The family's baby

Chapter 39

*Grace's P.O.V*

"Is Elena coming?" I ask curiously as I go back to get a plate for Elena's spot, hoping to change the subject. I set it down at her spot before turning to look at Mom.

"Yes," Mom says as she finishes making the salad. I walk over to see what else she has made, considering the idea of stealing a bite.

"Why?" I ask as I reach to look into a pot on the stove, frowning when Mom swats my hand away. What was the point of living in this home if I didn't get to taste everything before it was served?

"Because it is a family meal and she is family," Mom rolls her eyes at my question.

"Elena is a bully, why must you invite her?" I ask as I lean against the counter.

"What are you talking about? Elena does not bully you. She cares about you a lot," Mom says as she looks at me, curiosity in her gaze.

"Her and Za are going to tease me about calling you mommy on the phone call we had a few days ago. It's probably the only reason she is coming," I whine with a frown on my lips. I just knew my older sisters being together would not be good for me. They would be relentless in their teasing.

"I doubt they will say much. Besides, it was rather adorable," Mom says with a small smile, making me roll my eyes. It was not adorable, it was embarrassing and I couldn't believe she would say otherwise. I was too old to be calling her mommy. At least when other people could hear it! I see her narrow her eyes when she sees me roll my eyes but before she can speak, the garage door swings open.

"Nana," the excited voice of my three year old niece echos through the house and she runs straight to Mom, hugging Mom's leg.

"You shouldn't run in the kitchen," Mom says as she lifts Jazmin up, covering her face in kisses. Jazmin giggles as she wiggles in Mom's hold. This is the first time I've seen her in a couple of months, nearly a full year so she has gotten taller.

Her hair was pulled into afro puffs with two bows tied near her scalp. She is wearing a white and pink romper that she looks absolutely adorable in. I am snapped out of my thoughts of how cute her outfit is by Mom talking.

"Did you pick this outfit out all by yourself?" Mom asks Jazmin.

"Yeah, Daddy helped," Jazmin says with a smile on her lips.

"Did he now?" Mom asks as she looks at the kitchen entrance as Zahira comes in.

"I turn around for one second to talk to Dad and she runs off to see her nana," Zahira gripes with a small smile on her lips.

"Your conversation was probably very boring so of course she left," I chime in, making Zahira roll her eyes as she looks at me. My voice also catches Jazmin's attention and she looks at me curiously as if she only now realized I was here too.

"I think I should ban you from hanging out with Auntie Gracie, she will probably get you into loads of trouble with all her bad habits," Zahira says to Jazmin.

"I would never," I say as I put my hand over my heart, doing my best to look wounded by her words. That makes Jazmin giggle, clearly amused by my acting. Or maybe she was amused because her mother was bullying me. I preferred the first option so that was what we are going with.

"Hello all," Elena says as she enters the kitchen through a different door. I turn to look at her, confused on how she got in since the front door was usually locked. It wasn't like our parents to leave it unlocked, ever.

"How did you get in the house?" Mom asks before I get the chance to. Apparently, my mom didn't think Elena came in through the front door either. Which just gave me another reason to question how she got in the house.

"I used the door," Dad says as he comes in through the garage door, clearly knowing that mom wasn't talking to him because she wasn't even looking in his direction.

"I wasn't talking to you, Matias," Mom says and I can't help myself after that.

"Someone is in trou~ble," I say as I stick my tongue out at Dad. Mom only called him by his first name like that when she was being serious.

"I'm just going to take my granddaughter and run. She doesn't need to see what's about to happen," Dad says as he walks over, taking Jazmin out of Mom's arms. He throws Jazmin over his shoulder, spinning her around. She burst into giggles.

"Don't do that to my baby," Zahira says, sounding exasperated.

"It's fun Mommy," Jazmin squeals when Dad acts like he's going to drop her, clinging to his shirt. My attention turns to the much more interesting conversation that Mom and Elena are having.

"I used the window," Elena says as she runs her fingers through her hair, sitting on the edge of the counter.

"Get off my counter and what window?" Mom asks as Elena sighs, pushing herself off the counter and turning to face mom, resting her elbows on the counter

"My old bedroom window. It's always unlocked, how else would I get in?" Elena asks, a small smirk on her lips. "I mean it's what the window is meant for. It's right next to the trellis and it's easy to climb down," she states, making me give her a look. Was she crazy? Telling mom about going out the window would end up with it locked for sure.

"Climb down? What do you mean climb down? Have you used that window for sneaking out?" Mom asks, sounding slightly upset. I say slightly but even her showing that she was upset meant that we were going to be in big trouble. I say we because all of us had used that window.

"I meant climb up," Elena tries to correct herself but her lie sounds false even to me. I facepalm, freezing when Mom turns her attention to me.

"I didn't do anything, leave me out of this," I say as I step back, trying to hide behind Zahira. Zahira doesn't seem to realize what is going on because she glances at me with confusion.

"What are you doing?" Zahira asks, the confusion in her voice making me shake my head.

"Grace, were your sisters using the window to sneak out?" Mom asks and I hide behind Zahira, slowly moving in circles while using Zahira as a shield when Mom tries to look at me.

"I can't answer your question," is all I manage to mutter, squeaking when she tries to move around Zahira to grab me. I move to hide behind Dad and Jazmin, standing on my tippy toes and pulling his shoulder down slightly to look at Mom.

"Grace!" Mom's voice is scolding so I do the smartest thing ever.

"I'm the youngest, stop being mean to me. Ask Zahira," I say, a slight whine slipping into my voice as I try to throw the attention to Zahira.

"What the hell Grace?" Zahira asks, sounding exasperated and upset. It wasn't my fault that Mom knew, Elena had been the one to slip up in the first place.

"You have your own house, I have to live here," I point out as I stay hidden behind Dad.

"So it would be safe for your mother and I to assume that all three of you have used the window to sneak out?" Dad asks as he turns his head to look at me.

"I wouldn't say that you should assume that," I inform him as I slowly slink away, trying to dart past Mom. She grabs my arm before I can get fully past her and I curse my luck.

"You are not going anywhere," Mom says, making me whine as I think about throwing myself down on the floor to try and escape her hold. I decide not to do that, at least not yet. I will save it as a last resort to escape her terrible hold.

"So who wants to start explaining how they snuck out?" Dad asks and I give him a look of betrayal. He knows that we're going to turn on each other, we always do. Just like I thought, Elena is the first to betray us.