Joel placed a can of Diet Coke on the table in front of Sienna. He handed Alyssa a cup of tea and sank down onto the wooden dining chair next to his youngest sister.
"I can't believe this," he said, for what seemed like the hundredth time. "It's so good to all be back in the same room. Alyssa was such a little squirt then, still a short arse now mind you."
Alyssa picked a piece of popcorn up from the bowl in the centre of the table and threw it at her brother. It bounced off of his forehead and fell to the floor.
"Oh you want to play it that way do you kiddo?" He grabbed a handful and shoved it down the back of her top. Sienna roared with laughter. She had missed this so much. She'd missed out on so much of their childhood, still the important thing was that they'd found their way back to each other again.
"I don't know what you're laughing at Sisi," Joel said, throwing a handful at her.
"Right, this is war!" Sienna declared. Things quickly escalated from there and soon the dining room was covered in popcorn. All three siblings were laughing heartily.
"Oh I've missed you both so much," Sienna said, pulling some popcorn out of her long blonde hair. "It was fate that Seb recognised you that day in Barcelona Joel."
"I'll be honest with you, I don't know whether I wanted him to or not. Part of me was hoping he wouldn't I guess. I was rather angry with him, I still believed you and him had abandoned us. I was hating myself and was angry at the world. Now, I can't remember ever being this happy. I think maybe subconsciously I did want him to recognise me."
"Don't get me wrong. I've had a happy life with Seb, and with the girls, but there's always been something missing," Sienna told them. "And now I feel complete. I must admit when I was on the phone to Seb earlier, when he said he couldn't see the girls today, I thought he'd found another woman. I mean I want him to be happy, but I just don't want the girls to end up with an evil stepmother. I was so relieved when you took the phone off of him Alyssa."
"Seb would always put the kids first," Joel said. "That's why he just has Tanya when he feels the need for some...well, you know."
"Tanya?" Sienna said, confused.
"His friend with benefits," Alyssa answered, feeling more than a little jealous. "I have no idea who she is but I believe she's from the team. He told me it's just race weekends, or he goes to her place if it's not."
"Why do you two know more about Seb's sex life than me? Tanya, who is she Joel? What does she look like?"
"Tanya is one of the team hostesses. She looks after all the important visitors and bigwigs. She's about your age Alyssa. Tall, blonde, skinny, flat chested, Seb's usual type according to Antti. No offence intended Sisi."
Sienna laughed. It was true. Joel could have been describing her or the other two friends with benefits Seb had had since the divorce. He'd told her about them, but she'd not heard a word about this Tanya.
Alyssa fell quiet. Seb had a usual type? And from the sound of things it was the complete opposite of her. She was a short, curvy, brunette with big boobs. Had he just been messing with her? She knew he wouldn't have been doing it to be mean, he wasn't that type of person. He'd probably just been wanting to make her feel better about herself, for her to feel desirable.
She felt embarrassed as she remembered how she'd told him to kiss her. It was a good job they'd been interrupted.
"You alright Alyssa ?" Joel asked, noticing her silence.
"Yeah, I'm just tired. It's been an emotional couple of days."
"It certainly has," Sienna said. "And it's not over yet." Alyssa looked at her questioningly. "The girls. They're going to be over the moon. I've told them all about their Aunt Alyssa."
"Can I come?" Joel asked. "I love terrorising the little rascals."
"They'll love that. Alyssa, he's been a regular visitor since he first met them. They love making him play Just Dance, and Rebekah always makes him wear her princess crown."
Alyssa laughed. She really couldn't wait to meet her nieces. It was their father she was worried about facing again.
"Come on. Let's go, we can order a pizza in or something," Joel said. They all agreed and after quickly tidying up the popcorn, they headed out. Sienna and Alyssa got into the Mercedes, Joel into his Ford Focus.
They made the short drive back to Seb's house.
They'd taken the spare remote for the gates with them so they opened them and drove straight in. Seb was already back, his DBX was parked outside.
Going through the front door they heard the sound of children's laughter filling the air. The laughs were coming from the room that Alyssa now knew to be the girls' playroom.
They all gathered around the open door and saw Seb sat on the floor with his daughters playing with their toy ponies. He was doing silly voices, in English as that was their main language now.
"Oh no Glitterball, the evil sorceress is coming to capture us!"
"I'm not letting her take us Blossomtail!" Rebekah cried.
"Where's my favourite girls?"
"Uncle Joel!!" the girls screamed, jumped up and ran to him, quickly forgetting their father.
He lifted them up, one in each arm. Seb stood up, smiling at Alyssa. He frowned as she looked away from him without returning his smile. What was wrong?
"Who's that?" Rebekah asked, pointing at Alyssa.
Sienna took her youngest daughter from Joel.
"This my darling is your Aunt Alyssa. She's come to meet you. She's going to be staying with Daddy for a while."
"Aunt Alyssa! Hi, I'm Rebekah. I'm five, but I'm nearly six."
"Hi Rebakah. Wow, you are getting a big girl. I love your pink shoes! I used to have some like it when I was a little bit older than you." She couldn't get over how much Rebekah looked like Seb, apart from having Sienna's lighter blonde hair.
"Yes, Mum couldn't get you out of them! You always wanted to wear them everwhere," Sienna added. "The tantrum you had when you outgrew them!"
Alyssa remembered it well. It had been just before their parents had split up, before Karl, before the dark days.
"And you must be Naomi," she said to the shy looking girl in Joel's arms. Naomi nodded. "Your Daddy told me that you like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." The girl nodded. "Who's your favourite character? My favourites are Aslan and Mr Tumnus."
"Lucy and the Beavers," Naomi mumbled.
"They're cool too. My favourite bit is where Aslan comes back after they thought he was dead."
"I like it when Lucy and Susan are riding on Aslan's back!" Naomi said, forgetting her shyness.
"Why don't you show Alyssa your rooms girls?" Seb said, thinking that they could get to know her quicker if they spent some time alone with her. The girls both squealed with delight.
Sienna and Joel put them down and they each grabbed one of Alyssa's hands and dragged her off towards the stairs.
"Wow they've taken to her already," Sienna said.
"As they did to Joel," Seb replied.
"Us Harpers are just so loveable," Joel laughed.
"I'm surprised with Naomi," Sienna said. "She doesn't usually take to people that quickly."
"Maybe it's because she and Aly are so alike personality wise," Seb suggested.
"Perhaps," Sienna agreed.
"Has she been ok?" Seb asked the two siblings. "She's been through some tough shit. I hope this is the beginning of her life getting better."
"She's been fine," Joel said. "It's so good to see her again. Thank you for being there for her Seb. I can't believe the police never told her that the scumbag had been released."
"I'm just happy that she trusted me enough to let me help her."
"This is so good of you Seb, taking her in like this," Sienna told him.
"She's a good kid, I couldn't leave her there. Not with that dickhead about."
"Anyway Vettel put the kettle on," Joel said. "Time for a cuppa."
***
"Aunt Alyssa," Rebekah said, halfway up the stairs. "I forgot my dolly. Can you go and get her?"
"Of course sweetheart. I'll meet you back up here in a minute."
She headed back down the stairs. As she neared the playroom she stopped in her tracks as she heard what was being said.
"This is so good of you Seb, taking her in like this," she heard Sienna say.
"She's a good kid, I couldn't leave her there. Not with that dickhead about."
A good kid! He had lied to her. He did still see her as a kid. How pathetic she must seem to him. She'd literally made a fool out of herself. Of course he didn't want her. No one ever would. Dean had told her that enough times. Seb wanted tall, skinny blondes. She bit her lip, trying to stop herself from crying. She heard Joel say it was time for a cuppa.
She quickly hopped backwards and hid around the corner at the bottom of the staircase so they didn't see her as they headed to the kitchen.
After they'd gone past she slipped into the playroom and picked up the rag doll that Rebekah had left there, before heading back upstairs.
***
Seb sat with a bottle of beer in his hand as he quietly observed Alyssa and Joel sat playing Snakes and Ladders on the floor with the girls.
"Thank you Seb," Sienna said from the chair next to him. "You gave me the rest of my family back."
"They're the girls family too," he replied.
"I know. Alyssa's great isn't she? You wouldn't think she'd been through so much."
"She's grown into an amazing young lady."
Sienna snuck a sideways glance at him. She noticed that he'd barely taken his eyes off of Alyssa. Her mind began to work overtime.
"She's beautiful isn't she?"
"Very." Did Seb have a thing for her little sister? She wasn't really sure how she felt about that.
"I'm going to have to get them home soon. It's getting late."
"Do you want to take the leftover pizza with you?" he asked. "If it stays here I'll eat it and I already ate enough junk over the last few days. Antti would go nuts if he knew."
"Let Joel take it. He lives on that shit!"
Seb shrugged and took another swig of his beer. As much as he loved his daughters he was looking forward to being alone with Alyssa again. He wanted to continue what they'd started earlier. He wanted to kiss her properly. Hell, he wanted to do a hell of a lot more than that. He wanted to peel her clothes off and lay her naked on his bed. He wanted to touch every single inch of her body, to show her that Dean had been wrong, that she was beautiful, that she was desirable. He wanted to taste her, to be inside her.
Several minutes later Sienna finally stood up and informed the girls that they had to go. Both of them were disappointed, but Sienna reassured them that they'd soon see everyone again.
Standing up , he saw them to the door. He stayed on the doorstep until the car pulled away, waving at them.
Joel also left at the same time. Seb was relieved. Now he had Alyssa to himself.
He went back inside and found her in the kitchen, washing up.
He walked up behind her and put his hands on her hips, turning her around. His hands moved into her back, holding her up against his body. He lowered his head. To his surprised, she turned her head away and his kiss landed on her cheek.
"You can stop the pretences Sebastian," she said, wriggling out of his hold.
"What pretences?" he asked, confused.
"I know you're only trying to make me feel good about myself. I know I'm a good kid."
Seb sighed. She'd overheard his words to Joel and Sienna. He'd only said them because he didn't want it to be obvious that he saw her as a woman, a beautiful woman that he wanted so very much.
"Alyssa, you're jumping to conclusions."
"No Seb, I'm not. You let me make a fool out of myself. I actually asked you to kiss me. You must think I'm some kind of desperado."
"I would have kissed the hell out of you if we hadn't been interrupted. And no, I don't think that! I wanted to kiss you. I've wanted nothing more than to kiss you since I saw you again."
"Thank God we were interrupted!!"
"You don't mean that. Come here Aly."
She jumped back. "Don't touch me!" she exclaimed.
"What the hell Aly? I thought we were getting somewhere."
"Seb, it's a bad idea. I know it, you know it. We're not right for each other."
Seb began to feel annoyed. Had Sienna or Joel said something to her to change her mind?
"Alyssa, I told you. I want you."
"Seb, if you're feeling sexually frustrated or horny I suggest you go and see Tanya, because I'm not interested."
She pushed past him and he heard her thundering up the stairs, and her door slamming behind her.
What the hell was that all about? Why had she brought Tanya up?
He grabbed another beer out of the fridge. Antti would be mad if he knew. Fuck Antti. He needed it. Fucking women. If he lived to be a hundred he'd never understand them. One minute she'd wanted him to kiss her, the next she didn't.
He walked into the games room and switched the sound system on, blasting out some Foo Fighters.
He slumped onto the sofa, thinking about Alyssa and her complete change in attitude.
He sighed. She was probably right. They weren't right for each other. He should just stick with Tanya. It was all straight forward with her. It was just about sex. He had to look at Alyssa as a sister. He had to get over this stupid little crush.
***
Alyssa cried into her pillow. Why was she so stupid? Why had she believed he wanted her? Sure, he'd tried to kiss her but she didn't want him to kiss her out of sympathy. She wanted him to kiss her because he desired her!
Still, it was a good job he didn't desire her. He was Sienna's ex husband. It would have been a dumb move getting involved with him.
Now she just had to get over this stupid little crush. She had to stop thinking of him in inappropriate ways.
She reached into the cardboard box at the side of the bed and pulled out her notebook. Maybe writing would help take her mind off of him.
It didn't though. All she could think about was Seb.