I’m
sat in my seat awaiting the performance of a lifetime. I cannot believe I’m
actually sat in Box 5 while watching a performance of Phantom. Paisley is on my
left, reading through the last pages of the book (she doesn't believe it’s
nothing like the musical yet) and Electra is texting on my right.
Paisley isn't very interested in what’s happening until the first notes of the overture
begin, and then she’s pulled into the music. By her reaction to Point of No
Return, I suspect that if I’d asked her to have kinky sex with me while Electra
watched then she’d have been okay with it at that moment in time. But I didn't
See what a good girlfriend I am? Electra herself was rapt from beginning to
end, because she was already familiar with the story and the music, and loved
it almost as much as I did.
Unfortunately,
all good things must come to an end, so after the performance was over, we left
our seats and headed to the doors of the theatre. Outside, a light snow was
beginning to fall; and the lights and sounds of Bridgeport had died down a
little, but there was still a fair few people walking the streets with bags in
their hands.
As
I look around in wonderment at the snow and the lights around me, Paisley
steals a kiss. “You’re bold tonight.” I mutter, and she chuckles into my lips.
“Just enjoy the moment.” So I do, and I let myself melt into her, fully
prepared to never let the moment end. But it does.
She
lets go and turns me around, pointing down the street at a family of people
with…blue…hair. They’re walking this way, and they’re almost here and it’s
strange how much they look like me and HOLY SHIRTS PAISLEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING
PUSHING ME INTO THEM? That’s about as much as I can think before I’m bumping
into the blue haired girl at the front of the group. “Sorry.” I start to say,
“My friend-“but the girl has turned to the woman behind her. She looks to be
about forty, and the man with her can’t be much older. “Oh my God.” She says.
“Are you Skye Everard?” she asks me, her voice catching. “Ah… yes. Are you fans
or something?” I ask. She shakes her head.
“No.
I’m your mother.”
I
invited the family back to our apartment, but only so we could have somewhere to
talk where I could yell at them in private. Funny looks from passing
Bridgeportians was not high on my ‘Wonderful things that I love’ list.
And
yes. I’m bitchy when I’m annoyed.
“You
expect me to believe that? You’re my parents and my two siblings. Because it’s
not like you can’t buy blue hair-dye and purple contacts on the Internet
nowadays.”
The
woman stays silent, and the rest of the family look at her. “As a child you
were taken from us, and raised by other people who go by the names of Beef and
Destiny. You thought you had a brother named Tobias and a sister named
Janee. When your brother was 18, he shot
your parents and ran off. You caught meningitis, and ended up losing your
memory of the years up to when you were around twelve.”
I
look at her, and resist the urge to sneer. “As if you couldn't have gotten that
on my blog.” I reply. The woman shrugs. And I realise something. “I never
talked about my illness on my blog.”
This is probably not my best plan in the world, accepting it on that
alone, but I never did feel like I was part of my family. “None of that is
true.” Says my mother. If she even is my mother.
I’m
not even going to respond to th- “Whaddyameanitisn’ttrue” I ask, well, so much
for not responding. “You were taken from us at age three, we worked for a
government agency and we weren't allowed children, so you were taken and given
to Beef and Destiny. You came back to us at age twelve for a short time, and
were given false memories of them and all that happened to you, hence your memory
of your illness, and the gaps in your memory. Your friend Paisley, however, we couldn't get rid of. Which was why when we had to leave you again, you were
placed near her, and while you had no memory of her, you would be drawn to
her.” I turn away from my parents (Gods above that’s a strange feeling) to
stare at the woman I thought was the love of my life. “Is this true?” I ask,
quietly. She doesn't say anything. “TELL ME!” I yell, and she bursts into
tears. “Yes. I wasn't allowed to tell you anything in case something bad
happened.” I can see what she’s trying to say to me. ‘I wanted to tell you.’
I
sit down, trying to breathe, but not getting enough air. Electra pats my hand,
and takes Paisley up to our room. Finally coming back to myself, “Thank you,” I
find enough air to speak. “I need some time to think about all this. And as you
can see, the love of my life just had one of the worst moments of her life. So
get out please.” Opal makes no move to leave. “GET.OUT. OR I WILL MAKE YOU PAY
FOR UPSETTING HER!” I yell, and my mother leaves, following my father and
siblings who are already in the elevator. I watch them leave the room, “Why did
you come and find me now?” I ask. Sapphire, my sister, steps forward. “ We've been looking for you for the past twenty-some years, sister.”
“You
are not my sister.” I say, but deep down, I know she is and there is nothing I
can do about it.
I
rush up the stairs to our room. There, I find Paisley sat alone. She looks like
she was crying, but right now she’s not. I run to her, and dive on her. “I’m
sorry.” I say, then again “I’m sorry.” And press a kiss to her lips, fast.
Followed by another apology. “I’m sorry. Sorry, sorry.” Paisley leans into me
for a minute, resting her head on my shoulder. “Why are you the one that’s
sorry? I hid your past from you, kept the truth all along, even when you had to
go to therapy, and I could have fixed you. This is all my fault.”
She’s
an idiot. A perfect, perfect idiot.
“No
it isn't ” I say, and stand up, stretching out my back. “Now, can we go to
sleep? It’s almost 2AM.” Paisley
giggles, and grabs her pyjamas from under her pillow, walking off to the
bathroom. “No peeking.” She says over her shoulder to me. I can’t help but
laugh. She chooses now to try and flirt?
Yeah.
Definitely going with idiot.
When you're weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all
I'm on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
When you're down and out
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you
I'll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Sail on Silver Girl,
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
I
take Paisley in my arms and we dance around the kitchen. It occurs to me just
how much that song fits our relationship. First and foremost, we are friends.
We belong to one-another in a way no others do. And we will both follow one
another anywhere and do anything or each-other.
“Aww.” Says Electra and I let go of Paisley, but not before she manages
to snap a photo of us.
And,
of course, something has to come along and ruin the perfect moment. The
intercom rings and I grab it, lo and behold, my mother is on the other end.
Grudgingly, I let her in, and she spends most of her time apologising to me.
The rest of it, she’s telling me all about how I’m going to meet the Avengers
and have their babies for SHIELD. I am undoubtedly less certain about the
second part, but it’ll be exciting to see what goes on.
She
leads me to a small IVF clinic on the borders of town where a man in a rumpled
purple shirt is standing, looking pretty worried about something. When he sees
me enter, he walks over and offers me his hand. I take it, shaking firmly. “Dr.
Bruce Banner.” He says, and I take a step back. I examine him again before
replying. “Dr Banner. You’re really here. Skye Everard. Baby Challenge mother. I’m
a huge fan of your research and everything you did for the planet.” The doctor
laughs lightly, replying
“I
like you already.”
A
nurse walks through the door and asks if we’re ready to begin the procedure and
less than half an hour later, I walk out fully impregnated. Or ya know, that’s
the plan. My mother hands me a file containing the details on what is going on
with the Avengers, who I can say what to and so on, and then passes me a
post-it with her number and those of my family on to call them. Apparently I've forgiven them.
Yeah, right.
Okay.
Who am I kidding? These people are my family.
Unfortunately,
our time in Bridgeport is over, and it is now time to leave for the sunny
shores of Sunlit Tides, or for Electra, wherever the heck she lives
nowadays. The flight back is subdued,
and I fall asleep on Paisley’s shoulder while she hums to me. It’s everything I
could have ever asked for in a trip, but I’m glad it’s over.
I’m
glad when we get back to our house, because I need to throw up, badly. So I
make my escape to the bathroom and do what I have to do. I send a text to
Paisley, apologising for running off, and she responds with an apologetic looking
smiley. The kids saw me arrive, and as soon as I leave my room they’re there.
Asking me all kinds of questions. And I eventually have to start explaining
about their new Aunt, Uncle and grandparents because they’re really excited
about that. And really, I am too.
I
call for pizza to be delivered to the house for dinner and then sit back on the
sofa until it arrives. Most of my new found family are texting me, and I reply
to them with new found gusto. The kids also inform me that Jesse has moved into
town, which pleases me a lot. Loki and his room-mate (supposedly that’s all he
is) are buying a holiday home out here too, so they’ll be coming to visit. I’m
not one to pick favourites, but I might possibly love Loki and Jesse the best.
The
pizza arrives, we eat it and then it is time for birthdays. First up are the
triplets.
Then
Evita ages up. She wants to stay with her sister, and I’m not one to turn down
an extra pair of hands with a house full of toddlers and children, so I’m happy
to let her stay. Not to mention it would be like trying to separate me and
Paisley, not gonna happen. Victoria also ages into a child. She is very
friendly with Evita, and in fact is very friendly with everyone. If I’d been
anything like her as a child (who knows, I could have been thanks to my
parents) then I’d have had almost as any friends as she has.
Haven
ages up next, and she becomes a lovely teen.
I
go to bed that night anxious for a new day to rise and more challenges to face.
When I wake up, I decide to check my e-mails, since there’s always call for
that, and I have a few from various members of the challenge community and one
from Jesse.
I
respond to the one from Jesse, and make a note to reply to the others later,
when I hear a voice from behind me. “Ms Everard.” He says. I turn, and there is
nobody there. I frown, “Uh… hello bodiless voice.” I reply, and the baby kicks
my ribs. This one’s a kicker then. “Nick Fury. Head of SHIELD. I knew your
parents. I’m here to talk to you about your future children.” I suppress a
laugh.
“You’re
not here at all. You got Stark and JARVIS to hack my speaker systems. But go
on.”
“I’m
only allowing this to continue on one condition. These children, upon becoming
legal adults will be given into SHIELD training, should abilities similar to
those of their parents present.”
This
is a very sudden decision. Could I lead my children into this, possibly a
lifetime of work in something which could kill them? But, should they
survive the pension would be great. At the end of the day, I didn't have
much of a choice in the matter “Okay.” I say, and the crackling at the other
end of the line vanishes. Hm; must have hung up on me. The baby kicks again, and I stand up. “Okay
baby. I’m going. Is it time for breakfast? I think it is. I’m in the mood for
oatmeal. The kids have to get to school. What a pity for them. But it’s okay.
They get oatmeal before they go.” I
babble away to my growing belly and the child inside kicks with enthusiasm
while I do. I could try and justify my complete stupidity, but there isn't one,
so Baby-brain will have to do.
I
cook the oatmeal, and eat it, before waking Haven and Evita, and getting them
ready for school. I wave them off as they leave for the bus, and Carmen stands
beside me, looking worried. “She’ll be fine you know. Haven’s there to keep her
safe.” I say to the young woman who has grown from my adoptive daughter. She
calms down a little, and walks back inside. “I’m off down to the shops!” I yell
to her, as I slip my wallet into my pocket.
In
truth I don’t need anything from the town, but I wanted to explore a little and
see what the area had to offer. I find my way to the grocers and buy a few bits
and bobs, before walking around the park. There’s a mother with a young toddler
playing there, and I watch her contentedly while munching on one of my apples.
While
at the park, I feel the pain of labour beginning. I don’t want to freak anyone
out, so I call a cab and head to the hospital. There, I give birth to baby
seventy and seventy one,
Banner
Everard and Bruce Everard.
Just ignore the pink blankets on the last picture. I was playing with them in Master Controller and forgot to put them back onto blue before I left.
