Surviving the McLane Boys - New and Improved

5: A Stand-In Mom

A stand-in mom

Chapter 5

I’m alive. I. Am. Alive.

That’s all that goes through my head when we pull into the McLane driveway.

Soon all I can think is: Shoot. How do I get off this thing? And Jake was definitely planning this.

I manage to get off a bit more gracefully than this morning by making sure I wake my legs up with a good slap before pushing myself off. I stumble slightly but correct myself as the rest of the McLane’s pull up in their car that apparently isn’t able to sufficiently seat an extra person – me.

They rush out of the vehicle in a steady stream of teenaged boy and I immediately start heading towards my house before someone can stop me. Namely Jake.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Steady on short stuff! You’re coming back with us.” Wes says as he drags me back towards their front door, “Mom said she wanted to see you after school, so she can explain and everything.”

I sigh as we walk through the double doors and into a cool, tiled hallway and nostalgia immediately overwhelms me as I look around at the familiar setting.

“Mom! Where are you? I’m home!” Wes calls into the quiet house.

“We’re home too!” the rest of the gang pushes through the door, nearly trampling over me.

I follow them towards the kitchen where Claire stands at the stove stirring something in a pot.

Dylan makes a bee line for a bowl of chips Seth has just poured out and begins stuffing his face before anyone can get to it.

Claire’s face breaks out into a smile as she sees me and she comes over to give me a long hug.

I smile to myself; reveling in the mom-like embrace that I haven’t experienced in a while.

I’ve always considered Claire as my second mother. My real mom, Rosaline, passed away from breast cancer which had laid undetected for too long when I was four. Feeling that I needed a motherly figure, my father remarried after that, leaving me stuck with Jenny. She’s nice enough, but we could never get along as more than friends. We aren’t even good friends, just on good enough terms that we don’t rip each other’s hair out.

I miss my mom, a lot. Though I only knew her for four years, she was the best. I wasn’t able to spend a lot of time with her, but from what I can remember, she was truly amazing.

 I sometimes lie in bed wishing she was still alive. When Lilly and the twins came around I started to feel more distanced from my so called ‘family’. Jenny just never really took to me or I to her.

Talking about hot guys, shopping, getting ready for school dances and all the other things normal girls do with their moms was left for me to do by myself.

I’ll admit Jenny tried, but I could see she felt pretty lost on what to do with me so I told her she didn’t have to pretend anymore. We never acted like a mother and daughter. I stayed out of her way, and she stayed out of mine – most of the time.

Dad even stepped in and tried to get me to call her mom. But for me, she was Jenny. She could never be mom. As Lily and the twins don’t know I’m their half-sister I’ve had to put up a fake front for a while though.  In Lilly’s case, I’m actually her step-sister. Lilly’s father was actually from Jenny’s first marriage which fell out when she discovered that he was sleeping around. Despite not being close to Jenny, my relationship with Lilly, Jae and Grae has always been relatively good, annoying sibling rivalry and all.