Abby and Zeke

Past Christmas

Abigail was sitting in silence on the couch looking at her younger sister Delilah opening one of her presents. The younger girl got a lot of presents in comparison to her siblings. She was the obvious favourite of the parents together with their older brother Bartholomew, who was on holiday with some university friends at Liverpool. They didn't even try to hide it. It was very hurtful for the other, especially for Abigail. She was the second oldest child and oldest daughter and was the one who took care of her younger siblings in any form. She woke them up in the morning, helped with homework and every single other thing their parents were supposed to do for them. She was the only one to remember Delilah was allergic to nuts and always had an EpiPen with her at gatherings just in case. Bartholomew was supposed to help her as the oldest brother, but he was lazy and never wanted to do anything around the house. She always took the blame if anything went wrong or if one of her younger siblings misbehave. It was something really hard for the young girl, but she needed to endure it until she was 18 and then she would be free. She only felt free when she wasn't at home and was with her best friends Aaron and Ruth and her secret boyfriend Ezekiel. Her parents would have killed her if they knew about her relationship with him. They hated his parents so much for no actual reason.

«It's really beautiful!» Delilah exclaimed. Not a thank you or nothing. She thought everything was due to her. Abigail spent hours, days trying to understand what her sister wanted and didn't get a little thank you. Why couldn't she be a little grateful towards her? She was her sister. She loved her, but apparently she wasn't love back from her sister or her parents or her older brother.

«Sorry, but I need to go to the bathroom.» Abigail said. No one appeared to have heard her. She got up and went to the bathroom upstairs. She started to cry while she was walking. When she closed the door, someone knocked and said: «Thank you for the presents. Sorry if we didn't say it right away. We were so happy in that moment that we forgot. We are really sorry, Abby. We love you.»

The twins were amazing. At least she had them. At least they loved her. They were the only ones who loved and cared about her in that family. The only other person to love her was their grandmother, Agatha Armstrong. She was a really strong woman, and Abigail admired her.

After she cried, she got out of the bathroom, and the twins hugged her tightly. She was so lucky to have them as her brothers.

*******

Ezekiel was sitting on the floor with his two siblings, the twins Eli and Ginevra, two years him senior. His parents didn't get a lot of presents that year. He wasn't surprised. It was like that every single year. The couple seemed to not care about their children. The only times they cared about them were when they thought they were misbehaving and ruining their spotless image. The only thing they really cared about was their image.

After Eli opened the last present and said 'thank you', their parents got up from the couch. «Good. Now we are going to prepare ourselves for a lunch with our friends. You will stay here. Your lunch is in the fridge. You need to put it in the microwave before eating it. Please, don't disturb us while we are at lunch.» their father said with a smile on his face. They didn't even look at their children before going to their bedroom to change themselves. They didn't like to spend time with their children and preferred to stay with their friends eating and shit-talking other people they didn't like.

Ezekiel remained sitting on the floor looking at room's door and asking himself why his parents were like that and what he did wrong that led them not loving him. He was a good kid and had good marks at school. Yes, he lied about his friendship with Abigail Armstrong, but they didn't even know about that. He felt unloved and unwanted by them. Actually, he knew he was unwanted. Once he heard his parents talking about the fact their second pregnancy was a mistake, but they were against abortions so they had him even if they would be more happy with just the twins. Tears began to fall on his cheeks. His older sister and brother noticed about that and went to sit next to him. «It's fine, Zeke. You still have us.» Eli said smiling. He was also hurt, but he was trying to hide it to his brother.

«What did I do wrong? They could have aborted me if they wanted, but they decided to keep me. Excluding existing, what did I do wrong? » Ezekiel asked crying like a baby. He couldn't control himself.

«Nothing. They are just two asshole that understand nothing. They think they are better than anybody, but they are not. We three are together right now and this is what truly matters. We love you, Zeke.» Ginevra answered. She was right and Ezekiel knew that, but deep down he just wanted love from his parents. He was so lucky to have his siblings. He just needed them, his best friends Aaron and Ruth and his girlfriend Abigail