68

                                    

                                          
The front door opened and, from my spot in the kitchen, I heard a familiar giggle. The tension in my shoulders dissipated at the elated sound. She was enjoying herself, that was all that mattered. The four girls piled into the kitchen, my mom and sisters dragged down by a million bags. Beside me, dad grunted.
"How was shopping?" I asked in amusement, eyes instantly going to Rose.
Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes seemed to sparkle. "It was great," she said, coming to side. Unlike the others, she only held one bag, which I was a little unhappy about. I wished she'd let loose and stop worrying about things like money. I wanted to spoil her. I wanted her to have absolutely everything she'd ever wanted. After the life she'd had, she deserved it more than anyone.
"We had so much fun!" mom squealed, dropping all her bags onto the kitchen floor. There were at least twelve. 
Em shuffled inside, tucked away behind my mom. "Did you have fun, princess?" Dad asked her before I got the chance. She shuffled over towards him, offered a nod in response and then wrapped her arms around his waist. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and then she ran off with only a few of the bags mom had carried in. 
"I see you've spent all my money," dad commented, gaze flicking between the pile on the floor and mom's wide grin. 
The smile dropped instantly off her face. "Your money?" Her hands moved to her hips and I saw him wince at the sour look that was now on her face. "You're such an ass."
The rest of us stayed silent, shifting uncomfortably, while she gathered all the bags at her feet. "I'm taking these upstairs," she muttered to nobody in particular before storming out of the room. I cringed at the loud stomping noise of her shoes on the marble flooring.
Dad made a hissing noise. "Fuck sake," he said, dragging a hand over his face before trudging from the room. "Mi, wait! I didn't mean it like that." 
Rose's eyes were wide like mine but Vi only snorted out a laugh. "What?"
She grinned. "She's doing that thing where she pretends to be annoyed at him and then when she forgives him easily, he isn't allowed to get mad at her for something small."  
I rolled my eyes. It was something they both did all the time. They'd get worked up about something that isn't worth getting worked up over, fight about it, bring up other unnecessary things, admit stuff that wasn't worth admitting, fight some more, and resolve it all, leaving them more loved up than ever. 
"What would he be mad at her for?"
My sister's eyes widened. "That's my cue to leave," she muttered, gathering her bags even quicker than mom did and darting out the room. I frowned, narrowing my eyes in Rose's direction while she chewed on her lower lip, eyes suddenly downcast. 
"What's going on?" I asked her.
She shrugged a shoulder. "It's not a big deal," she said, "there was just some guy at the mall-," she paused and my stomach dropped to the floor, "-and he asked for Violet's number." She shrugged again.
For a second, I felt relief about the fact he wasn't going after Rose. And then her words registered. "No, no, no, no, no!" I groaned, dropping my head onto the marble island countertops. The cold surface made me flinch and when I shot back up, I glimpsed Rose rolling her eyes. "No, we just got rid of a guy."
"Oh, calm down," she said with a laugh. She stepped closer to me, her hands falling onto my shoulders. "Your sister is gorgeous. She's going to get attention from guys and you're just going to have to accept that. Besides, this guy didn't look remotely like Jared. He looked... normal." A smirk flickered across her face. "He was kind of cute."