That wasn’t all that had been bothering me. I find myself in this same situation a couple of times everyday: My phone in one hand and Janice’s number in the other. I’ve been meaning to call her but I can’t do it somehow. Every time I pick up the phone this cold feeling washes over me. That little boy has lost everything that he loved in his life, both his parents and his sister. Now his oldest sister, who is barely more then a child herself, has taken over custody of her little brother. Okay, I’ve been beaten up by that ***** but on the other hand it brought me and Cath together. But I knew that I had to make the phone call.

Hours later Cath and Sara were sitting on the couch waiting for Janice and Ryan to arrive. Sara had finally picked up the phone and made the call. She was nervous, not really sure of what to expect. The doorbell rang and Catherine stood up, she quickly patted Sara’s leg to comfort her. She opened the door and let Janice and Ryan into her house. She shook hands with Janice and thanked her. Catherine led them into the living room.

“Hey Ryan, how are you buddy?” I asked when I saw Ryan.

“Sara!” Ryan cried out loud when he saw me, and he started running towards me. I knew that I was in no position to avoiding him jumping on me. So my face was probably shocked, and not only mine, I saw a glimpse of Cath’s face too. Janice reacted faster then Cath or I, and she just barely managed to catch Ryan, before he jumped.

“Ryan, I told you that Sara is in a lot of pain because she fought the bad guy. Don’t do that, just tell her how you are, okay?” Janice told Ryan.

Ryan sat down on the couch next to me and told me that he missed his parents and his sister, but that he really liked being with Janice and Marc. Catherine was in the kitchen and Janice was helping her a hand with the coffee and some pieces of pie. They came back into the living room at the exact moment that Ryan told me how much he loved being with her. I noticed Janice’s face, the worried look faded for a minute, and she smiled.