THE SPAWNS

Chapter III-Lilibeth

The Prodigal Son Is Back

 © DarknessAndLight

“He’s here,” I yelled happily, and backed away from the window, running from the living room to the hall to see the front door when it would open.

            Jay’s car had just parked in front of the house.

            Mama and Papa walked out of the kitchen, smiling broadly, but I stubbornly stayed in front of them. The minute my brother was walking through that door I was going to jump in his arms.

            “The prodigal son is back,” Jayden announced loudly as he opened the door and I ran to him and jumped in his arm, wrapping my arms around his neck.

            “JAY-JAY,” I squealed, burying my face against his neck.

            The bags my brother had been holding dropped on the ground, and he wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the floor. “Hey Belly, I wasn’t aware that you were missing me,” he teased.

            I pinched his arm. “Zip it!”

            That just made him laugh. “Mom, Dad,” Jay said, still holding me, “I would hug you but I have a leech stuck on me.”

             I laughed too with him this time but pinched him again. “I said zip it!”

             But my brother, being my brother, just unwrapped my arms from around him, and threw me over his shoulder, holding on to my legs, “There, I think we can work with that.” I pounded on his back with my fists, though lightly, laughing, while he took a few steps forward. “Hey Mom.” I could see him hugging our mother from the side I wasn’t lying on, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

             “Hi honey,” Mama answered happily, but then she slapped his shoulder, though lightly too. “Jayden Eaton, when did you drink?”

             Oh oh, mad Mama.

             “Last night,” he was using his sheepish tone of voice, “my good-bye party, don’t worry, I just started to drive from Cole’s and I just have the hangover bad breath. I didn’t drive drunk.”

             “You better,” Mama warned.

             Papa snorted from behind. “Good bye party huh?”

             I tried to hoist myself up, to get off my brother’s shoulder but I couldn’t get out of his grip. I huffed in defeat.

             Jay snorted softly. “Please Dad.” I’m sure he rolled his eyes too.

             “It’s good to have you home Jay,” Papa finally said warmly and Jay finally put me back on my feet and hugged our father.

             I knew they had both missed each other, they were just so alike for some things and always together before.

             “Good to be home,” my brother answered. “Man, I even missed the smell,” he almost whined and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, bringing me to his side.

             I leaned my head against him. “I missed you Jay.” Unluckily because I was always such a mess and because I really had missed my brother so very much, my leaning against him became me wrapping my arms around his waist, pressing my face against his chest to stop the crying.

             “Miss you too Belly…” he whispered on top of my head, and then squeezed me tight. “Hey, hey, now there, no crying,” he said softly, lifting my chin with his fingers, making me look at him in the eyes.

             I sniffed once, trying to stop anything that would come form my nose, rubbing my eyes fast with the back of my hand. “I’m sorry, I’m just so happy you’re home,” I snivelled.

             Why couldn’t I be stronger? Get a grip Lilibeth, your brother just got home!

             Jay smiled at me, the warm smiled that I had missed so much that made a dimple on his chin. “Me too.”

             Mama came closer to him, brushing her fingers on his cheek. “You look tired honey,” she frowned a little.

             Jay shrugged, still holding me in his arms. “Barely slept.”

             “Lili, sweetie,” Mama placed her hand softly on the back of my head, in a way that I knew meant I should let got of Jayden. “Let your brother go to his room, he needs to sleep,” she smiled at me, “you can hug him later, you’ll be late for ballet class anyway.”

             I pouted but let go of Jayden, “I don’t want to go.”

             She laughed softly. “He’s still going to be there when you get back.”

             “And my breath won’t suffocate you,” Jay grinned, giving my shoulder a playful shove.

             I sighed, though smiling. “Fine.”

             I was about to head to my room to get my things, but Jay quickly grabbed his bags and wrapped his arm around my shoulder again, “Come here,” he smiled down at me, and I smiled too, leaning against him as we made our way upstairs. “So? How are you?”

            “I’m great,” I immediately answered.

            Jay took a deep breath and looked at me with reprimanding eyes. “Belly.”

            I sighed and looked down, playing with my fingers. “Fine, okay, I mean,” I looked up at him but immediately looked down. “I have been a little gloomy lately but today I’m actually good.” I raised my gaze again and this time kept it on my brother’s face, smiling a bit. “Probably because you’re home now.”

            “So what?” Jay frowned. “Do you think it’ll pass?”

            I shrugged. “No, I’m actually feeling really happy,” I smiled at him again at the end.

            Jay gave me one of his half smiles, I had missed those too. “You look happy.”

            I sighed, tired of talking about me. Everyone was always worried about me. It was annoying. I wanted to be stronger but I was always reminded I wasn’t. It was so hard sometimes. “Anyway, how have you been?”

            “Right now, I’m exhausted.” Jay groaned, running his hand through his hair, making it stick up in a funny way. I held my laugher. And I was grateful that he changed the subject so quickly. He knew me so well that he probably knew what I had been thinking. “My friends, you know Francis and Clyde?” I nodded in response. His two other roommates, the twins. “Yeah, well they dragged me to this pub close to the dorms to ‘celebrate’ my going away. We already went out for the end of the semester but, any reason to drink is good reason to drink,” he rolled his eyes at that.

            I frowned a bit. “I don’t think you like them very much. You should spend less time with them, you aren’t happy with them.”

            “When did my little sister become so wise,” he teased, shoving my shoulder playfully with his own. “It’s not that I don’t like them, I like them, I would just like them not when I’m in college.” He shrugged and yawned. He was right, his breath was horrible. It was weird when I was so used to my brother always smelling good. “Either way, now I’ll be out of the dorms and in an actual apartment and it’ll just be me and Cole so I’ll be happy there. And the apartment is very nice. We even have an extra bedroom and we’ll buy a sofa-bed for the living room, so we can have plenty of visitors, like Mom, Dad and you.” He smiled, his warm smile at me.

            I looked down…

            Cole…

            I frowned. You can do it, go ahead, ask, you’ll ask and your voice will be levelled and you’ll be okay. “Did Cole go out and party with you last night?”

            “Naw, he stayed home, he had his things to pack and he wanted to go to bed early because of all the late nights he had in bank, finishing his papers.”

             “Oh…” I just nodded. Ask more, ask more! “I haven’t seen him in a while…” I added, in a small voice.

            No! No, no, not a small voice, it should have been levelled, not worried. I’m so stupid… Ugh. Now he’s going to ask questions!

            “I know right? What? Almost six months? I pretty sure he missed you too,” Jay half smiled at me.

            That’s it? Is that it? Ouf…

            “Anyway, time for me to crash. Wake me when you get back alright? And we’re going out tonight, by the way.” I nodded twice at him, fighting a small smile at the mention of ‘going out’ and we hugged a last time before he headed to his bedroom and me to mine.

            When I closed the door behind me, I leaned my back against it, and slid down on the floor, my forehead against my raised knees. Good thing Jay was so unobservant.

            ‘I’m pretty sure he missed you too’

            I kept hearing it in my head, over and over again. It was sad and pitiful, I knew, but I couldn’t help it. My left hand went to my right wrist, playing with the little bracelet there, just a thin string of leather with two tiny butterflies in metal tightly attached on it.

            I finally took one deep breath, pushed myself up, and changed into my leotard putting a little cotton skirt over it and a baggy, almost half shirt with sleeve that covered three quarters of my arms. I grabbed my bag, with changing clothes, my dancing shoes and my bottle of water and went downstairs.

            “Ready to go Lily,” Papa asked, smiling, when he was me.

            I nodded, sighing, and followed him out the door, slipping in my ballerina shoes, not the one I used during my class though.

            Papa put Ralph Vaughan William’s Tallis Fantasia as he drove, and I smiled contently at it. It was one of the compositions that had made me want to play the violin. I was nowhere near as good at it as the piano, but I was getting there slowly.

            Papa was quiet, smiling at me now and then. I loved listening to pieces with him because I knew he wouldn’t be talking. He didn’t like to be interrupted too. And I loved Tallis Fantasia. It was so beautifully heartbreaking. If I had to put music to my life I would want that piece to be it. I turned my head to look outside and mostly so my father wouldn’t see the tears in my eyes. I don’t know why I was always so tuned with music—maybe it was only related with the fact I was so stupidly weak mentally—but it made me cry when it was touching, and this particular piece was definitely touching. The rise and fall… I could almost see a love story just by listening to the music, a couple’s heartbreak, there was sadness, but something grandiose to it too, making the sadness worth it…

            I wished I could dance on it one day.

__________________

A/N: So here it was, Lilibeth's head! lol Hope you enjoyed it! :D Next chapter should be up in a few days again! :D

Thank you SO much for all the nice comments so far for voting, it really means a lot to know you guys are liking the kids too! haha

Oh also a few asked before and Lilibeth and Cole have no blood relation what so ever, alright? Blake and Josh are not cousins or second cousins or brothers or whatever. Their fathers were just very close friends in college. So none of that creepy crap! lol

Anyway, thanks again for reading! And the choice for the title of the next chapter which will be in Jayden's POV are :

A) This Is Getting Very Awkward

OR

B) Screaming Rape Would be Inappropriate

Also, I put Ralph Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia as an external link.. I want to use that composition for another future chapter! lol BUT I wanted you guys to know what it is if you don't, which is 17 minutes and 48 seconds of pure bliss! haha