#rosemariegarten

"Okay, I'll be there soon. Please just... keep your head down," Gaige said into the phone before the line went dead. Running a hand down her face, she automatically went to call Rose, but then paused. Rose would never answer the phone if she knew it was GG calling. Despite the fucking atrocity that was the Garten family of late, Gaige wouldn't feel right without letting Rose know what was going on. And so - begrudgingly - Gaige called Pax.

"You know... we could just get married on a beach somewhere," Pax chuckled, arm around Rose's shoulder. He'd brought home a few dozen Bridal magazines for her to look through. "I'd be perfectly happy with that," he shrugged, looking over to the kitchen when his phone began to ring. Pax hopped to his feet and walked over, picking up his phone. A confused look immediately befell him and he answered the call. "Gaige?" he asked, the confusion showing in his voice. He didn't miss the look that Rose sent his way.

"Hey, so... I know that I'm probably the last person you want to talk to, I know I'm the last on Rose's list, but I wanted her to know... Sage got arrested last night, and I'm headed down to bail him out," she said softly, "I knew Rose wouldn't answered if I called, so... can you just pass on the message for me?"

I have cried more tonight about a character making terrible, terrible decisions that she cannot reverse that I have in years.

"Hello?" Sage called out as he stepped into the home of his cousin, Gaige. "I don't hear singing, so I'm concerned now that I'm in the wrong place," Sage chuckled to himself, peeling off his coat and hanging it up on the coat rack in Gaige's mudroom before walking into the kitchen.

"Sage!" Gaige met him happily, hugging him tightly. Probably a little longer than she should have. But she knew it was only a matter of time before Rose chastised her.

"It's good to see you, too, Gaige," Sage smiled as he hugged her back. As miserable as it had sometimes been growing up being the only male in a generation of females, he now quite enjoyed it. After all, all of his relatives were quite nice to look at.

"It better be good to see me, too!" Tatum yelled a little louder than necessary as she charged into the room and grouped onto the hug. "Gaige let him go, you had your turn."

"No!" "Do it or I'll bite you" "You would have to catch me first!" "I could catch you with my paws tied!" "Yeah right!"

It had been a long week at work - at the end of which he'd found out that he'd have to be taking another trip across the country. He was used to this; it was part of his job to travel constantly. But didn't make it any less tiring to constantly be on the move. With two days to do whatever he wanted with, he wasn't going to waste any time.

So, on his way home, he'd sent a text to Rose, asking her to come over for the evening, and then he'd stopped at a liquor store to refill his bar. Being in and out of town so often meant that he'd frequently have nothing at his house left. He also swore up and down that Rose came and helped herself to anything she wanted while he was out of town. But, he couldn't prove it (and didn't really mind). He grabbed a large, nice bottle of Jameson and headed home.

Once he arrived, he pulled off his suit jacket and removed his tie. He undid the top few buttons on his shirt, then rolled up the sleeves. It was habit at this point, for he knew Rose would do it if he didn't. Sage combed a hand through his hair as he walked over to the kitchen, where he grabbed two glasses and dropped a couple cubes of ice into both before pouring a good amount of Jameson over them. He left one for Rose, though he was unsure if she'd be able to get to it.

He took a sip off his glass as he heard her feet coming up the steps of the stoop to his town home. Sage turned to face the door as she pulled it open and stepped inside, the fall wind bristling in after her. "Good evening, Rose Marie," he said, his voice low as he gazed at her. He knew full and well what him saying both her first and middle name did to her.  And he rather enjoyed it. He took another sip of his drink before placing the glass down and moving towards her.

There were just a few people in Ronnie's life who she felt personally responsible for taking care of. Probably because most of the people in her life were shit heads like Logan and his horde of dumbasses. Not only were those people too proud to ever accept help from her, but they were all idiots and jerks who Ronnie never felt the need to help out anyways. They got what they deserved when trouble came their way. But the few people who she did feel like taking care of and helping out every once in a while, were the people she truly cared about. And being a drug dealer's girlfriend had kind of hardened Ronnie against truly caring about people. For a couple reasons, they either didn't last long because they got thrown in jail, or they didn't want to be associated with the likes of her. 

Needless to say, being one of those few people who Ronnie cared about was a big deal. And Rose Garten was one of them. Ronnie couldn't exactly pin point the day when the two had become so close, but she was eternally grateful that they had. Rose brought the comic relief (pun intended) in Ronnie's life that she so desperately needed to keep herself from becoming completely devoid of emotion. And Ronnie, well she couldn't offer her friend much, but she did make sure she kept Rose stocked up on the coffee that pretty much kept her running. As soon as Ronnie had gotten the job at the local coffee shop, she had immediately picked up the habit of dropping by Comic Relief in the mornings with a piping hot beverage filled with as much caffeine was the Health Department deemed legal for a person.