She went to bed with dismal hopes and emotions over her latest letter to Inaki. The sleep helped immensely and the morning sun only assisted to strengthen her resolve to keep Sam from seeing the mood talked about over the phone. The girl picked her up as normal; the letter was mailed before heading back to Miami and the Merth household. Her decision was the right choice in light of what awaited her there and the emotions her REAL family could never invoke.
"Mujera! Come back here with that damn chord NOW!"
"MAKE me!"
"Casey Merth you'd BETTER stop swearing or you'll regret it come dinner time!" Missy Merth loudly threatened.
Casey cringed, but careened around a corner after his laughing prey, glaring holes in her back. "GIVE. ME. THAT. CHORD!"
"Come and get it Cassie!" She humorously called, waving the bunched up computer tower's wall plug-in in the air. She used Casey's hated nickname - one Sam derived for him to annoy him - knowing he hated it.
The front door was in view, the inside wooden door left open from when Sam took off with the internet jack with Kevin at HER heels. Wasting precious seconds, she slowed enough to keep from slamming into the screen door and jerked it open before rocketing outside again.
"Watch the property!" Carl Merth warned as she shot past, rocking on the porch swing and watching.
"Sorry dad!" She mused, shooting a split-second apologetic look before rounding the house.
"You too Casey!"
Casey Merth skidded to a halt at his father's more stern voice. "Yes father. Come BACK here K!"
The revenge chase for being interrupted in last night's phone call ended up in the backyard with both girls nearly crashing into each other in effort to get away from the two boys. "I'm about thirty seconds in front of Kevin." Sam hastily reported, chest heaving.
"I'm not even half that with Cassie." Sam smiled. Without explanation, she grabbed the phone jack and shoved the tower chord into Sam's hand. An evil grin surfaced when she spotted Kevin over Sam's shoulder and waved the chord, just as Casey's voice grew louder. "Come and get it Kev!!" With her new chaser, she spun for the alley and hopped the chain-link fence, taking off down the block.
Sam laughed and took off in the direction she came from with her youngest brother on her heels. "Tired yet Cassie??" The chord was waved in the air again.
"This is getting OLD hermana! Just give us back our computer stuff already!" Casey's exasperated, huffing voice whined.
She loudly snorted and rounded the other side of the house, waving a quick acknowledgement to her father in passing. "This is what you get for messing with a true mastermind. Never underestimate Kalie Himmen!"
Said mastermind took off up the sidewalk to a neighboring house with a tiring Merth brother about a dozen paces behind. Kevin was no match for someone who rode her bike everywhere and had the endurance to take it up hills while shouldering a heavy book bag for years. Her stamina outlasted his and soon she stopped twenty feet away, feet planted to run, and watched as her surrogate brother panted for breath.
"It was just getting fun too Kev." She playfully pouted, jangling the feeble wire.
"It was...getting...ANNOYING...K! Just...give us back...our STUFF...already!"
She grinned. "This outa teach you to respect your 'elders'." She mocked, taking off in a lazy jog to the house. By now Sam would have tired her brother as well, though the girl would be worse than her, and they could regroup and find other ways of payback torture.
The plan was disgustingly simple and effortless. Find a way to separate brothers from the computer - the source of distraction until long afternoon hours passed till dinner - dismantle the most crucial pieces of the electronics, and take off with a loud decree of 'look what I got!'
She missed this. A LOT. The ability to let go without fear of wondering what would slip from her life and able to be herself for once. This mischievous side she kept hidden away for the most part, the more evil parts anyway, and only let loose snippets to Sam and Chance from time to time.
It was great to feel like a child. The last time she'd been this carefree was on Independence Day when she spent the day at the Merth household. This place held a plethora of better memories than even her home in Westchester.
Walking up the front walk, she smiled at Carl when he met her eyes and raised a brow. She plopped down on the concrete steps next to the swing and took a few deep breaths to calm her heart. A hand held up the still-coveted wire and she beamed like a child.
Carl eyed it in confusion for a split second, knowing his daughter had that not too long ago. "Is he dead?"
"Kevin? Nah...he's just probably passed out on the sidewalk until he can breathe. Casey I don't know about...I switched with Sammy in the backyard and took off down the alley."
Carl chuckled and pushed off the concrete porch, letting comfortable silence of the neighborhood return. After a minute, he patted the wood swing in invitation and Kalie eagerly joined him. "You two are vicious to my sons, you know that?"
"Oh it's nothing they won't get over." She dismissed, a hand waving.
"Perhaps, but you do realize this is going to spawn another war."
She grinned. Ah, the wars... Started back when the four were just beginning to truly act like siblings and not just friends. If either looked back, it could be said that the first was what solidified the bonding process of an outsider being accepted as part of the blood family. Something small led into joking challenge, which led to a long list of pranks...each becoming more outrageous and seemingly unable to be topped than the last. It finally ended when both parents got involved and made everyone shake hands and grow up.
Though they played nice for a while, it never took much for another war to get started - boys verses girls / brothers verses sisters, proving they never did grow up...even if every prank and joke helped them bond even more than before.
She shrugged and brought both legs up to cross on the seat. "They can try...but Sam and I always win." A smirk appeared. "They're just not as innovative as we are."
"I really don't like the sound of that..."
She giggled and waved a hand again. "Don't worry...it won't be anything illegal or highly destructive. I have too much homework for that."
Carl laughed and shook his head with a sigh.
More silence descended until Kevin slowly ambled up the walk and stopped on the bottom step. Without a word, a hand stuck out with a demanding palm up and matching look on his face. She innocently blinked back, trying not to grin. The chord was in a loose fist resting on the swing. "Yes? Can I help you?"
Kevin sent a small glare to dark green. She was SO enjoying this, he KNEW it! "Phone jack. NOW." The hand shook once in emphasis.
The grin broke free as she held the chord up in the safety of her personal space. "Oh, this? What's the magic word?" She singsonged, trying not to laugh.
The glare darkened as Kevin went up another step, making an unsuccessful snatch for the prize. "NOW!" He nearly yelled, looking put out.
"No I do believe the original word is please, but since you're so insistent..." She let the wire float just outside her bubble and it was hastily snatched up. She giggled as Kevin sourly marched into the house and practically slammed the interior door shut. "Ah," She crooned in a stretch, "I just LOVE annoying those two!"
Carl shook his head in helpless amusement. "You and my hija never change...hija."
A toothy smile met him as she leaned on the porch swing and waited for Sam's arrival. "If I did, the wars wouldn't be as much fun. Not to mention those two would run us into the ground." Seconds later, Sam's head popped out from the front door. It was unexpected and she voiced her confusion. "What're you doing in the house? I figured you'd skim the property first."
Sam pouted and shut the door after before sitting on the steps. "Casey managed to tackle me just outside another round of the house. I've got grass-stained, skinned knees to prove it too." She grimaced and looked. True enough, twin red spots with faint colors of green were the battle marks of another mini-war. Sam scratched the itching wounds and leaned against a pillar holding up the porch roof. "So how did you make out? Any injuries or losses?"
Another childlike beam appeared. "My stamina beat him of course, and I waited his arrival here. You would've loved it. Too bad you had to miss him demanding the jack back."
Sam snickered and held a palm out. It was slapped in a hearty high-five. "You go girl. I WOULD'VE loved to see that! But you do realize what this means..."
She nodded, becoming a little more serious...and a little expectant. "We have to start planning our battle defenses and offenses."
Sam's palms rubbed together vigorously. "This should be FUN! We haven't had one since...oh geez...it's been months hasn't it?"
"I think before July at least."
"You two are sadistic. I'm getting out of here before you somehow manage to involve ME." Carl suddenly stood and gave his blood daughter an affectionate ruffle on the head before retreating inside.
Seeing room, Sam scrambled off the ground and on the swing. A third silence descended, always comfortable. "So...liking it so far?"
Green shot a sideways glance at her best friend before looking at the street area again. "You know I always do."
"That's good..."
There was a brief pause. "Thanks for inviting me again this year." Instead of words, the sound of a light slap sounded on her arm, getting a jump. "What...what was THAT for?"
Light blue glared. "You don't need to thank me for THAT! Geez woman!"
Green glared halfheartedly. "You know I always have to thank you. I mean, you could've left me with MY mom for the day."
"Don't sound so let down about THAT..."
"You know what I mean." She paused again. "I just wanted to thank you for including me."
Blonde swished slowly as they rocked. A hand extended and grabbed her friend's, giving a light squeeze. "You're always welcome here...you know that. But since you insist......you're welcome." She smiled and scooted over a little, touching their shoulders in a gesture that was more sibling love than anything.
~*~*~
With a warning that none of them start anything at the dinner table, Missy agreed to set the table. With six people - most of them hungry - it didn't take long before all were seated with hands clasped in prayer. "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest...let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen."
"Can we dig in now??"
"Yes..." Missy nodded, letting four hungry teens to grab a few things before starting in.
After plates were full and everyone was attacking them, little talk was made. It was almost an unspoken rule that no one get between a teenager and smells of delicious food that'd been driving them crazy all afternoon. But after initial shoveling slowed to normal bites, it seemed conversation could be managed.
"So Kalie, did you have fun at your mother's?"
She looked to Missy with a mouth full of Spanish rice and managed a small nod. "Very much...it was good spending time with her." She mumbled.
Missy smiled, even though she sent a warning look to the girl for speaking with her mouth full. "Always a good thing for a mother and her child." Aged eyes speared light blue, which cluelessly blinked through a mouth of turkey.
"Yes... And thank you for inviting me again this year." She continued, getting a glare from Sam. There was a small kick delivered to somewhere between shin and ankle that smarted a little and green glared back.
Missy tsked and wagged a finger in her face. "You are always welcome over here young lady...and you can stop thanking us anytime now."
"SEE?" Sam chorused, sticking her tongue out.
"But it is always nice."
She smirked in triumph and stuck her tongue out in return. "NYAA."
Both Kevin and Casey, having been occupied with eating, snickered at their older sister's demise.
She insisted on helping to clear the table for not having done anything to help prepare the meal. Because of that, she was allowed the first slice of pumpkin pie, getting a whine from the other three.
As a change of pace, the family took dessert on the front porch and watched the rest of the sun die in cooling weather. There wasn't much talk made as everyone enjoyed the treat. None was really needed in a family style moment.
She couldn't feel more apart of something than this moment. With Kevin and Casey trying to get chunks of cool-whip off each other's plates, Missy and Carl amiably on the swing watching, and Sam just on her right, she felt like this was the family she never had and always wanted. It wasn't her mother's fault for never having another kid or managing to remarry or stay married - she wasn't blaming that. She liked the fact that her mother was as independent as she was, it showed Ella hadn't given in to the emotions that could've crippled her after the divorce.
Her mother was a strong person that way. She had to respect, even on a small level, the way she kept things running in her single life and didn't hook up with any other guy. There was bitterness from her first and only husband, which was normal. It'd only been ten years since then...there was still anger at being so thoroughly deceived by a man they both trusted greatly...even if her mother's managed to cool in that decade.
Her jaw clenched and she leaned against the house siding. That would forever be a touchy subject with her, along with her mother. They would always distrust that man whose last name she was bound to. If it was possible to change her last name to her mother's maiden, it wasn't cheap and neither could afford it.
She mentally sighed and stabbed the half-eaten piece. She had to stop thinking this way...it only angered her and then it ruined the mood of anyone she was around. Hadn't she learned stuffing this away by forgetting and ignoring it was the only way to go? 'But still...I can't ignore it ALL the time. I think I'd explode if I didn't have an outlet to express all that repressed rage when I'm alone...'
Her hand suddenly dipped as something down on her plate. Silverware clacking against china brought her back to the present...only to find Kevin eating a large chunk of her pie. She glared, but smirked dryly after a thought. "You now have my cooties...how does that make you feel?"
Kevin pretended to gag as Casey comically shied away from him. "Man...you WOULD ruin a good joke like that." He complained. "But it was worth it...you weren't even paying attention."
"Yea K...that left you with the crust basically." Sam agreed, suspiciously eyeing the girl. From the waning light, she could see a darkness to emerald green...one she didn't like.
She ignored Sam's gaze and tapped her fork against her teeth in thought. So...the war was on, was it? Green stared at both brothers, searching with an amused expression. Her fork extended upon finding a grin after a second. "On guard?" She knowingly questioned.
Both brothers had matching evil expressions, full of joking intent, and extended their forks inches away. "On guard." After a second, Sam's joined them and the four clinked to seal the newest challenge.
Above, two parents sighed and rolled their eyes. "Just don't burn the house down..." Missy wearily warned.
Carl stuffed a piece of pie in his mouth and wisely kept quiet.
Spanish language will be translated under the Japanese when it appears together. This language will be correct, as I have half put half a decade into learning.
Translations: Mujera-Woman Hija-Daughter