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Bobby had scored a job at a local club just a few blocks down from where they lived and when he arrived home one cold winter day, still living with Evelyn and the other boys at 19, he stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the two little girls that were now frequenting their living room.
“Nope. No fucking way.”
Angel of course had the shit-eating grin he must’ve permanently affixed to his face since the girls walked in while Bobby had been at work. He was the first to turn away from whatever dumb tea party game he was playing with the smallest one.
“Oh yes fucking way! Meet your two new sisters!”
Evelyn was ready for her eldest son as he bounded into the kitchen, handing the bowl of lasagna into his arms. “Dinner table.”
“Ma, tell me those two are just some kids visiting from your knitting group or something. Please .”
“You’re fixing up the attic for them after dinner.”
“The fuck I am!”
She stopped and locked him with such a piercing and dead look that Bobby flushed immediately, tail between his legs.
“Why can’t Jerry do it?”
“He’s out on a date. Jack is with his band at school right now and you know how dainty Angel can be.”
“I heard that!” was Angel’s shout from across the room.
Bobby rolled his eyes. Considering his younger brother was in the middle of a fucking tea party, it’s a wonder he found time to get offended. He placed the dish right in the middle of their dining room table and tried to ignore how delicious it smelled too. Goddammit, lasagna was his favorite and Evelyn damn well knew that.
As he bounded right back into the kitchen to really give her a piece of his mind, he briefly locked eyes with the older girl sitting in his chair with a giant book in her lap. She pretended as if she wasn’t eavesdropping, especially when she quickly dropped her gaze, and Bobby smirked, shaking his head.
“Do we even have the money for two girls ? How the fuck do you expect us to raise them, huh? You think I know anything about this shit?”
“Good thing you aren’t the parent then.”
“I ain’t spending all my time and money on them okay? You think I really want my credit history to show I’ve bought Barbie dolls and shit?”
Evelyn rolled her eyes, passing him the plates. “Oh yes Bobby because then how would people know you’re so brave and manly?”
At Angel’s bark of laughter from the other room, he made a note to beat him in a wrestling match later tonight and decided to stew in his own annoyance. Sisters? Really? This was supposed to be a house of boys goddammit! How badly could two girls have it compared to the shit Bobby and his brothers have been through to warrant Evelyn adopting them? And they looked so young too!
After setting the table and continuing to think the whole world was against him, Bobby plopped on the couch and flipped it to a hockey game. He pretended to pay attention, but really he was mortified at the fact that Angel actually seemed into the game with the little girl.
“So the dragon has to get tea first, okay?”
“Why?” Angel asked, again somehow genuinely interested.
“It’ll burn everyone when it’s hungry!”
“But isn’t tea hot already?”
“Not this tea, this tea is cold!”
“Aha…”
Bobby rolled his eyes. This was gonna be a long night.
She had curly black hair and big wide eyes, especially hard to miss when it came to the giant pink tutu she wore. It was such a vibrant color in this house, it almost made him wince. The older one, probably only by a year, had a more quiet and subdued, even stoic look to her. Her hair was lighter, harsh freckles dotting her cheeks, and she was staring right at him.
Bobby snapped towards her, “What?”
“You whine a lot for a guy.”
“‘Scuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“How fucking old are you?”
“Six.”
Jesus Christ. She said it so primly too, as if she was as old as Evelyn herself. And there was a hardness there that Bobby couldn’t entirely ignore and pretend otherwise. No six-year-old should have that kind of attitude, no six-year-old should be accustomed to swearing that quickly.
“I don’t whine.”
“I know when people whine.” She glanced at the smaller one to indicate so. “And you were whining. I heard there’re four of you here, I guess I know who the pussy is that can’t handle two girls.”
Angel abruptly put his tiny glass down, which Bobby realized now was an old china set Evelyn must’ve owned for years. He let out another startled laugh. “Damn girl!”
“Pussy like pussy-cat?” The smaller one asked, all innocence.
But from the look the two girls exchanged, Bobby had a feeling she knew more than she entailed. How fucking old was she ?
“Yeah Gailie like a pussycat.”
“The dragon has a pet kitty.” She swiveled back to Angel and that was that. Back to the tea party.
The front door slammed shut, all of them could hear the clunk of a guitar carried into the foyer and then Jack’s quiet “No fucking way.”
Bobby turned and his whole stomach dropped. Even behind the fucking nose ring and punk bleached black hair, his youngest brother had a look of utter joy on his face. Just fucking great for the rest of them.
“Oh my God. Sisters ?”
“See Renee?” Angel mimed pouring tea into his cup. “Told you Jack would be the nice one.”
“And what exactly are you ?” Bobby scoffed. He swore his brother had a scrunchie in his afro too.
He was flipped off as a reply.
Jerry was the last one to meet the girls. Abigail and Renee. He was surprised but reacted less than Jack and Bobby. Just sort of accepted it the same way Angel did. Although Bobby later found out that the latter had been annoyed when he was the first to meet the girls after school. He just hid it well by overcompensating with the tea party.
“Sure,” was Bobby’s reply and he received another middle finger for that. Oh someone was definitely getting their ass kicked tonight and it wasn’t gonna be Bobby.
But of course he fixed up the attic to the best of his ability because if Evelyn says it, it happens. Of course Bobby’s cold hard heart melted a little, even as he tried to prevent such a thing from happening. He would not become a big brother to two little sisters. He had enough to deal with and he’d be moving out soon anyway.
Which was bullshit. Because Bobby Mercer became a big brother to two little sisters. And it was an experience he sorely needed.