Harly

Chapter Three (Edited 08/2021)

Ms. Dee had prepared dinner as a sort of "welcome" party. It was pretty extravagant, especially compared to what I was used to, which generally refers to gas station sandwiches or pizza delivery.

As if she recalled our entire childhood, Ella had asked for a lot of my favorites. From when I was like, nine. My palate had long since changed, but I wasn't going to turn down this hard work. And, regardless of my age or tastes, mac and cheese was always welcomed. Always.

"Macaroni!" Lilly shouted from the edge of the table where her booster seat was attached to a chair. Apparently Lilly agreed with my sentiment.

Even Lacey seemed to be in high spirits in regards to the food, withholding her snide remarks throughout the dinner.

Though we all talked a little, mostly me as each of them had their own questions for me, Lilly was the ringleader of the group, that much was obvious. She had something to say about everything.

"Aunt Em has a cool box," she announced halfway through the meal. I looked down at my plate, organizing my food and trying to keep them from touching one another.

"A cool box? I must have missed it when we were unpacking, 'cause I didn't see anything cool." Ella easily replied, and I had to keep from smiling. Lilly was fired up, that much was obvious, and she definitely wanted someone to ask about it directly.

"Yeah! It doesn't open, but something is inside." Lilly replied, ignoring the rest of Lacey's comment.

"That old box of dad's that he never let us play with?" Ella asked, and I looked up to meet her eyes. I hadn't known she wanted it too.

"Uh, yeah. The wooden one with the weird symbol on it. I found it in the attic after mom... packed it away. You played with it too?" I asked before shoveling a forkful of food into my mouth.

"Uh, no," Ella laughed, leaning back in her chair as she thought. "Dad yelled at me so bad when I found it, I never touched it again. I guess it was valuable or something. He acted like it cost a million dollars. I used to get so mad when I saw you tinkering with it. I tattled on you." She laughed as she recalled the memories. So that explains how he found me playing with it all the time.

"Snitch." I muttered, but I couldn't help but smile at the memories. I missed these chats as we ate together, even with the new members of our family.

It was kind of difficult to keep up with them and their lives. Lilly was enrolled in baby ballet and also wanted to do tap dancing. Lacey was more into video games, and Lance was into soccer and karate. Ella worked in a big business firm that she started at after getting her GED as a receptionist and worked her way up. She often traveled for work and would be gone for a few days at a time, hence Ms. Dee to keep up with the house and kids when Ella couldn't. And here was I, just wedged in easily into their lives. I've been a cashier at the same gas station since I turned sixteen, and the highest I made it was shift manager, with a two dollar pay raise and five million more responsibilities. It just further made me feel like I didn't belong. Ella had gone and made something out of herself, despite having the odds stacked against her. She was a teen mom with no diploma or source of income and became something so enviable to me. It also kind of gave me hope.

"Aunt Em?" Lacey asked in a suspiciously sweet tone. Even Ella gave her a side eye and tensed, waiting for something terrible to come from her mouth. "What's it like being in a hospital? Mom said you were in one for a while."

"Lacey Ann," Ella hissed, shooting her a glare. If looks could kill, Lacey would be six feet under. I, however, was quickly on my way to my grave from inhaling a macaroni noodle.

"You was in the hospital?" Lilly asked with her mouthful. Even Lance seemed mildly interested. I finally caught my breath from nearly choking to death as Ella was chastising them for asking me a rude question.