Forums » General Roleplay » What Makes a Family {Private}

Piper did stiffen slightly as Julian’s hand came near her but when it rested on top of her own, the tension faded from her body a bit. She slowly set her other hand on top of his, her thumb doing little circles on the top of his hand. Despite never having much physical affection when she lived with her mother, Piper didn’t shy away from it when it was extended to her. When Kate had hugged her after a nightmare, she had stayed in the woman’s lap for an hour.

She raised her head to look at Julian when he spoke. His words sounded a lot like Kate’s, she also told her that it was okay to make mistakes or even be a little naughty but she hadn’t really believed her. Her Mama hadn’t liked mistakes or broken rules. Somehow though, she believed Julian, even if it was just a little bit. She thought of Jackson’s words though, he had seemed to think that she might be too much to handle.

“I just want to be good a-and not be too much trouble for you cause…cause…” Piper had to take in a big gulp of air to swallow the sob. She then pulled her hand away, using both of them to wipe at her eyes.” I can be good. I can stay here by myself so you can go to work and I can make cereal. I won’t be any trouble.” She grabbed Bruce, pulling him to her chest.” All I need is Bruce.” She nuzzled her cheek against the plushie’s head.

Jules squeezed Piper's hand gently.  "Piper, if - and that's a big if - we can't look after you, it's because we aren't good enough.  It wouldn't be your fault.  It would be ours because we... we're not used to taking care of anyone but ourselves and each other.  It's not that we don't want you here, it's that we're afraid we won't be good enough for you.  Not the other way around.  I have no doubt that you can take care of yourself and Bruce just fine, but we - I - don't want you to feel so alone anymore.  We'd like if you could feel like you were a part of this family, not just an extra burden.  You might not believe me right now, and that's okay if you don't, but none of us see you as a burden.  We don't want you to get hurt any more than you already have been.

"However... if you're worried about not making trouble, do you want to know what the best way to do that would be?  It sounds completely wrong, but the absolute best way you can avoid making any trouble is to tell us if you need something.  If you need anything, literally anything, it will be so much easier if you tell us instead of us having to figure it out for ourselves.  I know that will be hard to do, and you might need to practice it a little, but do you think you can at least think about it?  Think about telling us when you need something? It really will make it easier for us and make us feel like we are doing the right thing for you."

Piper gave Julian a wide eyed look as he spoke. What was he talking about? Not good enough? So far, she thought they were pretty good. Nobody had yelled at her and they were letting her pick toppings on pizza. Julian worked at a zoo and that was cool, she could see real animals! Not just the ones that were on the limited channels on non cable television.

He had also said the word ‘family’. A familiar but also foreign concept. She did like hearing that she wasn’t a burden, at least to Julian.” I…Jackson doesn’t think I am either?” She asked timidly, feeling a little embarrassed at the question.

“It’s hard to ask, my throat closes up but…I can try to tell you…Thank you, Jules.” She leaned her head against his arm. Her tears had dried and she didn’t look as miserable as before.” You are good enough, by the way.” She added. Mama said that a lot to her, she hit her a lot but her mother had been older and had less energy. Her anger turned to cruel apathy towards her daughter. She must have been a nightmare when she was younger. Julian probably heard the same from their mother and worse.

“She’s wrong.” She muttered.” I think you are.” She then looked over the flyers. She saw a Hawaiian pizza and pointed to it.” I want that one.” Her head still leaning on him.

"Don't worry about Jackson," Jules assured her. "He doesn't think you're a burden at all, he just doesn't want you to get hurt. He gets growly when he gets worried, that's all. Some people try to hide, some people cry, and some people get angry. When he calms down a bit, he'll be a bit nicer." He smiled as she leaned against his arm. "If you want, you can try writing down what you want or need. That might be easier than speaking."

When she told him he was good enough, he squeezed her hand again, hoping she was right, and then looked down at the pizza. He grinned and even chuckled. "You know, that's my favorite type of pizza! Excellent choice! Let's also get a pepperoni pizza for the other two. They like pepperoni, and that'll leave more pizza for us!" He wasn't going to tell her, but Jacob and Jackson both hated Hawaiian.

He pulled out his phone and checked to make sure the coupon he had was still good before calling the pizza place.

Jackson was worried about her? Piper wasn’t sure if Julian was telling the truth or just trying to help her feel better. Either way, she thought describing Jackson as ‘growly’ was kind of funny. It kind made her think of a bear. She decided to just trust Julian when it came to Jackson and if Julian was wrong then she would try to avoid Jackson.

“My writing isn’t very good but I’ll try.” Piper nodded against his arm. She knew how to read well enough but writing was harder, but mostly due to lack of practice. The smile finally returned to her face when Julian told her that pizza that she picked was also his favorite. Her cheeks flushed at his praise but she looked happy nonetheless.

Piper decided right then and there that she really liked Julian. She stayed leaning against his arm as Julian called the pizza place, though she got a bit squirmy at the end of the phone call.

“W-Where….” She started then closed her mouth, her face scrunching up a bit in frustration. She lifted her head from his arm.” Bathroom?” She asked softly, staring at her lap as she fiddled with Bruce.

"Bathroom? Oh!" Jules stood and indicated for Piper to follow him. "Right this way! It's between Jack and Jacob's room, right here." He led the way at a fast pace and opened the door for her. "I'll wait out here in case you need anything. Just ask if you can't find something you need." He closed the door behind her and took a couple of steps away to give her more privacy.

"You're doing better with her than I thought," Jacob said, coming over to talk to his brother in a low tone.

Jules smiled slightly. "I just pretend she's a new animal at the zoo, one of the ones that are a part of the rehabilitation program. It's easier that way. I know what to do in that situation. Holding a conversation with an injured animal, though, that's new!"

Jacob snorted in amusement. "Did you decide on pizza?"

Jules nodded. "One Hawaiian and one pepperoni!" He waited for Jacob's expected groan before adding, "Plus breadsticks and a liter of Pepsi. Most people like Pepsi, right? Or maybe I should have gotten something else."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jacob assured him. He turned toward the front door as he heard footsteps approaching slowly and the jangle of keys. "Sounds like Jack's back. I wonder what errand he had to run."

Piper followed after her brother, setting Bruce down on the carpet by the door. She was always hesitant in new bathrooms, partly due to using the same bathroom all her life and due to the fact that she had lived three days alone with her mother rotting away in the bathroom. She always felt like she would open the door and her mother would be there again, dead and cold.

Fortunately, their bathroom was corpse free and Piper walked in, making quick work of her business before washing her hands. She picked up Bruce and hugged him before walking back over to Julian and Jacob. She immediately took Julian’s hand in her own.

“Jack’s back?” Piper’s voice was nervous, hearing the door open and shut.

Jules very nearly moved away from Piper instinctively but stopped himself just in time. This wasn't something he was used to, and it felt odd to him, but he was willing to do it if it made her feel better. He gave her hand a light squeeze to hopefully show her that he didn't mind her holding his hand. "Yes, he's back."

Jack stepped through the front door, grumbling as he balanced a bag while using his toes to peel off one shoe and then the other, kicking them vaguely in the direction of the shoe rack. He turned to walk into the house and stopped when he saw his brothers and Piper staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing, just greeting our returning brother," Jules said cheerfully.

"Get whatever you needed?" Jacob asked.

Jack scowled at him and shuffled his bags. "All of you are way too curious for your own good. Here." He tossed something to Jacob, who caught it with ease. "I'll let you deal with that." He walked into the kitchen to put down one bag and then came back to hand Jules a smaller bag. "You get this one."

Jules let go of Piper's hand so he could look through the bag. "Finding Nemo, Fishtales, My Octopus Teacher, Stellaluna, and Babe?"

"The closest thing we have to a kid's movie in our possession is Star Wars. I thought she could use some options," Jack grumbled. "When is the pizza getting here?"

"How did you know I ordered pizza?" Jules asked as he offered the sack of movies. She was familiar with Finding Nemo, he knew, but he only recognized Babe, himself. Fishtales had the picture of a mermaid on the front, My Octopus Teacher looked like some sort of kid's documentary, and Sellaluna had a bat on the cover.

"You always order pizza!" Jack called from the kitchen.

Jacob looked at what Jules had tossed him. It was a plastic mattress protector for bedwetting and other accidents. He tucked it under his arm to deal with later.

Piper hid herself slightly behind Julian, eyeing Jack with a wary look as the four siblings just looked at each other. Julian and Jacob didn’t seem to have any fear or resentment towards Jack’s grumbling. She watched him hand Jacob a bag before handing Julian a smaller bag. She moved farther behind Julian as Jack came closer.

Julian dropped her hand beginning to look through the bag, she didn’t know all the titles but she let out a little gasp when she heard ‘Finding Nemo’. Jackson then said something about kids movies and then Julian was handing her the bag. She took it and looked through the bag, they were movie for her. Maybe Julian was right about Jack if he got her all these movies.

“Jules! This girl has a fish tale!” She held up the movie with the mermaid on it.” Is she real?” Piper asked in wonder with a little grin on her face.” Oooh, and a bat!” She squealed quietly in excitement, wiggling a little in her excitement.

Jacob headed into Jules' old bedroom, the one now to be used by Piper, and started stripping the bed so that he could put down the plastic protector. He tried not to make a big deal of it, but he figured he should probably mention to her that she'd need to tell them if accidents happened.

Jules crouched down and took the movie from her so he could look it over. "Let's see. No, I'm afraid the fish tail isn't real, it's just pretend, but it's about a girl and her father going to Greece and meeting a mermaid there. A mermaid who would be in trouble if anyone else found her. That sounds like fun." He handed it back to her and looked at Stellaluna next. "This one is about a bat that gets taken in by a family of birds when she gets separated from her mother." He hesitated a moment, worried about the mother aspect, then kept going. "It looks cute. Oh, and that one, Babe? That one is about a little piggy that finds new friends and a new job on a farm." He paused. "There seems to be a family theme here."

"When you're done looking at movies, can you bring Piper here?" Jack called from the kitchen.

Piper seemed a bit disappointed that the mermaid wasn’t real but she immediately brightened up again as Julian began to describe the movie. Julian said that the mermaid wasn’t real but maybe she could still hope that they were real. She then looked at the movie with the bat on it.” That’s silly, bats are mammals and birds aren’t!” She giggled and then looked at Babe. She touched the picture of the little piglet and she could see a bunch of other animals on the cover too.

“I can watch all of these?” She asked, almost in disbelief as she looked over all of the movies again. She couldn’t believe that she had her own copy of Finding Nemo and she had all of these extra movies. Her smile only fading a little when Jack called for her to be brought to the kitchen. She kept Bruce close to her chest and looked at the kitchen then at Julian.

“Are you gonna come too?” Piper had clearly imprinted on Julian a bit, like a duckling to its mother.

"Yes, you can watch all of them whenever you want," Jules told her. He paused. "Well, maybe not all at once or not in the middle of the night when we should all be sleeping or when you should be doing something like homework, but otherwise, yes. I'll show you how to work the TV later." When Jacob called for Piper, and Piper asked him to go with her, he nodded. "If you want me to, of course!" He stood and offered her his hand on the short walk to the kitchen.

Jacob stood in the middle of the kitchen with a bunch of items strewn out across the counters. When he saw Jules and Piper, he gave a little nod. "Right. So, Piper," he pointed to the middle drawer closest to the kitchen door. It hung slightly open. "You see that drawer? That drawer is food for whenever whoever wants it. We eat meals together, dinner and stuff, but if you get hungry and want a snack, that's the snack drawer. Its entire point of existence is to give out snacks to anyone who wants it whenever they want it. Even if it's two in the morning. The only rule to the snack drawer is that whoever takes out the very last snack has to tell the others that the snack drawer is empty. That keeps us from having disappointed if there are no snacks, but as long as there's at least one snack left in the snack drawer, no one has to say anything. Does that make sense? I just wanted to make certain you knew where our snack drawer was."

Jules hid a smile as he eyed the items on the counter. Jack had almost exclusive control over the kitchen since he was the one who did most of the cooking, but Jules knew for a fact that they'd never had a designated "snack drawer" before. Jacob had emptied out the drawer and was now trying to figure out how to put it away elsewhere, but Piper wouldn't know that. Maybe if she was older she would have figured it out. From the look of the wide assortment of snacks in the drawer, it would be a while before anyone needed to fill it again. Healthy snacks, sugary snacks, Jacob had found them all.

Piper held Julian’s hand the whole time to the kitchen. She noticed there was a bunch of stuff on the table that hadn’t been there when she and Julian had left. She was looking at the assortment of kitchen gadgets and other items when Jacob said her name, turning to look at Jacob then followed his gaze to the drawer that was open.

Her jaw dropping at all of the snacks and treats inside, more than she ever had when she lived with her mother where her diet mostly consisted of peanut butter, bread, crackers, and then meal replacement shakes. She mostly drank water from the tap or juice if her mother bought some (usually as a mixer or chaser for alcohol).

“Really? I can have them whenever?” Piper sounded mystified at the thought, standing on her toes to get a better look at the all snacks in the drawer.” Will I get in trouble if I don’t finish my dinner, though?” She asked.

"Nah," Jack said, shaking his head. "I mean, maybe try not to ruin your appetite for dinner, but it's okay if you don't finish it all. No need to stuff yourself like a walrus. If you aren't hungry, you aren't hungry. If you are hungry, you can help yourself just like the rest of us."

Jules nodded. "If you don't finish your dinner, we can save it for later, or Jacob can finish it off for you. He eats a lot. That's because he works such a hard job. And if you ever want a snack, this is where you can find it."

"There's juice in the fridge, too," Jack added. "Juice counts as a snack even if it's not in the drawer."

Piper nodded slowly to show that she understood as she continued to stare at all of the snacks. She had gotten herself sick her first night with Kate and Sonjay. She had eaten all her first serving and then Kate offered more so she said yes, Piper had also eaten all of that serving. She had been worried about punishment if she didn’t finish. She threw up most of it later.

It felt good to know that she wouldn’t be punished for not finishing her dinner, though she would still try her best. She flicked her gaze towards the fridge at the mention of juice. She did really like juice and she hadn’t gotten to have it very often before.

Piper finally looked back towards Jackson.” Thank you for the movies a-and for letting me eat your snacks and juice.” She told Jack softly, clearly a bit nervous around the man. His grumpiness was a bit unsettling cause it looked too similar to anger as most of the men that her mother brought around were angry.

"Sure, you're welcome," Jack agreed, shrugging a little. "Anyway, I've got work in here, so you two should go be somewhere else." He waved a hand at Jules and Piper.

Jules gently led Piper out. "Jackson does most of the kitchen work, and he loves it, but it can also make him cranky when he's putting stuff away," he told her. "Unless he asks for something specific, it's best to leave him alone and let him do whatever he wants. Otherwise, you can go in the kitchen whenever you like. Bedrooms are private, and we'll try to treat your bedroom as private, too, once you've gotten settled in. If you need something, you can always ask."

From where they stood, they could see Jacob carefully remaking Piper's bed. Jules didn't mean to lead Piper there, but he was curious as he'd already made the bed.

Jacob looked up to see his brother watching. "Just needed to make some adjustments." Seeing Piper, he asked, "What do you think of the place?"

Piper, despite her nervousness towards Jackson, was a little disappointed that he was kicking them out of the kitchen already. It seemed like a lot of things made Jackson cranky which was a tad frustrating. She felt bad but it reminded her a bit of her mother. How much she wanted to connect but had to walk on eggshells due to her temper. Kate had told her nobody would hurt her here but how could she really know?

Piper nodded wordlessly as Julian spoke about bedrooms being private.” Oh, I know that rule! Mama had the same rule. I wasn’t allowed in her bedroom either!” She knew that she could follow that rule with no problem. She hadn’t even thought of going into their bedrooms anyway, she had assumed she wasn’t allowed in.

When they had gotten to her room, Jacob was just finishing remaking the bed. Whar adjustments? The place looked the same. She let go of Julian’s hand, walking to the bed. She ran her hand over the blankets though she pulled away when she heard the slight crinkle of the mattress protector that hadn’t been there before. She pulled her hand away quick. It took her a moment to register Jacob’s question.

“I like it, it’s big. Bruce likes it too.” Piper held up her stuffie though she was still looking at the bed every now and then. Kate had told them, of course she had but she was still embarrassed.

"Good. I'm glad you both like it," Jacob said.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and Jules brightened. "Pizza's here! I'll be back." He left Piper in the bedroom, going around to get the pizza and pay the delivery man.

Jacob looked at Piper, feeling awkward now that it was just the two of them. He patted the bed gently, making it crinkle. "Mrs. Newman told us you have a little bit of trouble at night. That's alright. We all sometimes struggle with that. We put on a cover to protect the mattress because I haven't ever seen a washing machine big enough to hold a mattress. Have you?" He attempted a smile, hoping she'd get the joke. His smile didn't last long before it faded uncomfortably, and he cleared his throat. "Anyway, if an accident happens, that's alright. Sheets are made to be washed. That's what they are made for, so it's okay if something happens. If it does happen, just let one of us know, and we'll take care of it, okay? That way you and Bruce can have clean sheets fast."

Piper’s face nearly turned the color of her hair as Jacob spoke, though she turned away from the bed and used both harms to squeeze Bruce. She shouldn’t need a cover for the mattress, she was ten years old. She was a big girl and she shouldn’t be having ‘accidents’ regardless. A scowl worked its way onto her face, if anything his joke made her bristle a bit and she took a step away from the bed.

“No, you’re just lying. You don’t struggle with it!” She muttered bitterly, looking away from Jacob.

‘Why don’t you get the kid a mattress?’ A man her mother brought over once asked..

‘Ha, so the brat can piss all over it?’ Her mother had replied with a sneer.’ Why would I waste the money?’

The words echoed in her head and she shook her head violently.” No! I can do it all by myself. I can, I can…I can do stuff by myself so you can sleep cause you have a hard job and I want to be easy.” She insisted, almost desperately.” I did everything by myself when Mama…” She trailed off, unable to finish that’s sentence.

Jacob patiently waited for Piper to finish what she had to say. "You did everything yourself, and you shouldn't have had to because you were a child and you still are a child," he said calmly. "You don't have to live like that any longer, but if you want to change your own sheets, you can. There are more in the closet, and we'll get you new sheets if you need them."

"I'm guessing you never even had a mattress before, am I right?" he continued. "Mama," the word was hard to get out, "didn't want to waste the money on you, especially if you had an accident on it. We three had a mattress, one big mattress that she got out of a dumpster and had us share until we couldn't actually all fit on it anymore. We'd take turns on the mattress with one of us sleeping on the floor until we moved out. You're right, I don't struggle with it now, but that's because I'm much older and have had the time to learn how not to. It took a long time before the accidents stopped. Things like that, they are different for each person, and sometimes they take longer for some than others."

In truth, Jacob had managed to stop wetting the bed before either of his brothers at around six years of age, but the other two had had a much harder time with it. He didn't feel the need to tell her that. It felt like enough to show that he understood.