When You've Got Trouble

Evelyn would be lying if she said she was asleep at 2 o'clock in the morning. To be honest, she was never asleep at this early hour because her mind never seemed to stop turning. She was either trying to remember choreography that she was going to show to a student the next day, or she was thinking about things she needed to get done for Arden.

Tomorrow she needed to drive Arden to school, then go to the studio for a ballet technique private for an hour, next she would teach a contemporary class for seniors, then Charlotte would bring Caroline and Arden from school to the studio for a ballet class.

It would be a long and tiring day tomorrow. On these types of days, she liked to thank whoever is up there for her sister Charlotte. Without her, Arden wouldn't get home from school, she wouldn't have a place to go when Evelyn was busy at the studio, but most of all she was always Evelyn's strong shoulder to lean on.

When Evelyn needs her the most, she's always there for her no matter the circumstances. She just wished she could be there for Charlotte when she needed Evelyn.

As Evelyn was about to tune everything out of her head and finally get some sleep, she heard her door slowly creek open and she saw the light trickle into her room. Evelyn's heart was racing, at these moments she wished she had a gun, but after she saw the face that was standing in the door way, her heart calmed down.

"What are you doing up baby girl?" A mop of blonde hair ran towards her and snuggled into her chest. Evelyn forgets sometimes that Arden was still only nine years old. Arden acted like she was so much older that she forgot that she does get scared too.

"What's up?"

"I had a bad dream." With that, Arden tightened the grip onto her mother. Evelyn just kept stroking the knots in her curly hair.

"What happened?"

"You weren't my mom anymore."

"It's okay Ardy I'm right here. Don't worry." She kissed the top of the little blonde's head, and tightened her grip around her little girl. Although, she wasn't so little anymore. In the past few months, she had been getting many growth spurts that have made her a few inches taller. In a few months, Evelyn wouldn't be surprised if Arden grew even more and came closer to her mother's 5'9 stature.

"Mom?"

"I'm here."

"Can you sing me the song your mom used to sing?"

"Of course." This was the only good memory Evelyn had of her mother. Whenever Charlotte or Evelyn had a bad dream, she would sing a song that she made up for them. Evelyn could almost hear mother's voice ringing in her ear's like she just sang to Evelyn a few days before. However, it has been longer than a few days since Evelyn has heard her mother's voice. She still remembered it. It was beautiful, and when she sang people couldn't help but listen to her. Her voice was smooth, not scratchy like Evelyn's. Although, the scratchiness was probably from smoking too much in her teens. She didn't care that she didn't have a beautiful voice, she just wanted to comfort her little girl.

"You've been kicking in your sleep
Tossing and turning relentlessy
and I know you'd be lying if you told me you were fine

You've been screaming in your head
Swallowing the words that I know you would've said if you would just breathe

Oh my heart is tangled all around you
When you've got trouble I've got trouble too
Oh my life is arm and arm with you
When you've got trouble I've got trouble too

So what, what, what do you need?
I'll kiss you awake when you've had a bad dream
And I'll tell you a story... make it up as I go
Or I'll sing you a song that I know that you know, it goes...

You and I live like the tree and the vine
Oh my darling we're so delicately intertwined
I'll ease your pain 'cause you've eased mine"

When Evelyn finished, she looked down to a sleeping Arden. She brushed her cheek with the tips of her fingers, and kissed the top of her head. Arden looked so peaceful when she slept, like there was nothing in this world that could make her unhappy. Evelyn liked that idea, she never wanted Arden to be unhappy. Yet, she knew that it wasn't life for everyone always to be happy.

Evelyn took one last look at her sleeping child before she cuddled a little closer to her and fell asleep.

-----

"Demi plie, and come back up. Rounder arms Shelby! Then, grand plie and come back up. Now rond de jambe." Evelyn started to walk around all the little girls holding onto the ballet bar, and she corrected girls who weren't in first position, girls who had absolutely no idea what they were doing, and the girls who were bending their legs.

Evelyn read the clock that read it was 7:29. In one minute she would be free to go home, and just relax.

"Okay girls, great job today! I'll see you next week!" A bunch of excited little girls and one boy scampered out of the studio into the waiting room to see their moms or dads. Evelyn liked teaching this class even though the pay wasn't as much as teaching a higher level ballet class. To be honest, she liked to see all the cute little kids, they reminded her so much of Arden when she was just starting in ballet. A lot of people expect to hear that Evelyn pushed her daughter into ballet, however that isn't the case. Arden was just around the studio a lot, and she told everyone that she would be a ballet dancer like her mother. She would watch the other ballet classes, and just try to copy what they were doing. So, Evelyn signed her up because she really didn't have another choice.

"Hey mom."

"How was it without Caroline?" Arden proceeded to throw her dance bag on the ground, and she plopped her butt onto the ground. She wasn't happy about something, and Evelyn didn't know what that was.

"Stand up and get your bag. You're not having a tantrum here."

"Why does Caroline get to be en pointe and not me?" Evelyn sighed. It was this again. Charlotte's step-daughter Caroline had been moved up to the higher class where she will get her pointe shoes.

"Arden, Caroline is three years older than you! You will be ready for pointe shoes soon, but not now. Okay? Pick up your bag and we will get some dinner on the way home." She proceeded to pick up her bag with a scowl on her face. It wasn't that Arden wasn't talented enough to be in pointe shoes, it was the fact that the cartilage in her foot won't harden for a little while. Evelyn herself was put on pointe shoes when she was eight years old. However, she had seen the affect pointe shoes had on kids. She has seen countless girls who didn't grow past five feet because the shoes stunted their growth. It wasn't worth the risk.

"When will I be ready?"

"Soon honey, I don't know when but soon."

"Okay."

"So what do you want for dinner? I can make some fish, or I can make a grilled cheese. What sounds good to you?" She already knew the answer, but she still asked the question.

"Grilled cheese." Evelyn clicked the unlock button on her car keys, and she could hear the opening of Arden's door. She turned on the engine, and she adjusted her mirrors. In the corner of her eye. She saw him. He seemed to be everywhere these days. He was on billboards, magazines, and on benches. She took a second to look at the billboard that was in her rear view mirror. It was an ad for Penguins hockey, and it showed him getting ready to take a face off. He looked serious. Then again, he always looked serious. He hasn't changed. He still has those same hazel eyes that Arden has. They don't look a like, which is a good thing for Evelyn, but they are similar in the way that they act. Evelyn pushed the thought from her head, and she drove out of the small parking lot. Some things, are worth forgetting and Sidney Crosby was one of those things.