Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

1045 Chapter 30- Talia – Sleepover Part 2 (VOLUME 6)

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Talia

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Rika and I started to get things ready for Zaley’s sleepover early in the day. I knew that my little sister wasn’t a very sociable person, so she had never even thought about a party like this before. Even me, hyper focused on getting through school early and all that, had had my fair share of sleepovers. I had invited Ada, Missy, Jackie, and a few other girls from school. I hadn’t had these sleepovers all the time, but I had had them more than once. And I always had fun during them.

Now, it was time for Rika and I to help Zaley have a great sleepover. We needed to take care of our little sister and show her that there was a lot of good in the world. She had been bullied and picked on for things that weren’t her fault. I always stopped the bullies when I could, but I wasn’t in the same part of the school as her anymore. And that meant that I wasn’t able to protect her as much.

She had Zachary, Zander and Zayden though. And they always protected her. And, now, Breanna was there to protect her as well. Breanna was a good friend to my little sister. And I wanted to make sure that she knew we appreciated her.

Our aunts, who were much younger than me and Rika, were there for Zaley as well. They were a little shy as well, so they didn’t stand up for her like the boys did, but they were always there to show people that Zaley was just like everyone else. And I wanted them to have a good night because of that as well.

Abigail had gotten orders of food from all the kids for the night and was preparing for the parties with gusto. I knew that she was feeling proud and protective as well. She had been with our family since our dad was younger than the quads, which was a very long time. I knew that she was just as invested in all of this as we were.

She was making various sandwiches for Zaley’s party. The girls wanted to have a tea party during their sleepover tonight, so that was what they were starting with. There were a lot of different scones as well; blueberry, strawberry, chocolate chip, apple, and several more. There were some that were covered in a sweet glaze, some in powdered sugar, and some that had nothing to top of them at all. Cookies were also a part of the tea party. Snickerdoodle, chocolate chip, sugar cookies, white chocolate macadamia, and a few others.

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There were cakes, pies, chips, crackers, and a plethora of other junk foods as well, but they weren’t the main focus for Zaley’s party. They were for the boys though. It was like they wanted nothing but junk food. Oh well, it was a party and it wasn’t like they ate like this all the time, so we were just going to let it happen. The piles of candy that were left over from Halloween a couple weeks ago was also divided up between the two parties so that their sugar rushes were all but guaranteed.

After the girls had all arrived for Zaley’s party, they started off with their tea party in the bedroom. I know that they had music playing and that they were talking, but Rika and I didn’t invade on them while they were enjoying that part of their party. We were in the dining room with Reagan, Lola, Nona, Papa and Móraí. They weren’t going to step in and interfere though. It was up to Reagan, Rika and I to take care of the kids. They would only step in if they were needed. And for the most part, they would be out of sight. That was the arrangement that we had all agreed on.

In a way, I think that Reagan and Rika were trying to prove to Mom and Dad that they were capable of taking care of things while they were gone. And that they didn’t need to have our grandparents here to watch over them. I could understand it. They were adults after all. And the guards and staff were here as well, so it’s not like we were all alone. I mean, even if it was just Alexio here to protect us all we would be more than safe enough. He was powerful and cool, and more than capable of destroying anyone that might think about attacking a damned castle.

After we were all done eating, it was time for Rika and I to go to Zaley’s room. There had been three extra twin sized beds added to her room for the night. They weren’t just popup beds or cots either, they were real twin sized beds with thick, plush mattresses. Our family knew how to take care of our guests when they were here. And we knew that sleepovers were supposed to have all the girls in one room so that they could talk and giggle until they all passed out in the middle of the night.

“Talia? Rika?” Ivy came running over to us when we came into the room. She was Dad’s little sister and the most confusing of our relatives. She was our Mom’s aunt because of Móraí, but Dad’s sister because of Lola. Because the closest relation was to Dad and not Mom, we had decided to make her only that one relative to us. To add more would have been very confusing to us all.

“Hey there, Ivy.” I hugged her when she threw her arms around me. “Are you girls ready to get started on the night of pampering?

“YES!” The word was echoed by all four of the girls at the same time.

Rika and I started with the girl’s facials. They were going to need to be done before they had their hair and makeup done. And not only that, but while we did their nails, we could have them leave the facials on. And while we did that, they all talked and watched movies. The movies that were on got mostly ignored though. I think that, for the time being, they were just there to be background noise.

The pampering continued for a while. The facial masks were sitting on the kids while Rika and I did their nails, fingers and toes. They all chose their own colors as well. Ivy chose green. Olivia chose lilac. Breanna, of course, chose pink. And Zaley chose a light blue that went with her eyes.

After their nails were done, they cleaned off their faces and we did their hair. This was probably the most that they had watched the movies at this point, since they were a little preoccupied with their hair being done in turns. After that, we did their makeup to look cute and fun. And finally, all four girls raided Zaley’s closet for things to wear to make them look like they were going to a fancy party or a club. They all chose things to their personal style, and it was fun to see how different they were.

“Were we like this when we were little?” I leaned in and asked Rika as the kids started to get dressed in their new outfits.

“I don’t remember it being like this, but I am going to guess that it was. We’re just seeing it through the filter of our own experiences. We probably remember it being more than it was because we were little kids at the time.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I laughed softly as I watched the girls fondly. “I just don’t want to think that I was this crazy when I was little.”

“Oh, I can tell you that you were crazy.” Rika laughed at me. “It’s OK though. It was a good sort of crazy.”

“Hey, at least Zaley has us both here with her right now. I remember how you were too cool to be a part of my sleepovers.” I told her pointedly, but it was all in good fun. We were both laughing at the time.

“Yeah, well, I was only three years older than you, so I didn’t want to hang out with little kids at the time.”

“You’re still only three years older than me. That will never change, you dork.” I laughed at her. “Still, I get what you mean. You weren’t mature enough at the time to see the benefit of spending time with your younger sibling. I am glad that we are both over that now though. Zaley needs us.”

“She isn’t the only one though.” Rika nodded at me in agreement. “Zachary, Zander and Zayden still need us as well. Even if they would rather have Reagan most of the time, they still need us there for them.”

“Yup. That they do. Aren’t we just amazing older sisters?” I smiled proudly. “They are going to be good kids because of us.”

“Oh yeah, such good kids, sister Talia.” She laughed at me.

“Ugh, don’t call me that.” I shivered as if I had the heebee jeebies. “That just sounded creepy.”

“Ha ha ha. Yeah, it sort of did.”

The party with our sister continued after they were dressed. They danced around the room to music, played various games, and watched movies. Around midnight that night, Rika and I started to step out of the room and let them just wear themselves out. I could hear that they were starting to tell each other scary stories. I heard the way that it started as I went to leave the room.

“The sound of the wind seemed to stutter as if even nature was unsure of what was going on. Wh..wh..whoosh. Wh..wh..whoosh. The sound sent shivers down the spines of all the campers in the cabin. There was a light that started to come from the woods. It seemed to be floating in the air near the top of the branches, but it wasn’t staying still.” Zaley’s voice was low and ominous as she started to tell the story to the other girls. I could see that Breanna, Ivy, and Olivia were all terrified even though the story had just started. “Wh..wh..whoosh. The sound of the wind rattled through the windows once more.”

“Hmm, did you ever notice how good Zaley was at telling a story?” I asked Rika as we walked out of the room.

“No, I didn’t. She really is good though. That sounds like it will be right up my alley.” She laughed. “We should ask how it ends later.”

“Yeah. I want to know.” We both laughed as we walked to our rooms. The party was just about over, and we were no longer needed.

As I laid in my room, I listened through the wall to the story that my sister was telling to her friends. I didn’t usually eavesdrop on her in her room like that, but I wanted to hear what happened. It was an interesting story about a ghost that had been haunting a campground full of kids. And if the screams that I heard coming from the others was anything to go by, I was pretty sure that the story was going over really well with them too. I liked it as well. And the surprise ending was not one that I was expecting. It had me laughing at the twists that I hadn’t seen coming as I pulled the blanket over my head and tried to drift off to sleep. I needed to ignore my own ghosts that haunted me.

“Hmm. I wonder if I could get rid of them like the kids in the story could? Too bad that my ghosts and the ones in that story aren’t the same. It would definitely help if they were.”

The last thought that I had before drifting off to sleep was how Zaley had explained the emotions in the story. They were extremely vivid and intuitive for a kid.