Zephaniah

If there was one thing that life taught me, it was that you were formed by the people surrounding you. It was as if you took small pieces from each person that was close to you, only for it to form to something new, someone new, you.

For example, Dad had always taught me the importance of women in our life, even when I wasn't surrounded by one the first few years of mine. He taught me to respect them, to love them, even when the woman who brought me to earth hadn't done the same to the both of us.

He taught me how to love myself, how the things I struggled with deserved to be seen, to be talked about. How it wasn't a taboo that I had autism, along with epilepsy. He was emotional, it made me sensitive to certain emotions- I could feel them without seeing them first.

Mum had given me enough space and time, she had taught me how to trust people, how people that were once strangers- could turn into the ones you loved the most. How bonding with people you didn't know, didn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. How you could care for other people, even when they weren't standing close to you, when they weren't related. She taught me how to have Faith.

Cooper taught me how to be a friend to others, how to give my mind a voice sometimes- to speak out loud, to speak my deepest thoughts and feelings.

My grandparents taught me to be respectful to the elder, my aunts taught me how to get along with children- aunt Doniya how to be loving even when it doesn't come from both sides.

And then you had uncle Samuel, the one who taught me how to add humour in any situation. He'd never failed to make me laugh, no matter what he did or said.

They had arranged for me to sleep over this weekend- I was excited for it. I loved Jael and Phebe, I loved aunt Ruth and uncle Samuel.

The door flew open, uncle Samuel running out of it. "Niah- Zeph!" He yelled loudly, making me laugh softly, my eyes squinting at his nickname he had somehow came up with. "How's my awesome nephew?" He grinned, briefly pulling me into a hug.

Hugging him back, I lightly gripped onto his shirt, pulling away after a brief moment. "Good." I answered simply, watching Baba hug him as well.

He couldn't stay, he said. He had to run some errands, so after I had given him a long hug, we waved goodbye, Cooper and I following uncle Samuel.

"Come in, come in." He rested his hand on my neck, leading me into the house. "Jael and Phebe are super excited. They made a rainbow cake, you know, with all the colours. It turned out to be blue- ish, almost brown." He laughed, cuddling Cooper. "Just tell them it looks awesome, oh, the lies you gotta tell kids sometimes."

I laughed softly, covering my mouth as my eyes averted to my backpack. I placed it onto the floor, my eyes blinking faster at the two, dark haired girls who ran over to me, both of their arms wrapped around my waist.

"Hi," I said softly, briefly patting their hair then pulling away at the affectionate contact- not really feeling like it today- meaning the stimulus were a little too much.

"Zephy! Zephy! We made a cake for you!" Jael cheered, Phebe just gave me a cheeky smile. "Do you want to eat it? We made plenty you can have so much, right daddy?" She raised her arms into the air, perhaps, to show me the amount even when that was a rather strange amount for a cake. I knew I probably shouldn't have to take it literal.

Glancing at uncle Sam, he simply shrugged at me. "If you're hungry- I won't stop you. Not sure if it isn't pure toxic, though. It looks like it, after all." He held his hands up as he joked, I bit my upper lip to hide my smile.

"Zephy?" Jael sounded impatient, her little hand reaching for mine. "Come, I'll show you! Daddy says you'll sleep in our room. Can Cooper sleep there too, please?"

Too much information, I simply smiled at her, hoping her questions weren't too important because I didn't exactly know what she'd just asked me. Her little hand felt soft, but she pinched mine lightly. I was feeling rather sensitive today when it came to touching, so I instinctively pulled my hand back.

The moment I did it, I wondered if I hurt her, but her expression was still cheerful, her hands reaching for the cake. I sighed in relief.

The cake didn't look so tasty, like uncle Sam said. It was this strange brown colour after all, but it smelled good and besides that, they made it for me specifically. How could I decline?

"For you, Ziphaniah." Phebe blushed, handing me a plate with a thick piece of cake on it. She had messily added some whipped cream and pink glittery sprinkles on top of it.

"It is Zephaniah, dummy." Jael corrected her younger sister, I thought the way she called me was cute.

"Thank you, Phebe." I said quietly, pushing my finger upon the tip of her nose for a brief moment. She giggled and curiously watched me as I took a bite. It was extremely sweet, but I didn't quite mind that. "It's tasty."

Jael cheered loudly, my eyes blinked faster. "Oh, yeah! I made it with Phebe for you!" She smiled widely, taking a large bite herself. "Is Cooper sleeping in our room?"

She changed topics quickly, therefore it took me longer to give answers to her question. "Uhm, I-"

"Zephaniah is sleeping in your room, girls. I told you in the morning, yeah? So, Cooper will too but what did I tell you about that?" Uncle Sam entered the room, his eyebrows raised lightly as he stared down at his daughters.

"That Ziphaniah is sometimes sick in brain." Phebe said sadly, looking up at me. "Sometimes he feels sick in the brain and Cooper helps Ziphaniah feel better, right, daddy?"

"It's Zephaniah Phebe! Daddy, Phebe keeps saying it wrong!" Jael sighed dramatically, it made me chuckle softly. "We cannot play with Cooper at night because Cooper needs to be focused on Zephaniah when he doesn't feel well because Zephaniah has Epi disorder and that means that he sometimes feels sick in the brain and he needs to stay calm."

"I said that!" Phebe pouted, crossing her arms. "Does Ziphaniah has Epi- disorder, daddy?"

"Epilepsy." Uncle Samuel corrected, giving me a sheepish smile. "They're naughty, the types to stay up until deep midnight to play with a dog. Had to explain it to them."

"It's okay," I frowned, wondering if he felt bad about it. I thought his girls were clever, it was only for the best to explain them something about it.

Once I had finished the cake, Jael wanted me to follow her into their room. She was talking enthusiastically and no matter how hard I tried to follow her conversation, my eyes roamed around the girls' room instead. The walls were a light shade of pink, posters of horses and Disney princesses stuck to it.

They slept in a bunk bed, which was placed in the right corner. A mattress was placed on the other side of the room, in the left corner, a blanket next to that.

"That is your bed, Zephy and daddy says Cooper sleeps on the blanket!" Jael explained. "Daddy said maybe you don't want to sleep with mummy and daddy in their room. They kiss sometimes." She whispered the last sentence, it made me chuckle.

"This is my room, Ziphaniah." Phebe said shyly, her slightly chubby cheeks reddening. "I sleep there." She pointed at the bunk bed, specifically the lower one.

"You've got a beautiful- beautiful room, Phebe." I said sincerely, watching her brown eyes light up.

"It's our room, Phebe!" Jael scowled, she seemed to be mad. It made me slightly worried, I didn't understand what Phebe had done wrong, but when Phebe pulled the same expression and fought back, I figured it would be a typical sibling fight. The ones I didn't know.

I fidgeted with my fingers, sighing in relief when aunt Ruth walked inside. "Girls, my goodness. Zephaniah is over and all you do is fight!" She chuckled and softly shook her head. "Say sorry, okay? Remove that scowl, Jael."

Phebe's eyes watered, she looked up at her big sister. "Sorry, Jael."

"Sorry, Phebe." Jael said quickly, running over to her toys.

"Hello, Zeph." Aunt Ruth smiled, I quickly made my way over and let her kiss my cheek. "It's good to see you! How have you been?"

We got lost in a small conversation, but once she left to cook, Jael stood in front of me, holding up a barbie. "This is my new one. Do you like it? I bought it, well daddy bought it, it was on a market! They sell things that was once from other people."

Secondhand, my toys used to always be second- handed. I was grateful the option existed. Except my stuffed Shepherd; Shephy. Maybe that was the reason why he he had been so special to me.

"Is pretty, Jael." I said quietly, refusing to touch the barbie's hair, knowing it didn't feel like real hair, and had some weird plastic structure to it.

"Thanks, Zephy!" She said cheerfully. I couldn't help but smile lightly at her nickname. The nickname Mum and Dad used when I was little.

Soon it was dinner time and once we were all seated, uncle Sam opened with a prayer. Aunt Ruth served the food on busy looking plates- images of plants and flowers and a few insects scattered all over.

I separated the mashed potatoes with the vegetables, making sure it didn't touch the meat either. Phebe was watching me intensely while I did it. She smiled when I glanced at her and copied my plate, her eyes sparkling when she was done and we made eye contact again.

If only everyone else would be like you, Phebe.

I ate quietly, I tried to contain my hums, even when the food was really good. Uncle Sam and aunt Ruth engrossed into a conversation, sometimes including me but they knew I was a guy of a few words. I was thankful, relieved, perhaps.

Once dinner was over, Uncle Samuel grabbed the Bible to read us, but Phebe stopped him and whispered something into his ear. Uncle Sam glanced at me, I shifted in my seat. What'd she say?

"Ask him, then. I can't know if he likes that, sweetheart." He told Phebe, who nodded quickly.

"Ziphaniah I want to sit on your lap when daddy reads." She blushed. "Do you want that?"

"She's so fond of you, she couldn't stop talking about you when I told her you were sleeping over." Aunt Ruth told me, it made me blush a little.

I knew Phebe was a calm child, therefore I knew she wouldn't hang or move around all the time. I was okay with it. "You can sit, Phebe." I almost whispered, slowly shoving my chair away so it wouldn't screech against the floor.

Her eyes sparkled and I helped her upon my lap. She immediately rested her head against my chest, I couldn't help but softly and briefly press my lips to her dark hair.

Uncle Sam, coincidentally or not, read the story about Hannah, who couldn't seem to get pregnant but the one time where she was feeling so helpless and within any hope she went on her knees and prayed to God, asking for a son. He had listened and gave her a son; Samuel. Who she gave back to Him in order to praise and thank Him.

I remembered when I heard the story on the kids club in Church. I was extremely confused, when did mummy Hannah get a child named Samuel? Wasn't Samuel my uncle? I had asked at home, I still remember the fond looks on their faces. They had explained me clearly.

What a Faith, she had. I still couldn't believe it when I heard that story over and over again. I wondered if God ever listened to my silent prayers.

"Amen." Aunt Ruth smiled softly, I turned bright red, being aware of the fact that I completely missed her prayer.

"Phebe and Jael, I want you girls to take a shower and change into your pajamas." Uncle Samuel instructed them. Jael groaned, Phebe obeyed immediately.

"Zeph, we found the photo's of our honeymoon in Amsterdam couple of days back." Uncle Samuel smiled at me and pointed at the couch. "You want to see them? Just a little taste before you go with Uni."

"Okay," I said quietly, even when the weird feeling in my guts appeared right away, again. Like it always did when I thought of the trip.

Soon later, aunt Ruth and uncle Samuel were seated beside me. Aunt Ruth on my left side, uncle Sam on the right side. They placed a photo album on my lap and I opened it, swallowing when I saw a photo of them, Mum, Dad and me.

We were at the airport apparently. Dad was hugging uncle Samuel, Mum was laughing at something aunt Ruth said. I was holding mummy's hand, my ears tucked underneath the beanie to numb the noises- recalling I was wearing earbuds as well. My other hand clutched Cooper's leash, who seemed to be happy with his squinted eyes and tongue hanging out.

"Gosh, Zeph, you were the cutest little thing." Aunt Ruth chuckled, her finger brushing over my face. I think I was around ten years old. "You cried when we left, you thought we wouldn't return."

"I remember." I chuckled softly, suddenly noticing that my chubby cheeks were wet and slightly red, but then again, I blushed quite a lot, who knew why they were red that time.

Slowly flipping through the pages, I saw a lot of romantic photo's of them, I didn't really know how to react to that. Then Amsterdam was shown- the airport called Schiphol, the letters that said I amsterdam, the 'Dam' and more things they had visited, such as the House of Anne Frank, the Dutch Madam Tussauds.

It looked beautiful, but if it'd only stay for me to see Amsterdam in their photo's only, I wouldn't have minded either. I'd actually hope for it, but I knew I had to visit it. I couldn't stay home and I was sure Mum and Dad would stimulate me to go.

"It's a lovely city, very romantic. We hired a little boat and went through the canals, then ate some certain Dutch waffles and let me tell you- they were good." Uncle Samuel sighed contentedly, it made me smile, though the nerves became worse.

They chatted some more about it, but the nerves became a little too much for me- I started flapping my hands in order to try and contain the emotion, to try and focus on something else- the stimming.

Uncle Samuel kissed my forehead, bringing me back to them. I quickly blinked my eyes, and looked up.

"Amsterdam, many things untold happening there."

I didn't know what he meant with it.

Perhaps, I'd find out..

~~~

Uncle Samuel is baaaackkk. I noticed some of you really liked him for some reasons in the other book so I decided to give Zeph and him some time too :D

What did you think of it?

Phebe and Jael?

Phebe calling Zeph; Ziphaniah?

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