What time it was..or even what day, Darrin had no idea. As of late, he was so drugged up he could barely keep up with the days or time. He couldn't even recall the last time that he'd actually gone downstairs to see any of his family. His mother would still come up to his
bedroom to try and speak with him, or to try and convince him to leave the room. At one time, he would have been thankful for his mother's constant pestering. Not anymore. Due to the large amounts of alcohol and pills that he would take, he couldn't stand the constant pestering. He would often lose his temper with his mother. He'd recently began locking himself in his room. He didn't want to see anyone. He felt as if he was slowly loosing everything that he'd ever had. As Darrin lay in his large bed, merely starring up at the ceiling, he wondered..why
had Hannah left him..them? He'd always given her everything that she ever wanted. He could see no reason for her to leave him nor their children.
As he'd just woken up, Darrin had yet to take anything that morning. He was able to recall that his mother had mentioned to him that they would be welcoming someone new into the home.
Who was it? The handsome man racked his mind, trying to recall what he'd obviously forgotten. Suddenly, it hit him. A woman was coming to stay with them..to help out with the children.
What was her name? Darrin was sure that his mother had informed him of the woman's name. It didn't matter. He wasn't planning on having anything to do with her. Gently sitting up, Darrin looked over to the nightstand. On top of it sat a beautiful lamp, a clock, a pill bottle, and a large glass container that held some forgotten kind of alcohol. Gently rubbing his face with a hand, Darrin debated with himself for a moment. Of course he knew that he shouldn't be taking the pills or drinking so much, but it helped him to forget the past three years. In the rare moments that he wasn't out of it, Darrin
did feel terrible about ignoring his children. He was no good at being a husband nor at being a father. Just these thoughts were enough to drive him to quickly pop a few pills and drink a few shots of the very strong alcohol.
It wasn't long before Darrin began feeling the effects of the mixture. Slowly, he laid back down on his bed, pulling the blankets up and over his head. Darrin recalled the events that happened nearly three years ago, as he closed his eyes.
When Hannah had disappeared that awful day, Darrin had been worried sick. She had been supposed to pick the kids up from school and had just never shown up. Luckily, the kids teacher had called Darrin to let him know that she still had his children. He'd picked them up, at first being quite angry that Hannah hadn't picked them up. He'd taken them home, fixed them something to eat, made sure that they finished their homework, and put them to bed...and still no Hannah. It was by then that he'd really started to worry. Darrin had begun calling her phone, calling her family. No answer and her family hadn't heard from her that day. Becoming frightened for his wife, he called the police. They wouldn't be able to do anything for forty eight hours.
Darrin had stayed up most of that night, worrying. In the morning, he had had to get his children ready for school and take them there. He'd called Kris Manser, his closest friend, to let him know what was going on. By around noon, he received a text message from Hannah. All that she said was that she no longer loved him, the kids. She needed a life of her own. Darrin felt his world collapsing around him. His entire being belonged to Hannah and she didn't love him. He didn't know how to react. Slowly, as the next few days passed by, Darrin found himself not being able to really take care of his children properly. He had called his mother, asking her to watch them until he decided what he was going to do. Judith had flown out to the family's large home in California. She'd spoken for a long time with Darrin. She could not believe what Hannah had done. She attempted to comfort her son, to no avail. He was too far brokenhearted. She took her grandchildren and flew back to Coon Falls, keeping them at her small home.
Darrin stayed in California for another three months before he'd completely stopped caring about his career. He tried to leave the band, though his bandmates wouldn't hear it. Darrin resorted to calling them extremely hateful names, saying hurtful things. The other men became very angry with Darrin and at the time had not cared that he was leaving them. Darrin flew to Virginia to be with his family. He told his mother that they would be living in his large home that was located on the outskirts of the town. At first everything seemed to be all right. Darrin had seemed to be holding up as well as could have been expected. Slowly, as Judith would come over to the house everyday, she would notice that Darrin was usually drunk or had been taking some sort of drugs. He'd lost weight, didn't seem to care about his appearance, his eyes were usually bloodshot. His behavior had begun to change as well. Darrin had begun to have a bad temper, he'd lost any interest in singing or practicing his guitar, he was trying to push many people away from himself. Judith was beginning to worry about her son. No matter what Judith or her husband Mick said to Darrin, he just wouldn't listen to them. It had gotten to the point that Judith was staying at Darrin's home all the time. She was afraid to leave the children alone with the messed up man. As he lay there, un-moving, Darrin could hear Taylor and Nichola running down the long hallway. He wanted so badly to be there for the young children..but how could he be when he couldn't even help himself?
It was a bright and clear morning at the Reed
house. From the outside, the home looked quite peaceful. A place that one would want to visit. The house was located a bit farther out than many in the small town preferred to live.
It was well known around Coon Falls that the Reed's son had moved back home almost three years before with his two children to be closer to his family. The reasoning behind his move had been kept a mystery at first but then the media had begun releasing news about the event that, in the locals minds, had led to the move. They had left the Reeds alone for the most part. There had been a few older women that had spoken with Judith Reed a few times, trying to find out what was going on. It had been no secret that Darrin, Judith's son, was famous and part of the rock group Unfinished Belief. Naturally, everyone wanted to know why the band had broken up. Judith had not said much except that her son had felt that a break was needed. Rumors were circulating around the town still, no answers were found.
When news began to spread that Judith was looking for a nanny to hire to help with her two grandchildren, all of the girls in town had applied. Even some girls from different states. Judith had not been sure how so many people had found out about the position. She'd not really advertised it except in Coon Falls. The task of finding someone who would truly care for the children and not care who their father was had been very hard. She'd interviewed at least two hundred girls and had thought that it was a lost cause until she'd met Jane Clark. She'd liked the girl from the start. She spoke with Jane several times before offering her the position, which the girl gladly had accepted.Judith was currently moving about the kitchen as she heard the children running down the stairs. A small smile graced her face. Considering everything that they had been through, the two children seemed to be holding up as well as could be expected. They were always playing together, having fun. Judith was glad. At first she'd been very worried. Taylor seemed to be the one suffering the most. He'd known his mother, been quite close to her. Nichola, on the other hand, had never known her mother. She didn't seem to mind not having the woman around.
"You two better be dressed." Judith yelled,
"Ms. Jane will be here any time." Judith smiled as she heard grumbling. They'd not gotten ready. She heard their footsteps as they quickly made their way back up to their rooms.
She began fixing breakfast, putting out several plates. She decided to fix something easy, eggs and toast. While quickly cooking, Judith quickly pulled her hair up into a messy bun. She really needed to get her hair cut. It was getting quite long and was always getting in her way. The children came running down the stairs once again.
"It's time to eat. Go ahead and head into the dining room. I'll bring your plates." The children quickly made their way into the dining room and took their seats. Taylor sat quietly whereas Nichola was beaming. The young girl was exited about the new nanny. She hoped that the woman would want to play with her and Taylor.
Judith brought in the two plates, sitting one in front of each child. She then left, back into the
kitchen, picking up the drinks for the children. She made her way back into the dining room, sitting the cups down. Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door. She smiled, quickly making her way to the door. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. Judith slowly pulled open the door, revealing the woman that she'd been waiting on.
"I'm so glad that you're here! Come in! I'd like to introduce you to the children!" ,Judith said, gently leading the woman into the home. She waited a moment before leading the woman into the dining room. Judith had insisted that Jane stay with them while she was working for them. She'd seen no reason to make the woman drive out to the home every single day.
"This is Taylor, he's the oldest, six. This here is Nichola, she's only four." Judith watched the three closely. She hoped that they would get along. Judith wondered if Jane had noticed that the children's father was missing from the breakfast table. She tried not to worry about it. She gave the three time to speak with one another before ushering the woman into the kitchen.
"I'll give you a tour of the house after we take Darrin something to eat. I'm..actually not sure if he'll even open his door but we can try. I know that I hired you to take care of the children, but..if you could possibly try to get through to my son..to make him see that he needs to straighten up, I would be so very grateful to you. He just won't listen to me." Judith quickly made up a plate for Darrin and then led the way up the stairs.
The home was three stories high. All of the bedrooms and the children's
playroom were located on the second floor. Judith came to stop at the very first door on the left.
"This is Darrin's room. He usually keeps his door locked and honestly, I'll be surprised if you see him at all. I can't even tell you the last time that he came out of his room." Judith attempted to smile at the woman.
"Your room is the one next to Darrin's. Feel free to redecorate it as you wish. Just let me know if you need anything and I can get Mick to pick it up." Judith gently knocked on Darrin's door. She waited a minute, not hearing her son at all. She sighed heavily.
"Darrin? I have your breakfast. Are you hungry?" Judith eyed the locked door.
"I'll leave it downstairs for you if you decide you want to eat." Judith led the way back down the stairs and back into the kitchen. She placed the plate in the microwave and then turned to Jane.
"I'll let you take your things to your room..to settle in. When you're ready I'll be down here. I'll show you the rest of the property when you're ready." The older woman began cleaning the kitchen, signaling that Jane was free to settle into her new room.
When their grandmother had introduced the nanny to them, both children had eyed the woman for a moment. Nichola was the first to speak up.
"Hi! I'm Nichola! Who are you?" the little girl asked, eyeing the woman and smiling brightly. The girl didn't seem to care that her brother was being so silent. She'd become used to it. It was rare that he'd talk to anyone but her.
"Nana says that you're gonna be staying with us! Is that true?" Nichola was beaming at Jane. She wasn't used to having another woman, save for her Nana, in the home. She'd never known her mother, so did not understand why her brother seemed so bothered by the woman's disappearance.
Taylor was eyeing the woman, almost as if he didn't want anything to do with her. He only wanted his Mommy back. He still could not understand why she'd left them. He didn't say anything but merely nodded with his sister as she spoke with the female. Taylor wondered if his father knew this woman was going to be staying with them. He couldn't imagine the man being happy about it. He would have to speak with Nichola later to see what she truly thought of the woman.
