Switched | Sebastian Vettel

Chapter 12 | Brother time

On Wednesday I went to the factory instead of Maureen. I had to ask Brad to come and pick me up from Maureen's apartment, as I did not know where I had to go. Of course Maureen had explained it to me, but giving you instruction for a place you've never been at, it wasn't that easy to remind all of it. The days did however go by fast. Suddenly it was Saturday and I was on my way with my sister to our parents' house. Maureen really needed it as she had an appointment on Monday with a psychologist and that's all she was thinking about. I wasn't expecting her to be so nervous about going to a psychologist. I thought she wouldn't care less about it and I had to drag her to that place. Guess I was wrong. We got to my parents' house pretty fast, after I picked up Maureen from my own house, as they lived ten minutes away from my house. I parked the car in the free spot on the driveway and both Maureen and I got out. We walked to the front door that I opened with the key that I still had from when I lived here and we immediately got attacked by the two dogs of my brother. 
'Hi Tigger,' I said in my high pitched voice that I always used with animals. I crouched down and let the dog hug me.  Winnie, the other dog was hugging Maureen, letting her show that bright smile that I haven't seen in a while. We let Tigger and Winnie walk back inside before us. I always had to laugh at their names. Thomas had two kids that loved watching Winnie The Pooh, and so did he by the way, that he had to call his dogs Winnie and Tigger. They were two joyful little pieces in this family, just like Thomas's two kids. He first had a girl, named Ellie, and then he had a boy, named George. 

'Ah, so that's why the dogs went crazy!' I heard my mom say after we walked into the living room. She got up and smiled at us, which both Maureen and I returned. She hugged Maureen first and after her, it was my turn to greet my mother. We had a great relationship with both of our parents, and maybe even a better relationship between us as siblings. After I let go of my mom, I immediately got my hands full with Ellie and George who both liked to play as a monkey as they tried to hang on my legs as I tried to greet my brother and his wife, Lynn. 
'Hey guys,' I whispered to the two kids. The looked up at me. 'There is another person just like me that has even better legs to hang on,' They got the message and run to aunt Maureen.  I grinned as I finally sat down on the couch. 
'And Maya? How is it at the garage without Dad being there?' mom asked, making me look at Maureen first. We decided to not tell them that we switched lives again, and kind of still are doing it. Although I hoped Maureen could take her life back before the race weekend started. 
'Fine, Joe is still as bad as usual, but all fine,' I laughed, knowing that uncle Joe would probably just as bad as usual, if not even worse if dad was on a trip. 
'What else is new?' Thomas grinned, knowing all the stories that I told him about our uncle.  

It was nice to spend the whole day with the family. It was unfortunate that my dad wasn't here, because having all three of the children back home was a rare thing nowadays. Obviously, Maureen was most of the year away or just really busy, Thomas had his own family and he was a veterinarian that had his business next to his house, so he was maybe even busier, and then there was me. I saw mom and dad maybe weekly, because of where I lived and because I worked for dad. Currently, both Thomas and I were sent on a mission to get takeout. It was a good opportunity for Maureen to talk to her mom alone about the stuff she goes through, as Lynn was probably too busy getting her kids to wake up from their nap. Ellie and George were at the beginning of the afternoon full with energy that at around three they needed a nap because they played all of their energy off. 
'Got a question for you,' Thomas said while driving. 
'Oh, yeah?' I said back while looking at him. 
'Yeah,' he said, while a little grin appeared on his face, but that little grin turned back to serious. 'remember that story that I told you once about this twelve-year-old cat that turned from being a super sweet cat to pure aggression?' Thomas asked and looked at me shortly to see that I nodded. 'Well, the owner can't take it anymore and wants the cat out. You're interested?'
'I don't know Thom,' I said to my brother unsure. I looked through the window from the car and pressed my lips together while I listened to my brother explaining to me why I should take the cat.
'Ah, come on Maya. I know for a fact that you told me you wanted a cat, and you don't have to worry about the aggression. The cat was bullied by a different cat in the house, and the owner tried different things, but she gives up on it. I think the cat would be fine in a different environment,'
'It's not that,' I told my brother honestly. 'There is just something going on with Maureen and we've been changing lives so she can take a break from it all. It's a really weird situation,'

'You wha- Wait, hold on!' Thomas stopped me from talking. He had a confused look on his face. 'You're telling me that you have been changing lives with each other? So you've been working at Maureen's job and she yours?' I nodded while biting my lip. 'Is that legal?'
'It's fine, just don't tell anyone, okay?' I asked my brother, trying to not make a big deal out of it. But I was asking myself, was it a big deal? Are we gonna get in trouble for it if we keep doing it and somebody that shouldn't know finds out about it? 

A/N: Bit of a boring chapter if I say so myself, but sometimes you need them because they can be important further down in the story. There is a 50% chance that I will upload chapter 13 on Monday evening. I've written it, I just need to find time to edit it, but I can tell you that Chapter 13 is one of my favs. Have a nice weekend! (: