EmmalineThe upcoming nuptials were on everyone's minds. it was exciting to have something to plan for that wasn't completely academic in nature! Gladsten was over most nights to aid in the preparations, and so long as I wasn't at the table, Branch was also a big help (or so I hear).
He's still harboring some ill will toward me. I can't really blame him.
Daisy had the inspired idea to keep the guy busy with some experimental seeds she'd gotten from her semester in science and medicine. Branch is a genius in the garden, so it did help to take his mind off of things.
If only we knew the how effective her seeds would be at distracting us all.
But that was later. The day the package came, everything was still on track. The invitations were sent out, the caterers hired, and I was wondering how I'd deal with Anoki after everything that had happened. But then I opened the mailbox and all of those silly worries were swept away.
There was a package inside. From our mother.
Inside was a small, leather-bound book. A journal she'd kept in her first (and failed) attempt to found a life-states dynasty. She was currently scouting for another location. The first page made it clear that she felt she had some explaining to do for leaving us like she did.
Daisy was asleep when I found it, but I couldn't wait to show her. I crawled into bed with her and read into the journal deep into the night so I could pass it off to her come morning.
The first page was just a letter from her.
My Darling Girls,
I've missed you so much! I had hoped by now I'd have photos of your new brothers and sisters to send you and a great tale to spin to explain away everything I had done. Sadly, this isn't the case. I failed the first attempt. It doesn't matter why or how, just that I did. But I won't be deterred.
Ultimately, and especially for Lila and Emmy who are not the same life state as me, I am seeking to break a centuries-old curse on our family. It's a long story. Very long. One day I'll tell it to you all. One day, when we're together again.
The Watcher thinks being torn from my girls is part of the reason my focus was wanting in the first try, so She is allowing us to correspond! I've written down everything about us about the curse and our history and what it is I aim to do.
I hope you'll write me. And I hope you'll enjoy the stories ahead. I have, against my better judgement, included contact information for each of you to contact your fathers if you wish. None of them know of you girls, so do so gently if you do decide to reach out.
I love you, all three.
MomDaisy went wide-eyed in the morning when I handed the journal over to her, my face sallow with the lack of sleep. "Did you read it all?" she asked.
"No," I said. "I read the first two stories in there. Did you know we're part Effenmonti?"
Daisy couldn't read it right away, she was due to meet Gladsten and rub being the World's-Cutest-Couple in the faces of the townspeople. But I knew it was burning a hole in her pocket.
For my part, my mind was buzzing. I'd stayed in bed to mull it over for the better part of the day. There had been a little note in the first few pages.
Maybe without me, my girls will find in each other the closeness they've never had.I had spent so much time furious at her for leaving. Had we grown closer because of it? I couldn't accept it. What she'd done was cruel.
That was when I heard the first squall.
And walked out to the most bizarre, unexpected thing I'd ever seen. Which was saying something considering the last 24 hours.
Branch was dumbstruck, his mouth working silently while the little green baby screamed and screamed. I snatched him from Branch's arms and sent him to the basement to get Lila's old swing, bouncing and soothing the little guy, seemingly from nowhere, covered in dirt.
Once we had him settled into the swing, I spun on Branch. "Where did that baby come from, Branch?"
"Er, from my garden," he said, reddening.
"From your garden," I repeated. It hung in the air, both of us silent.
"D-Daisy ... she gave me these seeds. I planted them," he said, clearly overwhelmed. "That one turned into a baby!"
This went on for sometime. It was the first Branch and I had spoken since i was back and the more he stammered on in disbelief the more I came around to the idea.
"You grew a baby out of one of Daisy's radioactive seeds," I said finally. "Do not harvest anymore of them."
Daisy. I needed to give her a talking to. We now had an infant on our hands with no planning, no budget for it ... no obvious parentage. I guess Branch, since he grew the little guy.
And I knew she wouldn't be home for a good long while, because I'd given her that book.
I picked him up. I never was around Lila much when she was this small. He was a happy little guy. No name or parents or origin, but cute and happy and he seemed to like me.
"Hello, little green Branch," I said, laughing while he swept his baby-soft fingers down my cheeks. "Little Twig"
"Uh, Emmy?" Lila's voice came from beneath me. I looked down and gave her a weak grin. "Did you ... where did that baby come from?"
"The ground. Branch grew him in the garden."
Lila leveled me with an even stare. "I'm not a baby, you know. I know that you don't make babies in the garden."
And that's when the door slammed and I heard Daisy's tell tale humming.
"Daisy! Get in here!" I shouted, bouncing little Twig. "You got Branch pregnant."
"What?"
In retrospect, that conversation would be hilarious. At the time, it was very frustrating.
In light of a surprise infant and the fact that we still hadn't told Lila about Mom's package, we decided the wedding needed to be pushed back. We couldn't host our university friends at home with a baby in the house. There was just too much going on.
We set up a crib next to the fairy castle Daisy had brought Lila back from school. Branch quickly took to sleeping in the castle rather than in his bed to be near Twig.
It was around the time Twig was coming on his toddler birthday that we decided to go ahead and have the wedding on a small, impromptu scale before we'd be forced to leave for school again. It was a soggy, cold night and it started raining almost immediately as our guests arrived.
Daisy was undeterred by all of it.
I stood in the rain, routing people to their seats, and felt a strange, alien pang at the idea of my sister being married. Daisy and I had spent our whole lives not even liking each other, and here I was afraid of losing her.
The vows were simple and sweet, just like the two of them. I hadn't gotten to know hunky Gladsten much, but now he'd be living with us, and I surely would. It was clear by his vows that he loved my sister very much.
And it was clear from hers that she loved him right back.
And it was in that moment that my Mom's speculation came flooding back to me. I couldn't imagine this wedding if we hadn't been tossed together like we had. Daisy being married to some beautiful, sweet man would've been an eye-rolling inconvenience for me just a few years ago.
I'm afraid it all hit me rather hard.
As the wedding party broke apart, back to their warm, dry homes, we ate some soggy wedding cake and shared our congratulations with the bride. I tried to make mine heartfelt, but I just kept ending up sounding a bit corny, so I stopped trying.
Daisy, for her part, was charmed that Gladsten and Lila had already agreed upon a bedtime story. What I didn't expect was that she'd be in my bed rather than her own that night, knowing that in the morning, after Twig's birthday, we'd be gone again.
I tried not to get sentimental again, but honestly I was as soppy as the cake. The wedding had just drained me. Daisy and her new husband went hand-in-hand to their bedroom after he kissed my snoring baby sister goodnight. She'd never be alone again.
And once upon a time, that might have filled me with bitter resentment. But somehow, here I was, in the same house, warm little breaths coming beside me from the baby sister I might have never gotten to know, who was going to miss me when I was gone.
And I realized just before I feel off into a deep, dreamless sleep, that I'll never have to be alone again either.
