"Wake up, Em, it's your birthday month!" A petite body hovered over me. "And and and, it's the day I get to go to school!"

I groaned and turned to the other side. The owner of the five-year-old body bounced on the bed in excitement, "Wakey wakey! Come on!" She pulled me till I was at the edge of the bed, before forcing my legs to hit the floor.

"Yeah, a good morning to you too, Nora," I added acerbically, slipping into my purple slippers and getting up on my feet while rubbing my eyes.

"Emery, make those chocolate thingies you made last year in March. Pweety please," she squeaked, clinging to my loose furry pyjama pants.

I rubbed my eyes even more. "Chunk brownies?"

"I don't know. . .It comes out of the oven rectangular and then you begin to cut them into smaller rectangles," she explained. Her sunny blue eyes shone with excitement.

"Oh yeah. No." I walked to the bathroom, left the door open, and brought out my toothbrush. "Don't you have school to go to?"

"Emery!" She groaned, urging. "Please?"

"No."

"I'll draw you with my crayons, I won't watch TV, I'll be good in school, anything just please," she pestered.

"As sweet as your offers sound" — I walked out of the bathroom and towards her, standing beside my open door — "no. Those things take almost three hours. We also don't have most of the ingredients, like brown sugar and unsalted butter, you see. And, you don't want to get you—"

The sound of Mum's door opening cut me off. Dad walked out with a file in one hand and a pen in the other. He looked up and our eyes met.

Each time I saw Dad, I could see myself in him. Mum was so accurate in my resemblance to this man.

His eyes were brown, his eyebrows were arched, his skin was creamy, his hair looked like coffee, and even his nose was small and slightly pointed. The only difference between us, besides him being a muscular version of me, was the signs of the number of years he's lived — like the wrinkles of a man in his early forties.

"Daddy!" Nora ran to him and jumped on him, catching him off guard. He gained composure immediately, wrapping his arms around her. He kept her stable, close to him. "Morning."

"Morning, my darling. How was your night?"

"Awesome. Daddy, tell Emery to cook chunk brownies. I already promised to—"

"Emery, what are chunk brownies?" He interjected, throwing the question at me.

I couldn't will my legs to move. Nora's pale legs around Dad's waist and her hands on his shoulders, while he kept her in place was something I didn't think would make me want to cry. The bright smile on her face-Nora seemed happy, she was happy.

There was nothing as perfect as this. Sandra's beauty could not be compared to the bond, happiness, or satisfaction that came with the closeness of a daughter and her father. Why didn't Dad want it to remain that way?

I wasn't quick enough to stop a tear coming down my right eye. And, I wasn't quick to reply.

"Emery?"

"Uh, good morning, dad." I walked into my room, as if searching for something, then walked back out. I wiped my teary eyes and hurried to the kitchen, where Mum was preparing pancakes.

I grabbed a bottle of water from the breakfast bar and opened it. "Morning, Mum." I drank. "You're registering Nora today?"

"Your dad is. It's more familiar and Jayden is there too."

"Who?"

"Your half-brother," she replied uneasily.

"Oh," I mumbled and walked to the pan. "Nice pancakes. . .Didn't we use up the syrup three days ago?" I didn't want to push the subject.

"Rowan's gone to get some at the store."

The entrance door opened and shut, and I heard Rowan greet Dad. Only he said Clark instead of Dad. He never called him dad, and from mum's expression, I knew she heard him too.

"That should be him coming in," she added, bringing out the last pancakes and setting them on a circular ceramic plate on the worktop.

Rowan walked in with a carrier bag which he set on the worktop, beside the plate. He got a spoon, cut a piece of pancake, and moved it to his mouth. "Careful, they're-!"

"Hot!" He ended my sentence, spitting the piece in his hand and throwing it into the bin at the corner of the kitchen. "You couldn't have given me a proper headstart, hmm?" He joked.

"I tried my best," I asserted, relaxing on the stool. "Next time don't be such a glutton."

"Yeah, sure. . .Mum, Clark's taking Nora to Hillville?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that, like, extremely far from here?" He asked and walked closer to Mum. My eyes squinted and my eyebrows lowered.

"I know." Mum's voice was low. She got out the bottle of syrup and began to pour it on the pile of pancakes.

"How do we deal with the transport, you know, those times when Clark isn't around?" Rowan was resting his hands on the worktop now.

Mum balanced the plate on her hand and walked to the living room. She set it on the table in front of the two-seater sofa dad and Nora were talking and laughing.

Rowan hissed loudly and followed Mum behind. He could break a bottle at this point and that would be that. I was confused.

"Mum! I asked a question."

"Rowan. . ." She was standing, desperately pleading to Rowan with her eyes.

"What are your plans for Nora?" He threw the question, his eyes at my younger sister, then at Dad, and Mum. His straight lips indicated that he had already concluded somehow.

"Nora would be staying with me at my house, permanently." Dad stood up and stated with a blank staid voice. My eyes widened and I stepped back unconsciously.

Nora bit a piece of the pancake absentmindedly. "Did you know Dad's other house has a playroom? And there's this boy Jayden. . .And a baby Quinn." There was excitement in her voice. She sounded happy. They'd sugar-coated the message to her, made her eager, and filled her with such deceptive truths.

Mum added, "She can come to visit every once in a while but—"

"Mum!? Please tell me you're joking. . ." I begged. Tears welled up in my eyes threatening to come down.

But the look my parents gave me, and the expression on both of my parents' faces, sent the message that this decision had been made a long time ago.

***

"Why do you call him Clark? Doesn't it feel weird, saying it?"

"It is shitty, yeah."

Rowan and I were on a sidewalk, walking to no place in particular. He had stormed out of the house and I followed him. I don't know why I did that, truly.

Maybe I wanted to show that I supported my brother not agreeing with Mum and Dad, or I just couldn't face the tension, not when I was on the verge of crying, not when Nora was there and we couldn't conversate as explicitly as Rowan would want.

"But. . .A person with a mind as that man at home, taking Nora away, doesn't deserve such a title."

"Rowan-"

"Do you know Jayden's age, Emery?" Rowan was unexpectedly so calm, for someone as short-tempered as him, for someone who didn't take matters like this lightly. "Jayden is six. He's six years fucking old!"

My eyes widened.

The street wasn't busy, not like I expected it to be on a cloudy Saturday morning. Some early birds were out opening their small stores and a few individuals did seem to be in a hurry to someplace; probably to get some urgent ingredient just like Rowan had done. Cars moved on the main road but not so much to be termed busy.

"Nora wasn't born at that time, can't you understand? He had the guts to go back to mum, and get intimate with her, while there was another woman, at another house, nursing his three-month-old child. Isn't that shit just sickening? Doesn't it make you want to throw up?"

Rowan took a left turn, crossed the road, and kept walking straight. I tottered behind him, unsure, but not exactly bothered. There was a cart right ahead and it had the drawing of a pretzel on its face.

My stomach growled at the sight. We both stared at each other and then laughed. "I should've tasted those pancakes."

"Let's get some snacks," he pointed at the cart. The dark middle-aged man greeted us with a smile, while Rowan asked for two. The man took his time, taking out two pretzels from his white cart. He brought out two neat paper bags from the side and then unfolded them, putting these crisp biscuits in them. When he was done, he handed them to Rowan, both murmuring 'thank you' simultaneously.

I opened the bag and began to eat it. His left hand held his pretzel and as he took it to his mouth, the black circular spot on his lower arm, just by his wrist, was now clearly visible.

The spot was also there at the knuckle of his thumb. I'd never pushed Rowan into giving me details of what happened but he'd somehow got his arm burnt and that was all I knew. He took another bite of the pretzel.

"This is good," he muffled, chewed, swallowed, and cut another piece.

"Yeah." I took a bite from mine as we kept walking. "Why aren't you fighting? Somehow, you could delay Mum and Dad and Nora's moving."

He chuckled. "I never said I was against their idea, Emery."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying? Are you okay with Nora moving? Why does she have to leave? Why can't Nora be with us?"

He looked at me like I was stupid, like the answer to that question was obvious. "Emery, we just walked out on our parents. . .In front of Nora."

"I guess."

"Nora needs a family who's stable enough to take care of her. She needs to be with people her age, who don't face the sort of problems we do, who can play with her tirelessly. People who don't give a damn or seem to know when shit hit the fan. I love her, yes, but she needs to be away from messed up people. . .People like us."

"When're they going?"

"I don't care. . .I hope it's soon enough for that old man to finally get the hell out of my life." He threw the empty paper bag on the floor and rubbed his palms against each other.

"They'll be visiting," I cooed, taking in the last piece of pretzel, and folding my paper bag. I stopped walking when I realized that Rowan was no longer beside me, but at least three steps behind. I turned my head, "Rowan?"

"You're stupid, Emery."

"Sorry?" I faced him completely, raising both of my eyebrows.

"Do you take mum's word for it, now, huh? After this, Nora's never coming home. How old is that girl, five, isn't it? She won't remember any of this life she's living." His face hardened, and his voice shook. "They'll take her there, put fake memories in her head, get real ones out. She'll think Jayden and Quinn are her real siblings. She'll think — what's her name again — Gianna. . .or something, is her real mother. They'll block me out, they'll block you out." He lowered his eyes, "They'll block Mum out. You know what, I don't even care."

He shrugged and began to walk faster. I walked briskly, catching up with him sooner than I knew he would have expected. "You caught up with my speed?"

"What can I say? Practice makes perfect." I smiled, proud of my newly-found ability; the product of roughly two weeks of jogging and brisk-walking training with Crypta. "Rowan, let's talk somewhere else."

This time he stopped, turned, and rolled his eyes, raising his right hand and clenching his feet. "I don't want to talk with you or anybody. You shouldn't even be out here." He exhaled with his mouth, heavily. "You know what? Just go home, Emery."

"You're not the boss of me." I defended.

"I'm your elder brother and you, you're just a naive almost seventeen-year-old. I mean, look at you, in a pair of purple pyjamas and no bra."

I stared at my clothes, only now conscious of what I'd worn to walk out of the house. I shook my head, ignoring the sudden embarrassment his words caused me. "Listen to m-"

"Look, this was fun but don't get involved with me."

"Rowan, what are you say-?"

"Go away! Go home!" He turned and began to walk away. "Or you can stand and enjoy one of Birmingham's finest views, I don't care, take your fucking time."

I expected it, admittedly. Rowan was a hard guy, pretty much. He argued, flared up, he didn't even think twice before throwing punches. So, his suddenly telling me to go away wasn't a surprise.

I would have followed him, I didn't want to give up like that. I didn't want to go home because my elder brother told me to. But I needed real food, a bath, and proper clothes.

.

A/N

Thank you so much for the 100+ reads and 60 votes. Hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Don't forget to vote for this chapter if you enjoyed it!