Connected: Family, Together, Forever

-Chapter 4-

"You won't care," I mumble sadly, looking down at the floor.
He gently lifted my chin. "Charlie, you're my sister. I'll always care about you, and whatever you have to say. Now tell me, what's the matter?"

I sigh. "I feel like you won't love me anymore because you have Savannah now," I admit.
His expression immediately softened, and he looked at me with sad eyes. "Sweetheart, why would you feel like that?"

I shrug.

"Look, I know that her being here is a big change, but there's no way it could change how much I love you, Charlie. You mean the world to me, no matter what happens." He said, kissing my forehead. "Don't you like her?"

"I do, I guess," I mutter. "I don't her well enough to dislike her."

"Well, please try and get to know her, okay? I feel like you two will get along really well, if you try. You don't need to be best friends, but you're not going to be rude to her anymore." Mark says firmly. I nod, "I won't be rude,"

"Good," he says, satisfied. "As I was saying, be ready by 10, okay?"
"Yes dad, I will."

Savannah's POV

The past few weeks have been... interesting to stay the least. Charlotte still didn't seem to like me very much. She wasn't rude, she didn't yell at me, she was just very guarded. I'd see her laughing and playing with Lily, then stop the second I got there. It started to upset me. She seemed sweet, I wanted to get to know her.

I've gotten more comfortable with Mark. He still intimidated me, but he seemed nice and caring. I felt a bit scared around him after he had spanked one of the kids, but he'd always reassure me after.

Lily likes me. I think that helped me settle in a lot quicker. Her childlike innocence and happiness always removed any awkwardness in the room. I played with her a lot, but I made sure not to interfere when her and Charlie were spending time together. Mark told me that even thought Charlie wasn't thrilled she had to share a room with a 6 year old, she loved her to bits. I can definitely see that.

Me and Ethan have bonded, too. Mark wasn't a very talky person, so Ethan told me a lot about their family history. He was in his room a lot, and since I didn't feel comfortable enough barging in, we'd usually hang out together when he was cooking. It was really fun, having someone to talk to. He'd tell me stories about the family, about mark, and about the girls.
One day I asked him something that'd been bothering me since I got here.

"Can I ask you something?" I blurt out, after he told me about the time Charlie almost burnt the house down.

"Ask away," He says, putting some cling film over a bowl of dough.

"Mark said your dad was never in the picture. But how are you all full siblings, then?" I ask.
"Oh. Well that obviously wasn't entirely true," He says. "Do you want the long version, or the short version?" He asks.

"The long version. I'm willing to listen," I say, truthfully.

He nods. "Well, my mom and Daniel were apparently high school sweethearts, and everything was fine when Mark was born," Ethan says.

"The complications started when I was born. Daniel never really wanted kids. He tolerated Mark, but that was it. He got worse when I was born. He didn't like how busy mom was. He wanted most of her attention, and he obviously can't get that when her hands were full with two kids. Daniel was immature. Mom was great, though. She and dad fought a lot because he'd never try to take care or spend time with us. He'd work a lot, and we had good money. But If he had free time, he'd want to spend it with mom, and mom only. If she was busy with us, he'd hate it." Ethan tells me, shaking his head.