Chapter 2.17 – Turbulence

Even with Diana in school, and no plans for any more pregnancies, having two babies in the house was a challenge. Flynn, although practically a dream child, was still as helpless as any other newborn, and needed constant changing, feeding and nursing.

Any attention that wasn’t devoted to Flynn was snatched up by Emily, who continued to be as much of a troublemaker as ever.

Now that James was back at work, I was taking on the bulk of the childcare, which meant not only feeding and changing both children while trying to keep the other occupied, but also trying to find time to devote to Emily’s learning and development. She was much slower than Diana had been in learning to talk, so helping her to develop well was a more difficult task, especially with a newborn in tow.

All in all, I was pretty relieved by the time Flynn’s birthday rolled around. I hoped that he would continue to be as well-behaved as a toddler as he had been as a baby, and in addition that he would now be a little more independent so that I would have the energy to give him and his sisters the attention they deserved.

This time, it was James who held our son as they blew out the candles on his first birthday cake together.

As I leaned down to give my baby his birthday bottle (since he was still too young for cake), I couldn’t help but notice, with a pang of sadness, that he was the spitting image of my father. Not only had he inherited my father’s dark hair, but the blue eyes he had passed down to me now gazed curiously at me from the face of my little son.

I smiled tenderly as Flynn’s chubby hands caught the bottle I held out to him. He was just perfect… my little man. There was something very sweet and special about seeing Dad in him, almost as if he were still here with us.

Although he didn’t have the same sentimental family attachments, James was just as much in love with our little son as I was.

Every day when he came home from work, he gave me a quick kiss hello and then went straight for the nursery to spend time with the kids. Emily was an independent little thing now that she was getting a little older, but James and Flynn never got tired of one another and would spend hours every day playing and laughing together.

I had to admit, I was feeling a little nervous about how Emily especially would respond to her brother now that they were both toddlers. Flynn was as good a child as he had been a baby, and whether it was that, or simply his willingness to succumb to her natural authority, the two of them generally got along much better than I had expected.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the two girls.

Since she had become a child, Diana had always left her old favourite toy beside her bed while she slept. Lately, Emily had taken a special liking to the doll, and often snuck into her sister’s room in the early hours of the morning to play with it. I assumed she knew that there was no way Diana would let her near the room if she was awake.

As long as Emily was treating the toys well and not being disruptive, I didn’t see the harm in her borrowing Diana’s things to play with occasionally; the trouble usually began once Emily started to get uncomfortable or hungry. Of all the babies I had ever heard, Emily took the prize for the most loud and obnoxious cry.

“Emily, shhhh, don’t cry… Mummy’s here…”

Emily, as usual, paid no attention and continued to wail even louder in my arms. I looked worriedly over at the bed, where Diana was stirring. I was really not in a mood to deal with two angry daughters.

I approached the bed as Diana got up, and tried to soothe her.

“It’s okay, Di. Go back to sleep, I’ll take care of Emily. I’m sorry she woke you.”

“Was she playing with my doll again?” Di asked with a frown.

I sighed. “Probably. See if you can get some more sleep before school, okay?”

“Mum, this is the third time this week!” Diana whined, stomping her foot in annoyance. “How am I supposed to keep up my grades if I’m too tired to think? You have to keep her from coming into my room all the time!”

I nodded, too tired to argue. “Go back to sleep, Diana,” was all I said as I scooped Emily up into my arms and left the room.

All in all, it was a relief for everyone when Emily’s birthday finally rolled around. I held my youngest daughter as she blew out the candles on her homemade cake, then set her down on the floor so she could grow up on her own for the first time.

Diana, on the other side of the counter, was celebrating with unusual enthusiasm – no doubt looking forward to having her room to herself again.

As Emily grew up, she looked even more like her sister – so much so that they could easily have been mistaken for twins.

Flynn now had the nursery all to himself, and we renovated one of the upstairs bedrooms for Emily just like we had done for Diana, allowing her input on colour schemes and decorations. I was hoping that the girls would have less conflict now that they each had their own space.

Unfortunately, my hopes were unfounded. Only a few months after Emily had moved into her new room, I was checking my face for spots in the bathroom mirror when I was startled by a shrill scream coming from down the hallway.

I could hear the girls arguing as I approached the door.

“Come on, sis! Just this once! How else am I supposed to get ahead in school?”

“I’m not doing your work for you, Emily! How about you actually put effort into something on your own for a change?”

“God, Diana, it’s not a big deal! You are such a goody two-shoes!”

“And you’re a lazy bitch!”

Whoa! Time to step in. “What’s going on here?” I demanded sharply, stepping into the room. Neither child spoke. I turned to Diana. “Diana, you’re supposed to be the mature one here. I don’t know where you learned a word like that, but don’t you ever let me hear you using it again, do you understand? Especially not with your sister!”

“But, Mum-“

“I don’t care what she did, Di. You should know better than to behave like that. I’m very disappointed in you.”

Di’s shoulders drooped, and she stared down at her feet, looking ashamed.

I turned to Emily, who had been standing in the corner of the room, grinning gleefully. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you,” I told her sternly. “We’ve discussed this before, Emily, you are not to provoke your sister. I don’t know what started all this, but you know perfectly well that you shouldn’t be in Di’s room without permission. If you need help with your schoolwork, you can ask me or your father. Now go back to your own room, please, and I don’t want to catch you making trouble in here again.” Emily went, but not before throwing a satisfied smirk over her shoulder at her sister. I sighed, wondering if anything I said had sunk in at all.

Otherwise, life for the household pretty much went on as usual. When she wasn’t terrorising her sister, Emily was putting her overactive imagination to good use, inventing games of make-believe alone in her room. Her mischievous tendencies hadn’t improved as she had gotten older, so it was a relief for all concerned when she was able to entertain herself rather than engaging in her secondary hobby of playing pranks on the rest of the family.

Meanwhile, Flynn seemed to be following in his older sister’s footsteps.

The girls, when running up and down the stairs, often forgot to close the baby gate, and by this stage, Flynn was perfectly able to climb stairs on his own. So it was that he, like Emily before him, found and fell in love with the stuffed doll in Diana’s bedroom.

Fortunately, Di didn’t seem to mind as much with Flynn. Possibly, it was because he was a much quieter and more well-behaved baby than Emily had been, or maybe Di had just become more tolerant of her siblings as she grew older.

Since he had established himself as a champion crawler by this point, James and I had started teaching Flynn to walk. James would usually spend time with him in the afternoons when he came home from work, and I would take care of him during the day, when it was just the two of us in the house.

He was a bit wobbly at first, but he was slowly starting to get the hang of it. On the day when he finally managed to stumble his own way across the room and into my arms, I was so proud of my baby that, after I had picked him up and covered his face with kisses, I gave him a lollipop as a reward.

Flynn was sitting on the floor, happily gnawing on his lollipop, when Emily came down the hallway.

I knew there was trouble brewing as soon as I saw the scowl on her face when she looked at the lollipop – but I would never have expected her to do what she did. Before I could move to stop her, Emily had reached out with a malicious grin on her face and snatched the candy right out of Flynn’s little hands.

I was aghast. Flynn started to cry, and my shock quickly gave way to anger. I rounded on Emily.

“Emily Hunter!” I exploded. “You give that back right now, young lady!”

Emily flinched, but stood her ground. “No,” she said insolently. “It’s mine now. He’s too small to eat it properly anyway.”

I looked at Flynn, who was still sitting on the floor emitting loud, heartbreaking sobs. “How could you do this to your brother?” I scolded Emily. “I did not raise you to be a bully! You will give that candy back right now, go to your room and think about your disgusting behaviour. Your father and I will address this with you later. Go!”

Scowling, she dropped the lollipop at Flynn’s feet, and returned to her room with a slam of the door.

I picked Flynn up, gave back the lollipop, and tried to comfort him. I couldn’t believe that Emily would do something so cruel. Yes, I knew that she was mischievous and difficult, but I never thought she would take it out on Flynn.

In the end, Emily was grounded for a week after that incident. James and I had considered making her stay in her room over Christmas, while the rest of the family came over to celebrate the holiday, but decided to let her join the party on promise of good behaviour.

Christmas day soon arrived, and with it the rest of the extended family. Cody and Vivien had been happily married for ten years now, with a son around Emily’s age named Ethan. Ethan was a sweet child, and reminded me a lot of Cody as a young boy.

Aidan and Violet also arrived with their three children Iris, Terrance and Jamie, all of whom were now in high school. Violet and Jamie arrived separately from the rest of their family, as they had come straight from Christmas lunch at Violet’s parents’ place.

Tyler was also there, with her husband Herb. Their daughter, Carolina, was still a toddler, and had been left at home with a babysitter to look after her. James had told me that Tyler was already pregnant again, but it was still in its early stages so she wasn’t showing yet.

Bridie arrived alone. Her son, Alfonso, was only a bit older than Carolina, so he was also staying at home with his babysitter this year. I had been surprised to learn that my sister was now a mother – she had never really seemed like the maternal type – but I guess that sort of thing was bound to happen sooner or later when you went through as many boyfriends as Bridie had done.

It was cold outside, and everyone had come dressed up for the occasion, so I quickly ushered everyone into the warm house before they froze to death. James had helped me put up the Christmas tree and decorations earlier that day, so everything was ready when the guests arrived. Chattering happily, everyone gathered around the tree and added their presents to the huge pile that had accumulated in the centre of the room.

When everyone was ready, the present opening commenced. Iris’ present was at the very top of the pile, so she went first. One by one, the rest of the family followed suit until everyone had received a gift.

After presents, dinner was served, and everyone gathered around the table to enjoy the meal together. Then Diana turned on the living room speakers, and everyone who wasn’t sitting around the tree chatting decided to join her on the dance floor instead.

By the time everyone was feeling partied out and more than one child had fallen asleep in their seat, it was well past 10 p.m. Bit by bit, the guests trickled out, with many hugs and kisses and promises to keep in touch, until it was just James, myself and the kids left. We put all three children to bed, then returned downstairs to do a bit of cleaning up before heading to bed ourselves.

Both of us were exhausted by the time our heads hit the pillows, and looking forward to a good night’s rest. Unfortunately, after what felt like only a few minutes, we were dragged back from sleep by the doorbell ringing downstairs. James rolled over, checked his watch, and groaned.

“It’s three in the damn morning. Who on Earth would be coming to the door at this hour?”

“I don’t know…” I responded sleepily. “You go back to sleep, I’ll go check.” I sat up on the edge of the bed, yawning.

“No, I’m coming too. If someone’s ringing our doorbell in the middle of the night, it must be something serious.”

I nodded sleepily, too tired to argue, and clumsily made my way out of the room and down the stairs. A woman I didn’t recognise was waiting at the door when I opened it. Her dress was filthy and shapeless, and she wasn’t wearing shoes. I guessed that maybe she was homeless and in need of food or money.

“Um… can I help you?” I wanted to be polite, but honestly, she was scaring me a little bit. She shook her head, craning her neck to see over my shoulder into the house behind me. I moved to block the door, and saw James coming down the stairs behind me.

“Who is it, Bee?” 

When he came into her view, the woman smiled at him, as though in recognition. James, meanwhile, seemed rooted to the spot as he stared at her. For once, I had no idea what he was thinking as I watched various emotions flit across his face, none of which I could easily identify. I gave him a questioning look, but he appeared incapable of speech. After a few moments of tense silence, a single word managed to escape his shaking lips. “…Mum?”

The woman smiled. “So good to see you again, my son.”