Sibling Squabbles

Anne and Alex were celebrating a very special birthday. They were both turning into elders now. They had a nice and rather rare moment of peace and quiet. They decided to celebrate while everyone was out at school or work.

"Oi! This aging thing is taking its toll on my back." Alex said with a frown.

Anne looked at him doubtfully. "You're exaggerating..." She said with a chuckle.

"Hmm, you'll see in a moment here. You're next." Alex said with a grin.

"Hmm, ok well, maybe you're right. Oh, my poor aching back. Maybe I worked out too much this morning." Anne said with a sigh.

Alex chuckled, "Sure, dear."

"Oh, hush you! Old or not, I can still beat you!" Anne said fondly.

Their pleasant and peaceful morning, while nice, did come to an end rather soon as the children arrived from school. Still, there was something very satisfying about having a handful of grandchildren around.

Clare would disagree with her grandparents' notion however. Sometimes, there were simply too many boys around. "AHHHHH! GROSSSSSS!" She yelled in shock s she walked into the bathroom and belatedly realized that Cole was using the toilet!

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Screamed Cole thoroughly embarrassed.

"It was an accident! Why doesn't anyone think to make doors that lock?!" Clare said as she hurried out of the bathroom.

"So, Clare...I hear you walked in on Cole." Said Camren mischievously.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather NOT talk about it. I'm going to MY room...where it's safe." Clare said with disdain.

All three boys laughed merrily. It wasn't often they got to see their little sister embarrassed and she was next to impossible to pull pranks on.

The following day, since it was Saturday Clare decided to escape her brothers' endless teasing by going out to the park on her own for a while.  There she met a boy name Charles from Oasis Springs. They played pirates for quite a while and soon Clare had forgotten all about her brothers' teasing.

It was on that same day, that Clare discovered for the first time, that she had a cousin: Lori Landgraab. Lori was Malcolm's daughter, and Malcolm was Clare's older brother...an uncle Clare had never met. She wondered why there was part of family that she didn't even know existed.

Clare's curiosity had been piqued. She very much wanted to know why they were estranged from part of their family. The question now was, how did she broach the topic with her parents.