AN: This is the pre-sequel to…Christmas with the Kelps!

He felt so sorry for her, whoever she was. The girl had just arrived with her Aunt and she was staying here for the Summer, she looked NORMAL! How would she put up with his mother?

Holly’s POV

I’d heard a lot about them. Apparently she nagged so much she’d deafened her son (this wasn’t true) her husband’s hair had went grey through the stress she caused, their son had attempted to break out so she put locks on every door. I hoped none of this was true.

She had two boys-one who never stopped moaning. I have to stay with them while my Aunt “organises things” for me since my dad…. Aunt’s idea of organising was strange. There were papers lying all over the floor AKA she was filing legal documents she didn’t have any sort of a routine AKA she lived for the moment (at least that’s how she explained it). Ilene Kelp’s husband was an LEP officer he smiled and listened and the younger of the two (Grub) was whining. The older one didn’t even look my way even when my Aunt had left and he was told to take me up to my room. Well…we only got half way up the stairs before we heard someone shriek and we ran back down.

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“Ilene Kelp! What is the matter?” her husband asked as he looked out the window Uh-oh! Their were people moving in, people with a better shuttle in their perfect drive. She marched into the kitchen and Holly looked out of the window struggling to find anything unusual about the scene.

“It’s OK… she just saw a ….she’s scared of..she’s..” Trouble never even got a chance to lie when the door rang and they answered it to a blonde woman with a white dress, her teeth pearly white.

“Hello” she said to them “Is your mother home?”

Ilene appeared shoving them out of the way smiling so much Holly thought it must have been sore.

“We’ve just moved in. I’m Maria Marshall.” she said.

“Please come in.” Ilene said.

Trouble winced and Holly could sense the tension. Ilene was the top housewife on this street- NO ONE threatened that- especially someone who’d barely been there a hour.

She commented on their coffee table by saying.

“How pretty we had that fifty years ago-when those things were in style.”

She smiled and continued to sip the tea politely and when this woman who was so porcelain doll like it was frightening was about to make an exit she found the one speck of dust in the almost-spotless house she wiped it up with a finger and said-

“I better go, you need to get on with the house cleaning.”

The second she left she was furious and in such a rage no one could calm her down.

“Molly” Trouble said “We better leave!”

“It’s Holly… Holly Short.”

“Fine. Holly go!” he said over his mothers voice.

She left marched up the stairs and sat at the top of them. No one bothered with her until 11 that night . She had a feeling this could and would get interesting..

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The next morning Holly went down the stairs and Trouble was waiting.

“Hey look, I’m sorry Holly.” Trouble said “By the way.. Put these on.”

He handed her a pair of glasses she’d saw them before-they protect your eyes from bright lights. She put them on going into the living room. She took them off for a moment- the shine off the new coffee table was blinding!

“THERE! See her try and insult that!” Ilene said happily.

Holly put the glasses back on and was sure she heard someone sigh. It was her husband.

It was a wonder to everyone to why he tolerated Ilene.

Some other stories by xxemxx:

• updates for her secret (sequel to "his daughter")
• Sequel to His Daughter- Her secret
• Decisions Decisions
• Grow up
• His daughter (Updated)-6/2/08!

Skip to chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,