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Greek Family?!

"Aaliyah loved to cook , that was just it. Cooling wasn't her hobby, it was a passion..." Krystal's story was cut off by a curious Ethan "Uh.. loved?, Was?... Why are you using past tense. She isn't dead, at least I don't think so?" She just sighed and continued " you would know if you'd let me finish" " oh, sorry, go on" Ethan said quietly " thank you. Now, her dad died in 2018... " " Oh, God.. " Ethan interrupted again earning a glare from his younger sister. He smiled sheepishly and made a *zipped lips* gesture " But that's not where the passion died. It died along with her dreams when her mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness" she stopped, as if giving him space to digest what she just said, then continued " And the doctors have already told her when the illness will claim her mother's life... " Ethan made a face " how old did you say she was again?" Krystal glared at him and sighed... Again and chose to ignore him " so pretty soon, she'll be a complete orphan.. in a month's time if I remember correctly. Ordinarily, child service is meant to intervene at this point but luckily for her, she'll be an adult next week" " Soo... She'll be 18?" Ethan asked dumbly " No, she'll be 64. Of course she'll be 18 dimwit" Krystal hissed. Ethan just glared " Rude much? ". That was Krystal's cue to jump off the kitchen island she was initially sitting on " I'm done here" she said with a bored expression. " Sorry, sorry.. come finish your story" Ethan pouted, Krystal however complied but instead pulling out a stool and sitting " Well, the doctors think it'd be safer for her mom to be a residential patient but that'd just leave Aaliyah alone and she's still a minor..." Ethan nodded knowingly "And this is where our parents come in. Seeing as daddy is one of her mom's doctors and mommy is Aaliyah's psychiatrist..." "Why does she need a psychiatrist?" "You don't think she can handle the stress of her mom's illness alone, do you?" Ethan shook his head slowly "Right, neither do the doctors at the hospital. Anyway, our loving mom and dad suggested they take her in..at least till she's 18 and can find her own way" Krystal finished while Ethan just stared at her silently. Krystal snickered "Too much for ya?" Ethan blew out a big breath "No, no its just...a lot to come home to after a year a college. But I guess..it just makes this holiday more interesting?" Krystal stood from the stool and moved towards the door but stopped at the frame "They'll be back with her any second from now, I've already met her so...if you need me , I'll be in my room...but please.." she turned around then "don't need me" then she was moving away again leaving her older brother in the kitchen.

     As soon as Krystal's door was closed, Ethan heared a familiar voice from outside. "Athena?... we're home" then another familiar voice "Is Ares home yet?". Smiling to himself, he went to open the door for his parents. Not giving him space to say a word, they both yelled in unison "Ares!!",then came the bear hug which consisted of Ethan choking out a 'hi mom, hi dad'. "How was the flight?" His mom asked first, he didn't have time to reply when his dad shot him another question "How's college?...meet any cute girls yet?" followed by a backhand from his wife " what?, Didn't WE meet in college? ". Rolling her eyes, his mom turned to him " Ares, there's someone we want you to meet... Aaliyah, come on out now" So, the girl behind the story he just heard a few minutes ago... He was wondering how she'd look but he didn't expect what he saw really. What he saw standing in front of him was a tall.. but skinny, light skinned brunette. He gave her a once-over but stopped at her legs.. her long  jean-clad legs. Then he was snapped out of daydreaming about a pair of legs he just met by his father. " Ares, this is Aaliyah... I'm sure Athena has told you everything by now" Ethan just smiled "Of course she has, little munchkin can't keep anything to herself... " He turned then to the strange girl on his doorstep " hi, Aaliyah.. im Ethan.. " his mother coughed loudly "Ares" " Mother please, she doesn't need to know I have a Greek heritage so soon" Ethan laughed " she already does" his mom laughed back. Aaliyah felt out place where she stood, she wished she was back at the hospital but that would mean... Constantly looking at her mother's weak form, which would lead to more crying and maybe, if time is right, a mental breakdown. She felt someone nudge her and realized she had gotten lost in her thoughts again " hi" she said as if knowing that was what they were all waiting for. This seemed to satisfy all of them because soon enough, they chattered their way into the living room leaving Aaliyah to trail behind them. While they were catching up, she just sat on the couch awkwardly playing with her hands. 'Nervous habit I guess but damn, this is annoying' Ethan thought, while watching Aaliyah play with her hands. As if on cue, she looked up at him. He gave a small smile, not really expecting her to return it. She returned a smaller smile and it was replaced by a blank look in a second. But Ethan saw it "well, damn" he muttered under his breath not paying any attention at all to his noisy parents.