Melody knew that when she woke up the next day that something was off. It was too quiet inside the house when she knew there were at least four other people she lived with. Then she heard it. A light giggle. She pulled out her phone to reveal that she slept until noon, four hours after she usually wakes up on the weekends. Usually because that meant that she had more time to spend with the kids, and she didn't know if Hana would wake up before her. She quickly got up, raced to her dresser to grab a t-shirt and leggings, before storming out of her room. Disheveled and with a rat’s nest on her head, she trotted to the living room to find an elderly couple playing with Aaron and Kimmi. The elderly man had streaks of dirty blonde hair in his long, white beard that reached his chest. He wore a black cowboy hat, with a white and red plaid shirt, jeans and sneakers. The lady had her hair up in a bun with a flower stuck to her hair, and had a long, flowery blue dress and dress shoes. Melody had seen them before briefly but that was a few years ago. They were Paul’s parents.

“Finally awake I see,” the woman said, holding Kimmi on her lap and jiggling a stuffed elephant. Melody nodded, brushing her hair with her fingers to be more presentable. The man roared with laughter.

“”Bout time! The grandbabies were wondering where you were.” he said, bouncing  a gleaming Aaron on his lap.

“Yeah,” Melody said, looking around for her sister. Not that the couple noticed, all their attention had been on the kids. “I accidentally overslept.” She turned around as a gush of air rushed past her, it was Hana carrying three bags with her. Two of them were the kids daycare bookbags as well with a diaper bag. As soon as she saw it she couldn't fix her eyebrows from being raised in confusion on her face. 

“There is some extra clothes in there in case they dirty the pair of outfits I packed for them.” Hana said, dropping the bags by the elderly woman's side. “Hopefully they won't go through all those diapers,” she said, chuckling.

“We’ll just buy more,” the old woman said, grinning as she played with Kimmi. Melody could feel her heart racing as she tried to piece everything together. “I think you’ll like going to the ranch, won’t you Kimmi.”

“I think that they’ll enjoy it there, being with the animals and getting some actual fresh air away from the city,” the old man said tossing the giggling Aaron up in the air, “and when you're old enough, we’ll go hunting. Just like I did with your daddy. Now, how does that sound, boy.”

As Melody heard the kids giggle and laugh, she could feel a piece of her breaking. It was as if she felt that she was losing a part of her family again.

“We’ll be back sometime around six in the afternoon,” the woman said, getting up and shifting Kimmi onto her hip. “I’ll let you know the time tomorrow for sure.”

“You’re taking them?” Melody said, stepping out of the hallway and closer to the elderly couple getting ready to leave.

“Just for the weekend sweetie,” she said, bouncing the little girl on her hip. “We can finally make time for our grandbabies now. And get them out of you and mama’s hair for a bit.”

“That’s great,” Melody said, bringing her voice higher. She noticed the cracks in her voice as she said it and cringed a little. She looked around trying to spot anyone who would notice. She walked over to the kids, who as soon as she had gotten close, changed their happy expressions to that of worry, and extended their arms out to her. “Be good for them okay,” she said, grabbing their soft little heads to plant a kiss onto their forehead. “Be nice to each other.”

“We will Auntie Mel!” Aaron said, showing her a cheeky smile. She looked on to Kimmi nodding along, putting her fingers in her mouth. A smile creeped onto her face.

As she watched them leave, her focus was on Hana, who slumped onto the couch in satisfaction.

“Thank god,” she yelled, pulling out a tin canister from underneath the couch, “I thought that they would never leave.”

“What was that?” Melody said, placing herself in front of Hana and the TV. “Why didn’t you tell me that they were going to come and take Aaron and Kimmi this weekend?”

“Wait a minute,” Hana said, opening up the canister midway and glaring at Melody. “I’m their mom, not you. I can do whatever I want with my kids.” She pulls out some paper and a baggie of dried herbs, setting it out on the coffee table in front of her. “And it’s not just for this weekend. They said they wanted to take the kids for the weekends and I was fine with it.”

“But why now? I remember them coming by only one other time when you were pregnant with Kimmi, and they didn't take Aaron then? So why are they just now taking them?”

“Their dog died a couple of months ago,” Hana sighed, focused on the task at hand of assembling her joint. “He had territorial issues and a high prey drive or something like that. Now that the dog’s gone, they think it’s safe to bring the kids to their farm. They got chickens and goats and silly shit like that to keep them busy.”

“Well I’m glad you’re finally got a break from the kids,” Melody mocked, tossing her hands up in the air and looking around the empty apartment. “You really worked yourself to the bone with all the partying and the fights you have in front of them. You sound like you really care for them.”

“You watch your fucking mouth, you ungrateful shit,” Hana growled. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d be in the system, fighting perverts and living on the streets.”

“If it wasn't for me your kids would be in the system!” Melody screamed, rattling her voice like a snake. “Yeah you feed and clothe them but that’s bare fucking minimum, Hana. You leave them unsupervised because you go off in the middle of the night doing God knows what, then come back arguing with Paul, breaking shit all throughout the fucking night. I could barely sleep at night because I’m trying to protect them from all that shit.”

“Fuck off,” Hana said, looking at Melody up and down in disgust, before finally lighting her joint and take a puff. “Fuck off to your room to cry or whatever.” She made an effort to blow the smoke into her face.

“Fuck you Hana!” Melody screamed, her voice echoed in the room. “Instead of dealing with your problems, you just smoke it all away. You’re just like Mom,” Melody didn't notice her sister’s face drop as she stormed into her room, shuting, locking her door, and face planting herself in bed. She screamed into her pillows, allowing them to soak up her tears and sorrows. Aaron and Kimmi were the only form of joy when she stayed at the apartment, especially during the weekends. What was she going to do while they're away? She couldn't stay here, if her sister had no concern over bringing her drug friends over with  the kids in the house, it would be no different without them here. She couldn’t go with them, so she would have to find something to do.