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wellownedbkupShe watched the two of them grow up, never correcting anything that seemed just outside the norm. Her own parents had been disciplinarians, militarily strict. Every moment of the day had to be accounted for. Every action had to have logic behind it. And don’t let something go wrong. Just the thought of subjecting her children to such a nightmare of a house dominated by fear and Bible-thumping made Denise become the exact opposite of her own upbringing. And it seemed they blossomed under the seeming neglect. They found their own paths.
They were… free. Free of oppression. Free spirits. Free to become what they needed to be.
Ailis was wild, headstrong, active. Curious. Anything that piqued her interest was worth trying. Even things that could be more dangerous for her like snowboarding and surfing. She broke all the longstanding co-ed barriers in the neighborhood, joining the Little League baseball, football and soccer teams. She played catch, and dress-up, and dolls; the perfect mix of a child.
Phoenix wasn’t normal, either, though it may have been more harmful to the boy to be left to his own devices the way Denise left him. He was a magnificent baby, the pale fringe of his eyelashes framing large blue eyes that took in everything. He rarely cried, and never caused any trouble. Perhaps that’s why she found out so late about his condition.
She first noticed it when Ailis was born. Phoenix was two years old, all smiles and ‘No!’ and hair as pale as moonlight. Playing with the baby shouldn’t have taxed him so. His hands began to tremble and his breath came erratically. Denise glanced at the boy, not realizing what was truly going on. But, suddenly, he was lying on the floor, limbs twitching painfully and his lungs stopped short.
Her own heart pounding in her throat, Denise threw herself to the floor beside Phoenix’s body, barely registering her daughter’s plaintive cries for her playmate. Her fingers searched for and found a faint, rapid pulse, too fast to be normal.
“Oh, Nicky…” she whispered, trying to keep him alive as Jaden called for an EMS.
The hospital was a blur of lights and voices; questions asked and answered by a voice like her own. Like a twin, Denise thought hysterically, screaming ‘Save my baby! Save my baby!’ But her twin wasn’t watching her baby die. The thought was too much for her to handle, and Jaden had to drag her gently from the observation room above the ER to a waiting room three hallways away.
They were… free. Free of oppression. Free spirits. Free to become what they needed to be.
Ailis was wild, headstrong, active. Curious. Anything that piqued her interest was worth trying. Even things that could be more dangerous for her like snowboarding and surfing. She broke all the longstanding co-ed barriers in the neighborhood, joining the Little League baseball, football and soccer teams. She played catch, and dress-up, and dolls; the perfect mix of a child.
Phoenix wasn’t normal, either, though it may have been more harmful to the boy to be left to his own devices the way Denise left him. He was a magnificent baby, the pale fringe of his eyelashes framing large blue eyes that took in everything. He rarely cried, and never caused any trouble. Perhaps that’s why she found out so late about his condition.
She first noticed it when Ailis was born. Phoenix was two years old, all smiles and ‘No!’ and hair as pale as moonlight. Playing with the baby shouldn’t have taxed him so. His hands began to tremble and his breath came erratically. Denise glanced at the boy, not realizing what was truly going on. But, suddenly, he was lying on the floor, limbs twitching painfully and his lungs stopped short.
Her own heart pounding in her throat, Denise threw herself to the floor beside Phoenix’s body, barely registering her daughter’s plaintive cries for her playmate. Her fingers searched for and found a faint, rapid pulse, too fast to be normal.
“Oh, Nicky…” she whispered, trying to keep him alive as Jaden called for an EMS.
The hospital was a blur of lights and voices; questions asked and answered by a voice like her own. Like a twin, Denise thought hysterically, screaming ‘Save my baby! Save my baby!’ But her twin wasn’t watching her baby die. The thought was too much for her to handle, and Jaden had to drag her gently from the observation room above the ER to a waiting room three hallways away.
