I wake up and I think my heads going to explode. I groan and cover my eyes with my hand. I listen and hear nothing. This makes me open one eye. The house is never this quiet.

I open my other eye and look around. The light is shining through the window and I slowly get up. This makes not only my head hurt but my stomach churn. I look at the time and freeze. "Oh sh*t." I swear running to the nearest room to yell and get the kids up, but when I open the door it's empty. I go and check the rest of the rooms and they're all empty.

I being to panic and remember that Aaron took me and said that there was a man outside. "I swear to f*cking god if he hurt them," I say trying to find my laptop and access the security cameras. Once I find it I have to do my password a million times before it works. "Come on. Come on." I say as it takes is sweet old time loading.

Before my computer loads, I hear the door. I jump up and run to the front of the house. I crash into someone as I round the corner. I pull back and see Mason. "Where are the kids? Aaron he-"

"I know. They are either at school or in daycare. They're perfectly fine." He says and I let out a breath. Now that I'm not panicking I feel my stomach trying to kill me. I quickly run back to the bathroom, slam the door, and empty my guts out in the toilet.

Mason comes in with two little pills and some water. He also holds my hair until I swear I've puked up everything in me. I quickly take the pills and take a big drink of water. "What happened?" I ask turning to look up at Mason.

"I'll tell you, but let's go sit down." He says. I nodded taking the glass of water with me. We sit in the living room. Me pretzel legged (criss-cross applesauce, whatever you wanna call it) and him across from me.

"Aaron had someone here so you would obey what he said and I guess he talked to you when you went outside. You then came in and told Jane that you had to leave and when I asked where you were she was to tell me that I needed to go home and pay attention to my surroundings. I did and found the man. He got a few punches and told me where Aaron took you. I then gave him to some friends of mine and made my way to you."

"When I got to the bar I had to fight my way up to where you were and then deal with the bozo that was holding you. You were drunk so it made is a little more difficult, but I got you in the car and we drove home. I then made you drink some coffee and go to bed. Then this morning you were still asleep so I made sure the kids stayed quiet and got them where they needed to be. I also paid your friend Kaylee for babysitting." I go to speak, but he holds up his hand. "Freshman and Sophomores have this weird testing so Juniors and Seniors don't have to come in today." He finishes and I just stare at him.

"I don't know what to say. Um... thank you, really. I should have found a better way so I could've been there for the kids-"

"Autumn, it's fine. We all get stuck in situations and can't always do what needs to be done." He says and I nod my head slowly.

"It's just they're my responsibility and you shouldn't have had to do anything," I say looking back up at him.

He smiles and says, "Well you are helping me with Mathew and you've been stuck with me for over two weeks so, it evens out."

I laugh and then regret it because of the headache. This also makes Mason stop laughing. "I'm fine," I say and then remember I was drunk. "Wait, did I say anything? Like embarrassing." I ask hoping I kept my mouth shut.

He smirks and I groan. "Oh gawd, what did I say?" I ask putting a pillow into my face. I hear him laughing and I just wanna die right now.

"You are quite the storyteller when drunk." He says and I look up at him with terror. Seeing my face makes him begin to start laughing. "I'm just kidding. You didn't say anything." He manages and I hit him a few times.

"You're such a jerk," I say shaking my head at him.

"It was so worth it." He says and I glare at him. He begins to laugh again. Seeing him laugh uncontrollably makes me smile.

"Well, we do have to get some stuff done," I say and he looks up at me scared.

"Like what?"

"Like cleaning." He groans and I roll my eyes. "We didn't do it Sunday and the house is filthy," I say and he falls onto his back. "Come on you big baby. Oh, and you're cleaning the basement for that little trick you thought was oh so funny." Once I say that he's up and looking panicked.

"No.no.no.no.no. Please, I won't do it again." He says walking right in front of me. I ignore him and walk right past. I smile to myself until I feel him grab around my waist and put me up on his shoulder. "Tell me I don't have to do the basement." He says and I laugh.

"Nope," I say and he spins. This makes my head hurt, but he doesn't seem to notice. "Mason put me down," I say feeling like my head has two hammers in it. He does and keeps his hand on my side.

"Sorry, forgot you had the hangover." He says and I nod.

"Well, how long does this normally last?" I ask and he shrugs.

"I can't legally drink." He says and I nod my head remembering that he doesn't know I know how old he is.

"So you've never had a hangover?" I ask and he shakes his head. He gives me a funny look, but maybe it's the hangover making me think funny.

"Well, I'm gonna put some headphones in and play soft music. You can start cleaning the basement." I say smiling.

"Fine." He says and I begin to walk to my room. I feel Mason's warm hand drop from my side and I frown a little. Come on Autumn, knock yourself out of it. This is why I shouldn't ever drink, this crap happens to me. I focus on going to my room and finding a pair of headphones.

Once I do I put music on and begin to work. While working Mason comes up many times out of breath and saying that he heard or saw something. It makes me laugh every time and then I send him back down there.

We don't get done until a little after one and we both fall into the couch dead. All I can smell is cleaning products so I open up a few windows to get some fresh air. "It's going to get cold fast," Mason says and I turn to look over at him.

"Really. I didn't know that would happen when I opened windows in the middle of winter." I say sarcastically. He rolls his eyes and we both sit on the couch in the front room just thinking about mindless things.

"Are you working today?" He asks and I think before nodding.

"Yeah, 5:30 to 10:30-ish," I say and he nods. "I don't think you need to come to work with me. I highly doubt that Aaron will show up after yesterday." I say and I can see that it angers him that I keep saying he doesn't need to come along.

"Yeah well he might try and pull something, he's a freaking psychopath. He does all this crap just to get to your sister. I'm coming along." He says and gets up. I watch him leave and then I hear the shower turn on.

I know it's his job to protect me, but the likelihood of Aaron trying to get to me and it actually working is so slim. I might bring it up again, it's better if he's at home and protecting the kids rather than me. It's not like Aaron would kill me.

I stop thinking about it and try to wash the cleaning smell from my hands. In the end, my hands just end up smelling strongly of lavender soap, which is better than bleach, but not what I was going for.

I hear Mason get out of the shower and remember I need to switch the laundry. I walk down to the basement and see Mason's reorganized everything. He did a good job, everything looks nice and organized now.

Once I've changed the laundry I quickly go back upstairs because it's freezing. I walk into the living room and see Mason's on his phone. I turn the tv on sitting about a foot away from him just in case he's still upset. He begins to start watching the tv show and doesn't look to be angry.

Mason and I go get all the kids and finally bring them all home. I'm making dinner when the doorbell rings. "I'll get it." I hear Mason yell. I continue to make the plates of sloppy joes when I hear, "Autumn." I walk to the door to see River's speech therapist. She got her grey hair cut even shorter and she seems to be shrinking. Mason walks past me and mumbles, "She already hates me." I hold back a laugh and look up at her.

"Hi, we are just now eating, but you're welcome to have a plate," I say closing the door behind her.

"What are you having?" She asks and I reply.

"Sloppy joes."

"No thank you. I'll just sit with you guys. Also, what is that young man doing here?" She asks and I stop walking so he doesn't end up hearing us.

"His parents are on a vacation and he and his brother are here with me for a while, why?" I ask thinking back to Mason's comment about her hating him.

"He just doesn't seem right. I don't like you having him here without an adult. What if he tries to pull something?" She asks and I laugh.

"Nancy he's not a bad person. Now stop being overprotective of us and the kids." Once I say this she smiles and shrugs.

"I just can't help myself," Nancy says and slowly follows me to the dining room.

"Hi, Miss Nancy." River says and gives her a hug.

"Hello, River. How have you been?" She starts off and then River and she are talking about everything and anything.

"What's with the old lady?" Mason whispers and I look sharply at him.

"Don't call her old, her hearing is still amazing and she's River speech therapist," I say. He nods his head and stands next to me. There aren't enough chairs because Nancy took one next to River. I move over a little on my chair and pat it. He looks down and smiles. Once we've managed to get both of us somewhat on the chair we begin to eat.

"Young man, River's told me a lot about you. He fancies you, don't let him down." I hear Nancy tell Mason as we begin to walk to the living room.

"I w-won't." He says and I hold back a laugh.

"You're scared of an old lady." I whisper and he glares down at me.

"She's scary and don't call her old. She'll blame it on me." He whispers back causing me to laugh.

"Well, Nancy I have to go to work, see you next week," I say once everyone's in the living room playing or watching the tv.

"Alright, isn't there another baby supposed to be here?" She asks and I nod.

"Well she's not a baby, but my big sister, Ashley, is living with me. Her baby's Emma." I say nodding my head towards her. She's in Josephine's lap.

"Ok, she's young and so little." She says walking over to her. I nod and smile.

"Well I'll be back really late, but if you have any issues just call me," I say, she waves me away and picks up Emma. I smile and make my way down the hallway. I hear Mason's footsteps behind me and I take a breath and turn around. "Mason I'll be fine," I say and he looks down at me and folds his arms.

"I'm going."

"You'd be better off protecting the kids from whatever gooney might end up here." I said folding my arms. He shakes his head.

"No, Nancy is here and I know she's old, but she can protect them." He says and I huff.

"Fine," I said dropping my hands and turning back around. I don't get more than a foot out of the house when I feel a hat put on my head. I smile and look back at him. He's putting his jacket on and I hand him the keys. "Don't forget to lock the door," I say as he's about to walk to the car. He smiles before turning back around. I make my way down to the car and slip. A little scream escapes my mouth, but I gain my balance.

I feel my heart beat quickly. "You alright?" Mason asks.

"Yeah, just scared the crap out of myself," I say and he laughs.

"Cluts." He says and I turn sharply towards him.

"Overprotective jerk," I say back.

"Midget."

"Skyscraper." And this goes on until we end up at my work. I push him as we enter the restaurant at his latest comment. I'm not a petite uptight person.

"Alright, you're not too uptight, just a little." He says and I roll my eyes at him. "I swear if I got a penny every time you did that I'd be rich." He says, and yes, I roll my eyes again.

We walk in and Mason goes to a table in my section. He looks around for a bit before going on his phone. I put my hair up and begin taking orders.

"I told you I'd be fine," I say and end it with a yawn.

"Well just had to make sure and I didn't want to be stuck with Nancy and all of the childr-" I turn at him and raise my eyebrows.

"You didn't want to be stuck with what? What were you going to say?" I ask having my arms folded.

"Just Nancy, nothing else." He says and I shake my head.

"You were going to say the children." I begin to walk back to the car.

"No, no, I was just...-"

"It's fine. They are my responsibility and trust me, I know they are a pain." I say smiling. He relaxes his shoulders and opens the driver's door.

"Just want a break occasionally." He says and I nod. We both just listen to the music the rest of the way home. When we get home I see Nancy asleep sitting on the couch. I tap her shoulder.

"Nancy. Hey, thank you so much. You can stay sleeping if you want, I just wanted to let you that I'm home." I say. She shakes her head and sits up a little.

"No. No, I'll go home. Have a good night." She says. I help her off the couch and hand her her bag.

"I will, thanks again," I say. She waves dismissively.

"It was nothing." She says and smiles before walking out the door. I lock it behind her and walk to my room. I'm careful not to wake up Ashley as a grab a pair of pants and a shirt. I quickly close the door and walk to the living room. Mason's only in a pair of sweatpants and I look down.

"Hey, we don't have to be at school until 10." He says pulling a shirt on. I turn to him confused. "Paperwork has to be finished for the freshman and sophomores." He says.

"How'd you know so much about this? I didn't hear anything." I ask sitting on the loveseat.

"I listen to the announcements, unlike someone I know." He says and I shrug.

"They normally don't say-"

"Autumn. There's something wrong with River."