Yours, Mine and Ours

Chapter Four: Aunt Allison

Hearing someone banging on the front door, Lionel groaned rolling over in bed and looking at the clock; he glared at it wondering who could be at the door at five in the morning.

It had been a few days since the funeral and it had been quiet since then, people hadn’t come around to the house and it had allowed Lionel and Katania to sort through things.

Lionel climbed out of his bed and rubbed his eyes, he didn’t want the person at the door waking Katania or Sophie; he would send them away since it was too early for guests.

Antonella had gone to visit her parents since she didn’t want to stick around and watch Lionel growing attached to Sophie; it was painful for her to see him with a child when she’d never give him one of his own.

Lionel headed to the front door, his fingers rubbing through his hair and yawning; he peeked up the stairs and smiled glad that the noise hadn’t woken anyone else up.

Padding over to the door, Lionel pulled it open and paused as dread filled his stomach at the sight of Martha’s aunt; he didn’t know why Allison was here but it couldn’t be good.

“Allison… what are you doing here?” Lionel spluttered, he hadn’t seen her at the funeral and he knew that Martha had never been close to her aunt; she had hated the woman who was only interested money and making herself look good.

Allison smirked, she had arrived as soon as she could and she knew that she couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this; she had to do something and her dear niece would have wanted her around.

“I came as soon as I heard,” Allison said pushing Lionel aside and stepping into the house, she ignored his glare knowing that she just had to get her hands on Sophie; everyone would love to hear how she had taken her poor great niece after the death of her parents.

***

Katania glared at Allison, she hadn’t been pleased when Lionel had woken her up and even less when she had heard that Allison Collins was in the house wanting to see Sophie.

“How have you been Katherine?” Allison asked getting Katania’s name wrong, she had never been interested in any of Martha’s in-laws and she had barely spoken to her niece after she had married Sergio.

Katania ignored Allison, she knew what the woman was doing and she wasn’t going to fall for her tricks; she was here for a reason and it left a bad taste in Katania’s mouth.

Lionel peeked at Katania, he could see that she was getting annoyed and he didn’t blame her; Allison had been pretty dismissive since she had arrived and if she wasn’t a woman, he would have punched her in the face by now.

“I’m fine Gracias,” Katania said taking a deep breath, she needed to stay calm and she doubted that anything Allison could say could truly hurt her; she was a bigger person than Allison would ever be. Lionel moved to put the kettle on,

Sophie was still asleep and he didn’t want her waking up; it was still very early and he didn’t want to disrupt her sleeping pattern.

“How is your job? You’re a photographer right?” Allison said talking down to Katania, she had no real interest in what the brunette did; she was making small talk until she was ready to reveal while she had come to Rosario.

Lionel looked at Katania, he hadn’t really known what she did for work only that no one had called to speak to her about anything since they had been staying together.

“Work is fine,” Katania said stiffly, she didn’t want to tell anyone how badly she had been doing recently; she was struggling a little and it didn’t help that no one was hiring right now for photographers.

“What are you doing here Allison?” Lionel asked getting bored of whatever game the woman was playing, she had missed her own niece’s funeral only to turn up now; she was clearly after something.

Allison grinned, she flipped some hair over her shoulder and looked at Katania and Lionel; her plan was fool proof and she couldn’t wait to take Sophie away from this dump.

“I’m here for Sophie,” Allison said simply, she was the girl’s only living relative that had the money to take in the little girl; she would be the perfect person to raise her.

Sophie would be the perfect key to getting what she wanted and Allison knew that everyone that she socialised with would feel for her; the poor aunt taking in her dead niece’s daughter.

Katania and Lionel stared at her, they had no idea what Allison was talking about; she hadn’t cared about the infant before and now she was here for her.

“I’m sorry… what do you mean you’re here for Sophie?” Katania asked feeling sick, she had a bad feeling about what the blonde woman was talking about; she peeked at Lionel who was openly glaring at her.

Allison smiled, she sighed wondering why she bothered to talk to these idiots; they wouldn’t be able to help her not like the niece’s lawyer could.

“I’m here to take Sophie back to California… I’m her only living relative,” Allison said as if she was talking to an idiot, she didn’t see why Katania was so worried when everything would be sorted out soon.

Lionel snorted wondering if Allison had forgotten that Katania was Sergio’s cousin and Sophie’s godmother; he would be a better guardian for the little girl than Allison would be.

***

“I spoke with Mr Cross… he wants to see us on Monday,” Katania said annoyed, she was a little on edge right now but was relieved that Allison had checked into a hotel for the night.

Katania hadn’t wasted a moment in calling the lawyer, she would die before she allowed Sophie to go and live with that woman; she only wanted Sophie for her own personal gain and would get bored with her.

“I’ll clear my day,” Lionel said nodding his head, he messed around with his phone texting Antonella about the delay in them leaving for Barcelona; he wanted everything to be settled for Sophie before he went back to his Spanish home.

Katania nodded her head and took a deep breath, she didn’t want to rant about what Allison; it had irked her that the woman had shown up like that and that she assumed that she could just take Sophie.

“It’ll be okay Kata… she won’t be taking Sophie anywhere,” Lionel said looking at the brunette, he knew why she was annoyed and he hoped that Sergio and Martha had elected people who they wished to care for Sophie before they had died.

Lionel hated to think how hard Allison would fight to steal the infant away, she was adorable and would get her a lot of attention from Allison’s rich friends; he wasn’t stupid into thinking about why Allison wanted Sophie in her care.

Allison was clear that she hated children and either Katania or Lionel had to guess to know that Sophie would end up pawned off to some nanny and later boarding school when Allison got bored with her.

Katania stared at Lionel, her mind stuck on the nickname that he had given her; she blushed a little before she turned away to make Sophie some lunch.

Neither of them knew what Sergio and Martha’s will contained and it was a worry what the couple might have put for their daughter.