Thumbs Up

Alek pulled her aunt off of her and looked at the company she brought. It was her uncle and cousins with big suitcases behind them.

"Why are you here?" Alek was taken back by the surprise visit.

"We came to check on you." Astraea answered with an 'obviously' tone.

"Mum?" Alek turned in the direction of the dining table and called out her mother's name. Everyone in the house got to the entrance before Alek could finish calling her mother.

"Nee-chan!" Astraea saw her older sister come and hugged her just like she did to her niece.

"Why are you here?" Panacea asked the same question was her daughter to her sister, who was hugging her tight.

"You called me." Astraea stated.

"I did." Panacea told her sister, who was still in her arms. "And I said that Alek knows. I'm sure I didn't call you here."

"Meh." Astraea got away from her sister and shrugged. She didn't care if her sister was troubled because of her. "Anyway, would you let us in?"

Panacea sighed and opened the way to her sister's family to let them in. She couldn't handle her sister sometimes. She was too stubborn for that.

The families, who were watching this, didn't do anything. This kind of conversation was common between these two mother-sisters. Panacea was much older sibling-like and had more patience than Astraea, who was a bit reckless in certain times. They instead greeted each other happily, ignoring their mothers in the doorway.

The two families gathered in the living room and sat down comfortably on the sofas. Panacea's family had just finished eating apart from Alek, who didn't even get to take a bite.

"How are you here?" Panacea asked her sister as soon as she sat down.

"By car, airplane and then car." Astraea answered lazily.

"I know where you live and ways to get here from there." Panacea told her sister a little angrily. "When did you leave your house?"

"When I finished talking to you on the phone yesterday." Astraea didn't feel anything watching her sister get annoyed. It was not intimidating.

"That must have taken long." Robin spoke from beside his wife. Concern was written on his face.

"It did." Astraea answered as she went to the kitchen made coffee for herself and her husband. She knew where everything was as she helped them move into the house and, she had also visited this place a lot of times.

"Have you eaten?" Bia asked her cousins because she saw her aunt getting coffee.

"Yes, we ate in the hotel. Thank you Bia." Lake answered his niece softly and looked at his wife bringing coffee for him.

"I'll take the luggage to the guest room." Bia volunteered, thinking Alek would join her too. Weirdly, Alek didn't say or do anything and was just sitting on the floor under the sofa Bia was in.

She took the luggage into three different rooms they had. Originally, there were only two guest rooms but, they added another when Iris was born. And since they weren't really close with each other yet, it would have been awkward to sleep in the same room.

"I'll sleep with Pollux." Iris spoke out as she saw Bia trying to take it into different rooms and, she stood up to help her cousin.

Of course, the brother didn't mind sleeping with his baby sister. But Jin looked a little sad that his sister didn't choose him to sleep with even though they all would be sleeping in the same room.

When Astraea was done coffee and, the two girls were done putting away the luggage, the conversation began.

"How did you find out?" Astraea asked her niece, wandering off into space. "Alek?" She called her name, but she didn't answer.

Alek's mind came back into her body when Bia hit her lightly on the hip with her foot. "Yes?" She looked around with wide eyes, wondering what was happening. Her stomach was empty and she needed to eat. She couldn't pay attention to anything else.

"I was asking, how did you find out about...this whole thing." It was hard for Astraea to find the right word.

"Oh, uh. It was around yesterday noon. I found a boy looking like Aether in the candle room. I thought it was my brother and, when I tried to touch him, Bia hit my neck from behind me, I lost consciousness. I woke up in my room with everyone and, when I tried to meet my 'brother' again, Bia showed her shifted eyes and they told me the story." Alek told her aunt, staring into her eyes. "I'm not good with long story short."

"Didn't tell you that yesterday on the phone?" Panacea butted into the conversation.

"I tend to forget when I talk over the phone." Astraea told her sister shamelessly. "You should have texted me."

"Then why did you come?" Panacea asked.

"I thought Alek wasn't adopting well and, you people needed our help." Astraea told her with a smile that annoyed her sister more. And just like that, Panacea's good morning was ruined by her sister, who came unannounced.

Kai, out of nowhere, brought cookies and tea from the kitchen. And stopped his mother from getting carried by her sister. Everyone took tea and continued the conversation while eating snacks.

Alek's food had already been in the fridge and, she knew the cookies weren't going to satisfy her stomach. So she excused herself from the living room and went to the kitchen to look for her food.

She found her food in the fridge the way she had left it on the table and started eating like a hyena. When she was enjoying her breakfast, someone came into the room and caught her eating wildly.

It was Castor. He was looking for the bathroom when he stumbled on his cousin in the kitchen with her mouth full of food. He didn't move, neither Alek. Jin widened his eyes.

Alek looked around, red-handed and looked back at her cousin. She put her thumbs up while chewing. Jin also put his thumbs up in response to save their poor lives.

"Umm, where is the bathroom?" Castor asked and Alek pointed her finger towards it while taking another munch. "Thanks." He was surprised that the whole thing that was on Alek's hand could fit into her mouth without effort. Alek put her thumbs up again to say no problem.

When Alek was done eating, Castor came into the kitchen again.

"Did you cry yesterday night?" He asked softly to Alek, who was now washing the dishes. He had noticed it since Alek came to open the entrance. Her eyes were puffy and a little red.

"I did." Alek answered without thinking much about it. It was normal for her.

But Castor took this differently. He thought she had cried because she felt like her family betrayed her. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better.

"I just couldn't stop." Alek spoke all of a sudden, startling Jin a little.

Again, he thought Alek was talking about crying. He thought he had pissed her off by bringing up the topic. He panicked, not knowing that Alek was talking about a book.

"I stayed up all night." Alek finished washing the dishes and was now looking at him with puffy eyes. Her puffy eyelids didn't allow her to show the excitement in her eyes.

Jin panicked, even more, hearing that. "Don't blame them." He told his cousin, talking about her parents who had kept this secret from her.

"I know." Alek said as she turned her back on him to grab the towel to wipe the plates. It wasn't the book's fault that it was good. "But, I can't help it."

Castor didn't know what to say to Alek now. He was sure he had pissed her off and that she is not planning to forgive her parents.

"You know. It's so bad that it makes it so good." Alek told him with a weird laugh. She was remembering what happened to the main character's best friend's death. That death was needed and, it turned out to help the main character develop more emotionally and physically. The death was sad and terrible but, it only brought good.

Jin started to realise what he had done. He had woken up the psycho side of Alek. Nothing was able to stop her now. He prepared to shift when he heard Alek speak again.

"I'm still not over her death but, I'm okay." Alek said. "Rest in peace, Missy. I'm gonna miss you."

He froze on the spot, unable to understand what she was talking about. "Who is Missy?"

"Missy is a character in this book that I was reading all night. She died and, I couldn't stop crying." Alek explained to her cousin with excitement and sadness. "She was a good person."

Castor sighed and laughed a little at his stupidness. He had forgotten she was a bookworm. Alek loved books since she was little, and he had forgotten about that.

Alek looked at Jin's reaction. "Are you okay?"

Jin shook of his laugh and said he was okay. "Are you done?"

"Yep." Alek answered as she put the plates in their place before leaving with Castor, back to the living room.