I grabbed some ingredients and tossed them in the food blender, being careful about watching the amount I put in.
I let my thoughts dwell on my eldest, who would soon look like a proper teenager. What would I do with Andy? I sighed and added a touch of salt to the spaghetti and sauce cooking in the pot. As the curious mother that I was, I was dying to know all about the boy that Andy liked. I fretted about it constantly-was he a good boy? Was he gay? Would he shunt Andy? I just didn't want my boy to be hurt.
I scooped a serving of spaghetti for myself and stored the rest in the fridge before sitting down at the dining room table. There was a bowl leftover from someone's breakfast. My bet was that it was Buzz's. Don't get me wrong-Buzz was a great kid. Polite, did what he was told to do, sweet, charming, but he got into mischief and didn't have the best common sense, if any. I knew that Andy would go far in life, providing that he was heir, and Sandy was extremely bright, but I worried that Buzz would just turn into your run of the mill guy. Not heir to the throne, not fit for duty, an extra, a spare, a castoff. It pained my heart, but it was true.
I finished up and took my plate and the bowl to the dishwasher. I quickly snuck upstairs, as it was late and everyone else was asleep. "Goodnight, darling," I whispered, tip-toeing into Sandy's room. I pulled the covers snug around her sleeping body and leaned down and kissed her forehead. She stirred, but didn't wake. I wondered if she ever got lonely, even if she was a twin.
"Night, my angels," I said, kissing Buzz and Andy on their cheeks. I wondered if they, perhaps, grew sick of each other's company. I wouldn't know, considering I didn't grow up in a normal home. I stumbled over Andy's doll on the way out-Jessie. Every day that went by with Andy saying she was real but without actually knowing really hurt me. Would I ever know? Or would I have an ever-lurking doubt of Andy's honesty and sanity?
I slipped into bed next to Prince and fell asleep cuddling him. I woke up early the next morning to Prince stirring.
"I didn't mean to wake you up," he whispered, kissing my cheek.
"It's okay," I muttered, which really meant 'Let me go back to sleep right now'.
He smiled knowingly and got up, making sure to tuck me in so the warm air didn't escape from under the covers. I wrapped myself in the blanket like a sick child on a cold, rainy day.
A few minutes later, a blue light appeared in the room, shining through my eyelids. I wearily opened my eyes. "What is that?"
Prince gulped the blue potion down. "Buzz gave it to me. It's a special potion that guarantees success when trying to repair an electrical or plumbing item."
I rolled my eyes. "Are you high? Why didn't you leave it to me?"
Prince looked offended. "Grumpy pants. I didn't want to wake you up."
"Sorry," I muttered, shoving my face back into the pillow. He was right, it was early, and I wasn't in the mood. He was just my sweet husband.
Despite how tired I was, I just couldn't fall back asleep with the guilt I bore on my chest. I ended up just laying in bed, listening to Prince clang the wrench on the bathtub. He was such a good husband, really. I only hoped that my children could end up with such great spouses.
Eventually, though, sleep did come my way, and I drifted off until the lovely aroma of my darling husband's waffles woke me up.
**Andy's POV**
I yawned and rolled out of bed. I immediately grinned, remembering what day it was. "Buzz," I said excitedly, yanking his covers off of him, "Get up!"
Buzz growled and curled up in a ball. "Why must you punish me this way?" he wailed, trying to snatch up the covers.
"We have school, get up," I commanded, and eventually Buzz climbed down. "Really, that's the first thing you're going to do?" I said, rolling my eyes as Buzz planted a whoopee cushion in our bean bag chairs.
"Why not? Oh, happy birthday Andy!" he said in sudden realization.
"Thanks, man," I grinned, pleased that he remembered.
I cracked my back and made my bed, pondering all the different possibilities of what I would look like once I was older. It was so exciting! Although it seemed silly, I was crossing my fingers that I would be attractive. Maybe I was being a little vain, but I couldn't help but hope that I would turn a few heads. I knew for a fact that I had a handsome father and a gorgeous mother, so it would be really weird if I turned out ugly.
I twirled around, bumping into Jessie. "Sorry, Jess!" I said in surprise. "Didn't see you there!"
"My fault," she said with embarrassment, "I just needed to talk to you-"
"Can it wait?" I said with sudden panic. "I really need to get ready for school!" I dashed out of my room, forgetting that I was still in my boxers.
I burst into Sandy's room to make sure that she was awake, but she was already making her bed. "Hey, sis," I said giddily, giving her a hug.
"Happy birthday, Dee!" she said, hugging me back.
"I said it first," Buzz boasted from the corner of the room. He was busy planting yet another prank.
"What's the point," I said, "If Sandy and I know that you're doing it?"
Buzz tapped the side of his nose with his finger, a mischievous glint in his eye. "When you do fall for it though, because you forgot, it'll be even funnier."
"You're just being immature," I said haughtily, and Buzz laughed.
"Hey dad, what'cha makin'?" I said, walking into the kitchen. Dad was putting flour, eggs, and other ingredients into the blender.
"When you say that, it sounds like you're saying, 'What Jamaican'," dad considered, pausing for a moment.
I just stared at him.
"Waffles," he replied with a wink, "For a special birthday boy!"
Waffles were my favourite. Well, they were until I tried some of my mom's spaghetti with veggie sauce. Nothing could beat that. But waffles were still great.
"All done!" dad announced a few minutes later, taking the perfectly done waffles out of the oven. He laid three on a plate for me, drowned in butter and maple syrup (with a side of fruit) and put the next batch in the oven, setting the remaining waffle on a plate.
"Before you eat, you need to come here!" Buzz called from the dining room. I looked over at Sandy, who just shrugged, before listening to Buzz's request.
I burst out laughing. Buzz, like the crazy kook he was, was dressed in a crown and some sort of armor that he designed. He climbed up on the dining room chair and clapped his hands. "Quiet down, quiet down, my friends! Thank you. I'm only going to interrupt your feast briefly-I have a special announcement I would like to make. As you may know, I have ruled this kingdom for many years-but not alone. Alas, I haven't the brains to rule such brilliant people all by myself! I have been aided by two very special people-my twin sister, Sandy, who I won't talk about because today she's not important-" Sandy snorted with laughter, "-and my brother, who is one year older than me, but the closest friend I have."
"When I've gone through times of sadness, Andy was there for me. When I needed someone to talk to, Andy was there for me. I know that siblings don't get along, most of the time, but I don't see how anyone could not get along with my brother, Andy. So, my friends, raise your glasses and cheer, for today is the day that we celebrate the birth of Andy! Today is the day he turns fourteen!" Buzz let out a cheering noise and screamed, "Happy birthday Andy!"
I grinned at him. "I didn't think you had that speech in you, Buzz." I really was touched, though.
Sandy rolled her eyes. "We were arguing about who could wish you happy birthday in the coolest way. I guess Buzz won."
"You sound surprised," Buzz said cockily, but smiling all the same.
I returned to the kitchen to eat my waffles, and Sandy grabbed some for her and Buzz. "Do you feel any different, Andy?"
"Not really," I said as I scarfed down a waffle, "Just excited that I'll be able to date without feeling embarrassed."
Sandy winked at me. "I can't wait to see what boys you bring home."
I blushed. "Just don't get any ideas, sis."
"Nice getup," I heard Sandy say to Buzz as they ate in the dining room.
"Thanks. It's pretty sick, I know," Buzz replied.
"Your hair looks funny," Sandy said.
"The crown flattens it." There was a brief lull in their conversation and the only sound was that of forks scraping plate. "Do you wonder what we'll look like in a year?"
"I try to avoid it," Sandy said with a sigh, "But of course I do. I don't care that much though. There aren't many good looking guys at our school that I know of."
I could almost see Buzz giving her the stink eye. "I don't want you looking at any guys. You shouldn't be dating for a long time."
Was I supposed to be the protective older brother? It was so confusing. "You're not my dad," Sandy said with a laugh.
Buzz grumbled under his breath.
I grabbed my toothbrush from my drawer and used lots of toothpaste. It was my birthday, so I wanted to look extra special. I wanted to smell extra special. It wasn't any birthday-today was the day that I aged up, from a child to a teen. I would go to parties, stay out late-oh, it sounded sweet. My mind drifted back to that one day, that embarrassing day...
"Psst."
"What is it, Leon?" I was being abrupt, but only because he had just made of fun of me. It had hurt.
"I'm sorry, Andy."
"Okay."
"No, Andy, please take this," he had said, slipping me a mint Tic Tac. "Trust me, you need it."
At least he had been discreet about it, but I didn't breath on anyone for the rest of that day.
"Happy birthday Andy!" Jessie said, embracing me with a hug. I forgot about Leon and hugged her back.
"Thanks, Jessie," I said, grinning. "Jess," I questioned in sudden realization, "When is your birthday?"
"I'm not positive, but I aged up at the same time as you when you were a toddler, so I guess when your birthday is," she replied.
I didn't say anything, but it felt like it took some of the fun away from my birthday. But I didn't want to be selfish.
I dashed up to my room quickly to get changed. As I did, I caught Buzz hanging up the phone. "Who were you talking to?"
Buzz blushed. "Char..."
I had managed to wheedle a bit of information regarding the girl that Buzz liked, and he had slipped up and said her nickname, 'Char'. He refused to tell me what her full name was, saying he didn't want to jinx anything.
"Buzz is getting all the ladies!" I shouted, and tackled him to the ground. We wrestled for a bit before mom shouted at us to hurry up and get ready for school.
"Who are you talking to?" I asked as I walked in on mom yapping on her cell.
She covered the mouthpiece part and hissed, "I was talking to a few of my friends, Andy. I can't believe that you didn't invite them to your party!"
I groaned. The last thing I wanted was a load of old people telling me how much I had grown since the last time I saw them. "Mo-om! Who did you invite!"
"My step-sisters, Talan, Becky, Mitch and Sonoko Lee, Medina, Barry, and a couple people you don't know."
I sighed, but I didn't want to be rude. What was done was done. "Next time I age up, when I age up into an adult, can I please only have my friends?"
Mom glared at me. "And Becky and Talan. And your aunt, if she ever shows up."
I sighed again and kissed her goodbye.
I ran downstairs and kissed dad on the cheek, too. "Bye dad!"
"Bye, Andy. Have a good birthday!" he said, barely glancing up from the computer screen. His fingers were tapping away so quickly that they were almost a blur.
"What are you working on?"
"I'm editing my latest novel, changing up word structure, plot, things like that," dad said, before looking up at me. "The bus is here, though. Run along so you don't miss it!"
"Alright. Bye, dad!"
School was awesome. Tons of people were wishing me happy birthday, including teachers. Someone even sang me happy birthday over the announcements! Plenty of people gave me cupcakes, doughnuts, and cake, up until the point where I didn't even need to buy a lunch. I knew that most people were just doing it because I was a prince, but it sure as hell felt nice!
The weirdest part was when I was running for my bus home, after school, and I saw Step-Aunt Anastasia throwing a football with Robbie Platt. I thought that mom had said that Robbie and Step-Aunt Drizella were dating?
A flash of a camera went off as a paparazzi snapped a picture. I automatically shielded my face until I realized that she was taking a picture of Step-Aunt Anastasia, not me. Step-Aunt Anastasia turned and gave me a wave. "Hey, sport! Tell your mom that I won't be able to make it tonight, but Robbie will! Happy birthday!"
"Thank you! I will!" I shouted back. It was weird, because I hadn't talked to my step-aunt before. Even stranger was the fact that mom said I had to call her my step-aunt and not just my aunt, but I supposed that that had to do with some childhood sibling issues. My mom didn't like to talk about her childhood.
When I got home, mom told me all about her day in great detail. Dad said that she was going through hot flashes.
"First, I wanted to look extra good for your party, so I went for a long walk on the treadmill. While I was exercising, I noticed that my boobs are really saggy! I guess I'm old."
"MOM!" I said with disgust, absolutely appalled. I started to gag.
"It's true! You'll have to deal with it-oh, no you won't," mom said awkwardly, remembering my sexual-orientation.
"Then I did the laundry, so that I would have nice fresh, clean clothes to change into. I took some clothes out of the dryer and I noticed that there was a white shirt in the coloured load, so I'll need to watch out for that."
"And then I couldn't help but noticed the giant pile of clothes that reeked so much that I was almost choking. I'm being serious, it's not even funny. I shouldn't be the only one taking care of the clothes, you know! Other people should do the laundry once in a while too!"
"I had to use a ton of soap because the clothes smelled so bad. I mean, I must have emptied at least half of the box!"
"Mom, does your story have a point?" I said with a sigh, getting bored.
"I'm getting there, hold on."
"I went to take a shower and get all cleaned up for your party, when guess what happened? I stepped out of the shower, glanced in the mirror, and saw that I had florescent yellow hair! Obviously it was Buzz's doing, and I cursed for a moment because I didn't know if I would be able to get it out."
"I mean," mom said, starting to laugh, "Out of all of the colours he could have picked, he chose yellow! But anyway, I managed to wash it out and get dressed for your big day. I didn't want to embarrass you by having florescent yellow hair."
I managed to blink a few times before shaking my head and walking away. My mom's hormones were making her really weird.
Despite my mom's long rant, my birthday was actually pretty good. I got off the bus and ran home with Buzz. One of the girls I had invited was already there. She seemed pretty normal, off the bat, but she was an odd girl. I wasn't terribly close to her, but I had noticed that she didn't have many friends, so I didn't want her to be left out.
See, the only thing about her that you'd really notice was her shoe choice. It was beyond a little bizarre. She was wearing flippers.
I also invited this guy named Johnny. Again, I didn't know him too well, but he was a cool guy and we sometime hung out. He had recently graduated and had received a lot of money, so he was spending it on bling, clothes, and cars.
Sandy had ridden her bike to school, so of course she had to ride it back. She was a little late for the start of my party, but it didn't really matter anyway, considering that she was my sister.
A lot of people I didn't know were bringing food. Fish and chips, chili, firecracker shrimp, and grilled cheese sandwiches were among the tastiest dishes. When my mom saw all the food, she didn't even bother cooking anything.
At the beginning, my party was a little weird, since I didn't know anyone besides a couple teens. I caught one of the guests, Barry, staring at Step-Aunt Drizella's chest, which was quite visible thanks to her sheer zebra striped shirt and her dark red bra.
My mom's old neighbour, Mitch Lee was at the party. He looked close to death's door, but he was wearing hipster glasses, funnily enough. I found it strange that my mom was friends with him, considering all that he was put through whenever he visited her house when she was a kid.
But I digress. Before a large crowd could be formed, I blew out the candles on my cake, wishing for no more than a happy marriage. Mom, of course, got it all on tape. She whipped out an expensive looking video recorder and started filming, without telling me. Dad stood by, grinning proudly.
The transformation was probably one of the most painful things I had ever experienced in my life, even with the cake. I let out a cry and clutched my stomach as sharp jolts shot through my body. Sparkles started bursting out of my body.
In a split second, all of the pain disappeared as I started floating... oh, and heaven above it was bliss. My muscles loosened until I felt like I was sinking into the softest bed, my eyes fluttered close and the noise drowned out around me as I entered the dream land... It felt like hours that I was in this paradise, in complete comfort and happiness, although it was probably only seconds.
And then, it was over. I was a teenager. I watched my bones reshape under my skin, and felt my jaw realign itself. Mom blew a noise maker in my ear, and my two older friends cheered for me. I couldn't wait to see what I looked like.
I glanced down at myself. The clothes that I found myself in were terrible. I would have to change them. I realized, with embarrassment, how little muscle I had on my skinny arms, although they were well defined thanks to dad's good genes.
I grabbed a slice of cake and joined my sister, brother, mom and a guest at the dinner table. Buzz muffled a laugh from where he sat. "You look pretty good, bro," he said.
"Thanks!" I was still dying to look in the mirror.
"Especially your clothing," Sandy added, and the two of them burst out laughing.
"Oh, hardy har har. At least I'm a teenager," I muttered. I could already feel the hormones kicking in.
The woman sitting next to me wrinkled her nose and looked away. I shot her an annoyed glance, then looked at mom for support. She smirked. "I'm sorry, Andy hon, but you look hilarious," she said, and the whole table erupted in laughter.
"Well, if I knew I was going to be ridiculed on my birthday, I wouldn't have come in the first place!" I said, standing up. I wasn't hurt, because I knew that my clothes looked silly. However, I was done my cake and I didn't want to put my plate away.
As I walked to the bathroom to find out what I looked like, I passed by Jessie. "I aged up too, Andy!" she said.
"Happy birthday," I said with a wink.
"Ugh," Jessie said as she walked through my stink cloud, gagging, "Andy, you really need a shower."
Everyone chuckled again. It just wasn't my day.
The lady who had laughed at me followed me to the bathroom, creepily enough. Nervously, I looked at my appearance. Well. Some things certainly wouldn't do. I played with my hair a little, pulling out my brush to fix it. Then I smoothed out my eyebrows. They were a little fluffy. Finally, though, I got a good look at myself. I smirked. I looked pretty hot. The lady in the bathroom thought so, too, as she couldn't keep her eyes off of me.
I just hoped Leon would think so, too.
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