A D Tier's Breaking Point

Chapter 14

When the front door knocked again Morgan was ready to hide behind the sofa and never come out, but Janice gestured for them to follow her to the door, 'You're going to do introductions properly.'

'Yes ma'am,' they said, looking sheepish as they headed for the door. Katie was going to either be all smiles for Janice or barge through on a wave of pyrotechnics. Morgan prayed it was the former.

Janice opened the door to a woman that could have been Morgan's twin, with a mane of brown curls and hazel eyes set with a fury only an older family member could muster. 'Hello love,' Janice said, 'you must be Katie.'

Katie smiled at Janice, sparing a glance at her sibling standing at Janice's shoulder, 'I am, it's lovely to meet you. Sorry, part of the business I suppose, but I don't think Morgan's ever told me your name.'

Janice chuckled at that and stepped aside for Katie to come in, looking to Morgan expectantly. They flinched at the attention, 'Oh right, uh, Mrs Harris this is my older sister Katie. Katie this is Alex's mum, Mrs Harris.'

Janice tutted, 'Just Janice is fine dear. Morgan tends to formality far too much.'

Katie smirked, 'Really? You know they used to do that when they were a kid? Only when they were in trouble though.'

Janice's eyes lit up as Morgan groaned, 'Oh well that explains a lot! Come in, Bernard's just getting a new round of drinks ready. We have water, lemonade, juice, tea, coffee-'

'I thought we weren't allowed coffee today?' Morgan grumbled.

'Hush!' Janice said, making Katie laugh again. 'You don't need to rile up your nerves anymore than you already have.' Morgan huffed as embarrassment set in, while Katie watched Janice mother Morgan with some amusement.

'I would love a lemonade thanks,' Katie said, following Janice into the kitchen.

Morgan took the chance to dart away back into the living room, looking at a very worried Alex. 'That doesn't sound good,' he said.

Morgan groaned again, 'They're going to get on like a house on fire. Your mum just lit up at the prospect of stories of me as a kid and Katie thinks her mothering me is hilarious.' They came to collapse on the sofa again and Alex reached up to softly pat their head. 'This is it. This is how I die.'

In the kitchen Janice had just introduced Katie and Bernard to each other when she saw that Morgan had made their escape, 'Oh that didn't take long.'

Katie followed Janice's gaze and rolled her eyes, 'I shouldn't even be surprised.'

Janice smiled, 'In their defence, I imagine we could do a lot of damage to their ego between the two of us.'

Katie grinned at that, 'Probably. We could spend all afternoon in here, that would really wind them up. Or they'd have to come in here to make sure I wasn't getting up to mischief.'

Bernard smirked with a twinkle in her eye, 'How torturous. I thought you heroes were all shining examples of goodness?'

'When it comes to my siblings, all bets are off,' Katie said. Bernard laughed at that as he poured her a fresh glass of homemade lemonade.

'As funny as that would be,' Janice said with a knowing look, 'I feel like you would feel better having this conversation now.' Katie's smile faltered, glancing to the door out of the kitchen, before Janice continued, 'You're more than welcome to stay here of course. But I always encourage the bandaid method when it comes to discussions like this. Letting it linger will only make you feel worse after all.'

Bernard piped up, 'If you're peckish there should be some cake left on the coffee table. All homemade, please help yourself.'

Katie tried to smile at that, and nodded, 'Thank you. I'll erm...head on through then.' She turned to the door, before turning back to Janice. 'I don't try to make a habit of shouting in other people's homes, but it's been a long day and Morgan is just...'