2.12 Sometimes I run, sometimes I hide

The arrival of the twins drastically changed the dynamics of the entire household. Britney and Karim spent most of the days taking care of the little ones, who weren’t old enough to look after themselves yet. Both Carole and Chad were sweet, little kids who didn’t demand much attention at first, but still they were a lot to deal with. Britney, who had thought that she only was expecting one child instead of two, was struggling a bit, as work on the newspaper had just gotten more demanding, and she was trying to do both at the same time – job and family. Karim repeatedly offered to take care of the kids, so that she could focus on writing, but Britney didn’t want to fall out of touch with her youngest children. 

Since Britney and Karim were busy on the computer or in the babies’ room most of the time, the older children spent their free time on their own. Cyra had found many friends at school, which was something she seemed to be really good at, so she usually was out of the house until late in the evening. She sometimes appeared to be collecting new friends like others collected stones or butterflies. Christina, however, found it harder to get to know new children. She had that one friend who wasn’t popular in school, either, and she sometimes played with her. But most afternoons she was alone at home, while Christopher was busy and her sister was out. She learned how to occupy herself rather soon, often engaging in role plays where she was a queen or a princess. The ruler of her own little world; a world in which nobody looked down on her, a world in which she was respected and loved.

While Britney rarely saw her three oldest children, she focused on their flaws whenever she did encounter them somewhere in the house. Christina’s games worried her mother to the extent that she shouted at her, demanding that she stopped being so silly. It was doubtful that Britney understood where those role plays were coming from, that they were an expression of both Christina’s creativity and loneliness, she just thought they were wrong. As soon as she went back to her computer, to work on the latest novel she had started, Christina turned around to the chair that, one moment ago, had been her throne, and went back to the kingdom of the fairies and unicorns, where she had spent her last hours.

One day, she was a lovely fairy herself, wearing a beautiful light blue dress, who went out to save the world from villains. The next day she saddled her brown horse and took a stroll through the park that adjoined to her gigantic castle. And a few days after that, her Prince Charming found her near a river, where she sat under a tree and read a heart-warming, yet tragic love story about two young people called Romeo and Juliet. Every day she found something new in her own world, and every day she lost something in reality.

Britney and Karim were too occupied to worry about Christina all the time, as the twins’ birthday arrived all of a sudden. Carole went first, blowing out the candles with her mother’s help.

Britney was delighted to see that Carole had inherited her lovely turquoise eyes, which matched her new, also turquoise, outfit. They had come to realize that this seemed to be her favourite colour, as she refused to wear anything else.

Chad was a little more timid than his sister, but he couldn’t escape from the miracle that was passing time. 

While Carole clearly had inherited her mother’s hair, it was harder to say who Chad came after. His eyes were his daddy’s, obviously, but his hair was still too short to tell, unlike his older brother Christopher when he was his age. That was the beautiful thing about having so many children: they all grew up to be different. Not even twins were alike, but each and every one had their own personality. If only their parents were able to acknowledge all of those five little souls instead of only four. But apparently this was a lost battle.

Author's notes: I did it, I played with this family again! The last time I opened that save was in March, so shame on me! And even though this chapter is veryvery short, it's a good way of getting back into the story, methinks. So many birthdays happening at the same time... if I put them all into this chapter, we would be seeing nothing but cake. Which, I admit, isn't the worst thing to look at, but I want to get some plot in there at some point. ;)