A/N: Hello! I'm very happy you're here and about to read the first chapter of this story. I hope you'll like it. Please tell me what you think!

16.04.2010 It's an edited version of chapter 1.

Enjoy


Getting Used To It

By Waiting For Summer

Betaed by HideAndGoSeek

Chapter 1

The car. The beautiful limousine. The beautiful, expensive, big, shiny limousine. The kind you can't believe somebody could actually afford. It was being taken! They were taking it away! Along with two other cars, which being an Aston Martin and a Porsche were not really that cheap. They were taking the furniture, the vases, paintings, his desk and his stereo! He hoped he could take at least few CDs from his classical collection. Well, of course taking that as well was understandable - they were taking away the whole house. The whole enormous and outstanding mansion with marvelous gardens and….everything is lost. How come? How come? That is the question he real-

"Excuse me," the man with a clipboard in his hands said impatiently as he came over. "We have to take that as well. I'm sorry but it's worth much and it belongs, belonged to…yeah it's on the list. So…" he stammered and the perplexed man began pulling at the boy's right hand and taking off the golden watch.

Yes, how come? That was the question he really couldn't find a logical and satisfying answer to.

The boy sighed dramatically. They even took his precious Rolex that his grandfather gave him for his fifteenth birthday. It once belonged to Grandfather. This had to be one of those darkest nightmares.

The boy was standing outside the house, watching as officials were taking away all of his and his grandfather's belongings and tried not to think about the big 'for sale' notice placed near the gates of his home. What's going to happen to him now? They said he could take his personal belongings and the most necessary things. That means some clothes, photographs, books, maybe some CDs. How could he choose something from his library where there were at least one hundred books out of over two thousand that he thought were necessary. And what is the definition of the most necessary things? He couldn't imagine his life without his telescope, his newest camera and…he was depressed.

Although the boy wasn't very tall and was rather slim, when he hung his head and hugged himself, he looked even smaller and a lot younger than sixteen years old. His shining blond hair was covering his sad blue eyes and nobody would believe that under the mask of a momentary despair, was hidden a rather proud and self-confident character.

"Excuse me? Are you Oliver Hughes?" somebody asked.

The blond shuddered and looked in the direction from which the voice came. Now wasn't the time to feel depressed.

"Yes, I am Oliver Eliot Hughes. How can I help you?" the boy asked suddenly straightening up, his head high and voice sure.

"Yes, this is for you," the tall man in a suit said, holding out an envelope. "It's from your grandfather," he said to lessen Oliver's surprise.

"Oh. Thank you very much and, uh, excuse me but, who are you?" asked the still puzzled boy.

"Oh right. I'm sorry. My name is Richard Bailey. I'm your grandfather's lawyer," the man said shaking hands with Oliver and pulling out his business card.

"L-lawyer?" asked an astonished Oliver. The boy suspiciously examined the man standing before him. He was wearing a dark suit and was holding a briefcase. He looked intelligent and smart. He in fact could be Grandfather's lawyer. "But, please forgive me my rudeness, I don't know you. I thought Larry Adams was Grandfather's lawyer. Are you one of his workers? Because he did not contact me and I think I really need to speak with him."

"You don't need to anymore. You see, your grandfather left his last will."

"Last will? But he doesn't have anything. We lost our fortune and I don't know if it's invalid or…"Oliver quickly explained .

"That would be the case if the testament was concerning your fortune but your grandfather's last will concerns you," Richard said. It was rather awkward situation. He just had to tell the boy that his life was going to change. Probably much more than he could have imagined it to. Oliver was staring at him in shock.

"Me?" he asked.

"Oliver listen, I'm here to take care of you. Well, sort of. Could we go somewhere to have a cup of coffee or something?" Richard proposed. "Then I could explain everything to you?"

Oliver just nodded. He felt his helplessness once again. Of course some things had to be explained. Not only was the last member of his family and his legal guardian dead, but his fortune was lost as well. Apparently Grandfather's company had gone bankrupt in a very small amount of time and he had to leave his house because of the debts. Now he didn't have a place to go. He was Oliver Eliot Hughes, only sixteen years old, without family, soon to be homeless with no money, no limo and…

"Of course! Explain everything to me, please."

*

Well, this was certainly not what he had expected. Not that he could expect or imagine anything during this whole unexpected, unimaginable and eventful week. His imagination couldn't construct any other occurrences more astonishing. Unless…let's say…yes! Let's say that Einstein had just risen from the dead and was going to explain to him the quantum theory of atomic motion in solids because Oliver had always been interested in the details of this matter and Mr. Beckins, his teacher, really hadn't done a good job. There still were few things, of course only a few things (Oliver was well aware that his interests sometimes exceeded the plan of studies for a teenage pupil and that he was rather intelligent, not saying he was a genius), but yes some things weren't clear and there were things he would happily discuss….

"We'll be there soon" Richard said interrupting Oliver's thoughts.

Right…so this was really not what he had expected.

"Yes, of course. So where are we going again? If I may ask?" Oliver tried once again, wishing that he could get a different explanation than the one before. He doubted it because apparently he asked this question about seven times during their two-hour trip and it was simply out of his lack of understanding.

"Oliver, please, I beg you. I know this is very hard for you. Going to different place, to strangers, changing your surroundings…but you are an intelligent and strong young man. I'm sure you'll get used to it soon." Richard smiled reassuring and grasped the steering wheel a bit tighter.

Sure. Of course. Oliver had to admit that Richard was right. It was a simple thing and he just needed to understand all of this. So he decided to go through all of what had happened since the day before up to the present moment. Again.

Yesterday, Richard Bailey explained to him what was going to happen. First he gave Oliver that envelope, which turned out to be the letter from his grandfather. Right now the note was in his jeans pocket, he took it out and read for the thousandth time.

Dear Oliver Eliot,

You reading this means I am already dead. Probably everything is lost and you do not know what to do or where to go. But fear not. I thought of everything. Although we lost our fortune and the company, you still have a place to stay. In fact that is very warm place full of people who will take good care of you and whom I trust. They are my dear friends and I would like you to live with them and let them help you. I know you are a proud man and don't like to show your weakness, but believe me, sometimes even the greatest men need help and support from others. And trust me, there are people who are ready to give you a hand without feeling superior. It will be very difficult at first, but I know you Oliver Eliot. I know you are strong and you will manage to get through it all.

Although I may not have shown you, I hope you know that I love you.

I am, as well very sorry.

Grandfather

The meaning of the letter was that he, Oliver, thanks to his grandfather's arrangements, wasn't forced to be put in foster care. Since he was still a minor, until he reached the age of eighteen, he had to be under the care of adults. That would mean, as Richard said, putting Oliver in foster care and then finding him a family.

"But your grandfather didn't want you to go through all of that and he wanted to avoid putting you in the hands of strangers. That's why, before his death, he nominated a standby guardian in case he died. Your designated guardian is Grace Andrews," Oliver remembered lawyer's words.

From what he understood, that meant permanent transfer of custody and authority over him went to that Grace Andrews. But the problem was, and here was the part he didn't understand, that he didn't know any Grace Andrews. Apparently she was grandfather's friend. Richard said that and the letter said that. But if he was going to live with her, that would mean that she was a really good friend, a very close friend. How was it possible that he had never heard about her before? Grandfather usually told him about the most important people, were they only his business partners or acquaintances. That he hadn't heard about Grace Andrews before was bothering him more than he wanted it to.

Right now he was going to meet his 'new family'. Oliver sighed.

"What's wrong Oliver?" Richard asked.

Well that was a question. Oliver snorted inwardly.

"What isn't wrong?" he murmured and sighed again. "Nothing really. I was just thinking about what you told me yesterday and I still don't know anything about them."

"Well I told you Grace lives with her husband and they have 4 children. I know them quite well because I act as their lawyer from time to time. They're very nice people - honest and reliable. That's probably why your grandfather chose them. I think he trusted Grace a lot."

"But how did they know each other? When did they meet? How long were they friends? Why didn't I know her?" inquired Oliver, shooting questions at him without taking a breath.

Richard shrugged, "I don't know. I actually have no idea. I only know that I had to give you the letter then convince you to come here. From what I know, Grace has already started to take care of the formalities needed for taking you in."

Richard glanced at Oliver. The boy was sitting hunched over with a tired expression. Losing his grandfather, his only family, his money, and the mansion, which was his home, meaning losing everything that he knew, and then going to some strange place, to people who he didn't know, must have taken quite an effect on his…mood at the very least. Richard thought it wasn't very fair for something like this happen to a kid. Especially to this kind of kid, always used to luxury, having everything he wanted, he probably was selfish and spoiled and he probably was sheltered from the real world. Richard could only hope that Grace will somehow manage to take care of the kid. The fact that he didn't have to go into system and stay with at least a few foster families for the next two years was a big plus.

"From what you're saying Mr. Bailey, it really seems that by doing what my grandfather had wished and at least meeting Grace Andrews is the best option and the only one I have right now," the boy said and laughed rather bitterly. Then he looked at Richard.

"Thank you very much for your help" he said in strong voice and smiled a little.

The lawyer was shocked. Even in this situation the boy was still using his manners. Richard also felt strange because of the way Oliver was speaking. It's like he was taking care of business matters with some forty year old man rather than a teenage kid. It was funny and a bit scary in a way. The boy was confusing.

"Don't mention it. Look we're here. That's the house."

Oliver finally looked out the window to survey the surroundings.

They were probably in the outer district of the city, not necessarily on the outskirts but in a very peaceful and nice neighborhood. They parked in front of the house. Oliver got out of the car and looked at the mailbox. The name was Andrews. He examined what was in front of him.

For any other person the house and the neighborhood would probably be beautiful and like a dream come true. It was green everywhere, a lot of trees along the street, cut flush grass, flowers in the small gardens, everything well-groomed. The Andrews' house was very similar to other single family homes on that street. It was a two story house with a porch, a nice driveway and a garage, separated from two neighboring houses by a hedge. It definitely was a nice place to live.

But not for Oliver. The boy was astonished and scared - very afraid of living in such a small space. He wasn't even used to seeing so many houses in one place. And the Andrews' house was so small, so tiny compared to his mansion, which was probably as big as this whole street. What an inappropriate joke. How could a family of six people live in that little building? And how were they going to accommodate even one more person? And the garage…it was…not big…was it even able to fit at least two cars?

"Hey Oliver, be optimistic. At least it isn't a small apartment," apparently Richard noticed the boy's disappointed and lost expression and tried to make a joke but it didn't help.

Oliver sighed and then someone came out of the house. It was a woman who was thin and medium height. She was wearing blue jeans and a violet short sleeve shirt. Her hair was very curly and dark brown and let loose. She looked like a typical, very typical woman, wife, mother from a city, living in a very typical house. Oliver really didn't like the word "typical." Couldn't she at least wear a fashionable and expensive dress? What a question.

"Hello guys! You're finally here! Hi Richard," the woman said, coming over to them. Richard

nodded to her.

"My name is Grace Andrews," she said holding out her hand to Oliver. She was a bit insecure, with something strange in her eyes that Oliver couldn't recognize.

"Um…" Oliver suddenly felt very awkward and not as sure of himself as usual. He shook her hand and cleared his throat, "Hello. Nice to meet you Mrs. Andrews. I'm Oliver, Oliver Eliot Hughes."

"It's nice to finally meet you Oliver. We were waiting for you," she smiled, the hesitation leaving her.

Her smile was very warm and encouraging and reached her gentle hazel eyes. Oliver felt that she had to be one of those wise and strong women who at the same time were outgoing and delicate mothers. The ones that usually only exist in books. And somehow her smile reminded him of something. It was probably just his imagination, a vision of those perfect mothers. He smiled inwardly at his childish comparison but simultaneously decided that he could get to like Grace. Probably. And get used to her not wearing branded dresses. Probably….he didn't have a choice.

"Well, let's go inside," Grace said.

When Oliver got inside his nose caught the nice smell of a chicken. Someone was probably making dinner. He just then felt how hungry he was. The house inside was the same as the outside. Nothing special comparing to his previous home but it wasn't that bad - only small. She took them to another small room and gestured towards the sofa.

"Would you like tea? " she proposed.

"Oh wait Grace. I'd like to talk with you and then I'm gunna go," Richard said nervously glancing toward Oliver. "I think Oliver would like to meet all of you and see the house. I'm not really needed for now. Oliver, I'll check on you soon and if you have any questions or anything, just call me okay?"

"Yes of course. Thank you once again for helping me and …for everything," Oliver shook the man's hand. He was looking at them both as they were going to the door and then outside. They were presumably talking about all the formalities and things he didn't have the energy to analyze. He looked around and noticed that there was a TV in this room, DVD player and even a stereo. Apart from the sofa he was sitting on, there was one more couch and two armchairs. In front of him there was a coffee table and suddenly he was struck by the thought that this small room was in fact the living room, which meant that it was most likely the biggest room in the house.

Well, splendid.

His brooding was interrupted by some kind of noise. Then he registered two voices, shouting something. And after all that stomping and yelling two gasping and flushed kids ran into the room.

"Ollie! Ollie!" they screamed and laughed.

"Hi! Who are you?" asked one of them, the boy.

Oliver wanted to answer but then the girl said to him, "Do you know that Ollie is coming today?"

The two red headed kids were giggling and jumping impatiently. They had to be twins, apart from their equally red hair, noses covered in freckles and happy, full of energy blue eyes, even their clothes were similar.

"So what's your name? I'm Vincent and this is Em," the boy introduced.

"I'm not Em! I'm Emily! And you're Vin!" the girl shouted in her high-pitched voice.

"That's not true! Mom always calls you Em!" retorted Vincent.

"Oh yeah?" now red faced Emily screamed.

"Yeah!"

"Well then she calls you Vin!"

"But dad calls me Vincent!"

"And me Emily! And Megan calls me Emily!"

The argument was very…serious, but Oliver felt it would be best to end it here.

"Um... my name is Oliver Eliot," he interrupted. Both kids looked at him with shocked expressions. Then Emily asked slowly, she was probably suspicious.

"So do you know Ollie?"

Now Oliver was the shocked one. Didn't they mean him? Or maybe he was wrong?

"Who—" he tried but the kids suddenly started their chanting again.

"Ollie! Ollie!"

"Oh my god! I'm sorry Oliver. I guess they attacked you already," Grace said with an apologetic look. "Em! Vin! Be quiet for a moment please!"

"But mommy when will Ollie get here?" Emily asked innocently. Grace burst out laughing.

"Oh baby, this is Ollie," she pointed to Oliver and stroked the girl's hair.

"Ollie meaning Oliver Eliot?" Vincent asked in a serious and pensive voice.

Oliver wanted to laugh at that very amusing situation but before he could, he felt something heavy on both sides of him.

"Ollie! Ollie!" still shouting, the twins were now sitting on the sofa on each side of Oliver, squeezing him and hiding their faces in his shirt. They were hugging him. That was a strange and new feeling. He hadn't known this kind of energy in kids until today. The children he got to know were always calm, quiet and serious when accompanying their parents to business parties he himself attended.

"Oh guys, please. Leave Ollie alone for a moment," Grace said still amused. "I'm sorry Ollie. We told them you were coming and they've been very excited all day. They couldn't wait to meet the new boy who would live with them," she smiled.

"You said the new brother mom," Vincent suddenly corrected. A light pink covered Grace's cheeks and she looked shyly at Oliver.

"I hope you don't mind. I had to somehow explain to them that you'll live with us for good and telling them you're going to be like a new brother was the easiest way," she explained quickly.

"Of…of course," Oliver answered flabbergasted. For the last ten minutes he was shocked. Firstly she called him Ollie. No one ever called him that. Never! It was usually Oliver Eliot, even Oliver - that he could manage…but Ollie? That was unacceptable. That was, when he thought about it, that was kind of…nice coming from her and all. And then these children were happy he was coming and they called him a brother. That was something unexpected but he could agree to it. In the end, he would live here for at least two years, wouldn't he? Besides, they were only little kids and he didn't have any siblings so it might be interesting.

Suddenly Oliver heard somebody closed the front door and the voices that were coming from the hall.

"That's probably the rest of us. You can finally meet the whole family," Grace said excited now. "Guys! We're in the living room! Come on!" she called out.

Then a tall man in a suit came into the room. He came over to Grace and kissed her cheek. Oliver noticed he had the same red hair as the twins and a lot less freckles, but he had to be their father.

"Hello Oliver. I'm Greg," Oliver shook the man's hand.

"So how do you like here so far? The twins torment you yet?" Greg asked jocularly.

"I like it very much thank you and the- the children are…nice," Oliver felt his face going red. He didn't know why but he was almost stammering. What was wrong with him? Greg was the same as his wife, outgoing and cheerful. And he had this strange look in his eyes, not exactly sympathy but something close to concern or care? The blond couldn't really read the man. Besides, Oliver was used to serious, almost gravelly and bland people. Here everybody was so…colorful.

"Where are the other kids? Megan! Tyler!" Grace called.

"Coming!" a female voice said.

"Oh right, he's here already, isn't he?" an energetic male voice said.

A few seconds later a girl came into the room - Megan. Megan was smiling as she came over to Oliver and hugged him briefly. She looked a lot like her mother, only her hair was a lighter brown.

"I'm Megan. Nice to meet you," then she whispered to Oliver, "Don't pay any attention to Ty. He's a prick."

Oliver wondered what that meant, was this Tyler was mean or arrogant or standoffish?

"Ty!"

"Yeah, yeah…I'm coming." The boy said running into the room. "Hi, I'm Ty. Tyler," he introduced himself and when he shook Oliver's hand he was looking him over, slowly from head to toe, squeezing Oliver's hand tightly for a second.

Okay, the blond didn't know if the other boy was a prick, but that definitely was strange. What came next was even weirder. Tyler looked at Megan and said quietly to her 'nice'. The girl whispered 'shut up' and hit him on the shoulder. Oliver just pretended he didn't hear or see this exchange. He tried not to judge Tyler relying on the first impression but he didn't like the boy much.

He was getting a bit overwhelmed by all the Andrews people.

"Okay Oliver. I think you should go to see your room, unpack your things and then we'll have dinner," Grace smiled once again. "Ty, could you please help Oliver unpack and show him the house?"

"Sure," the boy answered and led Oliver to a room on the first floor.

'This is your bed. That's a wardrobe, half of it is yours. And the desk is unfortunately shared."

Oliver was once again shocked; mostly because of the size of the room and also because of the attitude of the boy. He was nice, that's true, but he kept staring at Oliver and it was unnerving. Oliver decided he wasn't going to be nice to this Tyler person.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Hm?" Ty asked, not understanding and looking around the room.

"I asked what is this room?" Oliver tried once again. He decided to stay calm, although he didn't like the room or the boy.

"Hey, what are you saying? You don't like the room?' asked Ty in a surprised voice.

"Well, I don't like it but that does not matter, because there are very little things that would respond to my liking, mostly because of the good taste I have, but the main problem is the size of the room," answered Oliver.

Tyler looked at the blond once again, stared at Oliver for a moment with amused eyes, then started to laugh.

"Listen Ollie. This is the room you'll sleep in, study in, and spend your free time in…like…this is your room. The room you're staying in," Ty explained calmly, still amused.

"This?! But it's the size of…of my very tiniest bathroom!" cried a disappointed and shocked Oliver.

"Oh that's right, you had very big house before. Don't worry, it won't be that bad when you get used to it. As for me I really like it. And in my eyes it's rather big, you know?" Tyler said and small smirk appeared on his face and he chuckled, "Yeah, it's been my room until now so you see, I really don't want to worry you but we're…sharing it."

"What?!"

Now Tyler was choking with laughter, he could barely stand and the expression on Oliver's face - it was priceless! And the kid was going to be fun to tease a bit. On the other hand, Tyler felt bad for the other boy and tried to force himself to stop laughing. He gasped for air and squeezed the blonde's arm.

"Don't worry your highness. It's not too small for two people. I'm sure we'll get along fine. Now you make yourself comfortable, unpack if you want. I'm going for a shower," Tyler reassured him, hiding his amusement and left the room.

Oliver sat on the bed that Tyler said was his and stared into space. This was going to be harder than he previously thought. The family was big and they were nice. The house was small though, that would be very hard to get used to.

And Tyler. Tyler was making fun of him. Oliver knew that.

He put his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Having siblings and living with a big family was going to be interesting. He took that back - he would never treat Tyler as…as a sibling. Never ever! He wouldn't let Tyler make fun of Oliver Eliot Hughes either!

He wanted to get back to his mansion - to his big four-poster bed. He didn't want to believe that that life had ended and that he was going to start a new one. Here.


Thank you for reading!