Who: Everett and Caitie When: November 26, 2019 Where: Caitie and Maddie's new room What: Ev risks Caitie's wrath by sharing his plans with her Rating: Medium?
It was amazing how the potential displeasure of one person-- one very tiny person, no less-- could affect Everett so strongly. At first he'd waited to mention what he planned to do to Caitie because it was Thanksgiving. Turkey and tryptophan and all that good stuff. Then he'd put it off another couple of days because his sister had been so excited about moving to her newly acquired room with Maddie and the motley crew of pets they'd assembled. But finally he was forced to admit that putting it off any longer was not going to be constructive. It wasn't as if he was even willing to change his intentions if Caitie reacted badly; he knew what he had to do. It was simply that he hated to upset her when he'd only so recently found her again.
Everett had always had a soft spot for Caitie, though. He'd never been a person who thought that actual blood ties made any difference in the bond that formed in a family. Caitie had never been his adopted sister, no, she'd been merely his sister from the second his parents had brought her home, just as Ryan and Christina had been unquestionably his siblings. When he'd had to step in and become a father figure to them as best he could, he'd never hesitated to bring the hammer down when required, but he'd never liked making Caitie unhappy even when he knew it was best. He had the feeling that Zach was right: this news was going to make her very unhappy. But it had to be done.
Ev plodded down the corridor to Caitie's new digs, realizing that continuing to put this off was both ridiculous and immature, and he wasn't usually either of those things. He was in a better position to look for Chris than he'd ever been. He knew that Caitie was here and safe, and there were people to watch out for her. Everett could do a better job searching without the distraction of added worry. Bolstering himself with these hopeful thoughts, he rapped on Caitie's door. "Hey, sis, you in there?" he called.