Andre returned as early as he could. He found the house shaking with music. It's Saturday, house cleanup day, Annika explained to him. We always listen to Ani Difranco and clean, while Oliver and Tabitha are away at Farmer's Market. Come on in, sit down in the rocking chair and keep me company.
Andre obeyed her. He found Annika washing dishes, Danica was dancing around her, putting dinner things out.
"I got pulled over in west Texas, so they could look inside my car, he said are you an American citizen, I said yes sir, so far. They made sure I wasn't smuggling, someone in from Mexico, some one willing to settle for America, 'cause there was no where else to go!" sang Annika.
Together she and Danica sang the next line. "And every state line, there's an new set of laws, and every police man, comes equipped with extended claws, there's a thousand shades of white, and a thousand shades of black, but the same rule always applies, smile pretty and watch your back!"
Annika sang the next line, "I broke down in Louisiana, and I had to thumb a ride, got in the first car that pulled over, can't be picky in the middle of the night. He said baby do you like to fool around, he said baby you like to be touched?" Andre was shocked by the lyrics. He felt a wave of possession towards Annika. She grinned and flicked water at him as she sang the next bit, "I said maybe some other time, fuck you very much!"
Andre felt a little better. He smiled as the two sisters sang the chorus. Annika sang the lines again, "I'm in the middle of Alabama, and they stare at me wherever I go, I don't think they like my haircut, I don't think they like my clothes, I can't wait to get back to New York City, where at least when I walk down the street, No one ever hesitates to tell me exactly what they think of me!"
They sang the chorus again. Then came the lyrics.
"A little town in Pennsylvania, there was snow on the ground. I parked in an empty lot, where there was no one else around, But I guess I was taking up too much space as I was trying to get some sleep, cause an officer came by anyway, and told me I had to leave."
Andre joined them in singing the chorus. "And every state line, there's an new set of laws, and every police man, comes equipped with extended claws, there's a thousand shades of white, and a thousand shades of black, but the same rule always applies, smile pretty and watch your back!"
Annika finished the dishes and began to help clearing the table for dinner. "Raoul! Put on my favorite!"
"Which one?" Danica laughed.
"Letter to a John!"
Music came towards them. Danica didn't sing with Annika. "This is her song. She owns it," the young woman told Andre. He believed her judging from the passion with which Annika sang.
"Don't ask me why I'm crying, I'm not going to tell you what's wrong, I'm just gonna sit on your lap for five dollars a song, I want you to pay me for my beauty, I think it's only right, 'cause I have been paying for it all of my life!"
She paused while the music played, then sang the chorus. "I'm gonna take the money I make, I'm gonna take the money I make, I'm gonna take the money I make and I'm gonna go away... We barely have time to react in this world, let alone rehearse, and I don't think I'm better than you, but I don't think that I'm worse, women learn to be women, and men learn to be men, and I don't blame it all on you, but I don't want to be your friend."
She sang the chorus once more. Her face twisted and Andre felt her pain as she sang the next line.
"I was eleven years old, he was as old as my dad, and he took something from me, I didn't even know that I had, so don't tell me about decency, don't tell me about pride, just give me something for my trouble, 'cause this time, it's not a free ride." Andre reached out and touched her hand. She smiled at him before singing, "Don't ask me why I'm crying, I'm not going to tell you what's wrong, I'm just gonna sit on your lap, for ten dollars a songs, I want you to pay me for my beauty, I think it's only right, 'cause I have been paying for it, all of my life!"
The last chorus finished the song. Annika bowed to the invisible audience.
"Raoul, put on Two Little Girls!" Danica called. Raoul laughed in anticipation.
Once more music wafted towards them. Danica sang, "You were fresh off the boat from Virginia, I had a year in New York city under my belt, we met in a dream, we were both 19, I remember where we were standing, I remember how it felt, 2 little girls growing out of their training bras, this little girl breaks furniture, this little girl breaks laws, 2 girls together, just a little less alone, this little girl cries wee wee
all the way home"
The next line she sang with more vigor, staring right into Annika's eyes. "You were always half crazy, now look at you baby, you make about as much sense as a nursery rhyme, love is a piano dropped out a four story window, and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't like your girlfriend, yeah I don't like her, never seen one of your lovers do you so much harm, I loved you first and you know I would prefer, if she didn't empty her syringes into your arm."
Annika scowled. Andre had no doubt that he was the abusive girlfriend. "Raoul, turn it off! Let's listen to Superhero!"
Raoul laughed but obeyed. Annika gripped Danica's arm. Okay, your point has been made. He won't hurt us. I love him.
Annika, I'm your second in command, and your sister. I have the right to look out for you, Danica snapped.
Annika smiled. And I'm very glad that you do, just try to be a bit more subtle about it.
The sisters sang together once more, "Sleepwalking through the all-night drugstore, baptized in fluorescent light, I found religion in the greeting card aisle, now I know hallmark was right, and every pop song on the radio, is suddenly speaking to me, yeah, art may imitate life, but life imitates TV, 'cause you've been gone exactly two weeks, two weeks and three days, and let's just say that things look different now, different in so many ways."
Celyn and Forrest walked in, Celyn held their baby. She seemed to be singing to Forrest. "I used to be a superhero, no one could touch me, not even myself, you are like a phone booth, I somehow stumbled into, and now look at me, I am just like everybody else."
Annika spoke to Andre, Forrest once went to the farmer's market with Oliver, it didn't go so well for either of them. They both went nuts! They've never been apart since.
That often happens between lifemates. They cannot be apart for too long, Andre replied.
"If I was dressed in my best defenses, would you agree to meet me for coffee, if I did my tricks with smoke and mirrors, would you still know which one was me, if I was naked and screaming, on your front lawn, would you turn on the light and come down, screaming, there's the asshole, who did this to me, stripped me of my power, stripped me down!" Andre noticed that Celyn covered her baby's ears when the offensive word was said.
"I used to be a superhero, no one could touch me, not even myself, you are like a phone booth, I somehow stumbled into, and now look at me, I am just like everybody else. Yeah I am just like every body else!"
All together the family sang, Andre singing with them. "Yeah you've been gone exactly two weeks, two weeks and three days, and now I'm a different person, different in so many ways, tell me what did you like about me, don't say my strength and daring, 'cause now I think I'm at your mercy, 'cause it's my first time for this kind of thing, I used to be a superhero, I would swoop down and save me, from myself, you are like a phone booth, that I somehow stumbled into, and now look at me, I am just like everybody else, I am worse than everybody else."
The family laughed as the music ended. Soup was ladled out and put into bowls. Annika sat down in front of hers. She was incredibly hungry, but the soup looked incredibly unappetizing. Andre was sitting next to her. He notice that she wasn't eating. She already had Carpathian blood, with their blood exchange she would have even more trouble keeping food down.
Annika, you need to eat, Andre said.
Andre, it looks delicious, but I can't. I feel like I'm going to throw up.
Eat, I'll help you keep it down.
Try not to make it too obvious, my family doesn't need another excuse to not like you, Annika begged.
Andre complied. He put her under a compulsion, but a subtle one. Annika was aware that she was eating, but her body couldn't feel the revulsion that it had felt before. Thank you.
Anytime.
Oliver and Tabitha came through the door. "We've got presents!"
The presents were doled out. There new paints and canvases for Danica, Shira and Natika. Griffin received a flint and steel set, Fawn a new book, Raoul a knife and a chunk of wood to carve. Forrest was given a book called 'The idiots guide to parenting', [everyone laughed at the expression on his face] Celyn was given a dried nettle and clover tea mix.
"Annika, we really lucked out with yours. We just happened to stop by the thrift store and this caught our eye," Oliver said as he handed her a Righteous Babe Records tank top. [Righteous Babe Records is the recoding company that Ani Difranco started.] Annika leapt up and hugged them.
Tabitha looked at Andre guiltily, "I'm sorry, we didn't have time to get you anything."
"It's quite alright, Mrs. Jensen. The look on Annika's face is enough," Andre reassured her. Annika rushed out of the room to put it on.
When she came back in she posed, "Ta da!" Andre noticed that her arms were covered in old scars. He felt a wave of guilt that he hadn't noticed them before. The scars were obviously defensive wounds, except for the massive scaring on her wrists. He looked at the rest of her family, all of her siblings shared the scaring on their wrists, with the exception of Celyn and Forrest.
Everyone moved to the living room to enjoy the presents, Danica, Shira and Natika began to paint, Griffin practiced with his flint and steel set, Raoul carved near the fireplace, brushing the curls of wood into the ashes. Fawn read her book in one of the old rocking chairs. Forrest held Kanya while reading the parenting book to Celyn while she drank her tea. Oliver knitted, while Tabitha spun wool.
Annika sat curled up to Andre, watching the fire and her family.
Thank you, Andre told her.
For what?
For being. For having a family. I was alone much of my life, I never realized how a family could change things. I can't wait for you to meet the Prince and the rest of our people. They'll love you.
You mean, go away? From my family?! Andre, I can't do that! I can't leave them...
Do not misunderstand me, of course you can't leave them. I meant that they should come along. Do you understand how rare your family is? Carpathians are on the endangered list. We have had no female children, with the exception of Savannah, the princes daughter. To find that ten, TEN, part Carpathians, seven of them female, is remarkable. This will give our males hope.
There are only five that will be available for lifemates. I can't see Celyn and Forrest splitting up for any reason.
But it will give our males hope. Hope that they desperately need.
I see your point. But let's let them get used to you. Give them a month at least. You can't ask them to just pick up and move to a strange place when you just got here.
Shira stiffened, she carefully put her paintbrush down, and came over to sit next to Annika. Using their private path, she asked, Annika, do we really have to go away?
Andre tried to hide his shock. He had known what the child could do, but to have someone speaking on the path he had with his lifemate was awkward.
Not yet sweetie. Can you keep this a secret? Annika asked her.
I may only be thirteen, but I'm not an idiot! I know that the rest of the family doesn't like Andre. I'm the minority.
You like me? Andre asked, absurdly pleased.
Shira did the mental equivalent of a shrug. You don't seem that bad. You like us. I overheard you earlier. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have my family. Was it hard?
Andre didn't know what to say. This young woman had wisdom beyond her years, but she was still as much as an innocent as Kanya.
Yes it was very hard. I had to fight the darkness every rising. I couldn't see color or feel emotion. I had to fight the beast that was inside me every time I fed. It wasn't until I found Annika that I could feel and see color again. Your older sister has given me my life back. It was hard. So hard that I'm never going to give her up.
Shira nodded. I'm glad you found her. She's been lonely for a really long time. She doesn't show it, but I could tell. You need to watch her. If she thinks that there's a chance she can get away with it, she'll try to protect the whole world, but she won't protect herself. My paint is drying, I need to get back. I'll try not to listen anymore, but you two whisper? It makes it easier.
Shira skipped back to her painting, leaving the two adults staring after her in wonder.
Okay, I just had to do some Ani Difranco songs. It's a big part of this family, and I love her myself. The songs in order, are Every State Line, Letter to a John, Two Little Girls, and Superhero. I really feel that Letter to a John is Annika's song. It'll probably crop up again in the future. Righteous Babe Records is awesome. Ani made it herself.