It was the following week and both Ange and Chloe had been exceptional busy at work. Ange was now working on the COVID ward and Chloe was busy working on Darwin. Even though, they didn't deal with COVID patients directly, they still had to be very careful and had had patients on the ward who developed COVID. It was worrying.
Chloe had quietly explained to Ange about the breakdown that Kisaiya had the previous week as she found the schoolwork too difficult. Ange and Chloe had made a deal that they would ensure that one of them checked in on Kisiaya each day and helped her if needed.
This week, the school seemed to be a bit more organised as well. Most of the lessons were up the night before which meant that Ange or Chloe could help Kisaiya plan for the next day. They printed off resources which needed to be printed off. They read through the lessons so that they could answer any questions that Kisaiya had. Kisaiya had a much more positive week at school.
It was Friday and both Ange and Chloe had been working. Ange was working tomorrow while Chloe had the whole weekend off. They had walked into the house together and showered. Ange popped her head into Kisaiya's room but the girl was on facetime to someone, so she left.
Ange made dinner with the help of Chloe before calling them all to the table. Kisaiya came traipsing from her room. She sat down at the table before standing to eat not even looking at the two of them.
"How was your day?" Ange asked both her daughters.
"Mine was alright, we don't have any positive COVID patients just now but it's still worrying that we might. The testing needs to be better" Chloe explained and Ange nodded.
"Did you get all your work done today?" Ange asked and Kisaiya nodded.
"Got an email from my head of year, I am one of 15 people who has completed all their work this week" Kisaiya explained.
"That's fantastic, I want you to keep it up. The more effort you put in the more feedback you will receive" Ange said and Kisaiya nodded. She looked down and continued to eat. She found it difficult that she just wasn't as smart as Ange and Chloe. She was just average, she had to put effort into all her work in order to do well. Ange hold her she had to give herself more credit as she missed a lot of school when she was with Clemmie.
"Are you wearing make up?" Chloe asked taking a closer look at her sister.
"What?" Kisaiya said putting her hand on her face.
"You are, aren't you?" Chloe said pushing the girl's hand aware from her face.
"Where did you get the makeup?" Ange asked as she knew that her daughter didn't have any.
"Did you go into my room?" Chloe asked raising her voice. Kisaiya bit her lip.
"You went into my room while I was out?" Chloe questioned and Kisaiya looked at Ange for help even though she knew that she was in the wrong. Chloe stood up and stormed to her bedroom slamming the doors in her way as she went.
"You know not to go into your sister's room without asking. I don't know why you decided to wear makeup in the middle of a pandemic. No one is even seeing you. Well done Kis" Ange stressed. She had just returned from a busy day at work and didn't need her two daughters bickering. Kisaiya couldn't even say anything to defend her actions. She just nodded and put her and Chloe's dishes in the dish washer. It was the most she could do. Now her mother and sister were annoyed at her.
Ange put her hand through her hair as she watched Kisaiya walk to her room. She knew that the girl had done something very small and it wasn't actually something that head happened before. However, Ange thought the girl would know not to take or use anything of Chloe's without asking.
Ange sat in silence for 10 minutes before going to find Chloe.
"You coming to watch a film with me. I could do with some company. It wasn't a good day today" Ange explained and Chloe nodded. She was annoyed at her sister but not her mother. She could not take it out on Ange. Her mother hadn't even been her.
Chloe stood up and pulled her mother into her arms. She could tell that the woman needed a tight hug.
"We aren't going to be out of the lockdown any time soon are we?" Chloe asked and Ange shook her head.
"I don't think so" Ange said and Chloe nodded.
"Is it a good idea me staying here?" Chloe asked "Is it too much for you?"
"No, not at all. It's a massive help" Ange said "Though I understand that it must be a lot for you, suddenly having your sister and mother living with you."
"It just take a bit of getting used to. It helps knowing that I have my flat but I'll stay here until at least after Easter and then I can reconsider" Chloe explained and Ange nodded.
"I know you are mad at Kisaiya, but don't be mad for too long. She didn't mean it and you know what she's like. She'll be adamant that you hate her" Ange said and Chloe rolled her eyes. She was still annoyed, it was too early to be speaking about forgiving her sister.
Ange and Chloe snuggled up on separate sofas comfortably and started to watch a film. About half way through the film, Kisaiya came out of her bedroom. She disappeared to the kitchen to get herself a drink before returning to the living room. She looked nervously at her mother and sister. She stood back.
"If she's staying then I'm going" Chloe said starting to get up.
"I'll go" Kisaiya said as she returned to her room. She knew when she wasn't wanting. She didn't want to put Ange in the position between choosing her or Chloe, mainly because she knew that Ange would choose Chloe, her biological daughter.
Kisaiya changed into her jammies and climbed into her bed. She curled into a tight ball and tried to close her eyes. She must have drifted off when she woke up dripping of sweat. Her breathing was erratic but she couldn't move. Kisaiya eventually managed to drag herself out of bed. She put her foot on the floor, she was shaking.
She stumbled out of the room and to the bathroom. She splashed her face with cold water before sitting down on the toilet with the lid closed to take some deep breaths.
"Kis, is everything okay?" She heard her mother asking through the door.
"Fine" She managed to squeeze out.
"You don't sound it, can you open the door and let me in?" Ange tried again. She saw her daughter stumble to the bathroom and followed her knowing that something wasn't right. Reluctantly Kisaiya opened the door and stepped back.
"What's the matter?" Ange asked as she knelt in front of her daughter and encouraged her to take deep breaths. She didn't get a reply from Kisaiya but guided the girl back to her room to speak to her. It was only 10 o'clock and Ange had been about to go to her bed when she heard the girl. Chloe had also been awake but disappeared to her bedroom branding the girl as attention seeking.
"Your bed is soaking" Ange said as she went to sit the girl down on it. She then noticed that the girl's clothes were soaking.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Ange asked softly. It had been a few months now since the girl had last had a nightmare. Kisaiya nodded embarrassingly.
"Lets go to my room then" Ange encouraged as firstly went over to the chest of drawers and pulled out another pair of pyjamas.
"Change into these" Ange stated as they walked into her room. Ange quickly left the room to lock up before entering the room again. She grabbed the girl's dirty pyjamas as well as she own before entering the ensuite. She placed the dirty pyjamas into the washing basket and quickly changed herself.
"No, I can't sleep with you" Kisaiya cried as she noticed her aunt getting into the bed and encouraging her to do the same thing.
"Why not?" Ange asked and the tears and erratic breathing started again.
"Hey, come on. Nothing is worth getting in this much of a tiss about is it?" Ange said softly.
"Tell me what the matter is?" Ange said knowing that she needed to get to the bottom of the problem.
"Chloe hates me and then she's going to make you choose between me and her. I know you'll pick Chloe. She's your real daughter" Kisaiya admitted.
"Oh sweetie" Ange said pulling the girl into her arms.
"Chloe doesn't hate you, she's a bit annoyed just now but you know what she is like. She'll sulk a bit and then the two of you will be the best of friends again" Ange explained.
"Chloe would never ever make me choose between you and her, you know that right. We are family, maybe a bit of a dysfunctional one but we are family. You might not be biologically my daughter but hey, you are more biologically mine than a lot of other adopted children" Ange stated and Kisaiya nodded. She needed to remember no matter what she was still biologically related to Ange, perhaps not as close related as she and Chloe were but they were still related by blood. Also although blood seemed to matter a lot to Kisaiya at the moment, it wasn't the be all and end all. The love they had for each other meant more.
"Do you think you can try to get some sleep now? I'm sure you and Chloe will sort your issues out tomorrow and now you know not to borrow your sister's makeup" Ange said and Kisaiya nodded. That was such a silly thing for her to do. She understood why Chloe was annoyed.
"Come on, we can speak more tomorrow" Ange said softly and Kisaiya agreed.
The following morning, Ange was up and ready for work. She was planning to let the girl sleep late but the girl was wide away the minute that Ange woke up, the girl was awake. She was joined to Ange at the hip. Not willing to leave her for a minute. Ange was getting slightly annoyed as she was trying to get to work but overall she was worried as to why her daughter was behaving like this.
"Right, I need to go now. You be good for your sister" Ange said as she kissed the girl on the top of the head. Kisaiya's face dropped.
"No you can't leave me" She cried.
"Hey, it's okay. I need to go to work" Ange said softly.
"Don't leave me with her. She hates me. Don't leave me please" Kisaiya cried getting louder. Ange was worried by the girl's fears. Chloe was a bit sulky with the girl but she didn't hate her.
"What's all the shouting?" Chloe asked as she wiped her eyes exiting her room.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Kisaiya cried as she hide behind her mother. Chloe's eyes widened and she looked at her mum. What was going on?
"What are you sorry for?" Chloe asked.
"You hate me, you hate me" Kisaiya ranted.
"Calm down, I don't hate you" Chloe said as she walked up to her little sister.
"Mummy" Kisaiya cried as Chloe walked over to her.
"Baby, I really need to get to work" Ange hated leaving the girl in this state but she also knew that her daughter could handle it and her being there was just making things more difficult. Ange pulled the girl into her arms before passing her over to Chloe.
Chloe put both her arms forcibly around her sister but not tight enough that the girl couldn't move.
"I'm not that mad, I promise you. It's a silly sister fling" Chloe said as she pushed the girl in towards her. She waited until the girl softened in her arms before bringing them over to the sofa.
"Come on, speak to me" Chloe said as she moved her sister's sweaty hair from her sticky forehead. Kisaiya shook her head unsure what she was meant to even speak to her sister about.
"Why did you take my makeup?" Chloe asked "I'm not used to having a sibling or someone borrowing my stuff. Should have seen how snappy I got my Nicki when she kept stealing my tampons."
Kisaiya smiled and laughed at her sister. That made her feel a bit better.
"So go on then, why did you need my makeup?" Chloe asked and Kisaiya bit her lip hard. She chewed her lip nervously and Chloe rubbed her hand on her sister's knee.
"I was video calling someone" Kisaiya admitted.
"Who?" Chloe asked suddenly concerned about the amount of time her sister had been unsupervised in the house.
"Someone" Kisaiya said looking sideways not daring to look at her sister.
"I need a bit more than that" Chloe said softly trying again.
"Ryan" Kisaiya admitted.
"Who is Ryan?" Chloe asked wanting to get to the bottom. It was difficult.
"Boy in the year above" Kisaiya admitted.
"Ah, is he your friend?" Chloe asked feeling better now she knew that it wasn't an adult chatting up her little sister. Kisaiya nodded but Chloe could tell there was more.
"Fancy that, all of us in lockdown and here is you chatting up a guy" Chloe joked and Kisaiya just looked sideways at her sister.
"Is he good-looking?" Chloe asked nudging Kisaiya again.
"We were speaking before lockdown" Kisaiya admitted.
"Ah were you? How long have you both been speaking for?" Chloe asked softly sensing that her sister wanted to speak more.
"Since my birthday" Kisaiya admitted. Her birthday was almost a month ago now.
"Ah that's cool. Are you like just friends?" Chloe asked and Kisaiya shrugged.
"Do you like him?" Chloe tried again and Kisaiya nodded shyly.
"Don't tell mum though" Kisaiya admitted.
"Hey, it's okay. I won't tell her if you don't want me to but well, mum's used to me having boyfriends. It's not a big deal" Chloe said.
"But it's my first proper boyfriend, my first since you know" Kisaiya said and Chloe nodded. She didn't have the heart to tell her sister that this boy probably wasn't actually her first proper boyfriend, she was only 13. But she did understand what the girl meant by her first since Pete.
"Mum will be fine. She was fine with me when I started going out with Cam" Chloe said.
"Did she try and speak to you about it?" Kisaiya asked and Chloe nodded.
"I suppose but not that much more than any of my other boyfriends. Mum's good, she's interested but she doesn't but her nose in, honestly. She always asks if you want her to do something" Chloe explained and Kisaiya nodded. She still seemed unsure.
"Mum was really supportive. I don't give her enough credit. She spoke to me briefly and encouraged me to go for Cam when I told her I liked him but then when he tried to get me to sleep with him. She was actually so supportive with my choice" Chloe said.
"You told mum you were going to have sex with him" Kisaiya said making a face.
"No, mum knew that we had split up and then Cam thought I told her so sort of told her himself. Mum came over to me and was so supportive. She said that it important that I realised it was okay to say no and that I could wait as long as I needed too" Chloe explained and Kisaiya nodded. That did make her feel better.
"I might tell her tomorrow" Kisaiya said and Chloe nodded. She was proud of her little sister.
"Do you feel better now?" Chloe asked and Kisaiya nodded. She bowed her head embarrassed by her behaviour this morning.
"Hey, don't worry about it" Chloe said knowing that face.
"Let's have a relaxing day, there isn't much more that we can do" Chloe said and Kisaiya laughed. She lay back on the sofa with her sister and snuggled into her chest.
Please review if you are reading :) Let me know if you have any ideas. I'm kind of running out a bit.