Nicole runs back inside feeling panicked. Where could he be? She then sees a paper on the ground. She picks it up and opens it.

Nikki, I've hurt you too many times already, what happens when it's one of the kids or if I end up killing you. I can't be on this world without her anymore, don't bother looking for me. If you're reading this I'm already dead and you won't find me. I left everything I have, it's not much money and I'm sorry I couldn't have helped you more, but I can't function. My wolf is dying and I can't do this, I need Sara back. I have to see her. I love you Nikki and I hope that you find a better life. I'm sorry I left you, but I can't hurt any of you anymore. Take care of my baby girl and tell her about her Mother everyday, I understand if you won't talk about me, but she deserves to know that her Mother was an amazing person. Good bye and it's ok if some people know about your life, having others to talk to is good. Don't board your self off, I love you guys and will be watching from above, both Sara and I will be.

Nicole falls to the floor tears streaming down her face. She feels like she can't breath. She staggers outside her house and falls into the grass. "Why? What did I do?" She yells pounding her fists into the ground. She crumbles up the paper and tosses it towards the forest. "No, no ya can't do this ta me." She says shaking her head and wrapping her arms around herself. She cries into her knees and her body shakes even more after every minute. She slowly gets up and punches the house. She doesn't feel the pain in her hand, instead she feels better. She continues to punch the wall until she realizes the kids are still at the daycare.

She takes a few ragged breaths and wipes her eyes. "Pull yourself together." She tells herself. She nods her head and walks over to the car. She realizes she doesn't have her keys and runs back into the house. She finds them and runs back out. She quickly pulls out and rushes to the daycare.

Andrew sees her leave and quickly grabs the crumpled up paper. He changes again and follows behind the car. He's confused and feels miserable that he didn't go up to her. Stop her hurting, but he knows that she would have fought him and it would have made matters worse. He knows he needs to figure whatever this is out to help her, but she can't know. He slows down as he sees her pull into a daycare. Within two minutes she walks out with a baby on her hip, holding a diaper bag, holding a little backpack, and a little girl's hand.

He stares at the children confused. His wolf doesn't like that she's holding children. They can't be hers, she's only sixteen. He reminds his wolf. It calms his wolf down slightly, but not as much as it should. He watches as she puts a smile on her face and nods her head encouragingly to the little girl. He stares at her, it would have fooled him had he'd not see what happened just a few minutes ago.

He follows them home again and then shifts back pulling his pants on. He hears a little girl ask a question, but her accent isn't nearly as strong as Nicoles. "Can we go into thuh woods today?"

"How 'bout tamarr we venture into thuh woods?" He hears Nicole ask in a soft voice.

"Promise?" The little girl asks and Andrew sees her hold up a pinky.

"Pinky promise," Nicole says wrapping her bigger finger around the little girls. He watches as they walk into the house and then moves closer. He's almost up to the house and can hear everything that they are talking about.

"You got me apples." He hears the little girl's voice. He thinks back to in the cafeteria and starts to piece things together. "Do we have to have pizza again?" He hears the little girl whine.

"Nope, I'll make you some spaghetti." He hears Nicole's voice. He hears the little girl yell with joy. Things quiet down for a little while and he stays listening nothing sparking his interest until he hears the little girl's voice. 

"Aren't you going to eat some?" He hears which instantly grabs his attention.

"No, 'member ah eat a lot at school." He hears and his eyebrows draw together in confusion.

"I wish we could just grab anything we wanted at my school. Why isn't ours free?" The little girl asks and Andrew's completely confused. He doesn't understand. 

"I don't know, but guess what?"

"What?" The little girl's voice goes up an octave.

"Ya git ta come ta work with me."

"Why? Where's George?" He hears the little girl's voice.

"Ya know where yowr Mommy is?" He assumes the girl nods because she then says, " 'e went thair too." Nicole says and he wonders how she lost her mom.

"Why do thay all keep goin' thair?" He hears the little girl's crying voice. His own heart breaks thinking that she lost her parents and she doesn't understand why. Well, he doesn't either. 

"I don't know sweetly, but ya aren't goin' ta lohs me. I will always be here." He hears Nicole say and watches as she wraps her arms around the little girl. The two girls stay there for a while until Nicole pulls away. He knows he shouldn't keep his head in the window, but he wants to see what's going on. 

"What 'appened ta your hands?" The little girl asks. Nicole looks down and sees they're bloody.

"I done fell awn my way home in some gravel. I must 'ave forgot ta wash thuh blood awf." She lies and stands up. Andrew watches her go out of his view for a few minutes before coming back with her hands bandaged up. "Ok, ya wanna fetch sumthin' ta play with and yowr homework. I'ma go git Maggie."

Andrew sits there waiting for them to leave the house and once they do he shifts. He doesn't follow them to where she works because he already knows, but he will need a shirt to go into the store. He runs back to his pack house grabbing a shirt. His Mother is asleep when he gets there and he places a light kiss on her forehead before jogging out of the house.

"Andrew?" He hears. He turns his head and is grateful to see it was just Max. "So, what did you figure out?"

"Just come with me." He says and pulls him. They strip and then shift before running to Festival. Andrew tells him what he saw and has heard while he was watching and when they shift back he's just as confused as Andrew.

"Have you read the paper?" Andrew shakes his head and pulls it out of his jeans.

"Come here." He says. The two read the paper and when they're done they both stay silent. Andrew is still shocked and reads it once again. "She asked me when someone loses their mate is it normal for there wolf to take over and become aggressive. She must have been talking about this George."

"Who is Sara?" Max asks and Andrew shrugs his shoulders.

"I don't know." He says staring at the paper. He can't seem to fit the pieces together.

"Also, you could have told me she was your mate. I'll remember that when I find mine." He says and Andrew gives him a shy smile. "Why haven't you told her?" He asks and Andrew looks at the store.

"I can't handle trying to deal with a mate and my Mom. She'd have to be introduced to the pack and then people are always asking questions and now that she has two kids, I just...I'm going to wait." He says. Max looks over at him and shakes his head.

"Your mate will help you with anything and everything, you know this and so what? She already knows most of the pack, they just think she's human. Speaking of human, how come she doesn't know you're her mate?" He asks and Andrew looks over at him.

"Avery thinks whatever magic thing she's using to make her seem human also makes it so she can't detect what we are. Although she does pull away from me if I get to close, so I think she feels something, she just doesn't know what it is." He says and sees an elderly woman go into the store. "Come on, let's go pretend we need to buy something."

The two walk into the store and they look and see the little girl, which he knows is Maddie now, sitting on a chair reading a little book. The baby, Maggie is in Nicole's arms. She turns her head ready to greet the people that walk in, but freeze when sees them.

"Hey, Nicole," Max says waving and walking over to her. He smiles at the baby and waves to Maddie.

"Hey, I'm babysitting, but done forgot I had work. Stupid me." She says and Max smiles.

"I'll hold the baby and walk around with her for ya." He says. Nicole looks up at him with a smile. She hands him over and isn't surprised when she just sits there in his arms.

"She's very calm and only really cries when hungry or needs a diaper change." She says and Max nods his head before walking away with the baby.

"I'm Maddie. Who are you?" Maddie asks looking up at him.

"My name is Andrew." He says and she nods going back to reading. Andrew looks up at Nicole and then at her hands. She looks down and lifts them off of the little counter.

"I done fell awn my way home, gravel an me don't mix." She lies, but he nods his head anyway.

"What is this word Nikki?" They both look down at Maddie. Nicole leans down to read the word.

"Sound it out." She says. Maddie begins to try and get the word.

"Sss-ohhh-rrr-e... Shh--urrr. Sure?" She asks looking down at the word. Nicole nods her head. "But it's an s." She says and Nicole laughs.

"Welcome ta thuh struggles awf english speakers," She says and Maddie glares down at the book. She goes back to reading while Andrew and she hold each other's gazes, but not for long because the old woman that entered before him goes in line. "Hi, did ya find everythang ya needed?" Nicole asks smiling up at the customer. Andrew moves closer to Maddie to get out of the woman's way.

"Yes, thank you." She says smiling back.

"10 dollars an 23 cents," Nicole says smiling up at the woman. She brings out her purse handing a ten over and then grabs a big bag of coins. She begins counting out the 23 cents. "Thank ya, 'ave a nice night." She says giving the woman her bag.

"You too." She says and then leaves.

"Did ya guys plan on buyin' anythin'?" Nicole asks looking at Andrew. He looks up at her confused. "Ahr ya guys buyin' anythin'?" She asks again.

"Max wanted to get some chips, but guess he's a little distracted by the baby." He says and she smiles.

"Babies do that." She says and sits down on her stool. She looks down at Maddie and watches as she continues to read her book. She leans back against the little wall and rests her eyes. She knows Andrew's looking at her, but she couldn't care less.

Andrew watches as Nicole's breathing starts to slow down. He thinks she's asleep but doesn't know for sure. He looks down at Maddie as she pulls out a coloring book and some crayons. "Is she asleep?" He asks and Maddie looks up to Nicole. She shakes her head and he looks up at her to see her eyes open.

"Nikki doesn't sleep often," Maddie says grabbing both of their attention.

"I do to, jus' after y'all in bed." She says and Maddie shakes her head Andrew smiles because Nicole can't see.

"Can I go find Maggie and play with thuh other guy?" She asks putting her coloring books away. Nicole nods her head.

"But don't open anything, remember." She says, Maddie nods her head and goes running down one of the hallways. Nicole picks up the coloring book and crayons.

"You must babysit often if she knows you don't sleep often." He says and she looks up at him. She shrugs her shoulders and then hears laughing. She smiles not caring that they're being loud wherever they are. She looks over at Andrew. "You gonna tell me what really happened to your hands or your head and neck?" He asks and she shakes her head.

"I told ya before, my business." She says but knows he's not giving up. "Faahn, I done it ta myself. Gawt angry about sumthin' an punched a brick wall." She says and covers her mouth as a yawn escapes.

"What made you so angry to hurt yourself?" He asks and she huffs.

"Can ya jus' stop, jus' leave meh alone." She says and sits down on her stool feeling extremely tired. She doesn't understand why her body seems so drained. 

"Not till I know that you aren't going to be hurt anymore." He says moving closer to her. She looks up at him and nods her head.

"I won't be, thuh person that done this t' me is now dead." She says and he hears the pain in her voice. He pretends to look at her surprised. "'e killed himself, ok. Jus', puhlease, leave me alone." She says and stands up as a customer comes in. "Hello." She says. The person waves before continuing on there way. She sits back down and Andrew looks at her concerned. She yawns again and her eyes close, but only for a few seconds. She jerks awake and looks around seeing just Andrew.

"How many days haven't you had sleep?" He asks and she sits there thinking.

"I done slept awn thuh eighth, but I do rest maah eyes a lot." She says and he counts the days his eyes widening when he gets the number.

"Fifteen days, Nicole you need to get sleep. You can seriously get hurt from not sleeping for that many days. After two weeks the brain starts to shut down causing the body to crash. You are so lucky you aren't human, wolves don't crash until around the eighteen-day." He rushes out and she stares up at him confused.

"I'ma human." She says and he gives her a look. "No tellin' than." She says and he nods his head.

"When is your shift done?" He wonders walking aroundnext to her afraid she's going to fall over any moment.

"Nine, I think." She says and then tilts her head. "Mabe ten." She says and he groans.

"Ok, stay here. I'm going to find the schedule." He says and pushes her backwards so she leans against the wall. He walks to the back counter and into the room for staff only. He's glad he used to work here or he'd have been screwed. He looks at the list and finds her name. She's supposed to be there until eleven. "Shit." He mumbles knowing she's not going to make it that long.

He jogs back out of the room mind linking Max to come up to the front. When he gets back he sees her scanning the guy that had come in. "Bye." She says and then starts to sway. Andrew runs up and catches her placing her back on the stool. Max comes up with the two kids and looks over at them.

"What's wrong with Nikki?" Maddie asks looking at her. "She said she wouldn't leave. She pinky promised." She says tears filling her eyes.

"Maddie, she just fell asleep. She hasn't slept in a while and when that happens sometimes people just end up going to sleep. She'll wake up, she's not going anywhere." He says and Maddie nods her head wiping her eyes.

"Max she hasn't slept in what I think was at least fifteen days, will you cover her shift? It ends at eleven, but she can't stay here." He says. Max nods his head and Andrew nods back. "Thank you." He says. Max nods his head once again and puts the baby in the removable car seat. "Ok, Maddie wait with Max, I'll come back and get you and Maggie." He says. She nods her head holding onto Max's pants.

Andrew lifts Nicole off of the stool and carries her to her car, when he gets there he realizes he doesn't have the keys. He pulls on the door hoping it will open and to his luck it does. "Thank the moon goddess." He praises and places her in the passenger seat. After buckling her in he jogs back into the store. "Ready Maddie?" He asks. She nods looking up at him.

He grabs the car seat and holds his hand out for her. She grabs it and they walk out. After fiddling with the baby seat for what felt like 20 minutes, he just buckles it in. Maddie laughs at him and he looks up with a small smile. He then gets into the front of the car.

When he pulls into her house Maddie is asleep in the back. He shuts the car off and quietly opens his door, but Maddie's eyes open as he does so. "Sorry, I was trying to be quiet." He says.

"It's fine, I'ma light sleeper." She says unbuckling herself. Andrew nods his head grabbing the baby out of the car seat. He then grabs the diaper bag and is trying to figure out how Nicole does it.

"The baby goes in there," Maddie says and points to a crib. He nods and places the little girl down.

"Which is Nicole's room?" He asks before going out to get her.

"This room." She says and he looks at her confused.

"We all sleep in the same room, me and her sleep in the bed together. We always 'ave since I can 'member." She says and climbs under the covers. Andrew nods his head before walking back out of the house. He picks Nicole up and carefully takes her into the house. Maddie helps pull the covers back before he sets her down on the bed.

"What's in that room?" Andrew asks pointing out into the hallway.

"It was George's, but he's gone now." She says and he nods.

"Who is George?" He asks and she frowns.

"He was Nikki's sister's mate, but Sara died after having Maggie." She says glancing at the baby.

"Was he angry ever?"

"No, he didn't talk much. I know he loved Nikki and Maggie a lot though, so I don't know why he left, but that tends to happen in our family." She says and Andrew stares down at the little girl. She doesn't really understand and feels sorry that she can't.

"What about your family?" He asks realizing she doesn't seem to fit into the whole thing.

"Nikki found me after the war and took me in, she's like my big sister and Maggie is my little sister. Nikki says no one is going to split us apart, that's why we hide. People would separate us if they knew we didn't have a pack." She says and Andrew is finally understanding.

"Ok, well you should get some sleep. Good night." He says and begins to walk out the door, but she stops him.

"Will you stay?" He turns around to look at her.

"Nikki doesn't have anyone to help her, I...I don't want her to go." She says looking down at Nicole.

"Sure, I'll stay. I'm just going to lay down over here." He says turning the light off and then laying down. She looks down and nods her head before laying down. Andrew mindlinks Max everything he just learned and then the two are silent, neither knowing what to say.