The Four Sisters

Chapter 21

   It was a somber mood in the house the next morning. Spencer felt like everything she had been building was slipping away – her relationships with her older sister, her peace of mind, and the first guy she ever made a real connection didn't even talk to her now. 

 She made a nice brunch for Martha and her husband, and she tried to keep her mind off the fact that Victoria wasn't there. Spencer wondered how long it would be before Victoria announced she was moving to New York, and she wanted to split up the house. Spencer wasn't going to let her do that though.

  "This is our house," Spencer said to Charlotte when she confessed that she was nervous about Victoria wanting to sell the place as she wanted to move in with Paul in the near future. "She's one against three."

  "Yeah, she isn't going to do anything," Parker said. "This is our home. She doesn't have to live here, but I'm going to be here for a while still. It's perfect for all of us, and we just redid the yard with money from Roses's parents for our wedding. Besides if she moves out Rose and I can take over the master bedroom, and we can always find someone to move in and help us with the cost of everything. This place has plenty of space for a few of my stupid friends."

  Spencer smiled for the first time in over twenty-four hours.

  Martha arrived, and Parker was right. It was startling how much she looked like their Mom Janet. Well, before she got sick and sunk down to eighty pounds due to cancer. Spencer was shocked by how emotional she felt as Martha came into their home, but Martha didn't notice as she was equally over-whelmed by being back in her childhood home.

  "It looks so different without Mom's furniture," Martha said with a shocked laugh. "Mom kept all the furniture wrapped in plastic, and it was filled with these little tables with expensive vases and other things that we couldn't touch. We'd tip-toe around here. That's why we were so happy she didn't go upstairs because that was the only place we felt any peace."

  "... It looks much better like this," Martha said after a moment as she looked around. "You can see the beautiful floors that she covered up with the over priced rugs, and it looks like a home now. You girls did a great job on it."

  "Thanks," Parker said and waved her hands towards where Charlotte and Spencer were standing. "My sister Spencer did a lot of the work down here including the kitchen."

  "The second born right?" Martha said with a soft smile as she reached her hand out. "Lovely to meet you."

  "And this is Charlotte – the baby," Parker said as she motioned towards her redheaded little sister. "She's almost twenty."

  "How lovely," Martha said as she beamed at Charlotte. "Red hair! Just like our Dad! Well, your grandpa."

  "He had red hair too?" Charlotte was surprised as they only had black and white pictures of their Grandfather, and their Mom never told them what he looked like. 

  "The brightest red," Martha said happily as she looked around the kitchen. "Wow, this kitchen looks so much better too. I remember my Mother redoing it in the early 70's, and I couldn't believe how it looked when I think back. We thought it was so fashionable though! I guess times change. This is very elegant though."

 "I made brunch," Spencer said quickly as she led Martha to the table. 

  "Oh, how nice," Martha said as she took a seat. "I'd love a bite to eat. The hotel food wasn't really to my liking, and we were surrounded by fast food restaurants I wasn't too interested in that either. I would love something homemade. Parker here says you're a brilliant cook."