I don't write smut well, so if that was what you were hoping for. . . STAY, DEAR GOD because this story is gonna be so much better than lemons. P.S. I have seen the reviews urging me to update "To Delineate" and it's coming. I swear it's coming, just for y'all that wanted to know. Enjoy!

Evelyn Grant was a lucky little girl. The only parents she had known loved her very much. And for a bright, rosey cheeked little girl, the undying love of an adoptive mother, and the cold, if not, distant love of an adoptive father was enough. She didn't look like any of the them, her brothers, her sister, her mom. She bared no immediate resemblance to them, not really anyway. Once a little boy in her preschool had taken the opportunity to point this out to her.

"You're adopted." Adopted, he had said it like a curse, up close and in her face to hurt her and make her feel low. She pouted about it for the rest of the day but didn't cry. Evie didn't believe in crying. That is until she could run into her mother's arms when she got home.

When she gave her a bath later that night, her mother, Mellie explained it to her like this, " You are such a beautiful little girl, and your Daddy and I love you so much. More than anything. We chose you, so you're even more special. That's what adopted means, Evie. Special."

With her soft light brown complexion, a head full of perfect curls, and big brown eyes, Evie Grant truly was something special.

Mellie put her to sleep that night reassured. She slept soundly in her big, white princess bed with her teddy clinging close to her face. When she came out of the bedroom, her tired husband was just walking through the front door.

"Fitz, hi." Mellie said weakly.

"Hey. " he responded. He could tell by the way she was standing before him that she had something on her mind. He never much cared for heavy talks with his wife. It left him with a bad taste in his mouth.

"Why don't you sit down for a minute, hon. I need to talk to you about something." Mellie said, trying not to sound too unnerved.

"What?"

"We should talk about Evie." she said looking him square.

It was a hard thing to do, talk about Evie.

It was hard for Fitz to even look at Evelyn some days. He didn't want to spend time with her like most doting fathers did. Mellie had pressed him to do so at first. She used to rock her to sleep at night, cooing and carrying on. She would offer her to Fitz who would fervently shake his head. Mellie would shrug off, feeling rejected and Fitz would be left alone to his thoughts and sadness.

Such heartbroken people. Such a sorrowful little family. With their secrets and their guilt pressed so close to their chests.

No one ever liked to talk about Evie, or the love from which she came. The bond that broke when her mother, her real mother, died.

Teddy Grant had all of his father's love and affection. He was well deserving of it. Smart, outgoing, charismatic, athletic even at his age- Teddy Grant was worthy of everyone's love. It came to him so easily, and so he, too loved all who loved him. Teddy took all of Fitz's pride, and none was left for his little sister, or at least that was how it felt for Evie. Fitz held Teddy, showed him things, taught him things, took time away for him. They were only two years apart, but for Evelyn, sometimes it seemed as if she had never been born at all.

When her Daddy would pull up to the driveway after a long trip, they both would come running outside, but only Teddy got picked up. When they were four and six, Evie learned how to ride a bike the same week Teddy learned to swim. But Fitz was only there for one of those events.

Mellie, Karen and Jerry made up for the affection that Fitz lacked. Jerry was an angsted-up seventeen, but not too far gone. Karen was nineteen and out of the house, but loved taking care of Evie (she had always wanted a little sister) And Mellie was her mom. She doted on her, made her feel loved when no one else did. Sometimes her mother and father would look upon her with such sadness , and she would wonder where it came from. They would stand in silence and simply watch her. Study her, looking for signs of something- something Little Evie would never come to know, but Evelyn would come to familiarize herself with.

Still, her mother and sister and brothers' love was enough to make her forget what emptiness lie within her most days because everyone loved little Evelyn Grant- everyone -just some more than others.

At the age of eight when Teddy started playing soccer, Fitz bought a big white goal and stuck in the backyard of the ranch. They spent an entire Saturday playing out in the grass while Evie watched from inside.

She sat on the tall stool in the kitchen, swinging her legs back and forth, and her big sister, Karen came downstairs with her Ipod blaring. "Don't you want to go outside?" She asked cheerfully. She looked over and saw Evie gazing longingly out the screen door, watching Teddy and her father play. She felt something in that moment. An obligation to cheer her sister up. She couldn't explain it though. It was as if she had sensed a longing in her and felt the need to make it disappear.

"Why don't we go for ice cream?" she said, grabbing the keys to the Range Rover.

Everyone loved Evelyn Grant. Everyone. Just some more than others.

When they returned, their father had stopped playing but Teddy remained.

"Come on, Evie. Try it!" Teddy showed her how to kick the ball that was almost bigger than he was straight into the goal. At first Evie swung her little foot but missed the ball completely. She tried again, missed.

"Like this." he demonstrated. Taking his lead, she tried again. This time the ball flew in the goal with a whoosh.

They screamed with glee and did a victory lap around the backyard. Evie tried her luck again, this time kicking the ball really, really hard. It went straight into a downstairs window and both kids exchanged guilty glances.

"Uh-oh." They both ran back inside and tried to clean up the mess. They were picking up shards of glass when Fitz came back downstairs.

"What's happened? Evelyn, Teddy what happened?" he said putting his hands at his sides.

"Daddy-" Evie started looking shocked and guilty. She didn't know how her father would react to her confession. She'd never done anything wrong before. She always treaded lightly, never spoke out of turn when Fitz was around. She didn't want to give him any reason to criticize. She had acquired the art of treading lightly even at the age of six, remarkable, come to think of it.

But as perfect, shaggy haired big brothers do, Teddy stepped in, "It's my fault Dad. I was showing her how to get the ball in and I kicked it too hard. I'm sorry. We'll get it cleaned up." he said honestly.

"It's okay." Fitz looked down at his son's palm that was dripping red. "Come on here, your bleeding." he said with concern. He put his hand on her brother's shoulder and took him to clean the blood off. He said nothing more to Evie.

She stayed crouched down picking up the rest of the glass. The housekeeper could have done it, but she wanted to prove herself, too like her brother did. She fisted the shards of glass she collected, and when they dug so deep into her skin that her hands bled, she didn't cry. Physical pain wasn't something to cry over.

Alors, what do you think? Seriously, I'm on Spring Break so if more people read and review, I will update as much as I possibly can. This story is going places, trust me. But, prepare to have your heart shattered (sorry!) My goal is to destroy you with feels.