Unfolding

Chapter 24

Snowed In

"I think about you constantly, whether it's with my mind or my heart." — Terri Guillemets

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You would think that after living my whole life in Chicago, I'd get used to the snow. I can tell you now, that most certainly is not the case. Especially when every once in a while, four to five years to be exact, mother nature decides to surprise us with a major snow storm.

As I looked out the window, I watched the heavy snowflakes fall and settle on the surfaces outside. The ground was no longer visible, but instead covered in a thick blanket of snow. The same could be said about the trees and the cars brave enough to run in this weather.

This morning when I left my apartment, the snow was just getting started. There had to be at least twelve inches on the ground by now, and mother nature gave no indication that she was going ease up any time soon.

After seeing mom with my father two weeks ago, I spend the majority of my time trying to avoid her – which meant that in the morning I wouldn't come out of my room until she had already left for work, and in the afternoons I would try to avoid her at all costs.

Was it the right thing to do? No, but I was still pretty pissed at her for letting him into our home and I wasn't ready to talk to her about it. Mom had tried to corner me on multiple occasions to talk things through, however she gave up once she saw I wasn't going to budge.

In my attempts to be out of the house as much as possible, I offered my babysitting services to Ella who was more than happy to accept. Which brings us to why I am currently not currently in the comfort of my own home right now, tucked in a warm blanket, but rather holding a very fussy Claire.

A few days ago, mom's firm sent her on a business trip to New York since they're really pushing to expand all over the US, and she was supposed to be coming back today. Since I wasn't really ready to talk to her yet – yes I've been avoiding her like the plague for almost a month now – I decided to take Ella up on her offer to help out today.

Looking back on it, I should have probably taken the weather advisory more seriously. There's no way mom is coming back today due to the weather, and I'm quite frankly not sure how I'll be making it home either.

"It's okay baby," I cooed down at Claire who was screaming her lungs out. She was fed, cleaned, and changed so there was no logical reason for her to be this fussy - yet here we are!

Ella was upstairs giving the boys a bath because they decided it was a good idea to grab the jar of Nutella off the kitchen counter and smear themselves in it because it "looked like mud." The look on Ella's face when they came running down the stairs in nothing but their underwear and completely covered in chocolate was hilarious, however, I'm pretty sure she was close to popping an artery at the same time.

The whole Nutella incident is almost as bad as when I went looking for them earlier because the house was too quiet and I found them in Jake's home office. William had turned the swivel chair into a carnival ride by pushing it against the wall, climbing on top of it and using the wall for support to spin. The entire time, David was just sitting on top of his father's desk eating a lollipop.

Jake was also home, and apparently has been since Claire was born. He had decided to take a step back from his responsibilities at work to dedicate more time to his family. It's the least he could do after missing Claire's birth if you ask me.

His secretary also went bye-bye the very next day when Grace went down there and literally dragged her out of the building after Jake fired her. Now that, is something I would have paid money to see. You know what they say, never mess with a mama bear.