Stassi stood on the top of the table in the playroom of the clubhouse. Sydney scooped her up from behind and set her on the floor without letting her go. "All right, let's lay down and listen to Kylie tell a story."

"No sleep." Stassi wiggled trying to break loose. "I want to play."

"You don't have to sleep, but the other kids want to find out what happens when you touch a rainbow." Sydney carried Stassi to her sleeping bag. "Let's see if you know how to roll out your bag."

She set Chief and Johanna's youngest child down and sighed in relief when the task kept her interest. If Stassi wasn't climbing whatever surface she could find, she was hiding. The girl needed two bikers guarding her at all times.

Kylie walked up to her. "The two babies are asleep. I'll keep the toddlers entertained as long as they'll let me."

Sydney laughed. That could be two minutes to two hours.

Considering it was almost nine o'clock at night and a celebration party was going on in the main part of the clubhouse, it was anyone's guess what would happen next. Even after babysitting the club kids for the last six months, she'd learned to expect the unexpected.

That unpredictability made her job fun. Sometimes the kids kept her busy from start to finish and her nights flew by. Other days, she had time to sit and rock the babies, and she found her mood lightened.

She helped get all of them settled on their sleeping bags, brought stuffed animals from the corner over to those who wanted to hold one and turned the lights off in the back of the room, leaving the front still lit.

Kylie dragged a chair over by the three younger children—Joey and Keith who were mellow and quiet, compared to Stassi.

Not wanting to disturb them, she sat by the cribs in the back of the room, close enough to hear if one of the babies fussed and leaned against the wall.

"Last week, the little boy and girl made it all the way up the vine of the ivy and reached the top of the cloud. Do you remember the boy and girl's name?" asked Kylie.

"Jenny," said Stassi.

"Yes, Jenny and Benny." Kylie smiled. "On top of the cloud, they saw a beautiful rainbow."

Four-year-old, Keith, scrambled to his knees. "What's a rainbow?"

"I thought you'd ask." Kylie reached into her pocket and pulled out a keychain with a rainbow dangling from the chain. "It looks like this, but it's huge. As big as the sky."

"Can I hold it?" Joey reached out his hand.

Kylie stretched and gave it to Joey. "You can hold it for a few minutes, and then pass it around so everyone can see, okay?"

"Okay." Joey sat back down.

"The rainbow in the sky had the brightest colors they'd ever seen, and Jenny wanted to touch the rainbow, but Benny was afraid..."

Sydney removed the phone from her pocket while her sister retold the original story, with a few changes, that they'd made up when they were little and scared about being in a new foster home. Looking at the phone screen, she brought up the call log. It'd been six months since Jett called her.

Never in her life had time gone so slow and she was thankful for her job. The nights she babysat at the club, she could distract her thoughts from dwelling on Jett.

He hadn't asked to see her again at the prison, and every day, she hoped for another call and to hear the words that he wanted her to come visit, that maybe he was wrong, that he was sorry for doubting her.

She put the phone back in her pocket and settled in to hear the rest of the story.

An hour later and one hundred questions from the children answered, the three kids slept, and both babies were snuggled in the cribs still sleeping. Sydney pulled all the sleeping bags up to the children's shoulders, and then stretched her back.

Kylie approached her and whispered, "I'm going to walk down the hallway and go to the bathroom."

"Okay. When you get back, I'll go." She opened the door and closed it quietly behind her sister before the noise and music from the main room woke the kids.

Walking back across the room, she stood between the cribs. The babies were her favorite to watch. They never asked questions she couldn't answer. All they wanted was hugs, kisses, a bottle, and their diaper changed. If she had a baby, she'd hold it all day long and forget about everything else that she needed to do. Loving that child would be her job, and she'd be the best mother possible.

She'd never leave her child.

She blinked her eyes rapidly, caught unaware by the motherly hunger rushing through her. She was almost twenty years old. Too young to be thinking of being a mother.

"Sis, your turn," whispered Kylie behind her.

Caught up in her thoughts, she hadn't heard her sister return. She kept her face averted. "Do you ever remember anyone telling us how old our mom was when she got pregnant with me?"

"No, but she had to be young."

She looked at Kylie. "Why would you say that?"

"Because if she were older, more mature, she probably would've loved us."

"I don't think age had anything to do with her decision to leave." She gazed at the babies. "I would never leave my child...children."

Kylie leaned against her side. Sydney laid her head against her sister's.

"Let's swear, right now, if one of us does something so dumb, so unforgivable, we'll stop each other."

Kylie hummed, not replying.

She shifted and held her sister's arms. "What?"

"Are you serious about us stopping each other?"

She nodded.

Kylie closed her eyes and when she reopened them, said, "I think you're being dumb holding out hope that Jett will forgive you. I think how he's treating you is unforgivable."

"But, he's taking care of me. He lets us stay at his house and—"

"No." Kylie shook her head. "If he loved you, he would forgive you—for whatever misunderstanding you both had. You've been loyal and planning your future on what he's doing or wants you to do. You deserve more than what he's giving you."

Her chest squeezed. Kylie grabbed her, holding her up when she only wanted to throw herself on the floor and kick her feet in a tantrum to fight for Jett. Her sister would never understand how complete she felt when Jett forced her to come home with him, took care of her, or the happiness that bloomed inside of her knowing she was making a difference in his life, simply by staying with him.

If she'd been older when her mom gave her away, she would've found her and fought to keep her in her life. She would've done more to show her mom how much she was needed. But, she never had that chance and her and Kylie's lives were hard. Much harder than they deserved.

Maybe that's why she couldn't give up on Jett. She loved him, and she would do whatever needed to be done to prove that they belonged together because to walk away from him would change her life. Nobody could convince her she'd be better off without him. She knew differently.

"You can't put the responsibility on Jett never to leave because you're scared," said Kylie.

"I'm not scared of him," she whispered.

"No, you're scared that he's going to be another person in your life that doesn't want you and will leave." Kylie caressed Sydney's cheeks. "And, you feel that way because you love him."

Oh, God. Her sister was right again

She'd fallen in love with Jett and had been waiting for him to walk out of her life. His anger, his accusations, his rules, they all pointed to him leaving her.

And, she stuck around to have a chance to fight for him like she should've had with her mother.

How could any of her actions be healthy?

"I don't know what to do," she said.

"Go with your heart." Kylie looked over at the children sleeping on the floor. "You've never questioned your love for me. Don't question yourself with Jett."

"How did you get smarter than me?" she whispered.

Kylie flinched. "I'm not, and I don't want to be.

Before she could figure out what Kylie meant, the door opened, letting in the music from the main room. Kylie let go of her as Chief slipped inside and looked around. Swallowing the emotions left behind from the talk with her sister, she walked around the sleeping kids on the floor and approached him.

"Stassi's sleeping?" Chief huffed. "I don't think she's closed her eyes before midnight since she turned three."

"Kylie's storytelling works wonders." She pointed to the floor. "Do you want me to get her?"

He shook his head. "Johanna will be here soon. She's gone over to Danner and Lyla's house to pick up Jackie. It was supposed to be her first sleepover, but she wanted to come home. She got homesick."

"Ah, poor kid. She's still young." She folded her arms, knowing the words to say but being a foster kid never allowed her the gift of being homesick.

Chief touched her shoulder and motioned her toward the door. "I need to talk to you."

She looked at Kylie and hitched her thumb toward the door, letting her know she was leaving the room, then followed Chief out into the hallway. Without Jett around didn't make Chief any less scary but over the last six months babysitting the kids, she had to admit that the few conversations she'd had with Chief were almost...normal.

Chief stopped and faced her. "Jett wants you to come for visitation."

She'd expected him to criticize her babysitting skills or tell her she wasn't needed at the club anymore. Pressing her hand to her racing heart, she said, "He really asked for me?"

He nodded. "There's a condition."

"What?" She stepped closer. "No, nevermind. Just tell me. I'll do anything."

He tilted his head. "You wait three months, and you can only come if you bring Kylie with you to the prison."

Her head snapped back. She clicked her tongue, opened her mouth, and gawked at him. He could've asked her for the moon, and she would've figured out how to bring it to Jett.

"K-Kylie? Why?" Her sister was not the type of person to walk into a prison, get frisked, get interrogated, and sit beside criminals for no reason. Not even as a favor to her. No, she wouldn't ask her to do that.

"That's what Jett wants. Leave it or take it."

She inhaled deeply, holding her forehead. "I-I'll bring her."

Somehow, she'd have to figure out a way to change Jett's mind between now and three months. If he called her, she would beg him not to involve Kylie in his anger toward her.

"That's a yes?" asked Chief.

She nodded. "Yes."

"I'll pass on the message."

"Um, can you also ask him to call me? Please?"

Chief ducked his chin and walked away from her. Reeling from the invitation, she paced the hallway. Kylie had given her opinion of Jett, not ten minutes ago. How would she ever convince her sister to go to the prison with her now?

How could she ask such a favor knowing how hard it would be on Kylie?

She'd always protected her sister. That protective streak had come between her and Jett, and every foster family they'd lived with. She bent over and held on to the wall, panting for breath. She could feel her desperate hold on Jett slipping.