You Know Me Through The Years

Little Sisters

"Cade!"

His mother's voice called out from the kitchen as he played video games in the living room. He was just about to rank up on the game he was playing when she interrupted. Of course, his friends could hear his mother calling him on the other end of the platform too.

"Be there in a minute!" He yelled back as he shot around the corner at the opposing team in the game. "Shit!" He cried out as he missed and ended up getting hit instead.

"Cade! I'm not going to tell you again!" He heard her voice getting firmer. He sighed.

"Sorry, guys...I gotta go." He told his friends who were moaning on the other end, but they also said they would catch him later. He got up from his beanbag chair and walked into the kitchen to see his mother putting together dinner for him and the girls. "Where are you going?"

"Out, with Lady and Trish." She was visually upset about something. "I need a break." He did not blame her for wanting to get away. It had been hard on all of them since his father took off for Red Grave then to the Underworld. "Katie has Evie and will be picking up Mara from karate at six. She will be bringing them home, so could you please watch them?" Roe asked as she opened the cabinet door above the counter to grab a couple cups for the girls.

"Sure." He said, seeing the dark circles under her eyes. He knew she had not been sleeping well lately. "We can play Candyland or play Mario Kart until bed time."

"At nine. No later." She put the cups next to the meals she had prepped for the girls. "I left a twenty in the drawer in the foyer for you to order pizza."

"Mom, can you stop for a moment?" He noticed how she was so focused on trying to get everything together. He walked up to her and grabbed her shoulders. "I've got this. Go take care of yourself." If his mother was going to break down, she was close to it. She looked up at him with a soft smile. He had grown taller in the last couple years and he towered over her like his father did. "I'm serious." She nodded and embraced him in a crushing hug.

"Okay, so call me if you need me." She let go of him. "Keep your phone on you and make sure the girls are in bed by nine."

"Again, Mom, I've got this." She nodded as she grabbed her keys from the rack next to the door to the garage. "No sweat." He gave her a thumbs up.

"Okay, okay...I'm going." She opened the door. "I love you!"

With that she was out of the door and it was not long after that he heard her car start. Looking at the clock on the wall, the time read four-thirty, which meant he had enough time to get in on a couple rounds of play time with the guys. He did get Mara's favorite board game out of the staircase closet before getting to that. He knew once she got home she was either going to be loaded down with homework or ready to play games. That and Evie was likely going to want to play as well.

Around five-thirty he got a text from Katie saying she was going pick up Mara and then be there to drop off the girls. Katie was his mother's assistant at work, but he had known her for years now. She had become good friends with his mother and father at some point. She had no problem picking the girls up from time to time, especially since Dante was not here to do it.

He cut gaming short when he heard the sound of a car door slamming shut. He put the controller down and went to the front door so he could make sure no creeps were out in the neighborhood looking to abduct his little sisters. If anyone tried it, they would have Alastor to their throats in the blink of an eye. Opening the door, he saw Mara helping Evie out of Katie's car. The woman gave him a smile and a wave as Mara shut the car door and grabbed Evie's hand in hers.

"Hey, Pipsqueak." Cade said as his younger sister walked up the steps to the front door. "How was school and karate?" Mara gave him a scowl as she dragged her four year old sister up to the door.