Two months passed since Anna woke up in a medical pod. She was forced to keep to a strict diet of different types of nutrient solutions, periodic injections, psyche counseling, blood tests, rehab, more psyche counseling oh, and more nasty nutrient solutions. Although she complained -- a lot, she was delighted with the results. She now looks like a healthy child, no longer skin and bones, with two small lumps forming on her chest. They will one day be as gorgeous as Auntie Lou's. As for her height, when she asked about that, the doctors and counselor's smile awkwardly and change the subject. I won't give up, I can't give up, or they won't teach me to pilot mechs. That was all she could think about in that regard. Who came up with the height and muscle restrictions anyway?
When Anna woke, she found out that she was already completely busted. They already knew she snuck onboard, but nobody came to arrest her or throw her from the nearest airlock like she thought they would do. Instead, she was told her genes are a ninety-seven percent match with the family's founding members and was immediately adopted. She has no idea what the whole gene matching thing is. She shrugged it off because everyone seemed excited when they saw it.
Grabbing Marian's arm, Anna began tugging her out of bed. "wakeup! Aunt Shelly said I could eat in the cafeteria with everyone else today." Oh, right, I should mention that Marian's parents are the ones who adopted me, so I share a room with Marian until they finish adding on a room for me. (How do you add a room in a spaceship will the neighbors have to lose part of their apartment?)
Marian slowly sat up, her hair all mussed and sticking up in all directions. "What time is it?" Glancing at the adorable little loli sister she acquired, her arms moved in a flash, grabbing Anne and pulling her into a hug. Anne immediately tried squirming away, but Marian easily held her. Eventually, Anne settled down, her back pressed against Marian's chest. Holding Anne in place with one arm, Marian reached for her phone, sitting on the nightstand. 05:03 After staring at the time for a couple of seconds, she sighed and looked down at Anne. I can't believe I thought she was actually fourteen two months ago. Looking at her now, I can barely believe she is twelve.
Anne tilted her head back, staring at Marian's face when she heard her sigh. "So can we go?
Marian smiled, reached up, and tweaked Anne's nose. "Silly, It's only 05:00. The student cafeteria doesn't open till 07:30. Why don't you try to sleep for a while longer? I promise I will wake you up on time to go get breakfast before lessons start." Getting a nod from Anne, they both lay back down, and surprisingly Anne fell asleep almost immediately. "Really, that's not fair," whispered Marian while brushing hair from Anne's face. How can Anne be so cute and adorable? she is completely different from how she was when we found her. I wonder if Mom tweaked somethings around while she poked around in Anne's head these last two months?
An hour later, Anne woke up face an inch away from Marians, breathing steadily, obviously still sleeping soundly. Leaning her head forward slightly, she gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Before she could back off, two arms wrapped around her, and Marian spoke. "Ah, is my adorable baby sister giving me a good morning kiss. That's so sweet. let me reciprocate." A moment later, Anne was squirming, trying to pull away as Marian kissed her cheeks, forehead, and nose before they began a tickle fight.
A woman with a head of golden hair pulled back in a long ponytail opened the door. She stood there watching the two for a bit before saying. "Alright, you two time to get washed up, then come downstairs."
"Kay!" two voices said in unison.
Jumping to her feet, Anna stepped on Marian's stomach before jumping off the bed and running through the still open door only to slam bodily into a locked bathroom door. A looming shadow let her know her pursuer had already caught up. Turning around, Anna gave Marian a cute smile. "Hehe, I didn't do it on purpose, I promise, sis."
Having not heard the door open behind herself, Anna jumped slightly when a male voice behind her spoke. "Can I get out, please?"
"Are you finished, big brother Felix?" Anna asked cheerfully, dodging the hand Felix tried to place on her head to keep her from falling over.
"Yeah, obviously now move out of the way, squirt... Oh, and don't call me big brother. It's weird. Just Felix is fine." Without waiting for a reply, he walked across the hall and shut himself in his room.
Standing still for a moment, Anna turned to Marian. "Is it weird? you don't mind me calling you big sis, right?"
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Marian rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. He is just grumpy because he missed a calculation or something on his spatial trigonometry exam. Now go get in the shower." Following behind the girl, Marian picked up the discarded pajamas off the floor, putting them into the hamper before undressing herself. When she was about to head into the shower, it shut off, and a dripping Anna slammed the shower door open and sprinted toward the door to the hall, jerking it open and shouting at the closed door across the way.
"Don't call me squirt." Then she slammed the door and went back to the shower, grabbing the wide-eyed Marian on the way.
A few minutes later, both girls came down the stairs dressed in identical school uniforms. Light blue shirts with a black jacket over the top. They had on dark stockings that ran up their legs, disappearing under sky blue skirts. While Mariana kept walking toward the dining room table, Anna came to an abrupt stop staring at a cup of green juice at her spot at the table.
Quickly catching up with Marian, Anna grabbed her hand, pulling her down enough to whisper in her ear, "I thought you were taking me to the cafeteria this morning? remember you promised."
Bending further, Marian whispered back. "I will, but since Mom made breakfast this morning, it would be rude if we left too quickly." Then grabbed Anna's shoulders and steered her toward their shared bench.
Anna reluctantly picked up the cup and took a sip. Gross, I'm not sure what grass tastes like, but I imagine it's something close to this stuff. Anna thought, then placed the cup back on the table and slowly moved her hand closer to Marian's plate.
Marian pretended not to see the tiny sticky fingers edging closer and began cutting her ham into small cubes while shoving half to the side of her plate.
Felix, who was watching the slow creeping hand draw closer, grinned mischievously. "Hey, Mom" He smiled even wider when Anna jerked her hand back, looking guilty. It was even better when Marian shot him an annoyed glare.
Mom had been going through her messages and was about to open one from Dr. Shelly. Paused when Felix opened his mouth and looked up from her phone. after several seconds elapsed as she stared at Felix, she said in exasperation, "Yes?'
"Did Dad already go to the office?" barely keeping a straight face as he watched Anna sullenly pick up her juice.
Swiping a hand through the holo screen over her phone, she placed it down on the table. Suspiciously she eyed her son. "You already asked me that when you came downstairs. If your done eating, I think you should head to class. And you better study if you failed your finals as bad as that mock exam yesterday. We won't pay for another year at university. You will find a job and pay your own way."
Felix paled slightly and jumped to his feet, hurrying out of the apartment.
A buzzing sound drew the three pairs of eyes to the holo phone in the center of the table. Pressing the accept button, Dr. Shelly's face appeared. "Oh, did I interrupt your breakfast?
"Not at all were nearly finished anyway." Mom said with a friendly smile. "Did you need Anna today for something?"
"No, I noticed that neither you nor Victor had read my messages I sent last night, so I wanted to make sure Anna didn't eat anything too spicy. Although I okayed her for normal food, she still needs to start with light bland foods." Shelly said with a slightly worried tone.
Marian, who was about to stab her fork into another piece of ham, found her plate vanish, and her fork hit nothing but the table.
"Aunt Shelly, can I eat this" Anna excitedly shoved the plate closer to the holo image of the surprised Doctor.
Shelly smiled and took a closer look at the plate of food. After several seconds she turned her attention back to Anna. "Maybe just the egg whites and some toast for today. If your stomach starts to hurt later, let me know right away, okay?"
Anne grinned then turned back toward Marian when her eyes landed on Marian, and the grin turned into a radiant smile. The two adults watched as Marian turned an adoring gaze on Anna. "Hmm, why do I feel those two are more like mother and daughter than sisters?" Shelly mused aloud while tapping her index finger on her chin. "What do you think, Mary? you're the shrink with the telepathic powers."
Mary watched her daughters with a smile on her face. "I'm going to switch you over to my phone. And I'm only a telepath; I am not a shrink." Switching over, she walked over to the couch before answering Shelly. "To Anne, mom is just a word. She calls me that because Marian asked her too, same with calling Victor Dad. Don't get me wrong; we have become a family these past two months. Things were awkward the first month Marian helped Anna through all of it she stayed by her side through everything. When I peek inside Anna's head, and I can tell she really sees us like family. But the one she relies on and trusts with her whole heart is Marian.
"Marian is the one that is complicating. She tries to see Anna as a little sister, but the more they are together, the harder it is. I peeked in her head a couple of times while I was mothering Anna. she was actually forcing herself not to get between us. The only reason she was able to keep herself in check is that I am her own mother. The real problem is that Anna is terrified of Felix. Although she doesn't show any outward signs, if you're always watching her, you can see."
Shelly, whose mind had started to wander toward her paperwork, suddenly jerked her head up. "Wait, why would Anna be terrified of Felix?"
Mary continued after giving Shelly an annoyed glance. "I only noticed because I'm looking inside her head all the time. Marian doesn't really know what's happening yet, but her gut tells her something is off between Anna and Felix, so she tries never to let them be alone together. Unfortunately, it is also driving a wedge between them that will shatter their relationship if something isn't done soon."
There was a click, and Marian's voice came over the line. "Mom, can we talk?"