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

The scowl on her face started to soften as Jacob spoke, especially about his own time with their mother. She had never been told about her brothers. Piper hadn’t known they existed before Kate told her about them and she assumed that they hadn’t known about her.” No, I slept on the couch. Mama was gone a lot. One time, she was gone for four days. She said that I was old enough to take care of myself.” She finally looked back at Jacob.

She felt bad for being a little jealous that the three of them got to share a bed. There was one time when her mother was drunk but she wasn’t mean, she had been nice and had let Piper sleep in her bed. It was one of the few times she woke up dry and she remembered feeling safe when her mother hugged her to her chest. Lorraine hadn’t remembered the next morning though and Piper was yelled at for sneaking into her bed.

“Were Jules and Jack mad when you did it?” She asked quietly because that really was the root of it. She hated making anyone angry with her or upset and certainly Jack didn’t seem to be the type to want to be woken up with something like that.

"Not really," Jacob assured her. Technically, it was him not getting mad at his brothers, but he figured it was the same answer. "I'm not going to lie, it wasn't pleasant to wake up like that, but it was what we knew. We just took care of it and did our best. It was easier if Lar- Mama didn't find out about it, and I think the three of us working together helped to make sure that didn't happen. There were times when we'd get mad at each other for other stuff, it's kind of hard not to in situations like that, but we'd always work through it and forgive each other. It didn't happen very often, and we'd never get mad at you for something that you have no control over."

The worry seemed to melt a bit at Jacob’s words. She was sure that it still wasn’t easy for her brothers when they lived with their mother but she was glad they had each other. She remembered the box of clothes sitting in a closet, some of the clothing was stained with speckles of blood but she had left all of those in the box.

“I can come tell you or Jules if I have an accident.” Piper promised, though she would try her absolute best not to let it happen while she was here. Everyone had limits and she didn’t want to test her limits with them. She could try to trust them a little though, trust that they weren’t like her mother.

She thought back to the kids who she could see out the window of the old apartment’s living, holding hands with moms and dads and being carried by them. She had always thought it looked nice. Piper’s face scrunched up a bit, a sign that she was deep in thought or thinking really hard about something.

She then steeled her face and a determined look came to her face as she seemed to make some kind of decision. She took a deep breath then held her arms up to Jacob, parroting what she had seen other kids do to ask to be carried.

"Thank you," Jacob said to her agreement to let them know. "I appreciate that."

He watched her odd expression in confusion. What was she thinking about? Then, suddenly, she was holding her arms up toward him. What was happening? What was this supposed to be? He hesitated, a little lost on how to respond to this arm-raising thing.

Jules stuck his head in. "Pizza's ready!" He paused when he saw Piper and smiled. "Aw, hug time!"

Oh! Hugs! Responding a little too late, Jacob quickly dropped to one knee and gingerly wrapped his arms around Piper, thinking she wanted a hug. He really hoped he hadn't just blown it with her.

When Jacob just stared at her, she started to feel a little self-conscious. Piper also felt a bit hurt that Jacob made no move to do a anything in response to her gesture. Had she done it wrong? Did he not want to touch her? Julian seemed to have no problem holding her hand but maybe she had asked for too much too soon?

Julian’s presence startled her, Piper letting out a surprised squeak and immediately putting her hands on her side. He said something about hug time before she suddenly had two strong arounds wrapped around her body. Her eyes went wide for a moment, even dropping Bruce.

It only took seconds though for warmth to flush through her body and all the tension melted from her little body. Piper leaned against Jacob, wrapping both arms around his neck and returned the hug. Kate and Sonjay had hugged her but this felt different, more important.

“Thank you.” She whispered softly though she was unsure what she was thanking him for.” You are a good big brother.”

Jacob blushed at the compliment and gave her a little squeeze. "I'm sorry I didn't know about you to come get you sooner, but you're here now, so I'm going to try my best to be a very good big brother to you," he promised. "I might make mistakes, but please remember that I'm trying."

Slowly, he let go and looked at her. She did look a lot like their mother. Disturbingly so. Yet, at the same time, he could see enough of the elements that made Piper Piper that the longer he looked, the easier it felt. She wasn't Lorraine. She was just Piper. Gingerly, he tosled her scruffy hair. She was going to be a cute kid.

“That’s not your fault though.” Piper said to him softly, still hugging Jacob and clinging to him like her whole existence depended on it. This felt different than Kate’s hug, she liked this one even better.” I’m sorry that Mama hurt you. Kate said I didn’t deserve that so you didn’t either.” She sounded as serious as a ten year old could sound.

She stayed in the hug as long as Jacob let her, pulling away when be pulled away though he stared at her before his hand came to her hair and he ruffled it. Piper giggled a little and leaned to pick up Bruce off the ground.” Julian said it’s okay to make mistakes.” She then gave Jacob one more quick hug then offering him her hand.

“You should sit next to me when we eat!” Piper suggested, her mood seemed to be better now.

Jacob pushed himself to his feet before accepting her hand. "I think we can do that," he agreed. "How about we watch a movie while we eat? I don't think any of us - outside of you, of course - have seen that fish movie. The one with Bruce the shark. Would you like to watch that one? Or a different one?"

Julian smiled, pleased his brother and new little sister were getting on so well, and then went into the living room where he'd laid out the pizza, breadsticks, and napkins on the coffee table in front of the couch. Jack sat on the floor at one end of the table, already eating the pizza hungrily, and Jules moved to sit on one end of the couch. There was enough room that Piper could sit in the middle, and Jacob could have the opposite end. The TV sat waiting with Piper's new movies on the floor in front of it.

Piper grabbed his hand and smiled happily when Jacob agreed to sit with her during dinner though her smile morphed into an ear splitting grin at the idea of watching a movie while they eat, especially if the movie wad Nemo. She nodded her head excitedly.” No! Let’s watch Finding Nemo that way we all can see it!” She insisted, a little bounce in her step as she walked to the living room.

Piper sat Bruce in her spot on the couch, going to the movies and picking up Finding Nemo. She ran it back to Jacob then went to go sit on the couch next to Julian though she made no move to get any pizza for herself. She knew that part of the Hawaiian was for her but she had noticed how no one had grabbed a slice of it yet. She wondered if she should ask?

She glanced at Jack, clearly he still made her nervous, and then at Julian.” A-Are we eating now?” She asked in a whisper.

Jacob took the movie and inserted it into the drive. He meant to show Piper how it worked, but in his hurry to get it in and sit down for dinner, he forgot. He grabbed the remotes and sat down, only then remembering he what he was going to do. Oh well. There would be other opportunities. He got the movie going, and the trailers started to play.

"Oh, yes, absolutely," Jules nodded. "We usually wait until the movie starts just because otherwise, we tend to finish eating before the movie even starts. You can grab a piece whenever you like. Napkins are there, and here's your cup. Would you like water or soda? I can pour it for you, if you like."

"I vote we skip the trailers," Jack said from the floor, getting a napkin for himself. "All in favor?"

"I'm okay skipping," Jacob agreed.

"As am I," Jules said. "Piper, are you okay if we skip and go straight to the movie?"

Piper reached for some Pizza when Jules told her that it was okay to. She grabbed a napkin and took a piece of the Hawaiian pizza.” Can I try the soda?” She asked. She hadn’t had soda before and she could see the way the bubbles in the soda fizzed to the top. She took a bite of her pizza, chewing it up and swallowing it with a smile.

“It’s yummy!” Piper told Jules, it definitely wasn’t spicy like the pepperoni was and she liked the pineapple on the pizza. She took another bite, happily swinging her legs off the edge of the couch.

She turned her eyes to the tv immediately when it was turned on though her happy little leg swings stopped when Jack suggested skipping the trailer and the other two immediately agreed. Piper liked the trailers, there were little clips of a movie about bugs and a little blue alien. She liked seeing both but didn’t want to go against the other three.

So, Piper nodded and made herself smile.” Yeah! That’s okay!” She could watch the trailers by herself next time she watched the movie.

"Alright, then we're skipping," Jacob started to say as he lifted the remote.

Jules glanced at Piper and caught the look in her eye. It was tiny, subtle, but he understood what it meant. Had the other two been looking, they likely would have identified it as well, but they were not quite as sensitive as Jules and were distracted. He held up his hand and stopped Jacob with a few quick words. "Wait, this is a new movie. Why don't we watch the trailers for once? Even if they are older, it might be fun."

Jacob paused, a little confused, but he nodded willingly. "Alright. Jack?"

Jack shrugged. "Alright, sure, as long as we don't make a habit of this."

Jacob let the trailers resume and play through. He and Jack sat watching them as seriously as a reguler movie.

Jules, meanwhile, had turned his attention to Piper's request. "Yes, yes, of course!" he assured her hurriedly. He poured just a little of the Pepsi into a cup and handed it to her. "I only put in a little so that you can see if you like it or not. Take tiny sips at first until you get used to it. The carbonation can make it feel a bit sharp if you're not used to it. If you like it, you can have more."

Piper looked at Julian as he stopped Jacob from skipping the trailers, telling him that it would be fun to watch the trailers. She gave Julian a look like he had just done ten back flips with one leg and hand tied back, utter adoration, and her happy kicks started back up again.

She ate her pizza happily as she watched the trailer for A Bug’s Life.” I like the ants.” She muttered to Julian, smiling at the screen as the little ant main character used a dandelion seed to float across a canyon. She was equally excited at the Stitch trailer, giggling whenever Stitch spoke. Finally, the menu came up for the movie and she could see all the characters swimming around.

“Julian, are there fish at your zoo?” Piper asked, a bit hopefully as well. She had already known the species of most of the creatures in the movie but Kate let her look up the ones that she didn’t know.

When her drink was poured, she lifted the cup and put her ear against it.” I can hear the bubbles.” She then took a sip. She swallowed then immediately started to cough, she had to set her pizza back in the box as not to drop it.” Its…” she paused to cough,” yummy!” She then took another sip and didn’t come back coughing.” I like it!”

"There are a few fish, but most of them are in the aquarium," Jules said, pouring her a little more soda. "The zoo is more for land animals than aquatic animals. We could go to the aquarium at some point, if you want."

"Alright, shhh!" Jack warned as the movie played. "This is good music, and I don't want to miss anything."

Jacob chuckled and turned up the sound just a little. "Relax. I can always rewind if we miss something."

“Oh, that makes sense. I wanna see both!” Piper insisted and took a few more sips of her soda before eating her pizza some more. She was surprised that she felt a bit prickly when Jack tried to shush Julian. Piper wasn’t sure why, maybe it was because her mother hadn’t liked to listen to her talk or if it was because she liked talking to Julian.

The young girl just turned her attention to the television. She was always a little sad to see the Barracuda kill Nemo’s mom and all his siblings. She finished eating the pizza after two slices and hugged Bruce in her lap as she watched the movie. She was quiet until the sharks appeared. She gasped and pointed excitedly to the screen.

“It’s Bruce!” She exclaimed in a slightly loud (loud for Piper) voice.” Fish are friends, not food!” She recited along with the sharks, even copying the Australian accents.

Jules shifted a little in his seat as the movie played, focusing on eating pizza. Barracudas did not eat fish eggs! Any fish eggs, and clownfish were not their target food. Oh, sure, a barracuda might eat one if it presented itself, but they preferred bigger fish like groupers and squid. There was no way one would actually eat a female clownfish and then chow down on the eggs. It made no sense! Not to mention, clownfish lived in large groups with only one female and a bunch of males. And the octopus having a shorter leg, that was real, but only for the males, not the females. Small fish like a clownfish and a pacific blue tang wouldn't have to worry about getting eaten by a great white or a hammerhead shark. Maybe the Mako, but unlikely. And so many other things wrong! He chewed harder on the breadsticks to keep from talking.

"Did not see that coming!" Jack hissed in shock after the barracuda attack. He watched the movie with his full attention, taking it all seriously. He did snicker quietly at Marlin's failed attempt at a joke and studied Dory curiously. What a short memory. Funny. Then, suddenly, the sharks! He glanced over at Piper when she said the phrase along with the movie. "Fish eaters anonymous?" he asked quietly, confused. "But if they don't eat fish... are they going to starve to death?" He fell silent after that, though, not expecting a reply. When Bruce started chasing the fish, he leaned forward, watching as if it was a gripping adult action movie. He hissed quietly and winced when the mask fell into the depths and started humming along with Dary's "Just keep swimming!"

Jacob... was trying not to fall asleep. The music was beautiful and soothing, and the watery views were nice. He tried to pay attention, but it was hard when he was comfortable, fed, and listening to gentle music. It was so cozy.

Piper felt almost at peace while she watched the movie. She had watched it before with Kate and Sonjay but this was different. Jack didn’t seem so scary when he was so focused on the movie and Julian seemed to watching it too. Jacob was watching it but she could see that his blinking was beginning to slow like he was getting sleepy.

“It scared me a little when I first saw it.” Piper told Jack softly as he commented on the barracuda. She liked how serious he was taking the movie and hearing him laugh was a lot better than the grumbling and the tone he used when talking to Kate. She found herself slipping off the couch and slowly walking to Jack before sitting down on the floor next to him only a few inches away. She put Bruce in her lap and rested her chin on the top of his head.

Piper giggled at Jack’s assumption that the sharks would starve if they didn’t eat fish.” They could kelp or maybe filter feed like whales!” She told him then held up Bruce to him.” My Bruce likes eating grapes and cheese sticks!” She explained, then brought Bruce back to her lap. While Jack hummed along to Dory’s song, Piper sung it quietly to herself. She was watching as intensely as Jack, she even glanced at him and copied the way he was sitting.

She wondered if she was ever taken like Nemo if anyone would ever make a effort to find her like Marlin did with Nemo. She wondered if anyone would love her like Nemo’s dad loved him.” Nemo’s Daddy loves him a lot, huh?” She commented as the pelican, Nigel, began to tell Nemo and his tank friends all about the adventures that Marlin went through to try and find him.

Jules missed Piper's presence when she left, but at least it made it easier to hide his reactions to the movie. And to her statement about sharks eating kelp or filtering like whales. What did they teach kids in school?! Actually, virtually nothing if his memories were anything to go by. Such a shame. So far, the pelican saying "Fish gotta swim, birds gotta eat" was the most accurate line of the movie.

Jules frowned fiercely at the movie as he followed the story. He rather liked Gil. Gil was a forward thinker who never gave up. A visionary of escape! A little crazy, perhaps, but at least he was trying. He snickered at the name of the mountain, but then went very quiet when Nemo nearly got sliced and diced by the filter. Crazy ideas had some severe consequences. "Yeah," he said in agreement to Piper's comment about Nemo's dad. "He cared a lot." Then he went quiet again as Nemo went back into the filter.

When the scene where the newly cleaned tank played, he waved both hands at the screen. "What? No! Are you kidding me? They were home free!"

His outburst startled Jacob awake from his doze and he blearily stared at the screen, trying to figure out what he'd missed. Jules reached around the table with his socked foot and nudged Jack in the back. "Shh!"

Jack settled down with a grumble. When it came time for the seagull scene, he cackled maniacally at the gulls chasing the pelican around and around until they all stuck in the sails. The dentist's office scene where everything went crazy earned full laughter until Marlin saw Nemo's faked dead state. He went very quiet during that scene. As Marlin swam away, Jack muttered quietly, "Don't give up yet! Go back! Turn around!"

As the movie went on, Piper found her attention split between watching the movie and watching Jack. Kate and Sonjay had liked the movie but they definitely weren’t as into it as Jack seemed to be. She looked at the screen, still anxious watching as Nemo tried to jam up the water filter for a second time. She knew how it would turn out but it still made her nervous, like the movie might decide to kill off the young fish. Alas, Nemo did it and Piper sighed in relief.

Piper did flinch a bit when Jack suddenly raised his voice at the screen, his waving hands not helping when she was sitting so close. It took her only a few seconds to realize that Jack wasn’t shouting at anyone but the screen, though Jules wasn’t happy about Jack waking up Jacob. She relaxed again after a few moments, reminding herself that nobody here would hurt her.

Everything was quiet again as Marlin swam away from Dory, thinking that Nemo was dead. Piper watched the screen intently when Nemo and Marlin reunited, always fascinated with how happy Marlin was to see him. Had anyone ever been that excited to see her? She supposed knowing the plot this time around gave her more time to think about other stuff and she didn’t like the twinge of jealousy she felt towards Nemo.

Her jealousy didn’t make her any less sad when Nemo is almost killed trying to free Dory and she smiled when Nemo was revealed to be alive. When the last scene of the movie played, with Nemo riding off on Mr. Ray’s back before swimming back to his dad to give him a hug.” Love you, Dad.” She muttered along with Nemo cause the words felt nice to say even if she was just mimicking them and she smiled, though a bit sad, when Marlin responded with a ‘I love you too, Son.’

"Well, that was a pretty cute movie," Jules said, moving to turn it off.

"Wait," Jack said, waving a hand at him. "Let's watch the credits."

Jules stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "You want to watch... the credits."

"Yeah, look, the poor blob fish is getting bounced around," Jack snickered, watching them.

"That's a puffer fish, not a blob fish," Jules sighed. He handed the remote to Jack. "Have at it, I guess." Then he nudged Jacob. "Movie's over."

"Huh? What? It is?" Jacob blurted, sitting up. "Oh. That was a nice movie."

Jules gave him an amused look and prodded him into helping clean up while Jack watched the antics of the fish in the credits. "Thank you for sharing your movie with us, Piper."