Step Siblings

Liam

Getting a text from Dad is weird enough, but seeing him in real life was even stranger. No warning or anything. He just showed up. He must've tracked us the same way we tracked Mom.

"What- Liam, did you know he was coming?" She asks furiously.

"Not until about a minute ago." I laugh nervously.

Dad looks at the two of us, "El I'd like you to meet someone. Liam too."

"Do not call me El." She demands angrily.

"Uh.. anyways- this is your new stepmom!" He says excitedly, allowing another woman to come into the house. She had a big toothy smile and huge glasses. Her hair was horrifically bleached , unlike our natural blonde. She was as skinny as a twig and looked as fragile as a wine glass. Perfectly suitable for dad's type.

Eleanor's face drops as three fat little children walk in after her, "Who the hell are they?" She says.

"These are your step siblings. Mateo, Rufus, and Charlotte. And you need to learn your manners young lady."

"Don't talk to Eleanor like that." Cyrus finally speaks up. I laugh a little to myself.

Dad scoffs, "And who do you think you are, talking to me like that?"

"He's my boyfriend. He lives with us so if you're planning to stay here, leave or get used to it." I say snappily.

Dad looks at me, then at Cyrus, then back at me, "You're gay?" I nod proudly and interlock Cyrus' fingers with mine. The three kids share the same expression as their brail mother, "Oh. Well that's okay." He says.

Eleanor and I exchange glances. She lets out a bark of laughter, "HAHA! SO HE'S NOT LIKE MOM!"

He looks at us confused, "Why would I be anything like that son of a bitch? Shes a damn kidnapper... How do you know about her?"

"We met her a while back. Never again." El says closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"Oh... Well- uh- could you help us with our bags?"

Eleanor puts her hands up,"Wait- you're staying here?"

"Yeah. More or less."

She looks at me waiting for an answer. I just shake my head in an 'it's fine.' kind of way.

"Look, I'll help, just as long as your little rats stay out of my room."

"Actually Eleanor... we were hoping Charlotte would stay in your room with you." He says patting her little head.

"WHAT? NO... LIAM THERES NO WAY YOU'RE OKAY WITH THIS?"

"It's okay. It's not permanent."

She groans, "UGH WHY DID YALL HAVE TO COME HERE?"

"El calm down!"

"DO NOT CALL ME EL."

I pull her closer to me before she gets too angry, "It's okay." I remind her quietly. She looks at me with tears of frustration, breathing heavily, "It is okay." They all made their way outside with each other, leaving Cyrus, El, and I in the house together, "Come on guys lets go help them."

Cyrus gives me a sarcastic smile, "I already hate them." He whispers.

"At least he's not homophobic!" I say positively.

"I hate that you always see the good in things."

After all of their bags are dragged inside, Eleanor had already locked herself away in her room, most likely texting Kat. Cyrus began to cook lunch for everyone, and I visited with Dad and his fiancé.

"What's going on with her?"

His skinny wife taps him on the shoulder, "She's probably just a moody teenager."

"She's not moody. She just hates change." I say defensively, "Maybe she would be less frustrated if you had given us a heads up that you were coming instead of just showing up."

"I know the difference between fury and frustration. El needs anger management."

"No she doesn't. We were just fine before you got here. And don't call her El. We've said it too many times." A lump in my throat forbids me from saying anything else to him. I was so angry I could punch him square in the face.

"What's the big deal with that?" His snotty little wife says.

"Only friends and family are allowed to call her that. You really think you can just come in here and pretend like everything will be okay and we'll be one big happy family?"

He stands and squares up to me. I'm at perfect eye level with him. Im not intimidated. He's in my house, "I don't know if you forgot but we are family."

"The only thing we share is blood." I say, "Doesn't seem like family to me." It takes everything in me to not completely lash out on him, "Last time I checked you're in my house. Get out of my face."

He sits back down next to his scrawny wife. I go into the kitchen to see if Cyrus was almost done with the food.

"Do you need help?"

He shakes his head and begins to season the grilled chicken he planned to put in a caesar salad, "Im okay baby, thank you."

I kiss him on the cheek and walk away. Minutes later Eleanor comes back downstairs with a huge smile on her face, "Woah what's up with you?"

She shrugs, "I don't know."

Cyrus turns around from the stove and smiles, "How's Kat?"

"She's just fine. Thanks for asking!"

All three of their annoying children come bustling into the kitchen, chasing one another, screaming at the top of their lungs, "COME BACK HERE YOU MEANIE!" Mateo screams. Rufus just cackles and speeds up even more, almost knocking Cyrus down in the process.

"I don't know how long I can do this." He says wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

"CONTROL YOUR DAMN KIDS." Eleanor yells to the living room.

"CONTROL YOUR DAMN MOUTH." Dad shouts back.

"OH YEAH? WELL FU-" I clasp my hand over her mouth before she could finish her sentence.

"You have to calm down, okay?" She looks at me through her eyebrows, "It's only for a few days."

...

A few days turned into a few weeks. For the next couple of days all three of us were annoyed out of our minds. Mateo and Rufus both had to sleep in my room. They fussed all night about having to sleep on the floor. Charlotte apparently wasn't much better. Eleanor says she wrecked half of her belongings within the time span of thirty minutes. No matter how many times we told Dad to control his kids nothing changed. His girlfriend didn't do much either.

"We are never having kids." Cyrus said one night.

"Definitely."
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