The energy of the whole house shifted the moment my mother stepped foot through the front door. It was almost supernatural, the second I heard the front door knob start twisting open, all my baby sisters turned into little misbehaving demons. And right after I’d finally gotten Liliana to go to bed.

  I sighed deeply and Estela looked at me with amusement. “I’ll take care of Lucia.” Although a well behaved baby, Lucia was really hard to put to sleep, I silently thanked her with a smile as she breezed past me and into the hallway.

  My twin sisters came barreling past her, screaming.

  “Leona! Solana! Qué pasa? Why are you out of bed?” I barked out. The two girls barely made it past my thigh, if I needed to drag them back to bed I could and would.

  “Mamá!” I snatched up Leona by the waist but just barely missed Solana. Liliana, the moody sixteen year old, flew past me and tackled my mother with Solana like two angry quarterbacks.

  Mi Mamá looked absolutely exhausted, the bags under her eyes more pronounced than last week. Thankfully I was here to watch the girls today, otherwise her day would have been a lot worse.

  “Liliana get your sister and get to bed!” I said, still wrangling Leona.

  “You heard your brother! ándale!” My mother’s tone left no room for arguments.

  Leona immediately stopped squirming and I let her down, all three girls darted to the hallway like they were being chased by the boogie man. Still screaming to each other and us, meanwhile Lucia’s cries from the nursery grew louder from the noise. I huffed out a breath, Estela has her hands full.

  Normally I’d stay and help more, Mamá needed all the rest she could get and Liliana certainly wasn’t making anything easier when it came to the younger ones, but something else was calling me. I mentally sweeped the house for anything left undone or behind. All my work stuff was stashed away, my phone, keys and wallet were on my person…

  “Mijo. Mijo!” My mother’s raspy voice snapped my attention. Right.

  “Si, si, Liliana finished her homework and everyone has eaten dinner.” I hoisted my work bag onto one shoulder with ease. It was getting late and I was getting antsy. I’d already put all of my siblings to bed except Estela, who was seventeen and too stubborn to listen. At this point though, I was kind of glad she hadn’t gone to bed yet.

  “Bueno, did you eat? You are looking very skinny.” She eyed me with concern. I hadn’t eaten much today in all honesty, but she didn’t need to know that.

  I leaned in for a hug, hoping to distract her, “I’m eating plenty Mamá. I’ve got to go.” My free arm snaked around her shoulders and gave her a small squeeze as I kissed the top of her head. The front door was already in my sights. I needed to get home. I needed to think.

  Although I wasn’t the tallest, my stride was on the longer side. I’d already opened the door and was halfway through the threshold before my mother caught up.

  “Te amo, Mijo,” she said with one hand on the door. Good, she was going to lock it after I left. I smiled and felt my face soften.

  “Te quiero, Mamá.” I pulled her free hand up and pressed a kiss to her knuckles before turning away. My loyal chariot awaited me at the end of the driveway.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  The door groaned shut and lock clicked into place as I walked down the stone pathway to my car. Although my mother’s yard was a leafy testament to her green thumb talents, I didn’t have the time to stop and admire the meticulously curated jungle. To say I was distracted was an understatement. Did I complete my work today? Sure. Did I babysit my sisters as promised? Of course. Was I driving safely? As usual. But everything else became optional today. She was the only thing I could think about, the only thing I wanted to think about.

  My jaw clenched involuntarily as I got behind the wheel, the cool leather under my palm doing nothing to calm the frenzied moths in my stomach, long dormant until now. I fought the urge to bang my head against the steering wheel and instead shifted into drive.

  Why now? What made her change her mind? What made her decide to leave in the first place? Why-

  I let out a frustrated sigh and wiggled my phone out of my pocket at a red light. I was going to open that fucking text and read it first chance I could, but I didn’t need to do it while driving. I chucked it into the back seat with my bag, hoping it slid into an open pocket. The light turned green and my stomach dropped.

  What if it was a real goodbye? Or a confession? What if something had happened to her and she was living her last days? Fucking hell. This drive was too long, and I was gripping my steering wheel way too tight.

  Amber streetlights at dusk passed by in a blur, the cool evening air against my face helped me focus on the road ahead. All I needed to do was make it home. Breathe Cass, you’re almost there.

  She’d always been spacey. I knew that. It wasn’t the first time she’d disappeared, but it was the first time she’d ever done it to me. It didn’t matter what angle I looked at it, it never made sense to me. Throughout the years friends and family had come and gone, but I was a constant. I was willing to step in and anchor her, no matter what happened. And thats what I did. When she was with me, her smile was carefree and her eyes sparkled with life. Why would she leave me?

  My poor steering wheel was being white knuckled by the time I pulled into my designated parking spot. Although it was technically only 15 minutes, the drive felt like an eternity.

  I could feel my heart start racing as I got out of the car. My phone lit up from inside the bag, relief was short lived. My bag was practically weightless and the car door I refused to slam startled pigeons from the force I used closing it. My pace was fast like walking across red hot coals. The staircase was borderline torture, and I forced myself to focus on each step. If I was destined to trip down stairs at some point in my life, then today wasn’t going to be that day.

  By the time I got to my front door I couldn’t tell if I was winded from the 2 flights of stairs or the suffocating feeling with each passing moment I wasn’t reading her message. I struggled with the lock and felt like I could finally breathe once I burst through the front door. I needed to see that text and I needed it right now.

  I ripped my phone from the clutches of my bag and tossed it aside on my way to my bedroom. I flopped onto my bed like the least majestic whale in existence. The comfort of my bed did nothing for me as I frantically unlocked my phone and opened her text chat.

  Seven letters. And they were the most infuriating seven letters I’d ever seen in my entire life. Fucking pendeja.

  “I’m sorry.” Received 7 hours ago.

  I’m sorry? I’m sorry?! I wanted to scream. All that time and now she was sorry? Are you fucking kidding me? My hand reached up involuntarily and ran through my hair. My blood pressure was skyrocketing and with a million thoughts were swimming in my head, a migraine was definitely on the way.

  “What the fuck do you even say to that?” I growled in frustration, my voice sounded foreign to my own ears. Lovely. She was still bringing out new sides of me even after all these years.

  For a moment I just stared at the screen, the blinking cursor waiting for me to type.

  Fuck this.

  I wanted to hear her say it from her chest, not read it from some stupid chat bubble. This was an invitation if I ever saw one, and if we were really going to talk. We were going to fucking talk.

  No more hiding behind a screen Seraphina.