Two Mocha iced coffees were put on a low table between mine and Maya's sunbeds. Two tall glasses were filled to the brim with a drink mixed with crushed ice, and its surface was complemented by a generous portion of whipped cream covered with caramel syrup, out of which metal straws were sticking. Next to it, there was a crystal bowl full of freshly washed, plump, and perfectly red strawberries, with the stalks, already removed.

This year the sun spoiled us a lot because it was already the end of September, and we were still able to bask in it carelessly. The weather was perfect as it wasn't hot either. There was a slight breeze from time to time, and today it was like in paradise in Monets' green garden.

Maya wanted to take me out for shopping and have kind of girls day today, but Vince had already quenched her enthusiasm at breakfast. First, he wouldn't let me leave school to go on trips to the mall, second, he seemed to be punishing me and denying me pleasure because of our argument yesterday, which I felt was centuries ago. And thirdly (and that was probably the most important and, in fact, the main reason), Vince didn't want to let me go anywhere alone, let alone in the company of Maya because of her crazy father, who must've already found out that his daughter had returned to the country.

Then Maya offered to play a little at home, and she immediately insisted on going through my wardrobe. She assessed with a professional eye which clothes I should get rid of and which of them look better than I even expected. She painted my nails and braided my hair in the same fishtail braid as she was wearing yesterday. She put her raspberry lipstick on my lips and branded glasses that covered half of my face, on my eyes.

I blindly followed her ideas, so as a result, I was laying in the garden wearing a short pink top and pale denim shorts, which had very short legs ended with frills. Maya was over the moon and she kept repeating how cute and sexy I looked in this set. Like candy. That was the word she used. I giggled at the comparison, staring at her with undisguised fascination. She was even more undressed than me in a cream top that covered not much more than the bra itself, and a white skirt from underneath there could be seen a bit of her tanned and athletic cheek when she moved.

I took a sip of my iced coffee and nibbled on it with a juicy strawberry. I wasn't a fan of coffee, but the addition of chocolate and whipped cream made it transform from a boring, bitter drink into a sweet, pleasantly cool dessert, and that was totally my taste.

Maya was just going through her phone, and the bracelets on her wrist jingled each time she moved her hand. When she noticed me watching her, she gave me a big smile.

I liked her. I just met her and let's agree, she didn't make a good impression on me at the very beginning, but she wasn't that bad. She was nice to me, which I appreciated very much.

The first part of the day passed very quickly because I was usually bored, and today I had a companion who saved me from this boredom. So when I entered the house to use the bathroom and saw Vince and Dylan standing in the hallway, I was surprised to see them both. The youngest three of my older brothers went to school and college and I didn't expect it was so late already that they were back home.

I stopped at the threshold, undecided if I really wanted to reveal myself. Both brothers seemed irritated.

"I don't give a fuck about this college," Dylan grunted in his usual arrogant tone.

"If you want to be taken seriously and have a say in business, then I advise you to change your attitude because if you don't show me a diploma with business class credits, the only thing you can count on is being my errand boy. Is this what you want, Dylan?" Vincent snapped at him.

"Fuck the credits!" Dylan spread his hands. "I'd learn more from you than at some fucking lecture with an old guy who learned about business management from books."

"I will not waste my time teaching someone who cannot mobilize themselves to pass a few exams at the university. Studying is trivial compared to what awaits you in real life. So get a grip and stop whining like a little girl, because I will not hand over part of our business to an uneducated boy, even if he is my brother. Do you understand me?"

Dylan seemed to understand, but he rolled his eyes and walked away from Vincent in an agitated pace towards the stairs, and at the same time I turned on my heel and tiptoed back into the garden, thanking the heavens for them not noticing me. I hadn't made up with Vincent yet and felt uncomfortable around him. I'd like to make peace with him and I even could apologize to him, but it wasn't easy. I was afraid that he himself was still very angry with me and that my apologies would wash over him. After all, I really disappointed him...

And why I was glad that I didn't run into annoyed Dylan, I don't think I need to explain.

When Maya asked me to put on those frilly shorts, I thought to myself that there would be around five people in this house who wouldn't like them. On the other hand, I was in our residence and I wasn't going anywhere, so it shouldn't be a problem. Plus, with Maya on my side, I felt more confident.

Now I found that I didn't really want to go to the toilet so much, and I was sitting on the sunbed, wondering if it was better to stay here and act like nothing or try to run into the bedroom and change into more acceptable clothes until I still have time to do it.

I'm a coward. I hate that I was so concerned about my stupid brothers' opinions.

"Everything all right?" Maya asked, glancing up at me over her sunglasses, which she slipped halfway down her nose.

Ah, forget about the brothers. I smiled at her.

"Yes!" I replied cheerfully and grabbed my drink. "I think I'm starting to like coffee."

"Mhm. It's just a pity there were no nuts to sprinkle on the top."

Somehow I think I'll survive without these nuts.

Soon after, Maya and I smelled a wonderful scent of some dish, which Eugenie had prepared for dinner when she found a spare moment. Our housekeeper returned to work today and had her hands full of work, as no one in the Monet residence was rally used to cleaning.

We were not wrong. It was time to eat and it was confirmed by Uncle Monty who came to us. He came up behind Maya first, leaning over her and placing a wet kiss on her lips, then biting her nose mischievously. Maya grimaced and opened her eyes immediately, then shook her head and pushed him on the shoulder playfully.

Uncle Monty chuckled and clapped his hands.

"Dear ladies, we're eating outside today," he announced and stretched. He was shirtless, and I had to objectively admit that his body was quite well-groomed for such an older man. There was a fairly long, single scar on his back, quite a thick one that I was too ashamed to ask about. He wore a tiny gold chain on his neck. And he also put on denim shorts with a dark belt keeping them on his hips.

As if on cue, at his words, Eugenie appeared in the garden and began serving to the table. I thought then it was great and that it would be nice, such a lovely family dinner outside, but then I remembered that Dylan was already angry, there still was tension between me and Vince and I hadn't seen Will since like forever, so maybe it'd be better to at least go and change. I was already opening my mouth to announce it to Maya when I saw Dylan, Tony, and Shane just stepping onto the terrace. Both twins were carrying packets of beers, at the sight of which Uncle Monty's eyes immediately lit up.

I quickly closed mine and pretended to be asleep, but I wasn't an actress, and apparently I was so hopeless that even this didn't work out.

"Is that Hailie?" I heard Shane questioned.

Someone opened the beer because a characteristic hiss sounded. And another one.

"What?"

"What?"

"Of course, who else would it be?" Maya snorted and then I lifted my lids with a deep sigh, just to see how she shakes her head and looks at my brothers with raised eyebrows and a smile.

"What the fuck have you done to her?" Dylan snapped.

Tony sat back in the chair and put his feet on the table that Eugenie had wiped a second before with a cloth, wrapping his finger around the cool bottle of beer and getting ready for the show, unfortunately, with me as the lead.

"Hey, dude, chill," Uncle Monty said. He picked up Maya's well-groomed, tanned feet, whose nails were painted white and with a silver ring stuck on one of the toes, and sat down on the edge of the sunbed, placing them on his lap and stroking them gently.

"What do you mean?" Maya asked, as sharply as Dylan.

"I mean everything, starting with those slutty shorts."

"These are my shorts and they aren't slutty."

"Great, why the hell does she wear your clothes at all?" Dylan asked Maya first, then looked at me. "Don't you have your own stuff?"

I wanted to take a deep breath. I knew it'll be like this. I cannot be treated as a human in this family.

"Because she wanted to. Piss off, Dylan," Maya hissed.

My brother focused on me.

"Go and put on something normal."

"Don't go," Maya protested quickly.

"Go now," Dylan repeated.

"Stay, Hailie."

I didn't move.

Dylan clicked his tongue with displeasure and took a step toward Maya.

"What's wrong with you?"

Maya took her feet from her fiance's lap and dropped them to the ground to sit up. She was looking at Dylan with a slight hint of irritation, but also with tremendous confidence that I envied her very much.

"The exact same thing I wanted to ask you."

"Why are you interfering?"

"Because she obviously needs someone to stand up for her in this sexist house!" Maya got up and was very short compared to Dylan, but it didn't seem to intimidate her at all.

"It's not about sexism..." Shane broke in, who had already taken his place at the table and was eating salt sticks, accompanied by sips of beer, even though we were about to have dinner at any moment.

Maya immediately gave him a hostile look.

"Then about what? Does Dylan snipe at you too if you put on something he doesn't like?

"Fuck, Maya, don't pretend you don't know what the problem is," Dylan grunted.

Maya cocked her ear, smiling wryly.

"Enlighten me."

"There you go, madame," Dylan began sarcastically. "I don't like the fact that my little sister wears clothes that some horny guys would imagine taking off of her."

"Guys are gross, really, Maya," Shane agreed.

"I don't want any fuckers to jerk off when they see her," Dylan added.

"Okay, okay, we get it," Uncle Monty muttered, a bit embarrassed.

"No, we don't get it," Maya objected. "You wanna be a good big brother? Then stop restricting her clothing and focus on making sure that none of those perverts you are talking about hurt her. Do you blame her for what other people think? Really, Dylan?"

"But Maya," Uncle Monty began hesitantly as if he didn't know if it was a good idea to speak. "Imagine that you enter a cage full of starving dogs and you want to eat something yourself. Will you choose sausage or a veggie?"

Maya gave him a stern look.

"Are you serious?"

"I'd choose a veggie. It's not your fault the dogs are starving, but it's better not to provoke them with meat, right?"

"I'm going to actually pick a veggie right now, and you'll only have memories of our sex," she whispered furiously to him.

"Honey, that's not what I meant..."

Maya turned back to Dylan, ignoring her fiancé.

"Get over," she began, then looked at the twins as well. "Y'all get over the fact that your little sister is growing up and she's not a small child anymore, but a chick and I swear, with such a figure, with such legs, you can even make her walk in a potato sack and she'll still steal hearts."

Tony stared at the ground somewhere, Shane looked at the lumps of salt on his salty stick, and Dylan and Maya had a staring contest.

I bit my cheek myself and at the beginning of their exchange I wanted to cut her off, stand up, give up and change, but, surprisingly, Maya seemed to get her way at last, because Dylan finally passed by her and took his place at the table. He looked like he was going to nudge her with his shoulder, but of course, he didn't. I really need to learn from her.

Suddenly, Maya's face brightened out of nowhere and a broad smile crept on it. She was a lovely and kind woman again, thanks to Will who had just joined us on the terrace.

Will had damp, messy hair, and was visibly tired because he was rubbing his face. He was wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts. He was barefoot and probably had just crawled out of bed recently and just taken a quick shower. He wasn't with us for breakfast today, and when Uncle Monty asked about him, Vince said that he was busy and came back very late.

"Finally, my favorite Monet!" Maya exclaimed, making all the other men present here react with an indignantly "Hey!", the loudest displeasure being expressed by Uncle Monty.

Will smiled softly at her.

"Hi, Maya," he muttered and hugged her, and I saw that one of his hands was wrapped in a bandage.

"How's the hand?" Dylan asked.

"Just a little sprained," Will replied evasively as he walked over to the table.

"From what I hear, it's not as sprained as that idiot's face," Uncle Monty laughed aloud, then raised his fist up. "Well done, Willy."

I would've been an idiot if I hadn't noticed the meaningful gazes of my brothers that attacked Uncle Monty in a split second. And he, apparently the king of discretion, looked at me and covered his mouth with his hand, making a silly face.

"A joke," he muttered.

Will smiled at him, but I knew all his best smiles and this one was a hundred percent fake.

Vince soon joined us and we all sat down at the table. I was able to take the seat next to my favorite brother, but unfortunately, that meant I had to sit between him and the mean one. Then it turned out that Vince had taken the seat across from me, and I already wished I'd just sat down next to Uncle Monty. Especially since I couldn't look away from Will's bandaged hand. Has he had a fight with anyone? I'd expect that from Dylan, or from Tony, or even from Shane, but Will?

"Such amazing weather at the end of September, it is wonderful!" Maya sighed with delight as Eugenie was stitching our feast up. "Oh, Vince, one question," Maya turned to my eldest brother, and he looked back at her. "Do you mind Hailie's outfit?"

Maya! If she had been sitting closer, I'd have kicked her ankle, I really would. We've already finished this topic, why bother discussing it with Vincent. Great, just great. On top of that, we still kept our distance and it was cruel and thoughtless to ask him these kinds of questions on the family forum that drew his attention straight to me. I couldn't blame Maya openly for it, because she didn't even know we were having a conflict, but I could at least curse at her mentally.

Vince's eyes flickered across my shortened top that ended just under my ribs and it was enough for him to shrug.

"No."

I stared at Maya, begging her to stop.

"Ha! See, even Vince has no problem with what Hailie wears!" she called triumphantly to Dylan.

"Have you seen her shorts?" Dylan asked Vince.

"No. We're at home, surrounded by family, so I don't care what she's wearing," Vince replied, not looking at me anymore, just busy opening his own beer.

"But if she wanted to leave the house like that, would you tell her to change?" Dylan continued.

"Yes."

"Ha!" Dylan exclaimed to Maya.

I leaned my head back and sighed softly.

"You guys are terrible, all of you," Maya chuckled, shaking her head.

Then, thankfully, the conversation shifted, and I remained silent until Will quietly spoke to me.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"No," I replied, and before he could ask another question I added. "What happened to your hand?"

"I told you, it's strained. Nothing serious, don't worry."

"Did you hit someone?" I asked out of nowhere, and I saw Will's blue eyes twinkle with worry.

"Hailie, could you please pass me the salt," Vincent, who had obviously heard our conversation, spoke coolly to me. I stared at him first, processing his simple request, then blinked and found the salt shaker that Dylan had been using recently, which was left next to his plate. I handed it to my eldest brother who thanked me politely and simply put it aside, not even using it, just staring at me the whole time. I guess that meant I wouldn't get an answer to my question.

"Everything's fine, little one, don't worry," Will repeated, stroking my arm reassuringly.

I nodded and focused on my spaghetti.

The table was large and full, yet elegantly set. There were bottles of beer, two water jugs with slices of lemon in it, and beautiful, crystal glasses. In special vessels, there was Parmesan for sprinkling on the pasta, and a tall, narrow pot that was filled with olive oil. We also had separate plates for a salad, which was prepared with rucola, tomatoes, avocados, and black olives.

I have to admit that the family dinner was really enjoyable after all. It was one of those times when I spent time with all my brothers. This time we were accompanied also by Maya and Uncle Monty and it was really nice. The only thing that weighed on my heart were the words I shouted to Vincent yesterday.

"You're not drinking?" Shane asked Maya as he reached for a second beer himself.

"I'm pregnant," she replied as if it was the most ordinary information in the world.

"What the fuck!" Dylan exclaimed.

"Wait, what?" Tony muttered, raising his eyebrows.

"Otherwise, instead of iced coffee, Hailie and I would be drinking mimosas this morning." Maya laughed, winking at me.

I myself blinked a few times, but because of a surprise.

"Don't even try to give her alcohol," Dylan snapped.

"Jesus, you are possessive, give her a break," Maya rolled her eyes, then leaned across the table towards me. "Hailie, you need to find dirt on him."

I smiled at her.

"I already did," I admitted. One word. Maid.

Dylan frowned.

"No, you didn't," he said confidently.

"I did."

"You did not."

Everyone was staring at us with amusement. It gave me courage. That and Dylan, who was making me angry.

"When we were in Thailand..." I started aloud and Dylan's big hand immediately covered my mouth.

"One more word, little girl," my mean brother whispered ominously, and I immediately glanced pleadingly to the right, at Will, who was laughing just like the rest.