Forevermore

Spaghetti

Walking up to the door is one of the scariest moments of my life. Probably exaggerating, but it feels like my heart is going to explode out of my chest any second now. I don't know what's gonna happen when we walk in, I'm not used to meeting new people, let alone a whole other family I had no idea existed until 4 days ago. What if they planned a surprise party? Vada would be happy about that, not me. What if they're disappointed with how I look or act? My thoughts begin to consume me, until my mom squeezes through us, getting her keys out. It's then that I realize they have a dog, who's barking at us currently like it's the end of the world. It feels like it's slow motion once the door opens, I see the source of the barking, a cute golden colored dog who's sniffing me and vada as we enter, licking us aggressively to let us know that this is his house first.
"This is waffles, Daniel named him. He's super nice once he gets used to you, don't worry." She says, petting waffles head as he continues to question our presence.
She sets her purse and keys down with a sigh, then her suitcase. Me and vada do the same, copying her every move as we move through this unknown house.
I don't know how vada is so calm right now, but I'm internally freaking out big time. After taking our shoes off and waffles beginning to lick us once more, we follow my mom into the kitchen, where the lights greet us warmly. The kitchen is to the right, a huge counter island with chairs, and a fancy fridge with a screen. To the left, there's the living room with a giant tv and an L shaped couch, and a dining table is in the middle. She sets her purse down, inviting us to eat whatever we please. I look around at all the school pictures, family photos, that we've never had.
Because this isn't your house. They don't want you.
"I'll get started on some spaghetti soon, i told Daniel and Ryder to wait in their rooms until you guys see your rooms, and Rene will be home by 8 after work. Sounds good?" Vada nods, and I try to push the bad thoughts away. My stomach is hurting, but I continue to pet waffles while i process the house im in.

She leads us back to the front door, where the stairs also are. As we go up, my stomach is twisting and turning at how pretty this house is, and I can hear slight talking from one room. She shows us where the bathrooms are, before opening a door to a big room with a beautiful big window. There's so much room in here, that even the closet gets its own door to walk in. Then she leads us to the room near the end of the hall, which is a little bigger, but the closet is on the other side and there's another door leading somewhere.
"This room is a little bigger, and has its own bathroom aswell. Which room do you guys want?" She turns around, smiling and waiting for our answers.
"There's also another spare room in the basement, but I was planning on turning that into an office space. Do you wanna see it?" She begins to turn back into the hallway, but my sister stops her.

"I really like the first one, uh.. mom?" Vada laughs nervously waiting to be made fun of, but mom just seems happy she called her that.
"Of course honey, we didn't put the mattresses out yet but we can do that after dinner, I can't do it by myself haha" she looks toward me, before she tells us she's going to start dinner. Me and Vada both talk about how big our rooms are, and unpack our suitcases in our rooms. It feels so surreal I'm sitting in a house this big, with a family I just met, and the others I'm about to meet. Giving myself a pep talk, I force myself out of my room after I over analyze every part of me.

By the time we're walking downstairs, I can hear mom talking to someone, and it makes me nervous. Meeting new people is never a fun time. I push vada to walk in front of me, so I can prepare the utter disappointment of finding out I'm their long lost sister. My palms are sweaty, I can feel my face getting hot.

As soon as we enter the doorway, I notice 2 guys sitting at the kitchen counter. One has dark hair, and dark eyes. He's tall, and he has a nose piercing, like my mom. He stands up first, coming over to hug me. The second, has lighter brown hair, and blue eyes. He looks as nervous as I feel and waves at me.
"Im Ryder, it's really nice to finally meet my only sister haha" he looks to the floor, then at my mom for security.
"Roxie, you look a lot like mom" he smiles, before hugging vada and introducing himself to her. Daniel mutters hello, before mom tells him to not be scared. He gets up and hugs both me and vada, and you can tell he's nervous about it. Vada begins to bring Daniel out of his shell a little, and we all begin talking about a lot. I feel like they're both looking at me, and that scares me that maybe I'm not what they thought of when they heard about me. However it is weird hearing everyone talk about their days, school, friends like normal. Monica never bothered to ask us about anything, or say what she did.
During dinner, mom is the only one trying to keep conversation going, Ryder is the only one who keeps talking. He tells us about his friends, some school stuff, and things we could do together for the summer. It feels like eternity of everyone staring at me like I'm some sort of alien. Vada however, keeps shoveling food into her mouth like she's never eaten before; where as I feel awkward to even pick up my fork.