Stay Awake

I tightly wrapped my arms around Jenny and got down on her level, brushing her hair behind her ears.

“You got your haircut!” I said, playing with her hair before wiping her tears away. She nodded.

“I’ve missed you,” she cried, burying her face into my neck.

“Is something wrong here?” Lisa asked us.

“Your parents adopted my little sister.” I said, and her eyes widened.

“That’s the little sister you’ve been telling us about?” Lisa asked. I nodded and hugged Jenny closer to me. Soon I saw that everyone was looking in our direction, giving a look of sympathy. I stood up and wiped my eyes, being led to the dining room to eat.

“Okay, since there isn’t enough room at the table, we set up a kid’s table for Jenny, Summer and Jack.” Alex explained.

“You would put me with the kids!” Jack whined, sitting down at the table.

“Jack, you are a kid.” I giggled, sitting down next to him. Jenny followed suit, sitting next to me. Jack glared at me and stuck his tongue out, putting some food on his plate. We loaded our plates with food and started eating.

“So, Jenny’s the name?” Jack asked, smiling at her.

“Yup!” she replied happily, stuffing her face with food. This is probably her first real meal since she’s left the foster home.

“That’s a pretty name. I’ve heard a lot about you!” Jack grinned. Jenny’s face turned a light shade of pink, but she wasn’t the type to be shy.

“I hope it was good stuff.” Jenny giggled, nudging my elbow.

“Of course it was!” I chuckled, looking over at her.

“What’d she say about me?” she asked, turning back to Jack.

“Um, well,” he shrugged, thinking. “She said that you are the best little sister that she could ever ask for!” he said sarcastically.

“I’m sure she did.” she laughed, taking a sip of her drink. I turned to her, my mouth dropped.

“Are you serious?” I asked. I had a roll on my hand, and I tore off a bit and threw it at her.

“Oh, you wanna go there?” she asked, throwing some corn at me. We started to get into a food fight, and Jack just sat there, watching us in amusement. It was when I threw a wad of potatoes at her when she got really mad and tackled me to the floor. We started laughing and getting rambunctious, when Lisa’s mom came out and yelled at us.

“Girls!” she said sternly, and Jenny jumped off of me, helping me up. “Is this really how you act at this age?” she asked. Both of us were trying to keep straight faces.

“Mom, this is the first time they’ve seen each other in a few months. I think this is hilarious!” Lisa giggled, looking at the mess we’ve made. Lisa’s mom softened.

“I thought they’d be more mature than this. Clean up, girls.” she said and walked back into the dining room. Jenny and I stifled out a giggle and started cleaning up the mess we made.

“Don’t worry, she’s not like this once you’ve lived with her for a while.” Lisa smiled and walked back into the dining room.

“That was awesome!” Jack shouted, standing up from the table, giving us high fives. We laughed as we cleaned up, and I went upstairs to change into some clean clothes.

“Here, sis, you can wear these.” I said, handing her a pair of pajama pants that are too small for me. Once we were changed, we went back downstairs to see that the kitchen was cleaned up, and dessert was on the table. I cut myself a piece of pie and sat down at the dining room where everyone was sitting.

“Ah, it’s nice to see you girls all cleaned up. Are you ready to act your age?” she smiled at us as she sipped her coffee. I raised my eyebrows at her, she was talking to us like we were little kids. I mean, Jenny’s only 8, but she’s talking to us like we’re five. She reminds me of my grandmother, which was never a good thing. I need to get Jenny out of her hands as soon as possible, if this was going to keep up.

“I guess so,” I shrugged, finishing my pie. She glared at me, and Jenny started giggling. This was going to be a fun time, I could tell.

We sat around the table for a few hours, so Jenny could get to know each other, and made arrangements to meet up here again tomorrow for Christmas, but with everyone’s family.

“Okay, sweetie, it’s time to go!” Lisa’s mom said, grabbing her coat, walking to the door. Jenny looked at me, fear in her face.

“Oh, I was wondering if I could stay with Summer tonight. Because, you know, I haven’t seen her in a really long time.” Jenny said. Lisa’s mom twisted her lips and looked at me, then back at Jenny.

“Now where will you be staying, Summer?” she asked.

“Either here or at home.” I said.

“I think mom wants you home, so I’ll bring you guys home. And we can have a slumber party!” Jack said happily, clapping his hands. I smiled, kind of relieved.

“Oh, that’s fine. Have fun, sweetie.” she smiled, kissing Jenny on the head before walking out with the rest of her family. We stayed a little long after they left, and Jack took us back home, Joyce and Bassam following soon after. I led Jenny up to my room, and she wrinkled her nose at the ugliness of it.

“Sorry my room’s not perfect like yours.” I giggled, throwing her stuff in my closet.

“Are you even going to do anything to it?” she asked.

“Of course, silly!” I laughed. I kicked off my shoes and changed into some pajamas before jumping on my bed, Jenny following.

“So how’s life been since I’ve been gone?” I asked. Jenny shrugged and looked down.

“I was pretty much the only girl left since you’ve been adopted. I thought I was going to be alone, until this happened. As soon as I heard that they were from Baltimore, I should’ve made some sort of connection, but I didn’t,” she explained. I grabbed a pillow from behind me and hugged it close to my body. “So how’s life been here?” she asked.

“Pretty great, actually. I love the Barakat family, everyone is so nice and amazing.” I explained, realizing that I was smiling at the thought of family, which hasn’t happened in a while.

“Jack’s kinda cute. Would you date him?” she asked.

“Jenny! He’s like, almost 10 years older than I am!” I laughed, slapping her arm. “But as an older brother, he’s amazing.” I smiled.

“But if you were his age, or if he was your age, would you?” she grinned. I felt my face turn a light shade of pink.

“Well, maybe.” I said quietly.

“Oh, SUMMER HAS A CHRUSHY!” Jenny shouted. I tackled her and pinned her on the bed, causing her to shout.

“Is everything okay in there?” Jack asked, knocking on the door.

“Everything’s fine!” I laughed, and looked up to see that Jack was in my room.

“Jenny! I’ll rescue you!” Jack shouted, tearing me off of her and picking up Jenny. She let out a squeal as he tossed her on the bed. This was honestly the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been adopted. And to top it all off, I have my sister back.