Oswald

His baby sister

His sister was just twenty when she told him that she's getting married. At first he thought it was just one of her practical jokes when she showed him her wedding dress and handed him the invitation card.

He was slightly surprised to know the groom was Levi, a man that he knows since he was a child. Knowing Levi and how he will not collaborate with his sister in this elaborate joke – at least not to this far – he knew that his sister was serious. That night he went to visit his sister, hoping that she would clear his confusion away. The only answer that he got from her was a sweet smile, a rare thing coming from her.

Smiling she asked him to be the one to give her away.

And without a word of protest, he agreed, deciding that it will be the best course to follow her whims.

She, he decided, looked elegant and refined in her white wedding dress. He walked her down the aisle, gave his sister a small smile when she tip toe and kissed him on his left cheek, never mind that her lipstick smeared his cheek. For a reason he cannot comprehend, the silent after the words 'until death do us part' that she uttered heave his heartstring.

A year after his sister wedding, she gave birth to twin. She named the girls Alyss for the older twin and Alice for the younger one. She was beaming when she asked him to be the girls' godfather. Looking at his sister's happy face as she cradled the girls close, one in each arm, he knew that she's happy at that moment.

He remembered how Lacie and Levi gushed over the girls the next time he went to visit them. The girls were just learning on how to walk and were wobbly walking towards their parents. Both of them resembled Lacie greatly though Alyss has her father white hair and lavender eyes. Alice's eyes however, surprised him. Instead of inheriting her mother's red eyes, her eyes are violet like his.

From that day onwards, he made it a habit to come and visit them every weekend. He watched the girls grew up, observed the way the twin interacts with each other. His sister looked as if she is about to burst with happiness every time the girls went to hug her for no reason whatsoever. His brother-in-law's smile never left his face. Though it is not rare for him, the smile that he wore around his daughter held real warmth. The sounds of children squealing laughter when their father tickled them brighten the whole house.

So when her sister came to him asking him to take care of the twin for the weekend as she was planning to go on a holiday with her husband, he agreed without a second thought. Having the girls with him will definitely brighten his weekend. He watched with a smile as Alyss and Alice hugged their parents, receiving a kiss on their forehead by their father.

That was yesterday.

And today, he received a phone call that shattered this small family happiness. Hanging up the phone, he could only stared at the girls who are now playing with each other, wondering why this horrible thing could happened to his sister's daughters.

Lacie and Levi are not coming back from their holiday it seems.

They were both murdered. Murdered by someone that they both know no less. And it all took a single bullet to pierce through his brother-in-law's heart then to his sister's left lung.

Ridden with his own grief, he threw his cell phone, watching with satisfaction as it broke to tiny pieces before he yelled out his frustration. He was about to run to his bedroom for his handgun to seek for his own brand of justice when two pair of small hand gripped his.

"What's wrong Uncle Oswald?" Alice asked him, her violet eyes wide.

Alyss's lavender eyes however filled with fear. "Did something happen to mummy and daddy?"

Getting down on his knees, he hugged both girls close, breaking the news gently to them. Accepting the fact that their parents are not coming back was hard for the five years old girls. Alyss's cloudy eyes were worrying compared to Alice non stopping tears.

He tucked in both of them in the same bed that night due to Alice refusal to sleep on different bed from her sister. It was late at night and he was laying on the bed when the feet of his bed dipped low from a sudden weight. Two small bodies scoot closer to him, making their way towards him from under his bedspread.

"Would you sing for us Uncle Oswald?" was Alyss's first sentence that she uttered after learning the news of her parents death.

"What song?"

Alice wiped her tears that already made its way down her cheeks from her now swollen eyes, "The song that you wrote for mummy"

He gathered both of them in his arms, settling them on his lap. His deep baritone voice seems to echo in the silent bedroom as he sang for them his sister's lullaby. Nearing the end of the song, Alyss's shoulder shook from her silent tears.

"I want mummy back. Daddy promised that they will come back if we behave. Why is daddy breaking his promise?"

Not knowing what to do, he patted the girl's head, "He tried to kept his promise Alyss, it just that someone made him and mummy break their promise."

"Why?" Alice asked him, steadfast.

"I'm not sure Alice."

"Will you ask that person why he made mummy and daddy break their promise Uncle Oswald?" Asked Alice again.

"Yes, once the police finished asking him"

Alyss who before this never showed any fondness towards him gripped his hand with both of hers. "You will come back to us would you Uncle Oswald? Please promise us you would."

"I'll do my best"

With that, he tucked in both Alyss and Alice back to their bed. Tomorrow, after all, will be a long day. Tomorrow is the day where they will bury the dead. The day when the last piglet needs to clean up the mess left by the big bad wolf.