STOIC

NINE

A/N **Reminder, this book is a Romance/Erotica**

EMMERSON

Emmerson 16

Stoic 21

LIFE WITHOUT MY BROTHERS was somewhat easier. No dramas, no fights, no crazy girls chasing after them. Yes, I was counting Stoic as my brother too. My brother from another mother.

It'd been three years, and they were finally coming back. But, for some reason, things didn't go as planned, so they would have to go back to the border in six months. At least they got a nice and well-deserved break.

I couldn't wait to see them! I hated to admit it, but I did miss them, all of them. I thought about them often, especially Stoic. He left me gifts with Uncle Erik, Auntie Ida, and Mom. Even when he wasn't here, I still always got my birthday dress, my summer hoop, and my wood gift for the fall. He carved a beautiful Yggdrasil on a round tree slab. I kept it in my bedroom next to the metal thing he gave me when I was little, the "Jeg elsker deg." That made me miss him even more.

I went with Amelia to wait for them at the station. We stood right in front of it, where the little shops were. Amelia wanted to eat pastries, so we were stuffing our faces before the train arrived.

Mom, Dad, Erik, and Ida were waiting for them inside. Ethan had left for the north last year, and I had made a backpack for him too.

Looking back these past three years, I had been so busy. I got really good at sewing bags and backpacks, and I was already making a lot of exchanges for my work. I recently got a wooden bow, and I'd give it to Stoic when he came back. He was going to like it. The dancing was going well, too. We had had many performances, and the crowds went wild when we danced. I learned Portuguese, and Mom and I spoke it all the time—mostly if we didn't want Dad knowing what we were talking about.

Ever since Stoic left, I had been spending a lot of time with Auntie Ida. I didn't want her to feel lonely. She taught me some of her and Stoic's favorite recipes, and we cooked them together three times a week. When Stoic came back, I might surprise him with a nice meal.

My body was completely different. I had to admit that I had grown up. I actually looked really pretty. I was way taller, my curly hair almost reached my lower back, my hips had curves, my breasts had grown to a nice comfortable size, and my butt was round and sort of big like Mom's. Since I did so much dancing, my legs were nice and toned.

I also changed the way I dressed, and I could say I had quite a style. Mom helped with that. All my clothes showed off my perfect curves, hugged me in all the right places, and enhanced all my enchantments.

I never stopped being a brat, so I walked the streets swinging my hips like the queen I knew I was. Guys hit on me all the time. I got whistles and stupid pick-up lines everywhere I went. Amelia called me the microwave—I heated them up but never ate them. Amelia grew to be astonishingly beautiful with a killer body. We could drop them all dead! Who would have believed that the least girly girls turned out to be the cutest of them all? Ha! I had zero shame. I didn't mind kicking my own butt every now and then. I was beautiful, and I knew it.

I didn't care much about guys, though, as none of them were interesting or cute enough for me. Amelia said I was picky, but the truth was that I tended to compare them a lot. None of them were tall enough or handsome enough or strong enough for me. They always lacked something. I was not looking for perfection, but they were definitely not what I wanted. Some of them even got frustrated because I didn't even give them the time of day. My "old friend" Noah was one of them.