The Four Sisters

Chapter 15

     All the girls were sitting in the living room and cuddled on the couch as they talked about their new year plans. Rose and Parker were going to a club, Victoria was going to a friend's house where they were going to play board games and watch movies, and Charlotte asked if she could have all of her friends over for a small party at the Victorian. Victoria and Spencer both agreed Charlotte could as long as it was only a few people as they didn't want a full house.

  "Are you going out?" Charlotte asked Spencer.

  "I haven't decided," Spencer said as she sat with a blanket up to her chin. "Erica and Mandy are just going to a bar so I might go with them, but it's so cold I might just stay in."

  "Well, you can hang out with us," Charlotte said to Spencer.

  "Thanks," Spencer said with a smile. "I'm sure you guys don't want me around though."

  "Is Henry going to come to your small shindig?" Parker asked Charlotte and wiggled her eyebrows. "He's going to be back in town tomorrow morning."

  "I texted him, and he said he'd try to stop in," Charlotte said happily; her long red hair in pigtails making her look even younger than normal.

  Rose's phone suddenly rang. She almost dropped it as she saw the name.

  "It's Martha," Rose said as she scrambled off the couch; in her red plaid pajamas that matched Parker's green – a gift from Charlotte. "Holy shit!"

  "What do I say?" She asked the girls on the couch.

  "You ask her all of your questions!" Parker laughed. "They're in your office."

  "I'm scared!" Rose admitted, but she finally answered it. Her hand was shaking. "Hello – yes, this is Rose. Thank you so much for calling me back."

  Rose was listening. "Yes, I understand. It sounds like you had a lovely vacation. Um, do you mind if I ask you some questions? I have so many. You're welcome to ask any to me as well. You really wouldn't mind? Great! Let me get my list!"

  So Rose went into her office, and Parker stopped Charlotte as she started to get up to follow.

  "Let Rose work," Parker said easily. "This is her job. She needs to concentrate. She'll tell us about it later."

  "I can't believe she's talking to our aunt," Charlotte said as she sat back down; looking disappointed. "You know, it's just... weird that we have no family. My friends are always talking about their cousins and nephews and stuff like that, and then it's just... us. The four of us and no one else."

  "We're a family," Parker said simply. "It's just smaller than most."

  "Exactly!" Victoria agreed with a grateful look to her younger sister.

  "... It's still weird," Charlotte said softly.

  "Who wants to be normal?" Parker demanded. "Normal is boring." 

  "Normal doesn't exist anyway," Spencer said easily. "All families have their own issues."

    "We don't even have family to have issues with," Charlotte said as she picked the blue nail polish off her fingers. "Our life was so weird I couldn't even bring friends home for years, and I always have to explain why I don't have parents."

  Spencer tried not to be hurt by this. She knew Charlotte was just a kid, and she didn't quite understand how hard it was for Spencer to just keep them alive and fed. Charlotte wanted to be like all of her friends and fit in though. There was nothing wrong with it. Spencer tried to keep her own feelings out of it, but she couldn't help but feel a slight sting of rejection whenever Charlotte laminated over the life they should have had.