Martina Ann Holden sat on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest and cried. When she'd walked past her new little sister's room, she saw the two friends falling in love. She remembered being a part of that once. Before the flaming bastard of a father sent her away to that prison; before he let them rip out her soul.
She was broken now. She knew that. When she'd finally escaped and returned home, she was afraid that everyone would know. Then would come the pity, then they would treat her like she was a whore; just like the girls at 'school'.
The worst would have been Jimmy. She still didn't know why he'd never replied to any of her almost daily letters. The only phone calls she could make were to her 'Father', and he told her that Jimmy didn't want to hear from her. At least that part hadn't been true; however, she still couldn't bring herself to ask why Jimmy didn't want her anymore. Maybe he could see that she was broken too.
She had no idea how to fix herself, although beating that flaming bastard to a pulp would certainly help. She intended to do just that, but it had to be in self defense or it would be manslaughter. She snorted at that; as if you could call that person a man!
Her mental state once more at least close to stable, she stopped by the bathroom to wash her face, and then went back downstairs to see if she could help with dinner.
All but completely ignorant of the events transpiring elsewhere in the house, thirteen-year-old Donna was making dinner for her family. She loved to cook, and considered the Holden's as part of her family too. She cooked dinner in Holly's kitchen, because this is where they usually ate, as one family.
When Tina walked in, Donna smiled at the beautiful young woman. "Hey, you. Would you set the table please? This is just about finished."
"Sure, peanut," Tina said as she came up behind Donna and wrapped her arms around the small girl. "What's for dinner, Sis?"
Donna leaned back into the cuddle, it felt really nice. "Chicken cordon blue, with garlic and herb stuffing."
Tina chuckled a little. "You're such a wonderful cook; you're going to make us all fat!"
"No way! There is far too many good looking people in this family to do that to them! It would be a crime!" Donna said. "I'd never ruin a body like yours!"
Tina squeezed the girl in appreciation for the comment. "Liar. I'll go set the table."
Tina released Donna and moved to start her task. However, Donna caught an undertone of sadness in Tina's last comment. Watching the older girl, Donna came to the conclusion something was really eating her. She vowed to get to the bottom of it; Donna had a special place in her heart for Tina; Donna thought she was the most beautiful, sweetest, and perfect creature on the planet.
Finishing up, she and Tina carried the dishes out to the gathering family at the dining room table. She saw Jimmy all but carrying Tommy to the table. But, and she raised her eyebrows at this, Tommy was wearing a girl's night gown and looked very much like Jimmy's girlfriend. She wasn't ready for the sight of Tommy's breasts, but she kept her mouth shut, and served dinner.
As they sat down, Janie cleared her throat. "I think the only one here that doesn't know why Tommy is wearing a nightgown is Donna. I'll leave it to her to explain, but from now on, her name is Tammy, and she is very much a girl."
Donna nodded tentatively. "A surprisingly pretty one too." Donna also noticed Tina flinch, and saw that she wouldn't look at Tammy or Jimmy. It looked to Donna like Tina was only barely holding it together.
"Thank you," Tammy's soft voice replied. "I'll explain later, if that's okay Donna?"
Donna smiled. "Okay. Now, I've got two sisters!" Donna said it happily, trying to get a reaction from Tina, and maybe cheer her up. All she got was a brief smile.
As the family ate, Donna noticed that, although she still wasn't looking at the couple, Tina was starting to relax a little. Donna also noticed that it felt more like they were all closer, like they were all truly a family. After the meal, while Holly and Janie cleaned up, Janie asked the kids to hang out in the living room for a family meeting.
After they finished, the two lovers sat next to each other on the couch; Janie spoke first. "While we're all here, we need to discuss an idea Holly and I had. If any part of this makes anyone uncomfortable, please say something, okay?"
When she got at least head nods from everyone, she continued. "Because of Tammy's medical condition, if she doesn't have a certain surgery, there is a good chance she could die. However, the surgery is very expensive and the insurance company refuses to pay for it, claiming it's an elective surgery." She took a drink of her coffee.
"You all know how Holly and I feel about each other. We feel that really, we're all one family anyway, so we need to figure out a way to get Tammy taken care of. Well, the idea I had was for all of us to live here, in Holly's house, while we sold my house to pay for Tammy's surgery, and any improvements and repairs we might need to this house." Janie said.
"Will we be able to sell it fast enough to help?" Jimmy asked, worried.
"We should, but, before we did that, we needed to know what you guys thought, because this affects all of us," Holly answered this time.
"How much is left on the mortgages?" Tina asked, proving she was paying attention.
"Our house is free and clear, while this one still has some owed on it. It's also a bit bigger, and has the pool," Janie said. "None of you guys have asked about sleeping arrangements. We don't have five bedrooms here."
Jimmy grinned. "Can Tammy and I share a room?"
"You wish. Personally, I don't have a problem with it, but considering the nature of Tammy's illness, we're going to have enough of a problem with Holly and I being lovers. No, you get a room all your own, Romeo. Which means, at least two of you girls are going to have to share," Janie said.
"Not really. If we get enough money from the sale of the house, we could add a bedroom to the basement since it's already mostly finished," Jimmy said, thoughtfully. "I could talk to Mr. Wallace; if I explained things to him, I think he'd be sympathetic. He could cut us a deal on building a new room in the basement."
Janie smiled at her handsome son. "That's a wonderful idea, Jimmy, but what do the rest of you think of the over-all plan?"
"We're already a family, so we might as well. After all, we generally spend all our time over here anyway," Donna said, adding her two cents. "If its okay with her, I could stay in Tina's room until Jimmy get's the room in the basement finished." She looked hopefully at Tina.
Tina looked ready to argue for a minute, but thought about it, then shrugged. "That really is the only way we can do this. She can't stay with Jimmy, and Tammy'll be either too sick or recovering from surgery."
"So, I guess we get to start combining the households tomorrow," Holly said to groans from the kids.
Janie chuckled. "I'll give a realtor a call tomorrow and get the ball rolling."