Older siblings
719 Words
Natia was surprised. How did he know? It was clear from his statement that he only got to know about the planned Hawaii birthday trip now. But, how? Then she remembered him pointing to where grandpa was, without her asking. She thought he wasn’t listening . That obviously wasn’t the case. And it wasn't like she was keeping her voice down either. Hell.. she was even shouting at some point. She grimaced.
So, he now knows Papa is making this risky trip for her. Is he mad? She looked at Aleksandr warily. His face was expressionless. Apart from his obvious dislike of her when he arrived, he didn’t show much emotion. Whatever he felt, he was quick to turn his face into a mask of indifference. Natia wondered what he was actually feeling behind that mask.
It was only been months since he found out about her existence. Her father only revealed that secret to his family when her mother died. She didn’t unrealistically expect them to accept her readily. Was it also a reason why she was reluctant to move to Russia? That she wanted them to get used to the idea first, before being physically present there? May be.
“Uh..Yeah..we planned to go there for my birthday, before papa fell sick.”
“Oh! A birthday trip. Seems like you spend a lot of time with him even though he always claims to be a busy man.”
He said it with a mocking tone, but she felt like it was to conceal something else. It almost felt like he was envious and... hurt? But, why would he be? He always gets to see Papa, while she only sees him once in a year. Was it the idea of having another sibling and sharing his father’s love that bothers him? But, that couldn’t be, right? Aleksandr was twenty-two, a grown-up person!
When papa first arrived, she was happy. Most of the kids she knew had a father and now she has one too. But, later, when she knew she had two older siblings, she was ecstatic. She has seen older siblings taking care of the younger ones, at playgrounds and at schools. She was a sickly child when she was younger. Hence, she was mostly homeschooled up to middle school. But, she never really missed school. School was a place where no one would talk to her or play with her. She always wondered, if she had an older sibling, would they have defended her when she was teased and bullied by the other kids? Maybe she wouldn’t have felt so lonely. So, she was really disappointed when papa told her she couldn’t meet them, that they didn’t even know about her.
“I only get to meet him on my birthday.” she didn’t actually mean to say it out loud, but it came out anyway. She was met with a derisive snort." "Whatever." He waved a hand as if to dismiss her.
“Get a move on, will you? I don’t plan to stay here all day.”
Natia turned to go upstairs. Then she remembered she had forgotten to ask papa something .
“How many days will we be staying there?”
Aleksandr lifted his head from the tea cup. He had a half bitten cookie in one hand. He seemed to have liked it. Grandpa got it right again! Does he have some mind reading abilities?
“Pack for two weeks.”
“Two weeks?!”
“Problem?”
“Mother’s first death anniversary is in two weeks, on the second of August actually. I want to be back home by then.”
His face softened a little. “Don’t worry. The trip is actually planned for ten days. I said two weeks, just in case. You will most probably be back by then.” Then he straightened up like he was in a daze a moment ago, and continued in a mocking tone. “or else, I am sure dear papa will make arrangements if his precious daughter wants to be back early. He might even cancel the trip for you. It would have been nice if you had managed to do that." He drawled.
Natia proceeded upstairs thinking either he was bipolar or he was determined to hate her.
- Writer
