My life with a player

19. Part of the family?

i dedicated this chapter to the very last comment that made mi finally sit down and write, even though i should have been studying for the Chemistry exam i have tomorrow, my very first uni exam, so here it is, chapter 19 :) sorry fot hte loooooong wait and if it is a bit boring, but i had to write to go on with the story

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Chapter nº19. Part of the family?

The last couple of day had been pretty quiet. It was kind of a depressing moment in the family and I didn't know why. Even my school girl friends weren't in the mood for hanging out much.

It was about five pm and I was wondering around the house, totally bored when I bumped into Jenifer. She didn't look pretty well, like if she had been crying. She was the first Donovan I had seen in the whole day, and that was a remarkable thing, 'cause they were so many and so bustling that you felt like if they were everywhere at the same time. But today... nothing. Just the staff, which also was quiet. I knew something was going on.

"Hey, Jenifer, I'm sorry"

"Oh, Sorry, Mia" She barely looked at me.

"Hmmm, sorry again, but do you know where everybody is?"

She sighed and looked at me in the eyes. Hers were filling with tears. "They must be preparing for the Mass" My look of absolute confusion must have made her feel guilty, cause she gave me the very first phrase that could be considered an explanation. "I am really sorry, Mia. We didn't tell you anything 'cause it is not something we like to talk about. But four years ago, a family member passed away".

Okay, I kind of expected that, but it hurt me that they hadn't included me. It was pretty obvious that I wasn't invited to come with them to the special service. She saw right through me and told me:

"It's not that we do not want you there, honey. But it is a very, very private ceremony and you know the guys, they won't be able to grieve with someone from the outside with them"

Ouch, someone from the outside? I was living with them! Was I too naïve to actually think that they considered me as part of the family?

"Yeah, no worries, Jeniffer. I'll ask the girls if they want to hang around". Actually, I wasn't in the mood, but staying in an empty house, on my own? No, thanks.

She looked uncomfortable when she spoke. "Errrr, actually, Mia, they are coming too. I'm really, really sorry, but I have to go now. I'll see you when we get back" She kissed my forehead and quickly walked away.

A few minutes passed by when I realized I still was frozen in the same spot. As if on cue, all the Donovan boys came down the stairs, all wearing black suits. It seemed like if they were ordered by their age. First, Max, Fred, Tom, and then Nick, and a few steps behind, Nate. He had not came back to Uni as I had expected. I guess now I knew the reason why.I hadn't seen him much after that first horrible meeting. But he was seemed really snob, so I hadn't tried much to change his bad opinion of me. He could think whatever he wanted. I had never been a person who's always trying to make people like me. If you don't want to see my face, the door is over there. I'm not going to avoid you.

Suddenly, something made me come back to earth. There were two little arm around my waist, hugging me. I hugged Max back and then he let go. "I want you to come with me, Mia" Wasn't he the sweetiest little boy in the world? It was so unusual to see him this voulnerable.

"Come on, Max" we heard Nick call from the front door.

"Don't worry, Max. If you feel like you miss me there, just hug Nick really tight. I'm sure he'll love it". I winked at him and a small smiled appeared in his face. But then he grinned.

"Or I can just kick him you know where, and then I won't feel sad anymore" There was the Max I knew. I laughed and urged him out of the house, where Calvin, the chauffer was waiting for him, the rest of the family already in the car.

I was so intrigued by whom the family member had been... And by the way, why where all of the girls going to the service but I wasn´t allouwed?

With the house empty and in a complete silence, I felt so left apart. I had never been this alone since the plane that brought me here. For the first time, I was really missing my family. I couldn´t believe how little time I had invested in contacting them. I wanted to hug my little sister, and my mom, my REAL mom. I was falling in a state of depression in barely five minutes. This wasn´t going well. I needed to talk with someone. I wondered if Mel would mind waking up at about 2 am, 'cause that was the time back at home. Before I even realized where my feet had taken me, I was standing at the door of my bedroom.

Suddenly, another thought crossed my mind. I did a 180º turn and walked foward. If there wasn't anybody at home but the maids, I had the wasy cleared to sneak around. If they never find out, they couldn't mind it, could they?

For the second time, I opened the door to the misterious pink bedroom. This time, I took more time to analyse every little detail. There was no doubt it was a girl's room, and it was too personal to be a guess room. Mine was way more "proffesional" like, more neutral. I opened the drawer again and took out the family photo. I took the time to look at every face in the photo. There were Robert and Jeniffer, both with big simels and holding hands. At their feet, there was Max. To his left, Fred and Tom. But what really surprised me were the three people left in the photo. Nate had a blond girl in his back, both laughing, and Nick was to their right, trying to oushed her down and win the honor place at the back of their brother. It seemed like if they were having the time of their lives.

It was so rare to see them all together, laughing, smiling, being just happy, like a family. But who was that girl? It was hard to say, cause she wasn't standing straight, but she must have been as tall as Nick, and her face was almost an exact copy of his. Could it be possible that they had been twins? Was she the one whose death they were grieving today? I needed to know more.