Family

Prologue

"Come on Y'all. If we wanna make it awn time." She yells picking up the baby and glancing at Maddie and George. "I ain't doin this by myself." She says grabbing an old suitcase and bringing it out the door to the car. She sets Maggie, the little baby, in her car seat and runs back into the house. She grabs Maddie and Maddie's bag. "Wer makin' it awn thuh plane." She says shaking her head as they haven't moved much.

"But I don't wanna go," Maddie states folding her arms over her little chest. Nicole takes a deep breath controlling her frustration.

"Wer ain't stayin' in Texas, so git over it." She says and closes the door. She walks back into the house and grabs George by the arm. He doesn't push against her and just lets her drag him to the car. She sets him down and buckles him into the seat. "George, ah need ya ta help me out here." She says, but he just looks down at her and she can see the pain in his eyes. "Control your wolf, ya hear." She says but still doesn't get a reaction from him. It's been like this for a while, she doesn't think much of it. 

She takes another deep breath and closes the door. She gets into the driver side and begins driving the airport. When she gets there she ignores everyone and everything not even caring to look where she's going. She practically carries all three of them and all of the bags.

When they get to board the plane she has to shuffle many things around before finding the tickets. "Alright, 'ave a good flight." The preppy receptionist says. Nicole nods her head before walking through the hallway to the plane. She keeps glancing at George waiting for something to flip him off, she's praying nothing will. 

Luckily she gets everyone into their seats with no issues. She releases a breath as she looks over at George and Maddie. They're both looking out the window and aren't causing any issues. She looks down at Maggie and smiles at her. She's peacefully asleep in her arms and is holding onto her shirt. Nicole rests her head against the seat thankful they made it on time.

"Ma'ma, you're in the wrong seats." A flight attendant says. Nicole grabs her tickets and shows the woman she isn't. "Oh, my mistake. I read there's wrong. My apologies." She says handing the tickets back to Nicole.

"It's alright." She smiles. The flight attendant smiles back at her before directing the people behind her somewhere else. She puts her head back on the seat and lets her eyes relax. She's learned how to stay awake with her eyes closed just in case she needs to snap awake. It's the closest thing she gets to sleep though, and tends to do it often, which is why she get's in trouble a lot in school.

She begins to think about the new school. How she gets a new start at a new life with no baggage. Just her, the kids, and George. She opens her eyes and glances at him. He still has the distant look on his face, but he hasn't had an outburst and she's thankful for it. Turning her head back to being straight she rests her eyes once again. In two hours and they're in upper Iowa, they're fresh start.

She frowns as she feels the plane starting to move. Her stomach gets the tight feelings and she grips one of the armrests. Her other hand trying not to squeeze Maggie. She feels puke rise into her throat but keeps it down. She refuses to be the person that pukes on a plane. Once they're in the air Nicole let's go of the armrests and let her hands wrap around Maggie. She eyes are now open and Nicole takes in a breath.

Her bright blue eyes remind her of her dead sister. She smiles down at the little baby. "Ya're too cute." She says and the little girl smiles. She taps her nose causing her to start laughing. George looks over at his daughter as he hears her laugh. "You wanna hold her?" Nicole asks. He shakes his head and looks back out the window. She looks at him sadly and feels bad for Maggie. First, she loses her Mom and now her Dad can't even look at her. "It's ok, auntie will allers be here for ya." She whispers down to her.

Maggie grabs her hair and begins to try and eat it. Nicole smiles and moves her hair behind her shoulders. "No, no, no, not for ya." She says smiling at the baby. She reaches for her bag and pulls out a toy for her to play with. When she's occupied Nicole rests her eyes once again, but this time the darkness takes her in.