Run-Away Little Sister: Hurting

Chapter Ten: Surprise

ANASTASIA'S POV:

Surprise.

A feeling caused by something unexpected or unusual.

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The death of my biological parents, Courtney and Dylan Smith, was a surprise. The abuse that followed was a surprise. The finding of a second family was a surprise. The death of my adoptive parents, Alexandria and Miles Wolp, was a surprise. The finding out of my adoptive parents leaving everything to me, was a surprise.

Everything lately has been a surprise, but I just can't find it in me to give up or take a moment to grieve my losses. My group and I: Luke, Wyatt, Max, Layla, Jamie, Kayla, and myself, all got emancipations. Emancipations allow us all to live without being put into foster care, and from there I was able to put my baby siblings, Courtney and Dylan, into my care.

The emancipations took a few months to go through the court system, and then it took a couple more weeks to get custody of my little siblings. But now after seventeen long weeks, all of us now legally live by ourselves in our mansion (that we used to live in with our parents), along with Courtney and Dylan.

And being able to live with the people I consider family is worth every second I spent fighting for my freedom.

Seventeen weeks is around four months and a quarter months. We spent over four months fighting for our own freedom to continue living our lives as they were. 

Instead of grieving, instead of finding the person who order my parents dead, instead of being together, we were all apart and fighting for the freedom to be together.

The systems our country have in place are messed up.

I shouldn't have to fight to be with my family.

But now, none of that matters. We've started late, but I have the group looking for clues as to who on earth ordered the kills on our parents. I, on the other hand, am stuck with the responsibilities of being the gang leader to 'The White Wolves', as my dad (Miles) named his gang. I was also pushed into becoming the different companies owners/CEO's.  Mostly importantly, I have to become mom and sister to my younger siblings. 

It's my job now to feed, change, wash, dress, give attention, and love my baby siblings. I have to be their mother/father/sister all rolled into one. It's not fair to them, but I know that I made the right decision keeping them with me.

They'll never be alone in life, and in the end that's the only thing that matters. 

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Time Skip - July 2014

It's been almost a month of having full custody of my baby siblings, almost a month of being out of school for the summer. It's been almost seven months of having every single responsibility fall on my shoulders as I don't feel the emotions I've wanted to feel for months.

Everyone else has broken down, I'm not allowed to.

Jamie watched her father die. Layla watched her father die, while Kayla watched her uncle die. Luke, Wyatt, and Max watched my parents die, their aunt and uncle. They need to grieve and someone needs to be there for them, someone needs to not fall apart. 

Yes, I watched my uncle die, but at the end of the day I'm the boss. I need to be the mature one, I need to be the one who can get through anything.

And even if it kills me, I need to hang on for just a little while longer.

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Sitting on the small couch in my room, I scroll through my cell-phone. It's seven in the morning and the twins will be up any minute. I've been showered and dressed for the past hour, waiting for them to wake up.