The first thing about the house that caught Raq’s eyes was the enormity of the neighborhood. She has only lived in a three bedroom apartment; this house was like almost the size of their whole apartment complex. I guess its time that they started getting used to the famous life, huh the girl thought, dazedly getting out the car. It was sunny almost like a good day. Her brothers were staring at the new house and neighborhood.

“Grans, why are we here? This where you gonna pick up some of that good furniture, right??” The darker boy said, frowning up at the tall form but talking to the older woman now getting out the car.

“Nah, Ja, this sir is gonna be y’all’s new home” Their grandmother said, rather excitedly as she walked calmly towards the front door. The boy stared at the older lady trying to get even an inkling to tell whether or not she is lying. He couldn’t tell by her grin or posture, so he turned to his Grandfather and before he could open his mouth his older brother intervened.

“Is Grandmother telling the truth, Grandfather?” The light skinned boy said, turning towards the old man. Nathan noticed that both grandsons were watching him closely and his only granddaughter was staring at the house with a still face.

“Yes, she is right” He said, making the boys look at their smug grandmother in absolute wonder. The boys wondered how exactly did their supposedly broke grandparents afford this villa like house?

“How exactly did you afford this?” The girl said, guessing at the plane of their mind field which majorly creeped them out and caused their grandmother to let her explosive laughter, scaring everyone.

“I’ll answer that later, we have company” The energetic woman said, as she opened the door and gestured for them to enter quickly. They all went inside and were immediately amazed. It was basically white; it also had some black and blue accents like a blue bathrooms, an Oreo colored kitchen with a island and white bedrooms. Nathan and Cyn were wary about letting them stay in the house because it brings back so many memories for them.

“I want the biggest one!” A masculine scream came from the staircase; the woman chuckled as the older couple moved to the couch and sat down to relax from long drive. Meanwhile, Jaquez and Raq were having a glaring match on the floor while Marquez looked around the large unknown mansion. He had already chosen his room and was just wandering around for now. The older boy wondered why when he first got here he was unnerved at how familiar it felt. Like the distinct smell of Lavender and fresh flowers especially in the library. Marquez knew his two siblings would love it because besides their differences they love books. He never really noticed that he was more of loner than he had originally thought and he was more athletic because he hates sitting still and that’s why he’s a dancer. The more doors Marquez passed the more confused he got.

“Marquez Maurice Stone, bring yo’ behind down here right this instant” A loud voice boomed throughout the house, promptly scaring the older boy out of his thoughts. He sighed and immediately began to retrace his steps in a hurry not to piss off the already livid woman and only the lord knows what happened to her call him like that he didn’t do anything…… not that he knew of since he got here.

“Ah, all my gorgeous grandchildren are here” Their loud grandmother said, upon seeing him at the top of the staircase. He felt his eyes widen at how strained her smile looked and how scarily their grandpa looked towards whoever stood in the doorway. He glanced towards his siblings to see Raq looking thoughtfully at the man with a polite smile and Jaquez staring at him almost suspiciously. Marquez once again tried to look at the man but the sun stood in the way basically blinding him and he felt a tug of annoyance on his person. Finally he reached the bottom and the guy shuts out the sunlight finally allowing Marquez to see the guy. He only like a inch taller than him with a long black intricate braid full of smaller and thinner braids and dark skin the same color of Raq and Ja and grey eyes just like Mar’s. His heart lurched in his chest not knowing that all his siblings had the same reactions once they set eyes on him. Marquez felt a twinge of familiarity in his chest as the man smiled at him.

“Ah, so this is your grandson, he and your other grandson are handsome young men” The man said, turning to their grandparents who were still as tense and as secretly livid as before.

“Your granddaughter is beautiful, I can see the resemblance between all of y’all” The man said, with a easy smile on his lips but his eyes were narrowed. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a butcher’s knife. Marquez simply crept over to stand beside his sister who was staring at the man with an avid frown. Apparently, he and Ja had had the same thought because both of them now stood on either side of their dreaming sister.

“Okay, I’m going to leave now because I have to head to work” The man said, shooting the grandparents one more look before smiling rather brightly at the children and opening the door and straight up disappearing. It was silent for a long time before a sigh slipped out their grandmother’s mouth. To Marquez, she sounded dead tired; he turned to his grandparents and saw his grandfather basically pressing her head against his chest. He turned his steel colored glaze to his siblings to see them frowning and whispering to each other. The light skin boy wouldn’t let his thoughts run to the forbidden pasture of hope and decided he’d better interrogate his relatives rather than think on that or even began to drift in that direction.

“Who was that?” Marquez’s deep voice stilled the room and turned the attention to him. His tone was soft but firm so his grandparents knew he meant business. The woman being held their grandfather opened her mouth but all at once, she felt the arms that were holding her tense so she cut off.

“That was just as he said your neighbor” The old man said, his tone serious as he peered into his oldest grandson’s eyes. Marquez stared him down trying to see if he was lying or not: it was such a predicament that they don’t know much about their own grandfather.

“Marquez, he is telling the truth” Raq said, softly as she moved closer to his side and put a hand on his upper arm. He turned to her mad and prepared to yell before she held up a hand.

“I never said I don’t believe that there is more to this” The curly haired girl said looking at him in the eye to prove her point. The steel eyed boy let the surprise show in his eyes before the smugness surrogated it once he looked to his impassive grandfather. The older man pressed his together in a straight, tight line and tighten his grip on his wife, who was beginning to shake after hearing those words leave their granddaughter’s lips.

“Shall we talk about this at a later time? Because your grandmother is not well if you did not notice.” Nathan said, his voice freezing all of them as all the grandchildren notice their sick grandmother and they came to a begrudging agreement.