I'm in Love with my Little Sister

“Damon!” The sounds of my mother’s voice fill my ears as I step into the busy airport. At first, I’m unsure if that voice did belong to my mother but I hear my mother scream my name from the crowds of the busy airport. I try and spot my mother in the crowds but fail to do so. It wasn’t until I heard my name again from the same angelic voice. When I spot my mother, the smile which has been fighting for dominants on my lips has won the fight and I cannot hold it back anymore. I grin from ear to ear at the sight of the 5’3 woman rushing towards me. The small woman runs straight into my arms and I grip her tightly like a little child. My army uniform creases at her impact. It’s been 9 years since I've hugged my mother and only at this moment have I realised just how much I miss her. She pats my back, hinting she wants to end our hugs, but I only bring her in closer. I hear a sobbing chuckle escape her lips which were a trigger for my waterworks. “Damon, I've missed you so much.” My mother cries as she lengthens her ‘so’. I let go of my mother and fully study her face. Her once dark brown hair is now laced with wisps of grey. Her pained blue eyes now hold a joyful emotion. Noticeable bags under her eyes showed just how time wasn’t graceful towards her. Nevertheless, I've never been happier to see my mother. “I’ve missed you too. So much.” I bought her into another hug unwilling to let her go but the presence of my stepfather became known to me and I smile as I see Dan. Like my mother, it was clear that time wasn’t his best friend. He had more grey hairs than ginger hair. Wrinkles at formed on his cheeks and his eyes looked restless. Until my mother, Dan was quite a tall man I let go of my mother and embrace Dan as well. Before I left to live with my dad 9 years ago, due to a problem I had with one of my siblings, my mother and Dan were a big part of my life. Dan is my second father and I love him just as much as I love my mother and father. I've never resented him for my mother loving him and not my father. I didn’t care. Dan made her happy and I respect him for it. “It’s good to see you, son.” Dan whispers in my ear as we embrace, and I smile. A young man, probably a businessman, bumps into us and yells an apology over his shoulder as he rushes towards the exit. “We should probably get going. Everyone’s waiting at home for.” Dan says. His voice sounds quite excited. I nod and grab my suitcase. “No, no. Daniel has got your bags, haven’t you Dan?” My stepfather insisted on taking my bags while my mother questions me non-stop about the last 9 years of my life. “How did you find the move?” “How did you eat? I know your father is a terrible cook.” “Did you get homesick often?” “Did you make friends straight away?” She asks, wrapping her hands around my arm. “Yes, my best friend Joe actually joined me in doing the two years of service in Iraq. I think he’s doing another tour. He told me he liked the thrill of saving people.” I informed her. My mother just nodded and as I look done to see her, her face is pale. I quickly ask her a question. “Are you still working as a Primary School teacher?” Each night in the past, mum would come home each night and complain about the tiny monsters she would look after at the local primary school. She hated the job as most of the kids were disrespectful towards her. She’s always dreamed of opening a small café around the corner from our house. She made the most addicting brownies. “No.” She cheers, and I smile for her. “Instead, I used the money I had saved up to buy a small restaurant in the town center. I have the top chef in town working for me and I have already made up for the money I lost when I brought the place.” She informs me like a small child telling their parents they found free sweets. “Yeah, everyone helps out, so we save money on hiring workers. Peyton says what we do is child labour.” Dan and my mother chuckle as I do too. The last time I saw Peyton, he would barely form words. I know that was 9 years ago but to me, Peyton had always been the baby. We reach the car park and as usual, my mother forgets where she parked the car. we went running back and forth approaching every car that could be she own until Dan says “Wait, this is the wrong floor.” Climbing up the stairs, my mother tells me how they have moved houses. “The house was getting too small as the twins getting taller, and Peyton had to share a room with Jasper. It was cruel to everybody, so we bought a bigger house, in a nicer area too.” Dan tells me. I nod my head following the story. “Does he know about Jadyn? Was Damon around when we found out or did he just leave, I can’t remember?” Dan mutters to my mother. She too shakes her head. “Whose Jadyn?” I question, answering their question. We finally the car and I shove my bags in the boot of the car. my mother bullies Dan into sitting in the back so I could sit up front with her. “Do you know what the odds are of someone being switched at birth?” Dan says out of the blue, ignoring my question about this Jadyn girl. I shake my head. “Every 1 in 1,000 babies are mistakenly switched at birth.” “That- that’s a high rate. What has this got to do with anything?” I turn around and I ask the question. The look on my stepfathers face is indescribable. He is fiddling with his hands like he’s holding onto a secret. “Do you remember Logan?” My heart stops. My breathing comes to a holt as well. I tilt my head to one side and look at her without making my overreaction visible. I force myself to nod fearing if I make a sound then my secret will be out. “Our sweet Logan isn’t your sister.” “She wasn’t my sister to begin with.” I mutter, slipping into old ways. My mother slaps my leg and I jump at the contact. Whether from PTSD or from the pure shock that my mother just slapped my leg. “Be quiet!” She snapped at me. “We received a letter in the post a few weeks after you left. It was from the hospital where Logan was born. They were constantly apologizing for the mix-up and they were in shock themselves after finding out.” My mother continues. “What does that mean?” I question. “That’s what we thought, so we wrote back asking for an explanation and within a few days, they replied saying the child born on March 21st, 2000 is not our-well Dan and Linda’s-child.” From the shock, my jaw drop. I turn around to Dan who was still pretty pale. “Dan I'm so sorry.” I say, and he offers me a weak smile. “My daughter’s name is Jadyn. She shortly moved with us after we found out who she was. When she was 5 years old, her parents were killed in a car accident and she had been placed in a foster family.” Dan mutters his response. I turned to my mother who also wore a grim face. “That’s not the end of it though is it?” I question, shifting my focus from Dan to mother and then back at Dan. “Yeah, um, everything was fine for a while until the foster family Jadyn was living with complained us to her social worker. The police got involved. In the end, an agreement was made. Logan’s permanent resident is with the foster family until she turns 18. It’s tough but we do what we have to do. Logan does spend most of her free time with us.” Dan reports. I nod my head again. We turn a corner and the car starts to slow down at the front of a large house with a group of teenagers playing near a swing tire wrapped around a tree branch. The car pulls to a stop and mum and Dan start to get out of the car. The teenagers do not notice us at first but there is one person I know which tells me these people are my family. “Are you ready?” My mother pats my back. I nod my head. It was the young boy who first noticed me. With his light blonde hair and his childish face lead me to believe that this is Peyton. Peyton starts talking to the others around and soon they were all staring at me. I spotted her almost instantly. While there is a great distance between me and her, I still felt like they all knew who stole my gaze. I quickly lifted my eyes and moved them onto someone else, someone who I did not recognise. Short and thin unlike Dan who was tall and buff. Green eyes and ginger hair, curly. She shared her father’s blue eyes, but unlike Dan, they were faded. This girl had to be Jadyn. I worked out that the young man next to her Jasper. I hadn’t seen him in a long time, but his face is still the same. Maybe he’s just grown a foot and a half since the last time I saw him, but I still see the serious 10-year-old with his arms folded and a scowl on his face. In reality, Jasper wore a huge grin. The last two with their thick brunette hair and baby-like-eyes tells me they are the twins, Nathan and Easton. I wouldn’t expect them to remember me as they were so young when I left. With my mother and Dan, we walked towards the group. My palms begin to sweat and to hide this, I quickly shove them into my pocket. I tried to focus more on the location of the new house. Even from looking at it from the outside, it’s definably bigger than the three-bedroomed-house we used to live in. this neighbourhood is livelier as well, suitable for raising a big family. the lawn is a healthy shade of green and the flowers which decorate the path gleam from the warmth of the sun. Most of the children who are out playing are either wearing short shorts or knee shorts. All my siblings and her are all in short sleeve t-shirts and shorts. “Is that Damon Franco, well as I live and breathe brother.” It was Jasper spoke first. His grin looks bigger than earlier. He raises his hand to bring me in for a bear hug and follow through. I smile at my younger stepbrother. We rock side to side and he lets go after a couple of minutes before I face the twins. While they didn’t share the wide grin Jasper wore, they did have a smile on their faces. “It’s good to see you again.” Easton says, his voice deeper than I imagined. I raise an eyebrow at him and I hug him. “You remember me?” I question with a smirk. Easton and Nathan nod. “Barely, but you’re our brother.” Nathan says. I hug her as well and as I let go, I see Peyton’s baby-like face. Unlike the others, Peyton had a curious look on his face. “Hey, little man.” I say as I crouched down to his level and he offers me a small smile. I reach for his hand and shake it. “My name is Damon. I’m your big brother. I went away nine years ago. You were only two years old at the time.” I say gently. Peyton chews the inside of his cheek as he nods slowly. He backs towards Nathan and she places her hands on his shoulders. I stand back up and I glance at the two girls standing together. Both of similar height, both of similar age. Jadyn and Logan. I put up a loving front, one which had to be faked. Like I did with the others, I smile warmly at them. I watched at Logan’s eyes lit up. “Hey, I’m Damon Franco. My mother’s eldest.” I say to the ginger-haired girl, Jadyn. She smiles and introduces herself to me. I shake her hand and then I turn to the person I least wanted to see, Jasper’s younger sister (well not anymore) Logan. I suck in the air and I walk towards her and I lean down to hug her. Cutting the hug short I say “Hey, its good to you again. You’ve gotten taller.” I curse silently. Logan nods her head, also confused by my comment. Logan always had a different appearance to everyone else in the family. Like my mother, myself, Nathan and Easton shared a dark brunette hair while Jasper and Peyton had copied Dan’s image with the light ginger look. Logan is tall like she always been. Not as tall as me though. Her black straight long hair braided neatly. She wasn’t bony, but she was skinny. She wore a white fitted tee shirt with black skinny jeans and a black jacket with no hood. Her shoes were black converses. Her tiny hands tucked away in her coat pocket. Her large crystal blue eyes were full of wonder and mystery. They told a story. A beautiful story. She has always been different. I turn away from her and I follow my family inside the house. The outside of the house was marvelous, but the inside finished the perfect picture. To the left of the front door is the family room. Xbox cables and controllers rest messily against the T.V. and the remote were scattered across the left. To the right of the front door were the kitchen and the joint dining room. These rooms were the opposite of the family room, with everything being neatly and in a place. It was clear who had more dominance in each of the two rooms. Straight in front was the stairs which lead to the second and third floor. “The top floor is yours. It’s smaller than the other rooms but it’s the only room which isn’t taken.” My mother tells me. I nod and slowly start to walk up the stairs.  My mother wasn’t joking when she said it was small for a whole floor. In the left corner laid a single size bed which plain blue bedding. The opposite was a small wardrobe. The left had a small desk with my old computer sitting on top. I leave my suitcase resting against the dark red walls of the floor and pull out the desk chair before logging on to the old computer. It takes a while for the computer to log on but I sit there patiently, with my flip phone in my hand. After waiting a few minutes, the computer starts up and I go to my most recent edited document. When I was younger, I kept diaries on my computer, something my teacher told me to do when I was 6 or 7. God, I feel so frustrated. She’s everywhere. I ask for a little peace and privacy, but that girl is everywhere. I went to the cinema yesterday with Bobby and guess what?! She was there. I told mum that I don’t like her being around all the time and Jasper judges me all the time when I complain about her. He can’t say anything, he treats her bad too. I’m moving to dads place tomorrow, hopefully, my mind will become clearer and the strange feelings will go away. I how she makes me feel. Apparently, girls you like are meant to make you feel good inside, like warm and fuzzy but Logan makes me feel dirty, I feel gross every time I see her because I can’t love her the way I want. It’s her fault that she is my sister. why can’t things be easy? Anyway, mums telling me to go to bed. Speak soon. I sigh as I close the document. It’s true. I love her. And not in the brother-sister love but the way someone can love another. I’m in love with her. I’m in love with Logan. “It didn’t go away. I just wasted time. I'm sorry.”