Reflections

Chapter 4

Here's part four to all you awesome readers.                                                                                                          " Cassie! Please eat your food." Dad said. I took a bit of my omelet. It was nice and cheesy. Skye happily accepted the seconds of mashed potatoes Dad gave her. The food was pretty good. The kitchen door swung open as Edaline came in. Her eyes shined but in a dull way. Her hair hung limply against her shoulders.
" Morning," Dad said. She gave a faint smile and grabbed her coffee. Dad got up and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him.
" It's okay." He whispered. She mumbled something I couldn't hear and he kissed her. I looked away. Skye giggled.
" Mama." Cassie cooed from her highchair. Edaline smiled and picked her up.
" Mama's here." Cassie sniffled but she clung to Edaline.
" So, how would you guys like to go to the pool?" Dad asked. Skye and I looked at each other.
" Yeah!" Edaline got a cup of coffee. After breakfast, we went upstairs to change. I put on my dark blue Speedo and black board shorts. Skye wore a pink Speedo with black board shorts and a white rashguard. We put sunscreen on and went back down. Dad had swim trunks and a white shirt on. Edaline wore a black cover-up.
" Let's go." He said. We walked out the back door and through a winding path. Cassie played with Edaline's hair as she adjusted her.
" Is Cassie, going to swim?" I asked.
" Yeah, she likes the water."
" That's good that she is used to the water." Dad smiled. The pool was beautiful. The Olympic sized pool sparkled in the sun. A waterfall came out of one end and poured into the pool. A side of the pool overflowed below giving it an infinite effect. There was a small area of water, the water was about four inches high. I guessed that area was for Cassie. After Edaline sprayed us with sunscreen, I took off my sandals and dipped my foot in the water. It was perfect. I climbed the rock and jumped off, splashing Skye.
" Hey!" Skye climbed on the rock and jumped in. When her head surfaced she was smiling.
" The pool's perfect." She said. I ducked back underwater, the faint hum of the generator in the background. I swam to the edge of the pool. The view from here was amazing. The lush green forest reflected the sun, a small crystal blue stream sparkled. Dad's property was huge. There was a small splash behind me and I turned around too late. Skye tackled me from behind and I went under. When I resurfaced I shot her a glare.
" What?" She laughed. " It's payback for you splashing me." I pushed water and her face and swam away. I swam to the edge. Cassie sat on a chair, crying. 
" Cassie you need sunscreen on your face," Dad said. She shook her head and waved her arms.
" Cassie!" He reached for her but she cried harder.
" If you don't get sunscreen, you don't get to go in the pool." Cassie stopped crying and looked at the bottle. He held the bottle and smeared sunscreen on her neck and arms. But when he reached for her face she shrieked and smacked the bottle away. It skidded across the floor and landed with a plop in the pool.
" Cassiopeia!" Dad said, angrily. He picked her up and she started to cry.
" Jackson! It's okay." Edaline said. She took Cassie from Dad. He muttered something about incompetence and getting fruit and then he left. Cassie let Edaline rub sunscreen on her. Edaline took off her cover-up and picked Cassie up. She made her way down the steps and walked into the water. Cassie immediately giggled and slapped the water. I swam beside them.
" Hi, Cassie," I said. I grabbed her little arms.
" This is Julia, Cassie. She's your sister." I smiled at the word sister.
" Ju-Ju." Cassie sputtered. Edaline smiled.
" Yeah." Cassie smiled and patted me with her little hand. Edaline walked further into the water.
" Do you want to show Julia what you can do?" Edaline asked. Cassie smiled. Edaline held Cassie by her armpits. Slowly Cassie kicked her legs.
" Wow! That's good."
" Does she take lessons?" I asked.
" Yeah, we have someone who comes."
" What's your family like?" I asked Edaline. She tensed up a little.
" They're nice." She finally responded.
" Where are you from?" She was a little hesitant when she responded.
" I'm from Essex."
" That's nice."
" Was that guy actually your brother?" I asked.
" Unfortunately yes. He reminds me of a part of my family I'd rather forget."
" Watch me!" Skye yelled, from her place on the rock. I said Edaline let out a breath, probably because she wouldn't have to explain. Skye put her hands up and did a front flip.
" Wow! Nice!" Edaline said when Skye resurfaced.
" Thanks." We played in the pool for about thirty minutes.
" Where's Dad?" I asked. Edaline shrugged. Cassie jerked forward splashing her face in the water. She gasped and then coughed.
" Cassie, don't do that," Edaline said, gently patting Cassie on the back. Dad finally came out, he no longer wore his swim trunks.
" Girls, why don't you go dry up." He said.
" But we hardly swam," I complained.
" We'll swim tomorrow, I promise. But right now Edaline and I need to talk." We dried up and went inside. Cassie was not happy about leaving the water. Skye watched Cassie while I showered and changed. We turned on the Tv and I put Cassie in the bed. We watched a short Mickey Mouse episode before Cassie fell asleep. I took her back to her room and put her in the crib.
" We should explore the house." I said, " Especially the rooms at the end of the hall."
" Did you hear the words 'restricted and don't go there'." I  frowned.
" Where's your sense of adventure."
" Fine." She reluctantly agreed. We walked down the hall. The first room didn't look dangerous. It was a small office. There was a desk and tons of books. It didn't seem interesting so we left it, the second room was storage, with many unmarked boxes. I made a mental note to come back to that room. We pushed open the doors to the last room. It was a large room, completely empty and in the center of the room was a mirror.
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" I don't get why they would hide it," I said. " It's completely harmless."
" Your Dad has his reasons," Skye replied.
" But his reasons are dumb." I opened the fridge and took out a carton of milk.
" Can you get the apple puree from the fridge?" I asked as I poured myself milk. Skye opened the fridge and found the package.
" Do you want milk?" I asked. She nodded.
"  We deserve to know," I said.
" Maybe it's dangerous in its own way," Skye said. I scoffed
" Yeah, cause a box is gonna come to life and attack me."
" Julia." Skye drew the word out. Cassie banged her spoon on the table, impatient. Skye took her spoon and fed her a small spoonful.
" Aren't you a tiny bit curious?" I asked.
" Of course I am." She fed Cassie another spoonful. I put the milk and Nutella in front of her. Skye took a bit of Nutella and Cassie reached for her sandwich.
" No, Cassie. You have your own food. " Skye fed her another spoonful, which she ate happily.
" How are you girls up before us?" Dad asked as he walked into the kitchen with Edaline. We shrugged.
" I don't know," I said. " I hope you don't mind but we were eating and Cassie looked hungry."
" No, it's fine! Plus you got her to eat apples, which is a bonus." Edaline said. We smiled.
" So I was thinking we could spend the day in the city," Dad said.
" Okay. That sounds fun. Will we get to see the Eiffel Tower?" Skye asked.
" You most certainly will." He responded. They started making their coffee and then they got on their phones. We finished feeding Cassie and then went upstairs. We got dressed in a gray skater skirt, a white tee, and black converse. We strung our black and gold purses over our shoulders. Edaline held Cassie, who was in a cute pink, summer dress.
" Ready to go?" We nodded and loaded into the car. Dad parked on the street, next to a cafe. We walked along the streets, occasionally swinging from a lamppost. We stopped and got some ice cream. I chose a strawberry popsicle, which was nice and creamy. We walked to the Eiffel tower which was way bigger than expected. After climbing the seemingly endless flights of stairs we final reached the top. We had a perfect view of the setting sun. The air blew softly as we gazed over. It was perfect.