I let out a deep sigh even as I passed by a gorgeous fountain in the middle of the square.

Of all the times for my family to suddenly decide they want to have a reunion…

‘It is your duty as a member of the esteemed Degrim family!’

Ugh… What duty?

Hadn’t they abandoned me, and pretty much kicked me out of their esteemed family? I had already come to terms with That fact. Heck, they hadn’t as much as said hi for the past few years when I had struggled the most.

And now, when I was finally living as myself, had the best girlfriend ever, and had a bright future of a superhero to look forward to?

Stupid Murphy’s law.

The worst thing was that I couldn’t just refuse to come to that stupid family reunion. As much as I hated all of them, I had to show myself…

And knowing dad, showing myself as Aster would stir up all sorts of yelling and screaming. Well, at least Fern could come with me, so I wouldn’t be totally alone to face them.

I was brought out of my negative musing by a cheerful squeak.

“Auntie Aster!”

I looked up and my day immediately became better.

“Hey, Shifra! How are you doing?” I smiled at the colorful girl who was waiting for me outside.

“It’s great! We finished decorating our secret base! Can’t wait to show you! Oh, and we have a new sister!”

Whoa, what? A new sister? Alex had already seemed dead tired dealing with just the five! This couldn’t be good for their sanity.

“Come on in! Everyone is waiting for you!”

I followed the ball of enthusiasm inside their home only to be swarmed by her sisters.

It was honestly quite overwhelming. Just like with the hero meeting, I had trouble remembering everyone’s names.

Except for Shifra, of course. Her smile and cheerful voice had been burned into my memory.

“Oh, Aster. Welcome,” Alex greeted me with a tired smile.

“Hey! How are you doing?” I asked, tactfully not mentioning Alex’s ragged appearance.

“I’m doing alright… Just a lot to deal with lately.”

I nodded in understanding. Taking care of six kids would do that. And as far as I’d seen, Alex was the only adult taking care of them. Had something happened to… the girlfriend? Or boyfriend? Spouse?

Well, I knew better than to ask. Alex probably had reasons for being alone and still taking care of this many kids.

“Make yourself at home… I, uh sorry, but I still need to get some paperwork done,” Alex said apologetically.

“It’s fine! I’ll keep these rascals busy. You go defeat bureaucracy!” I gave them a thumbs up.

“Thanks.” Another tired smile.

After Alex left into what I assumed was their room, nothing could stop the avalanche of daughters from swallowing me into their games.

Apparently, Halloween was this household’s favorite holiday. Shifra happily showed me their endless amounts of Halloween costumes and even asked me whether I had one too.

Well, in a way, I did. I had my superhero costume. Definitely not something I could show them though.

“Auntie Aster!” Shifra caught my attention. “Do you feel better now?”

“Huh? What?”

“You were looking really sad when I saw you outside!”

“Oh, that…”

Had she been trying to cheer me up? And I thought she’d been goofing around because that’s what she did.

“Yeah, I feel better now. Thanks, Shifra.”

“I’m glad!” She cheered. “But did something happen to auntie? Are you being bullied?!” she inquired.

“Ahh, well. It’s complicated.” I scratched the back of my head.

“I want to help you! Like you helped us! We are family, after all!”

I had no idea how I’d helped her but…

“Well, you see. I had… Uh, another family in the past.” I remembered to play into the idea that I was their auntie. “They were nothing like you all. Very strict and mean… And then once I moved out, I haven’t heard from them since. Until today…”

I took in the daughters’ stares.

Ugh, the heck was I doing? Telling all of that to these innocent minds?

“Your old family is bullying you?!” Shifra yelled out.

“Uh, not really. Kinda? They said they want to see me again, and I’m nervous about it.”

“Mean family! I’ll punch them in the face! Wait. I know just the thing! We’ll be right back!”

She grabbed the two silent sisters, Aura and Carla, and rushed off, the other sister -- Rebecca? -- running after them.

The remaining sister, who’d stayed at a distance up till now, approached me.

“So… You are Aster. I heard a lot about you.”

I wasn’t familiar with her yet. She wore a simple dark blue shirt and pants and had her hair in a bob cut.

“Hello. Yep, that’s me, Aster.”

She nodded and extended her hand. “I’m Madeline. You can call me Maddy,” she repeated her introduction. 

I shook her hand whilst raising an eyebrow.

“You seem… Different from the others.” A lot more mature.

“Mmm, well, at least one of us has to be. If all of us were like Shifra, Mama would have probably collapsed from exhaustion by now.” She gave me a tired smile reminding me of Alex.

“Ain’t that true?” I gave her a wry smile back.

“Lately --” she sat down on a sofa crosslegged “-- It’s been getting even noisier here. Shifra pressured Mama, and Mama --” she made eye contact with me “-- adopted… another girl.”

“Yeah, I heard about that…” I made a motion of looking around. “But where is she? I’d only seen the five of you.”

“She should be in our secret base. Working on a secret project.”

“Oh…?” Secret agent roleplaying?

“She’s… a lot like you, actually. You’ll probably be best friends.”

The heck? Was she implying I was playing a secret agent? Did she know about my hero identity…?

“Well, I’d love to meet her then,” I said, eyeing her for a reaction.

“Yeah… Um, I had a bit of a request. Would you hear me out?”

“Sure? What do you need?”

“Well, the thing is… Mama is all alone to take care of all of us and also works a full-time job. I’m always trying to help whenever I can, but with this many of us, it’s taking a toll on her.”

“Oh… yeah, I noticed.”

“So, I know it’s tiring dealing with Shifra, but could you come to visit more often to lessen the load on Mama?”

Huh. What an odd request from a kid.

“Well, sure! It’s fun with you all. And if I can help Alex from not having a stroke, I’ll come to visit whenever I have some spare time.”

After all, I still wanted to help Alex with the whole gender issues they clearly had. Not to mention, I was a hero now! And heroes were supposed to help others whenever possible. Even if it didn’t include punching the bad guys in the face.

“Thanks.” Maddy smiled. “I’ll try to help you with your family problem in exchange.”

“Hmm? How are you --”

“Auntie Aster!” Shifra interrupted us.

“Hey, Shifra. What’s up?”

“I want to show you our secret base! Come with me!”

She grabbed my hand and dragged me off. Maddy followed us with a sigh.