A Family Of My Own

While The Family Is Away...

Chapter Three... While The Family Is Away...

It was going to be a very dull nine days.

My mother, father, Addy, Zane, Ethan, Lily, Emily, Olivia and Isabella were all going to Canada for a family holiday. Normally I would join them, but I had a string of school exams that I simply couldn't miss. I was only six weeks from the end of high school, and this was just one hurdle I couldn't avoid.

On the upside, mom said that Noah could stay over as often as he wanted to. But I wouldn't have seeked her permission, anyway... I would have just done it.

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay, Bec?" mom questioned for the thousandth time. "I mean, we could always go next year."

"Mom, it's fine," I reassured her... again! "Look, you haven't taken a holiday in years, and I'm at the age where I'm sort of old enough that I don't need to be there anymore. I mean, I would love to go, but come on! Noah and I can take holidays of our own soon, and then you'll feel guilt-free, right?"

"Bec," mom chuckled. "I suppose you're right."

"I know I am," I smiled. "But I'll miss you."

"Oh, I'll miss you more," mom said, hugging me tightly. "I still freak when I realise just how much you've grown up, and that you're independent and smart and you're happy."

"Noah makes me happy," I grinned.

"Oh, I know," she laughed. "He's always made you happy. He changed your life back when you were a depressed little girl. He brought happiness to you by making friends with you when you had no friends. I'll never forget... I was so worried about you, and then you came home happy, because you had a friend."

"And now I have several friends," I said, a tear rolling from my eye. I wiped it away swiftly.

"It scares me, you know," she admitted. "You wanting a family so young. I probably wouldn't have had kids until I was in my twenties if I didn't have you."

"Mom, just because that's what I want, doesn't mean it's going to happen that way."

"Yes, but if you're anything like I was..."

"Worry less, mom. I still have to finish high school. And in six weeks, then I'll start planning where I go from here. I might decide to travel Europe first. You never know."

"You've been to Europe before."

"Yes, but I was only a kid. I wanna go to Paris with Noah..."

"I do believe you're as much a romantic as I am. And your father. And trust me, that's a great thing. I'm sure Noah loves that about you."

Mom and I were always close. I had my own teenage rebellion, but it went to the extent of me backchatting mom up until I was fifteen. Addy happened to be the troublemaker out of us. She would occasionally do stupid things, like once she ate a load of chocolate, just because she wanted to. The fact that she's an insulin-dependent diabetic meant nothing to her sometimes... But she was into drinking and once I caught her smoking at school. Mom could have killed her...

Lily was probably the most timid. She had a boyfriend, but she still seemed shy. Zane and Ethan would often try and bring her out of her shell, but she was different around them. I guess sharing a uterus really did give them a special bond.