Moving On

Two

*****

~Ace's POV~

As I go downstairs, I think of Thalia. She's really pretty with her long chestnut hair and big bright blue eyes. When I first saw her, I thought she was going to be snobby and bitchy, but she's actually quite nice and a little shy.

When I hit the last step, I'm instantly tackled by two little rascals and I fall down playful, laughing.

"Ace! Guess what!" Molly says excitedly. "I drew Thalia a picture! See?" She holds up the drawing to my face and I look over it.

It's a family portrait with Thalia holding Molly's hand and Vince on the other side of Thalia. I'm next to Vince and next to me is my mom then my dad. I smile at it and say, "She's going to love it, no doubt."

Molly squeals a bit and jumps away and runs back to the playroom talking to herself. I notice Vince was just sitting next to me on the stairs and I bump his shoulder with mine softly. "Penny for your thoughts, buddy?" I ask.

"Is Thalia nice..?" He says quietly.

Vince is the shyest one of us three kids and Molly is the most outgoing one. "Very nice. In fact, I'm sure she would love to play Hotwheels and Legos with you if you let her," I say, smiling.

His eyes light up. "Really? Oh wow! I can't wait to build things with her and drive around the tracks," he says while standing up and grabbing my hand.

I push myself up and follow him into the playroom while he talks about all the things him and Thalia are going to do. I end up playing Barbie's with Molly while helping Vince build a garage with Legos for his cars.

About an hour later, my mom comes in the room. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Go wash your hands please," she smiles at us. The kids jump up and run into the bathroom, arguing over who will wash their hands first.

"I'll go wake Thalia up," I say, standing up and brushing off my jeans. My mom nods and Molly comes back in the room.

"Can I help?" She asks, sweetly.

I nod and she grins. Turning around, she jumps onto my back for a piggyback ride and I book it upstairs, with Molly giggling in my ear. I shush her when we get to Thalia's room and slowly open the door, seeing Thalia laying there in a ball sleeping peacefully with her hair covering a bit of her face. She looks breathtakingly beautiful.

Molly jumps off of me and runs over to her and shakes her arm. "Thalia! It's time for some yummy dinner," she giggles. I lean against the door frame.

Thalia starts smiling and opens her eyes. "Food?" She asks, raising her eyebrows. Molly nods enthusiastically.

"Yummy food. I'm Molly," she says grinning like the Joker.

"Hi Molly, I'm Thalia," she says, sitting up and stretching. She looks over at me and a hint of red covers her cheeks. I smirk at her and she looks away.

Molly starts talking to her about all her Barbie's and other stuff while Thalia gets up and we all head downstairs. We get down and I lead us to the kitchen, then still talking. My mom smiles at the two and heads into the dining room with a bowl of mashed potatoes. I sit next to the head of the table where my dad sits and Molly sits next to Vince on the other side. My mom sits between Vince and where my dad will sit when he gets home, so Thalia ends up sitting next to me. I start putting the steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans on my plate.

"When's daddy going to get home?" Molly asks.

"Soon, hopefully," my mom answers.

As soon as she says that, the front door opens and closes and Molly caps out, "Hi daddy!" Then she giggles as my mom scolds her for yelling so loudly.

I notice Vince giving Thalia shy glances while putting potatoes on his plate. My dad walks over to where Molly is sitting and kisses her forehead, then goes and gives my mom a peck on the cheek. He looks up and smiles at Thalia and asks her how her flight was while sitting down. She gives a shy answer to him as he fills his plate. He then starts eating and then everybody else starts digging in and having small conversations. Every now and then, I'd join in, giving my opinion on things. I notice Thalia start opening up and laughing at Molly's humor and Vince smiles at her whenever she talks. It was cute, honestly.

When I notice the chatter dies down a bit, I speak up a bit. "So, mom. Thalia and I were talking about her room before her nap and she has a great idea, so I was wondering if I could take her to Home Depot tomorrow?"

My mom smiles. "Of course! What were you thinking of doing, honey?" She asks Thalia.

"I'm thinking of doing some flower designs on the walls to add just a bit more color to the room. Definitely going to put some daisies and lilies in there and maybe some carnations as well. I was also thinking of replacing the blinds with curtains, if that's okay?"

My mom gives her a knowing smile. "That sounds lovely. You can do whatever you want to that room. It's yours to change."

"Weren't daisies your mothers favorite flowers?" My dad asks and my mom sends him a stern look. "Oh, sorry. I-"

"No, it's fine," Thalia smiles. "And yeah, they were. And lilies were my sisters," she whispers a bit.

The table goes quiet and then Vince suddenly says, "This was very good, mom. May I be excused?" She nods and he takes his dish and goes to the kitchen to clean off his dish.

Molly watches him leave then starts scarfing down the rest of her food. With a mouthful of food, she mumbles out some words and Thalia laughs softly while my mom was scolding her about finishing her food before speaking. I notice Thalia finishes her food and I ask to be excused and my mom nods and I grab both mine and Thalia's plate and go wash them off and put them in the dishwasher. Molly is right next to me in an instant, handing me her plate, since she's not big enough to wash it yet. I clean it off and put it in the dishwasher. Molly runs off to wherever and I start washing the dishes that were used for making dinner, secretly just waiting for Thalia to come out of the dining room. When I finished and she still hasn't come out I sigh and just head to get ready for bed.

By the time I finally settle into bed, I hear sniffling passing my door and realize it was Thalia. Honestly, I wanted to get out of bed and see if she was okay, but I didn't since I didn't want to press on it and make her even more sad. I finally feel myself dosing off when I hear Thalia's door close.