Gen Two- Chapter Two

The two of them had no idea what was coming for them. They had seen me enter the pool area, but they were so engaged in their swimming and casual chatting that they didn't notice me subtly sneaking over to the diving board. I wasn't a diver by any means. I rather sucked, in fact. What I did excel in, however, was making the biggest splashes in the whole family, which I thought was impressive given how relatively small I was compared to everyone else. I watched in enjoyment when they heard the bounce of the board, their heads whipped in my direction, and another annoyed call of my name echoed out. Unfortunately for them, it was too late. I was already sky-high. The two girls in the water barely had time to clear out of the way before I sent cascading surges of water drenching over them.

It wasn't planned at all, but I had barely surfaced before my friends joined in on the chaos. Having just finished changing into their swimsuits, they suddenly surged through the fence to add more tides of water spraying everywhere. They began laughing, splashing each other, and screaming in amusement like mad idiots. I was close enough to Plum to hear her sigh though.

     "Well, the quiet swim was fun while it lasted." she spoke to Desire.

She was my sister's best friend, and Holly and Mimosa's older sister. She and Desire had practically bolted like they had rockets under their feet when our time at the park had waned and the decision was made to swim in our backyard pool. They knew how rowdy the place would be otherwise once me and my friends got in. Honestly, I thought they should be counting themselves lucky that not everyone had chosen to visit our house. Some of our massive collection of friends and family had gone to some restaurant for lunch, and the others had gone to see Aunt Sunset's movie that had come out yesterday. I almost chose to go to the movies myself, mainly because I loved the popcorn, but I wasn't really a big fan of Aunt Sunset's movies as they were all girly romances.

The quiet swim Desire and Plum had been enjoying was definitely over. Plum looked at me in confusion when she spotted me chuckling to myself, but that was because I was seeing what she wasn't. Sensing the danger too late, she turned her head at the wrong time as Holly sent a powerful spraying splash right into her face.

     "Ugh, brat!" Plum complained.

Though she tried to keep up her facade as if she was nothing but annoyed, a smile pushing up the corners of her mouth was only just kept under control as she retaliated. Holly was drowned under her much larger splashes until Plum was forced to deal with blasts from multiple sides as Mimosa supported her twin.

     "Why did there have to be two of you?" Plum complained again, flailing hilariously as she tried to splash both of them at once while treading water.

Desire came to her rescue by sneaking up behind Holly and wrapping her arms around her stomach to drag her away. Desire and Plum's attitudes about wanting a quiet swim had obviously changed as it became a full out war between the four of them.

The rest of us who did just want to swim and not be drowned under obscene amounts of water made sure to stay at the opposite end of the pool.

     "So, I have to know," Rosemary began as she moved closer to me, "How come your parents built a big swimming pool in your backyard when you have the local swimming pool right next door?"
     "Oh man, I can't even count how many times we've been asked that," I chuckled heavily, "I don't really know, but I do remember my parents saying a long time ago that this plot of land was a lot larger than they realized. They didn't have anything else to put in this area, and they didn't want to leave it just yard because they didn't want to have worry about mowing it."
     "So they put a maintenance-heavy pool in its place instead?" Rosemary assumed with a big grin.
     "Something like that," I shrugged, "Or maybe they were joking around when they said that. I think they were just making up an excuse for why they built a pretty needless pool."

Rosemary nodded, and my smile turned sympathetic.

     "If you kick your legs a bit more, you'll tread easier." I told her as I noticed she was having trouble staying afloat.
     "Right." she said.

Rosemary had demanded from us so many times for us not to feel sorry for her, but I couldn't help but to feel a little pity for her in that moment. Her mom had forced her to stay pretty much locked up in her room all the time so as to not anger her step-father, who barely wanted to acknowledge her existence. Thus, Rosemary hadn't gotten to do a lot of normal things kids did, including learning how to swim, until she had joined our family. Still slightly afraid of deeper water, she didn't come swimming with us all the time. Rosemary was, however, steadily getting the hang of it.

I changed the topic, and she and I had a good time just chatting. I inwardly remarked at how it felt as if I never talked to her on my own, but I realized that was Mimosa's fault. She could get really jealous, and it was only in moments like this where she was preoccupied where I could talk to my other female friends without her giving them a death glare or stealing me away.

Thankfully, the splashing fight did have her soundly distracted. Rosemary and I left the pool when she grew tired to go see what Uncle Blaze was working on for lunch.

     "Hot dogs again?" I whined when I saw all the links on the grill.
     "You like my hot dogs." he reminded me.
     "I know, but I thought mom was going to be making kebabs. Those are my favorite."
     "Well, she should have started them long ago and I don't know where she's gotten off to, so I decided to take matters into my own hands as I am starving." Uncle Blaze shrugged.
     "Uncle Am says hot dogs are the only thing you know how to cook." Rosemary joined in.
     "Not true. I also know how to boil water in order to make pasta." Uncle Blaze said proudly.
     "Mom tried to teach him how to make fajitas once, but, not only did he burn everything, he even caught a towel on fire. He's an old dog you can't teach any new tricks to."
     "Don't you call me old." Uncle Blaze commanded.
     "But you are. You're like, 54 now, aren't you?"

The spatula was quickly thwaped onto the top of my head.

     "Say that number again and the spatula is gonna hit you in a much more awkward place." Uncle Blaze warned.
     "Hey." I said shortly and irritably.

It wasn't for my sake. The gentle hit hadn't even hurt, and I knew Uncle Blaze was all just talk. I gave him a look of warning because Rosemary had tensed up and her face had grown taut despite her attempting to hide it. Uncle Blaze caught on to what I was getting at quickly.

     "Sorry." he apologized genuinely.
     "No, it's alright. I know it's just loving rough-housing. Really." she comforted with a smile.

Still, she was rapid at changing the topic.

     "Could your brother cook?" she wondered as Uncle Blaze had gone back to using his spatula for its intended purpose.
     "He could if he needed to, but most of the time it was Desi who did the cooking while he did the other chores she hated in exchange."
     "I think it's sweet uncle Am passed down their names," Rosemary said before turning teasing, "Are you jealous they didn't use yours?"
     "They did," I revealed to her gentle surprise, "It's my middle name. Well, it's a variation of his name, anyway."
     "Blazing," Uncle Blaze spoke proudly, "It's more impactful. It invokes action. Am was smart to keep mine and Coal's names together too."
     "Why's that?" Rosemary wondered curiously.
     "It's from this lame saying mom and dad had, and it's what makes 'Coal' kinda work as a name for a red person," Blaze started, "In fact, my brother and this guy right here are probably the only two red guys on the planet to have such a moniker. You're much more likely to see it being used on a gray person or even someone who's brown. Mom and dad had some other name besides it or 'Blaze' they were going to use when they thought mom was pregnant with one kid, but when they found out she was pregnant with two boys that was when they decided to get clever. Since my brother came out first, he was the piece of 'coal' that lit the 'blaze'. They thought it was hilarious."
     "Aww, I like that. I think it's cute." Rosemary gushed.
     "Coal thought so too."
     "Is our Coal like your brother?" she then asked.
     "Well, Am is pretty much a clone of his dad, and Coal is a good little clone of Am even if his face is more like his mother's. He's slightly more rambunctious though," Uncle Blaze glanced at me, "Yet my brother is a hard one to be exactly like. The way he would stare and just stand in solitude, even since childhood, made it seem as if he always had something on his mind. Like he knew something no one else knew. I genuinely wondered for a time if he was psychic. If felt as if he even knew his own death was coming- the way he was so adamant about making a will and being sure that I was in a decent position to take care of Amaranth if something happened to him and Desi. Then I realized he was probably just paranoid about it since we had recently lost our own parents. They had been real good at ensuring everything was set up of for us, so I guess Coal wanted to do the same."

Uncle Blaze ended the explanation with a shrug. I was left in a little state of shock though. He was more likely to avoid any questions about his twin in general, and this was only the second time I had heard him mention anything about his death. There did seem to be a sad look in his eye, but it was hard to tell what with the steam from the grill fogging up his glasses.

     "These hot dogs are all but done. Go gather everyone up." he then instructed me before I had the chance to get a better look.

I set off to find mom first. I wanted to find what she had been getting up to and why there would be no kebabs for lunch. My slight irritation instantly vanished when I ended up finding her right away. Checking her room, I spotted her walking out of the bathroom coughing a deep, gurgling cough and not looking too steady.

     "Mom?" I questioned in concern, rushing over.
     "Oh, uh, Coal..." she mumbled timidly, doing a poor job of pretending she was fine.
     "I knew you didn't look right."
     "It was that obvious, was it?" she said with a wryly amused grin, "I knew I should have known better than to try and pretend."
     "Are you sick again?"

I was really worried. Mom had seriously only just gotten over a nasty fever several days ago. When she kept on getting sick in quick repetition, it meant a hospital stay for her wasn't far behind. It felt as if each stay lasted a bit longer every time.

     "I don't believe so. I'm certain this is just a side-effect from some of my medicine," she explained comfortingly, "Having my treatment yesterday instead of today threw me off my schedule. Not only did I forget to take my after-injection medicine last night, I took it this morning without eating anything first. That was when the symptoms started."
     "You really should have said something." I rebuked with a frown.
     "I know, but your father can be a bit too smothering sometimes," she said before grinning at me, "And you're not much better."

I couldn't refute that.

     "I guess I can't act anymore though. I definitely need a good nap. Bring me Ceri, will you? She needs one too. We might as well take it together." she requested.

Cerise was playing with some toys right outside the room, so it was an easy task. Mom did start giggling at me when I went into what she called my "dad" mode. I made her lie on the bed while I got her some water and the medicine she needed to combat her other medicine. I was the one who played with Cerise and calmed her down when she turned fidgety so that mom could just cuddle with her as they read my sister's current favorite book to help them get sleepy. I dimmed the lights and fluffed the pillows. I ignored mom's giggles the entire time, for I had seen her be really sick before. There was no counting how many times I had heard the story of how she nearly died. I think I did know somewhere within me back then of how fragile my perfect world was, and a couple extra chores were nothing to me if it meant I could keep the illusion lasting just a little longer. Our world would crumble to pieces if we lost mom.

During the several minutes I had spent tending to mom and Cerise, a game of pool between Uncle Eden and Prism had been started in the family area.

     "Pool again?" I asked in exasperation.
     "Shut up. It's the one game that requires good hand-eye coordination that I'm good at." Uncle Eden hushed as he lined up his shot.

I quieted and moved over towards dad who was watching the game.

     "Perchance, is your mother feeling under the weather?" he questioned quietly when Uncle Eden continued to be distracted by Prism's competitive taunting.

So he hadn't been blind to it.

     "Yeah. She said she got messed up with her medicine schedule, and she took some incorrectly." I admitted.
     "I figured as much. Is she finally lying down?"
     "She's going to take a nap with Cerise."
     "Good." dad nodded before he folded his arms as his eyes followed the ball Uncle Eden managed to sink.
     "Trying not to be smothering?" I questioned merrily.
     "Trying," dad chuckled, "And it's annoyingly frustrating."

I was not doing a good job at remembering the original tasks I had been given that day. I only recalled that I was supposed to be bringing everyone together for lunch when I saw the others outside lining up to get their hot dogs. Prism also pulled out some bags of chips and pretzels, and dad made a good collection of mixed sodas from our outside bar that very rarely had any alcohol in it. That usually only happened around the holidays when the adults would have tiny amounts of wine. I knew that Malachite always found a way to get beer though, which was the big thing he was always getting in trouble for. The bit of alcohol I had had was some of that wine, and as far as I could tell I didn't have a thirst for the stuff at all.

Anyway, lunch was relaxing and right on time. My stomach growled at me with a fervor as soon as I began loading my plate up. I downed two hot dogs before I knew what I was doing, and the chips and pretzels followed. My friends and I got weighed down by all the food and lazed about on the playground when we were done. I was actually glad for that, for my parents' room was right on the other side of the house wall that faced the playground. The last thing I wanted was for our rowdiness to bother mom. Our playing was done relatively quietly though, and by the time we started to get loud again I noticed the lights in the room were back on.

The sunlight was constant and as energetic as normal for this time of the year, so the passing of hours completely escaped my notice. It was already edging on dinnertime before I realized how much of the day had gone by. That was also Mimosa's fault. She had gone right back to attaching herself to my hip once lunch was over. She started crying when Azure took the swing next to me, I almost kicked her in the face because she was too close when we went up the jungle gym's ladder and my foot slipped, she was half sitting on my lap when Midas and I tried to build a big sandcastle in the sandbox, and she refused to let go of my hand when we played tag. I don't know how I managed to escape her, but I think Plum getting wind of her unending possessiveness helped. I had seen her talking to her little sister before I managed to dodge away to the other side of the house. However, I wasn't alone. I caught Holly's eye and motioned for her to come with me.

     "This has always been my favorite part of your house." she said merrily, kicking her feet when we sat down.

The fountain nook my parents had made in the empty space created between the walls of their room, the glass hallway, and the music room was one of my favorites too.

     "I like it because it's calming. Calming and quiet." I agreed.

Holly laughed quietly.

     "Sorry about Mimi." she apologized.
     "She's being worse than normal. What's up? Is she refusing to take her medication or something? I don't want to be mean to her, but there's only so much I can take. I might end up snapping at her again, and you remember what happened then." I explained in exhaustion.
     "I know. Plum's gonna tell her that she had to let up or else she'll be sent home," Holly replied reassuringly, "And it's stress that's making her act up."
     "Stress? Stress from what?"
     "I...I'm not supposed to be telling anyone because dad and grandpa don't even want to think about it, but I know you can keep a secret," she said softly, "Grandpa's parents have been coming around recently."
     "I thought they were dead?" I asked in vast confusion.
     "Not my mom's grandparents. My dad's paternal grandparents. The ones who kicked grandpa Jac out when he fell in love with grandma. It's only now on their deathbed that they're trying to see what legacy their only son left them. Grandpa Jac has been getting really furious though. He says they're just trying to sweet talk money out of him because they have a lot of debt that's going to fall on great-grandpa's nephew or something when they die. That they're not trying to make amends, just protect someone else in the family who didn't make them angry by loving someone who wasn't their color. They've been coming to our house too. It's making dad angry as well, and you know how easily negative emotions brush off onto Mimi and make her worse. She's clinging to you more because the tension has her scared."
     "That's understandable," I accepted, leaning deeply against the wood backing, "I can't believe people like your great-grandparents still exist. I thought all that stupid prejudice died out a long time ago. I've heard mom talk about stuff Aunt Sunset has said though. She said that she's seen better actresses than her be denied the types of roles she's easily gotten because they're Mixed. Almost all of the couples they show are same color Solids as well."
     "I know. I've seen Plum have to deal with things like that as well. She asked some guy to a dance, and he walked away laughing about how he wouldn't be caught dead with someone of two colors."
     "She was better off for it though. Who needs a guy like that?" I remarked angrily.

Holly and I didn't get much longer to contemplate or get outraged by the social inequalities of our world as we were interrupted. A shiver ran down my back when I heard the call.

     "Coal!"

It was, of course, Mimosa looking for me.

     "Here, hide in the corner. I'll lead her away." Holly proposed, half pushing me towards the southern corner of the nook.

It was a good hiding spot, but not one often used as mom hated her flowers being trampled on. I avoided them as best as I could as I hurriedly rushed to sit down in the corner. It didn't take long for the guilt to set in. I did like Mimosa. She was always super nice and could be really fun to be around sometimes, but I was often sneaking off behind her back, trying to get away, or lying to her face. I understood that she wasn't trying to be annoying. That she couldn't help it. That the reason behind the majority of her actions towards me was that she was trying to make me happy. Even still, surely there had to be a point somewhere where I didn't have to give up some of my boundaries to her will just because she had some behavioral disorder.

The guilt sunk in further when Holly and I learned of her intention for seeking me out.

     "Have you seen Coal?" Mimosa questioned her sister in that perpetual innocent voice she had.
     "I haven't seen him over here. I don't know if you should be trying to find him right now though. You've been too pushy with him today He knows you mean well, but you have to give him some space."
     "I know. Plum already gave me the lecture," Mimosa pouted, "I'm not trying to bother him. I actually came to find the both of you. Uncle Am is making a trip down to Peppy's Convenience to get a bunch of those ice cream cups since we missed the ice cream truck that drove by. He's asking everyone for the flavors they want."
     "Oh. Well, that is fine then. Sorry," Holly apologized, "Let's go to Uncle Am. I'm sure Coal will show up on his own. He's never one to turn down ice cream."
     "Yeah. He's probably already there, actually." Mimosa said brightly.

She took her sister's hand, and the two of them went off.

I waited a few seconds or so before I nimbly made my way out of the flower patch stepping on a few of the plants as possible. Sure enough, when I walked through the backdoor I found a little crowd gathered around dad by the front door. I watched in amusement as he madly scribbled down all the requests that came flying at him. Mimosa turned to smile grandly at me, and Holly gave me a tiny shrug at our overreaction.

As I walked over, I watched dad scoff and give mom, who looked much better, a glance of amused disapproval.

     "You could barely eat anything before, and now you want four cups of ice cream?" he asked in exasperation.
     "Yup." mom replied simply.
     "You don't need that much, and we do have some vanilla ice cream in the fridge. It's just not enough for this lot." dad pointed out.
     "The cups are tiny, and I don't want vanilla ice cream. That's so boring." mom said determinedly.
     "Butterscotch and apricot crunch, right?" dad sighed in defeat.
     "And blackberry swirl and yellow fruit delight."

Dad had to flip to a new page in his notebook to continue the list.

Desire peeked over his shoulder with a hopeful look.

     "Can I get the fruit punch flavor too then?"
     "No. No one else is getting more than one." dad denied firmly when a flurry of new requests assaulted him.
     "Oh, come on, daddy! Why does mom get four and the rest of us only one? That doesn't seem fair." Desire kept trying, talking sweetly and latching onto his arm.
     "Because I am not going to go broke getting everyone every flavor they want, and Ethereal's going to get her four because I've seen what happens when you stand in the way between her and the food she wants. For the record, Wisp obviously did not get his strong punches from me, and I can assure personally you that her hits are indeed strong."

That had me intrigued. I wondered what kind of situation had to have occurred in order to have mom hitting dad. The memory seemed to be making the both of them chuckle, so it was a story I definitely had to hear.

     "If the rest of you want more ice cream, you can work to earn the money to buy it yourself." dad continued on.
     "I'll take out all the garbage if you get me a mint extreme!" Azure offered.
     "I'll clean all the dishes!" Midas chimed in.
     "Nice try, boys, but you know that's not what I meant. Feel free to do those chores anyway though. Goodness knows you two rugrats dirty up my house and then leave without picking up far more often than you should." dad chastised teasingly and then glanced at me, "Coal, what flavor do you want?"
     "Cookies and cream."
     "And your backup flavor if they're out of that?"
     "Peanut butter cup."

Dad scribbled it down before closing the notebook with finality.

     "Alright, that's everyone's preferences then. The trip shouldn't take too long. I just hope I won't get buried down by the weight of all the cups." he joked.
     "Do you want me to come with you?" I offered, secretly wondering if I could get a second flavor snuck into the purchase if I was crafty enough.
     "I think it would be better to go alone to avoid any 'accidental' purchases." dad denied, peering at me suspiciously.

It was a curse being too like dad sometimes. He knew my thinking as well as he knew his own.

Everyone went off their own ways again once dad was out the door. Mimosa followed Holly dutifully- it definitely looking like she had taken Plum's lecture to heart. Not that I was free from being clung onto. As the sibling who played with her the most, Cerise often followed me around like a baby duck. I decided to follow mom and Uncle Blaze because I wanted to satisfy my curiosity, and Cerise followed me like a shadow. I never minded her following my every footsteps, because it was super cute when she did it. I planned to make Cerise my ally against Prism too when she got older too, so making sure my influence over her was stronger than my brother's was essential.

     "I gotta know- what's the story behind dad personally knowing how hard you hit?" I asked mom when we settled down in one of the corners by the front windows.

Mom and Uncle Blaze instantly started laughing.

     "I guess you're old enough to understand it now, and she's young enough to not remember it by tomorrow," Mom began, looking in turn at each me and Cerise while wearing a wide smile, "Gosh, it really has been so many years since then. The basics of it was that your father kissed me when he wasn't supposed to have kissed me. I was still dating Charming at the time, and Amaranth was dating Cocoa even though their relationship had been broken beyond repair long before that day. While it was true your father and I had developed feelings for each other, there were a lot of complications in the way that prevented us from getting together so easily. Most of that was the fact that I was still with your uncle Al, and I wasn't sure which way to turn. However, Amaranth had come to his decision. He got lost in his passion, admitted his love for me, and placed that kiss on me when I told him to back away. The result was that he technically cheated on his girlfriend, he betrayed his best friend, and he upset me horribly when I was already confused and didn't need him to complicate matters further. I slapped him twice after I broke off the kiss. The second one really hurt too."

Uncle Blaze chuckled reminiscently.

     "Am said that your slap was the one that hurt the most. Cocoa's was barely a slap at all, and Al just hit him a lot instead of really hitting hard."
     "I didn't know that Cocoa slapped him too. The poor thing. No wonder his bruise was so bad." Mom said in surprise, doing her best to be sympathetic but not being able to get rid of her giggles.
     "How big was it?" I asked.
     "It ran up his nose and all around his left cheek. It took weeks for it to go away. I still remember the expression he was wearing when he walked through the door with it. He just gave me this 'Don't-Say-a-Word-or-I'll-Murder-You' glare before heading off to his room. I got the explanation from Rose soon enough anyway when she called after Allium fessed up.
     "What happened afterwards?" I urged the story onwards, intrigued.
     "Well, we're laughing at it now, but it was incredibly rough at the time. I didn't talk to Amaranth for months, and Charming didn't for a long time either. Then he and I broke up, so I was even more of a mess. I refused to get out of bed for days. But, life went on and things got better. Charming actually set up a date for Amaranth and I that neither of us knew about. It allowed us to talk and starting sorting out our mess. Things clearly worked out in the end." mom shrugged lightheartedly.

I wanted to ask more questions. All the adults seemed to have an endless supply of stories I had never heard. Mimosa came over to interrupt again, but it wasn't my attention she wanted now.

     "Auntie 'Thereal, will you play me that one song on the piano?" she requested, wrapping her arms around mom's.
     "Heidenroslein? Sure." mom agreed.

Mimosa was a terrible musician, which was why she was fascinated that mom could play a myriad of instruments relatively well. She begged several songs out of her with every visit. The piano was the one mom was best at, although Aunt Sunflower could outplay her on every song. Nearly everyone followed mom to the music room that also served as her gardening area as her pale skin didn't mix well with endless amounts of strong summer light. She sat down, and soon Mimosa'a favorite melody echoed throughout the house. The little concert grew even better when Plum, who could play the violin decently, joined in.

Mimosa could normally get mom to play for what seemed like hours on end, but the songs didn't last long this time around. She played two before she said that she had to get dinner started. We had missed the kebabs for lunch, so they were to be dinner instead. You definitely weren't going to find me complaining.

Not wanting to let Mimosa feel as if she had to avoid me entirely, I sought her out on my own when everyone split yet again. She was messing around with dad's old telescope. I chucked mentally at how much of a fit he would be throwing if she was doing to his new one he kept safely tucked away what she was doing to his past model. Mimosa was yanking and turning it far too roughly.

     "What are you expecting to see during the daytime?" I wondered.
     "I dunno. Maybe an alien. That would be cool." Mimosa said with serious expectation.
     "You believe in aliens?"
     "Don't you?"
     "I do, actually. Dad does as well. He says there's no way with the universe being so vast that this planet is the only one that developed sentient life. We just don't have the means to find each other or communicate yet." I replied optimistically.
     "You should help him find some when you get older." Mimosa suggested.
     "Eh, I probably shouldn't. I like when dad shows me the stars and stuff, but I hate math too much. Dad says he spends more of his time working with numbers than staring at the sky."
     "What do you want to do when you grow up then?"
     "Not a clue yet. You?"
     "It's a secret." Mimosa giggled mischievously, making me suspicious.

Determined that she would be able to see something if she looked hard enough, Mimosa was fine with me going off with Azure we he came over to pull me back inside. With Wisp, Hunter, Malachite, and Cyclone not around, the three of us had free rein over the video game system. It was a rare day when we got to race more than one track or fight one match without the older boys swiping the controls away. My skills were acceptable. Much better than Prism's anyway. However, I didn't expect to win. My real strength lay in solo questing games. Midas was an impossible one to beat too. He was lucky enough to have his own consoles at home, and with no siblings to quarrel with he had lots of time to practice. Sometimes I highly envied him.

It was comedic in a way, how mine and Azure's head hung in unison when we were resolutely beaten.

     "Yes! You suck big time, losers!" Midas cheered.

He could be a pretty nasty winner from time to time. In this instance he wasn't too bad, and I was more interested in what mom and uncle Eden were saying quietly to themselves as they cut up the meat and vegetables.

     "Now that sounds familiar." Uncle Eden said.
     "I was never too bad at pointing out how terrible you were at video games. I just let your utterly humiliating defeats do the smack talk for me." mom joked back.

I grinned. I contemplated bringing mom over for a game to knock Midas down a peg. If there was anyone in the house who could beat him, it would be her.

To be honest, mom was probably a big reason why I couldn't see my life as anything other than perfect. She was pretty. She was nice. She never raised her voice. She could cook as well as any professional chef, and she could pump out math equations like it was nothing. She was good at sports, and she was musical. Mom always had the answers for everything. She could do anything she wanted and succeed. I never saw her lose control, and at that point I thought I never would. She really did make me think perfection was achievable.

My enjoyment of playing video games didn't last much longer. The door opened, and two of the four had returned. I leapt up to approach my cousin.

     "Can we go riding after dinner?" I asked intently.
     "Hello to you too." Hunter shook his head.
     "I said hello to you this morning!" I pouted, "Besides, I see you everyday. You push me for a greeting more than you say hello."
     "True, true." he nodded.
     "So, can we go for a ride?"
     "I've only had my motorcycle for a few weeks, and I think you've been out for a ride on it just as much as I have. Can't I have a little time to enjoy my legal rebelliousness without having to drag around my elementary-aged cousin?" Hunter teased.
     "Speaking of rebelliousness, where's your brother?" Uncle Eden cut in with suspicion.

Hunter immediately clammed up and turned sheepish.

     "Hunter." Uncle Eden said firmly.
     "I don't know, dad, okay? Wisp, Mal, and I were taking a snack run at that little shop on Fifth after Cy went home, and when Wisp and I were ringing up I turned around to see that Mal had taken off somewhere."
     "He's probably where he always hides away at." Wisp chimed in.
     "Why didn't you let me know he pulled another vanishing stunt?" Uncle Eden rebuked Hunter after sighing.
     "Because I do want to be his brother, not his babysitter. That can't happen if I'm snitching on him all the time. Do you know how much effort it's taken me just to get him to sort of listen to me?" Hunter said in exasperation.
     "I know, I know," Uncle Eden sighed even heavier, "Let me go round him up. I don't think Officer Flint is going to be kind enough to bring him home without writing up a report for the millionth time in a row."

With a weight visibly on his shoulders, Uncle Eden quickly collected his things. Mom reached out to give him a quick hug, but awkward silence followed as he walked towards and then passed through the door. Wisp and Hunter got a sympathetic stare from mom. They chose to go upstairs, and I watched Midas and Azure resume playing as it was the only thing that made sense to do.

The two older boys came back downstairs when mom began grilling and spicing the food. I teased them then about them not getting ice cream as they had come home too late, and that was when I realized that dad was being awfully slow. However, I didn't think too much of it. Peppy's was actually a good drive away. It was closer to Uncle Blaze's place than it was our house. Those ice cream cups were popular items too. It wouldn't surprise me if dad was having to fight to get all the right flavors or struggle with what to get if both someone's preferred flavor and backup flavor were out. Thinking about it, him trying to get so many of a busy Saturday afternoon was most likely one of the stupidest things that could have been thought of as a solution to missing the ice cream truck.

Dinner was an open event. A few were still satisfied from lunch, so they continued to laze about or play while those who wanted to eat gathered around the grill. I came and went. I took down two kebabs in no time flat. Then I played for a while before coming back for another. Wisp took out his phone and we watched funny videos. Then I swiped a few pieces of meat instead of having a whole new stick. Finally feeling rather full, I dipped my feet in the pool while I chatted with my friends. Wisp and Hunter started up a game of soccer when everyone gathered their energy once more. It was a strange kind of game though, for you had to fall out if you messed up while dribbling or you butchered your pass. Midas ended up the lone player on our side during the first round.

The second round had just finished when I remembered the ice cream, and I realized that dad still wasn't home.

I figured he had decided to pick up some other stuff on his way home. No one else seemed to be bothered by his tardy appearance. No one even mentioned ice cream as they kept on going about enjoying their day. Me and my friends did some more swimming. Uncle Eden returned, saying Malachite had been brought home with relative ease. He and Uncle Blaze started a game of darts. The sun finally began to set, and the world began to darken.

And dad had still not come home.

Holly and Mimosa took to the swings, and to the sky, to have a competition of who could go higher. Rosemary and I snuck into Prism's room on the second floor so we could judge from his window. Mimosa, having less of a sense of self-safety, nearly pushed the boundaries of how much the old swing set could take. Holly was not one to concede so easily, and it soon became impossible to tell which of them was going the furthest past too far. Then mom spotted them and made them swing at an acceptable height. It was just as well. The darker shadows of the ever approaching night had made it too hard for Rosemary and I to see them properly.

Dad had still not come home.

The sunlight was lost entirely, and the stars shined in their twinkling glory. Mimosa had a thrill out of me showing her what I did know how to find with the telescope. While we were doing that, Uncle Blaze lit up the grill again, and we roasted marshmallows for dessert instead. In a semi-rare burst of niceness, Prism was the one who watched over Cerise for the evening. He made sure those sticky hands of her were sparkling clean, he kept her laughing with bouts of tickles of various lengths, he engaged her in her nonsensical toddler conversations, he kissed her head lovingly when she fell asleep against his chest, and he quietly took her off to our parents' room to set her down for bed.

Dad had still not come home.

Yet it was time for the others to go home. Plum, Holly, Mimosa, and Midas dashed across the road. Uncle Eden sent Hunter home with Rosemary on his motorcycle. Aunt Purity picked up Azure. The house quieted immensely, and that was when the worrying curiosity set in. Wisp, Prism, Desire, and I all glanced out the windows frequently. We watched as mom, Uncle Eden, and Uncle Blaze talked quietly to each other with concerned voices. Uncle Eden took his car keys and left, with Peppy's Convenience as his probable destination. Uncle Blaze ushered us kids to start getting ready for bed instead of bothering with cleaning up. I slipped past his notice when he was busy with the others. Mom didn't notice me either. She stood by the front door, her head constantly leaning to glance out the windows as she watched and waited. Again and again she brought her phone to her ear. Again and again it rung for forever. Again and again she got dad's voicemail. She kept on trying. Her frantic insistence brought to my mind the horrible thought that had been lurking in the shadows. Somehow, I had already understood the truth. I had realized that my perfect world had been shattered without me even knowing. I almost reached out to mom to tell her to stop calling, because I was well aware that...

Dad would not be coming home.