"He'll be a lady killer," Prince had said.
"What?!"
"Like, he'll get all the ladies," Prince corrected, flustered. Well, that was something I could imagine. The two dozed off to sleep immediately.
I turned to Andy, who was sitting, wide-eyed, in his crib. His hair was cut and dyed, and he looked much better. His eyebrows had been dyed as well. "Mama," he said as I approached him. He looked the two babies, confused. "Baba?"
"Yes, baby," I nodded, and pointed to Buzz. "Buzz," I pointed to Sandy, "Sandy. Buzz is your brother, Sandy is your sister."
Andy furrowed his brow as he tried to retain this information. "Ba," he tried, "Bwudah." I nodded in encouragement. "Amby, ihdah." I tried not to laugh in case he thought he was failing, but his little voice was so cute. He patted his doll. "Idah?"
I shook my head. "No, your doll isn't your sister. Your doll is your friend," I said, "Like me!"
Andy laughed a baby laugh. "Mama id mama, nod fwend!"
"Mama is your friend, too, silly. Go to sleep now." I kissed the top of his head and left Prince with his two new babies.
"Oh my god! Prince!" I said in realization, "We completely forgot to celebrate your birthday!"
"It's alright. These two are the best birthday presents anyone could receive," Prince said, leaning into a crib to kiss Buzz. Aw. It would be a hassle to celebrate three birthdays in a day, but all three were worth it.
"Dada," Andy cried, reaching his arms out to Prince. He was probably jealous.
I left Prince to change Andy into his adorable pajamas and read him to sleep. It was honestly one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
A tough year passed quickly. I survived on coffee. Andy was walking, running, using the toilet on his own, and speaking in slightly understandable sentences. He had named his doll Jessie and always sang to it. Andy carried Jessie around everywhere he went, even when using the potty or eating a meal. King helped out a lot and worked from home. Although he didn't say, Prince and I knew that Sandy was his favourite out of the three. He always took care of both Sandy and Buzz's needs, but he always fed and changed Sandy's diaper before Buzz. Meanwhile, I had been singing a few Sing-a-grams, but mainly staying at home taking care of my children. Prince had started taking writing courses and wasn't home much.
It was nice to have Pino around, and whenever I felt overwhelmed and didn't want advice, I would go down into our gated front yard and unlatch his cage and speak to him. Pino was getting sick though, so I worried on whether it was best to keep Pino locked in his cage and feed and clean him properly, or to set him free and have a family. Although it wasn't as if Pino was going to find love and nurture his babies till he died from old age, I still would rather let Pino go and believe that he had a good life.
When Buzz and Sandy were eight months old, I let Pino go with a sad farewell.
There were plenty of low moments, like when I had to slave over an oven preparing dinner, or clean up after King who used his age as an excuse, or do the laundry or change diapers. The worst part was cleaning. I absolutely hated cleaning after being subjected to it for so many years, but I did it anyway. I still cleaned and repaired the toilets and other appliances. I was the 'handyman' of the house, after all. My least favourite chore was cleaning sinks, which was the one chore I had to do the most often. But it all payed off knowing I not only lived in a safe house, but it was a safe environment for my three kids.
Although we didn't like taking Andy upstairs in case he fell down the stairs by accident, we did on occasion. He would always crawl over to the xylophone right away. The first time he did, all he did was suck on the mallet. I took a picture of him the first time, and I was laughing so hard. He was wearing his little bunny pajamas and blue socks.
I stopped laughing when Andy started playing out patterns on the xylophone, though. He would start by hitting one note three times, then add one. Then he'd play the first note three times, play the second, and add another, etc. I was amazed with his memory ability and pattern recognition. "You're going to be a very smart boy..." I had murmured. I wished I hadn't, though, because Andy looked up at me with his big brown eyes, and stopped playing.
"Mama?" he said, as if surprised I was there.
"Keep playing," I said, laying down next to him on the carpet, "Mommy likes it when you play."
That's why, an hour later, Prince walked up in surprise to find me lying next to Andy with my eyes closed while Andy played on the xylophone.
"We've got a musical prodigy," Prince said.
"I know," I said with a grin and a wink, "He must take after me."
I walked in on Prince in the bathroom, meaning to wish him happy birthday. I found him shrugging his shoulders, dressed in a work outfit, letting out a moan as his back cracked. I had a sudden déja vu as I was brought back to when I saw how old Becky was. I saw the same age in Prince.
"Happy birthday, dear," I said, kissing him.
"Thanks hon," he replied. I could see the tiredness in his eyes. "36 just feels old right now."
I helped Prince change into his normal clothes-though we did more kissing than changing-and went downstairs to make breakfast. When he walked downstairs, he was glowing light.
"Oh, damn, Prince couldn't you wait!" I said, alarmed. I had never experienced a young adult to adult change, but I was sure it would be the least dramatic and painful.
Prince laughed as he sparkled. "Not like I can help it, silly!"
The light faded away and he didn't look any different from what I could tell. He was maybe a bit taller, but his clothes fit just the same.
He stood proudly, hands on hips, in a picture perfect pose. "I feel like a man!" he said proudly. His voice had deepened. I suddenly felt a different, inexplicable attraction for him.
"I'll make you feel like a man," I growled, approaching him friskily. Of course he gave in and we had some fun until we decided we needed to take care of the kids.
"Too bad," Prince groaned, rolling out of bed, "I could have stayed here all day." I grinned mischievously.
We grabbed our kids-Prince held Buzz and I held Sandy. We hadn't planned a big party for them or Prince because we knew it would just confuse poor Andy who had enough trouble remember the five people he lived with. I stared wide-eyed at the candles, glad that I wouldn't suffocate my child with my breasts this time.
"Count of three. Ready? One, two-" I said, but was cut off by Prince.
"Since Buzz was born a minute and thirty eight seconds before Sandy, shouldn't I blow his candle out first?" Prince asked.
The body of a man, the brain of a boy. "Sure, whatever floats your boat, birthday boy."
"Birthday man," he said before leaning over and blowing out Buzz's candle. I waited a few seconds before doing the same.
We set down our children. I watched Buzz and was, quite frankly, amazed. There was a pathetic puff of sparkles and Buzz emerged, dressed in white shoes, violet shorts, a blue shirt and a purple striped vest.
"Well, that doesn't bode well," I said with concern.
A single, faint blue sparkle drifted away from Buzz. I watched as our little boy looked around, his big blue eyes crossed. He had a dark brown buzz cut. I chuckled at the irony. We were probably asking for it by naming our kid Buzz.
"You mean his clothing or the lack of sparkles?"
"The latter."
"Mmm. Maybe he won't be such a bad kid if we smack it out of him."
"Prince!"
"Kidding, kidding."
"I can tell that he's going to be very good looking though," I said as he looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. Dark hair and blue eyes was always a good match.
"Don't forget about your daughter!" King cried before blowing on a party kazoo.
I turned back just in time to see the last fading sparkles emitting from Sandy. Drat. Now how was I supposed to know how much she'd get out of life? She was wearing a cute pink dress and socks with her lip stuck out. She was so adorable! She had a matching buzz cut to her twin and my shade of hair. She had blue eyes, but whereas Buzz had my shade of blue, Sandy had darker eyes. Odd.
We spent the next three years like we did before, only that Andy helped out around the house and Buzz did his best to be a brat. Sandy was stuck in the middle, very close to Buzz, but hanging on to every word Andy said. She wanted to please them both. She was a completely different child when she was alone or just with Prince or I, though. Then, she was sweet and happy and pure. I bought her and Buzz the cutest outfits. When I brought my three children out in public, everyone would coo and then squeal even more when I would say how Sandy and Buzz were twins.
Prince had written many articles for the paper and even kept a blog, which kept him happy. King grew more and more despondent as the days went by without him being allowed to see Jodi. Jodi had reached her childhood years and still didn't know who her biological father was. I didn't interfere with them.
Meanwhile, I tried to hide my bitterness as best as possible. When I had married Prince, it had been with the hopes of pursuing my career as a singer, not as a stay at home mom. Although I loved all three of my children, I felt like I needed more of my life.
"Isn't that selfish, sweetie?" I said as I held Sandy. She was dressed in a bear suit with a matching hat. She and Buzz could easily be best looking kids at school when they grew up. Andy would probably be handsome as well.
Buzz was always purposely taking off his diaper to pee in the baby room. I felt bad for Andy, who still slept in there because we didn't have space. We had given Andy a little toddler bed when he started to try to escape his crib.
It was amazing how much pee Buzz made, although I knew sometimes he made his sister help. Buzz was quite intelligent-perhaps too smart for his own good. But he did enjoy playing in the toy box. He spent the majority of his time in the little easy to open box that Andy had barely glanced at when he was a kid.
It always scared me when Buzz climbed in the toy-box, because I was worried that he would fall in and not be able to crawl out and end up suffocating. He didn't understand when I scolded him for it. It was cute to see him laughing and playing with a little horse toy, though. Then I'd turn my back on him for a second and he would be trying to eat his sock.
All the effort was worth it though. I really did have three fantastic kids. Although my youngest two were the most work, they were also the most entertaining. I watched as Sandy lay spread out on her bed in her bear suit, looking adorable.
"Mama?" Buzz gurgled, pulling at my pant leg. I reached down and scooped him up into my arms.
"Not too loud, sweetie, your sister is sleeping."
Buzz gave me his big puppy dog eyes look and stuffed his thumb in his mouth, nodding. "Mama," he said again, poking my collarbone, "La, la, la?" He sang out the words in notes.
My heart sank. "I do like to sing, sweetheart."
Buzz looked away and started fidgeting, so I put him away in his crib to sleep. Ugh. I was never going to make it big.
On the day of my 26th birthday-Prince was 40, Andy was 6, and Buzz and Sandy were 5. I was eating some cake from King's leftover birthday party. We hadn't put a candle on it for King to blow out because the next life state for King would be death.
Prince had gotten a new leather jacket which I thought wasn't bad. It was a little odd seeing him in anything besides his normal clothes, though, especially because it wasn't like him to just go out and buy something.
I had caught him peering at his face judgmentally. First he ran a hand over his hair, then he checked his teeth... The worst part was when he stroked all his tiny little wrinkles and lines with concern. That was the biggest difference I noticed when Prince had aged up. He had little creases next to his eyes and smile lines. The little grooves running from his nose to his mouth had deepened as well.
I smiled, happy of my young age and face. I was virtually line-less.
I picked up my cake plate and stood up, meaning to put it away. But then I started glowing light! I dropped the plate in surprise. It hit the floor with a loud crack, startling me, especially in this odd state. Why was I aging up? This made no sense! I felt only the tiniest tinge of warmth, as if I was trying to warm myself up with a candle.
It must've been the cake! By eating the cake, I probably triggered some age up! I couldn't let this happen though, I had so much to do with my life, I wanted to be a famous singer and have millions of adoring fans... My body emitted an ominous glow of light. I started freaking out. How could I stop this? This was horrible! Could I cancel a transformation? I wanted to be a young adult forever! That was the ultimate age! I felt a sweat break out on my forehead as I panicked.
But it was over as quickly as it had begun. The sparkles faded away. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I wouldn't be all wrinkly and gross. Maybe I would just be taller and wiser. Maybe this was all for the best.
I glanced in the refrigerator and caught sight of my reflection. Oh, god, I was hideous.
Prince strolled into the room. "Oh, look at that! You aged up! Happy birthday sweetie!"
He leaned in for a kiss but I pushed him off. "Prince! Look at me! I'm all wrinkly and gross!"
Prince looked hurt. "I'm all wrinkly..."
"But you're 40! I'm 26 for crying out loud! How come I'm so wrinkly?"
Prince shrugged. "You'll always be beautiful in my eyes."
"A toad would be beautiful in your eyes, Prince!" I spat. "I wanted to pursue my dreams of being a singer, Prince, not marry and get knocked up so that I'm wrinkly and old with three kids and no job by the time I'm 26!"
"Darling, you can still follow your dreams of being a singer," Prince said, still looking hurt.
"No one whose old can ever follow their dreams, Prince," I said with annoyance, "Especially if they're ugly like me."
Prince shook his head, trying to understand me. "Honey, you're only 26. You have plenty of time ahead of you to be a singer."
"You and the kids are holding me back! I'm sick of my damned life! Maybe we have money, but you can't buy happiness with money! And you sure as hell can't buy talent with money!"
Prince chuckled and I grew even more furious at him. "Cindy, are you having a mid-life crisis?"
I'm afraid I said some rather nasty curse words to him. "MID-LIFE CRISIS?! SO NOW I'M EVEN AS OLD AS YOU?! MORE LIKE A QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS YOU INSENSITIVE-" I stopped talking when I thought of the children. "Bugger off, Prince. Just leave me alone."
Prince listened to me and gave me alone time, figuring it to be for the best. I neglected the kids for a while. I made a list of things I wanted to do with myself. I started with exercising. Prince seemed relieved at me taking up running. I ran on the treadmill upstairs, wanting to get rid of fat I got when I was pregnant and general flab I had taken up over the years.
Maybe it would've been better if Prince hadn't left me alone. Maybe it would've been better if he had forced me to wisen up and realize all the marvelous things I had in my life. But he didn't. And that made all the difference.
I made more changes. I dyed my hair orange, suddenly finding my blond hair too plain Jane and schoolgirl. I changed my hairstyle. I experimented with makeup. I bought new clothes.
I didn't want to be attractive in only Prince's eyes. And to achieve that, I would have to flaunt myself around a bit.
"Looking sexy," I said in the new voice I used. It was hoarse and suggestive.
'Sexy' wasn't exactly the right word for my look.
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