FIVE FUCKING THOUSAND READS! HANDNDJCIDID! SHAG GHE FUCK. no seriously wtf. Where did you all come from!? I mean stay as long as you like 😏. But oh my goodness there are a lot of you. And I could not be happier. I don't think I've ever been happier. Except for maybe when I got my dog. That was pretty lit.
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I stepped out of Drew's rental car and looked up at the house. "Just as I remember."
"I hope mom finally got around to decorating. The cowboy look was not it." Drew tossed me my bag and I nodded.
"Agreed. Too Montana for my taste."
Drew laughed and we knocked on the front door. Kelly answered it, grinning like a madman. "Max! Drew!" I squealed and brought her into a hug.
"How are you? How's Issac? Mom? Dad?"
"Oh we're all fine. Come in, before you freeze." I stepped further into the house and immediately noticed the decor. There was not a touch of Dad. Normally this would be a good thing but I was uncertain.
I walked further into the house and into the kitchen, ditching my bag by the couch. A blonde was standing with her back to me, laughing with Dad.
"Mom?" The woman turned around and I froze. That was not my mom.
"Oh hello, you must be Max. I've heard such great things about you."
"Dad? What's happening? Where's Mom?"
"Max, what's...." Drew stopped next to me and Kelly strode into the kitchen, oblivious. She stirred the pot and took a small taste.
"Mom, please tell me you didn't let Dad touch the soup again." Kelly glanced at them and then back at us. "Oh shit. Dad, you didn't tell them?"
"Kelly, darling, keep your mother company while I explain this to your siblings." My father set down his towel and beckoned for me and Drew to follow. We did and I stopped dead in my tracks when a pair of twins came running in from outside. A girl and a boy, 14 or 15.
"Dad! We built a snowman!"
"That's great sweetie."
"Dad." I glanced at the children and back at my guilty father. "What's happening."
"Daddy, who are these?"
"Go find your mother. I have some business to take care off."
I stood out in the freezing cold, unable to accept what my father was telling me.
"When you moved out, your mother and I...drifted. The spark just wasn't there anymore. We got a divorce two years ago."
"When?"
"Right after you left for Seattle. And I met Jolie a few months later."
"That still doesn't explain where Mom and Issac are."
"They're in Vermont."
I looked at Drew for comfort and he looked even angrier than me.
"When we're you planning on telling us? Not even a warning? Mom and Issac are across the country, I have a new mom that I never asked for and now I have two more siblings? You think just because we moved out that we don't get a fucking say in anything? That we don't even deserve to know? And the wedding? Why were we not invited?" Drew blew up at my father and I didn't bother feeling bad. He had this coming.
"I didn't want to disrupt you two. You were always so independent and with your jobs I just thought it would be better if you didn't come. Drew, you were just getting your company off the ground and Max had just started her job. It would've been unfair to pull you away."
I scoffed. "That doesn't explain the lack of info."
"I just didn't know what to say."
"God dad, we love you. Had you told us, we wouldn't be so upset." Drew massaged his temples and I felt like doing the same.
"I'm sorry."
"Do we at least get to know their names?"
"Jolie is obviously my wife, Henry is the little boy and Millie is the little girl. There's also Alex, our baby."
"Baby?"
"Almost 10 months old."
"Jesus."
I was bunking with the twins, giving Drew Kelly's room. They seemed nice enough but they were kids I barely knew.
"Max! Max!" Millie barreled towards me. I set down my phone and she grinned. "Tell me what Vinnie Hacker is like."
"He's a normal guy. Not much to say."
"Oh come on. You're living with him and that's all you give me?" Millie rolled her eyes and I shrugged.
"It's true. He's a normal guy who burps and wears too much hair product."
"Thanks a lot." Millie scoffed and left the room. I suddenly wished I was rooming with the baby. Or the dog. The mini poodle who pissed on my shoes ten minutes into me meeting him.
Dinner prep was awkward, too many bodies in the kitchen. So I excused myself. I stepped outside and sa on the back porch steps. I wanted to text Vinnie to see if he could help but I know it was too much for text. Hell it was too much for real life.
"I don't even know why we have to room with her. She's just a stupid tiktoker who's going to keep me up all night with her texting."
"Millie Hope DeLong. You do not speak of your sister like that."
"Step sister." Her words were laced with venom. I turned around and stepped back outside. I sat back down and buried my head into my hands.
"Yea, she's a real bitch." Kelly muttered, sitting down next to me.
"I can't believe she pulled the tiktoker card."
"She uses it against you when she uses it to gain popularity at school."
"Jesus christ."
"Yea, imagine living with her." Kelly sighed. "Jolie is nice but I would never call her my mom. I do it to her face to keep her happy. And Henry is really nice. He's really athletic too."
"Got any cute sport friends?" I nudged Kelly and she laughed.
"And then there's Alex. I end up changing him because Millie 'can't get her nail dirty' and Henry takes care of the dog."
"Why doesn't Dad? Or Jolie?"
"Dad's a workaholic. And Jolie never does it right. Alex always ends up crying afterwards. Huge diaper rash."
I sighed and wrapped an arm around my sister. "You're too young for this."
"Divorce is normal."
"No. You're only 17. You should be dating, pretending to drink at parties, and going to sport games. Not taking care of some stupid baby."
"I guess that runs in the Merriers bloodline. 18 since we were 11."
I paused, afraid to ask the next question. "Is your name still Merriers?"
"Yea and no amount of money could make me change it. I never want to be related to the monster."
"Jolie or Millie?"
"Both. And Jolie's got Dad whipped. Whenever they're near each other, he's begging at her feet. It's not even fair. She spends so much money on her kids and I get the short end of the stick. And same with dad. He tries, I'll give him that but I never get the same treatment or presents."
"Have you spoken to Issac?"
"Everyday. He's really lonely. He's not fitting in very well at school."
I sighed. "I hate this."
"Me too." Kelly sighed and sniffed. "You know who'd be able to handle Millie and solve all this drama?"
I shook my head. "Who?"
"Lexi." I paused and nodded.
"She'd have a field day telling Millie off."
"Sometimes I wonder, if she hadn't died, would Mom and Dad still be together?"
"I don't know." I looked up to the sky, wishing that my older sister was here. She'd know what to do. Fuck, she'd have prevented all this. "I really don't know."