Later, Blair got us a lot to eat. I was so thankful; I don't think I'd ever eaten that much food in one sitting. She let us take showers as well. I was eager to get rid of the dirt and crap. James went to work, but Blair stays home. Jori went off to school. I was kind of fascinated with that. I wanted to ask her what it was like; I'd stopped going to school in third grade. I had no idea what middle school, let alone high school was like. And Sage had never been to school a دن in her life. Good thing Paige was such a good teacher.

"Do آپ girls need anything?" Blair asked. I was pretty much taken care of. I was full, clean, and content.

"No thanks," Mom said. "Thank آپ so much for what you're doing."

"No problem! I'm so glad to see آپ and your girls! Stay as long as آپ need to!" I bit my lip. As much as I liked being here, I was kind of worried Mom would take her up on that offer. I didn't want to be rude. Blair went to the store, to go grocery shopping. This left us all alone at the house with each other.

"Well, this is nice, isn't it?" Mom asked. We nodded.

"How long are we staying here?" I asked.

"I don't know. As soon as I can find a job, and pay for a house of our own."

"Same here," Paige said. As much as she hated working, she hated not working as well. She was so responsible, and always wanting to help out. I pitied her for it sometimes.

"I want to get a job too," I said.

"You're only fifteen, Shelby," Mom said. "You don't need to be working. Same with you, Paige. You've always been working. I want to start supporting this family. آپ girls don't need to get jobs."

"I'm almost sixteen," I reminded her.

"And I want to work, Mom. That way we can get a house faster."

"No. I want to do this myself." Paige and I pursed our lips. We'd learned from experience, Mom cannot keep a job. It'd be easier just to have Paige working. "You girls stay here, ok?" We nodded, and she left.

"What're we gonna do?" Kirsten asked. Paige shrugged. I could tell from her expression that she already felt helpless. Paige without a job was like a مچھلی without water. The outcome was just not happy.

"Well, I'm going to sleep," I decided. I was happy that I could be home, یا somewhere like it, and not have to watch the younger ones like my life depended on it. And since I was so used to that, it took a while for me to feel comfortable enough to fall asleep.

I was woken a couple hours later, سے طرف کی Blair coming home. The grocery bags made quite a lot of noise, being set on the counters and باورچی خانے, باورچی خانہ table.

"Hi Shelby," she smiled. I sat up, and rubbed my eyes. I looked around, but saw nowhere else. Immediately, I started to panic. "Don't worry," she said. "Paige took the kids to the park. And I guess your Mom's still out looking for a job. She told me early this morning she wanted to."

"Oh," I said. Blair looked at the clock.

"Jori should be ہوم soon... What time do آپ usually get ہوم from school?"

"I don't," I said. She furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't go to school."

"Oh... Does your mom ہوم school you?"

"Paige did," I said. She stared at me for a while.

"Oh my gosh. Your sister ہوم schools you?"

"She did," I corrected. "Sage and Kirsten are kind of a hand full, so we decided I was fine."

"Who teaches Paige then?"

"She just teaches us from what she remembers from fifth grade," I shrugged. She shook her head, disbelieving.

"That's... Wow... Well, hopefully when your mother gets the money, آپ girls will all be going to school again." I pursed my lips and shrugged. I never want to go to school. From what I remember, it was never good. A door opened and closed, and Jori came in. "Hi sweetie," Blair smiled warmly. Jori waved.

"Hey," she sighed. "Ugh, I have so much homework. Mr. Henson's insane." Another reason Paige's homeschooling was good. She had never دیا me homework.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie. Well, when you're done, why don't آپ hang out with Shelby? She could used some company." Jori looked at me, and raised an eyebrow.

"Um.." she said, looking for an answer. It was obvious she was trying to put "no" lightly.

"Um, that's ok," I said. "I think I'm just going to sleep some more... I'm pretty tired."

"Oh, ok," Blair said. "Why don't آپ go sleep in the guest room? آپ can sleep there." Jori showed me to the guest room, on her way up to her room. It was a big room, much bigger than my old bedroom, and had a kind sized bed, just like ours. Only theirs was cleaner and neat. I collapsed on the bed, pleased to not be squished, and fell asleep again.

Mom came into the room a couple hours later, and sat on the bed. I yawned, stretching out my legs, and wincing as the stitches stretched as well.

"Hey," she کہا softly. I smiled a little bit.

"Did آپ get a job?" I asked.

"No," she sighed. "I couldn't find a place that was hiring."

"Oh... Is everyone ہوم yet?"

"Yeah. The girls are downstairs. James got ہوم a while پہلے too. Dinner's in twenty minutes." I studied her for a moment. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if I want آپ to get a job," I admitted. She cocked her head, and ran her hand through my hair.

"Why not?"

"Because. You're finally around now, and a job would only keep آپ away." She smiled sadly at me, even though some tears were starting to well up in my eyes. "I don't like it when you're away."

"Shelby, آپ know I'll always come back." I stubbornly wiped the tears away. She hugged me, and I hugged her tight, grabbing my fist with my hand. It felt, for the first time in my whole life, that I was actually happy to have a mother. She was there for me, and it was the greatest feeling ever. It felt like she actually cared. She kissed the سب, سب سے اوپر of my head. She whispered soft words in my ear, calming me down. I knew I'd be ok. "Come on, Honey. Dinner's almost ready." I hugged her again, and then we went downstairs to the kitchen.

"Have a nice nap?" Blair smiled at me. I nodded sheepishly. We sat at the dining table, the only place big enough for all of us to eat at. Blair placed the food on the table, and everyone passed it around.

"You don't go to school?" Jori asked me. We all nodded. "Lucky," she scoffed. Blair, James, and Mom talked amongst themselves, and Jori asked us random سوالات sometimes.

We were all one happy family it seemed.