I'm awoken by sun shining through my eyelids and the first chords of Macklemore's "Same Love" erupting from my phone. Gotta love this guy. I brush my hair out of my face and pick up. "Dad! How are you? Haven't heard from you in ages!"
"I'm good, sweetie pie. You?"
"Brilliant, daddy. Now what was your purpose of calling at 9 in the morning?"
"Oh God, I'm so sorry! Totally forgot what time it's in Melbourne. Anyway, we have a small surprise for you..." He drifts off. I clear my throat to urge him tell me more. He breathes in and out deeply. "Abby gave birth to your little sister a few days ago."
I yelp and then cover my mouth with my free hand. My eyes turn watery. "Dad, it's amazing! Why didn't you call us about her pregnancy sooner? Have you told mom?"
"We didn't wanna throw such big news out there when you were just getting used to the new home. And no, darling, I haven't talked to Joan yet, but I suggest you not telling her. I will call her right after you. But my main worry is are you... okay with it?"
I squeeze my eyes shut and bite my lip not to squel anymore. I've wanted a baby sister all my life. Now I finally have one, doesn't matter that she's at the other side of the world. "Of course, dad. I'm genuinely SO happy. But a lot has happened in this household too."
"Ooh! Care to share your news too?"
"Longer story, mom will tell you. I gotta go take a shower now. Please hug Abby and the baby for me, will you?"
"Of course, sweetheart. Talk to you later, okay? I love you so much."
"I love you too, daddy." I hung up and make my way to the bathroom. This will turn into an interesting day.
***
An hour later I hear a small knock on the door and mom peeks in. I'm adjusting my damp hair in a high ponytail at the same time so I nod to her to come in. She does so and shuts the door behind her - oh no. What have I done now?
But instead she comes and sits next to me, brushing away a wet curl that had stuck to my cheek. She smiles and whispers, "Hey big sister."
I smile as well and hug her. "So he told you?"
Mom nods and says, "He sounded so happy. I thought he had lost that soft side of him." She smiles again, but it's not one of her bitter smiles; she seems genuinely glad.
"Listen baby, Brad and I talked about it and we agreed that you should fly to US with Victoria in 2 weeks. Spend a day or two in New York. Maybe a week. He's still your dad. I've already talked it through with Gina and she said they're gonna be okay."
She looks at me and I shuffle closer to her, wrapping my hands around her from the side. "Thank you, mommy. I'd love that." The thought of sleeping under the same roof with my stepmom for some nights makes me a bit anxious though, but it's only a grain compared to seeing my dad again.
Mom looks at me for a little too long and I turn away, feeling uncomfortable. "Ari? How are you liking your work so far?"
I nod stiffly, trying to think of a foolproof answer. My mom can read me like an open book. "It's been good. I mean, the guys are great, it's fun working with them and I get paid for not doing much."
She bows even closer and inspects my face from almost an inch, trying to get something out of it. "Yeah? Does it have to do anything with a boy?"
I bring out my weapon: laugh. "MOM! What are you on about? I wouldn't have time for a relationship!"
"Are you sure about that?"
My smile fades away and a little pink flashes on my cheeks. "Okay, there's this one guy."
"There we go munchkin. I knew someone was on your mind! Now which one of them is that?" she asks referring to Janoskians and surprisingly enough, assuming right.
"Jai," I smile.
"Oh, he seems like a nice fella. And?" Mom seems even more eager than me.
I sigh, "We're complicated. We've both got feelings for each other, but we can't do that in the eyes of publicity..."
Mom nods slowly, a thoughtful look in her eyes. Then she pulls my head onto her shoulder and starts caressing my hair. It takes me by a bit of a surprise to be honest, because she hasn't done it in ages. But I don't pull away; it makes me feel like a small vulnerable girl again who just hurt her little toe and her mom is trying to calm her to stop sobbing.
"Listen now, baby girl. You are constantly thinking about others. Sure, I appreciate that quality in a woman, it's the way I brought you up; but in this case you often forget about your own wellbeing. I know what your past with media was like, but you must let it go. If something is bound to go wrong, we can prevent it now. You can always come to me, darling, you know that. Brad'll be here. Sure, Frankie has a lot going on in his life right now too, but you're still his little girl. Edward will definitely not just sit by and watch. I'm saying you should give this boy a chance." A little trickle slides down mom's cheek and when she looks back up at me, I spot small wrinkles around her soft and suddenly elderly eyes. But these wrinkles are happy.
Yes, this family is emotional so I couldn't hold tears back myself either. I wrap my arms around mom and squeeze tight. "Thank you, mommy. I will."
-
Ho-ho-ho!
Merry Christmas everybody! I think by that point now wherever you live in the world, you've received your presents and had your Christmas lunch already ;) it's already past 1AM something in my timezone so I'll keep this afterword short and sweet and I'm mainly here to deliver you this chapter. Take it as a sort of Christmas gift from me to you guys :) also, comment below, what were you up to today/yesterday, who you spent it with, what food you ate, what prseents you got! As always, I'll be replying to every little or big comment I get.
Also, I believe that this is going to be my last chapter before this story hits 100 thousand reads. Okay, let me just say HO-HO-HO-HOLY SHITTTTT. (Swearing on Christmas, I knooow, I'm just naughty like that :P) But I've got something special planned for you for the next update which I know you'll love so stay tuned ;) Also maybe for the next chapter after that also; who knows.....
I love all of you so dearly. Don't ever forget where you belong.
PS. On the sidebar I've put a picture of Joan, Ariana's real mum too, in case you don't know what she looks like :)
Yours truly, Saskia
