Family is Bigger Than Blood
Feeling a suffocating killing intent radiating from the eyes of the painfully thin child in front of her, Allison was initially at a loss for words. She had been married for a decade to a man she didn't even love and now she was seeing the outcome of his choices in life sitting right in front of her. She then remembered the only reason she had agreed to marry him in the first place was because she became pregnant with Laine. A single night and a stupid alcohol driven mistake led to a decade of suffering for her.
She then remembered back to that night. She was working in a bar cleaning tables just after finishing high school when a convincing man got her to have a few drinks with her after her shift. She lost count of the times she'd wished to go back to that night and turn him down and have just gone home. Then she'd think of Laine and stop torturing herself with the past. had she turned him down, where would she have ended up now? Would she still be living in that run down shack she moved into just to get away from her family? Would she have gone onto a better job and made a name for herself on her own? She knew she couldn't change the past and even if she could, she loved her daughter too much to.
Looking back to the boy she found a new resolve. "Nobody can change the past. He's gone now so all we can do is look ahead. If you have nowhere else to go, would you like to live here? It's the least I can offer for you freeing both Laine and me from that man." Sarah, who was engrossed in the cartoon playing on the tele, snapped back to the real world and stared expectantly at her big brother waiting for his answer.
With an awestruck look of disbelief on his face, it took Joe a minute to find his word. How Long had it been since he had an actual bed to sleep in and a roof over his head? Moving passed that, how long had it been since he couldn't voice the words he wanted to? Four years. Four long, painful years he struggled to keep himself and Sarah fed with scraps he pulled from the trash of restaurants or simple fruits he'd lifted from street stalls. All he had to do to change all of that was say a single word. Still, he struggled to squeeze anything out.
After taking a deep breath, Joe finally managed to ask the one thing that was bothering him. "Are you sure we won't be a burden? As worthless as he was, with him gone it will be more difficult for you to support yourself and Laine. If it's too much to take the both of us, could you look after Sarah? I can keep myself alive on the streets, but I don't want her to live like that anymore." With the thought of separating from the sister he's had for almost six years; Joe began staring at the floor conflicted. He didn't want to leave her, but he also didn't want her to suffer any longer.
The next words to reach his ears instantly changed his thoughts from glum and depressed to elated. "You will not be a burden in any way to me and I could tell Laine enjoyed talking to the two of you. We have two spare rooms that we weren't using anyways so you both can have one if you'd like. But in three months you will have to go back to school. I won't make you go now because you would be so far behind everyone else your age, but I will at least teach you until then. You can start after their summer break ends." Allison had the warmest smile she was capable of and yet she didn't even need to put in any effort to show it.
Just thinking about having these two in the house with her and getting to watch them grow up brought immediate joy to her heart. Having heard and hung onto ever word that left her mouth, Joe was again at a loss for word. Instead, he simply nodded in agreement. From this day on, he knew that he wouldn't have to struggle on the brink of death. He made a vow in that moment that he would do everything in his power to live up to Allison's expectations as well as protect his new family. He didn't care what the world through in his way, he was going to aim for greatness, so she'd never regret this decision.