The Monroe Legacy - G.3. Chapter 1 - A House is not a Home

Gray Monroe settled in the armchair and tried to come to terms with being the official owner of his family home. It had been a couple of months since his birthday, the paperwork had taken time but it still didn't feel real. The decor was his mother's aesthetic, the art hers as well and the bookshelves were filled with his father's work and research materials.

He breathed out. It was no good, it was their house, regardless of the name on the deed. Gray was proud to be heading up the next generation of his grandmother's line but at the moment it all felt a little... Meaningless. He hated that he felt that way but he just couldn't see himself in the plan so far, all he thought about these days was cooking.

Heading upstairs to the one room that did feel his own he could hear music blasting from his little sister Saffron's room and French verbs being muttered by Sienna. It was just the three of them home, His parents were off visiting Aunt Georgia who was ill back in Appaloosa Plains and Violet was living across town. Jet was off at school having just started his final year at Mount Starch academy.

The house felt empty without them and Gray wondered how is would feel once the rest of his siblings were gone and his parents... Well he wasn't ready to think about that. Opening the door to his room, Violet's old one, he took in the only space he'd re-decorated and made his own.

Catching sight of Aisha's picture on the dresser he smiled, perhaps with her in his corner the future wouldn't be so scary, especially if his job kept going the way it was so far. He flopped on the bed, texting Aisha a dinner invitation and picked up the old French recipe book he was studying, if he could fix the pomegranate jus then he'd be a shoo-in for the job about to open when the commis-chef left.

Later that night he dropped Aisha home with a lingering kiss and pulled up at the house, surprised to see so many lights on. The front door was unlocked. The smell of beer and weed floating down the stairs and music pounding.

'SAFFRON' he bellowed, he'd been surprised that she'd not tried to talk him into a party whilst he was I charge. His youngest sister rushed down the stairs, in pajamas with her red hair in its usual ponytail and a odd look on her face.

'Not me big brother,' she said, 'this mess is all Sienna.'

An hour later having dragged four half-baked senior boys and a couple girls out of Sienna's room Gray handed his sister a cup of string coffee and left her to sober up. He worried about her, they'd been close but ever since the legacy heir had been announced his previously perfect sister had been acting oddly.

Tonight he had barely recognised her, heavy make-up, torn jeans, drunk and making out with a guy he was pretty sure he'd seen in town with another girl. Gray decided not to call their parents home, he'd give Sienna a chance to explain herself first.

A long discussion the following morning brought out the whole sorry tale. Ethan, Sienna's long-term crush had fallen out with his cheerleader girlfriend and been moaning that they had no place to party. Desperate to be seen, his quiet sister had mentioned their parents absence and things had quickly gotten out of hand.

Sienna seemed equally embarrassed and excited, the Ethan thing had been a stupid mistake but she'd enjoyed the thrill of the party, her little rebellion. Gray promised to keep her secret as long as she started talking to him again, Sienna could use a little lightening up but there was plenty of time for wild adult-free partying at college he reasoned!

The part of his sister's story that Gray thought on most in the week that followed was the intensity of her feelings for this high-school schmuck. Her cheeks had flushed, her eyes brightened and he could almost hear her heart from across the table.

He wondered if Aisha had ever felt that way about him, she'd never been the giddy kind he mused as he chopped onions at work. Aisha and he had been together for nearly three years and it worked. They were happy, they didn't fight, they were good in bed and she supported his career and he would support hers as soon as she'd figured it out. He loved her so much, couldn't imagine his life without her but he sometimes wondered if she felt the same...

No, Gray dismissed the thought.

They might not have the drama and emotional highs of a teenage infatuation but they were in love. His chest swelled when he pictured her walking down an aisle in a white dress, he smiled as he imagined her carrying their child. Gray was sure of it, it was meant to be, perhaps they just needed to grow up a little more.

A plan began to form and he felt excitement at the idea. Perhaps this is exactly what he needed. His job was great but hadn't his parents always said that there's more to life than work. Maybe this would make his new life and his newly acquired house feel more like his own.

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Read Gray's next step in Chapter 2- The Things We Never Say