Those two solemn words mom spoke lingered painfully in the air. Her eyes darted this way and that, but never got higher than the floor. She waited for someone to say something, for someone to react, but I think the rest of us, at least I was, were waiting for her to keep going. To say it was just a joke. To reveal it actually wasn't that serious. When the silence dragged on until it grew suffocating, I looked to dad. There was no doubt by the stunned expression he wore that mom hadn't chosen to speak to him about this beforehand.
"Lung cancer?"
Wisp was the brave one to break the tension. Even his soft voice boomed like thunder as the horror was that immense.
"But..but that's something that only people who smoke and stuff get!" Cerise piped up, her words dripped with denial.
"It's more common for them, but that's not necessarily true," mom countered gently, "All the horrible bouts of pneumonia I've had are what's done it. My lungs have been weakened so much, it was the right environment for the mutations to thrive.
Cerise huffed out a heartbroken yet furiously angry scoff while turning her head away from everyone. There was a wetness in her eye.
"How bad is it?" Uncle Blaze questioned to push back the stiff silence threatening to take over again.
"The diagnosis I was given was Stage II Type B. That basically means the tumor I have is larger than five centimeters, but not larger than seven centimeters."
"If the cancer is in its second stage, then that obviously means it's been developing over time. But you've been in the hospital constantly for years now! How the hell did no one realize you had cancer!?" Prism broke out of his horrified stupor to exclaim bitterly.
"It's been hiding under all the other problems. No one thought to test for it because its symptoms mixed themselves in with the symptoms of the pneumonia and other infections and sicknesses I've had." mom mumbled miserably.
"It's alright," Uncle Blaze comforted, mostly motioning to Prism, "Stage II is something we can handle. I mean, I haven't done too much research specifically on lung cancer, but the problem isn't nearly as bad as it could be. The treatments should take care of it no problem. What is your doctor recommending you do?"
"Normally, they will do a surgery to remove the tumor and any lymph nodes that have possibly become cancerous. However, my doctor doesn't feel I'm strong enough to undergo surgery. We're going to start out with only radiation therapy, and if that doesn't prove effective enough we'll considering talking about surgery again as well as chemotherapy."
I grew more and more frightened with every word mom spoke. I didn't know much about radiation therapy, but I had heard horrible tales about the effects of chemotherapy. I glanced at mom's practically skeletal frame, and my heart dropped down to my shoes at the thought of her having to suffer through such an ordeal. No matter what happened, she wouldn't come out of this a victor. It was a dreadful realization, and it only got worse.
"What else is there?" Wisp asked softly.
Mom's head had steadily drooped lower and lower. Her fight to maintain composure was clear, but that was a losing battle as well.
"My doctor and I talked about a lot of things. One of the things he brought up was my five year survival rate," she began in a cracking and wavering voice, "He said that he typically refuses to give them at all, because the numbers can be skewed so easily and everyone is so different. However...this time around he admitted that due to my already significantly weakened state and high risk for pneumonia and similar infections that the survival rate for the stage I'm at is accurate to what he thinks will happen."
My abdomen constricted. My fingers tingled, my head started to go dizzy, and I discovered I was barely breathing myself. Fifty percent. That was what I feared would come out of mom's mouth next. It was the lowest percentage I could force myself to accept. The chance being equal of mom living or mom dying was terrifying enough. It surely couldn't be anything worse than that...
"And what's the survival rate?" Uncle Blaze had to prompt.
Mom lost her battles against her emotions. Tears steamed down her cheeks, and she hung her head so low it was impossible to see her face.
"About thirty-one percent..."
Everyone got louder or much more quiet. Desire let out a saddened gasp while Glade turned around to bury her face in Uncle Blaze's stomach with a muffle cry. Prism reached out to put an arm around his twin, Wisp turned as stiff as a statue, and Cerise clung onto Uncle Blaze as well. I, myself, stood frozen like Wisp. I think I swayed a bit more though. My head had gone lightheaded in a way it never had, and the edges of my vision were tinted black. It took a massive force of will to get my lungs to cooperate.
"T-That doesn't necessarily mean the cancer is going to overpower me," mom bravely pressed on, desperately doing what she could to fight back against the horrible news, "It doesn't mean I'll be dropping down dead in the next few weeks. I could very well ditch the cancer and never have it come back. It just means that I'll be weaker than ever coming out of treatment, and if I get pneumonia or something again...I might not be able to handle it anymore."
She shook her head distraughtly at that and couldn't say anything further. Everyone remained locked in their positions until dad strode forward. Having been simply standing there with an unmoving, almost calm expression, he held mom close when she melted into his embrace and whispered something into her ear.
"Everything is going to be fine." he then said to us.
There was no hesitation in his words. Only confidence that proved he meant what he said. Dad glanced slowly at us all with a look of total determination.
"Everything is going to be fine," he repeated more assuredly, "A number is just a number. Ethereal, you have overcome all the horrible odds your life has thrown at you, and you're going to do so again. I can't imagine how difficult it's been keeping this family together while I've been gone, but now you can rest and let me take care of things. All you have to do is focus on getting better. We'll be here for you every step of the way."
Mom nodded weakly against his chest. She sniffled loudly and rubbed at her eyes. An instant later, Glade sprung from Uncle Blaze to them to cuddle them in an embrace of her own. A tiny smile graced mom's lips as she stretched her hand out to pet her on the head. Cerise rushed forward to add herself to the hug, and seconds later we are were part of a big pile of love that squished mom with it until her tears ceased and laughter burst from her mouth.
The moments after that weren't quite so sentimental. No one knew what to say or do. How were you supposed to act upon hearing such life changing news? I slipped myself away by using the restroom. I didn't really have to go, but I needed an excuse to get myself away from everyone else. A lot of time after that was spent sitting on my bed trying to digest the situation. The less than twenty four hours that passed since dad returned still felt like a lie, and even more so because of mom's reveal. Many questions starting with 'why' soared through my head. I probably would have driven myself crazy had Desire not come to knock on my door to alert me to the fact that one more thing had been quickly planned before we left for the park. The two of us made it back downstairs right at Uncle Al burst through the door. He leapt at dad in the most overly dramatic fashion I'd ever seen, and they did nothing but laugh and make jokes at each other exactly like they'd done in the old times. Honestly, I was surprised Uncle Al had been patient enough to wait so long to come over.
"You're angling it a bit too low," Aunt Dahlia corrected when we were all outside putting the new plan into action, "It would help if you took another step closer."
"I know what I'm doing." Uncle Al brushed her off.
"You say that, but you're cutting of their head space and leaving too much room at their feet."
Those two lovingly bickered as the nine of us struggled to hold our positions for our new, finally complete family picture. I had the worst time as Cerise so nicely decided to piggyback on me- without giving me any notice about it first. She leapt and scrambled on my back, almost knocking me over, but I refused to put her down lest all my weeks of working out at the gym appear useless. After all, Cerise was strong but still very light.
It sounded like Uncle Al took at least a dozen shots, and Aunt Dahlia just as many as she remained certain she could take them better.
Then it was time to leave, and I swore I was transported back in time. Uncle Eden, Aunt Deny, Uncle Sap, and Aunt Purity were already at the park when we got there. More hugs were given, and a few happy tears were shed. Those tears multiplied when Uncle Frost and Aunt Sunflower arrived. I think Aunt Sunflower was already crying even before she got out of the car. She and dad shared a long hug before the adults formed their conversation circle like they'd always done on these kind of outings.
I couldn't keep my eyes off them even though I should have been focusing on the game I'd agreed to play. That was especially true when there was a sudden burst of anguished noise coming from their direction. By the way everyone's expression was set and how Aunt Sunflower now cried heavier and clung to mom and Uncle Eden looked as if he was about to pass out, I figured the news of mom's cancer had been told. Hunter and Cyclone, however, were actually trying to win the round of apple bobbing and remained oblivious to the adults entirely.
"What's up? Don't want to get your fancy hair wet?" Hunter teased when he surfaced briefly after successfully tossing another apple out of the trough.
"Nah, just waiting for the perfect moment to dunk you head under the water." I smirked back.
"Try it, and I'll bite you so hard you'll go blind from the pain." he warned back likewise.
"And then when I'm a cop, I'll make sure to catch you every time you jaywalk or fail to signal while driving."
"But then you'll have to face Vinca's wrath." Hunter looked up with a victorious grin.
And he definitely had me at that. Vinca, Hunter's wife, appeared to be the most soft-spoken sweetheart you could ever find. However, the second you got on her bad side or did something really wrong she would turn as terrifying as Lavender when she got angry. What was the worst about it was that Vinca's anger was a calm anger. The kind that's so scarily composed you would give anything to have her yelling instead.
"You know, I should talk to her more. Find out how she manages to work her anger so well. That kind of unsettling atmosphere could be seriously effective on the criminals I catch." I proposed when the apple bobbing was done.
"Eh, she doesn't control her anger so calmly all the time. She's been throwing up non-stop since last night, and when I offered to stay with her instead of coming here she practically tossed me out the door." Hunter revealed.
"That wouldn't happen to be morning sickness vomiting, would it?" Cyclone asked the same question on my mind.
"Nope," Hunter said firmly, hiding no doubts whatsoever, "I don't want a baby yet, she doesn't want a baby yet, and we both don't want to add another hormonal pregnant woman to the mix when we've already got Lavender and Desi growing. She simply thought she would be sneaky and steal the salad I bought for myself, but she didn't realize the 'chicken' was tuna until it was too late."
Vinca's body didn't get along with tuna and various other seafood too well.
The three of us chatted casually for some time. Papaya eventually brought Tangerine to the park, and Desire, hoping to get a head start on the mothering process, held her hand as my niece had to toddle over to give me a hello hug. I gushed over her for a bit before Desire took her to the swings. Hunter, Cyclone, and I resumed chatting, but then a furious voice burst out behind us.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Mimosa half shouted at her sister, "You're six minutes older than me, not six years!"
"All I did was ask if you were going to behave, because if you're going to keep being a bitch like you've been to everyone for weeks now then you shouldn't have even bothered to come home this weekend." Holly chided back, sounding more composed than her sister but a stinging bite punctuated her every syllable.
"You would like that, wouldn't you?! If I didn't come home?! It would make it easier for you to be a thieving slut behind my back!"
"No one stole anything from you, Mimosa. Your inability to face reality doesn't mean we're the ones in the wrong. That's on you."
Mimosa let out a huffing shriek and stamped her foot furiously.
"Stop acting like you're better than me! You're not some perfect saint! You're a traitor who stole Coal from me! You're the one who's been a bitch!"
"For the fucking last time- no one stole anything from you!" Holly went and snapped, her voice getting louder, "Coal has never been in love with you, and he's not some possession for you to claim!"
"He would have loved me if you had stopped getting in the way! He will love me if you give him back!"
"Oh my god." Holly exhaled in total frustrated agony, burying her face in her hands and sighing heavily.
Very subtly, Hunter and Cyclone shifted backwards away from me.
"We're going to let you have fun with this." Hunter whispered in my ear before they took off.
I contemplated not getting involved at all, but there was little hope of that. If I wanted to interact with the Charm family in any slight way this weekend, which would be unavoidable, then I would have to face Mimosa at some point. It was better to get it out of the way first. Once she got in a good rant or two at me, she would typically become so angry she would shift to ignoring me. Mimosa had not been on good terms with me and Holly for several weeks now, for one particular reason I'm sure is quite clear.
I gritted my teeth and walked over. Mimosa turned to me with a snap the instant I came into her field of view.
"How could you be so horrible?! Aren't you upset about how you've hurt me?!" she cried.
Mimosa's tactic towards her sister was to bash her as much as possible. Her tactic towards me was to make me feel as guilty as possible.
"Of course I don't want to hurt you, Mimosa, but there's nothing I can do to help you," I explained, "I have made my feelings towards you perfectly clear. I'm sorry I can't like you the way you want me to, but I am also not going to not date Holly just because you don't want me to."
"But why did you pick her?! We're identical twins! We're the same!"
"You look the same, but you and Holly are completely separate and different people. I didn't consciously choose between you. There's merely something about Holly that attracts me to her whereas that same spark isn't there with you."
"But I've done everything I can to make you love me, so that's not fair! I've worked so hard! You have to love me, or you're an awful person!"
Mimosa abruptly raising her voice even louder and taking a large step towards me had me jumping back, yet dropping my nice face just as fast.
"I am not an awful person, because I have done nothing wrong. Exactly how Holly hasn't done anything wrong either. I'm sorry you don't like that we're dating, but I will not let you keep on going around treating us like this anymore. You have no right to do so, and, honestly, if you don't start taking your medicine again I don't know if I can keep on being your friend. You're only getting more emotionally manipulative and aggressive, and there's no excuse you can make that forces me to stick around when you're nothing but a negative influence in my life."
"I will never take my medicine again!" Mimosa exclaimed, "It's nothing but disgusting, poisonous chemicals! Taking it never did anything good for me!"
"And how has not taking it been working out for you?" I countered, "From what I can see, you're now miserable all the time. All you do when you're home is fight with your parents and Holly. Everyone is reluctant to hang out with you because you go off at them at the drop of a hat. Can't you remember how much fun we all used to have? Don't you miss that?"
"We would still be having fun if everyone stopped being so preachy! If you're all idiots who can't see how you're being led around like sheep, fine! Don't try and include my in your delusions though!"
I rubbed at my temples. Mimosa's tone was piercing, and a headache was not far off.
I don't know what we would have done or who would have blown up into a complete rage had Plum not made her way over. Holly looked as if she would lose it if Mimosa said just one more word to her.
"Mimi, hey, why don't you come with me for a second?" Plum jumped in smoothly despite the tense air.
"I don't want to go with you." Mimosa declined, although not nearly as venomously as she had been speaking.
"But I want to spend some time with you. We got lucky with my birthday falling on a weekend. You and I didn't even get to hang out last year," Plum continued sweetly, "I think you should come say hi to Uncle Am too. Aren't you glad you get to see him again?"
There was a second of hesitation on Mimosa's part, but she shrugged her shoulders and gave in.
"Yeah." she admitted softly.
"Then let's go, shall we? I've been talking to him about how grown up you are. He's really excited to see you as well."
Plum was allowed to slip her hand into her sister's, and upon leading Mimosa away Plum stealthily glanced back to give Holly and I a wink. I mustered a smile of gratitude.
Not that the negative atmosphere was gone. Holly seriously seemed as if someone breathing too loud would set her off. I made no attempt to speak first. Holly could be quite the hot-head, so letting her get a few things off her chest at the beginning did wonders for comforting her fully.
"I have no idea how I survived the drive down here with her," she began bitterly, "It's probably because she slept the whole way thanks to some sleeping pills. There's nothing wrong with those, apparently. Damn hypocrite. If she wants to turn into some conspiracy theorist, then she can't pick and choose like that."
"She'll come to her senses eventually. I can't get myself to believe she'll truly believe this is the best route for her forever." I attempted to reason.
"Well, until she gets her act together I'm wanting less and less to do with her. I'm hating coming home if she's here too, and all she does when we're apart is text me heartless things and leave nasty voicemails. Everything I post on social media turns into her playground to make nasty comments on, and anything that's positive she turns negative. Just look at today. Your dad's suddenly back after ten years! Like, what the hell!? Who of any of us even still believed he was alive? Everyone should be nothing but happy tears and smiles, but Mimosa's ruining it all! It's poor Plum's birthday too! What fun can she be having when she has to babysit her sister like she just did?"
Holly grew fidgety and the expression on her face was not exactly pleasant, but I was well versed in her body language enough to know that that was the time to diffuse her temper.
"Nothing is ruined," I comforted, taking her hand, "Mimosa got things started negatively, sure, but she's gone now. You can ignore her all you want. It's you and me together now, and I say everything is still happy."
"How can you not be upset when Mimo-"
"Ignore her today. Forget about her," I interrupted, pulling Holly even closer, "The two of us are happy."
"I'm not happy." Holly pouted in retort.
"Sure you are."
Holly frowned at me when I took her other hand and got us swaying to a non-existent beat.
"What are you doing, you dork?" she wondered.
"We're dancing." I replied simply.
"There's no music."
"Really? I hear your voice and I hear music."
"Oh my god, you're so pathetic." Holly teased, but she could do nothing against the amused smile and rolling laugh that escaped her lips.
She gave in to the 'goofy smile' I was wearing, or so she called it, and willingly danced to the imaginary song for a moment. Her temper dissolved, Holly rested her head against my shoulder as we slowly turned in circles. Then I got a new idea and pulled out my phone.
"Here, we have to remember to capture the happy moments. I'll share this picture with just you. That way Mimosa can't ruin it."
Holly eagerly agreed. The two of us cuddled close as we took picture after picture. Most were normal smiles or featured cute kisses, but some were so silly and ridiculous I was determined to definitely make sure no one else but Holly and I saw them. Now with us both in a good mood, we got some snacks, played some festival games, and made sure Mimosa had moved away from dad before heading over to have him and Holly reunite.
The last thing I expected to see that day was dad by himself in any way, shape, or form, but several hours later I did come across him sitting under a tree alone enjoying the shade and a moment of peace.
"What's up? Everyone get bored with you already?" I teased, taking a seat next to him.
"I was hoping to hide from you, actually." he bantered back.
"Well, sucks to be you then." I retorted as I bumped my shoulder against his.
Dad chuckled and shook his head before his expression fell.
"Ethereal and Eden needed some time to talk," he explained properly, "He's been looking like he could burst into tears at any second since we revealed Ethereal's condition. I didn't realize his father has been gravely ill as well. The timing of the news was not the greatest for him. I needed a moment to ponder things myself. I thought I was going to have a hard enough time learning everything that's changed with the world and you all in the past ten years, and this whole cancer situation has totally shocked me. I can't even begin to explain how absolutely frightening it was when Ethereal rushed into my arms when she saw me for the first time again and all I could think of was how she felt like nothing."
"I know what you mean. I...I have a hard time looking at her every now and again. She's been thing like that for quite a while now, but I still think of her like how she was. Then I see her and can only think of what's a grim reality..."
Dad nodded, but he didn't say anything. He probably didn't know what to say. I couldn't blame him for that. So there we sat in silence with the spicy autumn wind brushing the leaves past us until dad did the smart thing by changing the subject.
"So, you and Holly, huh? How did Al take the news?" he asked.
"Rather well," I replied, chuckling myself now, "He mostly made a few jokes about how he now knew how Eden felt when he and mom started dating out of nowhere in high school, but other than that he was totally cool with it. Aunt Lia too."
"Good to hear. I have to say being told of you two dating really caught me off guard. You were always close, bickering like an old married couple as soon as you both learned to talk, but I never got the impression you would move past being friends."
"It's been a shock to me too to be honest. If Holly's feelings hadn't shifted and if she hadn't been bold enough to kiss me, I would probably still see her as just a friend. I didn't plan for us to start dating so soon either, but Holly insisted when she realized how she hated the idea of us not being anything official while being far away from each other most of the time as well," I said, then took a long, hesitant pause, "And, to keep being honest, I guess I don't quite know how to describe what I feel for her. Can I say I'm really in love with her? I don't know if anyone's told you yet, but I had this, uh, fling, I guess you can call it as we never properly dated, with a girl named Candy in high school. We didn't work out, naturally, but my feelings for her had all the traditional symptoms- a heart racing face, butterflies in my stomach, sweaty palms, and so on. However, with Holly, there's almost none of that. It's more like this little flame bursts inside me when I see her that warms me, but that's about it."
"You two have been in the other's life since birth. You and Holly already know about each other in a much deeper way than most couple's do starting out, and even more than couple's who have dated for a few years. To me, it simply sounds like you skipped over that initial phase and rush of a reciprocated attraction because of that ingrained bond," dad proposed confidently, "You went right to the kind of love that settles in your chest and lasts far longer than excited burst of emotions. I mean, that little flame and warmth you described is pretty much how I feel when I'm with Ethereal, so that's why I say that. That's not to say your heart won't beat fast and you won't get butterflies once it sinks in more than you have become much more than friends, and I certainly don't think you have to worry about being accused of not loving Holly. I saw you two earlier. The expression on your face made it quite clear to me what you felt when you saw her."
My cheeks burned at that and I fidgeted, which made dad smile. He decided to push me a little further.
"Have you slept together?" he asked with a smirk.
"No." I denied instantly and firmly.
"Well, that's an embarrassed but at least an honest no, so that's that," dad laughed, yet his expression fell once again, "And since we're being nothing but honest, I'm glad to hear that as your answer too. It's been difficult dealing with how much your and your siblings have grown in my absence, but it's been the most painful in regards to you."
"Yeah?" I replied curiously while now hoping dad didn't find out more about Candy and me anytime soon.
"Wisp was about to be a senior in high school. He was practically grown. Seeing him as an adult bothered me the least," dad began, "Prism and Desire, they had firmly moved out of their childhood. The both of them have always been independent, and they had reached that point where my attention towards them wasn't as crucially needed as it was before. Cerise has certainly taken a huge jump from a rambunctious toddler to a strong willed young woman, but she is still only thirteen. She's still in school, and there's a lot of important milestones in her life I will be there for. I can't even begin to explain how horrible I feel about not knowing about Glade, but like Cerise's she's still young. Only nine. I missed the beginning years of her life, but half of that she won't even remember once you give it enough time."
Dad sighed despondently and glanced my way.
"But you...you were still a child. You were at that age where you were slightly starting to take control, but you still truly needed me. And you didn't have me. You're not young enough now where I can hope to make up the difference. Your transformation from child to adult is the most drastic. It doesn't help either that you've been the one to take most after me, because I know exactly how agonizing it can be to not have your father in your life. If I even try to imagine for a moment you standing under the stars silently wishing and begging for me to be home like I used to do when I was little, I feel like I'll lose it. I loathe that I forced you through any hint of that pain for even one second, and for something that turned out to be a complete waste. I put all of you through so much hardship for something entirely goddamn pointless..."
I made a quick mental note to also not mention anytime soon that I had indeed spent many nights wishing at the stars.
"So, what do you want? Forgiveness? Because you already have that. You've also already proven this morning that you know exactly what you're required to do now. Be there for us," I shrugged, "You stepped in when needed when mom was about to break down. You were aware there was responsibility that had to be claimed, and you claimed it. It sucked big time these past ten years not having you around, yeah, but we got used to it. Unlike you who had to deal with the frustrated anticipation of knowing you would come back but not knowing when, we slipped into a complacency where we stopped thinking about if it would happen. We lived our lives. We've made our own happiness. The fact that your efforts in what you were trying to do turned out to be pointless is pointless itself. Your return doesn't upset us or remind of of all that was wrong- because we had already accepted it. It just makes our happiness happier."
The wind rushed by again- so strong this time is slammed a leaf into the back of my head. I quickly plucked it away as it started to fall down the back of my jacket before lazily flicking it away. A leaf brushed against dad as well, but he ignored it. His gaze was locked firmly in front of him. His expression didn't shake. I said nothing.
"You're right," he agreed a moment later, another small smile appearing on his face, "There's been enough pain that we've all had to face. Lingering on it won't do me any good when I do have to get on my feet quickly and take charge just like you said. There truly is a lot of lost time I have to make up for."
"And you're going to have fun doing it. Ceri is absolutely delightful," I joked, "I'll tell you right now not to promise to practice her martial arts with you. I know you'll do fine with everything else though. You'll have me around to help you, for one."
"Yes, I have heard about how you've positioned yourself to weasel my house away from me."
"You snooze, you lose, old man. You weren't here, so I made sure I'd be able to claim it someday."
"Over my dead body."
I laughed and shook my head.
"Well, I suppose I can be fine with that, but only if that's a promise that won't come true for a very long time."
Dad leaned over and ruffled my hair.
"It's a promise."
The moments after that weren't quite so sentimental. No one knew what to say or do. How were you supposed to act upon hearing such life changing news? I slipped myself away by using the restroom. I didn't really have to go, but I needed an excuse to get myself away from everyone else. A lot of time after that was spent sitting on my bed trying to digest the situation. The less than twenty four hours that passed since dad returned still felt like a lie, and even more so because of mom's reveal. Many questions starting with 'why' soared through my head. I probably would have driven myself crazy had Desire not come to knock on my door to alert me to the fact that one more thing had been quickly planned before we left for the park. The two of us made it back downstairs right at Uncle Al burst through the door. He leapt at dad in the most overly dramatic fashion I'd ever seen, and they did nothing but laugh and make jokes at each other exactly like they'd done in the old times. Honestly, I was surprised Uncle Al had been patient enough to wait so long to come over.
"You're angling it a bit too low," Aunt Dahlia corrected when we were all outside putting the new plan into action, "It would help if you took another step closer."
"I know what I'm doing." Uncle Al brushed her off.
"You say that, but you're cutting of their head space and leaving too much room at their feet."
Those two lovingly bickered as the nine of us struggled to hold our positions for our new, finally complete family picture. I had the worst time as Cerise so nicely decided to piggyback on me- without giving me any notice about it first. She leapt and scrambled on my back, almost knocking me over, but I refused to put her down lest all my weeks of working out at the gym appear useless. After all, Cerise was strong but still very light.
It sounded like Uncle Al took at least a dozen shots, and Aunt Dahlia just as many as she remained certain she could take them better.
Then it was time to leave, and I swore I was transported back in time. Uncle Eden, Aunt Deny, Uncle Sap, and Aunt Purity were already at the park when we got there. More hugs were given, and a few happy tears were shed. Those tears multiplied when Uncle Frost and Aunt Sunflower arrived. I think Aunt Sunflower was already crying even before she got out of the car. She and dad shared a long hug before the adults formed their conversation circle like they'd always done on these kind of outings.
I couldn't keep my eyes off them even though I should have been focusing on the game I'd agreed to play. That was especially true when there was a sudden burst of anguished noise coming from their direction. By the way everyone's expression was set and how Aunt Sunflower now cried heavier and clung to mom and Uncle Eden looked as if he was about to pass out, I figured the news of mom's cancer had been told. Hunter and Cyclone, however, were actually trying to win the round of apple bobbing and remained oblivious to the adults entirely.
"What's up? Don't want to get your fancy hair wet?" Hunter teased when he surfaced briefly after successfully tossing another apple out of the trough.
"Nah, just waiting for the perfect moment to dunk you head under the water." I smirked back.
"Try it, and I'll bite you so hard you'll go blind from the pain." he warned back likewise.
"And then when I'm a cop, I'll make sure to catch you every time you jaywalk or fail to signal while driving."
"But then you'll have to face Vinca's wrath." Hunter looked up with a victorious grin.
And he definitely had me at that. Vinca, Hunter's wife, appeared to be the most soft-spoken sweetheart you could ever find. However, the second you got on her bad side or did something really wrong she would turn as terrifying as Lavender when she got angry. What was the worst about it was that Vinca's anger was a calm anger. The kind that's so scarily composed you would give anything to have her yelling instead.
"You know, I should talk to her more. Find out how she manages to work her anger so well. That kind of unsettling atmosphere could be seriously effective on the criminals I catch." I proposed when the apple bobbing was done.
"Eh, she doesn't control her anger so calmly all the time. She's been throwing up non-stop since last night, and when I offered to stay with her instead of coming here she practically tossed me out the door." Hunter revealed.
"That wouldn't happen to be morning sickness vomiting, would it?" Cyclone asked the same question on my mind.
"Nope," Hunter said firmly, hiding no doubts whatsoever, "I don't want a baby yet, she doesn't want a baby yet, and we both don't want to add another hormonal pregnant woman to the mix when we've already got Lavender and Desi growing. She simply thought she would be sneaky and steal the salad I bought for myself, but she didn't realize the 'chicken' was tuna until it was too late."
Vinca's body didn't get along with tuna and various other seafood too well.
The three of us chatted casually for some time. Papaya eventually brought Tangerine to the park, and Desire, hoping to get a head start on the mothering process, held her hand as my niece had to toddle over to give me a hello hug. I gushed over her for a bit before Desire took her to the swings. Hunter, Cyclone, and I resumed chatting, but then a furious voice burst out behind us.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Mimosa half shouted at her sister, "You're six minutes older than me, not six years!"
"All I did was ask if you were going to behave, because if you're going to keep being a bitch like you've been to everyone for weeks now then you shouldn't have even bothered to come home this weekend." Holly chided back, sounding more composed than her sister but a stinging bite punctuated her every syllable.
"You would like that, wouldn't you?! If I didn't come home?! It would make it easier for you to be a thieving slut behind my back!"
"No one stole anything from you, Mimosa. Your inability to face reality doesn't mean we're the ones in the wrong. That's on you."
Mimosa let out a huffing shriek and stamped her foot furiously.
"Stop acting like you're better than me! You're not some perfect saint! You're a traitor who stole Coal from me! You're the one who's been a bitch!"
"For the fucking last time- no one stole anything from you!" Holly went and snapped, her voice getting louder, "Coal has never been in love with you, and he's not some possession for you to claim!"
"He would have loved me if you had stopped getting in the way! He will love me if you give him back!"
"Oh my god." Holly exhaled in total frustrated agony, burying her face in her hands and sighing heavily.
Very subtly, Hunter and Cyclone shifted backwards away from me.
"We're going to let you have fun with this." Hunter whispered in my ear before they took off.
I contemplated not getting involved at all, but there was little hope of that. If I wanted to interact with the Charm family in any slight way this weekend, which would be unavoidable, then I would have to face Mimosa at some point. It was better to get it out of the way first. Once she got in a good rant or two at me, she would typically become so angry she would shift to ignoring me. Mimosa had not been on good terms with me and Holly for several weeks now, for one particular reason I'm sure is quite clear.
I gritted my teeth and walked over. Mimosa turned to me with a snap the instant I came into her field of view.
"How could you be so horrible?! Aren't you upset about how you've hurt me?!" she cried.
Mimosa's tactic towards her sister was to bash her as much as possible. Her tactic towards me was to make me feel as guilty as possible.
"Of course I don't want to hurt you, Mimosa, but there's nothing I can do to help you," I explained, "I have made my feelings towards you perfectly clear. I'm sorry I can't like you the way you want me to, but I am also not going to not date Holly just because you don't want me to."
"But why did you pick her?! We're identical twins! We're the same!"
"You look the same, but you and Holly are completely separate and different people. I didn't consciously choose between you. There's merely something about Holly that attracts me to her whereas that same spark isn't there with you."
"But I've done everything I can to make you love me, so that's not fair! I've worked so hard! You have to love me, or you're an awful person!"
Mimosa abruptly raising her voice even louder and taking a large step towards me had me jumping back, yet dropping my nice face just as fast.
"I am not an awful person, because I have done nothing wrong. Exactly how Holly hasn't done anything wrong either. I'm sorry you don't like that we're dating, but I will not let you keep on going around treating us like this anymore. You have no right to do so, and, honestly, if you don't start taking your medicine again I don't know if I can keep on being your friend. You're only getting more emotionally manipulative and aggressive, and there's no excuse you can make that forces me to stick around when you're nothing but a negative influence in my life."
"I will never take my medicine again!" Mimosa exclaimed, "It's nothing but disgusting, poisonous chemicals! Taking it never did anything good for me!"
"And how has not taking it been working out for you?" I countered, "From what I can see, you're now miserable all the time. All you do when you're home is fight with your parents and Holly. Everyone is reluctant to hang out with you because you go off at them at the drop of a hat. Can't you remember how much fun we all used to have? Don't you miss that?"
"We would still be having fun if everyone stopped being so preachy! If you're all idiots who can't see how you're being led around like sheep, fine! Don't try and include my in your delusions though!"
I rubbed at my temples. Mimosa's tone was piercing, and a headache was not far off.
I don't know what we would have done or who would have blown up into a complete rage had Plum not made her way over. Holly looked as if she would lose it if Mimosa said just one more word to her.
"Mimi, hey, why don't you come with me for a second?" Plum jumped in smoothly despite the tense air.
"I don't want to go with you." Mimosa declined, although not nearly as venomously as she had been speaking.
"But I want to spend some time with you. We got lucky with my birthday falling on a weekend. You and I didn't even get to hang out last year," Plum continued sweetly, "I think you should come say hi to Uncle Am too. Aren't you glad you get to see him again?"
There was a second of hesitation on Mimosa's part, but she shrugged her shoulders and gave in.
"Yeah." she admitted softly.
"Then let's go, shall we? I've been talking to him about how grown up you are. He's really excited to see you as well."
Plum was allowed to slip her hand into her sister's, and upon leading Mimosa away Plum stealthily glanced back to give Holly and I a wink. I mustered a smile of gratitude.
Not that the negative atmosphere was gone. Holly seriously seemed as if someone breathing too loud would set her off. I made no attempt to speak first. Holly could be quite the hot-head, so letting her get a few things off her chest at the beginning did wonders for comforting her fully.
"I have no idea how I survived the drive down here with her," she began bitterly, "It's probably because she slept the whole way thanks to some sleeping pills. There's nothing wrong with those, apparently. Damn hypocrite. If she wants to turn into some conspiracy theorist, then she can't pick and choose like that."
"She'll come to her senses eventually. I can't get myself to believe she'll truly believe this is the best route for her forever." I attempted to reason.
"Well, until she gets her act together I'm wanting less and less to do with her. I'm hating coming home if she's here too, and all she does when we're apart is text me heartless things and leave nasty voicemails. Everything I post on social media turns into her playground to make nasty comments on, and anything that's positive she turns negative. Just look at today. Your dad's suddenly back after ten years! Like, what the hell!? Who of any of us even still believed he was alive? Everyone should be nothing but happy tears and smiles, but Mimosa's ruining it all! It's poor Plum's birthday too! What fun can she be having when she has to babysit her sister like she just did?"
Holly grew fidgety and the expression on her face was not exactly pleasant, but I was well versed in her body language enough to know that that was the time to diffuse her temper.
"Nothing is ruined," I comforted, taking her hand, "Mimosa got things started negatively, sure, but she's gone now. You can ignore her all you want. It's you and me together now, and I say everything is still happy."
"How can you not be upset when Mimo-"
"Ignore her today. Forget about her," I interrupted, pulling Holly even closer, "The two of us are happy."
"I'm not happy." Holly pouted in retort.
"Sure you are."
Holly frowned at me when I took her other hand and got us swaying to a non-existent beat.
"What are you doing, you dork?" she wondered.
"We're dancing." I replied simply.
"There's no music."
"Really? I hear your voice and I hear music."
"Oh my god, you're so pathetic." Holly teased, but she could do nothing against the amused smile and rolling laugh that escaped her lips.
She gave in to the 'goofy smile' I was wearing, or so she called it, and willingly danced to the imaginary song for a moment. Her temper dissolved, Holly rested her head against my shoulder as we slowly turned in circles. Then I got a new idea and pulled out my phone.
"Here, we have to remember to capture the happy moments. I'll share this picture with just you. That way Mimosa can't ruin it."
Holly eagerly agreed. The two of us cuddled close as we took picture after picture. Most were normal smiles or featured cute kisses, but some were so silly and ridiculous I was determined to definitely make sure no one else but Holly and I saw them. Now with us both in a good mood, we got some snacks, played some festival games, and made sure Mimosa had moved away from dad before heading over to have him and Holly reunite.
The last thing I expected to see that day was dad by himself in any way, shape, or form, but several hours later I did come across him sitting under a tree alone enjoying the shade and a moment of peace.
"What's up? Everyone get bored with you already?" I teased, taking a seat next to him.
"I was hoping to hide from you, actually." he bantered back.
"Well, sucks to be you then." I retorted as I bumped my shoulder against his.
Dad chuckled and shook his head before his expression fell.
"Ethereal and Eden needed some time to talk," he explained properly, "He's been looking like he could burst into tears at any second since we revealed Ethereal's condition. I didn't realize his father has been gravely ill as well. The timing of the news was not the greatest for him. I needed a moment to ponder things myself. I thought I was going to have a hard enough time learning everything that's changed with the world and you all in the past ten years, and this whole cancer situation has totally shocked me. I can't even begin to explain how absolutely frightening it was when Ethereal rushed into my arms when she saw me for the first time again and all I could think of was how she felt like nothing."
"I know what you mean. I...I have a hard time looking at her every now and again. She's been thing like that for quite a while now, but I still think of her like how she was. Then I see her and can only think of what's a grim reality..."
Dad nodded, but he didn't say anything. He probably didn't know what to say. I couldn't blame him for that. So there we sat in silence with the spicy autumn wind brushing the leaves past us until dad did the smart thing by changing the subject.
"So, you and Holly, huh? How did Al take the news?" he asked.
"Rather well," I replied, chuckling myself now, "He mostly made a few jokes about how he now knew how Eden felt when he and mom started dating out of nowhere in high school, but other than that he was totally cool with it. Aunt Lia too."
"Good to hear. I have to say being told of you two dating really caught me off guard. You were always close, bickering like an old married couple as soon as you both learned to talk, but I never got the impression you would move past being friends."
"It's been a shock to me too to be honest. If Holly's feelings hadn't shifted and if she hadn't been bold enough to kiss me, I would probably still see her as just a friend. I didn't plan for us to start dating so soon either, but Holly insisted when she realized how she hated the idea of us not being anything official while being far away from each other most of the time as well," I said, then took a long, hesitant pause, "And, to keep being honest, I guess I don't quite know how to describe what I feel for her. Can I say I'm really in love with her? I don't know if anyone's told you yet, but I had this, uh, fling, I guess you can call it as we never properly dated, with a girl named Candy in high school. We didn't work out, naturally, but my feelings for her had all the traditional symptoms- a heart racing face, butterflies in my stomach, sweaty palms, and so on. However, with Holly, there's almost none of that. It's more like this little flame bursts inside me when I see her that warms me, but that's about it."
"You two have been in the other's life since birth. You and Holly already know about each other in a much deeper way than most couple's do starting out, and even more than couple's who have dated for a few years. To me, it simply sounds like you skipped over that initial phase and rush of a reciprocated attraction because of that ingrained bond," dad proposed confidently, "You went right to the kind of love that settles in your chest and lasts far longer than excited burst of emotions. I mean, that little flame and warmth you described is pretty much how I feel when I'm with Ethereal, so that's why I say that. That's not to say your heart won't beat fast and you won't get butterflies once it sinks in more than you have become much more than friends, and I certainly don't think you have to worry about being accused of not loving Holly. I saw you two earlier. The expression on your face made it quite clear to me what you felt when you saw her."
My cheeks burned at that and I fidgeted, which made dad smile. He decided to push me a little further.
"Have you slept together?" he asked with a smirk.
"No." I denied instantly and firmly.
"Well, that's an embarrassed but at least an honest no, so that's that," dad laughed, yet his expression fell once again, "And since we're being nothing but honest, I'm glad to hear that as your answer too. It's been difficult dealing with how much your and your siblings have grown in my absence, but it's been the most painful in regards to you."
"Yeah?" I replied curiously while now hoping dad didn't find out more about Candy and me anytime soon.
"Wisp was about to be a senior in high school. He was practically grown. Seeing him as an adult bothered me the least," dad began, "Prism and Desire, they had firmly moved out of their childhood. The both of them have always been independent, and they had reached that point where my attention towards them wasn't as crucially needed as it was before. Cerise has certainly taken a huge jump from a rambunctious toddler to a strong willed young woman, but she is still only thirteen. She's still in school, and there's a lot of important milestones in her life I will be there for. I can't even begin to explain how horrible I feel about not knowing about Glade, but like Cerise's she's still young. Only nine. I missed the beginning years of her life, but half of that she won't even remember once you give it enough time."
Dad sighed despondently and glanced my way.
"But you...you were still a child. You were at that age where you were slightly starting to take control, but you still truly needed me. And you didn't have me. You're not young enough now where I can hope to make up the difference. Your transformation from child to adult is the most drastic. It doesn't help either that you've been the one to take most after me, because I know exactly how agonizing it can be to not have your father in your life. If I even try to imagine for a moment you standing under the stars silently wishing and begging for me to be home like I used to do when I was little, I feel like I'll lose it. I loathe that I forced you through any hint of that pain for even one second, and for something that turned out to be a complete waste. I put all of you through so much hardship for something entirely goddamn pointless..."
I made a quick mental note to also not mention anytime soon that I had indeed spent many nights wishing at the stars.
"So, what do you want? Forgiveness? Because you already have that. You've also already proven this morning that you know exactly what you're required to do now. Be there for us," I shrugged, "You stepped in when needed when mom was about to break down. You were aware there was responsibility that had to be claimed, and you claimed it. It sucked big time these past ten years not having you around, yeah, but we got used to it. Unlike you who had to deal with the frustrated anticipation of knowing you would come back but not knowing when, we slipped into a complacency where we stopped thinking about if it would happen. We lived our lives. We've made our own happiness. The fact that your efforts in what you were trying to do turned out to be pointless is pointless itself. Your return doesn't upset us or remind of of all that was wrong- because we had already accepted it. It just makes our happiness happier."
The wind rushed by again- so strong this time is slammed a leaf into the back of my head. I quickly plucked it away as it started to fall down the back of my jacket before lazily flicking it away. A leaf brushed against dad as well, but he ignored it. His gaze was locked firmly in front of him. His expression didn't shake. I said nothing.
"You're right," he agreed a moment later, another small smile appearing on his face, "There's been enough pain that we've all had to face. Lingering on it won't do me any good when I do have to get on my feet quickly and take charge just like you said. There truly is a lot of lost time I have to make up for."
"And you're going to have fun doing it. Ceri is absolutely delightful," I joked, "I'll tell you right now not to promise to practice her martial arts with you. I know you'll do fine with everything else though. You'll have me around to help you, for one."
"Yes, I have heard about how you've positioned yourself to weasel my house away from me."
"You snooze, you lose, old man. You weren't here, so I made sure I'd be able to claim it someday."
"Over my dead body."
I laughed and shook my head.
"Well, I suppose I can be fine with that, but only if that's a promise that won't come true for a very long time."
Dad leaned over and ruffled my hair.
"It's a promise."
;_; Why do those last words send foreboding chills down my spine... Why can't I relish in the happiness of this moment between father and son!
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