Chapter 1
Monroe
December
Something woke me, but when I pushed up onto my elbows and glanced around the room, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Maybe it was the wind, perhaps it was one of my siblings, I couldn’t really be sure.
When I heard a noise outside in the hallway, I tossed the covers back and climbed out of bed. I winced at pain that went through my foot as I stepped on a toy. From the feel of things, it was most likely one of Mason’s trucks, but I couldn’t be certain.
The noise sounded again, and I hurried across the hallway into the other room, where Mason and Maelie were.
It wasn’t ideal that they were together, but I didn’t have much of a choice since the house only had three rooms, really.
Two bedrooms and a kitchen/living room combination.
Well, then, of course, the single bathroom.
So much had changed in the last three years.
I’d done a lot of thinking when Montgomery left.
The next time the fates returned, I hadn’t even bothered to go see them.
There was no use, as far as I understood.
I’d done what they’d said though. I’d stepped up, and now I was raising my two youngest siblings all on my own.
Actually, I was basically the only parent either of them had ever known.
Thankfully, when I entered the kids’ room, Mason was still very much asleep. Maelie, I discovered once I picked her up from her crib, had a leaky diaper and had soaked not only herself but her bed as well. I sighed quietly and took her from the room and directly into the bathroom.
The light was bright when I turned it on, but that couldn’t be helped. I needed to bathe to clean off the mess. I started the water, hoping this wouldn’t be a long bath and she’d go back down quickly.
“Hey, Maelie. Let’s get you cleaned up and back to bed, all right?”
My sister continued to snuggle into my chest, and I was thankful that I normally slept shirtless.
It meant I would need to wash my torso while washing her up, but that was easy enough to do.
I set Mae down on the floor beside the tub, and adjusted the temperature of the water.
When it was the correct temperature, I put the plug in to fill it enough to be able to clean her properly.
I grabbed a cloth and tossed it into the tub along with her favorite toy before I carefully laid her back on the floor and undid her sleeper.
“I think I need to get you bigger diapers for nighttime,” I told her.
It wasn’t as if she could actually carry on a conversation.
She was one. She could barely walk, but that didn’t stop her from crawling everywhere.
She was still at the surfing-the-furniture stage.
I had her undressed in moments, and then after checking the water to be sure it wasn’t too hot, I set her in the tub.
Immediately, she grabbed for the toy, and it went immediately to her mouth.
I cringed a bit, but this was a child that ate the soap bubbles—I was sure that the diluted urine in the water wouldn’t hurt her.
I soaped up the cloth and went about washing first her, then my own torso.
I dried myself off before I rinsed Mae and then let her play for a few minutes.
She looked up at me with sleepy eyes, so I turned off the water and pulled the drain plug.
The tub was so slow to fill that it still only had a few inches of water in it.
Mae was shivering a bit when I placed her on the towel, so I picked her up and went to my room, where I had her changing table.
It was just easier, and then she and Mason could play in their room without me having to worry about either of them climbing it.
I had her dried, lotioned, and in a fresh diaper in no time.
I thought about my life and how much it had changed as I put another sleeper on my sister.
Four years ago, I still had my parents, and they were working on popping out Mason.
I glanced down at Mae as she stuck her thumb in her mouth and started sucking.
I would need to change her crib before I could place her back in it, so I put her in my bed and hoped she would doze off quickly and it wouldn’t be an issue.
She immediately rolled to her side, grabbed the corner of the blanket, and held it with her other hand while still sucking on her thumb.
I dashed back to the room she shared with Mason and had her crib stripped and changed in under a minute.
When I went back for her, I found Mae sound asleep, and although her thumb was still in her mouth, her mouth was now lax around it.
As carefully as I could, I carried her back to her room and placed her in her crib.
Thankfully, she and Mason were both somewhat heavy sleepers, and she didn’t wake.
When I checked on my brother, he was quietly snoring while lying on his stomach with his behind in the air.
I smiled and shook my head, but he was four, and, well, I guess that was comfortable when you were that age.
I couldn’t really remember much of when I was so young.
I left the bedroom, turning off the bathroom light on my way by.
There was a small light in the kids’ bedroom; it gave enough to be able to see and not step on anything.
Remembering the truck I stepped on earlier, I shuffled my feet once I was back in my own room.
It wasn’t large by any means, and the truck had been on the far side of the bed, but that didn’t mean it was the only one.
Sure enough, I kicked something, but I couldn’t tell if it was the one from earlier or not.
I climbed back into bed, hoping to get a little more sleep before I had to be up and at work.
I’d been able to get a management position at the store in our village. Since we didn’t have to pay for housing or any of the electricity, my income paid for living expenses for me, Mason, and Mae.
Something had gone terribly wrong when our mother had been pregnant with Mae.
Mother had been sick almost the entire pregnancy, and she survived only long enough to give birth to Maelie, although my baby sister had been born early.
Almost too early. Our father lived for a week after, surviving long enough to name Mae and ask each of his older children to take responsibility for the younger ones.
There were six that were considered underage at that time, but Maxwell was only weeks away from reaching official adulthood.
I wasn’t sure why Father had thought I was the best suited to take the two youngest, but I’d ended up with Mason and Maelie.
Mason had been three and Mae only a week old when I suddenly found myself solely responsible for my two youngest siblings.
Mary-Sara and Madelyn were with Melody and her mate, Chad.
That left Martin and Maxwell. Maxwell had moved in with his best friend’s family, and Martin had been taken in by our oldest brother, Malcolm.
He and his mate had offered to take Mason and Maelie, but I’d told them our father’s wishes, and although they questioned it, they left with Martin and went back to their own village.
Why was my mind so focused on this suddenly?
It had been over a year. It was a struggle most days, but we’d settled into a routine and did the best we could.
I was lucky that I could take Mason and Mae to the childcare center here in town.
I knew I probably didn’t rate a spot, let alone two, but I had one a few weeks after Maelie had been born.
Those first few months…I wouldn’t wish them on anyone.
I wasn’t sure how new parents did it. But I wasn’t technically a new parent.
Yes, I loved my siblings. At this point, they were more than just my brother and sister.
They were mine in every way that counted.
That didn’t mean it wasn’t difficult though.
I was doing it alone, and that meant everything fell to me.
All of the fussing, tantrums, feedings, playing, caring, all of it. It was all on me.
I ran my hand down my face and sighed deeply.
There was truly no use in obsessing over it.
This was my life now. This was what I’d been given.
I would not have a mate; I would spend my life raising my two youngest siblings until they hopefully found happiness.
I’d accepted this, and I was all right with it.
I tossed and turned, thinking about life while my parents were still alive, and wondered again how my brothers who had been chosen to go to the human realm were doing.
Matthew and Montgomery. They would have children now.
Did they have lots, just as our parents had?
Or had they had one or two and called it good?
I would never know. I didn’t even know where they were, except not here.
Did they think about us? Did they know about our parents?
Were they upset if they did? One thing that my siblings and I could all agree on—none of us missed our parents too much.
They weren’t parents to us. They were someone to order us around and force us to raise children that they continued to have.
I couldn’t remember a time when I saw either of my parents change a diaper or feed one of their children. Maybe they had with Morgan and possibly Marissa, but who knew after that.
I was only frustrating myself as I thought about my parents and how terrible they were at being parents, so I rolled over onto my side and did my best to fall back asleep.
Mason and Mae would be awake for the day before I was ready, I was sure, but I would have to get up and start our day by fixing them breakfast and then getting them ready to take to the childcare center while I spent my shift at the store.