Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Four Brothers, but I do own the other characters that will come in.
"What's your name kid?" Bobby asked after I had finally calmed down.
"I'm Shannon Peters," I told him, still half-afraid.
"No," Bobby told me sternly. "Not Peters. You're Shannon Mercer now. And we're your uncles. I'm Bobby, the fairy holding you is Cracker Jack, the bald jarhead I Angel, and the black Saint of Detroit is Jerry. Oh yeah, and, that, over there, is La vida loca, Angel's girl."
"Come on Bobby, back off my girl," Angel warned before turning to me. "Her name is really Sofi."
"You're welcome in this family," Jerry assured me with an open and kind smile.
"Where you from Shannon?" Angel asked drawing Sofi onto his lap.
"I used to live in Great Falls. It's one of the bigger cities in Montana."
"Damn kiddo!" Bobby said looking at me in surprise. "You came a long way alone. You got anyone back there?"
"No one I'd call family," I spat bitterly. There was no home for me back in Montana and that made me a little sad.
"What about your mom and dad? Don't you have any?" Angel asked me curiously.
"Naw, mom died about two weeks back. I stayed long enough for the funeral and then I booked it. And…I'd really rather not talk about my father." I added in a hushed and slightly fearful voice.
"He the reason you were scared of me?" Bobby demanded almost instantly, I looked up at him, caught between fright and anger.
"Bobby!" The other four yelled, glaring at him.
"Maybe someday I'll tell you all about Uncle Bobby. Just…please…don't ask me now." I begged.
"Yeah, yeah, I won't," Bobby promised half-heartedly.
"How old are you Shannon?" Jerry asked, breaking the tension.
"I'm fifteen, but I'm gonna be turning sixteen in a week." I informed them.
"One week!" Jack exclaimed. "That's not much time. We'll have to throw something together real quick."
"Yeah, we'll have Evan and his family and maybe some of Camille's family." Jerry began listing people they could invite for a party.
"My family would love to help," Sofi assured Jerry.
"Not more of you," Bobby moaned.
"Shut up Bobby!" Sofi snapped back.
"Uh…guys…please…you really don't have to. It doesn't matter. I promise." I tried to explain to them.
"No way are we not giving you a proper Mercer birthday party." Bobby shot me down. "I don't care what you did or didn't do back where you're from. You're a Mercer now, and we take care of our own."
"You can take my old room," Bobby told me as he helped me move my bags upstairs. "I'll start moving my stuff out so you can decorate it however you want. We'll call up the school tomorrow to see when it starts back in. You got any transcripts?"
"Um yeah, just give me a second," I put my backpack onto the bed in Bobby's old room and dug in it until I pulled out my transcripts. "Grabbed 'em before I skipped town."
"Alright, alright," Bobby muttered looking them over. "Not bad kiddo. Who knew the Mercers had a genius in the family." Bobby said affectionately mussing my hair. I pulled away, caught between hesitation and fear.
Bobby sighed and sat on the bed. He patted the spot next to him and I sat down. Bobby put his arm around my shoulder. "Look kiddo, I 'm sorry if I scared you back there. I can be a jackass sometimes, I know. But I won't ever hurt you. I promise you that. And anyone who messes with you, is going to have to deal with Bobby Mercer."
"You don't have to pretend for me. I know what it's like to be alone, I can handle I swear." I said looking up at him.
"Who says any of us are pretending," Jack, Angel, and Jerry had come upstairs and were standing in the doorway.
"You're a Mercer baby girl, but more importantly, you're family. This is your home and we ain't letting you go for the world." Angel told me as he and my other uncles surrounded me. As they wrapped their arms protectively around me, I cried. I cried for what I had been missing all these years. I cried for the grandmother I had never known. I cried just to be clean again.
The next morning, it was Bobby who signed me up for classes at the high school. "I'll pick you up after school baby girl," He promised as he got back in his car. "I'll expect a full and detailed report of how your day went." That made me smile as I watched him drive away.
The school was big and I felt very, very lost inside of it. I had never been a place this large before. I was from Montana. We didn't have schools like this where I came from. "You new here?" Someone asked from behind me.
I spun around to see a tall white guy with curly blonde hair and green eyes. "Um…yeah, actually," I admitted embarrassed.
"It's okay, nothing to worry about." He assured me. "Everyone gets lost on his or her first day. This place has no rhyme or reason to it at all. Now let's see, where you gotta go first?" He asked. I showed him my schedule and he smiled. "English with Mr. Thornton, you're right next to my first class. Come on, I'll show you the way." As we walked down the halls the boy spoke up again. "By the way, my name's Kyle Guthrie, what about you?"
"My name' Shannon…Shannon Mercer."
Kyle took me by surprise and laughed. "So we have another Mercer, eh? You're family has quite the reputation as a bunch of bad bays, hustlers, and mean hockey players."
"I don't know, my uncle's seem alright to me." I told him biting my lip nervously.
Kyle just shrugged. "Who knows you might be right. I've never met them. All I know is that whenever things go wrong, the cops always look for a way to pin it on the Mercers. Ah, here you are: Mr. Thornton's room. I hope to see you around Shannon."
"Thanks for helping me Kyle," I said before walking into the classroom.