Don’t be afraid to call me if you
need anything else.
I will.
Xeni thought about waiting, especially with Mason on his way over, but she wanted to at least try to get her Aunt Alice on the phone. The oldest of the Everly sisters, Alice was a retired backup vocalist, living in their grandmother’s Victorian mansion. Even though there was a pretty good chance she was busy, Xeni risked the call anyway.
“Hello?”
“Aunt Alice? It’s Xeni.”
“Couldn’t get a word in edgewise with your mother, so you decided to call me?”
Shock closed Xeni’s throat before she could respond. “I—”
“It’s fine. She called me all in a huff yesterday. So, you know?”
“I—I know that Aunt Sable is my real mother. Is there more?”Please don’t let there be more.
“No, that’s about the sum of it. Listen, your mother and Sable could never get it right. They were fighting since the day Sable was born and then, after Sable’s titties came in, it was like they were at war with each other day and night.”
“So, how did she end up giving up her baby to the person she hated the most?”
“Who said anything about hate? This is what you only children don’t understand. You don’t know what it’s like to share your life with a sister. And you sure as hell don’t know what it’s like to share your life with seven of them. My momma had eight girls, Xendria. You can’t understand what that bond was like. So yeah, we’re at each other’s throats sometimes, but there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for each other.”
Xeni closed her eyes. Her mom and her Aunt Alice were very different people, but just like all of the Everly sisters, her Aunt Alice sure knew how to get worked up on a tangent.
“I just want to know what happened.”
“Sable got pregnant. The label wanted her to go solo. They told her to get rid of the baby, of you, but she wouldn’t. So, your mother agreed to take you.”
“Okay, well, that sounds simple enough, but why not tell me? Why spend years of their lives fighting? Why wait until now to drop this in my lap?”
“Well, it’s hard to stop people from doing shit when they’re dead,” Alice said bluntly. “We all agreed not to tell you because we wanted you to have a normal life. The Everly Sisters was done. We all decided we were going our separate ways. Me, Janice and your mother were done with that side of show biz and none of us wanted you raised in it. Before you were born, we all sat down, your grandmother and Grandpa Sandy too. We all agreed. Sable would go on with her career and Joyce would give you a normal, stable childhood.”
“So what changed? Why the fighting?”
“Sable did. Every few years, she’d come back and want to take you, but she had no plan. She wanted to pull you out of school. Move you around the world. There was a tentative plan to turn you into a child actor. She regretted her decision, which we all understood, but she wanted to throw your life into chaos to make up for it. Finally, your mom and your Aunt Janice put their foot down and said they’d take her to court on child neglect claims if she tried to fight for you.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah, it was a little extreme, if you ask me, and I wasn’t sure they actually had a leg to stand on since she was your real mother after all, but the threat was enough. Sable changed her tune and said she didn’t want you anyway. She didn’t mean it,” Alice rushed to say. “She was trying to hurt your mother, but you know sometimes when things get heated and people say things they can’t take back. Then she doubled down and went out and bought our publishing rights from our old label. If she still has them, I suppose they’re yours now.”
Xeni let her head drop. Her mother was going to fucking freak. That catalog had to be worth a lot of money and Xeni couldn’t imagine the kinds of royalties their Christmas hit ‘Love You Like Christmas Morning’ alone was pulling in. It made a resurgence every damn year.
“How are you so calm about this?” Xeni asked.
“Your aunt kicked out a share of the royalties for a few of the tracks and the rest isn’t my business. You were loved and you were safe. Your school was paid for, we got you into your first apartment. You have a great job now. I couldn’t stop those two from going at each other, so I got out of the way. If I had thought, ifwehad thought, you were in danger, you know we would have stepped in.”
“I know.” Xeni’s family was a fucking mess, but there was always a line. Yeah, she didn’t have sisters, but that same bond still existed with her cousins. Even when they drifted, they always had each other’s backs.
“I don’t agree with things either of them did, but I do wish they had both shut up and just loved each other, because now Sable’s gone and we’re not getting her back.” Xeni closed her eyes, feeling like a grade-A dick. Her family, they were all still grieving. She wanted answers, but maybe this could all wait.
“I’m sorry, Aunt Alice. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t. You just have to remember our time is limited. It’s silly to waste your time being angry at people you’re supposed to love.”
“You’re right.”
