Life is like photography, we develop from the negatives -- Christmas Holiday 1989

School had been kind of rough, but awesome at the same time.  I was happy to be home to see Mum and Jetty, though.  Michael was going to be spending Christmas with us, too.  I was excited about that; glad that Mum was really happy again.  She was always happy, but this was different.  Anyways, I was going ot have to talk to her because of the eway some of my fellow classmates teased me.  

I hardly ever let it show that it bothered me while I was in school, but it did.  And I hated that it did.  I came out of my bedroom from sleeping in the morning after Mum and Jetty picked me up from the train station on the return home from Hogwarts for the holiday.  I stayed in my jumper and flannel pajama pants and socks were on my feet.  I found Mum in the kitchen making some breakfast.  

"Morning," I said, my voice still thick with sleep.  I yawned and stretched, goign to the fridge to get some juice to help wake me up.  It seemed like Jetty was still in bed.

I rolled over and was planning on going back to sleep, but I remembered that Jada was back from Hogwarts for the holiday.  I scrambled out of bed and put my feet into slippers.  It was rather chilly.  I heard voices in the kitchen and headed that way, still rather groggy.  "Hullo," I said, my voice still full of sleep.  I rubbed my eyes.  "What's for breakfast?" I figured Mum would cook up something really nice since Jada was back home.

I turned around and smiled at Jada.  "Morning sweetie," I said.  I went to start whipping the batter for flapjacks when I heard more footsteps.  I was surprised to see Jetty awake already.  "And good morning to you," I added, grinning at my son.  I loved when both my kids were home -- for the most part.  At least when they were getting along.

I chuckled a bit at Jetty.  "I think he heard you starting breakfast or something.  Are you even awake?" I teased my brother, looking at his sleepiness.  I poured us some juice.

I shook my head at my sister.  "I don't think so," I said, taking the juice without saying anything else.  I looked at Mum.  "but what are you making?"

I smiled at my kids; I was so happy my daughter was home.  I really missed her.  "Flapjacks," I answered Jetty.  "You want the fruit with it?" I was asking both of them, really, because I knew they both loved it when I made smileys... at least, they used to.  I was not sure if Jada thought she was too old for that.

I grinned.  "Yea!" I said, happy that Mum was making something that was totally home-worthy.  Even though Hogwarts had excellent spreads, nothing tasted as good as Mum's smileys.

I took a drink of juice and looked at Jada.  "Is Hogwarts as good as Mumma says?" I asked, yawning again.  I wanted to hear the stories.

I smiled and continued to cook some breakfast as Jetty asked his sister about Hogwarts.  I could see that Jada seemed a bit saddened when she started talking about it.  "Honey, what is it?" I asked her, putting the smileys on their plates in front of them.

I chuckled at my little brother.  "It really is, Jet," I said to him.  Then I looked at my mum and shrugged.  "Oh, well, it's just... I've been teased a lot because... it's nothing."  I did not want to upset mum by saying that i got teased for not having a dad.

I started eating my smileys while Jada talked.  "You always pick on me," I said to her, "maybe it's payback."

I sighed at Jetty's comment, which was like a normal younger sibling type of comment.  I looked at my daughter.  "You know you can tell me anything," I said to her.  "What have they been teasing you about?"

I rolled my eyes at my little brother; I expected him to say something like that.  I looked at Mum, knowing that she would be able to help me.  "Well, they make fun of me because they claim we're not a whole family," I said, looking down at my plate.

I looked at my sister.  "How are we not?  We don't like each other and everything else like a real family," I said, smirking.

I reached over and put a hand on my daughter's.  "They don't know what they're talking about," I said to her, kind of enjoying how Jetty was so naive about it.  It helped keep the mood light.  "We both know that just because you have both parents it doesn't mean that you are a family -- just like only having one doesn't mean you're not one."