The next day, apparently the parents weren't off anymore, because when the early alarm went off, Sydney came rushing into my room to tell me we had to get ready to go to Aunt Harriet and Uncle Bud's house. "Who?"

"Aunt Harriet and Uncle Bud," she said exasperatingly.

"And what do we do there?"

"We play with A.J. and Janna and David."

"How old are these people?"

"A.J. is thirteen, he plays with Austin. Janna is nine, and David is six. Janna is so nice. You'll like her."

"And we have to spend all day there?"

"Of course. Aunt Harriet will love you, don't worry."

Just then Austin came through the door to yell at us to hurry up. "I wanna get over there to play football with A.J. Let's hurry it up girls."

Syd stuck her tongue out at him and continued to play with her hair looking in my mirror. He left and I finished putting my new clothes and hair things on. When Syd and I went down the stairs, I saw the parents, and that freaked me out big time. Mac was wearing this weird green outfit. I guessed it was for JAG and her being a marine and all. Meanwhile, Harm was wearing a white colored shirt and pants. I raised my eyebrows again and looked at them funny.

Harm laughed at my reaction. "Totally opposite, I know. What a pair we make."

I grinned now. "Yup."

"Ready to go now?" he asked as he looked to see who else was ready.

"Yeah. What do I take with me?"

"Anything you want. Harriet works full time, but she took this week off to be able to watch you guys. A book might be good because it does get kind of wild over there."

I nodded. It didn't sound like Harriet's house was going to be fun. And I still wouldn't be the oldest. They drove us over to the house and then introduced me to everybody. Harriet was blond and pretty but she seemed nice enough. Bud was a different case. He looked worried. I didn't think I'd like him. The kids were interesting. A.J. was really tall and kinda nice. He didn't look like Bud though. He looked sort of like Harriet, but not really. Janna, however, was a different story. She was very pretty, and she seemed nice like Harriet. And David was the absolute cutest little boy. He was wearing a little Santa's hat, even though Christmas was something like four months away.

Janna took Syd and I up to her room after the parents and Bud left. I wandered around her room for a while. She was really pretty, but she was not in any way interested in girly things. The first thing we did was go see if the boys would let us play football with them. Austin and A.J. didn't look terribly happy, but once they found out I used to be on a team, they let all three of us play, and David played as the referee.

"Hey guys, come on in," yelled Harriet.

All six of us came running into the house, although we were sweaty. "What's up mom?" asked A.J. as I wished it could have been my mother and I saying those words. I had sort of forgotten up until then that it was only my third day at a new foster home.

Harriet told us all to go get plates after we washed up and then we sat down to eat sandwiches. After we ate, we went back out to play for a while. Before we knew it, it was four in the afternoon and the parents were supposed to be back at five.

Us girls went back to Janna's room to talk. "When do we start school anyway?" I asked, but only because I felt very comfortable with Janna and Syd.

"Next Monday. We only have a day left on break plus the weekend and then we go to school."

I groaned. Already had to be back in school when I didn't even know the people I was going with? I didn't like going to school anyway, because I never felt comfortable. I could do the work, but the kids always teased me for either being a troublemaker or a goody-goody.

Janna was staring at me and so was Syd. "What?"

"I asked you what grade are you in?"

"I'm starting fifth grade cause I just turned ten a few months ago."

"I'm going into third," said Syd.

"I know," I said sarcastically.

"Fourth here," said Janna. "But they have mixed fourth and fifth for the smart groups. I'm in a smart group this year. What about you?"

"Dunno. I used to get A's and B's, but different schools and stuff…"

"Maybe we'll be in the same group then. I'll introduce you to all my friends. They'll like you for sure!" exclaimed Janna.

Suddenly it felt very hot in the room. I started to get a homesick and uncomfortable feeling. The problem was, I couldn't fix it this time. This place and the parents' house were not home for me. The only place I really could have called home was when I lived with the Robins. I lived with them for two years, the longest I've ever been in a good home. They were going to adopt me, as well as my best friend who, since she was my age, they took too. But then my mother had to come into my life and reel me back in. When she did at first, I was really excited to be getting my real mother back. But soon that went wrong and I wanted to go back to the Robins. Instead of letting me go back there, Miss Grant tried to arrange another place for me to live. And when that didn't work out, it was too late to go back to the Robins. So I ended up being bounced around.

I finally looked up at Janna and Syd. "Yeah, that, uh, might be good."

"Know what I wanna do?" asked Syd. "I think we should go downstairs and ask your mom to tell us stories about my mom and dad before they were married."

I looked at her strangely. What in the world was she talking about? I'd never heard any stories about my parents. Heck, I'd never heard any real stories except in books, and even then, those were things like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. "What kind of stories? I mean, what did your parents do before they were married?"

"They did so much exciting stuff before they were married. Actually, we don't need mom to tell us, Syd and I know the stories good enough to tell you one."

"Alright, I'm interested. Is this like mushy stuff though? I mean, were they boyfriend and girlfriend before?"

"That's the best part. They didn't get involved until after like six or seven years as partners. And they almost lost each other too."

"Almost?" I questioned.

"Yeah," Syd said with excitement. "Mom and dad told them to us for bedtime stories if we were good sometimes too. But you'll like them. So you wanna hear one?"

"I guess so. Start talking," I said while trying to keep from sounding too excited.

"Okay, let me think about what would be a good one. I know, I'll tell you one for bedtime tonight too! But right now we'll tell you the one about when daddy left mom at JAG to go flying."

"That sounds fake," I said as I wrinkled my nose, which was a habit even though it made my freckles stand out even worse.

"Well it isn't," defended Syd. "It's all true. Even ask mom and dad."

"Alright, alright," I started to say. But before Syd could continue, I heard the door open and the parents come in. I could hear David shouting, "Uncle Harm, Uncle Harm," and A.J's voice seemed a little more uplifted too. Janna and Syd looked at each other before running down the stairs, leaving me to my own devices. I stood at her window for a couple more minutes, unsure of whether to join in like part of the family or to stay put. Apparently, it was decided for me when David came running up and took my hand. "Come on Jessi," he shouted as he yanked me towards the stairs. I followed him down as we went to the front door to meet the parents.

They both smiled at me, as did Harriet. Suddenly, I felt more than a little out of place. I ran out to their car and got in quickly, without saying goodbye. I could see the parents' apologetic looks and instead of feeling ashamed, I felt angry. I sulked the entire way home and into my bedroom. Wasn't home and it wasn't gonna feel like it ever.