I TURNED TO MOM, "I CAME WITH MY BEST FRIENDS. They are engaged to each other, so you better not try anything funny."
"You have friends?" Aaron mocked and our siblings chuckled to that, and so their the in-laws.
Feeling like that was the cue, both Chase and Flower came closer. "That was rude," Chase exclaimed, being taller than Aaron, with 6'3 and a half. "You really don't know the sister you have, do you?" He mocked, taking all of them of guard.
I rolled my eyes, "Ignore him. These are Chase Montello and Flower Banks. My best friends since I began in MIT, and they work with me too." They greeted my family and then hugged my grandparents, shocking the others. "Our grandparents met them when I moved back to the UK, since they visit me a lot, so they are familiar with two already."
"Seems like we've been left out," Dean mocked.
"You left me out my entire life, don't blame for doing the same to you all," I mocked and greeted all of them closely, then took a step back, staring behind them to where Ahane Masatake, the steward who's here since I was born. "Ahane, can you ask some of the staff to take the food in my friends' car?"
A nod, "Of course, young Miss."
I turned to the kids, "Go to the kitchen. Auntie will bring the sweets to you." And that was enough for all of them, except the two youngest who were still learning how to walk, to go running. "After giving the sweets to the kids, I'll put the presents under the tree but I put a warning in all of them that will tell if any of you try to open it," I glared at Dean in special, since he always do that. Sigh, "Then I'll began to fix the power generators."
Beatrice bit her bottom lip, "Happy late birthday, Elizabeth-Freya."
I scoffed, "None of you need to say that to me. If it meant anything, you would have called me before I came here. As it does not, don't bother, it's annoying. I'm not here to pretend to be friends with any of you. I'm here to fix what the storm destroyed, and because mom said I needed to be here." Then I my eyes stopped in Marie-Estella and she flinched for a second. "Are you pregnant again? Don't know what a TV is? What's with this family and making children as if you were rabbits?"
She gasped, "Excuse me?"
"You look pregnant, Marie-Estella. Your belly looks like a basketball. And by how it seems like your beauty it's being sucked, it'll probably be a girl," she does have a belly of a pregnant woman. Seeing how everyone reacted, it seemed like I was the only one left out. "Whatever, I may despise you and the fact that you pulled a trick to be part of my family of all, but I'm happy if I gain another niece. This family lacks woman." I turned around and helped the staff take the food inside. "You guys can eat if you want. But let the kids have it first. I got it homemade for them, not for you."
𖣔 𖣔 𖣔
I worked overnight to replace all the solar panels, no one came to interrupt me, which was a blessing. It was a smart move to decide to bring 30 new ones I had in storage from the ones I experienced in, since I imagined they could have been damaged in a way I couldn't fix them. Because I really couldn't do anything to save those, so I went and put the old ones aside, and only for that Flower and Chase helped me, since they were quite heavy for me to carry alone.
Installing it all was the difficult part, especially when the place the others were got very messed up thanks to the storm. But nothing is impossible for me, so I was able to do it just fine. It only took me time.
It was 8 in the morning, and My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark by Fall Out Boy played, when Katherine, the only sister-in-law I genuinely like, surprised me by bring me smashed eggs with bacon and a glass of strawberry juice. "Dove, stop the song!"
"Yes, Freya. Don't forget to hydrate yourself and eat."
I chuckled when I saw Kate's startled expression, "I will. Thank you, Dove." Then she stopped talking and I cleaned my dirty hands in the sink on the side, before sitting with Katherine in the leather couch they put it on the left side of the rooftop. "Thanks, Kate."
A polite nod. "They said you didn't eat anything the entire night, Elizabeth. That's bad for your health, you know that, right? And you shouldn't work overnight like this." Sigh, "The kids were all worried."
My hunger only allowed me to say a word after I was done eating. "Don't worry, Kate, I'm fine. I'm used to. Besides, thanks to the fact that I worked overnight, you will all be able to utilize the energy I'm providing you. After all, you all need it, don't you?" Then I smiled, "The kids are too sweet for my health."
"They adore you very much."
I winked, "I'm an amazing aunt. So, what did they told you to talk to me?" I gave her an all-knowing grin. "They all know that the only two people whom I kind of listen in the family are you and Dean. And Dean and I aren't in the best mood now, since I'm still pissed by him marrying my bully. You only come to me when they tell you to tell me something they don't have the guts to."
Kate bit her bottom lip, "Dean is upset with what you said to Marie yesterday. She's too sensible because of the pregnancy, she's 6 months already, so she cried after what you said yesterday."
"And why should I care if that viper cried or not?"
She let out an exhausting sigh, "You make it harder, Elizabeth-Freya. Dean was always the only one who defended you and stood up to you, but you turned your back to him and didn't even come to his marriage. That hurt him."
I scoffed, "He married my fucking bully, Katherine. He bought her to my fucking family. I don't expect you to understand how that feels, since you were the Queen Bee of your school. But I wasn't. Not in school, and she made my life that worse. I'm already being good enough, since I'm accepting the two nephews she gave me with all my love. But I can't, and I won't, ever accept her as my sister-in-law."
"Elizabeth-Freya, she's pregnant with your niece!"
Hah, I knew it was a girl. Now let's see the name with a C she'll choose since she won't be able to take it from Bridgertons because the 3rd child was Colin. "So? I wasn't rude, I spoke my mind. She was aware that Dean was my brother when she began hooking up with me. And she was always bitter because back in school, even though I was the weirdo, the boy she liked, liked me and not her. Then she married my brother."
She seemed frustrated, "She changed."
"No. She did not. Not to me. Not in my eyes. You didn't meet her back there, and you didn't suffer because of her. I like and respect you, Kate, even though you don't appreciate me much for some reason. But I won't let you say anything about this, because you don't know how it feels," taking a deep breath, I got up. "I bought her a Christmas present out of good will, since I bought one to everyone else, and I'll accept the new baby like I did to the others, because he or she aren't to blame for their mom's sins. However, I refuse to interact with her unless it's extremely necessarily. I ask you all to respect that!"
"You aren't listening, Elizabeth-Freya."