Family Ties That Bind Us

[Katalina Harker]

"Mattyson Andromeda Harker! If I have to tell you one more time to put that broom up and get washed up one more time then I swear to Merlin I will ground you for a month. No flying, no visits to the bookstore...NOTHING," Katalina yelled, feeling extremely exasperated at her child for acting the exact same way she used to act. For the first time in practically ages the young brunette would have both of her siblings and her niece in the same house. The Vanderhol clan, minus her parents. "Matty. 5...4...3..."

 

[Mattyson Harker]

The tiny Harker could hear her mother yelling at her, but as usual her head was in the clouds (quite literally) and she wasn't paying much attention to the roaring coming from the former Gryffindor. She knew that she should probably do as she was being told because if not there would be serious consequences, as her mother wasn't someone that she liked to toy with. Had it been her father, all she'd have to do is bat her pretty green eyes and he was like putty in her hands. Finally the fog broke through to her and she heard her mother counting, which was an indicator that she was done playing games. With a crash landing she leapt from her tiny broom and rolled onto the ground before her mum. "2...1...," she grinned mischievously and added, "Hi momma! I'm ready for Uncle Jordan to get here. And Rena and Schuy!!" Mattyson jumped up to her mothers arms and embraced her tightly. "I'll be ready in a jiffy, okay?"

 

[Katalina Harker]

Those green eyes. Chace's eyes. They got her every time. She wrapped her arms around her seven year old and hugged her back. "You, little one, are a devil and I love you," Kat beamed brightly, always proud of her little rugrat. The young mother chuckled. In a jiffy...she gets things like that from her father she thought to herself. Chace was gone for the week. Away on business as he was a few times a year. It was never for long, but for the young couple it was always too long. It was odd that even after being married for this long she was still as in love with him as she had been at fifteen years old. She'd loved the former Slytherin for over half of her young life and there was no doubt in her mind that he loved her just the same. Katalina began to flutter about the house, getting the last few things in order before her family would arrive. She was so happy that they were coming. Their visits were always too short and so few lately with Serena and Schuyler living in France now and Jordan traveling a bit for his music. She hoped he'd seen Lola lately so she could get an update on her seeing as her cousins owls were infrequent.

 

[Jordan Trace Vanderhol]

With a pop Jordan was standing behind his older sister and his niece. He had two nieces both were beautiful little girls and he couldn't wait for the day when they'd go to school and learn about magic. The two were hugging each other in front of him and he was sure in a spilt second they'd turn around from hearing the noise of him popping in. "HELLLLLOOOOOO Harker family!" Jordan shouted with a loud voice a grin on his face. It wasn't often that he got to see his adoptive family these days, especially his sisters. He was a lot younger than the two of them but they had always supported their parents in adopting the young wizard into the family. He was grateful of that. It was nice feeling like you belonged somewhere, and having a proper last name too. "Where is Matty? I don't see her, and who are you young girl? Surely you're not Matty," Jordan said to his little niece with a wink to his sister first.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Katalina jumped slightly as she heard her brother before she saw him. She beamed brightly as she turned to see a grown man standing in front of her. She could still remember when her parents had adopted him. He'd been small and lanky with a mop of dark curly hair. And now here he stood, taller than she was and fully grown up. Time stood still for no one and they all grew up whether they wanted to or not. Kat smirked when she heard Jordan ask if that was Matty. "I know, someone has swapped my sweet little bundle of joy with a mouthy rambunctious seven year old. I don't know where they've taken her to!" She pulled her little brother into an embrace and whispered, "It's been too long, Jordan! Much too long!"

 

[Mattyson Harker]

Cackling at her mother's reaction she tiniest Harker squealed, "It's me Uncle Jordry! It's Mattyson! Can't you tell silly?" She did a small little twirl before facing her mum and exclaiming, "I am not mouthy. Nanna says I'm just like you so if I'm mouthy then where'd I get it from? Huh?" She grinned a toothy smile, well partially toothy seeing as how a few of them had fallen out and were starting to come back in just now.

 

[Serena Vanderhol]

Serena felt exasperated. They were running late, as usual, for dinner with her siblings and it was her daughters fault, as usual. If someone would have told her what it would be like having a pre-teen then she'd have probably waited later to have children, but then again Schuyler wasn't exactly planned. She sighed heavily as her child sat there with her arms crossed eyeing her as if she was Voldemort reborn. "This is not up for discussion right now, Schuy. I'm not talking about it and it's not something that you have any control over. If I had any way of getting in touch with him then I'd find him for you, but I don't so I can't. I don't know what else you want me to do. My hands are tied and we are late right now. So, may we leave before you have another meltdown or do we need to continue this for another hour." Ever since her only daughter had started school at Beauxbatons then she'd noticed that her questions about Harrison came more frequently. Serena was sure it was because all of her daughters friends had both parents raising them and in some ways that made the blonde feel horrible.

Standing she crossed her arms and said sternly, "Up. Now. We are going this instant and you will smile and be pleasant and you will play with Mattyson without that incessant noise you call whining. You will be the little lady that I raised you to be and stop with the pouting. You look like Katalina when you do that. Are we understood young lady?"

 

[Schuyler Vanderhol]

The young blonde was irritated. It was a rite of passage wasn't it? To be a royal pain in your parents arse? Hadn't her mother and her aunt been the essential version of a pain in the arse when they'd been her age? Her mother was acting as if she were the worst person on the planet. She sucked her teeth as her mother explained that she had no control over being in contact with her father. It wasn't fair. All of the other girls had two parents and here she was not even knowing where her father was. She felt in the outer circle of her friends not having both of her parents so Schuyler made up elaborate stories of where her father was. Often being in exotic locations doing amazing things in life. For the most part it satisfied her friends curiosity. "Fine. I won't ask you anything ever again. If I'm such a burden on you then I don't know why you bother even having me come home on breaks. I'll just stay at school," she snubbed hatefully with a glare.

A flush overtook the pale face of the young girl when her mother got stern. Tears glossed over her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away, not wanting to give her mother the satisfaction. "Understood perfectly, mother," she practically hissed, crossing her arms over her chest.

 

[Serena Vanderhol]

Damn you Harrison Landers Serena thought hatefully as she watched the scene unfold before her. She was sure that her daughter would behave badly for some other reason if her father were actually here, but for the love of Merlin of all things to pick a fight over and it had to be her absent dad. The one thing she actually didn't have control over. Serena snorted to keep from laughing. "Perfect. You can stay at school over the summer holiday while I take that trip to the states by myself. I'm sure it'll be much easier without you anyways," she quipped, raising a brow. The only reason they had planned the trip was for Schuyler to attend a ballet program for the summer, but two could play at this game.

With a devilish smile on her face Serena replied, "Awesome. Let's go then!" And with that she hooked arms with her daughter and with a 'POP' they were gone.

They arrived moments later in the parlor at Katalina's home. "Remember what I said," she whispered to her child with a warning tone, "I will cancel that trip so fast it'll make your head spin!" The blonde heard her brother and sister talking and instantly felt relieved that for a few hours the tension would be forgotten. "We're here! Sorry we're late. You know how things are with a teenage Vanderhol...dramatic as always," Serena belted with a bit of tired laughter.

 

[Jordan Trace Vanderhol]

Jordan laughed at his niece while he hugged his older sister. "Of course, you're Matty," he said while reaching out to ruffle up her hair a little bit. He knew there would come a day when she responded more in the line of how Schuyler would respond to that now, attitude filled. To be truthful, Jordan wasn't looking forward to that day, when his last niece would start growing up and turning into a young lady. "Hey the rest of the family! Awesome! I need to get some gifts out of my bag from my travels!" Jordan exclaimed and opened his over the shoulder bag and pulled out four small gifts. It wasn't much but he had been a few places since the last time he saw his sisters and their girls. A bracelet from Mongolia for Schuyler, a children's book from the United States for Matty, a broom charm from Kat's favorite quidditch team, and teacup from France for Serena. They weren't the most direct gifts, but he wasn't the best with actual gifts, he just picked gifts that he thought the girl receiving it might like. He was hoping if they didn't like it that they'd pretend for his sake, or he might need to travel more and bring back better gifts.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Katalina chuckled at her child as she heard her sister and niece arrive. It only took a moment to notice that the two had been fighting yet again and that it seemed Schuyler was giving her mother quite a run for her money. The brunette shook her head, remembering that there was a time when she too used to give the parental units a hard time. She walked over and kissed the youngest blonde on the top of the head before whispering to her, "She's doing the best she can. Cut her a little slack will ya?" Schuyler seemed to take things better when they came from Katalina and it was probably for the simple fact that Kat wasn't her mother. The young woman then looked at her baby sister and winked.

When Jordan started to hand out gifts everyone waited patiently to see what they'd be getting. Ever since Kat and Chace had Mattyson they didn't travel nearly as much as they used to and she knew that with Serena running a new store in France then she also didn't get to travel nearly as much as she'd wanted to. She reached for the gift from her brother and beamed brightly. It was a Chudley Cannons broom charm for her bracelet. Even though Kat had played for the Wimbourne Wasps for years she was still a Cannons fan through and through. "It's perfect Jordan! Thank you, I love it," she chimed happily as she hugged her brother before looking at her daughter, "What do you say Matty?"

 

[Schuyler Vanderhol]

Schuyler's face deepened red when her mother made the announcement that life with her was dramatic. She didn't dare make a reply, as she knew that it would only begin a huge argument all over again and this time there would be more people to bear witness to it. The young blonde almost had to fight back tears when her aunt kissed and whispered to her. She simply nodded in agreeance, her blue eyes meeting the blue eyes of her only (but still favorite) aunt.

Taking the bracelet from her uncle she examined it in her hand. She hugged him saying, "Thank you, uncle Jordan. It's beautiful!" She turned to her mother and asked, "Mum, will you fasten this for me?" Schuyler waited as her mother took the bracelet and fastened it around her wrist and then took her hand and squeezed it. It had always been just the two of them against the world, but she couldn't help to be curious about her father and where he was and what he was like. She also knew that her mum was one more amazing woman and that she should probably try and be less of a brat.

Turning to her cousin she chimed in, "Hey Mattyson, let's go out back and I can show you this new trick I learned on my broom!" She took her the youngest girls hand and the two of them sauntered to the backyard to leave the adults alone with their conversations.

 

[Mattyson Harker]

Matty was practically bouncing with anticipation when she heard the word gift. She didn't really understand much about traveling and how it worked, but she did know that when someone mentioned the word travel she usually got some sort of really nifty trinket and that in itself was enough to keep the seven year old happy. The tiny brunette took the book from her uncle and flipped through it, noting that bright colorful illustrations that filled it. She grinned from ear to ear as she practically jumped into her uncles arms and squeezed him tightly. "Oh thank you thank you thank you uncle Jordy. It's so cool!"

She was just about to sit down with her new book when she heard Schuyler ask if she wanted to go play outside. With big green eyes she looked at her mother, who nodded a yes and then took her cousins hand and away they went.

 

[Serena Vanderhol]

Serena just smiled and shook her head as she heard her sister attempting to be covert with her daughter. She smirked slightly, acknowledging the wink that came after. The blonde took the teacup from her brother and carefully examined it. The pattern was absolutely adorable. "Thank you so much for this. You really didn't have to get us anything, but these are perfect," she said, hugging him tightly. The young woman didn't realize just how much she missed her siblings now that she rarely got to see them.

When Schuy asked if she would fasten the bracelet she did so without hesitation. Gripping her daughters hand tightly she felt a surge of affection for her despite everything that her little teenaged self had previously put her through. It always had been just the two of them and she knew that was going to be harder on Schuyler the older she got and for that she hated Harrison.

She watched as the two youngest of the Vanderhol clan strolled out of the house before plopping down onto the sofa with a deep sigh. "Do you remember the good old days when we were young and carefree? I do and somedays I miss it," she said laughing as she looked at her brother and patted the seat beside her. "Come. Sit. Fill me in on the wonderful life of being single and childfree!"

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat cackled at her sister and nodded as she sat in the armchair facing the couch. "Ah yes...the wonderful days. Of course I remember having quite a bit of drama at one point in time too," she said, still laughing as she remembered love triangles and broken hearts and boys from other schools making bets. She wouldn't do it all over again if you paid her to. She loved her life now and wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. "Oh yes, Jordan. Tell us about your travels. Where have you been? Where do plan on going? Have you seen Lola lately? Do you have a girlfriend?" She threw the last question in there as a semi-joke, hoping that maybe eventually they'd be able to add to the Vanderhol family tree.

 

[Jordan Trace Vanderhol]

Jordan smiled as his family accepted their gifts, he was glad they all seemed to like the things he got them. He hardly really knew what the girls would like. Being one of the two men in the family at the moment he was greatly out numbered. He waved off the younger girls and sighed internally knowing the question of love would come up. While he constantly wrote and sung about it his life had been full of no love for him. He had his crushes while in school but they never came to anything. Either he had been stood up by the girl when he tried to ask her out or he never had the courage. Now he fit a lot better into his body and was more confident about himself. A fling here and there, not worth mentioning to his older sisters, of course. But no long term romance for him. "No no, Lola and I crossed paths maybe a few months back. She's been doing fairly well I think. But who am I to judge, you women put on a face and pretend the world is shiny when you're falling apart, I can't ever tell your emotions out right," he said with a shrug as he followed his older sisters to the couches.

Sitting down Jordan glanced around, the place was well kept and he was proud of what his sister had built up in her life. He had always admired them for going and doing what they wanted that it greatly encouraged him in his musical career. Unfortunately he wasn't top of line to producers and hadn't hit it big. Though, he used music mostly as an outlet, not for a career. "Well, being single is nice, allowed me to travel without someone nagging me all the time. I went all over Asia and Europe, some into the Americas but not much. I was getting bored of travels by then and wanted to come back and see everyone. I've gotten a small bachelor pad not far from here now. Hoping to find a permanent type of job, for awhile at least."

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat made a mental note to get in touch with Lola as she listened to her baby brother talk about how he'd only seen her once in the past few months. She knew that Lola was mostly in the US these days, but never could tell what that flightly little witch would do next. She chuckled lightly at the mention of how women hid their emotions so well. That was a trait that Kat had not acquired, much to the chagrin of others.

Her face fell only slightly upon hearing that Jordan didn't have a girlfriend. She was hoping that the youngest Vanderhol would find love one day, but even she knew that travelling all over made that a hard task to commit to. She had been lucky on that front. Chace had followed her to England when she'd been playing for the Wasps, so she hadn't had to worry about finding love. The only true love of her life had up and moved to be with her. Something, however, did peak her interest and she grinned widely upon hearing it. "So you're back in New Zealand for good then? Do mum and dad know?" Katalina was curious as to whether her parents had been keeping that little bit of information from her or if she and Serena were the first to know.

 

[Serena Vanderhol]

"I actually talked to Lola about two weeks ago. She sent me an owl mentioning something about how she had run into someone that I used to go to school with. Said she's doing pretty well and loving California. Of course, you know, she was always our little star. I just hope she makes a name for herself out there. I've heard it can be rough!" Serena had thought she'd mentioned it to Kat, but judging by the look on her face she'd forgotten. She laughed as Jordan explained how he could never tell what women were thinking before adding, "Be glad you missed your eldest sisters teenage years. You never had to worry what Kit Kat was thinking. She sure as hell just let you know!" The blonde playfully stuck her tongue out at her sister.

Serena was slightly glad that her brother hadn't yet found love. She felt he was far too young to have to settle down right now and be tied down to things that would keep him from living a full adventurous life. She loved Schuyler and wouldn't trade her for the world, but she also wished she'd had a little more time to do the things that she wanted to do when she wanted to do them. She'd fallen in love young and had her daughter young, not to mention she'd had to endure the pregnancy and raising the youngest blonde on her own. She knew that her sister would have different ideas, but Kat had always had Chace. They'd gotten married and then had Mattyson. It was the family that Serena had hoped she'd have, but it just wasn't in the cards. "Oh no, you shouldn't have told her that. There'll be weekly dinners next. Then she'll be finding eligible young women to fill a spot at the table next to yours. It'll be choas for you bro...sheer chaos," Serena cackled semi-sarcastically, knowing that there was a little bit of truth to what she was saying.

 

[Jordan Trace Vanderhol]

Jordan was enjoying talking with his older sisters. He was slightly down that Lola was doing much better than he was, but music was more hobby for him. He loved playing and singing, but he'd have to pull together an entire band to make it anywhere. He wasn't a one man show type of guy. "Oh no, I haven't stopped by there yet. I figured mom would pull things like that. I want to see if I can get a job first before I tell them I'm here permanently for awhile," Jordan told his sisters. He sometimes found it difficult to direct his answers to both of them, when one asked. He had always been a quieter guy and preferred talking one on one with people. But he was more used to being around his older siblings. "While, yes I prefer woman, to make that clear, I hope mom won't be too upset that right now I'm more interested in finding a good job." Jordan shifted in his seat as he looked over at the two women that had brought him into their lives when they hadn't been planning on having a kid brother. He was grateful of the love they have shared towards him.