Strain

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Her auburn hair shown in the light. And her green eyes were piercing into us. She stepped of the white porch. Her green dress flowing graciously over her. She always reminded me of a warrior but also a sweet mother that bakes cookies all day.
"What's going on my children?" My mother asked but hinting she already knew by her tone.
"We are tied and I think I obviously won." I said shooting daggers at Xavier. He shot them right back at me.
"Well what was the bet this time?" she sighed. She knew us so well.
"Who ever lost would do our bidding. And she obviously lost." Xavier said with a humph. Sometimes he actually acted like a child.
My mother shook her head and said " how about you guys do each others bidding?" she asked but it wasn't a choice and we knew it. But this time I wasn't going to let it go by her rule.
"I think not. I won and all these people know it." I crossed my arms and stood my ground.
My mother raised her eyebrows and smiled an evil smile. "Either you do as I say or i'll come up with something for each and everyone of you to do. How about that." she said.
"Give me your worst." I dared my mother. My brothers would have stepped down by now but I was becoming curious of what she had planned. We never ventured by far from this point, but today I was feeling feisty.
"You will help Eleanor with the chores around the house. Everyone of you." she said with a smile plastered on her face. "And I think she said that she is going to clean the pigs pan tomorrow and the cows and I'm pretty sure she said the horses too."
Every one behind us started grumbling. The last time we clean there was two years ago and it was the worst thing ever. Lets just say I ended up with a swollen leg, a busted lip and I smelled like a dead body for a week!
"Never mind. I think I'm good with doing each others bidding." Xavier said. And the rest of us nodded our heads in approval.
"Now was that hard?...... Who wants lemonade and lunch?" she asked as if the last two minutes nothing happened.
We all nodded our heads and said yes please. I raced towards the porch swing; Xavier and Brian were right on my trail. I shoved them back and sat on the swing and Xavier sat on top of me. Brian then jumped and landed on the both of us.
"Get off of me you fatties! God what did you eat for breakfast? whales?!" I grumbled.
"Hey get off of me. I know I'm handsome but I'm not that way!" Xavier yelled at Brian.
"Ahh this is the best swing I've been on all my life. Thank The Lord for comfy brothers and sisters. At the least you are less annoying than usual. And you aren't useless after all." Brian said and relaxed on top of us.
Xavier and I stopped shoving. And paused to look at Brian.
"Ahh that's better don't move stay like that." Brian said.
Me and Xavier exchanged looks and we counted to 3.
1..2..3. I used all the force I had and shoved both of them off me. They fell to the ground with a loud thud. The people on the porch busted out laughing. Just then Sofia ,one of the maids, brought lemonade, sandwiches, and some cookies. I reached over and grabbed a sandwich and a glass of lemonade. I grabbed a couple of cookies on a plate and sat back against the swing. I rocked back and forth and took a bite out of my sandwich.
"Hey how come she got the biggest sandwich? that's not fair. I'm a man and men need to eat." Xavier over exaggerated about my sandwich.
"Oh you're a man? I thought you were a woman this whole time. Oops." I said and shrugged as I took another bite.
He glared at me and reached over to get some cookies and snatched a sandwich.
Behind me hard footsteps came towards me. All too familiar footsteps. I turned around and my father came towards me. He also had auburn hair but he had blue eyes. Joy lines creased his eyes as his smile shown over us. It was hard to believe that he and my mother were 36. They looked more like 28.
He stopped right next to the swing. I stopped rocking. My mother went and rewarded him with a kiss. My father had been gone for 2 weeks to a meeting in New York and the longing for each other had grown during that time of separation. They embraced for a while longer and then pulled away. Love was visible in their eyes.
"Evelyn I've missed you. Well all of you. You look tired. How about after we spend some time with our children we rest?" my father asked.
"That's sounds fine Charles. The children today had a game of baseball. Which like aways turned out to be a verbal fight." my mother sighed.
"Well aren't you going to tell me about it princess?" my father asked.
"Well you know the usual daddy. My brothers can't help that I can beat them." I said as a matter of fact. I scooted over so he could sit with me. We rocked back and forth softly.
"Nooo. Her team cheated father. She is just ashamed to admit it." Xavier shook his head out of pity.
The rest of the group were into their own discussion but stopped as soon as Xavier's words slipped out of his mouth. The group entered in a heated discussion. My father and mother chuckled softly. I stopped for a second and sat back.
"What news do you have for me?" I asked my father. In the town we lived consisted of 50 families so it wasn't such a big town. We were always the last to know. So it was good for my father to leave sometimes.
"Well Lady Temple will be coming to town for a visit." father said.
"Poor thing. Her husband died just last year. I hope she is okay." my mother said. She had a worried look on her face.
"And she will be staying with us for a while. Until she gets accustomed to her house." father announced.
"Whoa. I'm sorry but I don't really like the idea of her being here. She can be very nosy." I said getting into the conversation.
"Esmeralda De La Dollores what did I tell you about talking behind people's back. Especially this poor woman!" my mother exclaimed.
"I said sorry." I mumbled.
"Speaking of the devil here she comes." my father said. My mother shot a glare.
I turned to the direction my father was looking at. Lady Temple hobbled over and next to her was a strange handsome man.