information.
Autumn turned and looked at me. " What ' s wrong with my room? "
I shrugged. " Nothing, if you don ' t mind sharing it with Barbie and Ken. "
" Wait, what? " Her gaze narrowed as she looked between me and Mom.
" You haven ' t been here for three years. I didn ' t think you were coming back, " Mom said.
Autumn ' s eyes opened wide, giving her the crazy eyes. " I never said I wasn ' t coming back. "
I raised my eyebrow. " I ' m pretty sure you did. I very much recall you saying ' I ' m off to the great big world, and I won ' t be back. '"
" I did not say that! "
" No, you said ' explore. ' That I remember, " Mom added.
She rolled her eyes. " You gave away my room. "
" This isn ' t a hotel, Autumn, " Mom said. " While you ' re more than welcome to stay, darling, you ' re almost thirty. A place of your own is not a bad idea. "
" I can ' t believe this. Summer ' s here, and she ' s thirty-five. "
" I ' m not even thirty-four yet! "
" Whatever. You ' re over thirty, with a kid, and living with Mommy. " Autumn put her hands on her hips.
" Do not even go there, " I snapped, not liking my sister ' s close-to-the-mark shot. Much closer than the vase I threw at her.
I had extenuating circumstances.
Right?
" Girls, please, " Mother said. " Breath in and out. Let go of your animosity. "
I huffed. " Please Mom, it never worked when we were kids. "
Autumn, however, closed her eyes, and started slowly breathing.
I rolled my eyes and took the broken glass to the trash can. While Autumn and Mom were meditating in the foyer, I could at least go see what could be moved back into Emma ' s room so Autumn could have her space.
And I about got ran over by Emma--in full Elsa gear--darting to see her long-lost auntie.
" Slow down, " I said.
She rattled off an apology, but didn ' t really slow down. Any other day I probably would have jumped on her about it, but tonight I was tired. And she was excited. I couldn ' t blame her. New person and all. I heard her colliding with Autumn, and my sister ' s cooing over how big Emma had gotten.
I sighed at the sight of the playroom--toys everywhere.
While I started picking up, I went through a mental list of what I ' d need to do to move me and Emma out of Mom ' s house for good.
Because if Autumn was back, then I wasn ' t going to be able to stay. Our animosity was as legendary as me and Shelby ' s fight under the bleachers.
While some of it was the typical " jealous sister " bit--and I knew that--there were other things that were a little more complicated. A lot of it had to do with Autumn being unable to commit to anything.
Personally, I thought she was narcissistic.
Mom said that I exaggerated--Autumn was just like her father.
Which explained a lot. He couldn ' t commit to anything either, according to the snipits I heard from Mom over the years.
Regardless, Autumn and I never did well together. We were very close in age, and as kids, we fought all the time. Winter was forever trying to keep us from killing each other.
" See Auntie Autumn, here ' s my dolly. Her hair is just like yours! " Emma held up her red-haired Monster High doll.
" Well, I ' ll be. She sure is. " Autumn held the doll next to her face. " We could be sisters! "
I snorted. " Come on, Emma, help me pack up these dolls and put them back in your room. " Emma jumped into the middle of her dolly tea party and started packing all the little pieces away into their bins.
" Cute dolls, " Autumn said, picking up another doll--this one with green hair. " Maybe I should do this one next time. "
I raised my eyebrow. " I won ' t do it. "
" Did I ask you to? "
I didn ' t say anything--again, witty comeback void in my brain--and took the box of toys into Emma ' s room and tried to stash it somewhere.
" Sheesh, you don ' t even care that I ' m here? " Autumn said, following me.
" I ' m happy you ' re home Autumn, " I said as politely as I could. Tonight, that was in hairstylist voice. And I ' m pretty
Autumn turned and looked at me. " What ' s wrong with my room? "
I shrugged. " Nothing, if you don ' t mind sharing it with Barbie and Ken. "
" Wait, what? " Her gaze narrowed as she looked between me and Mom.
" You haven ' t been here for three years. I didn ' t think you were coming back, " Mom said.
Autumn ' s eyes opened wide, giving her the crazy eyes. " I never said I wasn ' t coming back. "
I raised my eyebrow. " I ' m pretty sure you did. I very much recall you saying ' I ' m off to the great big world, and I won ' t be back. '"
" I did not say that! "
" No, you said ' explore. ' That I remember, " Mom added.
She rolled her eyes. " You gave away my room. "
" This isn ' t a hotel, Autumn, " Mom said. " While you ' re more than welcome to stay, darling, you ' re almost thirty. A place of your own is not a bad idea. "
" I can ' t believe this. Summer ' s here, and she ' s thirty-five. "
" I ' m not even thirty-four yet! "
" Whatever. You ' re over thirty, with a kid, and living with Mommy. " Autumn put her hands on her hips.
" Do not even go there, " I snapped, not liking my sister ' s close-to-the-mark shot. Much closer than the vase I threw at her.
I had extenuating circumstances.
Right?
" Girls, please, " Mother said. " Breath in and out. Let go of your animosity. "
I huffed. " Please Mom, it never worked when we were kids. "
Autumn, however, closed her eyes, and started slowly breathing.
I rolled my eyes and took the broken glass to the trash can. While Autumn and Mom were meditating in the foyer, I could at least go see what could be moved back into Emma ' s room so Autumn could have her space.
And I about got ran over by Emma--in full Elsa gear--darting to see her long-lost auntie.
" Slow down, " I said.
She rattled off an apology, but didn ' t really slow down. Any other day I probably would have jumped on her about it, but tonight I was tired. And she was excited. I couldn ' t blame her. New person and all. I heard her colliding with Autumn, and my sister ' s cooing over how big Emma had gotten.
I sighed at the sight of the playroom--toys everywhere.
While I started picking up, I went through a mental list of what I ' d need to do to move me and Emma out of Mom ' s house for good.
Because if Autumn was back, then I wasn ' t going to be able to stay. Our animosity was as legendary as me and Shelby ' s fight under the bleachers.
While some of it was the typical " jealous sister " bit--and I knew that--there were other things that were a little more complicated. A lot of it had to do with Autumn being unable to commit to anything.
Personally, I thought she was narcissistic.
Mom said that I exaggerated--Autumn was just like her father.
Which explained a lot. He couldn ' t commit to anything either, according to the snipits I heard from Mom over the years.
Regardless, Autumn and I never did well together. We were very close in age, and as kids, we fought all the time. Winter was forever trying to keep us from killing each other.
" See Auntie Autumn, here ' s my dolly. Her hair is just like yours! " Emma held up her red-haired Monster High doll.
" Well, I ' ll be. She sure is. " Autumn held the doll next to her face. " We could be sisters! "
I snorted. " Come on, Emma, help me pack up these dolls and put them back in your room. " Emma jumped into the middle of her dolly tea party and started packing all the little pieces away into their bins.
" Cute dolls, " Autumn said, picking up another doll--this one with green hair. " Maybe I should do this one next time. "
I raised my eyebrow. " I won ' t do it. "
" Did I ask you to? "
I didn ' t say anything--again, witty comeback void in my brain--and took the box of toys into Emma ' s room and tried to stash it somewhere.
" Sheesh, you don ' t even care that I ' m here? " Autumn said, following me.
" I ' m happy you ' re home Autumn, " I said as politely as I could. Tonight, that was in hairstylist voice. And I ' m pretty
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