Alex Meets the Starbrights

The Big Sister

Jack's POV

"Alex why don't you go get washed up? I'll help my parents finish up." Jack asked as they entered the house, ready for dinner.

"Alright"

Jack continued to the kitchen in the back of the house, and Alex took a left towards the bathroom.

"Hi, honey, the Chicken is almost ready. Mind helping your father set the table?" Her mom, Victoria, said from the kitchen area, gesturing towards the table on the other side of the room that her father was currently putting placemats on.

"Of Course" Jack said, picking up the pile of silverware and plates on the counter.

"So, Jackie, What's this boy's story? I know he's an orphan, but there's something else, isn't there?" her father, Don, asked, braving the question on both of the parent's minds.

"Well, his parents died in a plane...crash when he was a baby. His uncle took care of him after that. When Alex was 7, his uncle, Ian, hired me to look after him while he was away...for work. About a year and a half ago, that march, Ian died in a car crash, leaving me with him." Jack said simply, hoping to satisfy her parents curiosity.

"But there's more to it, isn't there?" 

Another scilence

"Yes...but that's Alex's to tell..or not tell. You can ask him about his Uncle, but, please don't push him too much. There are some things he doesn't like to talk about." she said, keeping her promise to Alex. 

"Alright, I get that, but..." Don started, and paused.

"But what, Don?" Jack's mom said from behind the kitchen counter, where she was listening from.

"Its just...I never would have thought a kid would have, as Jackie says, things he doesn't want to talk about"  

A few seconds later, Alex came into the room, and took a seat at the table. Victoria brought the food over and the four took their share. 

"So, Alex. Jackie tells us you grew up with your uncle. What was that like?"  Don asked, trying to ease into the topic.

"It was....interesting. We where always traveling, which was fun, I guess. I learned a couple languages that way."

"Really? How many?"

"Along with English, I know Spanish and French well, a bit of German,Italian, and Japanese. I guess I can recognize Russian and arabic well."

"Thats a good list." Don said, seeming surprised. 

"I guess so. We would do all sorts of stuff on trips. skiing and snowboarding, diving, climbing, and other stuff. he also signed me up for football, or soccer, and karate when I was little."

"He liked to keep his boy active, ay?" 

"ya. Thats one way to look at it." Alex said, getting quieter.

"So, What time is everyone getting here tomorrow?" Jack said, trying to change the subject.  

Alex's POV 

Next day, 11:30 Am

Alex was in Jack's old room when he heard people coming in. 

"Alex, I know you can hear them. Come and meet my sister!" Jack yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Coming!" he said, then made his way downstairs. 

"And you must be Alex! I cant believe I'm finally meeting you!" A women said as he came down the stairs. 

"HI. You must be Brooke?" he asked, remembering the names Jack had told him.

"Yep! This is Jake, my husband, and our kids, Claire, George, and Luke." she said, pointing to the appropriate person. 

"Nice to meet ya, kid." Jake said, shaking Alex's hand.

"Are you our new cousin?" one of the boys, George, asked.

"I guess so." Alex told the kid

"But aunt Jack isn't your mom. Why don't you live with your mom or dad?" The other boy, Luke asked.

"Luke, what did I tell you? You don't ask questions like that!" Brooke told her son. 

"Its alright, Brooke." Alex told the angry mother, not wanting the boy to get in trouble for curiosity. He looked back down at the 8 year old twins. "Well, my mom and dad where in a plane accident when I was a baby."

"Oh. Sorry." Luke said, looking at the ground. 

"Its ok."

"HI, Alex, Im Claire! Im 11, and my little brothers are 7." A brown hared girl said from behind her brothers. 

"Hi, Claire. Nice to meet you." He said, offering a hand shake with a small smile. From her proud and confident stance, Alex already could tell he seemed like a girl that wants to be older than she is. She shook his hand quickly.

Brooke spoke again. "Alright, now let's all put our bags in our rooms. We gotta get ready before everyone else gets here." she said, leading her family upstairs. 

That didn't go too bad, Alex thought, followed by I just hope the older kids are just as nice.