Guilty By Association

Chapter 17 - A Complete Family

“This is Kelsey.” Maria piped up. “She’s Alex’s lady friend.” Jonathan just smiled at her and led Maria into the house towards the back.

Much to Kelsey’s surprise, Alex took her hand as they headed to the backyard. When she saw it, Kelsey’s jaw dropped open. This had to be the biggest backyard she’d ever seen. Jonathan seemed to notice her expression and chuckled.

“We enjoy backyard events.” He explained. Then, added, “It’s an arrangement with our neighbors.” Kelsey nodded in understanding. In a family like hers, they didn’t have a lot of family events but she liked that Alex’s family seemed to be so close.

Suddenly, a woman emerged from the crowd and straight into Alex’s arms. To her dismay, Alex let go of her arm and wrapped his arms around the woman, returning her hug. She quickly pulled away. “I’m so glad you made it!” The woman grinned.

“I told you I would.” Alex assured her. Kelsey noticed the striking resemblance the woman had to Maria and put the pieces together. This must be Alex’s sister. Dana. Alex’s next words confirmed it. “Dana, this is Kelsey.” The woman turned towards Kelsey and smiled at her.

“Hi.” She introduced herself. “I’m Alex’s sister.”

“Hi.” Kelsey responded.

Just then, another little figure emerged from the crowd and latched onto Alex’s leg. “Uncle Alex! Estoy tan felizde que estés aquí.” The little girl spoke excitedly and rapidly. Kelsey tried to remember her name. Alex had told her a little while back, but she couldn’t remember it.

“Tuve que venirpor ti,Sophia.”Alex responded to her words in Spanish. “This is my niece, Sophia. Sophia, ella es mi amiga.”

“Hello.” The girl said to Kelsey with wide eyes. Kelsey couldn’t help but find her adorable. She was a small girl, but had the chubbiest cheeks Kelsey had ever seen.

“Hi.” She responded. “My name is Kelsey. Me llamo Kelsey.”

Sophia’s eyes widened. “¿Te habla español?”

Kelsey held up her hand, leaving little space between her index finger and thumb. “Poco.”

Sophia grinned. “I can talk in English with you.” She said, proudly.

“Thank you.” Kelsey said to her gratefully.

“No problem.” Then, Sophia grabbed Kelsey’s arm. “Follow me. I need to show you something.” Kelsey was surprised by the power in the little girl’s arm and she let her lead her through the crowd, coming to a stop in front of a group of little boys. “Diego!” Sophia screamed. None of the boys budged. Sophia let out an irritated groan and released Kelsey’s arm before running into the crowd and grabbing another boy’s arm. The boy shot her an irritated look. “TíoAlextrajouna amigade él.”

The boy turned to face Kelsey and Kelsey could see a large resemblance between Diego and Sophia. They’re siblings. Kelsey was starting to feel a little bitter towards siblings because of everything that was happening with Kara but, seeing the adorable bickering between Diego and Sophia, she was reminded of how pure a relationship it was. She was envious of it.

“Hi.” She said to the boy, holding her hand out to shake. “I’m Kelsey.”

Diego stared at Kelsey’s hand suspiciously. “Are you Uncle Alex’s girlfriend?” He boldly asked her. Kelsey’s eyes widened, surprised.

“I’m his friend.” She told him.

“We’ll see about that.” The boy responded, haughtily slipping his hand into Kelsey’s. He gave it a firm shake before turning towards his sister.