Sibling Bond

"Ring! Ring!" went the phone in Marco's living room. His father picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mr.______? This is Sergeant Johnson." came the reply. Jeremy (Marco's dad) felt a twinge of fear at the mention of the name. This was the man that had told him that his wife was dead. The one that told him that the girl was gone. What did he want now? Was he bringing some terrible news about Marco, the only one he had left? He said nothing, and waited for him to continue.

"Mr.______, we've found your daughter.

Marco: "Hey, Dad." I greeted my father as I walked into the room. He was on the phone and didn't even notice me.

"Are you sure it's her?" He asked. "And it will be no problem getting her here? No new family?" He listened a moment. "On the streets?!?!" he roared. Listened again. "Tomorrow, then. Good bye…and thank you." He hung up.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Marco, they've found Debbie." He told me, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Who's Debbie?" I asked.

"She's your older sister." What's he talking about?

"I don't have a sister."

"Yes you do. Come here." He motioned for me to sit beside him in the couch. "Marco, when you were almost one, right before we moved here, you, your mother, me and Debbie; who was two; went to the mall. We were in the toy store and you started pulling things off the shelves. Your mother and I were putting them back, and the next thing we know, we can't find Debbie. We looked all over the store, paged her over the intercom, had most of mall security looking for her… but it was no use. We never saw her again." He took a shaky breath. "But now they've found her, and she's coming home tomorrow."

"Where was she?" I asked him. I felt awestruck. I had an older sister? I couldn't believe it. Why didn't they ever tell me?

"She was living on the streets, in homes. The person that took her had dropped her off in an orphanage and collected the money. They were mistreated there, so around four years ago she took off. She was injured in a gang fight, not too badly, but she still had to the ER There they matched her DNA with the sample they had on file for her, from when she was two."

"Why didn't you guys ever tell me?"

"It was just too painful." he took a deep breath, "But, enough about that. We have to get the spare room set up…uh, what kind of things would a fourteen-year-old girl have in her room?"

"You are asking the wrong guy." I exclaimed, waving my hands. I thought for a minute. "I'll call Rachel."

Debbie: "So, what's my brother's name again?" I asked Daniel, the guy the agency stuck me with.

"Marco. He's thirteen. You'll be going in his grade because you haven't been in school for a while, okay?"

"Gottcha'." We pulled into the driveway of a pretty nice house. I got out of the car clutching my black backpack, which contained everything I owned besides what I was wearing. I didn't own much. I had two pairs of jeans, a hooded sweatshirt, a tee shirt, a pair of worn out sneakers, a gold chain my mom gave to me before I was kidnapped, a baseball cap, and a copy of Little Women.

"Come on, they're waiting." Daniel said. I took a deep breath and walked through the front door.

Inside was a man, probably early forties, with greying light brown hair and green eyes. He had pale skin…well, not too pale, but paler then mine and the boy who stood beside him. That must be Marco. He had dark brown, almost black, hair and deep brown eyes. He was on the shorter side (whereas our father was pretty tall) and had tan skin to match mine. I guess we take after our mother. I'm a mix between them, I suppose.

I have dark brown hair, cut to my chin, tan skin, and green eyes that kind of fade into a dark brown, depending on my mood. I'm also on the shorter side, though still a little taller than my younger brother. No one said a word for a few minutes, then Marco decided to break the ice.

"Hi. 'Ya know, I was this close to getting a weight room, but nooo. I get a long lost sister instead." he smiled to show that he was just kidding. I smiled back.

"Looks like you defiantly could've used a weight room, Shorty." I joked back. I decided I was gonna' like having a little brother.

He pretended to be offended. "Why, I'm hurt. Not two minutes have you been in the door, and you already have insulted me." his puppy dog look changed to one of admiration. "You're good. Gotta' introduce you to Rachel."

"Who's Rachel, you're girlfriend?" I asked, raising my eyebrows up and down. He made a rude noise.

"Yeah, right. She wishes. No, actually, I'm timing myself for just the right girl."

"Can't get a date, huh? I can probably help 'ya there. Give me one week of school, and I'll have every girl in the eighth grade begging to go on a date with you." I promised. And I believed I could, he was cute enough.

"They already beg for dates." He replied indignantly.

"I mean outside of Dreamland."

"Ahh, sibling rivalry. Any day now it's going to drive me insane…but right now it's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard. Debbie, come give me a hug." Dad said. I ran into his arms.

"Look how much you've grown! Last time I saw you, you were about two feet tall…and now you're a lovely young woman. My Lord, Marco, doesn't she look just like her mother?" Marco nodded, but looked way too sad. Where was Mom, anyway?

"Where is she?" I voiced my question. Dad glanced at Daniel with a look that plainly said, 'You didn't tell her?' I waited for an answer, already sensing I wasn't going to like it.

"Debbie, your mother died two years ago. In a boating accident." Dad admitted sadly. What? How could she be dead? I'd never met her, or at least that I could remember…and now I never would. I started to cry. Not loud, hysterical sobs; just quiet tears falling down my cheeks. I wiped them away, I'd cry later.

"Well, I better go now. Bye Debbie." Daniel said. I hugged him and he left. Annoying that he was, I was going to miss him.

Jake: I saw Marco the next morning helping some girl with her locker. 'Hmm.' I thought, 'Must be new. Figures Marco would be hitting on her already.' I jogged up to them.

"Hi. I'm Jake. You must be new, don't mind Marco. He's just an idiot." I said. She laughed.

"Yeah, but isn't he the cutest wittle boy you ever saw?" She replied, pinching his cheek. I must have looked awfully surprised, because she laughed again.

"Don't worry. I'm not insane…"

"Ha!" Marco interrupted. She punched his shoulder.

"Just his older sister. I'm Debbie." She finished while Marco rubbed his shoulder.

"Is this…what do you mean…sister?!" I replied very confused. They both laughed.

"It's a long story, Fearless Leader. I'll tell you during Science." Marco answered.

"I'm honored. You're taking out part of your beauty sleep time to explain to me why a sister has just materialized out of thin air." I joked.

"Like I need beauty sleep! Just look at this face!" just then the bell rang and we headed for our classes.

***

Marco explained to me why he had a sister, and I told Cassie. Rachel already knew, so no one had to tell her. When school was out, Cassie told Tobias and he told Ax. It was very confusing and kinda' weird, especially for Marco and Debbie.

Afterwards, Debbie came to the barn to hang with us, 'ya know, get acquainted.

While She was talking to Cassie and Rachel about some kind of clothing they were trying to convince Cassie to wear, I took Marco aside and asked if he'd like to give her a trial to become an Animorph once we knew her better.

"No way, man. I am not putting my sister in any danger. I don't want to be responsible for getting her killed. I'll tell her to stay away from the Sharing…but no morphing." He replied firmly. I nodded, accepting his decision.

"Yo. Shorty! Come on, Dad said to be home five minutes ago!" Debbie called out.

"See 'ya, Jake." Marco called over his shoulder as he ran after his sister, tackling her, or trying to…she ended up throwing him over her shoulder and carrying him down the street.

I watched until they were out of sight and smiled to myself, because they reminded me of another sibling relationship that I was familiar with. I'm glad Marco got an older sister if he gets to experience that bond.

I look into the setting sun before I go back to the barn.

"Someday, Tom. Someday."