AN: Welcome to the first chapter of "Fragments of Life," the companion piece to my other story, "The Parent Trap." You don't have to read the other story, but it still would be a good idea because then you would be able to grasp the OCs a lot better. You'd be able to find out who their parents are, their looks and their personalities. It would also be easier to calculate the ages of the characters. As a hint, the other story takes place in 2043. That's it for now, so go on and read!
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Chapter 1
The Young and the Chaotic
(July 8, 2029, Sunday)
It was summer. A heat wave was in full session, and it felt like that blasting the air conditioner and electric fans weren't enough. It was Sunday and a day off for most people. The group had kids, and if they wanted to spend time together, they would have to bring the kids as well.
Devlin was ten. Kyra was seven. Mondo was six. Stella was five. Luna was four. Richard was three. Lotte and Lisa were one. Having them together in the same room was a living nightmare. They were young, but rambunctious.
The men always came up with excuses to get out of taking care of the kids. The women were the ones who were troubled from the chaos. It wasn't a problem for Franziska to control them. All she had to do was crack her whip and yell at them to shut up. But even Franziska lost control sometimes. Richard was already a rascal when he was three. During one babysitting session, Franziska commanded all of the kids to be quiet. They obeyed until Richard pointed at his mother, laughed and said, "Haha! Mommy fool! Mommy fool!" She went livid.
Today was particularly bad. Franziska and Ema were on duty.
"Kyra, stop jumping on the couch!" yelled Devlin. "I'm gonna tell Mom and you're gonna get in trouble!"
Kyra ignored her brother and clamped her hands over her ears. "La la la la la la la! I can't hear you! La la la la la la!"
On the floor, Mondo and Stella were arguing over a Monopoly game, tugging the box back and forth.
"It's my game! Let go!" screamed Stella.
"No, it's mine!" shouted Mondo.
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
In their struggle for the box, they flung it to the side. The paper money and game pieces scattered along the floor. They stared at it for a second before resuming their argument.
"It's your fault!"
"No, yours!"
"Yours!"
"Yours!"
"Yours!"
"Yours!"
"Yours!"
"Yours!"
"Yours!"
On the other side of the room, Luna and Richard were sitting on the floor, calmly painting Edgeworth's chess set with watercolors. In the other room, Lotte and Lisa were crying from all of the commotion.
"Franziska! Do something!" yelled Ema as she tried calming Lisa by bouncing her around.
Franziska stopped trying to calm Lotte down and put the crying child into the play pen. She stormed out of the bedroom and into the living room to witness the whole debacle. She snapped her fingers at Kyra.
"Kyra, sit down!" she ordered.
After one more jump, Kyra's feet slipped on the cushions, her butt landing softly on the couch.
"Haha! You got in trou~ble!" sang Devlin.
"Shut up, Devlin!" yelled Kyra. She picked up a pillow and smacked her brother with it. Laughing, Devlin climbed up onto the couch and walked on the cushions as Kyra followed after him, trying to hit him.
Ema came out of the room holding Lisa. "Kyra! Devlin! Get down from there!"
"Look Auntie Franziska! We made 'em pretty!" said Luna, holding up one of the chess pieces. It was formally a white piece now dyed in green.
Franziska ran a hand through her hair. She cursed under her breath. Unfortunately, her son heard her.
"Oooooooooh! You said a bad word!" Richard exclaimed, pointing at his mother.
"No pointing, Richard!"
"Mondo! Stella! Look at this mess!" shouted Ema.
"I'm home!" called out Edgeworth from the foyer.
"Dad!" yelled Richard, running over his father.
Edgeworth froze when he entered the living room. Kyra was still chasing after her brother with a pillow. Mondo and Stella were ignoring Ema and still fighting. He noticed the pieces of his chess set were on the floor and different shades of color.
"Miles--" began Franziska.
"Mommy said a bad word!" yelled Richard. He pointed at his mother and said, "She's a fool!"
Edgeworth grabbed Richard's face and squeeze his cheeks so he looked like a fish. He forced his son to look at him and glowered. "Don't ever call your mother that," he ordered coolly. Though his face was calm, his eyes flashed dangerously. "Do you understand, Richard Gregory Edgeworth?"
The boy nodded slowly. Edgeworth let go of his son and began to storm over to Mondo and Stella.
"You can't catch me! Nya~!" taunted Devlin as Kyra chased after him. He jumped down from the couch and landed on the monopoly pieces and paper money on the hardwood floor. They slipped from under his feet, and Devlin lost his balance. A loud crack was heard.
And that is how Devlin Noah Gumshoe broke his arm.
The first time.
Hello again!
Now I got the idea of this first chapter by remembering something. When siblings are young, they fight and hate each other. They always try to see if their brother or sister is doing something bad and then tell on them. But when siblings get older, they tend to stop fighting and become closer to band against the parents. It's true, really. So while in "The Parent Trap," siblings like Devlin and Kyra are really chill with each other, they probably fought a lot as kids. The same goes for Mondo, Stella, and Luna, but Mondo and Stella still kind of fight, but more in the playful sense.
Richard still is cheeky, isn't he? :)
Reading over "The Parent Trap," I never stated Devlin's full name so I decided to here. Originally, I wasn't sure how to end the chapter until I remembered that Devlin inherited some of his mother's bad luck so this is how the ending came about.
That's it for now, so thanks for reading!