Naomi headed downstairs and found her triplet girls in the kitchen. All three of them were teal platypuses, having all come from the same egg. The way she could tell them apart was their eyes: Zelda (the eldest) had silver eyes, Tegan (the middle child) had hazel eyes, and Astrid (the youngest) had green eyes.
"Girls, we're heading home now," Naomi announced.
Zelda dutifully got down off the counter and began walking towards her mother. Astrid launched herself off the fridge. Luckily, Naomi's amazing reflexes kicked in just in time, and she caught her youngest daughter. Tegan, on the other hand, didn't move. She was lying on her stomach on the marble counter next to the sink. She gave her mother a smirk.
"Tegan, honey, we're going home now," Naomi said.
Tegan just turned onto her side, facing away from Naomi.
Zelda huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Tegan, come down here now!"
Tegan stood up on the counter and grinned. "Make me, shortie."
Zelda growled and stomped her foot. "Tegan! Stop being so difficult!"
"Shortie, shortie, shortie," Tegan teased, tapping her feet on the counter.
"Tegan, sweetie, we're leaving," Naomi said, more firmly. "Come down, please."
Zelda scowled and clicked her fingers. "Tegan, down. Now."
Tegan leapt off the counter and clenched her fists at her older sister. "Don't treat me like a dog, Zelda!" she snapped.
Naomi quickly took advantage and grabbed Tegan's hand. Astrid took her mother's other hand and looked over at Tegan, who stuck her tongue out back. Waving goodbye to Melinda and Paris, Naomi left the house, holding the hands of two of her children. Zelda trailed behind, acting as if she was years older than her siblings instead of seconds.
"Mommy, can I have ice cream?" Astrid asked shyly. "I was good."
"Yes, Astrid," Naomi smiled. "You can have ice cream."
"I think I deserve ice cream too, Mom," Zelda butted in.
"And me!" piped up Tegan.
"Astrid didn't cause any fuss when I said it was time to go home," Naomi said sternly to her other two kids.
"I came straight away!" Zelda complained.
"It's not my fault!" complained Tegan at the same time.
"At any rate, none of you are getting ice cream when you get home, because it's past midnight," Naomi told her kids. "You should be in bed."
All three girls groaned, but immediately after, they all yawned. Naomi smirked. "You're all tired."
Astrid's head knocked against Naomi's legs as she almost fell asleep standing up. Smiling, Naomi gently lifted her youngest daughter into her arms. Despite Astrid being five years old—the equivalent of a ten-year-old human—she nuzzled into her mother's fur and closed her eyes, letting out a soft hum of contentment. "Love you, Mommy," she mumbled sleepily.
In the time it took for Naomi to smile and say "I love you too, Astrid.", the little platypus had fallen asleep.
Naomi beamed and stroked her youngest daughter.
"What a baby," snorted Tegan. "She still says "mommy"."
Zelda shoved Tegan. "Stop bullying Astrid, Tegan. She doesn't deserve it."
"We're all the same age, and yet she still says "mommy"." Tegan smirked.
Naomi turned and smirked back, to Tegan's surprise. "She can call me what she wants, Tegan. Just know that at the moment, Astrid's getting your ice cream as well as hers."
"What?!"
Naomi turned back and grinned, having gotten exactly the reaction she had been hoping for.
She often felt a little depressed about the relationship her girls had with each other. Zelda bossed the other two around, Tegan bullied Astrid, Zelda and Tegan often got into physical fights, and Astrid barely talked to her siblings because of her shyness. It was sad, really.
As Naomi approached her house, she gave the key to Zelda, who ran on ahead to open the door. Tegan ran after her, shouting at her as usual. Naomi gently put Astrid down on her feet, sending the tired platypus to join her siblings.
Just as Naomi was about to join them, she felt something grab her from behind. She screamed and tried to kick, but something was injected into her neck, and she collapsed, limp.
"MOMMY!" Astrid screamed, alerting her siblings to what had happened.
"Mom!" yelled Zelda, dropping the key and racing towards her mother, but the attacker kicked the gate shut, causing Zelda to fall backwards onto her siblings.
By the time they all scrambled to their feet, their mother was gone.
Astrid burst into tears. Tegan also looked ready to cry, though she was also clenching her fists. Wordlessly, Zelda grabbed her sisters' wrists and dragged them into the house, shutting and locking the door behind them.
"We have to go after Mom!" Tegan cried over the sound of Astrid's sobbing.
"It's pitch black!" snapped Zelda. "We'd get lost!"
"We have to do something!"
"We can't right now!"
"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE HER!" screamed Tegan, almost ready to strike her sister if need be.
"YES WE CAN!" Zelda shrieked back. "I'M JUST AS DISTRAUGHT AT THIS AS YOU ARE, BUT WE HAVE TO BE CALM AND RATIONAL!"
Tegan calmed down a little, shrinking against the wall. "What do we do?" she whimpered.
Zelda realised that, for once, her younger sister was actually looking to her for guidance. She straightened up grimly. "We have to inform O.W.C.A. so they can do something. I'll tell Paris."
"What can I do?" Tegan asked bravely.
Zelda smiled. "Put Astrid to bed."
Tegan nodded and lifted their sister off the floor. Astrid suddenly shied away from Tegan. "I can put myself to bed," she sniffled coldly.
As Astrid walked upstairs, Tegan hesitated. "She heard me earlier, didn't she?"
"It's not just today, Te," Zelda sighed. "You've been barely anything but mean to her for years."
Tegan also sighed. "I…I know."
Zelda raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment further. "I'm going to phone this in to O.W.C.A. You should get some rest too."
Tegan nodded slowly. "Okay. Are you coming up soon?"
"As soon as I phone this in," Zelda replied. "Go on up."
Tegan nodded again and slowly made her way upstairs.
Zelda gritted her teeth and reached for the phone.
Whoever did this to their mother would pay.