A Family Affair (Hunter Street)

Chapter One -- A Hunter Homecoming

AMSTERDAM LOOKED THE same as it had been before Anika Hunter left a few weeks ago to go to Mexico with Dottie, Oliver, and their biological father. The sun still shone as brightly as it had before, the crystal blue water glittering underneath the warm rays. Though it was getting close to Christmas, there wasn't a thin layer of snow on the ground like in previous years, waiting to pile up once the holiday season ramped into action. The sweetest breeze blew through the streets, carrying with it the smell of home and happiness. Everything seemed perfect.

The taxi that had just dropped Dottie, Oliver, and Anika on the sidewalk drove away in a puff of white smoke and squealing tires. They were lucky that they didn't have any luggage besides their backpacks because the driver probably would have forgotten about it as he decided to race away from them. He took Dottie's money for the fare and kicked them out of the car, probably because he thought Dottie was extremely weird as she sprinkled some of her magic dust to make sure none of them would get into a car accident. 

"Well, he was just peachy, wasn't he?" Dottie asked Oliver and Anika. She sniffed as she watched the taxi race away from them, taking a wide turn at the end of the street. Anika tried not to laugh at Dottie's weird behavior. Even though she was Anika's aunt, she still thought this woman was weird -- in a loving way, of course. 

"Yes, he was," Oliver agreed with a few nods. "Especially after you kept telling him how to drive when you don't even know how to drive a car yourself. I bet he appreciated that so much." That nearly made Anika laugh out loud, but she managed to turn it into a cough before Dottie noticed their sarcasm aimed at her. 

Dottie clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth before taking off, walking down the sidewalk. Anika and Oliver trailed behind her, and she smiled slightly to herself as she watched her aunt waddle forward. She had grown used to Dottie and her strange behaviors. By now, she couldn't imagine her life without all of Dottie's strange behaviors and rituals, especially as she spent more and more time with her. It was almost comforting to have her complete rituals about Anika's safety even if she didn't believe in anything like that because it proved to her that her biological family cared about her almost as much as her adoptive family did. It made her heart swell inside her chest to think about all the people who loved her, and there were a lot of those kinds of people.

She couldn't wait to see her family again. The one thing she missed most about being in Mexico was her family, though plumbing and freshwater came close, too. She missed how Kate would have breakfast ready by the time she got up after staying up for as long as she could by binging a show she was watching with Evie and Sal and Jake. She missed how Erik would have sweets ready for her when she joined him in the library to see what he was up to. Most importantly, she missed having all her siblings together in one house. It had been so long since they all were together in the Hunter House, and she missed that time dearly.

"Hey, why don't we pick up some donuts for my family?" Anika asked Dottie and Oliver suddenly. She knew that would make her family happy. Well, the family that was at the Hunter House since Daniel didn't live there and Tess and Max were flying in from Africa and Spain, respectively. "I still have some money left from our trip to Mexico, so it would be on me, of course."

"That's good because I spent so much of my savings on that trip to Mexico," Dottie grumbled, more to herself than to anyone else. However, she didn't look angry at all. Instead, there was a small smile on her face as she remembered their trip and how it was so life-changing for all of them. Anika knew that they were supposed to go on Dominique's behalf to return Montezuma's Treasure. She also knew that Dottie was pleased that both Anika and Oliver met their biological father for the first time. "I can't believe your family likes donuts that much. Don't they realize that it's artificially made?"