#ockiss22

Lora laughed shyly as she was tugged into the apartment. The floor was light hardwood, making a border around the sunken, square sitting area of plush carpet. It was lined with dark couches and pillows. A wall separated the kitchen to the left, arranged with small river rocks with sparkling LED lights that twinkled between each stone. There was a doorway to the right, giving view of the bedroom. Straight ahead was a rolling door, propped open to the mechanical workroom.

“Will you guys friggin’ calm down?” Valetta called, tossing a hand towel over her shoulder as she emerged from the kitchen. She was already apologizing with her expression as she came over to interrupt her sisters. “God, you’re going to give her an aneurysm.” She took Lora’s hand smiling. “Sorry, they can be a bit much. Glad you could make it.”

“I brought dessert,” Lora smiled, feeling her face heat up when the sisters awed and peeped. “I didn’t want to show up empty-handed.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Valetta smiled, taking it from her with a peck on the cheek. “Thanks, babe.”

She then introduced Lora to each of her sisters. They were each so different, from their personalities to their occupations, and even their styles. But it was instantly apparent Valetta was the feistiest of the bunch and one of the only ones who lived out in the city. Lora felt almost instantly at home, welcomed, and had no problem sitting with them as Valetta finished helping her mother in the kitchen.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve heard all about the cool side of Valetta,” her eldest sister, Andromache, said, “But what about the dorky side?”

“Um, I would love to hear about the dorky side.” Lora snickered, leaning as the second eldest, Joi, leaned in to share her phone.

“I think it’s our job to share baby pictures.”

“Absolutely,” Lora snickered. Joi tipped her phone to the side to better blow up the photograph of a child’s ballet class, zooming in on little Valetta in her little tutu and leotard, hair pulled back in a messy little bun. Lora couldn’t help the squeal as the phone was handed to her, taking a closer look. “Look at her!”

“Yup, she loved dance class.” Joi smiled. “She had just gotten fitted for a new prosthetic and she was so excited to dance.”

“She was good too!” Andromache nodded. “But the best part was, the instructor told us on her first day –she was, like, eight –they went around introducing one another. You know, say your name and something about yourself. And at Valetta’s turn, she puffs up her chest and said ‘I’m Valentine Barbie!’ like it was her entire identity!”

“Aww,” Lora laughed, staring down at the picture. The sisters started laughing.

“We’d call her Valentine sometimes, but we have no idea why she decided to tag that on!” Joi snickered.

“What are you guys talking about?!” Valetta called from the kitchen.

“Valentine Barbie!” They all chimed, prompting Valetta to storm out.

“No!”

“Yes!” Joi clapped. Lora turned to look at her, smiling as she held up the photo. Mrs. Hsieh followed her out confused but smiled when she saw the phone. “We have to!” Her younger siblings took her by the hand, pulling her down into the conversation pit.

“Remember when Val got really into baking when she was little?”

“Oh my god, I was like four!”

“And she’d always make the biggest mess because she thought when the box said mix by hand she’d literally stick her hands in the batter like a little gremlin!” Joi snickered, jostling Valetta.

“It was always in the middle of the night,” her mother joined in, stepping in to sit beside Lora. “She would call me to help, so I would rush down to the kitchen, and there she was -with batter up to her elbows. She was always trying to make them to surprise us.” She reached over patting Valetta’s knee.

Joi continued swiping through her phone, showing her different pictures. One was Valetta fishing, another with her learning to drive, helping at the orchard, or working with her dad on a car. Lora stopped her at one with a massive, scruffy old dog.

“Aw, who is that?”

Her mother squinted at the screen before smiling, “Oh, that’s A-di. He was the dog most of the girls grew up with. He was very sweet and very careful with them.” She took a moment, thinking of something before she started to softly laugh. “He was very close with Valetta. Every night after dinner, she would come and ask me for a cookie. And she would take it over to A-di and break it in half to share. He would get one half and she would get the other. And sometimes the cookie would be too hard to break so Valetta would just give him the whole thing.” She reached over, pinching Valetta’s cheek.

Lora smiled sweetly, tearing up. “She’s sweet like that.”

“Yeah, she is,” Joi cooed.

“Oh, quit,” Valetta laughed, swatting them away as they babied their teasing. It wasn’t long until the silvery voice of Valetta’s home assistant announced that dinner was ready. The girls got up, helping their mother out and back into the kitchen. Lora caught Valetta’s hand, pulling her close to kiss her on the cheek.

“See, I knew you were sweet.” She giggled.

“So much for my reputation,” Valetta laughed, leaning against her as they started for the kitchen.