3:18 Baby Steps

Luis and Shaena returned from school to an empty house. Their mother must either be at the elixir consignment store, or the kareoke bar.

"You can't avoid it forever. Gossip spreads." Shaena couldn't look at her brother. She felt humiliated. Alex could have stayed away for a couple more hours, and then nobody would have known.

"I'm just saying that it's best you tell her yourself." Luis circled around his sister, trying to make eye contact to drive his point home. She silently refused to even give him a glance, and Luis wondered why girls were so stubborn. Why couldn't they see the obvious, logical solutions staring them in the face? Why did they always have to feel like they were defying someone? He sighed, and sat down to start his homework. It was Friday, so he had the whole weekend, but with graduation just around the corner he didn't want to accidentally forget about it. "I just don't want to see my baby sister hurt..."
"I'm not going to get hurt, and I'm not a baby." Shaena stormed upstairs to the girls room to do her homework in peace.

It wasn't long before everyone was home, Taylor announced she'd graduated the forensics course, meaning she was now part of the forensics team, and Jake decided he'd give her the flower he'd picked that morning.

She put it in her room, in the corner dedicated to her children.

 Taylor had made Kaity a doctors appointment for her dreams. Kaity didn't want to go, but she had no choice, and slumped low in her seat, trying to disappear into the fabric on the way to the hospital.
"It will be ok." Taylor tried to reassure her. She was worried herself. She remembered when she'd had dreams, nightmares, forced onto her by the very same woman who had somehow impregnated her. She wouldn't trade her kids for the world, but she couldn't wait for a day when they could all be free of Trisha's interferance.
"Mmhm." Kaity nodded. She sighed, realising she may have to tell her mother everything. Shaena was the only one who knew, and in her opinion, the only one who needed to know, as she seemed to be the centre of the dreams. And what would the doctor say? She hoped they wouldn't run tests, maybe they'd just say she'd grow out of it.

Meanwhile, Rose had decided to put off her homework until later on in the weekend. It was a beautiful sunny day, and she didn't want to waste it cooped up indoors surrounded by books.
"Hey little guy!" She scooped up the beetle, and recognised it as the rare giant ladybug. "Are you a mutant or something? You're huge!" The beetle's feet tickled her hands, and she put him down. He spread his wings and flew away, Rose followed him with her eyes, tilting her head up as far as she could without falling backwards.

"If only I could be up in the sky like you." She muttered, mainly to herself as she was alone. The sun started to hurt her eyes, so she lowered her gaze to the mountains.

"That waterfall looks pretty. I want to go there." And without a second thought, she set off for the long walk to the mountains.

The sun was just starting to set when she finished her journey. She found a patch of daisies. White; her favorite colour. She picked one to sniff.
"Smells pretty, like Mummy. I'll give it to her." She thought, as she tucked it down the front of her dress. Rose didn't care about pollen stains or concequences. She lived for now, if she was told off for leaving the house without telling anyone or taking her phone, well, that was future Rose's problem.

She looked up at the waterfall. It was the thing that had drawn her here, after all. It was so high that the water actually hitting the small lake was just a fine mist, the constant stream of the waterfall broken apart by the rocks on the way down, making it surprisingly quiet up here. She tried to skip a stone, but got the angle wrong, and giggled at the deep 'plop' sound it made as it sunk beneath the calm, still lake.

She threw a couple more stones, and then realised if she didn't leave now it'd be dark before she reached an area with street lights, so left her peaceful solitude behind and headed back to the madhouse she called home.

____

"What did the doctor say?" After dinner, Madison had got a phonecall from Chiquita, who worked at the kareoke bar she frequented, telling her there was a gathering going on and she should come down to perform. Madison had originally declined, sure that she wasn't good enough, but all the children and Taylor had told her she should go for it. 'Even if you are bad, we'll still cheer.' Luis had joked, and eventually she'd agreed.
"They took some bloods, and they'll get back to us." Kaity's worst fears had been realised. What if they found out what she already knew? What would they do? Would she be taken to the science lab for testing? She didn't want to think about it. "Anyway, I had a dream about you, didn't I?" Kaity was grinning now, loving the expectant look on Shaena's face.

"So, according to the dream, you already have something to tell me first." Shaena turned her head, blushing slightly. She should have known nothing could be kept a secret from her cousin. "It's ok, there's no point now, I know, but don't keep secrets again, ok?" Shaena nodded, giggling slightly at Kaity's attempt to look serious. "Anyway, so, this guy you like, he's going to be a big part of your life for a long time. He'll father children to you, and treat you like a princess."

"Kaity. He's literally right next to me." Shaena whispered through gritted teeth. And he was, standing on the stage, listening to his crazy sister sing her set in a creepy alien mask.
"I know." Kaity was grinning, ear to ear, enjoying her friends discomfort. "Maybe if you'd told me sooner, I wouldn't have made it so awkward for you." Both girls were giggling now.
"Really? God, you're so cheeky!"
"Go talk to him!"
"No, Kait. I can't. He's like, 8 years older than me. Mum would kill me, and Luis already knows. He's watching and he won't keep his mouth shut if Mum asks.
"Ok, lets get some pictures while we wait for your Mum to go on stage."

Madison had been pacing the small area in the bathroom since she'd arrived. She had to go on stage any second now, and she just hoped if anyone did boo her, they'd be drowned out by her family's cheers. She knew it didn't matter what anyone thought, but she still didn't like the idea of actually performing.

Chiquita poked her head round the door, and told her they were ready for her to take the stage. Madison suddenly wondered if she should have dressed up. The girl before her had been wearing an alien mask, maybe she performed all the time and that was her stage persona. At any rate, it was too late now, and she left the safety of the girls' room for the stage.

Madison soon realised that it wasn't as crowded as she'd first thought. Most of the crowd had been her family, and she relaxed a little as she started singing. She noticed a woman next to Taylor strike up a conversation, and was excited to see she was a fairy too. It would be nice to meet another adult fairy, share experiances, she hoped Taylor made a friend in her so they would grill her for information at a later date.

Kaity heard her mother talking, and zoned out. She could see the future flashing through her mind, was she having a dream in the day? She tried to move, but was glued to the spot, and it was as if everything around her had stopped, all she could see what was going to happen...

And it made her smile.



Lets just pretend EA bothered to put a full ceiling on the kareoke bar, shall we? :|
Yes, car picture sucks. Apparently the windshield of squad cars is tinted, and you can hardly see anyone inside. And so I had to sit inside the dashboard to get a picture. I hate it, but it's the best I could get.

Alex:

 I may give him a makeover, not sure yet. But he's clearly going to have a part to play now :)