Chapter 1

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Hello everyone! Thank you so much for checking out my new story! I have several others on my account, feel free to check them out, and I hope you enjoy this story! Please let me know what you think!

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"Aunt Johanna! Did you forget to iron my dress?"

Lilia had a recital in just a few hours, and her dress looked like a crumpled up ball of aluminum foil. She would have ironed it herself, but she wasn't allowed near extremely sharp or hot things. She had a habit of find ways to accidentally hurt herself non matter what object it was.

"I haven't forgotten, Lilia, we still have 2 hours!"

"And it takes a half hour to get there, so we should probably do it now!" Her aunt had no sense of time or time management whatsoever. Lilia lived with her mother and her aunt, but her mother was far too frail to do anything but sleep.

"We? Don't you dare touch that iron, Lilia. I'll be down in a second!" Their house wasn't that big, though the two stories made it look massive from the outside. It was a boring beige color, with boring beige shutters on each window that did nothing to hide the amount of sunlight the house got. Lilia's skin was so pale a fragile that if she stood in the window for too long she'd end up sunburnt. That was something she got from her mother.

"I'm here, I'm here," Johanna said, coming down the stairs looking like a tornado had gotten ahold of her hair. Hair was something important in Lilia's family, because they all had the same pitch black hair. Johanna had beautiful long, dark hair that was pin-straight when she brushed it. She didn't brush it very often. Lilia's was a little straight, with a few random curls here and there, and her mother, Kate's, was very curly. Frizzy, almost, but not quite.

"Please hurry, Aunt Johanna, we still have to get mom up and ready," Lilia said softly. Johanna had already begun to iron the soft, white dress when she winced and gave Lilia a sympathetic look.

"She won't be able to come, Lilia, you know her heart's sensitive."

"I know," Lilia murmured, "I was just hoping she would come. It's been months since she's left her bed."

"Well, she'll be cheering you on from that bed," Johanna said with a grin. Lilia couldn't fight the grin from her face, and soon enough both women were laughing so hard tears were almost coming out of their eyes.

"Here, go get changed and I'll make you something to eat before we leave," Johanna stated. Lilia nodded and rushed to her room on the second floor to change into her dress, then made her way to her mother's room to say a quick goodbye.

"Momma?" She said softly. A small figure on the bed twisted around in the dimly lit room.

"Lilia, my love," her mother croaked.

"Momma? Are you losing your voice again?" Lilia asked. Her mother had just gotten her voice back last week. Was she getting sick again? "I'll call the doctor on the way to the recital, alright?"

"No, Lilia," Her mother slurred, "this is normal. Just focus on your recital!"

It was hard to focus on anything when her mother was this weak. She had a feeling this wouldn't be an easy performance.

"I'll try my best, momma. I'll see you afterwards?" Lilia asked. She smoothed her mom's hair down, and watched her eyes flicker shut.

"Of course you will. Now, get going! Kick everyone else's butts for me," her mom said softly. She was falling asleep again. Lilia gave her mom a peck on forehead before leaving the room quietly. Johanna was waiting for her downstairs, a few grilled cheese sandwiches made and her hair brushed.

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