"Time is a sensitive thing." Sabrina suddenly thought, as she walked to the back door of the house she used to be call home, but in reality it wasn't her home, it never was her home. The white Victorian house on Collins Road was from a time she had changed, all in the name of making her aunt happy. She had though what she had done was the right thing, that nothing would have changed, her Aunt Zelda would marry Gabriel, the man she let get away, and they would all live happily ever after. That one trip though, the trip sponsored by was a lie, and everything was different, time had been rewritten.
Sabrina knew she had to get her old life back, and the only way was to go to Zelda and somehow tell her that she had changed time, that her aunt really was not married to this poet, this poet who seemed to change Hilda and Zelda's relationship completely. The two no longer talked and Hilda was the one to take Sabrina in when the time came to train her in witchcraft. Hilda hardly had the room though, Sabrina now knew, and she had spent the last 5 years in an apartment not even fit for vermin. She was no longer the Sabrina everyone knew, the goody two shoes who got into the best school in Boston. No, she was a chicken delivery girl, who was on probation, with no chance of higher education. Sabrina needed her own life back, as selfish at it may be
With her aunt Hilda in tow, still wearing her get up from her ventriloquist act, a horrid tuxedo, Salem wearing the same. The house was as quiet at it was this morning, when Sabrina had first tried to get back to her old room, which didn't exist, but as soon as they rounded the back to the kitchen, they saw the chaos that was the Simon house hold. 4 children sat at the table in the kitchen, papers all over the place as they tried to do their homework, looking as if they were stepping on egg shells, the party next door, a "Salon" as Gabriel Simon had called it, was in full swing, and the children seemed to act as if they were to be seen and not heard, the eldest, a blonde girl, no older than 16 tended to the younger one, a small boy who was a dead ringer for his father but with blue eyes so kind, they reminded Sabrina of a puppy dog, He himself couldn't be more than 7, and a boy of 14 and another boy of 12 was on each side of him. The eldest son seemed to be the most cautious, his head darting to the door ever few minutes. Sabrina could clearly see the words "Stay quiet." come out of his mouth, before he went back to work. The other boy was preoccupied with his work as if he was distracting himself from the awkward silence. An spot laid empty, and just like the eldest boy, the other children kept taking turns looking at the door, the pencils tapping when they didn't see anyone, worry filling their eyes. It was hard not to miss the littlest ones, a toddler sitting in a play pen, her little blonde curls tied up in pigtails as she played with a few stuffed animals, a smile on her face going whenever she heard it make a sound, and right next to her, in a bassinett, two babies, twins no doubt, slept through the tension that seemed to hang in the room, there tiny hands touching each other's to make sure they knew they were not alone
"They have kids?" Sabrina hoarsely whispered to her aunt, who seemed unphased by all of that.
"Of course. 8 of them. You really think they would go without having any. They've only been married for at least 5 decades." She said, and seeing here niece's confusion, she continued on. "He made Zelda name all of them after poets and Shakespeare characters too. "The oldest is Maya, full name Maya Angelou, then is Edgar Allen, Walter Whitman, the other little boy is William Shakespeare, then we have Sylvia Plath, such a morbid name for a cute little doll like here, and then there newest additions, Viola Elizabeth and Sebastian Gabriel , named after the twins from Twelfth night, and they are 7 months old now.
"There are only 7 there." Sabrina pointed out, now realizing the concern that seemed to come from all the children
"Yeah, you are right. I know whose missing. It's…" Hilda said before going quiet, she could hear the arguing of her sister and her husband as they walked through their kitchen, the children stopping there work suddenly to listen, as they could help but become distracted, even more uneasily
"I am so sick of your pathetic posse of parasitic poets." Zelda screamed before walking across the room, and Gabriel followed. It was back and forth arguing about how she should leave alliteration to the professionals, and how he was not a professional because he got paid. The children counted to say very still as they listened, and Sabrina's jaw nearly dropped when she heard that Zelda had to take three jobs to support them.
"Are you saying you regret marrying me?" Gabriel asked, bitterness in his tone of voice, looking at his children, then back at her. Zelda, without skipping a beat, looked at the man, her husband, with steel dagger eyes before saying
"Every single day of my life." Sabrina had now all the evidence she needed to change back time, but her thought got distracted when she heard a baby start crying. Zelda went straight to the baby, picking her up with skilled arms, cradling her to her chest, looking around and hoping her husband didn't notice that one of their children was missing.
"Were is your sister?" He asked in a demanding voice to the children at the table. They all shook their heads, not knowing where she was, worried for her even. She was supposed to be home to finish her poem to read at the slam tonight, and she wasn't. Suddenly however, the girl appeared, and Sabrina gasped. It was her cousin Emilia, her aunt Zelda's daughter in the old world, the sweetest little girl, a genius, and also, the girl Sabrina was happy to claim as her surrogate sister. The girls long blond hair was tied into two ponytails, a beanie hat with the words "Volcum" on them. Her tiny, but tall frame, was clad in a sweatshirt covered in pokemon, the shirt underneath a bright pink with the same words as her hat. Her baggie jeans, torn up and full of holes stayed on her with a belt that had once been a car seat belt, and her shoes matched her shirt, just as pink. She walked in without a care that she was missing, totally marching to the beat of her own drum. She was the middle child it seemed, and it saddened Sabrina to know her cousin, who had once been an only child, was rebelling just to get attention when in reality, the real reality, there was never a shortage of love for her.
"Desdemona Emilia Zelda Marie Simon, where have you been and you better not lie to me, girl." Gabriel said sternly, looking at his wife with eyes warning her not to but in.
"I was at the skate park, doing actual studying instead of writing asinine poems. I was studying potential and kinetic energy on different ramps and rails. Sue me. And how many times do I have to tell you, Stop calling me Desdemona!" She said, her sibling gasping from such snark. One look from their father sent them back into a tizzy of writing.
"I told you a thousand times physics will get you nowhere so stop with this nonsense. You are grounded for another month." He said, before taking her skateboard and snapping it in half with magic. "And I will call you Desdemona because that is you name. She was a strong women, but that doesn't mean you should talk to me as if you really were her. Now go to your room, and change into real clothes. I expect you to have a perfectly written 14 line sonnet for tonight is that clear." He said. She nodded simply, with him turning on his heels to leave. As soon as he did, Zelda put the baby down and went over to the girl whose eyes seemed to be filled with tears. Zelda hugged the girl tightly, rubbing her pack to comfort her.
"My sweet little Emilia, don't you cry now. I'm proud of you, proud of your intelligence and independent. Your father just wants everyone to be like him," Zelda explained, whipping a stray tear from her baby's face.
"I know, but he doesn't like that I'm so much like you does he? I did get some good data though so it isn't a whole day wasted." She said with a small smile. Zelda nodded before kissing the girl's cheek and then let her go.
"Now go upstairs and get changed, alright little dove. Put your clothes in the special hiding place and I'll take care of them." Zelda knew her husband would throw them out, but Zelda knew all she had to do was make duplicated with a little magic. She would always put her children's happiness in front of her husbands. Emilia did as she was told and Zelda watched before going back to the the table, checking on all the other children, giving them each a kiss before going to the babies, taking Sylvia out of her play pen and holding her at her hip. Zelda truly was a natural mother, and was a master at protected her cubs. Sabrina knew now she had to make things right, even if it meant getting rid of all these children, erasing them from existence.