Sisterly discovery

Jeremy had just turned ten when two miracles happened. The first one was his twin older brothers finally found something they liked to do better than torturing him. They had discovered girls and were spending all their time with the very pretty Washburn sisters from down the block. This meant Jeremy would be somewhat safe from their tyranny. He realized he should have seen it coming. It had happened to his hero Harry Potter, after all, so, why not his own brothers?

The second miracle was, and this one was even better than the first, he discovered he had a little sister. Of course, this news didn’t come without a vast deal of turbulence, but that didn’t stop him from being thrilled beyond reason. He had always wanted a little sister and now he had one…sort of.

How he learned this was totally by accident. Jeremy had been reading “The Tales Of BeddleThe Bard” in his tree-house when his mother’s shrill voice met his ears sounding worse than usual. As he and his brothers were out of the house, he knew his dad was in for a fight.

Jeremy tried to block out the nasty noise as he read about Babbity-Wabbity’s cackling stump, but his mother’s voice was hard to miss at this distance. His tree-house being just outside the opened window of his father’s den, Jeremy had a perfect view of him sitting behind his massive oak desk, he, too, reading a book. Jeremy hid, not wanting to be seen, but he could still see everything.

“Who the hell is Ava Raul and why have you been giving her money for the past five years?” his mother screamed, her face livid. “And don’t you dare lie to me, Brian. I can always tell when you’re lying.”

Jeremy could testify to that. He and his brothers could never get away with anything when she gave them the Voldemort Stare. Just like Harry Potter’s nemesis, she could read minds, he was certain of it. Slowly he peeked out of the tiny porthole of the tree-house and saw his dad stiffen in his chair, his face grim.

“Busted,” Jeremy mumbled anxiously. “Oh, Dad, what did you do?”

He would soon find out exactly what he did. Jeremy’s dad had had a child with a woman named Ava and was in essence keeping a whole other family. His father was a bigamist!

Jeremy didn’t know how his father could sit there so calmly when his mother looked that dangerous. She was going to kill him with that Medusa stare. Didn’t he know that? It took all Jeremy’s strength not to yell out, “Dad, make a run for it!”

Much to his surprise his normally unflappable father rose from his seat with fury all over his face and fists clenched. He shouted and loomed over his now frightened-looking wife. Jeremy never saw his father so angry. He thought for a minute his dad might actually hit his mother, but he didn’t.

They shouted, they yelled, they threw nasty words at each other, most of which Jeremy had only heard in the rated R movies they weren’t allowed to see, but they always managed to. He covered his ears hoping to miss most of it, but then he heard quite clearly the most dreaded word of all, divorce.

He looked just in time to see his father stalk out of the room. Jeremy saw his mother gasping for air as if she’d run a mile, then suddenly she ran after him. Jeremy hurriedly scrambled down the tree and hid behind the Japanese Barberry bushes by the front door, his favorite hiding place.

“Where are you going?” he heard his mother shouting as the door swung open and his dad stepped out onto the porch.

“Where do you think?” he snapped viciously, slamming the door in her face. He went to the car, opened the trunk and pulled out a yellow bag imprinted with the bright purple Dee & Jay’s Toy Shop logo.

Jeremy ran to him and tugged on his arm. “Where you going, Dad?” he said anxiously.

Visibly shocked to see his son, Brain blanched. “Jeremy, where did you come from?” he asked nervously. “You’ve been crying. What is it? Your brothers hurt you again?”

Jeremy hadn’t realized he had tears running down his cheeks. He swiftly brushed them aside with the back of his hands and shrugged. “What’s in the bag?” he asked.

“I...Tools. I have to check on one of Uncle Charlie’s houses. Gotta fix.... something,” Brian answered evasively.

“Can I come?” Jeremy asked.

For a minute his father looked as if he would say yes as he often did, but then he smiled wistfully and shook his head. “Not this time, Buddy.”

“I can help you, please?” Jeremy said desperately. He had the notion his dad would never return again, not when he had another family.

Brian got down on his knees and hugged him tightly. “I love you, Jeremy, and I like you helping me, but not this time. I shouldn’t be too long. I’ll take us all out to dinner, anywhere you want to go,” he said tousling his unruly, dark blond hair. “How about that?”

“Okay, Dad,” Jeremy said unenthusiastically.

“Stay away from your brothers, okay? I’ll whack them when I get back,” Brian said with a grin. He then walked down the block and turned down a side street. Jeremy stared in amazement. If his father was walking that meant he wasn’t going far and that meant his new little sister was close by. He wanted so much to see her.

In a split second it was decided. He would follow his dad and try to catch a glimpse of his little sister. He would have to be careful though. He couldn’t be seen or his dad would get mad. He ran across the street and jumped the fence into Jenny Laramie’s yard.

As he flashed passed he briefly saw her splashing in the shallow end of the pool with her baby brother. “Are your brother’s chasing you again, Jeremy?” she asked frowning disapprovingly. “I wish they would stop being so mean to you.”

“It’s okay, Jenny. See you later,” he hurriedly said as he jumped another fence into the Lowenstein’s yard where a yapping black toy poodle gave chase until he flung himself over the privet hedge just missing getting his ankle nipped. He just caught sight of his father going down Cherry Wood Lane. He hopped over two more fences and ran through yards whose owners all knew of his constant attempts to escape his brothers. They merely waved to him and went back to whatever they were doing.

Eventually Jeremy came out behind a giant lilac bush just as his father walked briskly up to a small house. It looked like a gingerbread house. There were flowers everywhere just like a Thomas Kinkade painting except that there was a tiny table set right in the middle of the garden with a fancy tablecloth and a real china tea set. There were teddy bears and dolls sitting in chairs surrounding it. Among the toys sat a little girl with waist-length, curly black hair wearing a tiara and a frothy yellow dress.

Watching through the bushes, Jeremy mumbled to himself, “Wow, she looks just like a princess.” He loved her instantly.

 She suddenly looked up, saw Brain and squealed with delight. “Daddy!” She ran to him, jumping into his arms. Hugging him fiercely she kissed his cheeks several times and said, “Hi, Daddy.”

“How’s my princess?” Brian asked kissing her all over.

“I’m fine. I’m having a tea party. Want some?” she said.

“Of course I do,” he replied setting her down and kneeling by her chair. She poured out the tea into a tiny cup and handed it to him. He took it and sipped dutifully tasting a very sweet pink lemonade. He smacked his lips and said, “Mighty fine tea, Princess Gracie. May I have some more?” he asked politely.

“Uh-huh and you can have a cookie. Mama made them for you, but she said I could have some for my tea party,” she said handing him a cookie on a tiny plate and refilling his cup.

“Oh, my favorite, peanut butter with chocolate chips,” he said happily.  He took a bite and moaned with delight. “That is yummy. Thank you, Gracie. You have the best tea parties.”

“You’re welcome, Daddy,” she said giggling and placed another cookie on his plate. “You can have one more.”

“You are so good to me. I got you a present,” he said placing the bag on the table in front of her. “I hope you like it.”

“But it’s not my birf-day yet. It’s next week,” she said pouting. “Mama says no presents until my birf-day.”

“But this is an un-birthday present. This is for today,” he assured.

She smiled and peeked into the bag and pulled out a doll dressed in a yellow gown. “Oh, Daddy! It’s Belle. She’s beautiful. Thank you, thank you! I love you so much, Daddy,” she said hugging him again.

“I love you, too, Baby, so much,” he whispered, holding her close.

“You’re spoiling her rotten, Brian,” came an exasperated voice from the house. The front door was now opened to reveal a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in a simple but elegant flowery sundress.

“I’m allowed,” he retorted smirking up at her. “There’s something else in the bag, Gracie.”

“Really?” she said looking in it again. She pulled out a box not unlike those for crayons but bigger. “I already have crayons, Daddy.”

“These are chalk for drawing sidewalk pictures. Can you do some for me?” he said opening the box for her.

“They’re pretty. I can draw you a pony and a castle and a tree,” she said excitedly.

“Do a good job so I can take pictures of them and keep them with me always,” he told her kissing her forehead. Standing up he went to the door. Once there he embraced and kissed the woman passionately. “You look so beautiful, Ava.” he murmured staring into her wide, dark eyes.

“You didn’t say you would be coming today, Brian,” Ava said happily.

“I needed to be with you and Gracie,” he said, a note of desperation in his voice.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, instantly alarmed.

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly. “She knows, Ava,” he whispered.

Her huge brown eyes widened dramatically. “Oh, Brian, what are we....”  She stopped and turned back to the little girl. “Gracie, you stay in the yard,” her mother said and she quickly pulled Brian inside the house closing the door.

“Yes, Mama,” Gracie replied absently, taking the chalk to the sidewalk in front of the house. Humming to herself she sat down and started drawing.

Mesmerized Jeremy stared at her through the lilac shrub pushing aside the heart-shaped leaves to see her better. He wished he could have joined in the tea party with his dad and this pretty little princess. She was his sister! He wanted to talk to her, get to know her. He wanted to hug her and really be her brother. He even, if he dared admit it to himself, wanted to live here in this colorful little cottage with that pretty woman and his cute little sister.

He couldn’t get over it. He had a sister! Wanting to see her better, he moved around the bush careful not to be in sight of the door which he knew could open any minute. He hadn’t intended for her to see him, but she did and he froze. Would she like him?