Consequences - Grester

Chapter 3

Charlotte's POV

We are leaving the hotel today. We are all dressed and Mom has our suitcases.

"Are we going home?" Sophie asks. I hope she says yes. I miss my bed and Goose and Daddy.

"No. We're gonna stay with Aunt Mames for a while." She says. "I've already checked out and she's waiting outside for us."

"Yay! I love Aunt Mames." I say and Mom smiles.

"Me too." She says. "Let's go."

Me and Sophie get to pull our own suitcases and Mom walks in front of us. She looks pretty today. It is the first time in a long while that she is not wearing pyjamas.

We walk to the lift and Sophie gets to push the button, because I can't reach.

"I like the lift." I say.

"I don't." Sophie says.

"Don't worry. I will keep you safe." I say and hold her hand. I like it when I get to be like Sophie's big sister. It makes me feel grown-up.

Mom smiles. She is in a very good mood today. I smile too, because I like it when she is happy.

"Come on." Mom says when the lift doors open. I look in. There are lots of mirrors

I walk in and squeeze Sophie's hand so she is less scared.

The ride in the lift is fun. I make whooshing noises and Sophie giggles a little bit and Mom smiles at us.

When we get out of the lift, Sophie nudges me.

"Look! It's Aunt Mames." She says and points to Aunt Mames, sitting on the couch in the lobby. She doesn't see us because she is on her phone

We both run up to her and I jump onto her lap and Sophie hugs her.

"Hey, little chickens! You gave me a heart attack." She laughs and hugs us.

Aunt Mames gets up when Mom comes and gives her a big hug. They hug for a long time, even though they saw each other a few days ago.

"Let's go. I made pasta for lunch." Aunt Mamrie says.

"Pasta is Sophie's favourite, isn't it?" I say.

Sophie nods and Aunt Mamrie kisses her forehead and smiles.

Sophie's POV

When we finally get to Aunt Mamrie's house, we all sit at her coffee table and eat our pasta. It's really good. It's much better than the hotel food that we had.

Charlotte sits next to me and slurps her pasta and gets the sauce all over her face, but Mom and Aunt Mames don't notice because they are talking about YouTube and other things that I am not bothered to listen to.

"Aunt Mames?" I ask.

"Yeah, honey?" She says, as she takes a sip of her wine.

"Are we sleeping here tonight?" I ask.

"Yep, you are. I'm gonna set up a little bed for you and Charlotte on the couch." She grins.

"Mommy, when are we going home? I want to sleep in my bed And I miss Daddy." Charlotte says, with her mouth full of pasta.

We all look at Mom. She starts to go red and her eyes look glossy.

"Girls, why don't you go play for a bit?" Aunt Mames says and I get up and pull Charlotte along with me.

Once we are out of the living room, I look at Charlotte.

"Don't ask about going home. It makes Mom upset." I say.

"But why? I miss Daddy and I want to go home." Charlotte whines.

"We're going home soon, I think. This is just like a bit of a vacation." I tell Charlotte, but I am not sure about what I am saying.

"Okay." She says quietly.

"Why don't we play a game?" I suggest.

"Can we play tag?" Charlotte jumps up and down.

"Sure. I'll be it." I say.

"I'll give you 3 seconds to start running." I grin and start to count. "1...2...3!

Charlotte is out in the garden, pulling faces at me. She must've quickly gone out the back door while I was counting. I grin and look for a quick way to get to where she is.

I spot the open sliding door. I run as fast as I can, but instead of running through the open door, I smash into the sliding door. The glass shatters and I fall right through. I can feel the small shards of glass in my arms, but I am distracted by the stinging pain coming from my forehead.

Something sticky is oozing from my forehead. I feel dizzy and shocked when I taste the salty blood trickling down my face. I can't really make out what is happening, but I can hear Charlotte screaming and Mom and Aunt Mames run up to me. My eyes flicker and everything fades out.