Twin sister, older step-sister, step-mom, and your late father

Evan picked up a family portrait, one that must've been taken when he was around ten or eleven. From the frame, Evan's whole family stared back at him. His sister Emily, with her dirty blonde hair and green eyes, grinned up at him, while he stood next to her, blushing and camera shy. His older step sister Natalie, already striking at the age of 13, long dark hair framing a pale face and deep blue eyes. Andrea, or Andie as she liked to be called, with dark hair like her daughters and warm chocolate colored eyes, smiling faintly as she leaned gently against...

A lump formed in his throat.

Dad. The one who had looked out for Evan and Emily their whole childhood. Their real mom had died in childbirth, and Dad had raised them all on his own until Andie came along. He'd had to fight with mom's parents to keep them both, and eventually he won out, but it had been hard on him. When he married Andie it had been so fast, but strangely enough she and Natalie had quickly become part of the family, part of his family. And then, when Evan was fifteen, his father had died from undiagnosed stomach cancer. Even now, four years later (or 26, depending on how you counted) it was hard for him to think about.

He placed the photo down, wiped at the wetness threatening to spill from his eyes, and took a deep breath.