Prologue

"Wake up! Wake up! Mom, wake up!" I (age 11) yelled frantically. I shook my mother hard. Rose(age 10) and Mack(age 7) stared at the blood soaking up mom's sheets. Tears were threatening to fall down their faces. Mack especially, considering she was only seven and had no idea what was going on. Mom's eyes remained closed. Her grasp on my hand weakened as she took a final shuddering gasp.

A doctor shoved all of us out of the room. I banged on the door, demanding them to let me in. Mack sat on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest. I looked down at her and picked her up. She buried her face in the croon of my neck. Rose walked over to me and I wrapped my free arm around her shoulder.

Several minutes later, a doctor walked out. A look of sorrow was on his face.

"Hi." he said gently. "Listen, I'm sorry to say this but…your mother, she's in a better place now."

I knew what that meant. Blinking back tears, I felt the darkness consume me. The next thing I knew, I was laying limp on the ground.

-

"Lilly! Lilly, are you OK?" a voice asked. I could tell it was Rose's. I sat up, a little too quickly, and the room started to spin. I dropped back down, taking deep breaths.

"Lilly." Mack said climbing up onto my hospital bed. "The doctor said that mama was in a better place now."

"Yeah, that's right." I said my voice crackling with emotion.

"Where is she?" Mack asked innocently.

"Well, she's in heaven." I replied.

"When will she be coming back?"

I felt my heart break at her hopeful tone. How could I tell a seven-year-old that her mother was never coming back again?

"Mackie, mama won't be coming back." I said gently. "She's um, dead." Mack dissolved into a mess of tears and hugged me tightly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." a nurse said walking into the room. "But would you like to meet your new sister?"

"Yeah." Rose said, a small smile on her face. Before joining the nurse, I walked into mom's old room. She wasn't in there anymore. I picked something up from the floor. It was a baby book. A name was circled. I quickly ran out to my sisters.

"What's her name?" Mack asked.

"Emily." I said before anyone could respond. "That's what mom wanted."

Claudia Samantha Hanks-Jamison

1967-2000

A wonderful mother and friend

Six Years Later

"Dad?" Mack(now age 13) said, walking through the house. "Lills, where's dad?"

"I don't know." I (now age 17) replied. "Isn't he in his room?"

"I couldn't get in; the door was locked." Mack said.

"Let me try it." I said confused. I walked upstairs to the second floor of our house and knocked on Dad's bedroom door. "Dad? You in there?"

I pushed as hard as I could and the door swung open. I saw Dad laying there on the floor.

"Is he asleep?" Mack asked.

"I…don't think so." I said slowly. I dropped to my knees and put my hands on his neck, searching for a pulse. "I can't find it." I murmured to myself. I flipped him over and saw his chest bleeding. I let out a scream and jumped back.

Mack stood in the doorway, breathing heavy.

"Mack, go call an ambulance." I choked out.

A few hours later, we were back in the hospital. The same place our mother died and probably the same place our father was going to die.

"Guys." I whispered. Rose(now age 16), Mack, and Emily(now age 6) looked at me. "No matter what happens, we've got to stick together. All for one, and one for all, got it?" they nodded sadly and we all hugged.

A doctor walked out a minute later. "I'm sorry…" he said gently. We didn't listen to the rest. We knew what he was going to say.

Sean Francis Jamison

1966-2007

A wonderful father and friend

Hi.

My name is Lillian Jamison. Call me Lilly. I'm seventeen years old and I'm an orphan. I'm also the single mother to my three younger sisters…