Book 1: A soft spot for an Angel

Chapter 2: Emaly

Kiara has always been strong and always with walls up to guard her. But last night for the 1st time in a while, she was vulnerable and slowly broke down the guarded walls. The tears she had shed broke my heart, as they had many times before. Her life had been harder than it should be, all thanks to her estranged mother who caused most of the pain. Drew and I had attempted to pick up most of the pieces, but we could only do so much when all she's ever wanted was her mother's love.

I woke up rather energetic, which was odd because of the emotional conversation we had last night. Today was a new day. I had to believe this was  the day of good things to happen. So after my 3rd cup of coffee, I rushed to Kiara's room to wake her up. She was still sound asleep, clutching the thin white bedsheet that held hid her naked body. Her hazelnut hair covered her face partially, revealing one of her eyes. I drew closer, reaching out for her arm that hung  over the edge of her bed shaking her awake. She slowly opened her one visible eye then cleared her throat. Her voice was groggy as she said "Em, it's too early. Let me go back to sleep"

"No, Kiara, it's time to wake up!' I exclaimed shaking her body again to wake her up. "I have a whole day planned. Even Drew is on his way! He should be here any minute!"

She waved me away, but I was still rather persistent. "OK, ok Em. I'll be ready in a minute "

"Ha, ha sure you will," I laughed. The sound of a knock on the door drew me away from sleepy Kiara. By the time I got there to answer it, Drew had let himself in and helped himself to a cup of coffee. "Drew, I'm glad you're here. We need to make this a great day for kiara"

"Em," he sighed. "Kiara doesn't want us to treat her differently because of your conversation from last night. She's our sister. We have to treat her the same as we always have"

"You didn't see her last night, Drew. She screamed because of a nightmare she had of her mother! She cried on my shoulder! She's trying to be strong, but she's at the end of her rope!"

"I'm at the end of my rope, am I?" Kiara said, shuffling into the kitchen. "Em, you promised me you wouldn't tell Drew. And guess what? You did. Did you tell Dax too?"

"No,no I swear I didn't!"

She rolled her eyes as she turned her back to us. "Thanks alot, sis. And Drew, I apologize for keeping my nightmare from you. I can deal with it for now on my own"

Drew rushed to her side, pulling her close to his chest. "Don't apologize, Kiara. Emaly has a bad habit of interfering in situations she has no business in. She did call me last night. But I'm sure she already told you, we're here for you if you need us. And I swear I will not tell Dax unless you want us to"

"Thank you, Drew," she partially smiled giving Drew a second hug. "We still don't have to do what Em wants, do we?"

I sauntered towards them, placing each of my hands on their backs. "Yes, I'm afraid you both do. Have some coffee, Kiara then we'll be heading out "

"It's gonna take more than coffee to get through this day," Kiara said under her breath.

I pushed Kiara and Drew out the door, once she made it through a half a cup of coffee. We headed downtown to city park where we used to play as kids. Drew grumbled as did Kiara as I pushed them towards the swings they now each sat on. Kiara was still mad at me, so barely any words were exchanged between us, even after giving her a push on the swing. She kicked her feet back and forth, getting higher and higher with each kick. The sun shined down on her, as she let a small smile appear. She was happy even with the small things such as being here. Even Drew watched her and softly smiled, then began kicking his feet back and forth to catch up to her. Once he did, they were both laughing and enjoying the moment like they were children again. I sat in the sand below them laughing along and ignoring the fact Kiara still hadn't forgiven me.