Just For Glory | COMPLETED

Welcome Home, Donny!

I noticed that the front door was unlocked like it always was and sighed. Stepping inside, I moved to the left to let Piper in behind me, who looked around, grinning slightly and walking over to investigate a few family photos on the wall. Just before I yelled for her, Jamie appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Donny, where have you b—Oh my gosh, are you Piper?" As I'd guessed, my half-sister was efficiently distracted by the sight of the famed Piper Nolan. The subject of said exclamation looked slightly startled at the bubbly teenager's excited yell, but when Piper saw Jamie, she beamed at her, walking to the bottom of the stairs. There was no need, though, because Jamie ran down them two at a time.

I ignored Jamie's uncontainable animation and took off my coat, throwing it on a table near the door. It was only a matter of moments before Jamie would start the hugging. If I knew anything about my half-sister, it was that she was probably too affectionate for her own good and had difficulty hiding this fact, even when the recipient of her affection was totally unfamiliar.

When she reached the bottom, Jamie, who was a good six inches shorter than Piper, grasped the latter's hands and shook them excitedly. "You totally are! Oh my gosh, you're exactly like Mom said, only, wow, you're tall! She never told me that! Donny, why didn't you tell me that, you lug? I'm so excited—I finally got to meet you, Piper!" Then, as I knew was coming, Jamie apparently gave up trying to contain herself any longer and launched herself at Piper, hugging the taller girl tightly.

Completely opposite of what I would have done in the case of a hug from a psychotically enthusiastic stranger, Piper laughed brightly. "You must be Jamie. It's great to meet you," she said, patting the white-blonde head in front of her as if it belonged to a particularly loving cat. Jamie pulled away, her eyes sparkling and wide as she smilingly studied Piper's face.

"Is that your real eye color?" Jamie asked breathlessly, calming herself down ever so slightly. Sometimes it really amazed me how much she yearned to befriend each and every person who came near her.

With an amused glance at me to which I replied with a bored expression, Piper nodded. "It is. Why do you ask?"

Jamie shrugged, rocking forward and backward slightly on the balls of her feet. "I've never seen that exact eye color! It's like it changes all the time, 'cause at first, I thought they were grey, but the—"

"Donny, when did you get home?" Jamie was interrupted as my mother came in from our kitchen to stand next to me, but she stopped when she saw Piper. "I didn't know we had company!" she exclaimed, smoothing her hair and smiling. It was one of her "things" to never look less than stunning on a first impression.

I hugged her briefly, muttering, "Hi, Mom. You look fine." Then I cleared my throat, gesturing vaguely towards Piper. "Mom, this is Piper. Piper, this is my mother," I said quickly before stepping backwards.

While Piper shook my mother's hand, Jamie walked over to me, frowning. "How come you hug Mom but not me? I missed you, too!" she said, looking up at me imploringly. I rolled my eyes before opening my arms slightly. Jamie beamed and wrapped her arms around my waist as I draped mine loosely around her neck.

"How's it, kiddo?" She pulled away and wrinkled her nose at the nickname.

Ignoring my question, she looked furtively over at our mother and Piper, who were talking about school, before whispering, "I like her, Don! She's so nice and pretty and funny!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Jamie, she's said sixteen words to you! How could you know that she's nice and funny already?"

She squinted, looking up as she probably thought of trying to count Piper's words; it had always been easy for me to keep track of conversations in my head, but Jamie apparently decided that it wasn't important. "I just do, okay? Her...shirt is funny! I hugged her and she didn't freak out! She is pretty! Not in a normal way, though. It's unique. Unconventional," she said, sounding distracted as she looked at Piper with her head at an angle.