The Step Sister (Sister Series, #10) Page 8

  It surprised everyone when Nate and Ally, who had long proclaimed they didn’t want to have any kids, showed up pregnant. They ran their own law practice, devoting a lot of work on behalf of people who were victimized by big corporations and subsequent cover-ups. They were quite successful. Then one day, and quite ironically, Ally, whose life was planned out until her retirement, showed up with twins. Turned out that twins were not uncommon on Nate’s mother’s side. Never mind, they were twin boys, and just as wild, crazy, and rambunctious as every stereotype of twin boy toddlers ever described. Ally usually looked exhausted, and always seemed to be half undone. Her hair was haphazardly pulled back in a ponytail as she struggled to keep up with her darling children.

  Sometimes Ally looked as if she were ready to kill all three of them, until she smiled and laughed. She learned to relax in ways Julia had never observed from her before. Her usually stern, Type A, goal-oriented sister never seemed to sit still. Julia once asked her if she regretted having kids, in the plural. Ally responded with a small smile, saying, “I cried alone in my car when I found out my baby bump was a ‘they’ and not a ‘he’ or ‘she’. Of course it was not in my plans. Not two kids. Let alone, having them at the same time. But then I thought, maybe this was how it was supposed to be. I doubt I would have committed to having two and now I can’t imagine being any happier than I am. As crazy as it is. Did I ever think that I’d willingly and gladly choose to stay home all day taking care of two babies? No, and if you asked me that four years ago, I would have told you that it was about as likely as me sprouting feathers and wings before flying away.”

  Julia laughed at the analogy. When Ally had the twins and later decided not to go back to work immediately, Julia was shocked. In no time, however, six months passed, and then a year, and now it had been almost three years. Surprising? Yes, very. No one ever expected Ally to stay home. Not even Nate. He told Julia he nearly passed out the first morning she was supposed to return to work. Stepping out in her full Ally-professional attire: an expensive, tailored suit, tasteful heels, and upswept red hair, Nate said she walked out the front door, her briefcase in hand, and was gone ten minutes max. Nate arranged to stay with the boys until Ally could get reacclimated and the twins could be taken to the daycare facility they spent months lining up. But Ally suddenly walked back into the house, set her briefcase down, and yanked her hair out as she said, “I’m not going back. Someone has to take care of them, whether it’s daycare or you or me, someone has to, right? So, why not me? It’s as valid as you going to work. Or me going to work.”

  “Are you saying… that you want to stay home?” Nate inquired.

  Ally’s lips tipped up. “Yes, I am. My mom did and that meant the world to me. Why can’t I do the same for my kids? We certainly can afford it.”

  Nate nodded, smiled and said, “We can.” Even now, Julia’s amazement at her decision still hadn’t set in, almost three years later.

  And stranger still, Ally had no inclination to go back. Not yet. She didn’t even talk about it.

  Julia turned when Kylie came around the corner. She was following her daughter, now one year old as she toddled along, falling onto her well-padded, diapered butt every few steps. Flailing her arms, she’d slowly get back up. Then Kylie’s two-year-old came shooting past them. Kylie tried to scoop her up as she made a mad dash towards the table where Grandma Leila sat. “Not so fast, Claudia!”

  Kylie’s gaze caught Julia’s and she grinned her greeting, rolling her eyes and shaking her head good-naturedly. Baby number three was only half grown inside her belly. Kylie waited several years in order to finish college and start her career as a champion in the child protective services. Kylie’s kids were planned, and only when they were ready did they have their first, then their second and now, their third child. Kylie confided to Julia that with Tristan being forty-three, they didn’t want to wait too long. A span of ten years separated them age wise. Kylie worked full-time and still managed a full case load. She claimed that all the sadness and stress of her job vanished when she came home to her own family. It always renewed her hope in human compassion.

  Julia’s parents were suddenly blessed with four grandkids, soon to be five, and all in less than three years. Julia loved it. She got to babysit often and enjoyed having baby and toddler time without any of the real responsibility. She was everyone’s favorite babysitter and she spent many a Saturday night doing it by choice. Besides, it helped pass the time.

  Kissing her grandparents hello, Julia was sure to embrace both sets. Leila and Lewis were her dad’s parents. Both of Julia’s moms’ parents were Gayle and Jay Moore.

  She got a hug and kiss from her mom before her dad hugged her too, pausing long enough to talk to her for a good fifteen minutes. Then she spotted Olivia walking in from the back patio. Her long, black hair was plaited in an elaborate, inverted braid. She noticed Julia and a huge smile shone on her face. They hadn’t seen each other in many months. Olivia always stayed in constant contact with Kylie, and they were lifelong best friends, but Julia was the little cousin so she received less contact from them as they got older.

  “Julia!” She rushed forward and swept Julia up in a bear hug. They were almost the same height.

  “So you did another cool thing, huh?” Julia squeezed her back.

  Olivia laughed with an eye roll. “You know how my parents love to find any reason to celebrate me. Only child syndrome.” Olivia was adopted by Gretchen and Tony when she was eight years old. They had no other kids.

  “Well, and so they should. You don’t live an ordinary life. Congratulations. You are so amazing.” And she was too, at least to Julia. Not many people could make a living from a hobby, especially in the arts. She played the flute and turned it into a career that was varied, versatile, and incredible. After graduating from Peterson College for the Arts with a BA in music, Olivia went on to obtain her master’s degree. She went on tour with several different musical groups and performed as part of their bands, traveling around the world. Intermittently, she taught classes and gave private lessons. She did many soundtracks for commercials and TV before she hit the movies. She met Derek and they dated when she was a freshman at Peterson.

  Despite a short family scandal when Derek was a drug dealer, they managed to reconnect during Olivia’s junior year. It began as a slow burn when they first started up again, but by the time she graduated from Peterson, they were engaged. They postponed their wedding until after she finished her first world tour. Meanwhile, Derek became a paramedic and later took advanced training. He often visited Olivia and genuinely supported her talent. With no kids and no plans for them anytime soon, Olivia’s career was still rising. The opportunities kept coming and most involved extensive travel.

  And to anyone who knew them, the biggest surprise was learning that Derek had recently decided to go back to college to get a nursing degree. That was pretty epic. It was no joke to the family members who “got” it. They understood the profound journey undertaken by Tony, Gretchen, and Olivia when they decided to mentor Derek and help him advance from his job as a drug dealer to now a wannabe nurse. Derek joked that he missed his drug-pushing days, and needed a way to do it legally. To be fair, Derek was drawn to the medical field only after watching the paramedics save Olivia’s life. She was given an overdose by Derek’s turf war enemies at a time when he belonged to a dark underworld. Olivia had no idea that he was involved in such a mess.

  They had been married now for seven years, but often spent time apart whenever her career required it. Julia could see that Derek harbored a form of hero worship of his wife. He thought she was brilliant from her flawless smile to her flute playing to her pinkie toes. It was rather sweet to watch how moonstruck he was by her.

  Julia and Olivia fell into a half-hour catch-up session. Giggling while watching Ally being imperfect for once and seeing Kylie smile and talk constantly put both girls in a festive mood. Soon, Derek joined them, slinging his arm around Olivia’s shoulders as he ta
lked about his plans to start school the following September.

  Julia’s heart rose and swelled as she glanced around at her family. They were a perfectly imperfect family. She looked at Grandma Gayle, still making excuses for Vickie even after fifty-plus years. Grandma Leila didn’t like Grandma Gayle and often made snide, whispered remarks under her breath. Her insults bordered on cruel barbs but they always made the grandkids squirm, trying to hold in their laughter.

  It could make one’s head spin, trying to follow the family tree with so many entangled webs.

  A knock on the front door came about eight o’clock. Julia groaned, glancing at her mom. It had better not be Vickie. Tracy shrugged, shaking her head to the negative. Julia took it as a sign that she hadn’t invited Vickie. Julia sighed with relief. Donny and Tracy Lindstrom raised Julia as a team, as partners, as her parents. They were always loving, involved, kind, strict, supportive, and full of expectations as parents. When they released Vickie from her role as a pseudo-mother, Julia felt much happier and freer. She believed she was even emotionally more balanced.

  That was why she drew a line in the sand with her family. It was either Julia or Vickie and Julia never wavered on her resolve, not even after five years. Not once. She had no intention of changing that now.

  So the entire family was gathered there together, laughing, eating, teasing, and celebrating. The next generation of kids were squealing, and one had started crying, making more noise than all the adults, combined.

  Her dad was unaware of the subtle conversation she and her mom just had. He walked over and answered the door. Julia couldn’t picture who else it could be. The entire family was present and no one else would randomly come by.

  So how could they have allowed that awful woman to come tonight? After five years without any contact, Julia wasn’t about to start getting nostalgic now. She stiffened, getting ready to leave. Fuck Vickie.

  Chapter Five

  BUT IT WASN’T VICKIE at the door. Julia recognized the giant in a second. Her dad stepped back, obviously surprised.

  Chris stood there. His wide body filled the doorway. He wore sunglasses as the twilight June sun sank brightly against the darkening sky. Menacing was one description for Chris with his gleaming, bald head and dark aviator glasses. His t-shirt exposed his arms, which were as big as her thighs and wrapped in distinctive tattoos.

  “Chris.” Julia came up quickly behind her dad, who stepped aside, his expression revealing his surprise. After giving her dad a small smile, Julia turned towards Chris and asked, “What… what are you doing here?”

  “Uh. Sorry. I see you’re having a party. You forgot your purse at the job shack when you rushed out so quickly. Figured it was probably pretty essential. Sorry, but I looked inside it to see your license and where you lived.”

  “You work with Julia?” Julia glanced over her shoulder when her mom came up behind her. “I’m Tracy, Julia’s mom.”

  Chris took her hand and met her gaze. “Yes, I work with her. Chris Vaughn. I’m one of the site superintendents.”

  “I forgot my purse at work and Chris dropped it off,” Julia quickly added, as if she had to explain what this huge, so-not-her-type-in-the-least man was doing there. Chris shuffled his feet and Julia realized they had attracted the attention of half her family who were in the living room. She knew they were listening and she didn’t have to turn around to know that.

  Realizing how rude it was for her not to invite him in, Julia sighed. It wasn’t that she minded his presence. She liked Chris… a lot. It was impossible not to. But her family, ever the matchmakers, would see more into it. She was sure of that. They were still waiting for her to start dating. Someone. Anyone. As in, just once.

  “There’re a lot of us, but there’s also a lot of food, if you’d like to come in and eat. Have some dinner for your trouble? And thank you for bringing my purse.”

  Chris’s face lit up, and she sucked in a breath of surprise. He looked as if he could have been a bouncer in a nightclub or hell, a security guard for the Russian mafia. He was that big, and if he chose to be, he could have been that intimidating. Yet he was all smiles and courteous and grateful. When Julia saw his boyish grin, her heart flipped over in a weird way. “I haven’t eaten. Skipped lunch… but only if it’s all right with your family.”

  Julia stepped to the side and motioned for Chris to come inside. “They’re already listening to every word anyway. Everyone, I’d like you to meet Chris Vaughn. We work together.”

  There were plenty of hellos and welcomes as Chris nodded to everyone, smiling politely as he passed them. Julia grabbed a plate. “You have such good timing, I haven’t eaten either.” She scooped up some salad greens and a roll. Chris filled his plate with so much food, he had the potatoes piled on top of all the ham and turkey slices. The green bean casserole, pasta primavera and macaroni salad were also somehow crammed on there. He glanced up when Julia stopped dead, staring in awe at the tower of food he was carefully balancing.

  Dropping his gaze, Julia saw the sheepish grin crossing his face. “Perhaps I overdid it. I don’t eat home-cooked food very often. It all looks irresistible.”

  She burst out laughing. “Well, you’ll please my grandmas. They love to cook and always accuse us girls of never enjoying it. And Tristan, Nate, and Derek married into the family, and we have no grandsons, but oh, well. Hell. They can only eat a fraction of that.”

  Chris gripped his overfilled plate and looked contrite. She shook her head. “Good thing you got the muscles to handle all of that. Come on, let’s sit down before you drop it on the floor.”

  Julia spared Chris the eagle eyes of her family by leading him out to the patio. They sat at the patio set. There were far less people outside. Chris removed his sunglasses inside but after setting his plate down and seating himself, he put them back on. Julia positioned her plate so she was directly across from him. “You know, you could pass for the muscle in the mafia or something worse when you wear those sunglasses.”

  “Muscle-bashing again, Ms. Lindstrom? I thought we already covered this; it falls under sexual harassment.”

  “Only at work. You entered my home,” she retorted, smiling.

  “Nothing but a hunk of glorious meat to you, is that all I am? And are you insulting me or complimenting me?”

  She laughed outright at the ridiculous idea of her ogling a man. She was the prissiest woman in her family. Ha. As if. Kylie was having sex when she was only in her teens, and quite frequently, as was Ally. Olivia waited until she was eighteen with Derek, and only Derek, but Julia heard enough details to know that Olivia was no prude or priss when it came to sex. Then there was Julia, who was not a virgin, but had little or no interest in sex.

  “Neither. Just commenting on the obvious. Do you take steroids to look like that?”

  He frowned. “Never. Not once. Why would you ask me that?”

  “Again, Chris, because you’re so big.” She then leaned towards him, playfully punching his arm. “And I was kidding. I don’t think you take steroids.”

  “I was always tall. At age twelve, I was nearly this height. I was all gangly and awkward and everyone made fun of me for it. Didn’t like being called scarecrow or worse. So once I left high school, I started lifting weights at the YMCA, and always did hard labor and—”

  “And now you look like the Incredible Hulk?”

  He evil-eyed her. “I do not.”

  She laughed with good-natured glee. It wasn’t like her. She never thought she could be comfortable ribbing a guy, but an enormous, scary, mean-looking guy like Chris? That was definitely a novelty.

  He leaned forward, taking a bite of food in his mouth. Then several more. “Good?” she questioned. His expression looked like he was having an orgasm.

  “Yeah. Wow. Can I join your family? You guys eat like this all the time?”

  “More often than most people. We celebrate all the grandparents’ birthdays, and of course, all the grandkids’. And we meet each month for
a family birthday and celebrate whoever’s birthday it is that month. Crazy, huh?”

  “I never imagined such a tradition existed.”

  “It does. You’re looking at it.”

  “And you all get along?”

  “Oh, God no. I hope you like drama. Let me begin with my dad…” Julia took a few bites of salad before she spoke and outlined the highlights of their history. That kept her talking for about an hour as she picked at her food and Chris inhaled his.

  He whistled at the end of her narration. “That’s … so unexpected. Your mom then…”

  “Is right over there,” Julia insisted sharply. She barely mentioned Vickie and didn’t linger there.

  “Right.” He finished his last bite and nodded towards her. “Is that all you’re eating? So much food and you manage to skip it all?”

  “Calories. I don’t have a hundred pounds of muscle to burn it off. I probably don’t even have five.”

  “You’re a beanpole. Come on.” Chris got up, putting his hand out towards her.

  She frowned at his hand. “What?”

  “Come and get something to eat. Let’s celebrate… wait. What are we celebrating today? Whose birthday is it this month?”

  She rolled her eyes, biting her lip in unmasked amusement. “Olivia. But it’s not her birthday. She plays the flute professionally and just got a job to do a movie soundtrack.”

  His mouth puckered into an “O” before he replied, “Wow, that’s unusual. So come, and let’s celebrate Olivia.”

  She sighed in exaggeration but followed him. Chris filled another plate with food, as full as the first one and he plopped several helpings of the buffet onto Julia’s plate. “There. Now you can enjoy it too.”

  “You enjoy enough for three nursing mothers. Don’t you ever get full?”