Troublemaker | Station 19

36. Unfamiliar Face

"Buongiorno, Piccola," Carina greeted Maddie as the teenager padded out into the kitchen. "You're up earlier than usual," She pointed out noting the time, usually given the chance, Maddie wouldn't be awake until at least after 10 am most mornings.

"I couldn't sleep much," Maddie explained as she slumped over to the couch and sat down. "When will Mom be home?" She asked.

"Not until later tonight," Carina told her as she drank the espresso that she made. "Until then it's just me and you," She said.

"Actually, I was wondering if it would be okay if Sarah came around as well? Mom said she could sleepover last week but things happened, and yeah so maybe, I was hoping if she could stay over tonight instead?" Maddie asked.

"Sure I will check with your Mom but I'm sure that's fine," Carina agreed. "How is she doing? It must be tough for her,"

"Still upset, her Grandpa was the person who practically raised her and now she's lost him. It doesn't help that her Mom's just stayed at the office instead of being there for her daughter," Maddie explained as Carina frowned and shook her head.

"You just need to continue to be there for her. Support her with whatever she needs," Carina softly said. "I'm going to make some breakfast. Would you like anything specific?" She asked.

"Uh, no, I'm not really hungry but thanks Mama," Maddie said before she moved to sit on the couch.

Grabbing the remote off the coffee table, she turned the TV on as the news appeared, the only thing that played was TV news reporters replaying the tragic events last week as it then showed people aligning the streets, taking part in protests.

"The world is so messed up," Maddie mumbled as she shook her head, continuing to watch TV.

"So is Maddie coming to the station today? I haven't seen her in almost a week," Andy said as they drove back to the station after the call they had which left them tackling a fire majority of the night.

"Not today. Carina's off for the day so we thought it would be best for her to stay home. At least this way she will be able to spend some quality time with her before she goes to Italy in a couple of weeks," Maya said. "So my daughter's day will most likely be spent sitting on the couch watching movies and eating candy," She said.

"That's a healthy choice of snack," Andy commented while she couldn't help but laugh.

"I know, usually I wouldn't be too fond about it but right now I just want my daughter to be happy," Maya said as they continued their way back to the station. "Given everything that is going on right now, I can't do much to help here but at least at home, I can make sure that my daughter's happy, and healthy and loved," She rambled.

"I can understand that," Andy acknowledged what she meant as she turned to look at her best friend. "How's Maddie taking it about Carina leaving for Italy now?" She asked.

"I think she is okay, I mean if she isn't taking it well then I wouldn't know because she hasn't talked to me," Maya admitted.

"Oh, okay," Andy mumbled while nodding. "I don't know what to say to anyone. I don't want to say the wrong thing to Robert. I just don't know what to do in this situation," She confessed.

"We give them space. Let them talk when they're ready I suppose," Maya said. "We just need to let them know that we're there for all of them," She added.

"Yeah, we will be!" Andy said in agreement.

Despite Maddie's protest that she wasn't hungry, Carina still felt obliged to at least try and get her to eat something so she whipped up some pancakes in the hope that she would at least eat a mouthful. However, her hope was gone when Maddie just stared down at the pancakes with a glum expression on her face.