Madeleine Lauren Baker

1

I was sitting on the kitchen island as mom and Liv were looking through the bags of dinner that they had ordered. I was just sitting in my pajamas waiting patiently to eat. It had been a long day with school and then with dance practice. That's when dad walked into the room.

"Hey, hey," my dad said.

"Hey," mom said.

"Hi dad," Liv replied.

"Hi daddy," I replied with a smile. He kissed my head before walking over to the living room where Jordan was sitting. It was probably football related. That was my dad's favorite thing to talk about. I continued to gaze around until mom called dad and Jordan to the dinning table because food was ready.

"Maddie come on," Liv said, holding the sparkling water in her hand. I climbed down from the barstool and walked over to the dining table. Mom poured me some sushi on my plate and we all sat down and ate our food together. The entire family talked about the game that was happening the next night. It was supposed to be super important for Jordan and Daddy said that we all would go.

"Honey, you hardly touched your sushi? Is it not good?" Daddy asked.

"No it is. I'm just not very hungry. Can I go to bed?" I asked.

"Just eat 2 more pieces and then I'll help you get ready for bed." Mom replied. I just nodded and quickly ate my food and drank my water. Once we all helped clean up, mom and I went upstairs so I could brush my teeth and get in bed.

Once I got all settled in, mom came in and tucked me in. I assumed she was just going to leave but instead she layed on top of the covers next to me. She propped herself so she was against the headboard.

"How was your day sweetie?" Mom asked, looking down at me.

"It was good. School was the same old, same old." I replied.

"Well, speaking of school, your teacher called and told me that she thought that placing you in 7th grade math rather than typical advanced courses would be more engaging. So I said yes."

"Okay mom." I added.

"What about dance?"

"Dance was okay. My foot is sore after running through my solo 5 times today," I replied with a yawn.

"Your dad and I are so proud of your progress in dance. We cannot wait to see your closing dance at the recital!" Mom replied with a smile. She brushed some of my hair out of my face as I slowly drifted into a deep sleep. Soon enough, I was out like a light.

POV CHANGE TO LAURA

I just sat on the bed still watching Madaline peacefully sleep. She'd always been so bright but I didn't realize that it caused her to be bored in class so frequently. I was glad that her teacher called me, otherwise I would have never noticed. I continued to just stare into space until I heard footsteps coming upstairs.

"Hey Mads...." Jordan said, peeking into the doorway. "Mom? Where's Maddie?"

"She's sleeping Jordan, what's up?" I asked.

"Nothing, she just wanted me to watch her new trick that she learned in dance today. But I guess maybe another time." He replied.

"Yea, for right now it's a bit late so she should be in bed sleeping. Maybe tomorrow," I replied.

"Yea, night mom." Jordan replied, leaving his youngest sister's room.

****TIMESKIP*** (ADD CLAUSE HERE so it fits better)

"Maddie get up!" I heard a voice say. I was too groggy to even catch what was being said so I just rolled over to my side and fell asleep. "Lainey, come on."

"Hmm," I replied, trying to get up. I sat up on my bed and looked at Liv. She was sitting on my bed with a smile.

"Go hop in the shower and get dressed so I can help you do your hair before I leave for school," Liv said.

I just yawned and nodded. "Kk Liv." I gave her a hug before getting up to go and get ready. My mom usually did my hair but she didn't know all the complex braiding styles like Liv did so sometimes I would ask her to do it. For today, I just wanted my curly hair put into two boxer braids.

Once I was all ready, I went downstairs with Liv to see a random stranger standing in the kitchen. He was about Jordan's height. I just followed Liv towards the kitchen island and stood next to mom and reached to grab her hand only for her to pull away because her phone went off with a few messages. That was typical for her. Daddy was more of the present parent in the house. Mom just made sure that I was taken to school, picked up, and fed.

"Livvy," I asked, tugging on her arm.

She looked down at me, "Yeah what's up?"

"Who's that man over there?"

"Oh that's just..." Liv said only to be interrupted by Dad.

"Oh good! Maddie come here!," Dad said. I walked over to him where Jordan and the other boy were sitting. "Spencer, this is my other daughter Madeleine."

"Hi Madeline! I'm Spencer. It's nice to meet you!" He said with a smile.

"Hi," I replied back, looking at him. I was just twiddling my fingers together as there was a pause of silence.

"Sorry, Spence. She's a shy one. But once she gets used to you being here, she'll open up." Dad replied. I just continued to stand there awkwardly not knowing what to do.

"Sweetie, if you have your things, let's go. I'm going to be late for work if I don't drop you off right now." Mom called.

"Okay," I replied. I grabbed my backpack and threw it on my back and gave dad a hug. I was walking over to the door until I realized I forgot something. "Mumma, I'll be back."

"Madalaine.... Fine. Please don't be too long, I'll be in the car waiting for you." She said.

I ran back into the kitchen to see the twins still there. My dad and Spencer were standing in the backyard. "Thank you for doing my hair Livvy," I said running into giving her a hug. I wasn't very tall yet so I just wrapped my arms around my sister's waist.

It definitely caught her by surprise. "You're welcome Lainey," Liv replied, giving me a quick squeeze.

"Wow, where's my hug?" my brother added with an exaggerated gasp. I gave Jordan a hug too and smiled.

"Bye guys," I said, letting go and running out the door.

"Bye Mads," the twins replied.

****TIMESKIP***

It had been quite a crazy week. Jordan and Spencer had won their second game. However, Dad got mad at Jordan because apparently he tried to have Spencer kicked out of school. Apparently he felt that he wasn't worthy of being the son that Daddy always wanted him to be. So we ended up having a family meeting to decide where Spencer would fit into the family dynamic. I didn't mind either way. But I assumed that dad was only worried about Jordan and Olivia.

Personally, I knew that Spencer would stay. My mom liked him and so did Livvy. Jordan would just have to come around and I knew he would. Jordan always came around. At least I hoped he would.

***Thanks for reading. This was my first time writing. Let me know what you guys think about the story****