To say the mansion was huge was an underestimate. The tour around the house took more than an hour and in the end, Alison was confused and lost utterly. Her feet and back were aching badly from walking in her heels for long.

The first floor of the mansion was divided into two wings, west and east. The two wings had been designed in a way that the people in both wings don't come to each other's way and looked to be completely separated. The east wing which was considered as a living place consisted of a big kitchen, a fancy dining room with a long table surrounded by so many chairs, a gym, a living room with a huge TV hanging from the wall and comfortable and welcoming sofas and a big glass door which led to the back garden which had a pool.

The west wing was more formal. It consisted of a ballroom, yes a HUGE BALLROOM, that based on Marisa's saying was being used at least two times each year. Albert's and Mason's offices were on the west wing as well. It looked like that they had some people visiting them there and they worked from home as well, so they need it as well. Marisa strictly advised Alison to stay on the east wing and don't come to the west wing unless very important matter.

The second floor was mostly rooms of the family members and guest rooms. There was also a playing room with another hug TV with playing sticks connected to it and a pooling table. Also, there was big victorian looking library on the second floor which was a great place to come if you needed somewhere to be alone. Tall and long shelves full of books were lined in the room and a table with a few chairs around it, two sofas in front of the fireplace, a grand piano, and a few bean bags near the window was its other furniture.

Marisa also showed her each room belonged to who. The rooms were in a long corridor with soundproof mahogany doors on the left and right of it and big double doors right at the end which led to Albert and her mother's room. On its right was the big room of the little twins who needed more attention and on left was Mason's. Next to the little twins' room was Rich's and Hunter's and next to Mason's was Damien's and then Xander's and then ...

"And this is your room, sweetheart." said Marisa not looking a bit tired, and opened a door next to Xander's. Alison walked in and her mouth dropped to the floor. The room was as big as her last home's first floor.

The walls were light cream matching the two other mahogany doors in her room. A king-sized bed with cream floral covers and two nightstands were placed between the two windows of the room. The beautiful floral curtains had been pulled away and Alison could see a beautiful view of the green lands outside. A desk was placed in a corner with a few shelves attached to the wall above it. The desk was empty except for a laptop and a box of the latest iPhone on top of it. On the other side of the room, a vanity with an oval mirror was placed.

Her boxes and her small wall piano were placed neatly in the other corner of the room, waiting to be unpacked.

"Well, I wish you liked it." said Marisa from behind her. "Your mother was the one who chose the colors, but we can change all of them today if you want."

Alison turned to her and shook her head. "Everything is great. Thank you." she smiled gratefully. "By the way, I don't think I will stay here for long." She said and walked to her piano and lightly pressed the keys so she didn't see Marisa frowned a bit.

"What do you mean, honey?" asked Marisa.

"Well, I will be 18 in a few months and then I will move out." answered Alison nonchalantly and then looked up at Marisa whose brows were furrowed. "I'm not planning to stay here for long. You know, it's a little bit, how can I say it, odd."

"Oh!" was all Marisa said before her smile returns to her face. "That is something we will see about." she said like she knew something that Alison didn't. "Now take a rest and unpack if you want. I can help you to unpack by the way."

"No thank you, Marisa." said Alison and then looked at her small pile of boxes and two suitcases which consisted of her small amount of clothes. "I will handle it myself. it's not like I have too much stuff." She whispered.

"It's not quantity that shows the worth of something, but the quality." said Marisa with a soft and warm smile. Alison didn't know it but the woman was already liking her a lot.

Alison returned the smile. "Take some rest, Alison dear." said Marisa and then walked out of the room. "The dinner will be ready by seven. The family does their best to eat dinner together at weekends all the time, so your presence will be required. You will see not many maids or servants in the house. They have strict orders to leave the mansion and go to their own quarters after doing their chores but you can always call and tell me if you need something." explained Marisa and pointed to the phone on one of the nightstands.

Alison thanked her again before she left the room and closed the door. Alison's smile dropped the moment Marisa walked out and she dropped herself on her bed and buried her face in her hands. Just as she thought she was lucky to not see any of her new family again today, that silly dinner came up. She felt like a prisoner. She badly needed to go out and be alone but she couldn't go without informing someone. She wanted to talk to someone, but knowing all of her friends were at work right then, she decided against it. She had taken the weekend off, so she could adjust to her new home. Note the sarcasm.

She sighed and then decided to use her time the best. She explored her room and found a bathroom and a big walk-in closet behind the two other doors. She first unpacked her bathroom stuff and took a hot shower trying to relax her tense muscles. After she was done, she wrapped a white fluffy towel she had found in one of the bathroom's drawers around her and walked out and then put on a lemon-colored T-shirt and white pegged pants, and then began to put her things in their appropriate places.

When she was done, she piled the boxes outside of her room just as Marisa told her behind the phone and left her piano where it was. She was exhausted, to say the least. The shelves above the desk were full of her books now and the table had a few of her school stuff. She had put the iPhone box in one of the drawers, making mental note to return it later. She had a phone which was working just fine. She didn't need anything she had not paid for it, not wanting to give them the impression that she was here to use their money. Although she kept the laptop. She needed it for her school and her old one was killing her with its speed. She would return it the day she was going to leave. Although Marisa's word about her leaving was somehow bothering her a bit.

She sat behind her piano and began to play a song she liked a lot. She had opened one of her windows and a soft breeze was coming into the room and was moving the curtains. It was the start of the spring and the air was cool, but the peace it was creating was great. She played unaware of her door being opened and two small heads pop in and watched her curiously. Her back was to them so she didn't notice them slowly walking behind her.

Once the song ended, the sound of two sets of clapping startled Alison. She jumped on her piano stool and looked behind her with a hand on her hammering heart only to see James and Jordan standing there and clapping enthusiastically.

"Boys you scared me." said Alison.

"That was awesome." yelled James. Now Alison could distinguish them well.

"You play like a master." praised Jordan. "How can you play that well?"

Alison chuckled. "Thank you, guys." she answered. "I have practiced for years and this is one of my favorite songs that I play a lot."

"We have a piano in the library but no one plays it. Only Hunter plays violin and he doesn't let us listen," said James as he came and sat next to Alison on the long stool and pressed the keys.

Jordan came and stood next to Alison and made his famous puppy dog eyes. "Can you teach us how to play?" he asked.

"Please? Pretty please?" pleaded James and grabbed Alison's arm and copied his brother's eyes.

Alison giggled and kissed their foreheads. "Of course." she said and then pulled Jordan on her lap. James pouted but didn't say a thing only to push Jordan some minutes later and sat on Alison's lap himself. The three of them had a great time as they laughed and played very simple songs between twins fought over who sits on Alison's lap, and Alison was able to teach them the basic things.

They were so drowned in their own world that didn't notice as the time flew by and a man came and stood at the door watching them with a soft smile on his face. Richard was standing by the door for some minutes watching them play together. He had not seen his twin brothers this lively for so much time. The twins had become very fond of Eva on the times she had passed in their house over the past months and now they were bonding with Alison just fine.

They needed this more than anyone. Their mother had died while giving birth to them and they never had the bliss of having a mother. Eva was a good candidate and was going along with them just fine and now they had Alison as well and Rich was so happy about it.

Rich used to spend a lot of time with them, but as he turned 18 and joined the family business he had less time to do so. Hunter was trying to fill the empty space but he was a teenager and loved to spend time with his own friends. So the little twins were alone in the house most of the time. Now that Alison was here and she was eager to spend time with them, it was great for the twins.

He knocked on the door when it was time for dinner and brought them out of their world. "Rich! You are home." yelled the twins in a union as their eyes lit up and ran to hug him.

Alison smiled warmly as she saw Rich chuckled and bent down and lift them both without much effort and kissed them on the cheeks.

"Yes, It's time for family dinner." he said and then looked at Alison. The welcoming and warm feeling in his eyes warmed up her heart and they both smiled at each other. "And now this family has grown so we should spend more time together."

"You should see Alie playing the piano. She is awesome." said James.

"And she taught us as well." said Jordan with a big grin on his face. Alison smiled at how adorable they were. But what James said next stroked her with a jolt of emotions hard.

"It's great to have a big sister. I always was jealous of Andy when he was talking about his big sister at school." he said and then grinned widely at Alison. "Now we have Alie for ourselves and Andy can go to hell."

"James! "scolded Rich and Alison in a union although Alison was so happy by hearing his words.

James smiled sheepishly. "Oops, sorry." he said and wiggled in Rich's hold to put him down. "Race you to the dining room." he said to his twin as soon as his feet touched the ground and they ran out.

"Xander's language is rubbing off on them." Muttered Rich still frowning at their running forms. He then turned to Alison and smiled. "Thank you for spending time with them."

Alison shrugged. "They are so cute and adorable. I loved it as well." she replied.

Rich then walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder. He stared at her with concerned eyes. "I heard what happened at lunch." he said. "I'm so sorry, Alison. I really wished there was another way but you should be so careful from now on. But I personally will make sure that you don't be troubled with security as much as you are afraid of and you will get used to it just like the others. I want you to trust me and come to me if anything happened that made you a bit uncomfortable."

Alison stared at his eyes which were sincere just like his words. "Thank you, Rich." she answered quietly. Rich hugged her and kissed the crown of her head. A lump had been formed in Alison's throat. She hugged him back while fighting her tears. He was the only one in her new family who had shown compassion other than the little twins and was understanding her. It felt so nice to be in his arms that were holding her securely and she felt safe. She knew that she could trust Rich and she was grateful to have him by her side.

Rich pulled away after a few moments and smiled. "Okay, let's go." he said and offered her his hand which she took happily. "The others are waiting for us surely and you don't want to keep the twins waiting for their food. They could be scary. Don't be fooled by their childish smiles. They can teach the devil himself."

Alison laughed as they walked out of the room and towards the stairs. Maybe staying at this new house was not as bad as she had thought to herself. With these thoughts in her mind, she descendant the stairs with Rich leading the way towards the dining room, hoping everything goes just fine for the rest of the night.