"Pickles residence, can I help you?" A young boy opened his door with bright eyes. He was not prepared for the life threatening hug bringing him down by the neck.

"TOMMY!"

After Tommy had helped a sobbing Angelica in and off the ground, he sat her down in the kitchen and poured her some lemonade as she wailed her story. After a minute he sat next to her, thankful the drink had neutralized most of her nerve wracking screams.

"I'm so sorry Angelica…if there was any way to break that to you, that was definitely not it." He nodded.

"D-darn right," She sniffed, then wiped her eyes with her growing mound of tissues. A silence rang out for a while, and her younger cousin looked at her with confused eyes. "I don't get it though--why'd you come to my place?"

She sighed, closing her puffy eyes and setting the cup down softly. "Because Tommy…even though I've been so cruel to you, you always are nice to me…but I think I may have come to the wrong place because you met your younger brother like every other normal child," she spat at him, suddenly getting up.

"That doesn't mean I don't feel your pain," He stood too, grasping her shoulders and setting her back down. He sighed, pressing a hand over his eyes. "Angelica at least give her a chance. She's not that much younger than you, so you guys can still get to know each other and grow. Besides she's a nice girl, and we all learned to put up with your attitude, so she can too."

Angelica raised her head at him, giving him a warning glare. The boy stared down at her, raising an eyebrow. Yeah, he had meant it and wasn't taking it back. Still, she gave a thankful smile and stood, throwing her arms around his neck, but this time in a comforting way. "Y'know, I'm glad I talked to you." Then he groaned as he doubled over in pain.

The girl grinned maliciously, taking her elbow from his stomach and proceeded to let herself out the door. "But say something like that again I'll kill you."

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"Oh, it's okay Susie, I know she didn't mean it!" A bright, cheery Kaylee piped up as she bounded into her mom and dad's house and sailed into the couch. "I've been hearing for years about how she treats people."

"Still, that was so wrong." Susie closed the door, folding her arms as she smiled warmly at the girl and her parents and aunt. "I hate when Angelica does things like that. She thinks everyone will treat her how she wants if she puts on a little attitude. Actually, I'm glad this little bit of drama came along for her!" She plopped down on the couch and welcomed the little girl's crawling into her lap.

"When she comes back home can I try and talk to her again?" Kaylee asked looking up, her green eyes sparkling curiously. Susie began twirling a finger in her brown locks. "You can try, but she won't break easily."

"If you do, Susie please, be there with them." Charlotte begged, popping something into the oven. Drew nodded firmly, his lips set in a thin line. "We're gonna try this thing over and over again. Angelica's going to accept you in her life no matter what happens. We can just hope it's a good change and not a bad one," He added as his wife and sister-in-law gave him a surprised glance.

Kaylee reached for the remote on the floor, and used both hands to flick quickly through the channels. "Maybe we can just talk about things we like. Like dolls?"

A grin spread across the black girl's lips. "Actually, Kaylee, I think that's the perfect ice breaker…."

oOoOoOoOoOo

I think we all know what's gonna happen next J R&R please!