Ailemea Smiled: Part One

      I just never imagined sisters.

      You see, the thing is, many owners in Neopia have multiple families. Even Jeanie, though you wouldn’t guess it, has four other pets. I’d never really gotten to know them – they stayed in the Neolodge and Jeanie rarely visited (I am her favorite after all). In fact, I hadn’t even met any of the girls. Just Shuibee the White Kougra. However, there are also Kasinnia the Blue Chomby, Kelesari the Green Flotsam, and Mhyme the Skunk Poogle.

      Well, I suppose I should start with my story now. I just wanted to introduce you.

      With a yawn, my mind snapped awake. My eyes remained closed however – I waited for the sun to pour through a window and rest on my eyelids. Finally, with another yawn, I stretched and opened them, rolling out of bed. I glanced at the petpet bed at the foot of my Beauty Bed and saw Haelee the Ditsy still sleeping peacefully. Good – she never slept past 6am NST.

      Whistling a happy tune, I went about my morning duties. As the bath filled with steaming water, I read through my fanmail and answered most of them. Then, I sank into the tub with a grateful sigh and began to read the Neopian Times. I was published again this week – the second part of ‘Lost With Isaerios’. As is my custom, I read that before continuing to the comics.

      Right as I was starting the second comic I heard the door creak open on the other side of the bathroom – it is blocked by a row of wardrobes. I heard Isaerios as he too began to fill a bath and smiled slightly. He is definitely my brother. I was just getting towards the last few comics when someone knocked on my bedroom door.

      “Come in!” I called. I waited until my visitor finally made it to the bathroom. Nexy (Trohanex) crawled over to the bathtub and climbed onto the edge. “Good morning,” I said with a smile, smoothing back his fur affectionately and then going back to the comics. “Jeanie still asleep?”

      “Yep,” he chirped. It was one of the few words he had learned – the past few weeks had been getting more and more full. “Jen.” I looked at him in surprise and watched as he began to communicate with me with his small toes and wide-stretched arms.

      “Jenna_Leanna came over?” Striped Xweetok – ex-enemy – now my good friend. “She asked me to lunch? Oh okay.” After having obviously delivered the message, Nexy smiled and crawled back out of my rooms. I returned to the comics.

      “Aile?” I looked up in surprise at the wardrobe opening right beside the bathtub. There are two rows – Purple and Stone. The stone face Isaerios’s side of the bathroom, the purple mine. Somehow Isaerios was crawling through the backs of both. I frowned at the gaping hole.

      “What?”

      “Have you seen my Black Eyeshadow? I need it.” The Shadow Xweetok was sopping wet from his bath.

      “Nope,” I said simply, then I set down the Neopian Times and began to climb out of the tub.

      “I need it!” he insisted.

      “Why?”

      “Because today is a big day!”

      “Why?”

      “I- uh. It just is.” He looked sheepish. “I just really need it!”

      “Well, I don’t have it!” I said with fake sweetness that I know drives him wild. He grunted and retreated back into his side of the bathroom. After my morning grooming, I was ready to start the day. I went downstairs to find a tired Jeanie spooning Strawberries and Cream Baby Food into Nexy’s mouth. Oreh was sitting and watching, rather bored.

      “Have you ever considered feeding us, Jeanie?” he asked as I entered. Jeanie looked like she had just woken up. Her brown hair was in a fury around her face, although she had replaced her pajamas with Coveralls and a Fire Faerie T-shirt.

      “Do you REALLY want me to feed you?” Jeanie asked, looking wryly at the Robot Blumaroo. He grimaced and shook his head hurriedly.

      “Morning!” I sang happily. Oreh looked at me and his expression lightened.

      “Aile! You making breakfast?” he said hopefully. I rolled my eyes.

      “No, Oreh, just eating an omelette – I need to have an empty stomach for lunch with Jenna today,” I said simply. He sighed. Shaking my head and smiling I pulled an extra omelette from the cupboard and put it on a plate in front of him.

      Jeanie suddenly sat down and handed the spoon to Nexy to immediately began to feed himself. “Slowly, sweetie!” she warned tiredly before turning to me.

      “Lunch with Jenna?”

      “Yup.”

      “I need you home at lunch.”

      “What!? Why?”

      “Because-”

      “Uh, Jeanie,” Oreh interrupted us. Nexy had stopped eating and was watching wide-eyed.

      “What, Oreh?” Jeanie asked impatiently.

      “I think we’ll be okay with Aile for today – after all, it only takes a couple to do... um... what we’re doing,” he said uncomfortably. Jeanie frowned. My eyes narrowed.

      “What are you all doing?” I asked suspiciously. Jeanie nodded.

      “Nothing important, dear, just a little project. You stay out as long as you want,” she said. Nexy noticeably relaxed and continued to eat. Oreh stuffed the rest of his omelette into his mouth, muttered something about cleaning his room, then left. I shrugged and finished my omelette.

      “Well, I’m off to the bookstore,” I cried, grabbing my pink scarf and earmuffs and a pack of neopoints. Nexy looked up with excitement at my words. “I’ll meet up with Jenna afterwards.”

      “Will you...?” Jeanie said, glancing at Nexy. I sighed but scooped the baby out of the high chair.

      “No problem.” The Yurble cheered – he is after all the reader of the family. I waved good-bye to Jeanie and then took my leave of the house.

     *****

      “What do you think they’re planning?” I asked with a frown. Trohanex was sifting through the remains of a very cut-up hot dog and Jenna and I were examining the paper in front of us. It was plain white with a lot of blue lines. I’d snatched it right before I left the house.

      “Is it your birthday?” Jenna asked. She was carrying Flash as usual strapped across her back and took a neat bite from a rather odd looking hot dog. The trip to the bookstore had been rather fruitless. I considered her question.

      “No, I don’t think that is for another month.”

      “Is it Jeanie’s birthday?”

      “No. That would’ve been a couple of months ago.”

      “Anyone else?”

      “The boys are all pretty close and it isn’t even close to their birthdays.”

      “What about your sisters?” she asked. I paused.

      “Sisters?”

      “Yeah – don’t you have sisters?” I frowned.

      “I am pretty sure they are all about the boys’ age.”

      “Oh.” We were just continuing to frown at our paper before a Christmas Zafara burst out of nowhere.

      “Jenna!” Lindsey shrieked. “Kiara and I were... Simba is...” There were no more words needed. Jenna glanced at my questioningly and I shook my head. She smiled, gave me a quick hug, then hurried after her sister, pulling Flash from her back. If you’re confused, it might help to know Kiara is Jenna’s baby Kougra sister, and Simba is her gruslen. A very very chaotic gruslen.

      I stood up with a sigh and gathered my things. “You ready to go?” I asked Nexy. He blinked and his eyes flickered to the clock on the wall of the hot dog stand. He frowned then and shook his head quickly. Once again my eyes narrowed.

      “I’ll box your hot dog then and we can go,” I said. Nexy sighed and shook his head. I picked him up and began to walk home.

      The walk was rather short to Bread Street. I strolled along then stopped short in stunned silence. There were many Grarrls in our yard, carrying furniture and boxes into the neohome.

      “What’s going on?” I shrieked. A red Grarrl stopped his work to reply.

      “We’s movin’ yus family in, Miss,” he said in a strong... somewhere accent.

      “What family?!” He shrugged and went back to carrying a large box into the house. I stood staring in horror at our large bustling neohome. After a few minutes of my silence Nexy wriggled out of my arms and disappeared and I continued to stare.

      Finally, “JEEAAAANNIIIEEEE!!!” I was shocked once more as my mouth opened to yell the same thing, except the word had come from another unfamiliar mouth. The voice had come from my bedroom.

      “No no no no no!” I yelled and dashed into the neohome and up the stairs. I shoved Isaerios and Oreh out of my way and almost crashed into Jeanie’s back as she entered my bedroom. I became instantly silent at the sight before me.

      A Spyder Wardrobe was now standing at the foot of my bed behind Haelee’s petpet bed. A Peanut Bed was wriggled comfortably in the corner. I felt like I was going to faint. I was about to open my mouth to question Jeanie when that same voice spoke again from beside my bed.

      “Jeanie, I can NOT sleep in the same room as this PINK bed – how am I supposed to meditate? I’m a mime, Jeanie! I need calm. Why can’t I room with Isaerios?”

      “Isaerios is rooming with Shuibee, Mimi. Boys are with boys and-“

      “What?! What about Kelesari and Oreh then? Kasinnia and Trohanex?”

      “You know very well Oreh goes in between genders with the lab ray and that soon Kasinnia will be a Baby just like Trohanex so it won’t matter who is in the nursery.” The unfamiliar voice grunted. Faintly, I reached out a paw and passed Jeanie very slowly. Jeanie leaped in surprise.

      “Aile?! What are you doing home? You’re supposed to be in town- oh well.” She smiled very weakly. “This is your sister, Mhyme. She’ll be rooming with you. The other three are moving in, too.”

      My eyes took in the Skunk Poogle standing beside my bed. I felt my head getting cloudy. I felt myself falling. Moving in?

      And then I fainted.

To be continued...