☆☆☆ Chapter 21 ☆☆☆

The Campbell Kids

By the time the sun switched its spotlight with that of the moon's, Daniel was knocked out cold on my bed. He really did follow through with his promise, sitting still and eventually cuddling with me 'til he could no longer stay awake. The show may have bored him to death, but he wasn't complaining at all 'cuz he enjoyed every second of being with me, period. Geez, a man like him even makes someone like me swoon over him, and that's something I haven't done in years. I can only wonder how his family is to be able to raise and grow with someone like Daniel Campbell.

Now that I was all on my own and no more episodes were airing for the night, I was finally motivated enough to get out of my bed and eventually out of my room for the sake of real food rather than my nearly endless stash of potato chips and bakery pastries. By this point in time, I was already more than just familiar with walking 'round Daniel's mini-palace, and knew the perfect shortcut to the staff cafeteria, which made it all the more easier for me to hurry for a bite of anything palatable. When I arrived there, I passed by my sister and her usual crew Honey and Sasha, whom were eating some sort of wholesome food as they greeted me. I think it was just a random type of soup with bread and salad on the side, but anything that's not junk food is good to my eyes and stomach right now. Yup, soup'll do for me.

On the line, there were many delicious soup options for dinner, but nothing grabbed my attention more than the potato chowder soup. There was even an option to add chicken and bacon pieces to it! Once I served myself with as much chowder soup as my bowl could take, I grabbed three pieces of whole wheat bread and began my search for an empty table... or at least, that's what I had in mind, but things quickly changed when I spotted my budding friend Grace, the one and only muscle maid that both menservants and maids admire. I sat with her in silence for far more than a handful of minutes wolfing down my meal, but such a thing didn't matter 'cuz she was busy herself with the first of five smoked turkey legs on her tray, besides the monstrous bowl of thick squash soup on its side.

Throughout the past few months of being with Daniel, I have finally found myself interacting with the other maids, so yes that's how I was able to befriend Grace but it solely happened 'cuz I pushed him to let me work with the other people at the residence whenever he didn't have something for me to do while I'm on the clock. With Grace, it was easy. I just had to let her laugh at whatever I said, because she would've done it anyway. She thought everything I said about my godly status was golden. And she was the only person besides me who actually understood the beauty and flavor of pineapple on pizza.

After chewing away the last bites of my bread, I finally greeted her, and she was just about to speak when my sister sat down on our table with Honey and Sasha.

When they sat with us I expected to be in an awkward situation 'cuz I had no clue 'bout how close the Teresa Trio was to Grace, but I had no reason to worry. We ended up having a great time chatting and getting to know each other. Somewhere along the way, I even found myself comfortable enough to announce the upcoming arrival of Daniel's family.

"O.M.G. Are you serious?!" Teresa exclaimed, banging the table with one of her fists. The tea that she'd brought with her almost spilled all over the table, but Honey stopped it from happening just in time. "Who? When? What? Where? Why? How?" She barely breathed, and her eyes were wide open.

"They're on vacation and comin' like a day or two from now. It's too soon, man, and I don't even know when they're gonna leave," I sighed.

In between her chews, Grace's face glowed as she said: "Good for them, but good luck to you. They're bound to make a ruckus── trust me, I know from first-hand experience. I sure am glad I won't be here, they're not the only ones on vacation."

Honey's ginger little head tilted. "Really? Where to?"

"Jamaica, for a few months, as a gift from the young Master for all my years of service," Grace sighed dreamily, nodding her head with a heartwarming smile. "I can almost feel the warm breeze and the roars of the waves as I rest on the soft sands of one of their fabulous beaches. Oh, and the food── the food! I can't wait!" She caught herself gushing and quickly reverted back to her usual stern mode. "No, I am not here to flex," Grace muttered to herself, but everyone still heard her.

Restless from excitement, Teresa flipped the conversation back to where her ears had perked up before. "Alright, tell us! Tell us what you know about the Campbells! Does Daniel have any older sisters, or brothers? Any older siblings?" Of course! That's what Teresa's interested in, but didn't she used to follow Daniel before? Why did she have no clue about that? Did she never peer into his life or watch him walk 'round town from the comfort of bushes and dark corners?

If that's the case then I'm glad that she's less of a creep than what I had in mind.

"No, he's the oldest," Sasha replied, resting her head in between her hands, showing off her perfectly manicured nails. As soon as she said that, Teresa's interest faded away as fast as Grace's two-second chews and swallows. "I've worked here long enough to see them around a few times. They're cute little kids── all but one, honestly."

Grace chuckled. "They're not cute. Not a single one. Don't underestimate their devious little faces."

Honey blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I don't have a single clue about what Grace has in mind, but I'm pretty sure we can both agree that one of those three kids can easily give us the chills. Her name's Jade." Sasha let some air out of her system, and then continued. "Usually people can just brush off such behavior as part of teenage angst, but she's different. That's not her problem."

"Then what's her problem?" I find myself asking, drawn right into gossip like a mouse with a piece of cheese inches from where they stood. Earlier in the day I overheard Daniel begging his mom to not bring her over the telephone, concerned 'bout me for some reason. It's bound to get anyone curious about it.

"Jade, well, that girl has a bunch of issues and is straight-up rude, but the biggest problem of hers is that... fixation on Daniel. The type that people feel unsettled with. It's genuinely disturbing. She has tried doing several advances on him. I happened to witness one of those a while back." Sasha's dark eyes demanded my attention with their stare. "The worst part of it all is that, as far as I know, their parents are too── let's say focused on other things, to know of what's happening."

I didn't know what to say afterwards and our talk almost died off, but Grace added in a hurry: "That's just Jade. The other two are pretty... uh, normal? Just don't mess with them and you'll be fine."

Sasha shook her head with a small smile. "Don't mind what Grace says, Hilery and Joel are absolute sweethearts. I think she's just trying to spook you." Grace almost laughed out loud from Sasha's comment but restrained herself by biting off a piece of her last turkey leg.

Honey was near the edge of her seat by the time she asked: "Didn't you say that Jade and Hilery are twins? How can Hilery be nice if they're twins?"

Being the voice of reason, Teresa flicked a booger off of her finger before responding like a know-it-all. "Just because an individual is the identical twin of someone else doesn't necessarily mean that they have the same personality. It's common sense, Honey-pie."

Sasha nodded. "Hilery's pretty much the opposite of Jade, actually. Super friendly, super adorable, super warm and caring, super everything. A little too childish and welcoming, though. She's a special kid. If it weren't for her obvious age, you would mistake her for a toddler. Weird, really."

"Trust me she's not who you think she is," Grace teased with a mile-long grin.

Sasha rolled her eyes at Grace. "And then there's Joel." At this point, Grace almost choked on a piece of meat from a laugh she couldn't help doing, but Sasha continued nevertheless. "He's the baby of the family, the actual little kid, but he doesn't seem to behave much like one. I hear he used to be a crybaby from the veteran maids though."

We continued to talk about Daniel's family for what I believed to be half an hour longer, and honestly I was grateful for them telling me 'bout them 'cuz now I was able to at least try to prepare myself mentally for the trouble they were gonna bring.

☆☆☆

Lying on my bed next to the sleeping Daniel, no matter how many times I tried to close my eyes soundly, I wasn't able to fall asleep. I think my mind was just overworking itself too much, tryin' to wrap itself around the things I learned today:

Jade, Daniel's disturbing little sister. Hilery, Daniel's kind little sister and Jade's twin. Joel, Daniel's only brother, youngest of all siblings. Daniel's parents, period.

I don't want to meet any of them, and yet they're on their way.