To be Seen or Heard

Chapter Six: Goodbye House (pt2)

The inside of the RV was utterly chaotic, a mix of all our things had been flung everywhere without care. Usually, a mess like this would drive Mamí nuts, but my mother pulled out of our driveway -following the caravan of RVs out of our neighborhood - without even looking at it.

"Pili, Xander, go get Camila and the babies from the bathroom." Mamí commanded softly as she turned the corner.

When we passed the closed-off bunk beds, I heard one of the puppies let out a small yip, but to my relief, a pan falling noisily onto the floor covered the sound up... although Isabella did eye the door with a furrowed brow. I shook my head at her before pressing a finger to my lips hastily. Her gaze was piercing, but she nodded before staying quiet... but knowing her, she wouldn't keep her mouth shut for long without an explanation.

Alexander only sighed at our nonverbal conversation before dragging me to the back, he had to push the closed pack'n'play that'd been shoved against the door out of the way before he told Camila to "Open up."

Camila looked so freaking relieved when she unlocked the door, throwing her arms around my middle before running through the mess to get to the living area of the mobile home. Isabella sighed loudly when the sound of a box crashing reached all of our ears and Camila began calling out for help before mumbling that she 'got it.' On the other hand, Olivia and Eva had both fallen asleep on the padded floor of the shower.

"You take Evita." Alexander whispered as he maneuvered Olivia into his arms before cautiously making his way out.

I carefully supported Eva's head like my mother had taught me, making sure I had a firm but gentle grip on my youngest sister before getting up from my crouch and slowly moving toward the front. Eva only grizzled, her eyes still thankfully shut, as I re-buckled her into her car seat. Isabella was sitting in the passenger's seat with a now-content Camila, and the seats of the dinette set were full of our stuff so... Alexander shrugged, pointing to the floor in front of the kitchen cabinets and oven before plopping down in front of my sleeping sisters. I didn't see any other solution so I sat by him and leaned against the cabinet at my back.

"We're gonna have a lot of cleaning to do." I murmured, a bit annoyed by the prospect, as I looked around the once-pristine RV.

Alexander snorted, "What gave you that idea?" he asked sarcastically with a judgmental raised brow.

Rolling my eyes, I nudged his arm, "Shut up."

"You shut up." he countered as he shut his eyes.

"How about everyone is quiet now." my mother pipes up loudly, making Isabella giggle.

I'm not sure how long we'd been driving. I'd conked out maybe half an hour into the journey, only to wake up when Dottie started barking. The Golden had not only scared the crap out of my baby sisters, but almost caused Mamí to swerve off the road.

She was not happy with me.

To be fair... I shouldn't have forgotten about Dottie and her puppies. Now the thin dog and puppies were the center of attention as Camila and Isabella showered them with attention. Alexander was pretty enamored with the only male puppy, cuddling him on his lap and playing with his soft, floppy ears. And based on the coos and lisped "Rito" that meant perrito, even Olivia was pretty thrilled with the new furry additions.

"I cannot believe that you did that Pillar." Mamí berated me without looking away from the road, I winced and sank into the co-pilot's seat, wishing that I could just melt away and avoid- "Do you not understand how dangerous that could have been? You didn't even tell anyone where you went. What would have happened if one of the muertos was inside the house, huh? You could have died Pillar, that's what!"