[Rumple at the top]

Penelope stood at edge of the driveway of her new house, lips pursed slightly. Her father regarded her hopefully, a hand on her back. "Are you okay?"

Penelope looked up at her white-haired father. He had his other hand in the pocket of his black suit pants. The crows feet around his eyes crinkled a little more as he offered me a weak smile.

"Yeah, daddy, I'm okay," I told him in a murmur, gripping the handle of one of my many suit cases in my hand. "I just ... it's so big."

He nodded, watching as my five siblings and my mother went towards the front door to go inside. "Yes, its more room for your brothers and sisters, not to mention the twins that are on their way," he hummed, pushing his sunglasses down as the sun shone over the peak of the large house.

I just wish it had room for Bessie. Bessie had been my prized champion bull, a handsome thing with long horns and strong legs. I brushed him everyday, and made sure he got the best of the treatment. Now, just to see him, I had to drive thirty minutes out to the elderly couple that agreed to buy him and let him live his life peacefully. He had won me multiple awards, despite his name (I was six years old when he was born, and I insisted this calf born of another prized bull be named Bessie).

Artemis and Apollo, my two cats, also of royal parentage and bloodline and worth thousands based on their awards and breeding, rubbed against my legs. They were brother and sister, long haired silver classic tabby Maine Coons. Very large, long, thick fur, tufted ears, and very spoiled.

I bent down and picked up Apollo, running my fingers through his thick, soft fur and biting the inside of my lip.

Was I truly ready for this move? Even if I wasn't, it was too late. I'm here now.

I stepped closer to the house, squeezing Apollo to my chest while Artemis immediately darted for the house. She, unlike the ball of thick fur in my arms, could not stand any amount of outdoors, which was fine seeing as she would not be that much of a good show cat if she was always getting dirty.

"Let's get inside, help your mother unpack," Dad said with a dramatic sigh, putting a hand on my shoulder and leading me inside.

The entrance was huge, as expected, and I could almost see my own reflection in the polished wood flooring.

My dad regarded the wood with an impressed nod, rubbing his chin. "Entire entry way was made with wood made of bamboo shipped in from China, deep in the forests." He grinned.

"Way to save the earth, father," I said with a mocking scoff as I regarded the flooring.

He snorted and turned to me. "If I wanted to save the Earth, I would have bought a shack in the middle of the woods." He placed his hand on my shoulder.

I smirked. "We did."

"No, my beautiful spawn, this is a mansion." My father pretended to be offended, narrowing his eyes at me. "You better watch your mouth, or you'll have a shack all to yourself out there."

I stick my tongue out, showing him he didn't scare me with his playfully empty threats. "Blah blah blah," I mocked, rolling my eyes and smirking slightly more. "Show me to my room, peasant."

He pointed at me as we made our way to the stairs, "Thin ice, Penny. Thin ice."

The house had many windows that barely separated us from the forest outside. It was a beautiful part in which our home had been built, and I could still hear the birds signing from in here.

It was perfect.

I set Apollo down once we reached the top of the stairs, biting the bottom of my lip and taking in the large, circular hallway surrounded the windows and fluffy carpeting.

"You went overboard."

"You all can do your homework out here," Dad said proudly, a grin on his face as he put his hands on his hips. "I made specifically sure that there would be enough room for a couple of desks so you can do your work here."

"Or we could do it in our bedrooms," I reminded him, stepping away from his side and walking a circle around the spacious hallway.

He frowned, "You always gotta ruin my visions don't you?"

"Sorry."

He rolled his eyes, gesturing for me to follow. "Come on, killjoy. Let's get to your room."

He led me down another hall, whistling. "Now, I kept the plans for your room a secret because I wanted it to be an ultra surprise." He stopped at a door and smiled. "I wanted it to be perfect for your painting and stuff."

He fished out a key and handed it to me. It didn't look modern like the other sets, which immediately grabbed my attention. It was heavier, but still small enough to fit in my pocket, and it was made of copper. I smiled and glanced sideways at him. "Can I?"

"Of course." He grinned and nodded, gesturing for me to continue.

I beamed and slid the key in, then jiggled it a little. It unlocked and I pushed the door open, excitement bubbling.

I was created with a set of winding stairs in the tiniest room I have ever seen. "Dad, you shouldn't have," I said dryly, turning on my heel to give him a 'seriously?' look. "Really, this is all too much." He had to be playing some kind of trick on me right now.

Dad snorted and gently nudged me to the stairs. "You're silly. Go up the stairs, weirdo."

I smiled as I pulled the key from the door and slid it into my pocket. My excitement slowly began to return as I approached the vintage looking stairs and slid my hand along the worn metal railing. I climbed the stairs, the wood creaking pleasantly under my feet as I began to ascend up the stairs, bubbling. I glanced behind me and saw my father standing just at the first step.

The first thing I saw was the skylight, the sun beaming down into the bedroom and on my face. The windows were from ceiling to floor length and were scattered about the large bedroom, a side bathroom stood next to the open walk in closet (which had no walls, just windows), and the floor was made of vintage looking wood like the stairs.

The room was painted a soft brown color that calmed me, and there was even a screen covered patio to the right of the stairs. I heard the steps creak and I saw my father and heavily pregnant mother standing behind me with grins.

"I don't think she likes it," my mom joked, glancing at my awed expression and turning to face my father. "I think we should give it to Johnathan."

"No! I love it!" I rushed forward and hugged them, smiling as I buzzed on the inside. The secret they kept about this bedroom for the entire year it took to build was completely and utterly worth it. "Thank you so much! I love you guys!"

"We love you, too, sweetheart." My father smiled and kissed me on the forehead.

~  ♦️  ~

It took two days to get the entire house finally settled and unpacked. My room took the quickest, mostly because my dad wanted to get the top floor stuff (aka my stuff) out of the way first, and once the heavy lifting stuff was placed where I wanted, I was able to do the rest on my own.

I usually kept my door locked at night because I didn't want the little monsters called my siblings coming in my bedroom, and mom made sure they stayed away. I never liked, at all, when anybody came into my personal space  uninvited. It was an extreme pet peeve.

I liked the new house so far. It was peaceful when my siblings weren't running around and screaming about what type of toys they wanted to play with, or when my mom wasn't complaining about back pains.

At night, I often looked at the sky through the skylight while snuggled in bed, drifting in and out of sleep.

When I did sleep, for some reason I kept having dreams of a woman staring at me with beautiful, yet dangerous eyes that made me sick to my stomach.

I brushed them off as new house jitters, perhaps that's all they are.

Jitters.