Most of the guests had already left, some had to fly out and others drove off to their homes in Florida. I was respectful and stood near the door with Joe, trying to be more social and courteous to this family. Regardless if I wasn't apart of it technically, I wanted to be kind to the people that allowed me to stay with them.

Dwayne, of course, proceeded to hug me until I tapped out. Joe taught me what a tap out was, a term that was used to say that I surrender in the submission hold. For all I did know, he was trying to make me submit, even if it was as simple as a hug from him. So, in the end, I had to pat his shoulder, squeaking as I did so.

"I wish he would give me those hugs again." Dwaynes wife, Dany, said as she held her daughter Simone in her arms.

The little girl smiled at me after her Dad put me back on solid ground.

"Don't worry there will be plenty more of that coming for you." He winked at her.

"That wasn't a pleasing innuendo or insinuation to hear." I stated stepping back from Dwayne. "Have a nice flight out."

"Thanks. I hope we get to see you again for Christmas this year." Dany said, giving me a one armed hug.

I patted Simone on her head, blowing the little girl a kiss. She was still smiling when they left.

"Come on, Boys, time to go." Solofa called out to his four boys.

His wife smiled nicely at me as she left, leaving me to defend myself against the man known as Rikishi.

I watched as Joshua and Jonathan approach with their younger brothers, whom I didn't get introduced to. The two younger ones left with their things, not even looking at the oddly placed white girl standing at the door. Joshua, did however give me a nod.

"Maybe we will see each other again." He said.

"Maybe. Oh no." I didn't get a chance to protect myself as Solofa proceeded to drag me into a bone crushing hug. "Not again."

"I think she's gotten a bruised back." Joe said, smirking. "After today, I'm sure she will."

"You stay safe, little cous." Solofa said, clapping a hand on my shoulder a couple of times. "I hope to see you this Christmas, Annie." That was coming from a man I didn't know so much about.

Jonathan didn't say much to me.

Others left soon after Solofa and family did. But still, to be called Little Cous was like a title or something with these people. Others started calling my little cous, not that I had an issue with that, regardless that I wasn't a cousin but I would admit to being little. Even Myrtitza as a thirteen year old Freshman was taller than me.

Later on that night I tried to help clean up, you know, to be more nice. But as I was bringing some used plates into the kitchen to throw into the trash, Ms. Patricia stopped me.

"Oh honey, you don't need to do that. This is your first night with us, I don't really think you should be doing something like this." She said taking the plates from me.

"It's okay, Ms. Patricia. I don't mind. I want to help."

"You can help by unpacking your things and putting your cloths into the dresser." She motioned me to head off. "I think the girls and I got the cleaning part down in here."

Vanessa and Summer glared at me. They were standing at the sink washing some of the cookware, Myritza was just on her way outside to pick up more plates. She was the one that smiled at me.

"Go ahead, Annie, you had one heck of a day today." Myritza said.

I was going to object but I figured Ms. Patricia would tell me the same thing. Sighing I turned to leave. But I wasn't really out of ear shot down the hall when Vanessa spoke up.

"Why can't she help?" The older teen asked.

"Because, well, it's her first day and I don't think she needs to do anything." I heard Ms. Patricia say as she and Vanessa were in the kitchen.

Sika and Joe were outside, I think they were cleaning the pig barbecuer or something like that. At least I had helped by picking up the paper plates and putting them in the trash before Patricia stopped me.

"Annella, Annella, Annella, I don't understand what's so special about her? She comes in here and wrecks the balance we have that we have going on."

"I know this seems difficult for you Vanessa..."

"Difficult, Mom, we don't know her. Yeah, she may have gotten publish, won some sort of door prize or whatever, but we don't know her. She could be a thief for all we know."

"She's never been in trouble, Vanessa." I could hear the tone in Patricia's voice changing. She dropped a few octaves or something like that when she spoke.

"But she ruined our lives." Summer added.

I sighed, looked down at my feet before walking away from the kitchen doorway. Well, there you have it, I was not welcomed in this house by anyone else. Well that wasn't true.

Only just getting up to the top of the stairs, I heard Joe call out to me from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, want to head out?"

"Head out where?" I asked, stepping down a few steps.

"To the beach. I just asked my mom if we could hang out there until we have to come in for the night."

"When is curfew?"

"We have to be indoors at ten. Come on, I want to show you a great place." Joe turned and disappeared around the corner of the hall that went towards the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath, I followed behind the other teen. Okay, maybe this wasn't about being nice anymore. Or maybe it was. But just the same, I was curious about what Joe was talking about. As I headed into the kitchen, Vanessa was heading out of it. And she slammed right into my shoulder, practically shoving me into the door jam.

"Vanessa Marie!" Patricia scolded the girl.

"Maybe she shouldn't take up the entire doorway like she owned the place. Oh that's right, she does." And before anyone could respond, she left, stomping down the hall and then up the stairs. I'm sure she was heading up to her room.

"Annie, I'm so sorry." Patricia said, sighing and running a hand over her hair. "I thought she would understand."

I bet Vanessa felt threatened with me being there. I mean, her parents did buy me that new laptop. I guess I was getting all of the attention and affection when she wanted it. Maybe a big family wasn't all that glamorous as I had thought.

"It's no big deal, Ms. Patricia." I said as I headed to the back door. "We'll be back soon. Joe wants to show me the beach."

"All right but you know curfew is at ten, right. You need to be in the house before then." She didn't say that to me, she said that to Joe.

"Yes, Mom, I know. Come on, Annie." Joe went out the back door first, I followed and closed it behind me. "Have you ever been to a beach before?"

"Beaches were my escape from some of the homes I was in. I like to go out there and just sit down and write notes, write my thoughts out or whatever." I told Joe when we were walking out across the backyard.

I fell into step along side Joe. He could easily out walk me at a simple pace. I took like three steps to his one. And he was the smart one, with where the beach was located on the Gulf of Mexico, there was a wind the blew in from it. I shoved my hands in my pockets, trying to keep the cool air out of my system as the two of us headed towards the high tide mark. The gulls were flying up and around, walking around us. It wasn't the turtle nesting season, I wasn't even sure if there were turtles in the gulf at this time. And we weren't that far from the Alabama border. Some would say that we were a stone's throw from the border, but at this point I think I would rather enjoy throwing stones into the surf.

"Have you ever gone out for a night swim?" Joe asked after we stood watching the sun finally set behind the horizon.

"Are you kidding, I have read and watched Jaws. I know sharks are more active at night and in early mornings. I also know that Bull sharks are more dangerous than a great white, regardless of the size between the two."

"You know a lot about sharks." It wasn't a question, more like a statement.

I shook my head and laughed. "There was a story I wrote, somewhere along the lines of Jaws and Pumpkinhead put together. I wrote a short story for school once called The Rookin."

"Roo-kin? What's that?"

"Essentially it is a mythological shark that lives in the Mississippi River, mainly near New Orleans because it is positioned right on the ocean. Well some local believe it to be a monstrous shark the attacks boats, sinks them in one bite to the hull. There are legends about bayous being haunted, what with talk of voodoo and whatnot around those parts. So I did a story centered on the Rookin, who was summoned by a voodoo priestess, or something like that. I still have the rough draft copy."

"I would like to read it some time. There is a lot of supernatural beliefs about sharks in Hawaii, in the traditional tales at least. Dad talks about them all the time. Tries to instill a sense of heritage with us."

"It's good to know where you came from so you know where you're going. I heard that quote somewhere. I don't know where though."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You know, with being in a wrestling family almost everyone is expected to be a wrestler, well some of the guys at least. It's not mandatory that we do it, you know, but it's a tradition of sorts."

He gave me a worried expression, as if he said something wrong.

"If you think you're bringing me down with talking about being in a famous family like yours, don't be. I'm just the white girl without a home, you know."

"Have you ever wondered why your parents dumped you off when you were two?"

"Not really, some times sure but I've come to sort of accept this life. Being a foster kid is kind of better than trying to live off the streets."

Joe was a good guy, I could see it straight off. He was nice, but then again caution played a pivotal part in my life. I knew if I grew attached to this family and how nice they were to me then it would be harder for me to leave them in the end.

"So you want to be a writer, don't you?" Joe finally asked as we stood with our shoes in our hands and ankle deep in the ocean water.

"Yeah."

"How did you get interested in writing in the first place?"

"I can be free when I write. I can be who I want, say what I want and not have anyone tell me that it is right or wrong. This came about during my first not so good home, I think I was ten or so. When I couldn't take the yelling, I would shut myself away and start writing little stories to occupy my brain. And then writing became a fundamental part of my life, where I control the pieces."

"Oh, I see."

I glanced at the guy. "You don't understand do you?"

"Writing isn't really my thing. My thing is working out and playing football for school. I plan on going to Georgia Tech and play for that college team. My personal goal, I want to got into the NFL and if that doesn't pan out then I might just go into wrestling like my dad has done, even my brother."

There was so much we could talk about, but most of that would be too personal for me.

"So, are you going to school after Thanksgiving break?" Joe asked, apparently seeing the unsure look on my face.

"I think so, I'll have to ask your parents or they might just keep me out of it until I find a new home."

"I think you should go to school."

"Why, so you can keep an eye on me?" I tried to joke.

"Yeah, so that my sister doesn't try to mess with you at home."

Ah yes, Vanessa would take that as favoritism or something like that. She was forced to go to school while I got to stay home and do whatever it was that I wanted. Yeah, that didn't sound fair at all. Maybe she would start something. And from what I had seen today, it was not so good.

"What is school like for you?" I asked. "You said you're on the football team. What's that like?"

"Well, it's good. I'm a defensive linebacker, I prevent the opposing team from trying to make a touchdown."

I stared at him blankly.

"Okay, so you don't know sports." That was another statement.

"My participation has always been slim, almost always for PE." I started kicking up the cool water, colder than what I thought it would be. "What's Christmas like for your family?"

"Just another big gathering like this. Don't worry, we only open presents as a family. Everyone sort of trickles in from afar later in the day. Some stay in nearby hotels for a few days or whatever."

"Some of your family doesn't seem to like me very much."

"The Twins are dip-shits any way you look at it. I think Joshua was trying to be nice though. As for everyone else, I think they warmed up to you when you saw them out." He said looking down at his feet.

I wouldn't admit it but Joe had large feet. Of course this was coming from me. His hair shifted as the wind started blowing in from the south. My own shoulder length hair seemed to be flying around on its own accord.

"We should probably head in. It's getting sort of chilly." Joe said, looking down at me.

"Sure, I guess so."

After we got back inside, I went upstairs and sacked out on my bed. Really, I just had such an amazingly stressful day that my body wasn't able to contain itself. It shut down on me and I wasn't even under the covers.

I had a dream about Joe, handing me a Christmas gift. We were next to a tree and it was just the two of us. I couldn't see what it was that he had given me, but it was beautiful, or so I said.

"It has to be beautiful, you're part of this family now." He said, rubbing my arm stlightly.

And then I woke up. Myritza was in bed, I was out of it so to speak and for the first time in my life, I hoped dreams could be real.

Never the less, it was hard to get back to sleep after that, but eventually I did.


Well another update for all of you. I'm trying to hurry up and get this done before Christmas itself. Hopefully I can. Besides that, how did you guys like it? Me personally, the ending was a little iffy at best.