🚨FLASHBACK CHAPTER 🚨
Alex POV - Flashback March 2024
I sit in the waiting room, waiting for Sawyer to emerge from working with Bree and Hannah.
I feel a kick and groan, "Hello, Noah."
I rub my belly, "Just waiting for your sister who had a hard day at school."
He kicks me again, "I know, I don't like when she has hard days either."
My phone buzzes.
Bree: coming at you hot, we're very emotional.
As I look up, I see Sawyer bust through the door, very upset.
"Home! I want to go home!" She cries.
Maverick jumps up on her and I stand up.
"Whoa, baby. We will go home, but what's wrong?" I ask.
"Everything!" She yells.
I sigh and look as Bree and Hannah make it to the waiting room.
"Can't let you go home like this, need to go choose something." Hannah says.
"No! Leave me alone!" She screams and reaches for my hand, pulling.
"Hey. You cannot pull me." I say firmly.
She keeps pulling and Bree steps in, "Sawyer, stop right now."
She lets go and screams, which cues Maverick to jump on her.
I look at Bree, mouthing, "What the hell?"
Sawyer wipes her face and walks back through the door.
"I got her!" Hannah says and follows after her.
"She's tapped. Like overwhelmed and exhausted and just can't come down from being at a 10."
I sigh, "Like I said earlier, school was tough. Dr. Edwards was observing her, wondering if that had something to do with it."
"That and probably all of the state testing." Bree says.
I nod, "She has more tomorrow. And then she's going to be taking the ACT next month."
She sighs, "It's a lot, and then this guy is coming. She just can't regulate with all of the stressors."
I bob my head up and down, "I know, I know that she needs a break."
"That's exactly what she needs. No testing, no demands, just time to not feel any pressure."
She takes a breath, "With you."
"With me." I draw out.
She nods, "Think that's a piece of it too. You've been busy, it's been a lot of your parents spending time with her, Serv too."
I think about everything that needs to get done in the next 8 weeks and start to internally freak out.
"Hey. I'm not knocking you, I know there's a lot between the equal pay stuff and getting ready for this guy." She says.
"And we're working on her coping and she's been trying really hard, Alex."
I feel tears well up in my eyes and sit down.
"Hey, whoa, it's okay." Bree says and sits next to me.
I sniffle, "Ugh, it's not. This is so hard."
"I understand. I also understand that she is not easy, Alex. She can be demanding, be disrespectful, lose her cool, and a multitude of other things."
