The Staal Sister

I parked my car in the lot, my hands shaking. I was a god damned mess. I knew that my mother was going to be pissed. Her emails she sent after I left were truly heart breaking. She thought I was mad at her for paying not enough attention to me but that wasnt true. Sure, I was sort of the forgotten child but I liked my space. She begged and begged for me to come home but I just couldnt. I didnt want to be the whore of a child who got knocked up at 16 while my older brothers were all either professional athletes or certainly headed in that direction

"Mommy, can we go inside?" Iris' voice broke me out of my reverie. I got of the car and unbuckled them from their car seats. With Liam on my left hip and Iris on my right, I walked into the building. I was escorted to seats in the crowd where the draft picks were, people giving me funny looks.

"The wives cant sit up here." A tall man who looked to be a security guard told me. I laughed as I sat down. Liam and Iris were uncharacteristically quiet.

"I'm Danielle Staal. Draft pick." I whispered the last part and smiled as his eyes widened. Then he blushed.

"I , uh, Miss. Staal, I apologize. I just didnt expect you to be this pretty... There is a room with food and stuff if you'd like me to take you." I nodded. I stood up, one of my babies on each hip. I was ridiculously strong now from carrying them. They were beautiful, bubbly weights. They werent heavy, but after while it takes a toll on you.

"Can we have yummies mama?" Liams eyes lit up as he saw the assortment of sweets on the tables. The guard gave me a look of disbelief when he called me 'mama', but just walked away.

"Are we gonna move?" Iris asked me sadly, her bottom lip quivering slightly. Liam was eating half of a brownie that I split between them as he sat on the little couch we preoccupied in the room, people began swarming in.

"Yes, baby." I gathered her in my arms and soothed her. "We can have a big house. You can meet more friends and--" She cut me off.

"I dont wann leave Uncle Ken." She cried softly and I felt my heart in my throat. I couldnt stand seeing her upset.

"Rissy, Uncle Ken might be tranferring to the college in Pittsburgh if they let him. Dont worry your pretty little head." She snuggled in close to me and I inhaled her soapy smell, smiling as I kissed the top of her head.

When I looked over to ask Liam if he was ready to head back to our seats, and my heart all but stopped as I saw he wasnt there.

I shot up, Iris still in my arms as the panic set in. I searched the room frantically with my eyes as I finally took a breath when my eyes landed on him, laughing next to a tall man.

I all but ran to Liam. I set Iris on her feet and she gripped me hand.

"Liam Jared Staal! Do NOT scare mommy like that again! You cant just walk away from me!" I sighed after I scolded him and squeezed him and kissed his cheek.

"Danielle?" A deep voice said and I automatically looked up into the blue eyes similar to my own. My brother Eric's eyes.

"Dani…" He whispered and reached out to touch my cheek and I let out a shuddering sigh. It was hard to see him again. Before now, they were dead to me.

After making sure he wasnt seeing things, he picked Iris up without a word and gently grabbed my wrist, the arm that wasnt holding Liam up. Liam was a lazy boy. He pulled me slowly across the room.

I couldnt help but notice the side glances he was giving me. It was like he thought I was going to run away again. That proved to be useless anyway , everything I ran away from stood right in front of me now. My family. The Staals. The Staal Superstars.

Eric cleared his throat and all eyes were immediately on me, wishing I could blink and be away from here.