Mystery Boy

Other Side.

The rest of the night went by slowly as I laid around in my bedroom. I pulled out my books and started on my homework as the rest of the people that live in this house ate dinner together like a family.

I had ignored my father as he called me to the table, offering chicken and fries. I just flipped Decklan off when he stuck his head into the room and told me to get out there because I was upsetting Taite.

I finished my homework within two hours and then went to my laptop, becoming even more let down when there wasn't any wifi in this whole neighborhood. After I played a game of chess and reorganized my dresser, I ended back up on my bed, dialing another number.

"Hey! You've reached Kelley! Leave a message and I'll try and get back to you as soon as I can!"

I sighed and hung up without leaving a message. I decided that she'd call me back if she thought it was important.

I decided to just go to bed. I slipped into a pair of basketball shorts and a T'shirt and climbed under the covers, feeling my muscles relax automatically.

My dreams assaulted me as I slept, reminding me over and over again that nothing was perfect. Decklan sauntered into the room quietly around midnight and passed out in his bed, snoring lightly but loud enough to raise me from my sleep. As I rolled over and looked to the brunette boy, my mind raged on, thinking about my father, my brother, and the new child that would come.

My phone sat on the table next to my bed and I reached to it when I noticed the little red light blinking on top. I put it to my ear and listened to my best friend rattle off about how she missed me, but was having a great time with Forester, a boy from my Algebra class who had asked her to go to the Fall Formal.

I smiled lightly, sadly, as I tossed the phone back onto the table and rolled over to face the wall.

The rest of the week dragged on and my grounding continued. I went to school, had lunch with the guys, and then drove home with them, parting in the driveway and watching as they retreated to Ronnie's bedroom before my dad had the opportunity to yelled out of the living room window.

Saturday came around again, and it had officially been one week in the Gray household. My father woke me up at nine o'clock that day and told me to get dressed. I dressed in a pair of ripped jeans, a tank top, and a hoodie that was just a little too big for me.

As we piled into the van that belonged to Ina, I climbed into the backseat and pushed my headphones into my ears to block out the noise of the family around me. I didn't bother to ask where we were going, but I didn't care.

It wasn't until we pulled into the driveway of a quaint little house that I bothered to look at my surroundings. Taite and the boys were piling out of the car and into the yard. The front door of the house opened and two identical boys spilled out of the front door, their shaggy brown hair in their matching eyes.

Ina and Dad followed the kids through the yard. Dad motioned for me to come out and I did, sliding out of the backseat and dropping my feet to the grass, wondering who these kids could be.

"Treston, Rocco!" my dad shouted as he scooped the twins into his arms.

"Who are these two?" I asked as I walked up next to him and the boys who couldn't be much older than five.

"Rocco and Treston," Dad said with a smile, "Ina's nephews."

"Nephews?" I asked, looking towards the front door where we were headed.

We walked into the house and I bit my lip as I came face to face with two women and a man. I knew automatically that it was Ina's mother, sister, and brother-in-law. I folded my arms over my chest and offered a tight-lipped smile as they introduced themselves.

Ina's mother's name is Shirley and she had raised her two daughters alone after her husband died when they were just two and four years old, Ina being the oldest.

Ina's sister's name was Eva and she was married to Ryan and pregnant with her first baby, since Treston and Rocco were not hers biologically, even though they called her 'mommy' and she loved them like they came from her.

The twins were six, I learned, but they had been born early, causing them to look younger and their mother to end up not making it long enough to set eyes on her beautiful children.

After we had been there for a couple hours and the adults learned that I wasn't willing to talk, Rocco climbed into my lap and laid his head on my shoulder. For a moment I froze and felt awkward. But when Ryan reached over to pull his son off of me, I shook my head and wrapped my arms around the boy's waist, telling his father that it was alright.

"So, Airea," Shirley called to me as she set sandwiches on the coffee table.

When I looked up to her she continued her question. "What do you like?" she questioned, handing me a sandwich which I took and bit into so that I could delay having to answer a little bit longer.

When I had scarfed down half of my sandwich my father elbowed me in the side.

I looked back up to Shirley and shrugged. "I don't know," I told her.

"You have to like something," Shirley said with a small, comforting smile.

I thought about it for a moment and then shrugged again. "I used to like parties."

"And you don't anymore?" Eva asked, rubbing her big belly.

For a moment I chuckled at the fact that both sisters were pregnant, and then I stopped because I realized that her mother nor her sister knew she was going to have another baby. Instead, I just answered the question. "Not really. Well, in a different way. The parties around here seem more hardcore. My boyfriend likes the scene more than me," I said.

My dad and Ina shared a look when I mentioned Jacky. Ina's side of the family didn't notice. Instead, Eva asked me about my boyfriend.

"He lives down the street," I said, "he's amazing."

The conversation moved on from me to my father and Ina. And then, at lunch, Ina and Dad made a huge announcement. Then the congratulations started and the rest of the night was spent talking about the babies who would only be born a few months apart from each other.

Easton and Decklan jumped on the trampoline out back as Taite and the twins played on the swing set. When it started to get late into the afternoon Shirley called her youngest grandkids into the house and set Rocco, Taite, and Treston up in the "little bedroom". She stripped the blankets down and tossed each of them into the bed, telling them to go to sleep and ignoring their whining.

I stayed outside by myself for hours. Well, I climbed up the slide and sat there, watching Easton and Decklan fool around on the trampoline, causing their grandma to yell at them from the kitchen window, warning that if either one of them fell off, they'd be on their own.
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heyy. Just a filler, but I hope you notice Airea's attitude.