Chapter 6
Sia
Sia had never imagined becoming a stepmother to her sister’s children. The word itself felt heavy. It carried pain that she didn’t want, along with the stories where someone intruded, replaced, and rearranged what wasn’t theirs.
And yet every morning she woke in Dian’s house with her girls’ laughter drifting down the hallways. Lives she was terrified of mishandling.
These were her sister’s girls. Sometimes that truth wrapped around her like comfort. Other times it squeezed her lungs until she could barely breathe.
Was she honoring Dian by loving them or was she just trespassing?
She lay awake at night and stared at the ceiling while she wondered if stepping fully into their lives meant stepping on a memory that deserved to remain untouched.
Still, when Stella padded down the hallway at two in the morning, tearful and shaking from a nightmare, Sia never hesitated. She got up and took care of the little girl.
Sometimes she had to step into a quiet room or out onto the balcony and force herself to breathe. It was a lot, and while she had always loved being the fun aunt, she hadn’t carried the full weight of childcare. Being with the girls all day every day was a beast all its own.
The responsibility of actually raising the girls was not something an aunt normally worried about. And while she was only their stepmother, the duties were the same as if she were actually their mother.
Which she totally accepted that she was not. She had been clear about that from the beginning.
“I’m not here to replace your mom,” she’d told the girls one afternoon at the kitchen table, the words careful and plain. “No one could do that. I’m just… here.”
Celeste’s chair had scraped softly against the tile as she leaned back with her arms crossed tight over her chest. “My friends say people always say that,” she said. Her voice was soft, but her eyes were sharp. “And then they do it anyway. Like their words don't mean anything.”
“I’m not sure who these ‘people’ are,” Sia held her gaze as she made air quotes with her fingers, “but you are free to hold me to my word.”
Luna kept her gaze on the tabletop. “What if we like having you here?” she asked quietly. “Is that… bad? I know you’re not Mama, but I like you being around all the time.”
Sia’s chest tightened. “No, it’s not bad, sweetheart. It just means your heart’s big enough for more love.”
Celeste’s mouth pouted before she jumped up and stormed off to her room.
Sia started to follow but changed her mind.
If she forced herself upon the girl on the cusp of becoming a young lady, she would lose her.
She knew that Celeste needed her own time to catch her breath before she moved forward.
At least she hoped that giving space worked that way.
But Celeste’s rebellious nature didn’t get better with time. Instead, it sharpened. It didn’t take Sia long to realize that Celeste noticed everything.
She discouraged Stella from reaching for Sia’s hand instead of Lucas’s when they crossed a parking lot. She chastised Luna for asking Sia to check her schoolwork. She gave pushback at every simple act.
“You don’t have to do that,” Celeste commented one night as Sia tucked Stella into bed.
“Do what?”
“Act like a mother.”
Sia straightened slowly. “I’m putting her to bed, which means I’m acting like someone who cares about your sister.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“No,” Sia said gently. “It isn’t.”
Celeste’s jaw flexed. “They’re forgetting because of you.”
Sia stilled. “Forgetting what?”
“Her.” Celeste’s voice cracked. “Luna laughs more. Stella asks for you when she wakes up. What if one day they don’t need our mother anymore?”
Sia stepped closer. “Needing me doesn’t erase her.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You’re right, but you need to remember that she was my sister just like she was your mother, so I want to do everything I can to keep her memory alive.” Sia resisted the urge to point out that she had known Dian far longer than the girls had.
Regardless, Celeste looked unconvinced.
The moment that complicated everything even more came on a Saturday afternoon.
Sia had stepped out onto the garden patio to give Lucas some time with the girls. The doors were open and she could hear voices inside, low at first, then louder.
“I don’t want her doing bedtime! We can do it ourselves,” Celeste complained. “That was our special time with Mama.”
“She’s trying,” Lucas replied. His voice sounded tired but steady. “She wants what’s best for you girls.”
“I don’t care.”
“She’s not your mom,” Lucas said gently. “I know that and she knows that.”
Celeste snapped. “But you let her act like she is.”
Silence stretched and tears welled in Sia’s eyes.
When Lucas spoke again, his voice carried something Sia hadn’t heard before. It was pure frustration.
“She’s my wife now, Celeste. She’s part of this family. You are a princess, and I expect you to act like one even when you don’t want to.”
“And what about Mama?”
“She will always be your mother.” His voice softened. “Nothing changes that.”
“It feels like it does, and I don’t like it. I hate her being here.” Celeste ran for the door. “And I hate you for making her stay.”
The words felt like a slap in the face. Sia slipped farther down the patio steps as Celeste’s footsteps faded down the hallway.
It wasn’t long before Lucas found her sitting on the bottom stair.
“You heard,” he said.
She nodded. “I don’t want to force this,” she whispered. “If she needs more time, then she deserves it.”
“She does,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean you step back completely.”
Sia swallowed. “I don’t want to come between you two.”
Lucas crouched in front of her. “You’re not between us. You’re beside me. I know this is hard on her, but Celeste doesn’t get a say in the situation. We’ll just have to figure it out.”
It should have comforted her, but instead, it complicated everything. Feelings were not supposed to be involved but his kindness created a crack in the wall she had built around her heart.
The next morning, Celeste knocked softly on Sia’s bedroom door after Lucas had left for a meeting in his office.
Celeste didn’t look at her at first. “Papa says you’re not going anywhere.”
“I’m not,” Sia said gently. She wasn’t sure if Celeste had come on her own or if Lucas had forced her.
“I don’t want to hate you,” Celeste muttered. “I really don’t.”
The honesty stole Sia’s breath. She paused before she spoke so she didn’t ruin the moment.
“You don’t have to love me,” Sia told her. “You don’t even have to like me yet. But I meant what I said when I told you that I’m not here to replace Dian. But I am here to help take care of you. That’s it.”
Celeste finally met her eyes. “It feels like if I like you, I’m betraying her.”
Sia’s throat tightened. “Loving more people doesn’t betray the ones you’ve lost. The one that we lost.”
Celeste blinked hard. “You loved her too.”
“Yes,” Sia said. “I still do.”
Something in Celeste’s expression shifted and for a long moment, she didn’t move. Then she crossed the room and fell into Sia’s arms and sobbed like she’d been holding it in for months.
“I miss her,” she whispered.
“I know,” Sia breathed. “Me too.”
It didn’t fix everything, but it softened the edges.
Celeste still hesitated sometimes when Stella reached for Sia first. She still watched everything closely, but she no longer left the room when Sia entered.
One evening, while brushing Stella’s hair, Celeste asked quietly, “Did Mama really burn cookies every Christmas?”
“Every year,” Sia smiled. “And blamed the oven every time.”
Celeste stifled a giggle.
Watching Lucas with the girls steadied Sia in ways she hadn’t expected.
He knelt to tie Stella’s shoes. He listened to Luna’s stories. He argued gently with Celeste and then pulled her into side hugs that lasted longer than her resistance.
He was not distant or cold. He was a father who loved fiercely and imperfectly.
The awkwardness began to loosen between the two of them, but mostly because of the girls. When alone, there was still a wall that neither had built but remained just the same.
Sia thought things changed between her and Lucas one night when she slipped into bed and Lucas reached for her without waking. His fingers curled around hers like instinct. At first she thought he dreamed of Dian, but then he breathed her own name. “Sia.”
No other words as he pulled her close and she spooned against him. She didn’t feel intense guilt like she expected as she relaxed wrapped in his arms, but she couldn’t disregard her heart wishing he had been awake when he made the move.
The next morning, he was gone when she woke. She had no idea if he even remembered holding her, just like she had no idea what the future held. But she knew she would stay.
And she hoped that one day, the love growing in the girls’ hearts would grow between her and Lucas and toward the shape of this new family they were building.