Generation 1- Chapter 3

Life in the Mason household was nowhere near getting back to normal. Lanya now took to heavily drinking and Madison was pretty sure was using some type of drug as well. She was so worried about her mom, but she never got around to talking with her because she now had to be the “mom” of the house. She was the one who made sure Bentley did his homework and went to bed on time. She was also the one who started to teach Aubree how to walk and talk and use the potty. She moved Aubree’s crib up her floor because she realized after a few nights that Lanya would often sleep through Aubree screaming for hours.
One night while everyone was sleeping. Lanya received a call and scrambled clumsily out of bed. She quickly got dressed and wrote a note to Madison before calling a cab and jetting out the door. It was the slam of the front door that woke Madison up. Thinking it was her mother coming in drunk again, she got out of bed to do the usual routine: get her 2 painkillers, start a pot of coffee and get a blanket. When she got downstairs and realized that her mother was gone, she instantly panicked. Where could she have gone? she thought, running throughout the house looking for her. Just as she was reaching for the phone to call the police, she saw the note on the bar. She tried her best to decipher the words her mother had clearly written down in haste:
Baby girl! I loveeeee youuuuu! Got a call from Billy. He gave me a free vacation, I had to leave right away. I know you’re responsible so the kids can stay with you. Not sure when I’ll be back. No throwing parties! Love you, Laney :)
WHAT THE %*$# Madison cursed so loud, she was pretty sure she heard Aubree stir in her sleep. She slumped onto the couch and read the note again and again, hoping that with each time she read it, the words would become less true. “I’m not dealing with this right now!”she screamed and went back upstairs to bed.

It felt like Madison had just gotten to bed when all of a sudden she heard the familiar scream of Aubree wanting to get out of her crib. It’s fine, Mom will get her she thought and tried to fall back to sleep. Aubree’s cries persisted for another 5 minutes until Bentley eventually screamed, “Maddie come and get her! I want to sleep too you know!”

Madison groaned as she pulled herself out of bed. This wasn’t a dream….her mom really did leave last night and Madison had no clue where she had gone and when she would be coming back. This is so not fair! I’m just a kid myself basically, and now all of a sudden I have to raise two other children? she dramatically thought to herself. She took Aubree out of her crib and set her on the floor.

Don’t throw a party…who is she to tell me what to do? If she’s gonna have fun, I’m going to too. Madison was already whipping out her cell phone before she had time to process what she was about to do. She called Maria, her best friend and the most popular girl in school. Maria was super excited about throwing a party and promised to take care of everything. They decided to hold the party that night and make it a “password” party. Password parties were parties that no one knew about until literally hours before. It was invite only and the invite has to know the password in order to come in. Madison was excited, but knew that she was going to have to get rid of her younger siblings for the night. There was only one person she could think of to call…

When his phone rang and he saw that it was Madison calling, Charles immediately picked up. He had been wanting to know how his children had been all this time. Madison greeted her dad with a big hug and took extra long in letting go. They sat down to chat and Madison told him everything that had been going on since he left. He was surprised to hear that Lanya had become a drug and alcohol addict, considering she resented her own parents for being addicts when her and Lindy were kids. “How are you, pumpkin?” Charles asked Madison with a look of concern.
“Dad, it’s just really hard now that you’re gone. It’s like I’ve all of a sudden become the parent. I hardly get my school work done and I can’t get a part time job because there would be no one to watch the kids. I just want to be a normal teenager and I feel like this whole situation has robbed me of that.”
Charles looked at his daughter with fresh tears misting his eyes, “Maddie, what can I do to help?”
“Well,” Madison looked at her dad with a slight look of mischief, “Mel and I are throwing a party tonight. Nothing too wild!” She added in as her dad opened his mouth to object. “It would really help if you took Bentley and Aubree for the night.”
Charles thought for a second and said, “Alright. Call Bentley down here.”

Bentley couldn’t believe his eyes when he went downstairs. His daddy was actually standing there! He ran so quick that he tripped over his feet and fell straight into his father’s arms. “Daddy!! What are you doing here?!”
Charles let a tear finally fall at the sight of his only son’s excitement. “Hey Bent! I came over to see how you guys were doing. I’ve missed you all and I’m so sorry for the way I acted in the past. I love you guys.” Madison was so happy to finally see an authentic smile on her brother’s face.

She let a couple minutes pass before she eventually packed Aubree’s diaper bag and pushed all three of them out the door. Her party guests had arrived and she had to go outside to start asking for the password (which was Knuffle—weird). After everyone was cleared to enter, she turned up the music and got the bartender to mix up a couple different types of drinks. Everyone was really feeling the vibe of the party and for once Madison thoroughly enjoyed herself.

As the drinks continued to flow and her spirits started to lighten, Madison eventually drummed up the courage to walk over to Kyle Platt, her secret high school crush. They were making small talk and getting to know each other, when Madison’s phone started to ring. She ignored it, talking to Kyle for the first time was way better than taking a boring phone call. But the person calling persisted. They even left several text messages. When Madison finally checked her phone she saw a message that read, “Coming home earlier than expected. See you in 30 minutes- Mom.”

Madison immediately got hysterical. She ran around the yard screaming, “EVERYBODY OUT! PARTY’S OVER! OUT!” Everyone left the house as quickly as they could. They were used to this happening, especially at Password Parties. When the house was empty, she called her Dad and told him to bring Bentley and Aubree back home before Lanya got there. Charles had his limo driver rush them over, but was he quick enough?