Family Ties

Killed It

Hannah's POV

I'd spent the entire morning scrubbing every inch of the house, making sure every little thing was in it's place and that the house was as presentable as possible for when the court official came to inspect it. Harry had been at work since 7am, and I'd been left just sitting there waiting after I took the kids to school until she finally arrived at 10. I'd opened the door with a warm smile and friendly welcome to be met with the stone-faced woman who combed through every detail of our home for the next hour. As if I wasn't nervous enough already, she hardly said a word as she walked around checking things off on her little clipboard and only speaking when she had a question.

"The children each have their own rooms?"

"Is this yard fenced in?"

"Where do you keep your cleaning products?"

I had done my best to answer all of her questions as thoroughly as possible, but I couldn't help but feel like I was being interrogated and I'd done something wrong. Her face was completely unreadable as she even went through the refrigerator and took notes, and checked the kids closets and drawers to check their clothes. I'd felt the need to explain that their winter jackets and boots weren't there because they wore them to school, but she just nodded and didn't say anything. After what felt like the longest hour of my entire life, she finally left and I let out the breath I'd been holding.

I practically ran to my phone to call Harry, knowing he'd be waiting to hear from me and needing some reassurance that our house wasn't some kind of child danger zone.

"Hey, how'd it go?" He asked hurriedly as he picked up and I knew he'd been anxiously waiting.

"Jesus Christ, Harry. That woman was a drill sergeant." I scoffed.

"What did she say?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing. She just wandered around making notes about everything, and I have no idea what she was writing. She'd ask a question and then I'd answer and she'd just nod. I felt like the world's worst mother and I don't even know why."

"What did she ask you?" He asked, the worry in his voice doing nothing to help me calm down.

"The most random things. She wanted to know where you kept your tools if you weren't at work, if we had slip mats in the bathtub, she went through all the cupboards. I'm telling you, she inspected every inch of the house."

"Well, we have nothing to hide." He said, doing his best to sound confident. "I'm sure everything was fine, babe."

"I didn't know if I should tell her we won't even be living here in another month." I sighed. "I just figured this would all hopefully be over by then."

"I'm sure it's not the house she's looking at, Bird. She's probably looking to see if the kids are safe, well fed, have warm clothes. We've got all of that covered."

"I know, but that was so stressful." I said, plunking myself down on the couch. "I don't know if I can make it through this day."

"Of course you can." He chuckled. "You're a good mom, baby. I'll be home in a few hours to meet with the other lady, what time is she coming?"

"She's supposed to meet me here at 1:30 and go with me to pick up the kids. Harry, if she is anything like this last one...I'm gonna freak out."

"You'll be fine, Han. They said just do whatever we would normally do, just act like she's not even there." He said encouragingly.

"And you swear you'll be home by 4:30?"

"I promise, babe. Just hang on til then." He said, and I took a deep breath as I looked at the clock.