Saving Tessa

Ch. 3

I awoke to a soft knock on my door. Scratch that, Jax's door. I took a deep breath as I left the safety of the comforter behind me and headed towards the door. Before I could open it, the knob spun around sending the door into the bedroom and sent me a few steps backwards in an attempt not to be hit by it and before me stood a child just short of puberty. He was possibly ten years old, femininely male, and blatantly uninterested.
"My brother told me to come get you."
He briefly made eye contact with me before quickly looking down. His eyes were bright blue much like his brother's, yet his hair was noticeably lighter than Jax's. His jawline also appeared much softer and his nose just barely tipped off towards the left of his face.
"Call me Stewart. That's what everyone calls me."
Stewart momentarily looked up towards me again before abruptly turning around and disappearing up the stairs.
The door way was dark, but I could hear the cheery voices shining through it. What was I doing here? I knew this wasn't the life I was used to, but I truly did think it was something I could learn to be a part of. Happy voices, happy people. I quickly dusted off my pajama top in an attempt to tidy myself up before walking through the doorway myself, disappearing within the shadows.
As I reached the top of the stairs it became obvious that the voices were coming from a hallway opposite the front door. In the daylight I was able to identify even more photos that hung along the walls. In a more recent-looking photo I saw Stewart, Jax and an even smaller girl with black hair and brown eyes cozied together under a tree. She only slightly resembled Margaret in the way her hair delicately framed her large brown eyes. Her hair cascaded down her back which contrasted sharply with her bright and bubbly smile.
I continued walking through the hallway until I reached the arch of the kitchen. The kitchen itself was very simple. It consisted of all the usual gadgets including deep brown cabinets and an island with assorted stools along the front side of it. In two of the seats sat Jax and Stewart. Deeper into the kitchen, a lady presumably to be the boys' mother stood near the oven arranging cinnamon rolls on paper plates. Just as I began to wonder where the young girl was, the black haired princess appeared out of nowhere and practically lunged herself in to my arms.
"Tessa!"
She smiled boldly and nuzzled her neck into my side. "I'm Jonie, and you're MY new sister."

Jonie's little arms hugged tightly around my waist. I awkwardly stood there in shock, but it soon became obvious that she was not letting go. A carefree smile began to grow across my face as the rest of the household began to catch on to the fact that Jonie wasn't going anywhere.Wren wore a look of slight embarrassment as he looked up to me apologetically.
"Hey Jonie! Why don't you let go of Tessa now so that the two of you can go eat some breakfast?" Her head popped out from against my side as she grinned brightly.
"Okay bubba", she murmured as she slowly released me and tumbled back towards her mother in the kitchen.
A petite woman with shoulder length honey brown hair and bright blue eyes turned around and picked up Jonie before balancing her against her hip in one swift motion. Laugh lines formed along the crease of her eyes as she smiled at me.
"Hi Tessa, I'm Lieta."
I awkwardly smiled back. It had been almost 2 years since I had seen my own mother and I suddenly became self conscious about my unkempt appearance. I took a sharp inhale before I spoke.
"I'm really sorry for intruding. I will be out of your hair as soon as  I can." Flustered, I took a second to calm down as I waited for her response. Her eyebrows furrowed as she began to make her way across the kitchen toward.
"Tessa, any friend of Jax's is welcome in this house. We can talk about this later. My heart began to beat as I began to realize what she was saying. Before I could say anything else, she moved passed me towards the island and pulled out a chair next to Stewart.
"Here", she ushered, " I made cinnamon rolls. Eat them before they get cold." I hastily nodded and took a seat. Lieta softly padded my back before she made her way back into the kitchen. As I took my first bite of one of the rolls, I looked up and met eyes with Jax. This continued on for about a minute or so before I swallowed and mouthed thank you to him. He grinned before taking a large bite out of his own roll. Shortly after that Lieta and Jonie joined us. The conversations revolved around a project Jonie was starting in her kindergarten class.
"Me and my friend Nigel are working on it together. We get to make a town out of legos." Her eyes glowed with excitement as she went on about the colors they would use. Obviously the whole town would be pink and blue. Pink for girls. Purple for boys. Pink was Jonie's favorite color and purple Nigel's.
I smiled. Their life seemed so normal. Something I had lost a sense of after my parents abandoned me. It was so unfamiliar, but equally heart-warming. I had never realized how much I had wanted a true family. But for some reason, deep down in my heart, I had a feeling I could never truly be apart of their world. Not a girl like me.