magnanimous | umbrella academy

C H 4

I am standing in the living room, waiting for all of the adults to arrive. Luther had decided it was time for a 'family' meeting and for everyone to finally meet me.

Klaus had just gotten back from selling the box for some cash, most likely. He was by the bar, obviously trying to decide what he wanted to get drunk on. 

Vanya had already been in the room when I walked in, and she had seen me, but she hasn't said anything yet. She had taken to the couch, sitting as I leaned against the wall facing the doorway. I figure, I should at least inrtoduce myself to her before anyone else arrives. I look at her from my position, straightening up and say, "I'm Ester." She looks at me, a million questions running through her eyes, as she opens her mouth, "I'm Vanya. Can I ask what you are doing here?" She was trying to seem polite, and I can't blame her for the question. I was the younger, newwer person in this situation. 

"Um, Reginald took me in, when all you guys were gone," I am struggling to find the right way to explain my situation to her. Vanya seems thrown off guard, "What do you mean 'took you in'?" I take a few steps away from the wall, my arms crossed. "I got dropped off here when I was a kid. Reginald took me in, taught me, trained me. I've been living in this house since I was three years old. I don't have any powers or anything special like that, I think Reginald just took me in due to boredom." 

Vanya still sat on the couch, processing the information I told her. She opens her mouth to respond to me, to insult me, I'm sure. To call me a kid, to say I didn't deserve to be in this house. That I deserved to be on the streets and not in this place. That I was an ordinary stray her Dad had just took pity in. She never got to say anything, as the rest of the adults finally arrived.

Number Two, Diego, walks in first, trailing a few steps ahead of Luther and Allison, who had been walking side by side. He had quickly stopped in his tracks when he saw me, a short, 14 year old kid standing in the living room. "Who is this?", he questions. Klaus, who had oddly been quiet during my short chat with Vanya, responded, "Dad's latest and last child project. She is quite the oddball if I say so myself." Diego seemed shocked at the idea that Reginald had taken in yet another kid. "I'm Ester," I chimed in. I felt like I said that too many times today; how many times would I have to introduce myself? 

Diego thought about the situation, and he moves away, toward a chair, seeming to store this new information in his mind, to question later. I feel relieved, I had finally met all of them, and luckily none of them had snapped at me, cursed me for being here. They hadn't made me go to the Dark Room, and I am thankful for that. None of them were like their Dad.

Allison had quickly taken me in, my small frame and hanging blond hair that hid my face. I think she disregarded me as a threat, they all did. Reginald had always called me a wolf in sheep's clothing. Luther gestures Allison to a chair, signaling he wanted to start the family meeting. This meeting would most likely be about me and Reginald's funeral.

"So you have all met Ester. Dad took her in about 11 years ago, when she was 3. I met her before Dad sent me to the moon and never really got close to her, but she is a good kid," Luther explains. I know Luther and I butt heads, but I was thankful for that. That he didn't villanize me to his siblings, make it seem like I was some person they needed out of the house. "Not a kid," I mutter, my arms still crossed as I retreated backwards to lean against the wall. 

Now that me, the elephant in the room had been addressed, everyone had went silent, not really saying anything. The tension was awkward, and I couldn't but feel it was my fault, but I knew it wasn't just mine. This was the fault of Reginald. These 5, what are supposed to be siblings, were no better than strangers. They didn't know each other, just as I didn't know them.