to both kids on a couple hours of sleep. Tanner tried to take them for at least a few hours a night, but with football season starting, he had to get enough sleep in order to be coherent in academics and practice and his games. Parker kept all three of us at a distance, as if he were trying to process everything in his own way. Both boys had promised that whoever had been watching us the day I was with Tanner had long since disappeared-or maybe it'd been that he or she had been watching me and had no interest in the two playboys. The thought terrified me.

I tried to fit in my classes when I could, but barely able to keep my eyes open, more times then not I woke up to find one of the boys taking my laptop out of my arms and taking the baby for the rest of the night. It was agonizing; not being able to function. Not having any outside connection. I hadn't been out of this apartment building in close to a month.

That changed the night of the boys first game. Tanner, Parker, and Chandler came home hyped, which was to be expected. What was far from it was my mother cowering behind the three heathen males with a small smile.

The very sight of her had tears burning my eyes. She hadn't as much as sent me a text message asking about the twins or me in the month I'd been holed up in here. I knew much of that was do to my father's bitterness and anger, and his controlling of everything she did, but it still felt like a slap to the face. Especially after reading a few more of Maya's journal entries to find that she and Mom had fought much more than I'd thought.

"Mom?" I whispered, surprised when Tanner swept passed me with a wink and plucked Max from my arm, careful not to stir him awake. "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, baby girl." She responded, touching her hands to my shoulders cautiously before pulling me into a hug. She squeezed me so tightly against her I felt as though she were afraid to let go. "I thought I'd come see you and the babies."

Tanner made a reappearance with a grin. "What she means is that she's going to babysit those little monsters so you can get out of here."

I looked back to my mom, eyes widening. "Seriously?"

"You deserve a break, sweetheart." She smiled sadly. "You've taken on so much and given everything up. You should be able to live like a normal college student for one night."

I wanted to be excited, but all I felt was guilt starting to gnaw at me. "Are you sure? I can stay and—"

"And you aren't staying." It was Parker. It was actually the first thing he'd said directly to me outside of questions about the kids in the last couple weeks. "We're going to a party to celebrate the win tonight and you're coming with us."

Whether it was because it was genuinely funny or because I was anxious and overtired, I started laughing. His blue eyes hardened then narrowed. "What's funny?"

"You've known me our entire lives. You knew me in high school. I don't do parties."

Tanner responded before he could. "Well, you will be tonight. Now stop fighting us and go make yourself look pretty."