Chapter 3

About 9 years ago...

"Happy 8th birthday Jenni!" Taryn called from the stage. The audience clapped loudly, cries of "happy birthday!" and "such a big girl now" could be heard, but Jenni could barely muster a smile.

"Smile Jennabel. The press is taking pictures, you don't want to look upset," Derik whispered, and Jenni forced a smile. It was convincing enough for an eight-year-old girl, but Derik wasn't fooled. "It's about your siblings, isn't it. Jenni, it's been about a year and a half now, didn't your dad say he's going to tell you about it after you turn 9? Just another year, and maybe they'll be back with your mom."

Derik, who had turned nine last September, was old enough to know what 'divorce' was, and had concluded that Ms. Adianne must have taken Andri and Avi with her. At first, he had felt betrayed and confused about Andri no longer coming over, but after a long talk with his dad, he came to understand that they would not be seeing each other until they were grown up. Derik wasn't sure what exactly his dad meant by 'grown up', but he decided to begin with acting more maturely. Derik remembered getting matching earrings with Andri without their parents knowing- at that moment, he felt really grown up.

On the other hand, Jenni was incredibly upset with not seeing her brother and sister. She cried every day, and Mr. Taryn had to bring her over to see Derik a lot so she wouldn't feel lonely. Now, Jenni carried Cherribagels with her everywhere for emotional support.

Derik could see how Jenni talked less and grew sadder and sadder by day, to the point where sometimes she would just sit down and pet Cherribagels silently for hours. They no longer watched Megan's Life or talked about Andri or Avi. Seeing what the bubbly Jenni has been reduced to was hard, but Derik didn't know where Andri and Avi were now.

This reminded him of the last episode of Megan's Life, the one where Megan and Addison leave behind Nathan and Jessica. Derik, like Nathan, desperately wants to chase down Megan (Andri) and Addison (Avi), but where would he look? Where would he go? He was only a nine-year-old boy who missed his friends.

"Derik, I want to go home..." Derik snaps out of his thoughts to find Jenni starting to cry-- and he panics.

"Jennabel, don't cry! Um, right, home, why don't we go home after you try the cake first? Your dad had it specially made in some bakery in France-- it's your favorite thousand layered cake! It has chocolate, strawberry, mocha..." Derik rambles on as he frantically pats Jenni on the head, but she only starts to cry harder.

"Aaaah, Jenni, don't cry, ok? Today's your birthday, Andri and Adelle would be sad if they knew you were crying," Derik handed her a napkin, and Jenni dried her tears.

"You called me Jenni," she said, looking up at Derik with wide eyes, "You've never called me by my nickname before."

Derik ruffled his hair awkwardly, "Yeah, well Andri didn't like people getting too close to you or Adelle, so..."

Jenni sniffled, but stopped crying, "You'll be my big brother now since Andri isn't here."

'Weren't you guys technically born at the same time...' Derik thought, but he agreed in case Jenni would start crying again.

The rest of the party went smoothly, with Jenni being drowned in compliments, presents, and yummy cake. Hopefully, her siblings would be having a great birthday as well...

^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*

Nora cut Avi a slice of thousand layered cake as she stared blankly out the window.

"Here Avi, have some cake. Today's your birthday, remember?" Nora placed a hefty-sized slice on her plate and smiled at the young girl. Thousand layered cake was Jenni's favorite, and this was sort of Nora's way to remind Avi of her sister.

"Where's Andri?" Avi's voice was shaky, and she stared blankly at Nora, "Where's my brother?"

Nora stared out the window, watching the droplets trickle down the glass. Ms. Dianne was having a meeting with the shareholders, so Avi sat in the breakfast room alone. A year ago Andri had thrown some candles at this window and the glass completely shattered. That was the last day Andri went into the breakfast room. Afterward, Ms. Dianne sent Andri to a training program for aspiring actors and models. It's been a year now, but Andri hasn't been home once.

"He's supposed to return today. Maybe his flight was delayed by the rain," Nora explained, relieved by the thought of Andri being back. After Ms. Dianne informed Avi of Andri's departure, she hadn't been able to eat a single bite.

Luckily, Andri FaceTimed Avi as often as he could, and she was always better about eating when she saw her brother. After not being able to hear about Jenni, Avi didn't talk about her anymore. She saw how her mom reacted to Andri's demands and was frightened. Her mom had never treated them like this before, what happened?

Ever since they moved, Avi's days were packed with tutoring lessons, and frequent visits to AuBri, her maternal family's business.

AuBri was a high-end luxury designer brand of clothes and accessories. Avi could tell her mom planned for her to work there someday, so she always worked hard in case she got sent away too. Avi didn't want to be alone in someplace she didn't know. She was scared for Andri, but when they FaceTimed he looked fine, happy even, so she didn't beg him to come back.

She saw a car pull up, and jumped up in excitement.

"Nora, is that Andri? Oh, it's Andri, Andri's back!" Avi jumped out of her seat and raced to the front door, hurrying to see her brother and--

"ANDRI! YOU'RE BACK!" Avi threw herself into Andri's arms, empowered by his return.

"Avi, I'm taller than you," Andri teased, "Have you been eating properly?" Although his tone was playful, his face was one of concern.

"Yep. Nora's waiting in the breakfast room with thousand layered cake."

"That was Jenni's favorite," Andri said quietly. He reached up to touch his earring, a dangling cross. Avi knew that Andri had gotten it with Derik secretly, as a reminder of their friendship.

"Maybe Jenni and Derik are celebrating with thousand layered cake too."

"Yeah... maybe."