A New Presence = A New Start (for Cheeki)

[Sardonyx]

(Btw, it is with an S and not a Z, for Sayla. XD)

Sayla's eyes widened as she watched the entire thing unfold. "(It's the same...a spanking...)" she gulped hard, it was one of the things she didn't miss much, well at least punishment part, but the comfort at the end always made her feel better.

Upon being reassured that she would never get the belt, she sighed deeply, relieved, even if now she had to introduce herself to a new big brother that may or may not accept her. She wondered if this boy was like her true big brother, until she first saw him. Derek was the complete opposite!

She faced Derek and froze a bit, before looking around and rubbing her should. "Umm...H-Hi...m-my name is...umm...my name....i-is....Sayla..." she mumbled. "I...I..."

(Oops! Sorry!)

Thomas kept his hand on her shoulder and decided to finish for Sayla. "Derek, this is your new sister, Sayla." Thomas said slowly. His son's red, puffy eyes widened, narrowed, and the widened again as his face flashed through tons of emotion. It all went too quick though and so Thomas didn't catch any of it. "Say, hello to Sayla." He told him. Derek nodded, his hands going for his own butt.

"H-Hello." Derek said, voice hoarse from crying. The sound of a car door sounded from outside the complex and Thomas remembered Rachel.

"Rachel is here. I'm going to help her with her bag, Derek, Sayla, why don't you two chat." He gave Sayla a kiss on her forehead, wanting to get into the habit early as he always did the same for Ashley even when he stepped out only for a moment. Thomas actually needed to tell his wife before she saw Sayla and started yelling her head off. Leaving the house, he went down the stairs. "Welcome home, honey!" He greeted with a smile. His wife was around average height, reaching Thomas's shoulder. She had long blonde hair and the most beautiful blue-eyes. Eyes which were wide.

"You're home...early." Rachel said, looking gobsmacked. Thomas smiled, waving it away.

"I have something I need to tell you." He said, taking a sneak peak at the apartment. He couldn't seen anything from here though.

Meanwhile though, Derek was sitting their quietly, staring at Sayla. Then, suddenly, Derek's face displayed anger and some maliciousness. "We don't need a new family member." He said, rudely. "And you shouldn't have gone into my room." Standing up, he manhandled Sayla, sinking his hands into the fabric of her clothes and yanking on her panties really hard. Then, his eyes looked at the door in fear, and he let go before taking a seat back at the table, wincing. "And don't tell my dad or mom or I'll hang you by your underwear in my closet on a hook." He threatened.

[Sardonyx]

The initial hello made Sayla calm down, and the kiss to the forehead only made Sayla more secure. She seemed fine being alone with Derek for a few moments, but she kept her bag huddled close to her chest as it basically acted as her safety blanket.

Then at Derek's harsh and hurtful words, Sayla was caught off guard and confused. Then as he came closer she wanted to make a run fore it, but she stumbled and he easily caught with her.

The wedgie caused her eyes to dilate as the lower half of her body went weak and she ended up dropping her bag on the floor as she was slightly lifted up. She wanted to shriek for help, but right now felt new pain. The pain of a lie, her heart began to race quite significantly. She didn't either to stick her panties back into her skirt, the white just hung out of her waistband as she hit the floor. She shook violently. "N...No...h-he lied to me..." she mumbled as she slid up against the wall by the wall and hugged her bag tightly, tears beginning to build in her eyes. "I...I knew it...in the back of my head I knew...!"

[I edited my previous post, the very last sentence.]

Rachel glared at Thomas and he shrunk back a bit. Easily, he could tell, that his wife was furious and even that was a weak expression of her anger. "You adopted a child?!" She whispered. "Without talking to me about it?!" Thomas held his hands defensively.

"Listen, I just think she'll be good-" Rachel interrupted him.

"Good for what?! Covering for you? Being home when you're not? Becoming your business partner?!" Thomas sighed. Rachel was pissed with him, but he had been prepared for this. It still hurt though, having his love so angry with him.

"I'm...sorry. But don't take it on Sayla, she's very vulenarble. She lost her parents in a fire a few years ago and has been swapped around, house to house, for a long time. Sayla needs a family..." Thomas trailed off, staring Rachel in the eyes. She stared back and he had no idea what she was thinking. After a few minutes, though, she sighed.

"Okay," Rachel said. "I'll treat her like Derek and Ashely, which means no special treatment." Thomas nodded, smiling. His wife was so great. He adopts a kid and she's like okay, after a bit of convincing.

As they went up the stairs, Thomas shared more information about Sayla before moving to the Derek situation. "I'll have a one-on-one talk with him." Rachel said. Thomas opened the door and was greeted by a very concerning scene. Derek, who wasn't the one that had him worried, was -obviously- pretending to sleep. Sayla, on the other hand, was huddled against the wall, white panties hanging out from her skirt. Thomas and Rachel exchanged a glance.

Rachel went about to Derek and dragged him by his ear into the master bedroom, while Thomas went to help Sayla. "Are you, okay?" He asked. "Derek isn't supposed to do this, and you can tell us whenever something like this happens." Although Thomas was unaware that Derek had threatened Sayla-if she did tell. He brought her into a hug. His face hidden over her shoulder, Thomas's face turned into confusion. Derek had bought that sign only a month ago and Ashely, who loved hanging out with him, had come to them repeatedly, crying, with her underwear hanging out. Ashely had stopped recently, trying to hang out with her brother that is. Thomas was worried about Derek and his increasingly misdeeds.

After a few minutes, he pulled away and helped Sayla get her underwear back in her skirt. "Is there anything, you want? When Rachel comes out, I think she'll want to meet you." He whispered in her ear. "She's a hugger."

[Sardonyx]

Sayla didn't really say anything, most of her emotion was expressed in her bodily movements, she was still shaking lightly still, it wasn't just from the pain from before, but because she was still emotionally struck.

She eve as distraught about the initial wedgie, she saw the sign so she guessed that she would end up getting one eventually, it was his first words that were the 'killing' blow.

"H...He said that you family doesn't need another member...he doesn't want me here....d-does anybody want me here...? A-Am I just a burden...?" she mumbled, raising her voice upon getting further in her sentence.

"You're not a burden. Sayla, don't let anything Derek said get to you. He's under a lot of stress right now and he's been saying harsh things to everyone. I promise, soon you'll see just how kind and great he is. I want you here, Rachel wants you here, and Ashely, once she finds out, will love having a sister." He whispered in her ear, comfortingly. Rachel suddenly exited the master bedroom, without Derek. Arms wrapped around Sayla again, Thomas asked.

"Rachel, would you like to meet Sayla?" He asked, carefully. Rachel gave a slightly stressed, but beaming smile. The blonde woman approached and knelt down to Sayla's eye level, like Thomas does.

"Hello, Sayla, I'm Rachel. You can call me whatever you'd like." Rachel then went on and on, just chatting with Sayla as Thomas stepped away. Thomas decided he would pick up Ashely, today. He hadn't gotten the chance since last year and so it would be a nice change of pace.

"Sayla, would you like to come with me to pick up, Ashely?" He asked.

[Sardonyx]

Upon hearing that Derek's words were stress caused, she knew that logically it couldn't be her that caused it as he was obviously like this before, but she couldn't help but think that perhaps she may have added onto it. Sayla couldn't help but always think negatively on most situations now, even if there was more of a bright side.

Upon being officially introduced Rachel, Sayla could automatically see stress in her smile, she obviously wasn't expecting her, and she could also tell that she wasn't entirely thrilled to have a new addition to the house. But none the less she tried to talk as much as she could, but she could only respond to most things with short, bitterly sweet answers.

When asked if she wanted to accompany Thomas on picking up his older daughter, she immediately nodded. "Yes, please..." she was adamant about meeting Ashley as soon as possible, she wanted to get a firm opinion about how Ashley would feel and how she would feel about one another before cementing her decision on whether or not she could try to stay here.

Rachel smiled. "Ashely will adore you." She promised, sending them off. Thomas, not realizing it might be a bit embarrassing for Sayla, picked her up by the waist, and her held to his waist (like a baby, one might observe). He didn't mean too, but he subconsciously thought of her as really young and helpless. This would pass with time. So, unaware of these thoughts, he marched down the stairs with Sayla's legs hanging loosely in the air, her head forcefully (not by him, but by the force of his walk) forced to rest on his shoulder. Opening the car, he sat her down in the middle row this time. "Ashely will be getting in the middle too." He explained, shutting the car door and walking around to the front. Getting in, he joined the busy streets once more.

"So, what are you think, Sayla?" He inquired.

[Sardonyx]

The extra reassurance from Rachel actually gave Sayla some confidence, perhaps her encounter with Ashley won't be as painful as it was with Derek. Although upon being picked up, she felt the immediate urge to protest, she was no infant and she didn't want to be carried like so. However she just thought that Thomas was just trying to help her and it would take them awhile to descend from the stairs if she were to go on foot and since they were probably on a time constraint to pick up Ashley then they couldn't afford that time.

Upon being seated in the middle row, Sayla didn't mind only because she'll be seated next her new sister and once they merged with the streets again, the girl simply stared out the window as the passing sights. She turned slightly upon having a question asked to her and then she looked back at the window. "I'm trying to think...about what she's like..."

"Well, she's very kind." Thomas began, regaling Sayla with facts about Ashely. "She's also very smart. Even though she's only in her final year of middle school, she takes high school level Math and English classes. Ashely is also creative and loves to write." On the top of his head, Thomas could think of a lot more to describe Ashely, but figured it'd be best if she learned the rest over time. He was sure both girls would adore one another. Ashely had been dropping an awful amount of tips lately about getting a younger sibling, almost like she expected one...Thomas shook his head. That was impossible. Taking a turn, Thomas went down a 'secret street' to avoid the brunt of traffic. Living in this city was a pain but it'd be too hard to move with his businesses being located here.

Arriving at a school, which was squeezed between a community library and a Starbucks, Thomas spotted his young daughter, who was sitting alone, reading a book. Thomas frowned. Why was Ashely always alone? Driving up the curb, he rolled down the window. "Ashely." He called out. The blonde head snapped up, her green-eyes lighting up. Ashely was glad to see that her father was the once to pick her up today and had an inkling as too why. Ashely put her book, which was titled 'How to be Popular' away, hiding it under her other books. Ashely had friends, and her classmates all loved her, or so they said whenever she asked out of insecurity, but Ashely wanted more. When she saw a girl with a lot of friends she wondered what was wrong with herself. Was it the fact that she kept her blonde hair short? Was it her slightly wider than normal green eyes? Was her skin too pale? Was her...the list went on and on.

"Hi, dad." Ashely hollered back, walking to the car. She opened the side door, blinking when she saw a girl around her own age. Blinking a few times, a smile finally spread across her face. "You must be my new sister, nice to meet you!" She greeted sweetly, moving into the van and sitting next to Sayla, surprising Thomas.

"You know Sayla?" Thomas asked.

Ashely smiled. "Yup, you're not the best at keeping a secret. You're just lucky mom and Derek are...busy." She settled on that word, instead of a potentially offensive one like oblivious. Ashely liked to avoid fights, being a pacificst and didn't say anything that could be considered mean, even when the person in question wasn't around. Ashely turned her attention to Sayla as the van re-entered the streets. "How are you, Sayla?" She asked, choosing to be simple.