Inferno

In a way, Celendel and Celenia began to remind me of Elrandra and Emethien. My youngest set of twins were getting older, but Celenia insisted on attaching herself to her brother. Their more refined walking and dexterity skills allowed her to climb on him in all sorts of new ways. It was highly amusing to watch. I was certain Celendel would finally tire of his sister's antics, but it seemed he continued to pay them no mind. In fact, I daresay he rather enjoyed being Celenia's climbing toy.

I started to get a taste of the emotions Eloril probably felt when he saw me with men when I spotted him and Erien getting all close and cuddly. There were a fair amount of instances where I would walk into a room only to silently slip out for the two were just so near in each other in that romantic way that they could not have been doing anything other than kissing. I never saw them engage in such activities, but I didn't doubt that it was going on. The familiar feeling of jealously crept into my chest again. Of course, I didn't detest Erien. I absolutely adored her. However, I couldn't help but to feel that natural, and childish, desire to keep my older brother all to myself. My slight guilt kept me from getting too carried away. Eloril had sacrificed so much of his time, love, and patience for my sake. It was hardly appropriate to cause tension towards something that was bringing him love and joy.

Erien did become part of the family very quickly. I was ravished for a connection with someone I could call my peer. It had been so long since I had had any contact with my friends from home, and the friendships I made with the humans here just never gave me the true satisfaction I wanted. The same old problem of the reality that they were mortal and I was immortal always got in the way. To be able to talk to Erien, have her understand the part of me the humans around me couldn't, and feel relief that she would always be around cheered me up in a way I hadn't been cheerful for a long time. I actually started to forget some of my worries surrounding the ending of the order. Even more so, I couldn't help but to suspect that Eloril had brought Erien here for that very purpose. The timing appeared too coincidental. I had again been struggling with having faith that I could have a happy life with meaningful connections after all my children passed, and suddenly this other elf woman shows up to offer me friendship and an accepting heart that I never imaged another elf would give me? Especially when Eloril had hinted to me how strongly opposed Erien's father had been against her coming? I also suspected that ada and nana might have had a hand in the whole matter as well.

But, I didn't dwell on suspicious coincidences for long. I was glad to have Erien around no matter what circumstances had brought her on her visit. Seeing her face light up when she played with sparklers for the first time was priceless.

And she was absolutely beside herself with glee when Celendel and Celenia's birthday came around. She enjoyed getting to watch them grow. Eloril and I both had to laugh though when she asked if such rapid growth was normal. Her almost identical wording to Eloril's own words all those years ago was too perfect not to have a chuckle at. I reassured her they were growing fine.

A bit to my disappointment, Celenia also matured as her body matured. She was still attached to Celendel and gave him plenty of hugs, but her more spectacular feats not longer occurred. The two still liked to remain close though. They spent hours in the spare bedroom just chatting with each other while they played with the blocks.

No one batted an eye when I came down one morning wearing an outfit most different from what I normally wore. They all knew what it meant. Well, everyone except Erien of course. I didn't say anything about it to see what her reaction would be. I had to keep many laughs to myself. She was constantly staring at me with a mildly confused expression. It was clear she had no idea I was pregnant. I'm sure she thought I was simply wearing the human clothes because I wanted to, and she didn't want to say anything about it or else come off as rude. When she went ahead and made a subtle comment about the outfit through the form of a compliment later that afternoon, I went ahead and revealed the truth. Erien was surprised, and excited, to find out I was pregnant. That meant she would get to be around for the birth of one of my children.

Gellrin had never liked school so much. It wasn't so much the actual schooling that stressed her, but it was her simply being around so many people. She really only liked to be surrounded by family and friends, so having to constantly deal with strangers and people she barely knew took its toll on her. She came home one afternoon in a right terrible state. Most of her friends had been sick, which had left her feeling alone. Gellrin was so upset about the whole thing that she sat down to do her homework only to quickly shove it back into her bag with a huff. I took pity on her since it was a weekend. The two of us had a nice long walk- so we could find the ice cream truck, that is. Gellrin ordered a traditional ice cream cone while I went for a rainbow popsicle. We enjoyed them before heading down to the spa, for, due to my pregnancy and Gellrin being so stressed, we were both in need of a good massage.

The bedroom situation was cramped for a while. The children so desperately wanted the spare bedroom to remain as an activity room instead of an actual bedroom. However, with Celendel and Celenia clearly not being able to sleep in cribs anymore, they needed a real beds. I humored them for a while by sharing my bed with them so they could have the playroom they wanted, but there was only so much of them hogging my space that I could take. I gave them one more day to play in the bedroom and for Erumaren to make his potions in there before I had to shoo them out. Erumaren almost had a fit. The block table could easily be fit downstairs, but it looked at first like the chemistry station would have to be sent to storage. Gritting my teeth, I allowed that bulky thing to be an eyesore by allowing it to be placed directly in front of one of the large windows facing the street downstairs.

I could have jumped up and down with happiness when it was announced seasonal festivals could be coming to Riverview had it not been for my growing belly. Riverview was charming, but it was also horribly boring. It was no wonder that the petition for a festival had been so strongly supported. What made everything better was that the grounds were built in time for a summer festival to be set up. Eloril and I took Erien there on opening day while the children were in school. There wasn't much I could do while being so heavily pregnant. Thus, I did what I normally did when pregnancy prevented me from doing to more strenuous activities I desired- I ate all I wanted. Mostly I stuck to the snow cones to help me fend off the sweltering heat.

Eloril took Erien over to the skating rink. A bit clumsy for an elf, she had a little trouble getting her footing as she tried on roller skates for the first time. Eloril never let go of her hand, but she held onto it with a death grip anyway. Erien did manage to get the hang of it rather quickly though. She and Eloril took to spinning around in circles. I took to watching them while they ate, and good old jealousy popped up again. It was a different kind of jealousy this time around. It was more similar to what I felt when I saw ada, nana, and Abrien together. I wasn't upset that I had to share my brother. I was upset because of what seeing Eloril and Erien together reminded me of. In truth, I did began to feel what Eloril had been afraid his relationship with the woman in front of him would make me feel- left behind. I knew what it felt like to feel the emotions my brother and my strongly potential sister-in-law felt. I also knew what it felt like to have those pure emotions shattered. To see Eloril and Erien's relationship flourish while mine was hopelessly broken into a million pieces beyond any hope of repair was painful to say the least.

Perhaps that's why the idea to purchase another chicken coop soon popped into my head. I forgot when I was making the purchase of how much Eloril hated chickens, but maybe my subconscious wanted to do a little something that would irritate him. I laughed slightly too hard at his deep frown and large groan of exasperation when the coop and chickens arrived. He began avoiding the back corner of the yard with fervor. Celendel and Celenia, however, loved the chickens. I barely had to do any work with our new animals seeing as how my youngest did most of the upkeep.

Their help was a blessing, for I ached far too often to do much walking or bending over. My pregnancy had grown late indeed. It wasn't too much longer when the time to deal with labor was upon me again. As it was, the children were at school and Eloril and Erien had headed down to one of the rivers to dip their feet in the water. I was alone in the house for the first time in forever. The labor was typical and blessedly short. The result of it was another baby girl. I named her Isebrilia.

Erien did actually jump up and down with happiness when she returned to the house to find out she had another young one to cuddle. I was able to get a lot of rest that afternoon due to her hogging my daughter. However, the day ended up with me having a bitter taste in my mouth. Erien's mood became downcast as the afternoon progressed. When I asked her what was causing her pout, I received a truth I hadn't known existed. Isebrilia's birth meant that Erien had to leave soon. Her father has granted her permission to stay only until I gave birth to my next child. Erien wanted to stay much longer for she was learning so much and experiencing a world she never could have dreamed of, but the orders of her father could not go ignored. Erien had, at most, three more days before she had to pack up if she didn't want to face his ire. That revelation was entirely disappointing. I didn't want Erien to leave either. She had been around for a while, but it had felt like such a short while. What made it all worse was that I then found out that Erien would not be back. This one trip and this one trip alone was all she had gotten permission for. The next time I saw her, it would be back in the elven lands when the order was over and the newborn in her arms was dead.

That set my mind panicking. I fretted constantly for those last few days of Erien's visit. I was scared of being alone. That was why I made my request to Eloril before he left. He had taken nana's place in the system we set up while nana was gone. Eloril was a bit hesitant at me wanting to become pregnant again so soon, but besides his hesitations he had no other reason to say no. My request went forward.

Then he and Erien had to leave. I gave Eloril many hugs, but I gave Erien many more. I was grateful that she was giving me something to look forward to when I returned home. Though I had always felt comfort that my family would be there, for there to be guaranteed other outside of my family who would be around for support helped me to ease my mind. Me reminding myself that we would get to meet again allowed me not to cry when we said our goodbyes.

Several days later, Mr. Roy Mills showed up to the house. It was being the only adult in the house again and my craving to feel even a shallow and fake sort of love that caused me to be more flirtatious and overt with Mr. Mills than I had been with other men in the past. We spent most of the day together, which he had no objection towards. The two of us even sat under the night sky looking up at the stars for a long time before we got down to doing what he had come over to help me do.

Gellrin started going over to Marty's house quite often. His dog had had puppies, and she went over to play with them seeing as how I wasn't in the mindset to adopt one. This led to the two bonding again for they had been drifting apart recently. Out of all people, it had been Marty whom Ranna had eventually fallen in love with after Henry passed. It was strange having my daughter and a man who had fathered one of my other children marry, but it certainly wasn't the first time something similar has happened. Overall, I was simply happy Ranna had chosen a man who was more her age. I could also obviously trust Marty with her as well. The two decided not to have any more children, but they were kept busy nonetheless. That was why Gellrin hadn't seen much of her father for a while, but it was pleasing to see that being remedied.

The backyard became very noisy. If it wasn't the chickens causing a ruckus, it was Celendel and Celenia. After ignoring the bee riders for so long, the two suddenly became addicted to them. They would eagerly do their homework right when they got home for school because it meant they could go play all they wanted without interruption. Though I did wish they would try to control the volume of their playful shouting somewhat, I wasn't going to complain if their playing improved their schoolwork.

I never thought taking the family to the festival on the weekend could be such a big mistake. It seemed harmless to gather everyone up and head out for some fun. I know what happened could not be my fault, but I placed the blame on myself anyway. The children and I treated the firetrucks roaring by the festival grounds as a fun show- not having the slightest idea of their true destination. It was the phone call I received ten minutes later that wiped the smile off my face instantly. Only after getting that call did I realize there was a spiraling could of smoke coming from the last place I needed it to be coming from. I left Gellrin and Erumaren to watch over Celendel, Celenia, and Isebrilia while I went to see the damage taking place. The firefighters were getting the situation under control, but there in each room of our house a massive inferno was claiming the place I called home......