A Time to Grow

Address In the Stars

Without you here with me,
I don't know what to do.
I'd give anything
Just to talk to you
Oh it breaks my heart,
Oh it breaks my heart,
All I can do
Is write these letters to you,
But there's no address in the stars.

"Papa, Papa." Addie's voice echoed through the house as she yelled for her father. He was upstairs putting the laundry away. Peta had gone out with the girls for some shopping and girl time since the girls were grown up. They should be coming home soon or now considering Addie was yelling through the house.

"Up here, Addie Girl!" Maks yelled. Despite the fact that Addie was now 30, married with two beautiful babies of her own, Maks's initial nickname for her stuck.

"You...you...I need...." She said rounding the corner of the hallway and finding her father in his and Peta's room putting away laundry. When he looked up at her, he knew something was wrong. He dropped the laundry basket and moved over to the door where she had stopped frozen in place as she looked towards the bed.

"Breath Adeline, you need to breath and then you need to tell me what's wrong." Maks said as his hands rested on her shoulders. He felt his body begin to shake as a million thoughts ran through his head.

"Mum." Was all she got out before her sobs started. Nick, her husband appeared behind her looking frazzled as all hell.

"Nick?" Maks said as he pulled his daughter into his body.

"Sir, I'm sorry. There's been an accident, we need to go to the hospital." Nick said which only made Addie sob harder. She let go of her father and moved to her husband's safety. Nick had been part of the family for 10 years now, starting to date Addie in the middle of her sophomore year of college. The only time he had called Maks sir up until now was during the first time he met him. Maks had politely said he respected the respect but to never do that again.

"Who!" Maks said not moving from the spot. Deep down he could already feel it in the pit of his stomach. He knew what was wrong.

"Peta, sir. Clara is with her but we need to go. It was bad." Nick said trying to get the man to come.

"What happened?" Maks said still not moving.

"Papa, please, we need to go to her. What if? What if something happens. Please papa." Addie said becoming borderline hysterical.

"I need to know." Maks said again. His voice was monotone and Nick could see that the respectable man was about to lose it, which way he wasn't sure but at the same time, he didn't want to upset his wife either.

"They were crossing the street. A car came out of nowhere and hit her. She flew over the top. She wasn't conscious at all. The ambulance came and took her. Clara went with her and we were going to call you but Addie didn't want to tell you something like this over the phone. Now we should probably go, Clara is at the hospital alone and when we left her she wasn't in any better shape than Addie."

"You're lying." Maks said looking between the two of them.

"No, no, papa, please, just come on. I wouldn't do that. Please, momma needs us. And if you won't come with us then I'm going. Cause I'm not going to let anything happen to her if we aren't there. It was bad papa, we might....she might...."

"Shhhhh." Nick said when Addie's words got stuck and she lost it for what felt like the 1000th time in the past 40 minutes. Her rambling must have struck a cord in Maks because he began to move with the two as they walked out of the house. Nick got Addie in her seat while Maks climbed in the back before he sped off to the hospital. The 20 minute drive was agonizing but they were finally there. Nick parked in the back lot near the emergency room. They headed in and found a stone faced Clara.