Friday 24 May 2013

4:9 A Freak Show

In a time before TV, there was imagination.
In other words, I'm too lazy for props, so pretend the
things I say are there are really there...

"Where the hell is my shirt?!" Kaity shouted to the air, annoyed that after emptying the contents of her bag she couldn't find it anywhere. Winter crouched beside her and tried to calm her down a little. This really wasn't her day.
"It must be here somewhere. Let's look again, and put stuff back in the bag while we do it." He suggested. It was more of a 'this is what we're doing' than a suggestion, but the tone in his voice was friendly.

"No. It's not here." She sighed, sitting back on her heel a little and thinking back to when she packed.
"It must be. Do you have another bag?"
"No." She sighed as she realised. "I was packing, nearly done, then Sophie started shouting in the nursary, saying Jaydean was biting her, so I ran in there. She wasn't, of course, it was a game they were playing, so I went back and I must've just zipped the bag up without putting in the shirts." The pair were silent for a moment.
"Do you want to borrow one of mine? It'll be a bit big, but you can tuck it in..."
"No. I'll just wear the waistcoat."
"Just the waistcoat with no shirt?" Winter questioned.
"Yeah. I don't care. You can pretend you've never seen me before if it's that embarrassing." She didn't mean to snap, but she wasn't in the best of moods and it came out harsher than she'd meant.


"Hey, don't be like that!" He sighed, moving her bag and it's contents to one side, crouching in front of her and lifting her face to look her in the eye. "Why would I be embarrassed of you?" Kaity sat in quiet confusion and shock, unable to think of a reply for what felt like minutes.
"Because..." She began when she thought she'd found an answer, but trailed off when she realised she hadn't.
"Exactly. Now, wear whatever and lets get some breakfast."

_____

Kaity hardly listened all day. She was sure whatever the speaker was saying would be informative and interesting, but she had way too much on her mind.

Thoughts whizzed around her head. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since she arrived, but her entire world was different. Back home Shaena was a mess. Alex was where he belonged finally, but Shaena wasn't conviced. She thought about phoning Bonnie right there and then to see if she would talk to her, but decided against it when she realised Winter would run out after her. He actually wanted to go to this thing.

Winter. She thought. He's... Well... I don't know. He's kind, caring, friendly... She smiled to herself. Great at all the important things. She giggled, out loud apparently, as Winter turned his head slightly. Oops... She smiled to reassure him that she was listening. Even though she wasn't. He's smart, too.

 She turned to look at him, and watched him listen to the speaker. Hot as well. She caught herself staring, and inwardly scolded herself. For goodness sake, Kaity! Don't let him get to you, it'll all be over the day after tomorrow and you'll never see him again, so don't get attached like an idiot.

 Right. Face front. Listen. Learn. She honestly tried now, but the speaker was halfway through an explaination, and it made no sense without hearing the start. This blonde girl is wearing less than me. And it looks like she planned to, as well. I thought we had to dress smart for this thing? She looks like she's going out clubbing after.
I wonder if there're any clubs nearby?
Don't be stupid, this is Starlight Shores! Of course there's clubs!

 Her eyes drifted to the row next to the one in front.
Is that the receptionist?! What's that bitch doing here? She's sitting next to that blonde guy... 
Is he wearing a sack?! I should have just worn my normal clothes. The only person dressed smart is Winter.

 Oh my god! That girl! She tried to stifle a giggle, but it came out anyway. Why is she dressed so bright?! And... Is that guy wearing cowboy boots?
This isn't a conference. This is a freak show. How do they expect me to concentrate with all this going on around me?

_____


After the days talks were done, Winter offered to buy Kaity dinner. The breakfast had been included in the hotel package, and lunch was a buffet provided by the company. Kaity readily accepted, not used to being pampered. This almost sounded like a date, and she'd never been on a date before.

"So, do you want to talk about this morning?" Winter approached the subject in a gentle voice, remembering how worked up she had been earlier.
"Not really. There's not a lot to talk about." She shrugged. "My cousin is an idiot, and her boyfriend needs to learn a lesson or two. I'll sort it out when I get home."
"How are the twins?" Winter wanted her to talk about something, at least. She clearly had a lot to process right now.
"Fine, they're with Rose now."
"Rose? Is she another friend?" He realised now that he didn't really know anything about her.
"No, she's my sister." She noticed Winters expression, a cross between 'tell me more', and guilt. "I have a brother too, Jake. We're triplets."

"Triplets?! Wow, so multiples run in the family?"
"Yeah." Kaity smiled at how surprised he looked. They really hadn't done much getting to know each other, so she continued. "I never knew my dad, I don't even know his name. I've never asked about him, never cared, and never missed him. I get my skin colouring from him, all the rest of me and both my siblings is from my mum or our grandparents." Winter listened intently while she explained the odd conditions she was bought up in, glossing over the reason Geoffrey had gone and reappeared. The media would whip up a frenzy if they found out about that, and you never knew who you could trust.


"So the twins are with your sister? Where's their father?" He asked dubiously. Kaity rested her face on her hand, and he immediately regretted asking about the father.
"It's stupid. I don't even know his name. He came round when I threw a party once, looked around the house at the pipes, and... It happened. Nobody knows where he came from, nobody ever saw him since." She was angry just thinking about it. How could someone just stroll in and do that to a teenaged girl? "Rest assured. If I ever see him again... Well, I'd be straight in that jail with Alex. Leaving the girls orphaned, so probably for the best that he's not made an appearance." She could feel tears starting to prick her eyes,

"Hey, you're right to be angry. Don't get upset." Winter reached out and gently took two of her fingers into his, stroking the side of her pinky with his thumb affectionately.
"I'm not upset." She retorted, starting to get angrier at herself for being distracted by his movements. "I'm angry that he just walked in, violated me, and then left my children to be raised without a father. I wanted more for them. Rose got pregnant at the same time as me, but with her boyfriend. They got married before their son was even born, and now they're this happy little family. My cousin, Luis, did it all the right way. He got married and then waited years to have kids. He had twin girls the same time as me, and I end up just leaving my twins with anyone who's willing."

She broke down. She shook her hand free from his and slammed her face into her palms.
"I love them, I really, truly, honestly do. I'd do anything for them, but sometimes I just can't bear to look at them. Sometimes I end up just going through the motions, pretending I'm your average good mother, but inside I just want to leave them with someone else. I agreed to come to this thing for a break from them, to get away and live life for a few days... I miss them. I miss them so much. I didn't think I would, but even this morning when you woke me up and I told you off for ruining my lie-in? I wished they were there, climbing on my bed and pulling my hair. Knocking things off the nightstand and ruining the peace. I wish they were here right now, and I wish they were old enough to understand how to use a phone. Even if I ring Rose-"
"Kaity." Winters reassuring tone cut her short. She was pouring her heart out to a total stranger, and crying in public.
"I'm sorry, I must look such a mess..." She didn't dare to look up from her hands. "Is everyone staring?"
"No, nobody's paying any mind." He gently tugged her hands from her face, and held them loosly in his own.

"Of course you miss them." He started. "They're your own flesh and blood. Everyone has those doubts you have, everyone wonders if they're good enough, everyone wants a break from time to time. It doesn't make you a bad mother." Kaity stopped listening at that point, enjoying his cold fingers locked with her own, and wishing he'd stop tracing circles with his thumb. She'd go crazy any moment. "...Am I right?"
Damn. I wasn't listening... How can I save this?
"Winter."
"Yes?"
"Let's go upstairs. I fancy an early night." Kaity winked to show him she had no intentions of sleeping.

15 comments:

  1. Wow. I'd almost hate to have Kaity know that her dad is a woman. And thinking it over, I'm almost surprised that Taylor has never told the triplets anything once they were old enough to process the information. Especially as Tricia was a witch. Might explain a little more of Kaity's powers too.

    Aw. Poor Kaity to break down like that. Being such a young mother is tough and it's sweet to see how much Winter is trying to understand. Hopefully Kaity listened just a little to Winter before getting distracted. lol

    I.Love.Winter. Really. Love him. I'm crossing fingers that he gets to stick around. Though I know we at least get those next two conference days. ;)

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    1. Lol. I was laughing to myself as I wrote that in :p
      Taylor would absolutely have told them if they'd ever asked. But none of them really noticed that 'he' was missing. They had two parents; Taylor and Madi, and Madi's kids didn't have a father around either. Neither did Bonnie and a few other kids they went to school with. At this stage my town is almost all female. There seems to be a signifiacant lack of 'Y' chromosomes...
      But, maybe Kaity will ask. She hasn't really ever thought about 'him', but as her own kids have no father she's starting to think about explaining it to them. She may find it hard to discuss her babydaddy, but it's nowhere near as painful as her mothers story.

      Oh, I know! Poor girl. She hate crying, she's probably only cried once or twice since she was a baby, so twice in a day is crazy for her. Winter just brings it out of her, because he's such a good listener. ;)

      Oh, you're not the only one! At this stage there's a possibility of him getting a more permenant role, but we'll see what happens, won't we :)

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  2. Psst, Kaity, your Dad is a lady....
    I'd love to see Taylor try to explain that. But I agree with Sunny, it might clear some stuff up for Kaity.
    Or make her more confused, lol.

    Winter is such a sweetheart, so kind and understanding. I think he can really help Kaity. She certainly has been opening up to him and I think it's helping her.

    Just see the back of Laney's head made me smile. =D What kind of slutty outfit did you put her in? Or is she wearing some slutty outfit I put her in? (I don't remember how I dressed her for DL)

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    1. LOL! Yes, it's a very confusing situation. It's weird seeing it through Kaity's eyes, because when it happened it made perfect sense to me!
      Maybe Kaity will want answers now. Poor Taylor!

      He is, isn't he? He's already helped Kaity a lot, it's just bad luck that all this stuff with Alex and Shaena happened as soon as she met him.
      Kaity finds it very easy to talk to him. It does help that she can discuss all the psychic stuff. He understands because he goes through it all too, whereas her normal friends will never understand.

      AHAHAAA! Uh, I think she was already wearing it, actually. I remember putting her in a trouser-suit, but the outfits got all messed up for some reason so I just left most of them in what they were in already, in the end.
      It was fun shooting that bit where she was looking around. I enjoyed seeing the world through her eyes for a moment :p

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    2. Yeah, I think what happened was Delaney rejected all attempts to put her in a trouser suit and she found something appropriately slutty to wear. =P

      <3 Winter

      Also, I forgot to comment yesterday o how much I loved Kaity looking back on how her kids were coceived, and how different her perspective is as adult from when she was a teen.

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    3. That must be it! Silly girl, doesn't she know she doesn't need to impress Jack anymore?!

      Thank you :) Perspecitve changes as you age, and there's quite a lot to change about hers.

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  3. Poor Kaity *hugs her* I'm not sure whether I want her to find out the story behind her birth or not, although it would certainly make interesting reading to see how Taylor would try to explain it and how Kaity would react to it.

    I hope Winter does stay around, he's a very interesting character!

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    1. I know! Probably for the best that she doesn't know right now. She has a lot on her mind, and finding out about Trisha would only make things worse. Maybe when everything has calmed down a bit she'll ask.

      He is, I'm working on it ;) We'll see what happens.

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  4. You can pretend you've never seen me before if it's that embarrassing. --why would she think he's embarrassed? And what's a waist coat? Gosh Kaity, chillaxaminnit. Man, she's so judgmental. I hadn't realized that before. Has she always been that way? Comes off rather arrogant, judging people for what they wear. It seems like she's totally wasting her time at this conference, I don't get it.

    It was sweet though, her pouring out her feelings about the twins. Winter's right, everyone needs a break sometimes and that doesn't make someone a bad parent. In fact in this case it's made her realize just how much she does enjoy her children. Good on Winter.

    I do hope she comes away with some Winter spawn, that would be a pretty kid =)

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    1. LOL! Well, she overreacts a lot, and considering what she'd be dressed in he thought maybe he wouldn't want to be seen with her.
      A waistcoat is the part of a 3 piece suit you wear under the jacket and over the shirt.
      Haha, she was just bored, couldn't listen or concentrate, and so ended up doing what we all do from time to time - judging people by what they're wearing. She's not usually like that, but it worked in taking her mind off what was going on back home for a few minutes.
      As she said, she agreed to go to the conference as a spur-of-the-moment thing, but she will listen and learn tomorrow. Otherwise it would have been completely pointless and she may as well have gone home 'this morning'.

      She doesn't usually open up to people, she's usually the agony aunt around her friends, because she can look into the future and tell them the possibilities. She hates doing it, but if it hels her friends she'll do it. She never does it for herself, which is why she saw none of this coming.
      And of course Winter is right! Haha, he's always right! :p She did need to hear that, though. Guilt was starting to eat her alive, even though she had nothing to be guilty about.

      Oh, well, we'll have to see about that one! They probably haven't been very careful, these psychics don't really think about concequences unless they have it forced on them ;)

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  5. Kaity having a bit of a breakdown in this chapter. I like that Winter tries to see her through her storm and gently pull her out of it. She's not a bad mommy. She's a single mommy of twins that never gets a real break. She's not Wonder Woman. then again... hehe

    The shirt thing is funny. I thought it would be hot to wear one of Winter's shirts. I love wearing/stealing my husband's shirts and sweatshirts.

    LOL she acted just like I would at a conference like that. I wouldn't know what the speaker was really talking about but I could describe in detail everything in the room and what people were wearing. (cowboy boots? LMAO!) Ludicrously-expensive meds help me pay attention, but I'd still notice everything or nothing.

    Er... Kaity... your dad is a girl. You were created by some crazy freaky magic that worked three times better than that crazy woman even thought to do.
    I guess Taylor never wanted to tell her children that. Honestly, what would they even be able to do with that knowledge?

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    1. She is, isn't she? I suppose that all this stuff has just been kept inside for a while, and it all just came flooding out when a nice man gave her a little nudge.
      Exactly! She works 7 days a week running her own business, has two young children, and enjoys having a social life too! There isn't really much time in her schedule for her to sit and think, although she does need to give herself a break sometimes.

      Oh, I agree! I regularly steal my boyfriends boxer-shorts to sleep in if I go to bed before him, but he gets all angry at me for it. I don't see why, because he has thousands of them! I'll also steal his hoodies when I'm cold. In return he's allowed to put his stuff in my handbag when we go out, which I think is a fair trade, don't you? I get to wear his clothes, and then steal his wallet and car keys when we leave the house! ;)

      Haha, she probably would have learned a lot if it wasn't for all the stuff on her mind! I'm hoping she'll be able to concerntrate 'tomorrow' and actually learn something.
      AAHAHAAAA!! The cowboy boots made me laugh so much. I originally changed everyones formalwears to nice suits and business attire, but then something happened and all their formalwears are different. I don't know if they're just wearing what they were given when I downloaded them, or if some of the items are to replace CC I don't have. A lot of people had weird shoes on, so I'm assuming they were dressed in CC shoes when I got them.

      :p Taylor would have told them if they'd asked. But as Kaity said, she's never cared or asked, because in her opinion, if 'he' can't be bothered to stick around and raise 'his' kids, why would she want to know anything about 'him'?
      There is a possibility that she may want to find out about 'him' soon, but maybe after everything else going on has blown over. I think her brain would explode if she found out now!
      I was laughing so much as I was writing her rant about her father.

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  6. It's a good thing that Kaity went to the conference, it seems to have helped her realize just how much she does love her kids. I'm also glad that she feels comfortable talking to Winter, everyone could use a sounding board, and he makes a great sounding board, friend, and maybe more...
    It was neat seeing your *extras*. =)

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  7. It would be interesting to see how Kaity would react to know who her "father" is. I like that she is realizing just how much she loves her kids by being away from that. Winter.... <3

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  8. I didn't realize that the triplets didn't know how their mom got pregnant! I guess that would have been a very difficult thing for Taylor to explain when she didn't fully understand how it happened herself.

    I'm already crazy about Winter! He's so kind and understanding. He seems to have a lot of patience and common sense. Just what Katie needs in her life. I hope it's not a one night stand! I am such a romantic!

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