Falling for his Step-Sister by Alie Garnett

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Your mother did what?”Buzz asked, trying to hear Louisa above the cacophony of all her sisters talking at once in the kitchen.

Stepping away from the non-stop noise, she headed into the living room. Today the sisters had gathered on the day Sera and Harrison were coming home with the kids, and as a surprise, they were going to move as much of Sera’s stuff into the new house as possible, thus forcing Sera to actually move in with her husband.

“She was having sex with Brett and Ross at the same time,” Louisa repeated with the same monotone she had used the first time she had said it; Buzz hadn’t heard wrong. She still couldn’t believe it, but she hadn’t heard wrong.

“Wow,” was all she could think to say. Judith seemed to be so conservative and against sex in general.

“Can you come and get me? I can’t stay here.” Louisa sniffled into the phone.

“Yes, give me ten, and I’ll be there,” Buzz said as Harper looked in the living room at her.

“Thanks. I’m not at the house, so call me when you get close.” Louisa hung up.

After slipping her phone into her pocket, she told her sister, “I’m going to get Louisa.”

“Is that wise?” Harper asked.

“Maybe, I don’t know, but Judith was just caught fucking the kid Louisa liked, so I can’t not go get her. No matter what happened between me and her brother.” Buzz sighed.

Harper gave a concerned look before telling her. “Tell her I told her guys were shit.”

Buzz nodded and headed out the door to bring one more sister back to the fold. The drive was short, and Louisa was waiting a block from her house with nothing on but a light sweatshirt and jeans. She was shivering in the chilly afternoon sun. The winter weather was too cold for the outfit, and Buzz was mad once again at Judith for letting her daughter leave without a jacket on, though it sounded like the woman had been busy when she left.

Louisa climbed into the Jeep and said nothing to Buzz as they headed back to the house. As they approached, she saw nothing but an ant trail of people carrying boxes the two blocks from the old house to the new house. Never was Buzz so glad that two of her sisters had husbands to help with this endeavor. It was a cold day, but the trip was short, and the chill made everyone move faster.

“We’re moving my stepmom out of the house. It’s a surprise for her wedding,” Buzz explained.

“Wouldn’t she want to move her own stuff?” Louisa watched as Cliff carried a giggling Maby back into the Lovely house over his shoulder.

“No, she likes us too much to actually move herself. We’re kicking her out.”

“My mom doesn’t want me anymore … she never did. She didn’t even care that I heard her say it.” The kid shrugged, and her voice cracked.

“Mom’s suck. My real mom didn’t want me either, or any of my sisters. Sera’s our stepmom,” she admitted, though she probably shouldn’t have.

“I didn’t know that.”

“You’ll figure it out once she gets here; she’s very different from the rest of us. But now, let me introduce you to everyone who is here.” Buzz jumped out of the car.

At the door, they nearly got run over by Kaine carrying more than he could see around. The man was already tired of this and had offered more than once to pay someone to actually do the moving, but nobody else seemed interested in wasting money. It was much more fun to see him scowl and have to work.

“Kaine is married to Harper.” Buzz pointed at him. Then in the house, she pointed to Lucy and Maby, who were sitting on the couch. “The twins; don’t tell them they look alike,” she whispered.

“One is my children’s lit professor, or at least I think so. I only went to one class,” Louisa stated, as if she ran into professors every day in their homes, arguing with their identical twin.

Then she introduced Louisa to Cliff and finally Agatha, who was shoving Emma’s things in boxes so fast the room was nearly empty already. Taking the girl to Harper’s room, she found a sweatshirt for her to wear and informed her she really didn’t have to help. But after all the teasing she had already witnessed, she said she would have more fun helping than moping around.

Harper only gave her a nod and insisted that everyone call the girl Lou, which everyone did after an hour. No one questioned who she was, not even Maby, who was her teacher.

Within an hour, the moving was interrupted by the bride and groom’s arrival at Lovely house. Sera caught Harper and Maby holding Lucy down, trying to make her eat something that had been found in Violet’s room.

That prompted Sera to immediately tell her new husband, “This is why I cannot move out. They’ll kill each other!”

The sisters let their captive go so that everyone could hug the travelers. Harper was the first to tell the older woman, “Mom, we are kicking you out.”

“What did I do?” Sera was already on the verge of tears.

“You got married, so you’ve got to move out. Those are the rules,” Agatha stated from her spot on the couch. Despite the heat of the house and work, she was snuggled under a blanket.

“I knew I shouldn’t have gotten married,” Sera grumbled and looked around the room at the scattered boxes. Clearly, the movers had gotten distracted as the day went on.

“Don’t worry, Sera. We kicked Mabel and Harper out the exact same way,” Buzz said as she handed out drinks she had grabbed from the kitchen. “Finally!”

“No, you didn’t. They both still have rooms here,” Lucy argued, getting up off the floor.

“I gave mine to Buzz a few days ago,” Harper stated, though unlocking it had just seemed like a nice gesture, not an “I’m giving up my room” gesture. Buzz was sure that if she needed it, Harper would happily kick her sister out again.

“I told Maby she could have a room here if I got one at her place. It only seemed fair,” Lucy argued for her twin, the moldy cupcake forgotten.

“I don’t believe any of it,” Sera announced and threw up her hands.

“I just want to thank everyone for helping Sera through this challenging time in her life. Moving a block and a half from you girls is hard for her. I don’t know if anyone even noticed that.” Harrison pulled his wife into his arms as he made his speech.

“Yeah, she was hiding that from everyone.” Buzz snorted at them.

“I’m very good at hiding things from you people, Buzz,” Sera stated, then broke down laughing at what she said.

“What are you hiding, Sera?” Harper grinned and eyed her critically.

“Nothing. But I could if I wanted to,” Sera reminded them. “Now move these boxes out. I want to be completely moved in by nightfall.”

“So that you can have sex with your husband in your house with all your stuff?” Agatha asked.

“For your information, yes,” Sera shot back at her.

“Gross, Mom. I’m right here.” Emma dropped her bag and headed up the stairway away from everyone.

“Love you too, baby,” Sera called after her, which only was rewarded by her baby giving her the finger. “I think I have to learn to control my language.”

“The first step is admitting it, Mom,” Maby stated with a grin.

Above them, a door slammed, and Emma came back down the steps. “Where’s all my shit?”

“In your new room down the street,” Lucy replied cheerfully.

“I’m not leaving! I’m staying here. Just because she moves out doesn’t mean I have to.”

“Nope, you get to move in with your mommy and daddy,” Buzz told her. That had always been the plan. No way was Sera letting one of her actual babies not live with her until the law said they could pry themselves from her. Even then, it was going to be a hard fight.

“I think I’m old enough to live here. This is my home.” Emma crossed her arms.

“Me too.” Violet had maneuvered herself under Agatha’s blanket and was sitting on her lap.

“No, no, no. Both my children are moving with me, and anyone else for that matter. Don’t let Harrison tell you that you’re not welcome, and we have room for everyone,” Sera assured everyone.

“Not everyone,” Harrison argued.

“Almost everyone. A few might have to sleep on the couches. And no husbands; that would be too many.”

“So, if you’re married, you’re not welcome?” Maby asked.

“Maby, you are always welcome. I know which room I’d put you in already. Just no Cliff.” Sera pulled away from Harrison and gave Maby a tight hug.

“Harsh, Mom Lovely,” Cliff stated from the doorway of the kitchen, where the men were hiding from the moving boxes. Sera gave him the finger as she continued to hug his wife.

“Why does she get a room? She already has two,” Harper pointed out.

Letting go of Maby, she pulled Harper in for a hug as well. “You have a room too.”

“Do I get a room, Mom?” Agatha asked from the couch.

“Of course. Next to Violet’s. She’ll like that.”

Lucy realized everyone was getting something and needed it also. “Wait, I want to room.”

“You can share with Maby again. The twins will be back in the same room, except no boys this time.” Sera hugged the other twin as she said it.

“I get the house! You can move over there if you want, which will leave me here, and the house can be mine.” Buzz laughed. Even though she hated it empty, she really liked to win.

“If she’s staying, so am I.” Agatha changed sides.

“Me too. Even if I haven’t been here this week, I still live here,” Lucy jumped in quickly.

“Can I have a room?” Louisa asked from the corner where she’d been watching.

All eyes turned to her, especially those that didn’t know who she was. Sera walked over to her slowly, looking her up and down. In the red sweatshirt, she looked more like Harper than Buzz remembered, just younger and more innocent than Harper ever looked.

“And you are?”

“Louisa Raiden, ma’am. I am a friend of Buzz’s.”

Sera looked back at Buzz with a questioning look, then turned back to the girl and gave her as big of a hug as she had given all her kids. “Of course, Louisa. This is the Lovely house. Everyone is welcome here.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Buzz could hear the tears in the girl’s voice. Once again, Sera was a mother to a girl she didn’t have to be, just like she had been to all of them over the years.

“But if you ever call me ma’am again, you’re out. It’s Sera Dean.” Sera actually hugged Louisa again in her excitement of being married.

“Thank you, Sera.”

Buzz was nearly in tears as she watched. She wondered if Sera could tell Louisa was a sister, that she had another lost soul to save. Only this time, Louisa wasn’t a child, and she knew who her parents were and had been with them her entire life. So different from the rest of them.

Catching Harper’s eyes across the room, she saw the same look in her eyes.