To Steal An Egg

Chapter #7

I called Gary and with my luck, he was at his house reading a book. He drove to the police station and when he opened the door, I thanked him. Now, we had to do the hard part. Combining our bank accounts so I could use his money, and pay him back when I could. I worked as an artist and author when I needed to. But, other than that I parented 24-7.

We were sorting things out and had gotten our bank accounts ridden of and created another one for both of us to share, and then I had to sign a bajillion pages of paperwork and then we were free to leave. I thanked Gary for like the nine-thousandth time and he just smiled. Emotion pulled my throat every time he looked at me. He walked to a grocery store because he was expecting to drive there later anyway. While our car was in the shop, we went to some nearby convenience stores and let my kids pick out some workbooks and stuff. I bought one for Tim for when he was still at the hospital.

We walked over to the hospital and I told Carter to watch over Rosey and Rowan while I ran inside. I was excited to hear that Tim would be out of the hospital and in a wheelchair in a week.

Tim was awake and smiling when I walked into room 49. I gave him the crossword book and he thanked me after he flipped through the pages. He started working on it right away while I chatted with the nurses.

I walked out of the hospital happy and excited to get home. I wished Tori would show up but I had almost given up hope.

Me and my trio of kids all went to the car shop and were able to get right into the car. And drive home. Everyone was quiet and sitting still. Even Rowan was sleeping. Rosey was humming quietly and Carter was staring out the window sadly. Classical music was streaming out of the stereo. I hated classical, but it was too peaceful to turn it off.

We were parking in the driveway when the noise started again. The doors whirred open, Rowan started crying again, and Rosey was singing. I took a deep breath and frowned when I opened the door to our house and what I saw made everything stop. I stopped walking, Rowan stopped wailing, Rosey stopped singing, and Carter's mouth was wide open. I swear the birds outside even stopping chirping. It had been over a month since the earthquake and a girl with long, messy hair and bloody, dirty skin was sitting at my kitchen table. Tori was writing in a leather book and had a blue gold-speckled egg sitting next to her.

"Tori!" I shouted.

"Towi!!" Rosey screeched.

Carter was frozen and his face was as if he had just seen a ghost.

But there was no reaction from Tori. She didn't speak. She didn't even look up.