someone young at heart. Dad has wrinkles, likely caused from all the stress we gave him over the years, but his eyes are as bright and cheerful as I've always known them to be. He has the ability to make you feel better no matter what, to always have the solution for a bad day, a failed exam, or a ruined outfit. I can't count how many times I've had my heart broken by some arsehole guy, only to have dad appear as if by magic, a hot chocolate in hand. One hug from him makes it all better for a little bit. He is the best kind of dad in the entire world.
"I'm all good but hungry, what has mum made?" I ask, sniffing the air and feeling like it’s chicken something.
"A roast dinner, your favourite," he tells me. "Be right back, I'm going to help your mum dish up." I beam up at dad once before going into the room where all my brothers are sat down with the mystery new girl.
"This is my only sister, Karma," Damien introduces as I sit down opposite him, between Hugo and Peyton. I reach across the table, shaking the girl’s hand that she offers me.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Daisy," she says, and even her voice is sweet and overly nice.
"Like the flower, awesome," I reply, not wanting to comment on how she looks the very opposite to a daisy with her black hair and tanned skin. Hugo nudges my side, and I look up to see him grinning, his questioning eyes wanting to know if it’s done. I nod once, and he looks so damn happy. I know he has been sad this week since his girlfriend is visiting family in Scotland. Those two are usually inseparable. I’ve never found anyone that I could remotely imagine wanting to be around all the time. I like my space, so I can’t fathom it. This is going to end so, so badly. Mum comes into the room a second later with dad following, and they hand out the plates of food before going to get their own. We all wait for them to come back and sit down at the ends of the table.
"We thank the gods for the food and blessings we have," mum says, having no idea how strange her blessing is to a human. Mum is pretty out of touch with the human world, considering she does her karma job every so often and spends the rest of her time with dad at the magical market, doing volunteer work. Daisy frowns but doesn't say anything before everyone awkwardly starts digging into their food. I pick a small bit of my chicken off when no one is looking, folding it into a napkin and sliding it into my pocket. I dig into the rest of the food, which, as always, tastes delicious.
"Damien told us you recently moved to the area. Where are you from?" mum asks Daisy, who puts her knife and fork down for a second before she answers.
"We moved from Essex because my dad got a better job offer in Dublin. Mum wanted an older house in a village nearby the city, so here we are," she explains. “My mum loves the area and the gardening centre. I’m sure she would love to meet you, as I saw all the flowers outside, and it looks just like my mum’s garden.” I see the determined look in my mum’s eyes; she can’t have someone in the village having a nicer garden than hers.
"Well, she couldn't have chosen a better village to live in. Everyone is so nice here, and our family have lived here for hundreds of years," mum proudly says before she starts going on about our ancestors who apparently helped make the village what it is today when they settled here. I cut up my chicken and place a forkful into my mouth just as the door is pushed open and Michael walks into the room, and everyone goes silent.
“No, no, no,” mum shrieks into the silence as she mentally begs Michael not to say a word.
“Oh, you have a goat! That is so cool!” Daisy exclaims. “Wait, you all look nervous. It is your goat, right?”
"Food for meee!" Michael shouts, pushing past dad and shoving his head into his plate. Daisy lets out a deafening scream, falling back with her chair as she struggles to get away. Damien and mum rush to her side as Hugo