If I had been afraid we'd babied the twins too much, it was unfounded. They took to being independent children like a duck to water, and proved my worry unfounded. They also took to the being-vampires thing quite readily, too, and stopped eating regular, human food almost immediately. I was going to miss getting the chance to have a family meal together, but I hadn't really expected anything else. And as long as my babies are happy, hey, I'm content!
Oh, I also noticed something about them almost immediately. I knew that Elvira could master skills in no time flat, but that was nothin' compared to Drazen and Dahlia! The first time Dahlia stepped up to our telescope, she mastered logic. Man, I wish I'd been born a vampire - maybe I would have already writing and painting?
It took a while for Elvira to heal after the birth. She was bed-ridden again, for a long time - longer than I would have liked - and I had to take care of the kids for a while. I was so thankful to have Drazen and Dahlia to help me when the little ones were hungry. I can't even begin to explain just how much easier they made things during that time.
But then, one day, Elvy told me quite firmly, "I am getting out of this stupid bed and doing something." I tried to protest, but have you ever tried arguing with a stubborn, genius, evil vampire that's your spouse? It's like trying to tell the sun not to shine; she's scary.
So up the stairs she went, all the way to the second floor, and grabbed Jere, proceeding to try and potty train him, then teach him to talk.
One day as I was passing by Drazen, who was painting in the living room, heading to the stairs, he turned and called out to me, "Mama Lyr, I know what I want to do when I grow up!" He beamed proudly at me, and I couldn't help but grin back at that sweet face.
"Oh? What is it, Dray?"
"Well.. it involves buying something more.. but... I wanna master painting and the guitar! Can we get a guitar, Mama Lyr? I promise I'll practice, every day!"
I couldn't help but mentally point out that he wouldn't have to practice every day, judging by the way his sister had already mastered logic and he seemed to already have nearly mastered painting. But I didn't say that out loud, not very motherly of me. "Mmm.. how about I get you a guitar for you when you turn thirteen, okay?"
He pouted, and slumped slightly. "That's like.. forever."
A lot closer than you think, honey, I mentally told him, knowing that he was too young to be able to read minds yet. "It'll come faster than you think it will, don't worry. Tomorrow you start school, and then you'll be busy with making friends. You won't even think about not having a guitar! Now, I have to go, okay? Your baby sister is crying. Love you." I kissed him on the forehead, then headed upstairs.
I headed straight for Eulalie's crib when I got upstairs, and cuddled her close to me, since she'd just been fed a little while earlier and had her diaper change. She was most likely just lonely. I was going to miss not having anymore babies this age.. they were so small and innocent. Depended on you for everything.. and when there was just one of them this size they were so much easier to handle.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.. you make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you.. please don't take my sunshine away."
That was a song my Mom had sung to me when I was little, and would forever be a part of me. Evidently, her grandmother, before she'd died, would play her guitar and sing that to Mom when she'd babysit her. I sang it to all of my children to calm them down at some point in time or other, but Eulalie seemed to enjoy it the most. Quin would attempt to sing along with me, despite not knowing how to talk yet, but Eulalie almost always would just.. calm. Calming her wasn't the easiest of tasks, but this song always could do it.
I was relieved that Elvy was able to get up and get around, but she insisted on taking care of the little ones all the time. I mean, I was happy with that when I had to go back to work, but when I would get home and try to take care of them, she would shoo me off to go write on my book. "But, Elv-"
"No buts, Lyric, go write. You had to take care of me and them while I was pregnant and recovering, now it's my turn. You want to master your writing skill, don't you?"
"Yes, but.."
"No buts."
And that was that. Like I said before, arguing with her is futile and scary.
Life was hectic, more hectic than it ever was when I was a kid even - maybe that's just because I didn't realize how hard it was to be the grown up? - so I found myself appreciating little moments. Plus, I knew Elvy and I didn't have that much time left with our children, and were never going to meet our grandkids, so I really was finding myself getting more serious and even just.. watching my toddlers attempting to read. It was so sweet, listening to them giggling and babbling to their board books. Maybe I should give up on my aspiration of mastering writing and painting.. my kids were so much more important to me anymore.
Have I been neglecting to mention that all of our household ghosts come out constantly? At least one a night. One night in particular, Dahlia was trying to find a star that she could name, and Dad came out. Surprisingly, all she did was step down from her stool and look at him; that girl is.. very calm. She also told me that she went up to him to chat, but then he vanished because it was nearing four A.M.
Later that same day, when Dahlia and Drazen came home from school, Drazen brought home a friend from school! Raul Rader, the grandson of my ex-stalker pap. They all three played tag when they got home, but I heard later from Dahlia that Raul wasn't the nicest of kids; in fact, he was the school bully, and the only kid he was really nice to was Drazen, who adored him. My goodness. Should I really let Drazen hang out with a bully?
Before I knew it, it was Eulalie's birthday. My last baby.. the weirdest thing happened, and I found myself wanting another one as soon as Eulalie aged up into a beautiful little toddler (again, with my eyes). But there were so many other things I wanted that.. they were going to have to take precedent. Even if we adopted.
Not long after Eulalie became a toddler, I decided it was high time I quit. We had plenty of money, and Elvy was still working - I only worked to support my family, and we had more than enough money anymore. Faith was very understanding, and told me to take care and keep in touch. Oh, I was sure I would, since she had twins, Marcelo and Genevieve, my triplets' age and I was sure that when they all got into school they'd be the best of friends. So we'd still be connected!
When I headed inside, after quitting, I scooped Zachariah up in my arms and cuddled him slightly, smiling into that adorable face. "Hiya sweety, guess what? Mama Lyr's gonna be home all the time from now on. Isn't that exciting?"
"Ma!" Then I realized we still hadn't finished teaching any of them how to talk - or use the potty or walk.. - yet. Shoot. It was almost their birthday, too.
It was a good thing I quit when I did, it really was. After school that very same day, Drazen road his bicycle home from school, but Dahlia was going to ride the bus, so she was standing around with the other kids waiting for the bus to come pick them up. I don't know exactly how it happened, she didn't give up many details, but evidently when her teacher, Lara Bernabe, walked out of the school to head home when.. she passed away. I heard more of this from the counselor calling - she'd witnessed it, too, and had called all of the children and teens who had been there's parents, to tell us that our kids would likely need us.
When Dahlia did get home, after I got the call, I immediately scooped her into a hug and refused to let go. She didn't cry, but she did cling back to me, and quietly asked, "Why do people have to die?"
"I don't know, sweetheart.." It was so unfair. She was so young. Why did she have to see death so young? Even I hadn't seen anyone die. I'd experienced loss, but never had to see it..
The rest of the day was spent similarly, with me attempting to comfort her.
Drazen didn't know what had happened after he left, but I think he felt bad for abandoning his twin at school when he saw how she was acting and me hugging her, because he immediately started doing what he could to help around the house. He fed Zach, he did the dishes.. I don't know what I would have done if I had ended up with kids that weren't as sweet and helpful as mine. They were the best kids in the world - of course, maybe I'm just biased.. but I don't think so!
(A/N: I was going to write until I got to the triplets' birthday, but I've been distracted all day.. hopefully I'll get the next chapter out soon!)
